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Israeli blood tests for the Gulf; First female IAF Bureau Chief; Fast analysis of data; and much more!
by: Michael Ordman
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Stem cell treatment can help MS patients
Jerusalem’s Hadassah-University Medical Center and Israel’s NeuroGenesis have developed a stem cell treatment for patients with progressive multiple sclerosis. A Phase II human trial not only halted progression of the disease but led to improvement in neurological ability.
Hope for stroke and dementia patients
Israel’s BrainsGate (reported briefly here previously) has developed a technology for the treatment of ischemic strokes and vascular dementia. The Ischemic Stroke System is based on an implantable electrode stimulator that increases blood flow to the brain. Clinical trials are in progress.
Hackathon for autis
Israeli innovators and entrepreneurs participated in Hackautism 2.0 – a virtual tech marathon to create innovative technological solutions for the challenges of children and adults on the Autism Spectrum. The winning teams addressed sleep quality, non-verbal communication and job finding,
Israeli blood tests for the Gulf
The OLO finger-prick blood tests from Israel’s Sight Diagnostics (reported here previously) will soon be available in medical centers across the Gulf region. The Israeli company is partnering with Dubai’s Phoenix Capital who will install OLO initially in the UAE and then other Gulf states.
Games to fight diabetes and cognitive decline
Israel’s Maccabi Healthcare Services research and innovation center has initiated KSM Playzone – focusing on the field of health gaming. KSM has awarded $25,000 to the developers of two health education games – Diabattle (for diabetics) and Memento (cognitive rehabilitation).
Israeli doctors in Gaza
Israeli-Arab orthopaedists, neurologists, heart surgeons, and mental health experts are in the Gaza Strip relieving the strain on hospitals fighting coronavirus. They are conducting urgent (previously postponed) surgeries on non-Covid-19 patients and training up Palestinian Arab medical teams.
First vaccines arrive in Israel
An end to the coronavirus pandemic is in sight as hundreds of thousands of doses of Pfizer vaccines were flown into Tel Aviv. Vaccinations are due to begin on Dec 27. Israel is scheduled to receive 4 million doses of the vaccine by end Dec.
Israel’s vaccine is vital
Progress has been made with the Israeli-developed vaccines and treatments. The MigVax oral vaccine is ideal for developing countries as it easy to transport and distribute. It is also much safer, e.g., for those who have allergies or compromised immune systems.
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
Restarting after injury
Israeli NGO Restart’s project “Makers for Heroes” (reported here previously) has volunteer professionals build devices so wounded IDF veterans can restart their lives. Here, one of the injured soldiers tells how Restart helped him restore his musical skills after shrapnel tore the nerves in his hand.
Joining with UAE to improve access for disabled
Michal Rimon, CEO of Access Israel, attended the virtual two-day Tolerance & Inclusivity Week at Dubai’s Expo 2020. She participated on the panel “Accessibility Spotlight: The Value of Difference”. She is working with Ayesha Hussaini of Manzil, her UAE equivalent.
First female IAF Bureau Chief
In a first, a female officer will serve as bureau chief to the Israel Air Force. Maj. N., currently deputy commander of the 119th Air Force Squadron, will be the first female officer to serve in the role, for which only the corps’ top officers are selected.
Israelis donate medical fees for Gaza boy
Surgeons at Israel’s Schneider Hospital saved the life of 4-year-old Ahmad from Gaza with a hemorrhaging tumor. The Palestinian Authority refused to pay for his treatment in an Israeli hospital. Now generous Israelis are funding an account set up for Ahmad by the hospital.
Israeli-Ethiopian goes to Oxford University
Eden Amare Yitbarek is one of two Israelis selected for the Rhodes scholarship program that offers exceptional international candidates the opportunity to study at Oxford University in England. Eden was raised in Ethiopia and completed her BA at the IDC Herzliya.
Israeli scientist’s revelation
Prof. Haim Eshed was head of Israel’s security space program (1981 to 2010) and received the Israel Security Award 3 times (twice for confidential technological inventions). But in his latest book “The Universe beyond the Horizon” and interviews, he may have gone too far. Make your own minds up!
New UK-Israel defense agreement
Israel and Britain have signed an agreement for further cooperation between the IDF and the British Armed Forces that will see the two militaries cooperate in a variety of fields, including training and defense education. Cooperation will include defense-oriented medical training
Israel to join International Energy Agency
The State of Israel has been accepted into the International Energy Agency (IEA) after members of the agency voted unanimously in favor of the move. It recognizes Israel’s role in regional and international energy and gives it access to important sources of industry research.
What the IDF did in Albania
Last year, the IDF dispatched a humanitarian aid delegation to Muslim-majority Albania after a 6.4-magnitude quake devastated the capital city of Tirana. See and hear one of the IDF soldiers describe how the operation helped some 1,600 Albanian families return to their homes and saved many lives.
Israel launches new Moon project
Israel has begun Beresheet 2, the country’s second lunar project. In 2024, SpaceIL, the Israel Space Agency and others plan to launch a mission to put a spacecraft in lunar orbit and two landing craft on the Moon’s surface. Seven countries including the UAE want to participate in the project.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Israeli hi-tech on display in Dubai
For the first time, Israel participated at Dubai’s Gitex exhibition – the world’s largest digital exhibition. Export Institute Director Gadi Arieli called it “a milestone in building a platform for developing economic relations between us and the Emirates.” 130+ Israeli companies exhibited.
Smart city winner
Israel’s Zencity (reported here previously) has won the governance and economy prize at the 2020 Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC). SCEWC awards are granted to “pioneering projects,” innovations, ideas and strategies that make cities more livable, sustainable, inclusive and economically viable.
Cultivated meat – who can tell?
Israel’s Prime Minister tasted cultivated steak at Israel’s Aleph Farms (reported here previously). He said it was “unbelievable, delicious and compassionate.” He could not tell the difference from animal-produced meat. He saw Israel at the forefront of a global alternative protein ecosystem.
Autonomous driving to Tel Aviv
Tech business analyst Hillel Fuld posted a video clip of his morning ride to Tel Aviv. It was no ordinary commute, due to the self-driving system that was piloting his vehicle along the Ayalon’s fast lane.
Six robotic projects
Israel’s SixAI has six projects involving robotics. They comprise inspecting parts for defects, autonomous transport by forklift, autonomous microchip manufacture, goods delivery, recruitment and perimeter security.
Arcade games go online
Israel’s Gigantic is behind the game Clawee, which enables virtual playing of claw machines through live video streaming. Prizes are delivered to the winner’s doorstep. Players operate one of 220 real claw machines located at Gigantic’s Petah Tikva studio. Other games include soccer, hoops and golf.
Solving the problem of textile waste
Israeli organization Re-born Textiles is piloting its solutions for preventing unwanted clothes ending up in landfills. New/nearly new are returned to retail for ReUse; older products are “ReMade” into new clothes; those in poor condition are “ReCycled” into industrial products.
Antimicrobial fabric for new cars
Israel’s Sonovia Tech, makers of the facemasks that neutralize the Covid-19 virus, has partnered Italian car component manufacturer Adler Group. Sonovia will develop textiles using their antimicrobial fabric, to be used by Adler in carpets and other interior features for many makes of car.
Manage security in the cloud
Israel’s Wiz provides companies with complete visibility of the security of its computer infrastructure in the Cloud. It enables risk management of networks, identities, applications and vulnerabilities. Easy to install, focusing on the critical issues and providing speedy analysis of the root causes.
Fast analysis of data
The high-performance technology from Israel’s Firebolt allows companies to analyze much larger volumes of up-to-date data than previously possible. Firebolt combines the simplicity, elasticity and low cost of the cloud with the latest innovations in analytics.
An AI marketing assistant
Israeli-founded Exceed.ai uses Artificial Intelligence to work alongside sales reps. It emails and web chats with prospective customers, handling the mundane tasks 24×7 while reps close deals. It personalizes answers to queries just like a human assistant, books meetings for the reps and ensures follow-up.
Monitoring 50 million trees.
Israel’s SeeTree (reported here previously) now monitors over fifty million trees globally for their health and productivity. SeeTree extracts data using high-resolution, multi-dimensional sensing imagery obtained from drones, paired with ground sensors and samples taken by forest rangers.
ECONOMY & BUSINESS
Investment up 20% with a month to go
Start-Up Nation Central reports that capital raised by Israeli startup companies is breaking records in 2020 despite the Covid-19 crisis. Israeli companies raised $9.5 billion in the 11 months of 2020, eclipsing 2019’s $7.7 billion total for the whole 12 months.
New record for currency reserves
Israel’s reserves of foreign currency soared again last month. At the end of November, Israel held nearly $167 billion of foreign currency – over $6 billion more than at the end of October.
Lower housing costs
The Israeli government has approved plans to lower housing costs throughout the country. Housing units subsidized by the government will be listed alongside properties on the free market. It will create competition and lower the cost of living for eligible Israelis on low income.
Israel’s InvestiNation is a new equity crowdfunding platform, offering accredited US investors access to Israeli early-stage startups in fintech, ed-tech, construction and property technology.
eToro value soars
An unnamed US institution just bought $50 million of shares in Israel’s eToro (reported here previously). It values the company at a staggering $2.5 billion, turning it into another Israeli Unicorn. eToro’s clients now number over 16 million, who use eToro’s platform to trade stocks, commodities, FX etc.
Reacting to Covid-19.
Israeli medical AI triage platform Diagnostic Robotics (reported here previously) used the coronavirus pandemic to successfully change its focus and operations. It split its workforce into two, to reduce the risk of infections and formed a digital health partnership with Israel’s Ministry of Health.
Predicting property values
Israel’s Propdo AI develops technology capable of predicting residential real estate property prices. Its algorithm and data-based tools produce a projected valuation of a prospective purchase. The company will initially operate in the Israeli real estate market.
Watch the video. Israel’s myInterview allows companies to see and hear recruitment candidates without the need for face-to-face meetings – useful in these coronavirus times. Candidates record videos to promote themselves and the recruitment team can watch, review and agree whom to invite to a live interview.
Investment in Israeli startups:
Wiz raised $100 million; Firebolt raised $32 million; Salt Security raised $30 million; SeeTree raised $30 million; Biosight raised $27million; Brainsgate raised $14 million; Gigantic raised $7 million; Cylus raised $7 million; SixAI raised $5 million; myInterview raised $5 million; Exceed.ai raised $4 million; Propdo AI raised $2 million;
CULTURE, ENTERTAINMENT & SPORT`
Music for Peace in Eilat
The Music for Peace Festival in Eilat celebrated Israel’s normalization deals with UAE and Bahrain. Its location was significant – next to the pillars of Solomon, whose Hebrew name means Peace. The event, on UAE’s National Day, was uniquely broadcast live on an Abu Dhabi TV channel.
Endings and Beginnings
Center Stage – the only permanent English language theater in Israel – is holding a live music online event on Dec 27. It is entitled “Endings and Beginnings” and features songs from the stage and charts that celebrate endings and beginnings.
Imagine – John Lennon sang about Jerusalem
On the 40th anniversary of his death, a recording has surfaced of ex-Beatle John Lennon. He is singing in Hebrew, “Jerusalem, we have all sworn for eternity, we will not abandon you from here and forever”. Although an anti-religionist, he did claim to have a spiritual side.
Israel Philharmonic on Chanukah
Just a few more evenings to watch the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra perform at 5pm Israeli time (10am ESD, 3pm UK time) every night of Chanukah.
New role for Israel’s wonder woman
Israeli actress Gal Gadot (reported here previously) is to play a James Bond type super spy in the upcoming movie Heart of Stone. Meanwhile, her latest acclaimed movie Wonder Woman 1984 is now to be released on Dec 25 on the HBO Max live streaming service.
NASCAR record win & championship
Israeli NASCAR driver Alon Day has won the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Championship for the 3rd time in 4 years. He won a record 23 races this season with two still to go. Day is looking for a partnership so he can compete in NASCAR’s premier division, the Cup Series, in 2021.
THE JEWISH STATE
Israel wins award for skillful archaeology
The International Tunneling and Underground Space Association (ITA) normally awards prizes for railroads and road construction. But it was so impressed with the way Israel carefully constructs tunnels to uncover its history, that it gave Israel the “Oddities of the Underground” award.
Map of the Land of Israel. Israeli researcher Michal Eshed has developed a map in Hebrew and English of the settlement of the people of Israel in the Land of Israel. It contains some 700 ancient Israelite settlements and holy sites across the entire historic Land of Israel. It highlights that the Jews are indigenous to the land.
https://eretzil.net/english.html#!/home-english (Then click on “The Map” to preview before registering.)
Be a light
Great new song for Chanukah from Raanana Capella group Kippalive. They teamed up with Raanana-based charity Beit Issie Shapiro – one of the world’s leaders in the field of helping people with special needs and disabilities.
Hasmonean oil lamp discovered
Just in time for Chanukah. A City of David archaeologist has discovered an intact oil lamp from the Second Temple Hasmonean period, over 2,000 years ago. It was found while excavating Jerusalem’s ancient Pilgrimage Road, adjacent to the Western Wall.
Morocco has agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. At the Kotel Chanukah lighting, Israel’s PM said, “The light of peace has never shone brighter than today”. Each country will open diplomatic offices in each other’s country. There will also be direct flights between the two countries. | <urn:uuid:fa6fd653-fc79-41e4-98b8-26559418d190> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://americaunitedwithisrael.org/good-news-archive-december-13-2020/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571198.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810161541-20220810191541-00265.warc.gz | en | 0.882592 | 5,224 | 1.945313 | 2 |
'Atlanta' is Absurd
Glover's 'Atlanta' proves "there is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn."
Sisyphus is well-known for being forced to push a perpetually falling rock up a mountain for all eternity. He’s been widely interpreted as cunning, deceitful, self-aggrandizing, but it’s the famous absurdist Albert Camus who classified the fallen king as a hero…an absurd hero. In his essay, “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Camus takes a look not at the moments when Sisyphus is pushing the rock up the mountain nor when the rock habitually rolls back down, instead he focuses on the brief pause before Sisyphus returns to the bottom of the mountain only to repeat the same process.
More by this author
“She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see” - Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God | <urn:uuid:b7fa2bfe-8431-4678-b790-60f1c6362de2> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://catapult.co/community/stories/atlanta-is-absurd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00671.warc.gz | en | 0.935502 | 238 | 1.9375 | 2 |
THAT ANTIQUITIES THING AGAIN: ISIS ALLEGED TO BE SELLING ANTIQUITIES ...
Regular readers here know of my persisting suspicions about the Baghdad Museum Looting, and that there is something wrong with the story. My hypothesis has been roughly as follows: While US soldiers were allegedly seen entering, and leaving the Museum with crates in tow, speculations abounded it was an "inside job" and that the USA was behind it, as the robbers apparently knew their way around the museum, and exactly where to go. Subsequent official US led recovery efforts supposedly recovered most of the art objects and returned them to Iraq. Such was the story first broken, incidentally, by Germany's Der Spiegel, and subsequently by US Marine Col. Bogdanovich in his book recounting the recovery operation. I have suggested, however, that anyone could dress up in American uniforms and loot the museum, and that it may have been some independent group, or some other nation, trying to pin the blame on the USA. I have pointed out that the field catalogues of archaeological digs were being kept by the German and French teams the Hussein regime had in Iraq digging up the country for him. One crucial aspect of the story that continues to be an unresolved "dangling thread" is the alleged theft of thousands of untranslated cuneiform tablets, some of which allegedly ended up in Spain, and which Spain, for whatever reason, is refusing to return to Iraq.
That, at least, is the story as far as it has evolved to date, and even then, the sources for these various points remain dubious and suspect, being based on relatively obscure and uncorroborated internet stories (which are themselves difficult to track down).
Then, more recently, of course, we have heard the stories of ISIS destroying ancient sites in Iraq and Syria for their "idolatry," a story which itself raises suspicion meters into the red zone, for the Islamic world was present for centuries around these sites, and left them untampered with. Some Islamic scholars even investiated them, and did so with a view to provide perspectives on their own esoetric traditions. So why the sudden change?
One clue might be provided by this article, shared by Mr. T.L.:
Islamic State militants have provoked a global outcry by attacking ancient monuments with jackhammers and bulldozers. But they also have been quietly selling off smaller antiquities from Iraq and Syria, earning millions of dollars in an increasingly organized pillaging of national treasures, according to officials and experts.
The Islamic State has defended its destruction of cultural artifacts by saying they are idolatrous and represent pre-Islamic cultures. Behind the scenes, though, the group’s looting has become so systematic that the Islamic State has incorporated the practice into the structure of its self-
declared caliphate, granting licenses for digging at historic sites through a department of “precious resources.”
One recalls the first appearance of stories of the destruction of ancient artifacts by ISIS, and almost immediately there were suspicions that circulated on the internet that the artifacts that were allegedly destroyed were not genuine at all, but fake. Now The Washington Post is reporting that the sale of antiquities on the black market is being used as a source of funding.
So here comes the high octane speculation: suppose one wanted to mount a covert operation to recover certain antiquities, for whatever reason. How would one guarantee the success of such an operation? First, one does not look for antiquities that are allegedly destroyed, so one "theatrically destroys" a facsimile, and sells (or steals) the genuine item. Secondly, in order to deprive the Islamic world of its own possession and exploration of such antiquities, one would create an "Islamic" cult of a radical nature, denouncing them as idolatry (and hence off limits).
Why go to all the trouble? I suspect most readers here have guessed at my answer: if one is looking for information about possible hidden and ancient technologies, one would want to restrict access to it as much as possible. Eerily, the actions of ISIS seem to fit the requirements to an extraordinary degree. Just as one does not look for people supposedly dead, similarly one does not attempt to recovery an antiquity supposedly destroyed.
See you on the flip side...
Help the Community Grow
Please understand a donation is a gift and does not confer membership or license to audiobooks. To become a paid member, visit member registration. | <urn:uuid:cbc339d7-1358-49d2-b7b3-3c0107c75268> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://gizadeathstar.com/2015/06/that-antiquities-thing-again-isis-alleged-to-be-selling-antiquities-on-the-black-market/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00269.warc.gz | en | 0.977542 | 932 | 1.921875 | 2 |
As the population of senior citizens in Wisconsin grows, so do concerns about crimes targeting those residents.
Attorney General Brad Schimel says elder abuse is already a big problem in the state, with one in nine Wisconsin seniors reporting they were the victim of neglect, financial, physical, or sexual abuse in the past year. Those numbers are expected to climb, with the number of residents over the age of 65 set to rise significantly in the coming decade.
“This growth, and the growth in more and more seniors getting online, is creating a vulnerability,” he warns. “This is something we want to be way out in front of.”
Schimel hopes to get ahead of the issue by making more resources available to help local prosecutors tackle often complex financial crimes. The Department of Justice has also been working to bring together different groups that offers services to the elderly, to help raise public awareness about the issue and to identify precautions that can be taken to help protect people.
The Republican Schimel is gearing up to seek a second four year term in office next November. He currently faces a challenge from Democrat Josh Kaul. | <urn:uuid:7e26e090-bceb-4162-944c-422190c6c2b6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.wrn.com/2018/01/schimel-eyes-elder-abuse-as-a-growing-concern/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573197.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818124424-20220818154424-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.96195 | 233 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Ibuprofen is a common over-the-counter (OTC) pain relieving pill, which comes in category of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAID. NSAIDs are usually indicated for the treatment of acute or chronic conditions, where pain and inflammation are present. A study suggests that regular use of ibuprofen can reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is mental disorder that is characterized by body tremors and movement problems, which is mostly found in elderly people.
What does ibuprofen study involve?
A study was lead by Xiang Gao, research scientist at Harvard School of Public Health and instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Data regarding use of ibuprofen and other NSAIDs pain relievers such as Advil or Mortin from 136,197 nurses and other health professionals was collected and analyzed. The study is said to be one of the largest to investigate the possible benefits of ibuprofen on Parkinson’s and was published in the online edition of the journal Neurology.
What were results of ibuprofen Parkinson’s disease study?
The Harvard study revealed that after six years:
- 291 participants were diagnosed with Parkinson’s
- people who took ibuprofen regularly had a 38% lower risk of developing the disorder compared with those who didn’t use it.
- Meta analysis of several studies on ibuprofen and other NSAIDs showed ibuprofen users had a 27% lower risk of developing the disease.
Why would ibuprofen be effective in reducing risk of Parkinson’s disease?
This is a new development in...
medical science and exact cause of effectiveness of ibuprofen is not known yet. But, Alessandro Di Rocco, director of the Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Division at NYU’s Langone Medical Center revealed that “The idea that there is inflammation involved in the process of Parkinson’s is not new.” NSAIDs are effective against inflammation, and hence may help Parkinson’s patients.
Should I start taking ibuprofen to avert Parkinson’s disease?
James Bower, an associate professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn stated that “It’s too early for doctors to prescribe ibuprofen to prevent Parkinson’s, which affects about 1 million Americans, says the author of an accompanying editorial.” Although the study is said to be sound by Bower, but this is still early development and ibuprofen should not be taken regularly for Parkinson’s disease, without further evidence or direction from regulatory bodies. Ibuprofen can have serious side effects to kidney, liver, stomach and urological complications.
The study is promising and a step towards helping Parkinson’s disease patients. If you are suffering from Parkinson’s or have a family history of risk towards Parkinson’s disease, consult your doctor about using ibuprofen being aware of the known side effects. | <urn:uuid:c4bb1faf-dc54-49c1-b41e-f0b116b04a7b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.knowabouthealth.com/harvard-study-ibuprofen-can-reduce-risk-for-parkinsons-disease/8037/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00043-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956871 | 638 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Honesty is as much saying everything as it is saying what is true.
Richard A Snelling QuotesShowing all quotes
|Birth:||18th February, 1927|
|Death:||13th August, 1991|
Richard Arkwright Snelling was the 76th and 78th Governor of Vermont from 1977 to 1985 and from January 10, 1991 until his death from heart failure. He was the son of Walter O. Snelling. A member of the Republican Party, he served in the Vermont House of Representatives for six terms.
Quote of the day
Our mission is to motivate, boost self confiedence and inspire people to Love life, live life and surf life with words. | <urn:uuid:468ff3e1-ced2-4e04-ad11-da9ccf6eb8c1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.quoteswave.com/authors/richard-a-snelling | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572215.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815235954-20220816025954-00678.warc.gz | en | 0.95802 | 175 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Please fill the "Code Box" to find engine fault code.
|The all list of engine trouble codes.|
P0400 Engine Diagnostic Code
On 1999 and later P0400 engines, the instrument cluster has a built-in self-diagnostic mode that can be accessed by pressing and holding the instrument cluster SELECT/RESET button. Insert the ignition key and turn to the RUN position (but don't crank or start engine). Continue to press and hold the SELECT/RESET button (for 5 seconds) until the word TEST is displayed by the odometer. Release the SELECT/RESET button within three seconds after the word TEST is displayed to begin the self-diagnostic mode.
P0400 engine code provides below are generic codes that may not apply to all vehicles. Car manufacturer uses specific P0400 DTC code that are different from the codes shown below. Foreign vehicles may also use DTC codes different from the generic Engine Diagnostic codes.
P0400 Diagnostic Trouble Code Meaning And Solution
|Powertrain Problem||SAE - Generic||Auxiliary Emission Controls||00 Engine Fault Code|
Starting letter P diagnostic code shows that there are problems in engine, transmission and emissions systems.
Don't forget ! If your P0400 engine code not resolved on and there are trouble codes in your computer, your vehicle will not pass an OBD 2 emissions test. The light must be off and there must be no codes in memory to pass an OBD 2 emissions test. In addition, all of the OBD II self-monitors that check for faults must have run and completed without finding any further problems to pass the test. | <urn:uuid:ab46e150-0faf-4e82-8830-8e6fd5ac2f4e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://p0400.enginediagnosticcode.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571147.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810040253-20220810070253-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.84977 | 362 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Africa is the only region where COVID-19 cases are not increasing, according to the World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom.
Tedros made the remarks in his speech on Monday at the Financial Times Africa Summit.
“One of the few encouraging trends is in Africa, which has been less affected than other regions and is now the only region where cases are not increasing,” he said.
“The current downward trend is cause for optimism.”
The WHO chief noted that a number of countries on the continent drew lessons from their fight against other infectious diseases before COVID-19 to help them in the fight against the virus.
Tedros hailed Africa’s increased testing capacity, but noted that the continent still has “problems with access to testing kits.”
He however said the WHO was working with partners to fill those gaps.
The remarks by 55-year-old come as the number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in Africa stood at 1,577,644 with 38,396 deaths, according to the latest data from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tedros reiterated the WHO’s stand that the pandemic had proven to the world that health is not a luxury for humanity, but a basic need.
“Strong health systems and health security are two sides of the same coin,” he said.
“When people have access to quality, affordable prevention and treatment services, businesses and economies can flourish.
“Universal health coverage, based on primary health care, is the foundation of health security, stability and sustainability.” | <urn:uuid:f4ee0d32-ccfc-46bb-8a14-3c7c406b818d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://africa.cgtn.com/2020/10/12/africa-the-only-region-where-covid-19-cases-are-not-increasing-who-chief/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.96442 | 338 | 2.09375 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — The US economy is on sounder footing than it was a year ago but is still being restrained by government spending cuts and tax increases, the International Monetary Fund said Friday.
The IMF’s annual report on the US economy noted the underlying fundamentals are gradually improving: home prices and construction are rising, household finances have strengthened, and employers are steadily adding jobs.
The outlook was much more optimistic than IMF’s 2012 report.
‘‘There are signs that the US recovery is gaining ground and becoming more durable,’’ Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, said in a written statement.
Still, the IMF forecasts economic growth of just 1.9 percent this year, the same as its April forecast. That would be down from 2.2 percent in 2012. And it’s below many private economists’ expectations for more than 2 percent growth this year.
The International Monetary Fund says the tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in this year will shave about 1.5 percentage points from growth. The international lending organization had opposed the steep federal spending cuts, which began March 1.
The reduction in the US budget deficit ‘‘has been excessively rapid and ill-designed,’’ the IMF’s report says.
Congress should cancel the $85 billion in spending cuts, the report urged, and replace them with longer-term reductions in entitlement programs, such as Social Security, that would weigh less on the economy.
The IMF also expects that the Federal Reserve will maintain its bond purchases through the end of the year and will ‘‘very gradually’’ reduce them next year. The bond purchases are intended to lower long-term interest rates and encourage more borrowing, investing, and spending.
Some economists expect the Federal Reserve may begin to reduce its purchases as early as September.
Lagarde argued ‘‘there is no need to rush,’’ given that unemployment is still high and inflation low.
Fed policy makers meet June 18-19 and may provide some hint of their intentions.
Despite the drag from higher taxes and spending cuts, the IMF paints a much brighter picture of the US economy.
A year ago, the IMF warned the recovery was ‘‘tepid,’’ job growth was slow, and US households were still paying off debt.
A more optimistic outlook
Now, it sees consumers in better shape and the job market slowly strengthening. After the impact of the tax increases and spending cuts fades, growth should accelerate next year to 2.7 percent. That forecast assumes that members of Congress and the White House will agree to lift the government’s borrowing limit later this year.
Still, the IMF expects unemployment to fall only gradually over the next two years. It forecasts unemployment will average 7.5 percent this year and 7.2 percent in 2014.
The unemployment rate is currently 7.6 percent — 0.6 percentage points lower than a year ago.
The economy is also being held back by weakness overseas, the report said, which is slowing US exports, particularly to Europe. | <urn:uuid:882026b0-6646-4cbc-8a5d-b602f3222c5d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/06/14/imf-economy-improving-but-spending-cuts-drag/GOopfj8cAdEf0iybtwLiSP/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282926.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00391-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967027 | 649 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The ESA Planck satellite took this image of polarized light emission from interstellar dust. The darker regions (as you can read below) are the more strongly polarized. I am a little surprised by the amount of polarization away from the galactic equator, I thought it would have been more uniform. The full report will be coming out later this year.
Polarized light has been coming up quite frequently in different stories as of late.
The ESA short version:
The magnetic field of our Milky Way Galaxy as seen by ESA’s Planck satellite. This image was compiled from the first all-sky observations of polarised light emitted by interstellar dust in the Milky Way. The magnetic field is displayed using a visualisation technique called line integral convolution (LIC).
Darker regions correspond to stronger polarised emission, and the striations indicate the direction of the magnetic field projected on the plane of the sky. The dark band running horizontally across the centre corresponds to the Galactic Plane. Here, the polarisation reveals a regular pattern on large angular scales, which is due to the magnetic field lines being predominantly parallel to the plane of the Milky Way. The data also reveal variations of the polarisation direction within nearby clouds of gas and dust. This can be seen in the tangled features above and below the plane, where the local magnetic field is particularly disorganised.
The image is a Mollweide projection of the full celestial sphere, with the plane of the Galaxy aligned with the horizontal axis of the oval. Certain areas in the image, mostly at high Galactic latitude, have been masked out. The overall intensity in these regions is low, complicating the separation of foreground and CMB components. Further data analysis will improve this by the time of the full data release in late 2014. | <urn:uuid:6c5297ee-73eb-4aeb-9326-50de004ace0d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://nineplanets.org/news/2014/05/09/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720972.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00252-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931919 | 362 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Money and finance play a deeply fundamental role in your life. Now, let an expert professor lead you in a panoramic exploration of our monetary and financial systems, their inner workings, and their crucial role and presence in your world.
As a guiding theme of these 36 content-rich lectures, you observe the ways in which economies require efficient and evolving financial institutions and markets to fulfill their potential. In building a full view of our financial system, you delve into these and other vital subjects: central banks, commercial banks, and the Federal Reserve; interest rates and interest rate policy; bonds and stock markets; and foreign exchange and international banking.
Across the arc of this lecture series, you'll tackle key topics that shed light on the functioning of our financial system as a whole. You study the critical subject of inflation and its relationship to the consumer price index and to excess money growth. You'll investigate the causes and implications of the federal deficit and the national debt. In the international arena, you'll learn about the implications of trade deficits in global economic relationships and the question of monetary policy coordination between nations, weighing the significant benefits to the global economy of cooperation between central banks.
This is a rare chance to gain a grounded understanding of our monetary and financial systems, and to grasp the vital elements of finance that directly affect our way of life, our national concerns, and your own life and future.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
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I was frustrated. If I’m frustrated, there’s no doubt my students feel the same way. During one winter break, I knew I needed to find a refresh button somewhere. In my search to find a way to shift my classroom, I stumbled upon the idea of giving up grades and helping my students to value learning. The key to success I knew would hinge on one thing: focused feedback.
I immersed myself in the topic. I couldn’t find enough to read and learn. I was hooked. Focused feedback, no grades, and a classroom buzzing with active learners. I wanted that.
The outdated classroom cycle
- I teach writing lessons and have students practice one skill at time.
- I take a lot of time to provide feedback…. and a grade.
- My students check the grade and file the paper (if they like the grade) or ditch the paper (if they don’t).
Then, I repeat the cycle. Sometimes I provide the same exact feedback and then give the same grade. Repeat again.
By the time December rolls around, I’m exhausted. Now, I’m just putting a grade on the paper. Now my feedback is simply, “If you want to know what to fix, come see me.” How many kids come see me? Not nearly enough. I’m frustrated.
Giving up grades
So, I started the new year determined and inspired. However with 128 students, I needed to find an effective way to provide specific, focused feedback. Enter the SE2R strategy, or, as I like to call it, teacher’s gold.
Because it’s specific and differentiated, applying SE2R takes time. In an effort to speed up the process, I searched for technology to help me. Already an avid Google Docs user, my students mostly completed writing online, and I utilized comments to “mark it up.” Then I discovered Kaizena. This Google Chrome app allows me to add recorded focused feedback via audio, highlight areas of concern, and attach resources my students can review.
Armed with SE2R, Google Docs (using Doctopus), and Kaizena Mini, I have converted my classroom. Giving focused feedback to my students is direct, differentiated, specific, and quick. By recording my summary, explanation, redirection, and request to resubmit, I’ve cut time. Next, I highlight the area I want my students to focus on revising, and I attach a resource.
My students? At first they were wary and hesitant — no doubt. These are gifted students who only value the “end game” because it is what they have been taught all their lives.
However, after the first feedback-only assignment, I started to see more buy-in. More important, I started to see them love to learn. They eagerly plug their ear buds into laptops to listen to my feedback. They click on the resources. They make revisions. Then, record themselves, “Hey, Mrs. Powers, is this better? Did I get right this time?”
Me? The frustration is gone. I’m smiling.
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ELA teacher of the gifted; NBCT; lover of words, writing, books, and technology; passionate about creating a buzz through inspiration and learning; mom of three amazing kids with an incredible partner; conquering life's challenges with a smile. | <urn:uuid:509385a1-d038-4276-bdae-cc6abd658ecc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.brilliant-insane.com/2015/01/throw-out-grades-give-focused-feedback-smile-repeat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284411.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00465-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94604 | 725 | 2.15625 | 2 |
DUBLIN, Apr. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/mrjqzs/automotive) has announced the addition of the "Automotive Ignition System Market by Components (Ignition Switch, Spark Plug, Glow Plug, Ignition Coil, Ignition Control Module, Crankshaft & Camshaft Position Sensor), Ignition Type (Coil on Plug & Simultaneous) and Region - Industry Trends & Forecast to 2019" report to their offering.
The global automotive ignition system market size in terms of value is projected to grow to $7.6 billion by 2019 at a CAGR of 6.2%.
The ignition system which is used in all transportation applications forms an integral component to provide the starting power to the electrical and mechanical components used in these applications. Automotive ignition systems continued to evolve from the 1950's, the automobile manufacturers began to use semiconductor devices the predecessors of today's electronic components as standard equipment. Transistorized ignition was the first step in this direction, and was followed by a variant in which the mechanical contact was replaced by an electronic pulse generator, known as the Hall generator. Today, the high voltage is commonly generated by individual coils, which transmit power directly to the spark plugs.
U.S. new-car sales have been rising as a consequence of improving economy, generous incentive spending and increased demand for trucks and sport-utilities have lifted the annualized selling pace to an unprecedented high. Robust manufacturing, new housing strength and rising employment have been seen as the reasons for continued optimism. Western Europe car sales are expected to recover from the long slump with a two or three per cent gain in medium term. However, the torrid period since the global financial crash has seen the disappearance of more than 2-1/2 million sales every year in Western Europe.
Asia-Oceania and North America are growing at a good pace owing to the increase in automotive production and demand for vehicles in these regions. Increase in purchasing power and low penetration of automobiles in emerging nations such as China, Brazil and India has resulted in an increase in demand for personal transportation. Asia-Oceania is estimated to be the largest market for ignition systems and is projected to grow at a highest rate from 2014 to 2019.
Key Topics Covered:
2 Research Methodology
3 Executive Summary
4 Premium Insights
5 Market Overview
6 Industry Trends
7 Global Ignition System Market, By Geography
8 Global Ignition System Market, By Component
9 Global Ignition System Market, By Ignition Type
10 Competetive Landscape
11 Company Profiles
- CEP Technologies
- Delphi Automotive LLP
- Denso Corporation
- Federal-Mogul Corp.
- Hitachi Automotive Systems
- Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
- Robert Bosch GMBH
- Visteon Corporation
- Wings Automobile Products Pvt. Ltd.
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/mrjqzs/automotive
Media Contact: Laura Wood , +353-1-481-1716, [email protected]
SOURCE Research and Markets | <urn:uuid:fae6d4e5-abc6-4283-ae57-bc6d9e2bf77f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/global-automotive-ignition-system-ignition-switch-spark-plug-glow-plug-ignition-coil-ignition-control-module-crankshaft--camshaft-position-sensor-market-2015-2019-300071741.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00471.warc.gz | en | 0.911513 | 680 | 1.5 | 2 |
Spanish-born Montreal artist Montserrat Duran Muntadas plays at the intersection between material culture and femininity through her glass installations. Diagnosed with a uterine malformation in early adolescence, themes of motherhood, infertility, and heritage are prevalent in her works. As such, her sculptures become an extension of contributing to her family lineage. Often referred to as Anomalies, Muntadas’ combined use of fabrics and glass are born from and nourished by her inner experiences.
Montserrat Duran Muntadas – A Passion for Glass
Firstly, Montserat Duran Muntadas always knew she wanted to be a glass artist. Even though it was uncommon, her passion for the material drove her to continuously strive for her dream. Mesmerized by the transformative and malleable quality of glass, Montserrat felt that its temperamental nature was similar human nature.
More specifically, under the right conditions, this material can be either fragile or strong. Just as people can be sensitive to their environment and experiences, Muntadas identified with the properties of the glass, and used it to effectively construct her evocative installations.
The In-between-ness of Montserrat Duran Muntadas
Second of all, the transformative quality of Montserrat’s work addresses the divide between Art and Craft. Initially studying Visual Arts at the University of Barcelona, she immediately faced the challenges of becoming a glass artist.
At the time of her studies, the distinction between Art and Craft was more prominent. Consequently, Montserrat’s choice of medium meant that she would only be regarded as a crafts person. In fact, this drove her to take a break between her studies. This was to embark on a two-year program at El Centro Nacional del Vidrio, where she learned more techniques in working with glass.
Furthermore, her sculptures demand accepting her condition as part of her feminine identity. Hence Muntadas draws attention to the expectations about what constitutes Art and Craft. Thus the experimental nature of Muntadas’ work, paired with the use of fabrics that developed later in her career, requires fluidity between the two terms.
Unlike her condition’s startling nature, the deformities added onto the smooth surface of her blown glass structures are deliberate. On one hand, Muntadas’ use of organic curves reminds us of the uterus and ovaries. These have been ornamented with an array of textiles and decorated with smaller flame-worked pieces.
On the other hand, while Anomalies addresses the abnormality within her inner physical self, Muntadas purposefully creates an environment for them to come to life and be celebrated. Therefore, her sculptures’ disturbing nature transforms to one of beauty and growth and invites us to accept their existence.
Furthermore, as Montserrat’s subject matter is deeply personal, she meticulously chose the displayed textiles to connect to the materials she grew up with in Spain. Therefore, their vibrant and lush nature draws on the energizing environment she associates with home and family.
In contrast to her white and more sober works, these pieces speak on the duality of her experience. More precisely, the duality of migrating to Canada while remaining close to her Spanish roots. As she first learned to sew at her grandparents’ home by making clothes for her dolls, the act of dressing her sculptures also parallels the nurturing act of dressing children.
To conclude, I loved that Montserrat Duran Muntadas’ creations speak to the ability to move forward. Moreover, her Anomalies celebrate the emergence of the new and being able to adapt and survive. Furthermore, if you would like to discover more about this evocative artist, you can check out her works on her website and her Instagram for some behind the scenes!
Lastly, it was a pleasure having Montserrat’s artworks in the My Magic Reality Spring exhibit at the Jano Lapin Gallery! At the moment, the Gallery is setting up for its Summer exhibit Wild Trails so we invite you to check out more information about this upcoming exhibit here.
JMSB alumna with a business mind and a creative heart. Prefers any environment where she can combine the two. World traveler who is at her happiest in airports/train stations/bus stands because that usually means she is on her way to explore a fascinating new destination. Curious about the process and history of creators such as Gaudí, Dalí, and Chanel to name just a few. Montrealer who loves discovering art and stories that set the soul on fire, making them all the more exciting to share! | <urn:uuid:1aab726d-cf22-4815-8db1-97bdf95c744f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://janolapin.com/2021/07/08/montserrat-duran-muntadas-art-a-passion-for-glass/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571056.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809155137-20220809185137-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.956065 | 964 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol III:Early Church Fathers Index Previous Next
Tertullian: Part I: The Pythagorean Doctrine Refuted by Its Own First Principle, that Living Men are Formed from the Dead.
Chapter XXIX.—The Pythagorean Doctrine Refuted by Its Own First Principle, that Living Men are Formed from the Dead.
It is indeed, manifest that dead men are formed from living ones; but it does not follow from that, that living men are formed from dead ones. For from the beginning the living came first in the order of things, and therefore also from the beginning the dead came afterwards in order. But these proceeded from no other source except from the living. The living had their origin in any other source (you please) than in the dead; whilst the dead had no source whence to derive their beginning, except from the living. p. 210 If, then, from the very first the living came not from the dead, why should they afterwards (be said to) come from the dead? Had that original source, whatever it was, come to an end? Was the form or law thereof a matter for regret? Then why was it preserved in the case of the dead? Does it not follow that, because the dead came from the living at the first, therefore they always came from the living? For either the law which obtained at the beginning must have continued in both of its relations, or else it must have changed in both; so that, if it had become necessary for the living afterwards to proceed from the dead, it would be necessary, in like manner, for the dead also not to proceed from the living. For if a faithful adherence to the institution was not meant to be perpetuated in each respect, then contraries cannot in due alternation continue to be re-formed from contraries. We, too, will on our side adduce against you certain contraries, of the born and the unborn, of vision 1710 and blindness, of youth and old age, of wisdom and folly. Now it does not follow that the unborn proceeds from the born, on the ground that a contrary issues from a contrary; nor, again, that vision proceeds from blindness, because blindness happens to vision; nor, again, that youth revives from old age, because after youth comes the decrepitude of senility; nor that folly 1711 is born with its obtuseness from wisdom, because wisdom may possibly be sometimes sharpened out of folly. Albinus has some fears for his (master and friend) Plato in these points, and labours with much ingenuity to distinguish different kinds of contraries; as if these instances did not as absolutely partake of the nature of contrariety as those which are expounded by him to illustrate his great masters principle—I mean, life and death. Nor is it, for the matter of that, true that life is restored out of death, because it happens that death succeeds 1712 life.
Insipientiam. “Imbecility” is the meaning here, though the word takes the more general sense in the next clause.210:1712
Next: Further Refutation of the Pythagorean Theory. The State of Contemporary Civilisation.
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“The literature of social movements suggests that the prudent choice of frames, and the ability to effectively contest the opposition’s frames [re-frame], lie at the heart of successful policy advocacy.” Framing Public Issues Toolkit
Have you ever noticed how the mainstream media frames people with mental health issues as violent and unpredictable? A common media myth: people with a mental illness are more likely to be a victim of violence; and are more dangerous to themselves than they are to others.
8 useful things to know about issues framing
- It’s a way of structuring or presenting information into messages (words, metaphors and images) that can influence how people think about an issue. The infamous War on Terror is a classic example.
- It aims to simplify reality by shaping people’s assumptions and perceptions.
- A good frame engages the listeners’ values and emotions and it’s easy to remember.
- It’s packaged to encourage certain interpretations and to discourage others.
- For political purposes, framing often presents facts in such a way that implicates a problem that is in need of a solution.
- In a political context issue framing means presenting an issue in a way that’s going to get the biggest buy-in.
- Frames are powerful because most of us have internalized them from the media so they’re second nature to us.
- Some people call it spin.
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On Earth Day—April 22, 2012—about 200 people, accompanied by children in strollers, dogs, rabbits, chickens, and carrying hundreds of pounds of compost and at least 10,000 seedlings entered a 14-acre piece of land containing the last Class I agricultural soil in the East Bay. Located on the Albany-Berkeley border in the Bay Area, the plot is owned by the University of California Berkeley. By the end of the day, they had weeded, tilled, and successfully cultivated about an acre of the land. By May 14, when 100 University of California riot police surrounded the tract and began arresting the farmers, Occupy the Farm had cultivated around five acres of the plot known as the Gill Tract.
The Occupy farmers have laid out footpaths around cultivated plots, created wildlife corridors, riparian zones, and protected areas for native grasses and a wild turkey nest, and set up a library and a kitchen. They have planted thousands of seedlings of corn, tomatoes, squash, beans, broccoli, herbs, and strawberries, including heirloom varieties from a local seed bank. Other plots have been reserved for agro-ecological research. There’s also a permaculture garden for kids on the other side of a gazebo of woven branches where wind chimes tinkle in the breeze.
“As a mother, I was nervous about taking my daughters into a land occupation. But I also feel an enormous responsibility to stand up against a global economic system that puts profit over people.” —Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan
Gopal Dayaneni of Movement Generation, says that the vision for the farm is the “practice and promotion of sustainable urban agriculture with a commitment to food justice and food sovereignty.” He is a father, activist, and member of what he calls the “new urban peasantry.” Food grown on the farm will be distributed—for free—through existing food justice networks in the San Francisco Bay Area.
On April 24, the University shut off the water supply and threatened the farmers with eviction. University administration has gone on a media offensive, attempting to pit researchers against the Occupy farmers and according to some reports, preventing them from negotiating with the farmers. Some faculty members have published statements in support of the farmers, arguing that the goals of the farm are aligned with the public policy goals of the state and the U.C. mission. If transforming a student’s life is part of that mission, U.C. Berkeley student Lesley Haddock has certainly experienced it working on the farm. “Before our project began, I had never planted a seed,” she admits. “But in the past two weeks, I have become a farmer!”
Public Good—Private Gain at the Gill Tract
One of the Occupy farmers, Ashoka Finley is a program assistant with Urban Tilth and runs an organic farm in collaboration with students at Richmond High School, in Richmond, California. A political economy graduate of U.C. Berkeley, Finley believes that the farm is redefining and reclaiming the role of the public university, just as the Occupy movement is redefining and reclaiming public space.
“The history of the Gill Tract is [about] public subsidization of private research that [profits] the corporate industrial complex; not research for the public good,” he says.
It was not always this way. The 104-acre plot was sold to the University in 1928 by the Gill family with the condition that it be used as an agricultural research station. Under the Smith-Lever Act of 1914, part of the University’s mission as a land grant institution is to promote community involvement and initiatives in agriculture.
From the 1940s through the 1990s, research conducted at the Gill Tract laid the groundwork for successful, non-chemical and non-petroleum-based methods for controlling numerous major insect pests on several California crops, and for the integration of biological, chemical, and cultural methods of pest control.5 The innovative methods developed, shared, and refined at the International Center for Biological Control included intercropping6 and using bugs to control pests in addition to or in place of pesticides, and means to reduce overall chemical dependency and prevent the development of superbugs in industrial and community agriculture worldwide.“Farmland is for farming.”
The turning point came in 1998, when Novartis gave $25 million to the Plant and Microbial Biology department to conduct genetic research on the land. “They kicked off the local organic pest management project to do gene research,” says Ulan McKnight of the Albany Farm Alliance. “What was here before directly benefitted the people of California; now what they do here directly benefits biotechnology companies. Instead of doing things that can help people, they are doing things that benefit the one percent.”
Among the projects closed down at the time was a seed bank of rare heirloom varieties of many important food crops, and a state-of-the-art drip irrigation system from a student-run urban sustainable agriculture demonstration plot. Until the water was cut off at the Tract, the Occupy farmers were planning to start using those irrigation tubes again.
Privatization Leaves U.C. System Impoverished
The trend of privatizing the research and knowledge produced at public institutions is systemic, according to Julie Sze, associate professor of American Cultures at U.C. Davis. A long-time supporter of social justice and student movements, Sze attributes her activism to her student days at U.C. Berkeley, where she took courses with the likes of RP&E founder Carl Anthony. She credits the university with being the “social justice innovation lab” that produced so many of the environmental justice leaders of today and argues that corporatization is an impoverishment of the U.C. system and a betrayal of the system’s legacy for California.
It is worth noting that the number of people graduating from UCLA annually exceeds the total number of people graduating from all private colleges in the state. It is no exaggeration, therefore, to say that whatever happens with the U.C. system affects the future of California.
Universities have a special role to encourage ways of thinking that go beyond the corporate workplace, says Sze. People who have fought to work with communities on the side of racial and economic justice are an important legacy of the university. People like Paul Taylor, who in the 1930s, promoted the idea of the agricultural job ladder (where farm workers could eventually become family farmers) over the agribusiness model, which depended on seasonal workers. The university is a place to explore and imagine different possibilities and different futures, which is why student activism is a global force and so deeply threatening to the existing order.
Sze believes that the move towards corporate funding of research, coupled with increasing student debt, has curtailed the ability and desire of students to participate in the creative and innovative social justice thinking and activity that is so important to the common good.
David Naguib Pellow, another movement scholar-activist and a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, observes, “Every [public] university I’ve worked at, professors are encouraged to secure external funding for their research to alleviate state budget constraints. This often involves seeking resources from corporations and foundations that have little or no accountability to the public, which amounts to the privatization of ideas, knowledge, and the commons, and is a dangerous trend if we desire to live in a democratic society.”
The tuition hikes and the cuts in programs that do not have a corporate/profit bent are a direct result of the bias towards education in the service of corporations, according to Finley, and needs to be countered by the training of people in the service of people.
Occupy the Future—Take It, Make It, Shape It
In an email sent out in early May, Adbusters urges recipients to “occupy the future;” that is, “to describe, build and sustain the post-capitalist future we want to live in.”
Dayaneni concurs with that sentiment. “People ask me what they can do to support. I say, take more land. Occupy a library, a clinic, whatever, plan it right and [re-launch] it appropriately and at scale. We need to prove that we have the ability to self govern. This is the new moment of occupy, not tit for tat, not cat-and-mouse games with cops, but full-scale intervention. Occupy the Farm is one of the first to-scale interventions.”
Projects like Occupy the Farm also create a sort of sovereignty and allow a space for larger political expression where people can articulate their demand for a more egalitarian, just society through work done with their own hands, argues Finley.
“In the first world, we have been fed a false sense of security that is imploding,” says Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan, recounting her family’s experience with the militant experiment in collective governance and self-sufficiency. “On Earth Day, our families were a part of manifesting a collective vision for a better way forward—that the land be a community educational center. We have planted strawberries in the children’s garden and feed the chickens with snails that we collect from our own garden. My partner, a cook, brings us food regularly. We are making that vision real.”
Not everybody, however, sees Occupy the Farm in the same light and on the same terms, Finley points out. For many communities of color, farmwork is both a practice of material and cultural survival and self-sufficiency, and, at the same time, deeply tied to racialized exploitation in the United States. For African Americans, farming is related to slavery and sharecropping. For recent immigrants from Latin America, farming is about the bankruptcy brought on by the dumping of subsidized monoculture products in their countries. And for Southeast Asian immigrants, farming is associated with a bloody countryside strewn with unexploded ordnance and other detritus from U.S. wars. At the same time, like other forced immigrants before them, these people have also brought with them a knowledge and identity that is wrapped up in the cultivation and ceremony of working the land.
Subsistence through the production of one’s own food is one of the most effective forms of resistance. But the action at Gill Tract also points toward the broader challenges at the University.
The arena of struggle revealed by Occupy the Farm is not just organic farming, food justice, and food sovereignty. The classrooms, the libraries, and the research agenda of the university are being shaped to meet the needs of corporate sponsors. Groundbreaking areas in scholarship that were pioneered in the University of California, such as Ethnic Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, were won by student-led protest and strikes (and occupations) in the early 1970s. They now face devastating cuts against which students are mobilizing. Battles against tuition hikes, student debt, and democratizing University governance will be key to shifting the overall direction of the university and the society.
Amilcar Cabral, the African revolutionary and agricultural engineer once said: “Culture contains the seed of resistance, which blossoms into the flower of liberation.” At the Gill Tract we can see seeds of resistance that have been planted—but it is clear that in order to blossom, they will need watering.
6. The practice of planting two or more crops together or in close proximity. Benefits include structural support for climbing plants (beans and squash growing on corn), increased yields (from legumes enriching soils), natural pest repellents (marigolds, for example), and climate control for shade loving plants (coffee grown under shade-producing trees, such as Erythrina or Jacaranda).
Diana Pei Wu is a frequent contributor to RP&E. She is a researcher, activist, organizer, and trainer with the Ruckus Society and various media, justice strategy and training organizations, as well a member of the boards of smartMeme and the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans. She has a Ph.D. from the department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management at U.C. Berkeley. | <urn:uuid:f1e1a35e-bfa3-4f68-8937-2643e36f6b8d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.energybulletin.net/print/62198 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719286.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00498-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947422 | 2,560 | 2.625 | 3 |
Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria
Born at Terara in the Shoalhaven District of NSW on 11 August 1859, died on 16 February 1961 in Linfield, Sydney at the age of 101.
Botanical artist. Contributed to The Wild Flowers of New South Wales by William Bauerlen and Gertrude Lovegrove (1891)
published by Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
Eldest daughter of William Makepeace Lovegrove who moved to the Shoalhaven area initially to set up the Illawarra Steamship Company and later served in various government positions including Clerk of Petty Sessions and Mayor. The Lovegroves were wealthy, well liked and actively involved in the affairs of the district. Her father painted landscapes which the newspaper reviewer of one exhibition observed "evince artistic skill of no mean ability".
In 1888 the family moved to Marrickville, Sydney. It was at Marrickville that Gertrude might have met her future husband, Wilfred Blacket, a successful barrister. They married when both were 34 years old.
Little is known about how she came to illustrate The Wild Flowers of New South Wales under the joint authorship of William Bauerlen and Gertrude Lovegrove. Only one volume was ever published in 1891. It was intended to publish 25 parts. In 2007 all the Lovegrove paintings for the remaining parts were held in specially made boxes by Berkelouw Book Sellers, Berrima, NSW. It is understood they had remained with the Blacket family until after Gertrude's death in 1961.
Source: H.Hewson Australia - 300 Years of Botanical Illustration
Olsen, Penny (2013) Collecting Ladies: Ferdinand von Mueller and Women Botanical Artists, NLA Publishing;
pers com Murray Fagg re Berkelouw Book Sellers (photo: M.Fagg).
Example of artwork:
Link to digitized album of watercolours at State Library of NSW: http://18.104.22.168/album/albumView.aspx?acmsID=845223&itemID=1008822
Link to digitized first and only volume of The Wildflowers of New South Wales (1991): http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-f6806a | <urn:uuid:e1e6c664-1416-4824-9d70-c763d33ef154> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/lovegrove-gertrude.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988721387.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183841-00447-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951433 | 486 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Ashley Brown, an assistant professor in the joint department of biomedical engineering at NC State and UNC Chapel Hill. The post is an entry in an ongoing series that we hope will highlight the diversity of researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
My name is Ashley Brown, and I am an assistant professor in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill. My research focuses on creating novel biomimetic soft materials for augmenting wound healing and for understanding biological processes involved in tissue repair.
“Biomimetic” refers to imitating, or mimicking, biological models, systems, and/or components. By using biomimetic approaches, researchers can create materials in the lab that replicate certain desired features of biological systems to solve engineering problems.
As an example, a current biomimetic approach in my group includes the development of platelet-like particles, which mimic certain features of natural platelets, including size, mechanical properties and binding to wound sites. Natural platelets are critical to cessation of bleeding following injury and promote subsequent wound healing. By mimicking features of natural platelets, we can create synthetic particles that have similar biological effects as natural platelets, such as helping to stop bleeding and promoting wound healing, without the potential negative side effects of transfusion of natural platelets, such as inducing a negative immune response.
We can also use biomimetic approaches to create two-dimensional and three-dimensional assemblies constructed from soft materials that mimic the mechanics and biological properties, such as protein composition, of natural tissues. We can then use these assemblies, which have carefully controlled material properties, to investigate cellular responses – such as cell adhesion and migration – that lead to proper wound repair, as opposed to scar tissue formation. By understanding the underlying cellular mechanisms that promote wound healing without scarring, we can subsequently design better materials that promote tissue repair.
I grew up in Greer, South Carolina, where I had the pleasure of having several wonderful science teachers in middle school and high school who instilled in me a love for physical and life sciences. So, when I was in 7th grade, I decided that I wanted to be an engineer. I attended Clemson University and received a B.S. in biosystems engineering. I subsequently attended Georgia Tech, where I received a PhD in bioengineering.
I was initially drawn to biomedical engineering because it allows me to apply my love of science and engineering to real world healthcare problems. Knowing that I am working on problems that could actually save someone’s life one day or greatly improve a patient’s standard of living is tremendously rewarding and continues to drive my passion for research.
I am passionate about science outreach, and I enjoy having opportunities to talk to middle and high school students about biomedical engineering. I also enjoy working with undergraduate and graduate students in the lab; it is fantastic to see students engaged in research and experiencing science and engineering first hand.
Outside of the lab, I enjoy spending time with my husband, Chris, who is an electrical engineer, and our two miniature dachshunds, Dobby and Gryffin. Chris and I met as undergraduates at Clemson, and we are huge college football fans. I also love adventure and traveling, and I enjoy staying active through running and Ashtanga yoga. | <urn:uuid:7eb2a450-db67-47b3-bb64-a0ced6f37c71> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://news.ncsu.edu/2016/01/science-looks-like-ashley-brown/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00025-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957281 | 688 | 2.625 | 3 |
It has been a surreal month for Singaporean artist-writer Sonny Liew. The name should ring a bell — he's drawn for Marvel and DC, and has received Eisner nominations (the comic industry equivalent of an Oscar) for his artwork.
He made the news recently when the National Arts Council withdrew an $8,000 grant on the eve of the launch of his book — The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Why? The book contained 'sensitive content'. The controversy lured a huge crowd to the book's launch at Kinokuniya Singapore the following day. Not surprisingly, the book sold out its first print run.
The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye has many layers. On the surface, it tells the story of an apparently forgotten pioneer of Singapore comics — the eponymous Charlie Chan. Through Charlie's unpublished works, we get a glimpse of the comic book history of Singapore. But it isn't an objective one. It's a version told by a boy with a giant robot, talking animals, a superhero named Roachman, and even an alternate dimension where the Barisan Sosialis wins the 1963 elections. Charlie definitely did not pull his punches, and his works provoke the reader to wonder about what might have been. In the end though, Charlie's commitment to his art and refusal to be pragmatic meant that success and recognition would elude him.
Although Charlie's own tale is poignant, the art that fills Liew's book is a joy to behold. The reader flipping through it will encounter many styles, each telling a different story. Comic book buffs will be delighted to spot the stylistic references to Osamu Tezuka, Walt Kelly, Frank Miller, and more. The facsimiles of different media, such as the comics printed with four-colour process, the old newspapers, and the full-page oil portraits, all give the book a feeling of authenticity. The reader, however, will have to ask if feeling real is the same as being real.
Congratulations on selling out the first print run of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye. Did you expect such a reception?
Well...yes and no. You're always filled with the fantasy that every book you publish will do fantastically well, but that's leavened by the cold hard reality of knowing that most books struggle to break even. I had a sense whilst doing it that Charlie Chan was breaking some new ground, but it was impossible to predict the reaction to it. The way things have turned out have been far beyond realistic expectation, not just in terms of sales and awareness here, but also having the book picked up by publishers in the U.S. and other countries.
Were you formally trained as an artist?
I was mostly self-taught until I went to art school in my mid-20s. I really did learn a lot in school; it was a chance to meet teachers and fellow students who could inspire and instruct you. Formal art school isn't a necessity, but you do need mentors and peers to learn from. For myself, at least, the journey did have to go through the Rhode Island School of Design.
You've said that the British weekly 2000AD, home of Judge Dredd, was an early inspiration to draw and write comics. What was it that inspired you?
It wasn't just Dredd; what was interesting about the weeklies was that it featured four or five stories, each with different artists with very varied styles. Compared with things like Richie Rich or the DC and Marvel comics, there was much less of a house style. Combined with some of the brightest writing talent emerging, and it was just a feeling that the stories were on a cutting edge — which I think they actually were from the '80s to the '90s, with folks like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Simon Bisley, etc. all emerging. Lots of lightning in bottles.
You curated an anthology for Image Comics called Liquid City that featured comic artists from Southeast Asia. Is there a particular regional comic style or is it as diverse stylistically as it is culturally?
Aside from the influence of Lat on a section of Malaysian creators, I would have to say no — that's partly due to our position in between the east and west, and the fact that there hasn't been a really developed comics industry in Southeast Asia. So we end up drawing influences from places like the U.S., Japan, France, Hong Kong, etc. And as it gets filtered through each artist or collective, you end up with a very diverse collection of styles and approaches.
Your art style seems to have some Japanese influence mixed into it. The work you did in Sense and Sensibility, for example, has some panels that look almost like manga.
For Sense, yes — it was an attempt to break up the visual monotony in a story that featured mostly people in rooms having conversations. Also as a visual way of showing shifts in tone —in film and television, you have the benefit of music to help do that; with comics perhaps you're left more reliant on visuals. I'm sure there's some manga influence there — I've loved Doraemon, Astroboy, Akira, Yotsuba and more.
You do a lot of your own colouring. Is there a particular reason why you prefer to do it yourself?
I really enjoy the process: trying to figure out a palette that works for a scene or a story, tweaking it this way and that until it looks right. So if the scheduling for a book allows for it, I'll usually do the colors as well. For a DC or Marvel title though, you really have to break up the process and have a team working on a book to meet the schedules. Then it becomes a different mindset, seeing how all the different sensibilities come together to produce something new.
You've worked with Marvel, DC and Image; would you say that having a distinctive drawing style is more of a help or hindrance for breaking into the American comics industry?
Style is a very tricky thing to get a handle on — subject to changing tastes, specific editors. My sense is that it has a lot to do with timing and circumstances as well, having the right conversation with the right person at the right time. But those things you can't really control. You can only work at your storytelling, improve yourself technically, maybe try to absorb what influences you think will help improve your art. And then hope things fall your way.
Several of the comics you've drawn, like The Shadow Hero and the new incarnation of Dr. Fate, have racial minorities as protagonists. Have your own experiences as a minority in the American comics industry influenced your approach?
Not so much in the comics industry; more to do with experiences living in the U.K. and America. In Singapore, being Chinese, I never got a sense of being an outsider in terms of race, so it was a bit of a culture shock when I was there. If you're part of the majority it's really easy to see the whole socio-economic structure that supports you as a natural, given thing. And of course when you hear about movie studios trying to make an Akira movie with Caucasians in lead roles you think there's a need for a pushback, to make alternative voices seen and heard.
Would a Charlie Chan find an audience in today's Singapore?
Talent is a tricky thing to assess. I think the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis explored that a little, and to me that's one of the interesting questions raised in my book — just why did Chan fail in commercial terms? Was it bad luck, circumstance or talent? We would like to think that plain artistic merit and success go hand in hand, but I think the way the world works is more complicated than that.
Do you think we rely too much on caricatures at the expense of heart? The one iconic Singaporean comic character everyone knows is Johnny Lau's Mr Kiasu. Even Charlie's Singaporean superhero was the Roachman, a nightsoil collector who gained super powers after getting bitten by a cockroach.
I don't think nightsoil collectors are to be scoffed at, so I'm not too sure about the premise of the question! And roaches here in Asia have a different status then in most western countries, if only because of the relative size of the species here.
That said, I don't think the division between parody and heart is an accurate binary. There's no reason why parodies can't be heartfelt. It's maybe more a question of how deeply a work looks at the question raised, rather than the forms in which they are raised.
Now that The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye is done, what's the next story that you've been waiting to tell?
There are lots of story ideas and projects I want to work on, but time, time, time! All stories at some level boil down to trying to find our place in the world though, a way of understanding life. So maybe something to do with the modern state of capitalism next? Should be easy-peasy.
The second printing of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, published by Epigram Books, will be in stock at bookstores on 19 June. | <urn:uuid:775ab442-364a-473d-8fb6-63c685f6c090> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.buro247.sg/culture/insiders/buro-exclusive-interview-with-sonny-liew.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719273.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00065-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975141 | 1,907 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Lean Process Works at Toyota USA
Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement have been around for more than a quarter-century, but it seems that those implementing these ideas in traditional workplaces still fail to grasp what's really needed to get the productivity leaps they seek. Fishman quotes Steven J. Spear, a senior lecturer at MIT who has studied Toyota for more than a decade:
The work is really threefold: making cars, making cars better, and teaching everyone how to make cars better. At its Olympian best, Toyota adds one more level: It is always looking to improve the process by which it improves all the other processes.Every members of a Toyota production team is both an expert in car manufacture and an expert in process improvement. With every employee trained in, and responsible for, hunting out waste the enterprise gains a powerful grassroots tool for improvement. Kosaku Yamada, chief engineer of the Lexus ES 300 has summed it up: "The real differential between Toyota and other vehicle manufacturers is not the Toyota Production System, but the Toyota Product Development System".
These same ideas underlie the Lean Software Development movement, spearheaded by Mary and Tom Poppendieck, authors of Lean Software Development, An Agile Toolkit, and Implementing Lean Software Development: From Concept to Cash. Their books provide thinking tools for building a new kind of team, that improves its own processes incrementally over time. Like the teams at Toyota, software teams using Lean Thinking have "reflection" built into their processes, time dedicated to rooting out waste and planning improvement, using ideas such as these:
Lean Software Development Principles
does not mean throw away all documentation.
does not mean keep on changing your mind.
Decide as late as possible
does not mean procrastinate.
Deliver as fast as possible
does not mean rush and do sloppy work.
Empower the team
does not mean abandon leadership.
Build integrity in
does not mean big, upfront design.
See the whole
does not mean ignore the details.
--Mary Poppendieck and Tom Poppendieck
Lean Software Development, An Agile Toolkit, p179
Expert in Process Improvement
Re: Expert in Process Improvement
Having external process groups sounds very CMMI-like and like I said very Lean-unlike. | <urn:uuid:98e4fe9f-d84c-4013-94e5-aa4c366ab555> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.infoq.com/news/2006/12/toyota-lean-tps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00154-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933039 | 475 | 1.523438 | 2 |
For some 20 years, companies have been running women’s
leadership development programs a lot like sensitivity seminars, to
develop awareness in both women and men that business women are, well,
"different” and to help women understand how best to integrate into the
existing business culture.
The good news is that these efforts, combined with education and
encouragement, have helped put women on 15% of the boards of the Fortune
500. More good news is that studies show that companies with about 30%
gender diversity on their boards actually outperform those with no women
by a wide margin measured through multiple metrics (e.g., an 84% return on sales). | <urn:uuid:947b34ff-bc6b-4521-b406-539a82f8c460> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://oiwc.site-ym.com/news/93892/The-business-case-for-gender-balanced-leadership.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280791.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00355-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964683 | 142 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Everybody always thought that the rain capital of Europe was situated in the UK. But they’re wrong. 7 of the 10 most rainy cities are situated in the UK, but n° 1 on that list is Halle a city in Germany, positioned 175km South-West from Berlin. It rains 266 days a year and it drives the inhabitants nuts.. The residents are sick and tired of the constant rain fall and would also want to enjoy the sun to get a tan, playing watergames, drive convertible or just relax.
Impossible you would think, but think again!
Sixt, the car rental company found a solution which can make the inhabitants’ life more pleasant. They enlisted the help of a former fighter pilot Sandro Wolf who uses a special technique to “blow the clouds away”. In the documentary “Sun in Halle” you can see how Sandro saves the inhabitants of constant flooding and despair. From now on, they’re finally able to go out and have some fun, and go roadtripping with a convertible.
A convertible from Sixt, of course… | <urn:uuid:539f2c06-7dc5-4158-9fbc-e9ac8e26cde4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://creativecriminals.com/online-content/sixt/sandro-wolf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572192.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815145459-20220815175459-00070.warc.gz | en | 0.958877 | 229 | 1.890625 | 2 |
We’re passionate about, truly devoted to and respectful of our culture. Inclusivity and diversity walk hand in hand. The breadth and depth of our colleges and course offerings are truly surprising for a campus of our size.
There’s so much more, as any Loyola student will tell you. So let’s get you started so you can be on your way to experience it for yourself. If you’re an international student (this means anyone needing a student visa in order to study in the United States), you’ll need to provide us with the following information:
Loyola New Orleans requires one letter of recommendation to complete your application. It should come from a teacher or educator who can speak to your academic ability. It can be submitted electronically via common application, or emailed, faxed or mailed.
You must submit official school transcripts as part of the application file. We’ll accept official transcripts coming directly from the high school: uploaded through Naviance, emailed, or mailed via post.
Please note: all academic documents must be translated into English. College transcripts, 13th year school transcripts and country-specific examination results must have an accompanying course-by-course credit evaluation. Official translations and evaluations are available through these recommended services:
You must provide certification, via the Affidavit of Support, that you have funding to meet the cost of attendance (tuition, room, board, associated fees and required insurance) for one year. This document is required to confirm enrollment and receive an I-20 document.
This is all about you. The personal statement is your chance to speak directly to the admissions committee – outside the required essay. It’s your chance to go beyond filling out forms to show us how you’d fit into the Loyola community.
While it’s optional, we encourage you to make this statement. We’re looking not just for your academic leadership, but also your community involvement, personal achievement and, truly, who you are as a person.
If you’ve experienced any personal hardships during high school, this is a chance to tell us and to explain your circumstances to the committee.
Click here for more information on the essay and topics.
Students must submit a photocopy of their current VISA, or if they do not currently hold a VISA, submit the picture page of their passport or national identification.
Early Evaluation Deadline. If you apply by November 15, you’ll be at the top of our list for early evaluation of your admissions application and information about financial aid packages. Test scores submitted from October and November will be considered for this deadline.
Priority Deadline. If you apply by February 15, you’ll be considered for all scholarship and financial aid packages. Test scores submitted from January and February will be considered for this deadline.
Regular Deadline. If you apply after April 15, your application will be considered as space and funds are available. Test scores submitted from March and April will be considered for this deadline.
Enrollment Deadline. Accepted students must pay their enrollment deposit by this date to confirm their place with the incoming class.
Due to the timeline for obtaining a student visa, no international applicants will be accepted after July 1. We’ll defer any pending applications to the Spring semester.
The Pilot Program is designed as a hybrid schedule of intensive English coursework and academic credit classes for students whose TOEFL/IELTS scores fall below the minimum needed for full degree- seeking admission but who otherwise have a strong academic record, have displayed strong leadership, and demonstrated a high level of commitment through service. To be considered for the Pilot Program, Loyola requires the following minimum scores on either the TOEFL or IELTS examination in addition to a competitive academic record and the required Affidavit of Support.
TOEFL: Internet Based: minimum score 61 Computer Based: minimum score 173 Paper Based: minimum score 500 IELTS: Minimum score 5.5
LIEP is Loyola’s Intensive English Program and is designed for students who must improve their language skills in order to gain admission into the Pilot Program or the full degree- seeking program. LIEP currently offers intermediate and advanced level intensive English courses. To be considered for Conditional Admission into LIEP, Loyola requires students to have taken either the TOEFL or the IELTS examination in addition to a having a competitive academic record and the required Affidavit of Support.. Once students complete the program, the LIEP Director will provide a recommendation to the Admissions Committee for admission into the most appropriate program. More information about LIEP can be found here. TOEFL: Internet Based: Below a 61 Computer Based: Below a 173 Paper Based: Below a 500 IELTS: Under 5.5
Talk with your international admissions counselor for any questions or concerns. Spanish speaker available.
A separate application is required. All majors in music, theatre, design, visual arts, music industry studies and digital film are required to complete this additional supplement.
Applicants will register for an on-campus audition via their College of Music and Fine Arts application. The university’s on-campus audition dates are: Saturday, December 3, 2016 Saturday, January 21, 2017 Saturday, February 4, 2017
Contact the Center for International Education for questions about visas, international student orientation and more. | <urn:uuid:49bdfc43-e332-4add-856c-6e243b543750> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://apply.loyno.edu/international-applicants | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988721405.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183841-00312-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936062 | 1,113 | 1.664063 | 2 |
This tutorial will help you save a lot of time not looking for the best Linux apps worldwide. Just bookmark this page and install your required Linux software in the system.
- It’s always been attainable to run Linux graphical programs such as the GIMP graphics editor, Evolution e-mail consumer, and LibreOffice on WSL.
- What happens, when you didn’t add the app icon to your desktop, whenever you wish to run the software program once more?
- If you enterprise into that folder, you’ll see a folder for Notepad++ which contains the notepad++.exe file.
- If Wine looks as if too much of a pain, you may wish to strive CrossOver Linux.
This supervisor could be configured in any means its consumer desires, from the location of an opened utility to the custom keyboard shortcuts; it’s configurable in every method. In this sector, there are lots of choices available in the software retailer. Moreover, Linux productivity software is a generic time period that may include a wide range of software varieties. So I recommend you to take a look at the resource hyperlink for a special set of Linux productivity software program and instruments in your desktop.
You Possibly Can Easily Set Up A Complete Linux Distro, Like Archlinux, Upon Termux, And Even Run Graphical Programs Utilizing Vnc
This article provides an overview of what’s the Linux Operating System; the forms of working methods; their architecture and options. They are connecting to vcXsrv over localhost to be displayed. In order to run graphical Linux applications, you’ll need an X server. Place it in /usr/share/functions if you’re storing the application in /choose or another system-extensive location and wish it to look in all of your users’ Application menus.
In the Twine example, there’s no icon bundled with the download, so the example .desktop file assigns a generic gaming icon that shipped with the KDE desktop. You can use workarounds like that, however should you’re more artistic, you possibly can simply create your individual icon, or you can search the Internet for a great icon. As lengthy because the Icon line factors to a legitimate PNG or SVG file, your application will inherit the icon.
How To Create Utility Menu Shortcuts On Linux
It is an open source media participant that helps virtually all media file varieties on Linux. VLC Media Player support network shares are browsing, downloading subtitles, video playlists, pop-up video, and so forth. uGet is an open source obtain supervisor for Linux, which can download your recordsdata fast. This download manager may be efficiently organized and extremely configurable.
RemminaRemote Desktop Client is an open source, free and highly effective distant desktop sharing device for Linux and Unix-based mostly techniques. It offers characteristic-wealthy helpful tools for the administrator and vacationers to have easy and easy distant access. I imagine you understand about Mozilla basis and its Firefox browser, which is lighting quick and patron of open source software. Thunderbird is an incredible open supply and sooner Linux e mail shopper from the identical improvement home as Firefox. It’s a cross-platform, extra fast, modern internet e-mail know-how for utilizing e-mail companies. VLC Media Playeris probably the greatest and most popular Best Linux Software in video players.
In some circumstances, you need to take extra steps to get the appliance to run, so carefully read the documentation about the software you’re installing. Installing from a software repository is the first technique of installing apps on Linux. It ought to be the primary place you search for any software you plan to install. Do you Like our editorial listing of Best Linux Software? If you admire it, then please share it along with your friends and family on social media. | <urn:uuid:8a9c8b8e-ed93-4bb3-aff3-63f36e89f974> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://ustechnews.net/tips-on-how-to-set-up-and-use-wine-to-run-windows-purposes-on-linux.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00069.warc.gz | en | 0.876019 | 805 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Monday morning posts on this site are normally jokes, funny observations, and amusing bits of fluff. Today I have to tip my hat to something far more elaborate: Fibre Channel over Token Ring. I can only stand in awe of the work of true masters.
The Fibre Channel link technology is lossless, with extensive flow control and data integrity mechanisms to ensure all data is delivered. Running Fibre Channel over Ethernet is saddled with significant complexity. Had Token Ring won the LAN battle instead of Ethernet, running Fibre Channel over it would be simpler. Therefore, FCoTR aims to resurrect Token Ring and make it the new dominant networking technology. Sounds simple and logical, right?
The amount of work put into this hoax is impressive.
- There is an industry trade group, the Fibre Channel over Token Ring Alliance. In a nice touch, all of the links on the site are broken including the press release announcing its formation.
- There is a FCoTR User Group, complete with twitter account.
- The obligatory Wikipedia page is sadly already flagged for deletion.
- There is a White Paper which was clearly created by a Markov chainer seeded with computer science and storage terminology, possibly SCIgen.
- Dozens of tweets carry the hashtag #FCoTR.
- Stephen Foskett wrote a long blog post about the idea. It starts off subtle, but becomes increasingly outrageous. As many people will only skim the first paragraph, they won't notice the claims at the end: Intel building a Micro Channel to PCI Express bridge to ease the introduction of token ring products, and Proteon making a comeback.
Greg Ferro has an excellent writeup about FCoTR and its motivations. In order to make a large network appear to be completely lossless, Fibre Channel has always relied on extremely complex designs. This leads to very expensive gear. Fibre Channel networks also run at relatively low utilization, because full buffers lead to packet loss. FC over Ethernet disrupts all of that. For vendors and storage mavens who feel threatened by a converged network, the solution is to push for a solution which will once again let them run a separate, single purpose, and thoroughly overengineered network. Token Ring meets these requirements. | <urn:uuid:662a0d4e-8dd8-4ffe-9147-c5db6be49fd5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://codingrelic.geekhold.com/2010/07/fiber-channel-over-token-ring.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280929.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00422-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933631 | 463 | 1.757813 | 2 |
My father, Captain Jacques Cousteau, would have been 100 years old today. He was a man of undeniable charisma, a man who always achieved his objectives, a man of such single-minded determination that he would not give up on a goal until he had achieved it. His lifelong vision was to help millions of people understand the fragility of life on what he called our "'water planet."
From his famous research ship Calypso, my father was one of the first to draw attention to the devastating results of overfishing, climate change and the effect of pollution on our underwater habitats. He became a global ambassador for the sea, a kind of spiritual guide for the environment.
He would be heartbroken at what is taking place in our seas today, especially the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the memories I carry with me to this day is of my father standing on the deck of our wind ship, Alcyone, looking ahead to the legacy he might leave behind. He issued me a challenge that belonged not only to me, but to all who are determined to protect our seas. "It is you, Jean-Michel, who will carry the flame of my faith." Yes, it is on me, and on all of us, to carry on the work of this brilliant, passionate man in protecting our natural resources and to acknowledge the incredible privilege we all share on Planet Ocean.
The more I look back on my father's life and work, the more I realize what a visionary he was, even though he would not have used that term to describe himself. He was a pioneer who broke barriers with his inventions such as the aqua-lung, scuba diving apparatuses and submersibles; his name became synonymous with underwater exploration, ocean photography and conservation; and I believe he did more than anyone to enlighten the world about the complexity of the ocean's ecology and the importance of preserving it.
My father introduced my brother, Philippe, and me to the wonders of the ocean at an early age, and we shared his passion for the sea and his work. One of my father's greatest wishes was to educate all children to be future stewards of the sea. To help fulfill this wish and to continue his legacy, I founded the Ocean Futures Society, a marine conservation and education organization, to open up the seas for young people and instill in them a love of the ocean in the same way my father did for me.
As the centenary of his birth approached, I have thought often about my father and the many moments we shared. Paradoxically, one of the times I felt closest to him was a few weeks after his death in 1997. I was with a group preparing for a dive, and I asked if I could have a few minutes in the water by myself. As I swam in a large kelp forest, I noticed an unusual opening in the kelp, which exposed the sandy ocean floor. The sun's rays shone through the opening, lighting up the patch of sand, like a spotlight on an empty stage. All around me were brightly-colored fish that shimmered in the sunlight like festive candles announcing an underwater fiesta. Overcome with emotion, I dropped to my knees. It felt as if my father was with me on the sun-splashed open floor. He was here, among the dazzling seaweeds, among the sparkling fish. This is the real Cousteau, I remember thinking. This is where he lived; this is where he will remain.
"People protect what they love," my father once said. My wish today, as we mark his 100th birthday, is that we redouble our efforts to love and cherish our planet and the seas that he championed.
The Morning Email helps you start your workday with everything you need to know: breaking news, entertainment and a dash of fun. Learn more | <urn:uuid:3de202e4-c80b-4489-bddd-612ffb9b41c8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanmichel-cousteau/remembering-jacques-coust_b_604414.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282202.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00546-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981016 | 795 | 1.71875 | 2 |
New York, 23 September 2014 – Bold new actions to immediately tackle climate change were announced today by Government, business, finance and civil society leaders attending a historic Climate Summit convened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has long urged workable solutions based on “clear vision anchored in domestic and multinational actions.”“Today was a great day – a historic day. Never before have so many leaders gathered to commit to action on climate change,” Mr. Ban said, summing up the day-long event,which drew a unique mix of international players who announced their vision and commitment for reaching a universal and meaningful climate agreement in 2015, as well made announcements on actions that will reduce emissions, enhance resistance to climate change and mobilize financing for climate action.
“The Summit delivered,” declared the UN chief, noting that leaders had reaffirmed determination to limit global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius by cutting emissions. And many, from all regions and all levels of economic development, advocated for a peak in greenhouse gas emissions before 2020, decisively reduced emissions thereafter, and climate neutrality in the second half of this century.
On finance, the Secretary-General said public and private sources showed the way forward for mobilizing the needed resources. Leaders expressed strong support for the Green Climate Fund. And a total of $2.3 billion was pledged towards the Fund’s initial capitalization today, and others committed contributions by November 2014.
“A new coalition of Governments, business, finance, multilateral development banks and civil society leaders announced their commitment to mobilize upwards of $200 billion for financing low-carbon and climate-resilient development,” he said, adding that private banks announced they would issue $20 billion in “Green Bonds” and that they would double the market to $50 billion by 2015, next year.
As for carbon pricing, “one of the most powerful tools available for reducing emissions and generating sustainable development and growth”, Mr. Ban said that many Government and business leaders supported putting a price on carbon through various instruments and called for intensified efforts to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies. Some 30 companies had announced their alignment with the Caring for Climate Business Leadership Criteria on Carbon Pricing.
Among the day’s other highlights, he said the Summit had heard how strengthening resilience – both climate and financial – is a smart and essential investment. Adaptation needs are growing, particularly for the least developed countries and small island developing States, which are most at risk and need most international support.
Finally, he spotlighted that “new coalitions are forming to meet the full scope of the climate challenge,” and citied the first Global Agricultural Alliance which was launched today to enable 500 million farmers worldwide to practice climate-smart agriculture by 2030.
Leaders of the oil and gas industry, along with national Governments and civil society organisations, made an historic commitment to identify and reduce methane emissions by 2020.
“A new Compact of Mayors, representing 200 cities with a combined population of 400 million people, pledged new commitments to reduce annual emissions by between 12.4 and 16.4 per cent,” added the Secretary-General, telling delegations that those highlights would serve as his Chairman’s Summary, which would be distributed soon to Member States.
Looking ahead, Mr. Ban urged the participants to maintain the spirit of compromise and commitment that characterized the discourse at the Summit. “We must fulfil and expand on all the pledges and initiatives brought forward today.”
As the international community walked together on the road to Lima and Paris (milestone meetings of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) in December 2014 and 2015, he said “let us look back on today as the day we decided – as a human family – to put our house in order to make it liveable for future generations. Today’s Summit has shown that we can rise to the climate challenge.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. Ban already welcomed specific commitments made by specific countries, including “generous pledges’ of $1 billion each by President François Hollande of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.
He noted that The European Union pledged to adopt the 40 per cent emissions reductions target this October, Grenada called for all island states to go 100 per cent renewable, and China announced that it will peak its emissions as soon as possible and double its support for the South-South Cooperation.
“We have heard significant pledges of finance and resources,” he said. “Finance is the enabler of what we want to achieve. This morning, you have acknowledged its crucial importance. Private finance is out there, and public finance can be the lever to access it.”
Addressing the special mid-day wrap up session, United States President Barrack Obama said that of all the immediate challenges world leaders were set to address this week during the General Assembly’s high-level segment – terrorism, inequality disease – there is one issue that would define the contours of the current century more than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate.
“Indeed … deepening scientific evidence says this once distant threat has moved firmly into the present; no nation is immune,” he said, underscoring that “the climate is changing faster than our efforts to address it. The alarm bells keep ringing. Our citizens keep marching. We cannot keep pretending we do not hear them. We have to answer the call.”
The mid-day segment was also addressed by Jakaya Kikwete, President of Tanzania and Coordinator of the Committee of the African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change; Baron Waqa, President of Nauru and Chair of Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS); and Zhang Gaoli, Vice-Premier of China. | <urn:uuid:03364230-0e27-44e4-b4cd-b7edef4a85ff> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.un.org.za/ban-hails-bold-announcements-on-tackling-climate-change-as-historic-un-summit-closes/?cat=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283689.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00347-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963385 | 1,209 | 1.859375 | 2 |
If you’ve recently discovered poker as a hobby, you may have many questions. Here we’ll go over the Game rules, variations, Bets made, and Hand rankings. We’ll also discuss some common blunders that can lead to poor poker decisions. Ultimately, we’ll help you improve your poker game! So, sit back, relax, and get ready to learn a new game! But before we get started, let’s review a few basics of poker.
There are many different game rules for poker. For example, in limit ace-to-five lowball, the first player to act must fold, but is not permitted to split an opener. After the dealer deals, any exposed cards must be replaced, with the exception of the first exposed card, which is called the “burn card.” In this case, the player may check or raise during the next round. When the hand reaches eight, it is a ‘high’ hand.
Before you play a hand of poker, you need to know the variations of the game. You can choose from poker variations like Omaha, Dr. Pepper, and Texas Hold’em. Once you know the basics, you can impress your friends with your poker skills. Below are some examples of poker variations:
There are several common examples of bets made in poker. Players may “check” or “raise” to make a bet, or they may “fold” and drop out of the hand. Players may also “call” or “raise” their previous high bet to match someone else’s. If the player does not have enough change to place a bet, they may verbally state the amount they intend to bet. If the player has the change, the dealer can return it to them.
Knowing hand rankings when playing poker can help you make better decisions and win more money. Although you don’t have to memorize all of the different hand rankings, learning the general rules will make your game easier and can help you win more money. Listed below are the different hand rankings and when to use each one. Using hand rankings when playing poker is beneficial for players of all levels. Knowing what hands to play and when to fold them will make your game more enjoyable.
In various poker games, betting intervals can be a crucial factor for the winning of a hand. The duration of the betting round varies according to the type of game. The first player to act places a bet and the players to their left raise their bets proportionally to the total contribution of the player before them. When no one else steps up to the table, the game ends. In the first round, the minimum bet is placed. Later rounds, a player may check or raise a bet. | <urn:uuid:5c335e25-dbf6-4282-bf83-683583b7f207> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://libertygunshow.com/learn-the-basics-of-poker/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572581.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816211628-20220817001628-00078.warc.gz | en | 0.953246 | 594 | 1.859375 | 2 |
The conservative UK-based Centre for Policy Studies recently published a study on the climate change impacts of hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for shale gas. The skinny: it's yet another case study of "frackademia," and the co-authors have a financial stake in the upstart Chinese fracking industry.
Titled "Why Every Serious Environmentalist Should Favour Fracking" and co-authored by Richard Muller and his daughter Elizabeth "Liz" Muller, it concludes that fracking's climate change impacts are benign, dismissing many scientific studies coming to contrary conclusions.
In an interview with DeSmogBlog, Richard Muller -- a self-proclaimed "converted skeptic" on climate change -- said he and Liz had originally thought of putting together this study "about two years ago."
"We quickly realized that natural gas could be a very big player," he said. "The reasons had to do with China and the goal of the paper is to get the environmentalists to recognize that they need to support responsible fracking."
The ongoing debate over fracking in the UK served as the impetus behind the Centre for Policy Studies -- a non-profit co-founded by former right-wing British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1974 -- hosting this report on its website, according to Richard Muller.
"They asked for it because some environmentalists are currently opposing fracking in the UK, and they wanted us to share our perspective that fracking is not only essential for human health but its support can be justified for humanitarian purposes," he said.
This isn't the first time Liz Muller has unapologetically sung the praises of fracking and promoted bringing the practice to China. In April, she penned an op-ed in The New York Times titled, "China Must Exploit Its Shale Gas."
The Mullers co-head the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature (BEST), a non-profit that at one time received funding from the Koch brothers. BEST published a study in 2011 affirming that climate change is real and caused by humans.
There is an important detail buried on the last page of the Centre for Policy Studies report: Liz Muller's position as founder and Managing Director of the China Shale Fund. One copy of the study is even published on the China Shale Fund's website.
EDF Study, "FrackNation," PM2.5
In their paper, the Mullers rely heavily on the recent University of Texas-Austin fracking climate change study published in October in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund. DeSmogBlog characterized that study as another example of "frackademia," science funded by Big Oil with accompanying results favoring the industry's bottom line.
They also juxtapose the PM (particulate matter) 2.5-emitting Chinese coal industry (named such because the PM is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) with a powerful source of energy they claim does not emit PM2.5: shale gas. They do so both in the report itself and in an accompanying YouTube video.
Unmentioned is the fact that fracking has all kinds of accompanying air quality issues of its own, documented comprehensively in Earthworks' recent report, "Reckless Endangerment While Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale."
"We were not trying to make a comprehensive review of the subject. Our goal was to alert people to the fact that shale gas, if responsibly developed, can mitigate both air pollution and global warming," Richard Muller told DeSmogBlog when asked why frac sand went undiscussed in his study. "There is nothing intrinsic about the mining of sand that means it cannot be responsibly extracted."
China Shale Fund
Though the title of the report says nothing about China, "China" and/or "Chinese" appears 58 times in the report. BEST is also currently a partner of the non-profit organization Future 500, teaming up to bolster China's rising tiger shale gas industry.
"One area of focus is the advocacy of clean natural gas standards in China; we need not only standards, but incentives for China to produce natural gas cleanly and migrate away from coal," explains the BEST website of its relationship with Future 500. "Industry can help China's fledgling shale gas production, facilitating and expediting its development while at the same time helping to ensure high standards and best practices."
China Shale Fund's "About" section on its website also highlights PM2.5.
"The China Shale Fund...seeks to demonstrate that shale gas development can be done responsibly, not only beneficial to the local environment, but providing a clean fuel that will mitigate the air pollution (in particular PM2.5) that otherwise would have come from coal," reads the website.
Richard Muller said that the Fund is not yet a legal entity, nor does it have funding, though Muller acknowledged they are currently working on fundraising. He said:
The concept is to bring together the appropriate Chinese companies with the appropriate U.S. companies to allow the shale development in China to proceed at a rapid pace. We are new in this too, and our goal in the next 6 months is to develop a business plan. A key part of the concept is that it is not a U.S. government program, but a program that will attract private investors. We believe this is what makes rapid development possible.
Muller also said the Fund's prospective growth did not determine the study's findings, also stating that he and Elizabeth received no funding to put together the report.
"The existence of the fund is not important to the paper. In fact, the opposite is true. It was the initial recognition of the importance of shale gas for global warming mitigation that led us to think about the fund," Muller said. "Did we hope that the report would spearhead funding? No, of course not."
Richard Muller has already made several trips to China to talk to the government about bringing fracking there, saying "none were done for the purpose of the Shale Fund."
"My talks with government officials were fact finding, not presenting any proposals," he said. "We learned about the government interest in getting the U.S. companies involved."
While the Mullers both serve as co-principals of the China Shale Fund, there is a third key principal, as well: Marlan Downey.
"Doubling Downey" on Fracking
Marlan Downey is the founder of Roxanna Oil and chairs its Board of Directors. A few members of his family also work there. Downey is a past president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He also sits on the Advisory Board of BEST.
Prior to founding Roxanna, "Downey worked for Shell Oil Company from 1957 to 1987. In 1977, he moved to Shell Oil's International Exploration & Production business and also served as Vice President of Shell," explains his profile appearing on Bloomberg. "[He] joined ARCO International in 1990 as Senior Vice President of Exploration at ARCO International and served as the President of ARCO International and then Senior Vice President and Executive Exploration Advisor to ARCO International...until 1996."
With an expertise in finding emerging shale plays, Roxanna is fully invested in the U.S. fracking boom, partnering up with oil companies such as Shell, Marathon Oil, PetroHunt and Matador Resources to buy hundreds of thousands of acres for fracking in places ranging from the Marcellus Shale, Barnett Shale, Chainman Shale and Woodford Shale.
"Roxanna Associates, the consulting arm of Roxanna Oil, has been heavily involved in analyzing and selecting shale gas plays for major clients for many years," explains its website. "The Associates have guided clients to attractive investments in about one million acres of leaseholds."
Downey spoke on September 18 to the Oklahoma City Geological Society about "the fundamental difficulties of switching China's coal fired electricity to shale gas fired plants," and "his insights that he recently provided to the House of Lords and the British Geological Survey about exploitation of shale gas in the UK."
Downey's expertise in shale gas exploration makes him a valuable member of the China Shale Fund team.
"Downey is now a true expert on shale gas, and we expect that he will play an essential role in assembling teams for the exploration of regions in China -- provided that we are able to obtain the necessary data and funding (neither of which we currently have in hand)," Richard Muller told DeSmogBlog.
Study's Biggest Backers: The Frackers
The biggest cheerleaders of the Muller study are the shale gas industry and its public relations echo chamber.
Nearly everyone who promoted the study on Twitter, for example, receives a paycheck from the industry or an industry front group.
Twitter promoters included Matt Pitzarella -- Range Resources Director of Corporate Communications, who admitted his company utilizes psychological warfare tactics on U.S. citizens at a November 2011 conference -- who sent out six tweets promoting the study; industry front group Energy in Depth, Energy in Depth-Marcellus and its social media guy, Energy in Depth-California, among others.
Energy in Depth also devoted a blog post to promoting the study, written by Katie Brown, former communications director for the climate change-denying U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK).
"Tale of Two Studies"
Meanwhile, a report recently published by the Environmental Integrity Project sounds the alarm bell on fracking's climate change footprint. The report evaluates federal government data for industries utilizing gas as a feedstock.
"The shale gas boom has unleashed a tidal wave of proposals to build new compressors and pipelines, and expand chemical, fertilizer, and petroleum plants that depend on natural gas for feedstock or fuel," that report explains. "Since January 1, 2012, these industries have proposed or already obtained...permits that authorize a 91 million ton increase in greenhouse gas emissions -- as much as the output from twenty large (500 megawatt) coal-fired power plants."
The report's caveats, though, make the findings all the more alarming.
"The total does not include new emissions from proposed gas-fired power plants or the multitude of smaller wells, gas processing plants, compressor stations, and flares springing up across the landscape in shale-rich states like North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas," the report goes on to explain.
Environmental Integrity Projected created a table breaking down the climate change impacts of fracked gas as a feedstock on a sector-by-sector basis.
Famous novelist Charles Dickens wrote "A Tale of Two Cities" and in the case of the Mullers' study juxtaposed with the Environmental Integrity Project study, it's truly a "Tale of Two Studies."
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Featured photo: Flickr user greensefa, creative commons licensed. | <urn:uuid:4e027f07-b681-40f9-b8ef-1cfac3a864a8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://progressive.org/dispatches/key-u.k.-fracking-report-co-written-climate-skeptic/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281746.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00285-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959825 | 2,215 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Unveiling “Operation Inherent Resolve” against the Islamic State back in September, President Obama made it clear that his principal strategy would be the same as that pursued in other recent campaigns: assassination. Deploying his preferred macho euphemism, he reminded us “we took out Osama bin Laden, much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and leaders of al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia.” Thus would we “degrade and destroy” this latest threat.
Six months later, no one seems to feel much in need of a rethink despite the fact that swaths of territory have fallen to the enemy, now mounting battalion-strength attacks on Kurdish positions uncomfortably close to Irbil, while making steady inroads not only in Libya, but Turkey. It took three months, 700 air strikes, and a battle-hardened force of Syrian-Kurdish guerillas to lift the siege of Kobani, the Kurdish town on the Turkish border besieged by the Islamic State. Despite hopeful bulletins, there is little sign that enemy cohesion or resolve is weakening.
Nevertheless, the mystique of “high value targeting,” especially when inflicted by supposedly unerring precision weapons or super-elite Special Forces commandos, isn’t going to go away any time soon. The public loves it of course, which comes as no surprise given our steady diet of Hollywood promotion in movies like Zero Dark 30, Lone Survivor, American Sniper. But so do our leaders, and they ought to know better. Decades of experience indicate that striking at enemy leadership in expectation of significant beneficial effect invariably leads not only to disappointment, but also to unexpectedly unpleasant consequences.
Most people are familiar with high-profile “decapitation” efforts in recent wars, such as the unsuccessful efforts to kill Saddam Hussein in the first gulf war (in that euphemistic era it was called “command and control targeting”) and again in the second (when we made no bones about it.) Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic was also on the list in the Kosovo war, at least if the precision-guided munitions that destroyed his house were anything to go by. Osama bin Laden of course went straight to the top of the target list post 9/11. All of the above of course survived U.S. attacks unscathed (at least, in bin Laden’s case, into retirement) but in a campaign in yet another war, where the strategy of targeting enemy leadership was explicitly and intensively pursued, the results were less obviously clear, certainly not to the uninquiring minds of a bureaucracy growing fat on the policy.
In 1992, the Drug Enforcement Administration adopted the “Kingpin Strategy,” focusing on the elimination, one way or another, of the leadership of the infamous Colombian cocaine cartels. The strategy soon yielded impressive results. Medellin cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar was gunned down in December 1993 as he fled across a rooftop in his native city; other narco-leaders soon followed him into the grave or lifelong incarceration in American “Supermax” jails. In 1995 the DEA crowned a long manhunt against the formidable Cali cartel with the arrest of six of its seven chieftains. Such a triumph against the largest and most efficient drug trafficking organization in history should have yielded immediate results in the form of a cocaine famine on the streets of America. But the very opposite happened; studies conducted in the 1990s by the Pentagon’s Institute for Defense Analysis revealed that cocaine supplies for American customers did not decline, they actually increased.
We can be sure of this counter-intuitive fact thanks to a hard and fast metric. Price is a function of supply, the greater the supply of any commodity, the lower the price. In the period when Escobar lost control of his business while being hunted down and killed, the US street price of pure cocaine dropped from roughly $80 to $60 a gram. Prices suffered a similar decline when the Cali cartel was dismantled. The explanation is simple: cartels, by definition, restrict supply in order to control price. The elimination of top-down control inevitably induced splits in the organization into groups that compete for market share, thus flooding the market. Accordingly, after ten years of successful implementation of the kingpin strategy, with many major traffickers dead or behind bars, the US street price of cocaine, according to UN figures, had dropped by almost 40 percent.
Such pertinent truths about high value targeting made little difference, either to the increasingly budget-rich DEA, or to U.S. strategy in the post 9/11 wars, where “HVT” was pursued with ever-mounting determination, aided by supposedly revolutionary technology such as drones. In the bitter battle against Iraqi insurgents fighting with home-made bombs, for example, “IED Cell Leaders” were a high priority target. No one questioned the efficacy of this approach until 2007, when a secret study of 200 cases in which such cell leaders had been killed or captured in the previous ten months revealed a startling result. The study, conducted in an intelligence cell attached to military headquarters in Baghdad, looked at attacks on nearby American forces in the period following a local leader’s death. In almost every case they went up – sharply. Five days after a successful HVT operation, for example, the rate showed on average a twenty percent increase. The explanation, so the analysts concluded, was that dead leaders were invariably and immediately replaced, and almost always by someone (often a relative ready for revenge) younger, more aggressive, and eager to prove himself. The same held true on a wider scale. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Iraqi al Qaeda leader widely cited as the source of all our troubles in Iraq, was duly targeted and killed in 2006, only to be succeeded by Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who turned out to be an even more deadly opponent. He too was duly killed, and instead we got Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, who created the Islamic State, now lord of six million people and an area the size of Great Britain.
Again, there was no impact on policy. Too many habits and budget justifications had become ingrained. Indeed the CIA ramped up its own drone offensive against Al Qaeda leaders lurking in Waziristan, and was soon proudly issuing claims of successful “kills.” Quite apart from attendant civilian casualties and consequent PR disasters, the campaign would appear to have had little effect on the spread of jihadi terrorism, as demonstrated by the rise of the Islamic State. Nor may it have had quite the success claimed by Obama and others even against “core Al Qaeda.” As revealed by a recent Al Qaeda defector to the Islamic State, the older organization, despite the drones, maintains an elaborate committee-run bureaucratic structure in its home area, including a functioning payroll system from which errant members can be cut when they misbehave.
It is hard to find a conclusive explanation for our fascination with this approach to conflict, unless it be a misplaced belief that war can be rendered tidy, painless (for our side) and above all predictable – does Kerry think that when the other fifty percent of enemy commanders are gone, we will have won?
History suggests otherwise.
Andrew Cockburn is Washington Editor of Harper’s Magazine and author of Kill Chain, The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins (Henry Holt, 2015) | <urn:uuid:954bf092-1b5b-4ae6-9ec8-bc69719d2ce2> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/11/why-obamas-hopes-of-decapitating-the-islamic-state-wont-work/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283301.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00512-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962165 | 1,530 | 1.632813 | 2 |
A distinctive 'microbial signature' in celiac pediatric patients
- Serena Schippa†1Email author,
- Valerio Iebba†1,
- Maria Barbato2,
- Giovanni Di Nardo2,
- Valentina Totino1,
- Monica Proietti Checchi1,
- Catia Longhi1,
- Giulia Maiella2,
- Salvatore Cucchiara2 and
- Maria Pia Conte1
© Schippa et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010
Received: 4 March 2010
Accepted: 17 June 2010
Published: 17 June 2010
Celiac Disease (CD) is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine in which dietary gluten ingestion leads to a chronic enteropathy. Recently, scientific evidence suggested a potential role of gut microbiota in CD. To have a snapshot of dominant duodenal microbiota we analyzed the mucosa-associated microbiota of 20 children with CD, before and after a gluten-free diet (GFD) regimen, and of 10 controls. Total DNA was extracted from duodenal biopsies and amplification products of 16S ribosomal DNA were compared by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE). TTGE profiles were analyzed by statistical multivariate analysis.
The average number of bands in TTGE profiles was significantly higher (P < 0.0001) in active (n.b. 16.7 ± 0.7) and inactive states (n.b. 13.2 ± 0.8) than in controls (n.b. 3.7 ± 1.3). Mean interindividual similarity index was 54.9% ± 14.9% for active disease, 55.6% ± 15.7% for remission state and 21.8% ± 30.16% for controls. Similarity index between celiac children before and after GFD treatment was 63.9% ± 15.8%. Differences in microbiota biodiversity were among active and remission state (P = 0.000224) and amid active CD and controls (P < 0.001). Bacteroides vulgatus and Escherichia coli were detected more often in CD patients than in controls (P < 0.0001).
Overall, the results highlighted a peculiar microbial TTGE profile and a significant higher biodiversity in CD pediatric patients' duodenal mucosa. The possible pathophysiological role of these microbial differences needs further characterization.
Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy triggered by the ingestion of gluten-containing grains (including wheat, rye, and barley) in genetically susceptible individuals . Its estimated prevalence in Western Countries is near 1% . It is generally agreed that CD is a T-cell mediated disorder in which gliadin derived peptides activate lamina propria T lymphocytes which release proinflammatory cytokines . To date, several peptides including alpha- and gamma-gliadins, have been reported to activate CD4+ lymphocytes via their interaction with HLA-DQ2 and -DQ8 heterodimer on antigen presenting cells (APC) .
Recently, scientific evidence showed microecological changes in the intestinal tract of celiac infants, suggesting a potential role of gut microbiota in CD. Alterations in the composition of faecal short-chain fatty acids in CD patients compared with those of healthy controls have been demonstrated . Imbalance in the composition of duodenal microbiota or in faecal bacterial communities of children with CD has also been reported [6–9]. Rod-shaped bacteria have been observed in both gluten-free diet (GFD)-treated and untreated pediatric patients'mucosa, along with a distinctive lectin pattern .
The present study was carried out to add further information on the characterization of intestinal microbiota of CD patients, a variable that may represent a new piece of the intriguing puzzle of CD illness. For this purpose we analyzed by TTGE the composition of duodenal mucosa-associated microbiota in the same cohort of GFD untreated and treated CD children and in controls. This prospective study was performed to compare the influence of the disease status on gut microbial composition and to study whether the microbial imbalance could be a peculiar characteristic of the disease.
Agglomerative hierarchical classification (AHC)
Factor discriminating analysis (FDA)
Partial least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)
Statistical evaluation of TTGE bands occurrence by PLS-DA
Statistical importance of discriminating TTGE bands
CD patients vs Controls (PC1)
TTGE band §
Active + Inactive (%)
P value (a)
Active CD patients vs Inactive CD patients (PC2)
TTGE band §
P value (b)
Clinical data of patients' groups
No. of cases (a)
Sex ratio (M/F)
Age at 1st biopsy(b)
(years; median and ranges)
Weight at birth (Kg) (mean ± SD)
3.3 ± 0.5
3.3 ± 0.4
(months; median and ranges)
Results obtained revealed a highly significant difference (P < 0.001) in the prevalence of B. vulgatus (85% vs. 20%), and E. coli (95% vs. 20%) in CD patients versus controls. A significant difference (P < 0.047) was found in the prevalence of B. vulgatus (80% vs. 90%) and in the prevalence (P = 0.039) of Clostridium coccoides group (50% vs. 90%) in active CD patients versus inactive CD one. No significant difference was found in the prevalence of Bifidobacterium spp. between CD patients and controls (30% vs. 20%, P = 0.742) and between active and inactive CD (20% vs. 40%, P = 0.302).
This is the first longitudinal study on the duodenal mucosa-associated microbiota, carried out on the same cohort of CD pediatric patients (in active and in remission disease), showing a distinctive 'microbial structure' in celiac pediatric patients. The most important results of this study, obtained through multivariate statistical analysis of TTGE profiles, were: i) a dominant duodenal microbiota that could be linked to the disease status (active and remission), outlining differences in the microbiota composition before and after GFD treatment; ii) a significantly higher diversity in dominant microbiota in patients with active disease vs the same in remission state, as well as in patients with active disease vs controls, as revealed by Shannon-Wiener index. This higher duodenal microbial diversity in CD patients could have a possible harmful impact on the duodenal homeostasis. iii) a higher inter-individual similarity in CD patients than controls, indicating a more homogeneous structure among microbial communities of celiac patients.
Analyzing TTGE profiles, the lowest carrying capacity and the lowest median number of bands found in the duodenal system of the control group can be attributed to an environment particularly adverse or restricted to colonization. The nature of duodenal habitat is radically changed in CD patients, where the carrying capacity and the median number of bands in TTGE profiles are much higher than controls, consequently a thriving colonization could be due to a more habitable environment. It could be speculated that in duodenum the microbial life could be largely inhibited by different factors such the rapid transit of food (transit time 2.5 hours compared to 5 hours of stomach), pancreatic juices or the rapid mucosal turnover. Is therefore likely that a relative small number of definite microbial species or groups are highly adapted to this particular habitat, then the number of TTGE bands found in our control duodenal samples was lower than others found in different intestinal tracts [11, 12].
The Dice index analysis of TTGE profiles revealed that mucosa-associated microbiota differed markedly from one patient to another in control group, whereas CD patients showed a high inter-individual similarity. Moreover, before and after GFD treatment, there's a loss of 36.1% of inter-individual similarity. Specifically, the similarity is lost in a homogeneous way between all celiac individuals, as showed by the high similarity Dice index within active and inactive groups. We may speculate that the change in the mucosa lectin patterns both in active and remissive CD, as demonstrated by Forsberg , could create more selective microbial adhesive patterns in duodenal mucosa of these patients, promoting a more similar interindividual mucosal colonization.
TTGE bands, having discriminatory power in separating the three patients'groups, have been selected. Some of these TTGE bands run parallel with E. coli, P. distasonis and B. vulgatus gel markers used. The genera Bacteroides, as reported by previous works [8, 7], was significantly increased providing a strong correlation between this microbial group and CD [8, 6]. Moreover a high prevalence of potentially pro-inflammatory gram negative bacteria was found in the celiac patients' duodenum . Furthermore, the presence of bacteria such E. coli and Bacteroides spp has been related by other authors [13, 14] with mucin degradation and an increase in small intestinal permeability. Although the technique we used does not allow a specific characterization of microbial species or groups of this particular intestinal habitat, it provides a picture of modifications encountered by dominant bacterial groups/species profile of a sample in relation to different factors (i.e. disease status). The presence/absence of bacterial species/groups might act as 'key' or 'regulatory' species leading to a different relative abundance of the present species. To assess this, we need to improve our data by direct sequencing of TTGE bands. TTGE profiles of 18/20 CD patients in remission, with a duodenal histology not fully normalized, clustered together and away from controls. Interestingly, TTGE profiles of 2 CD patients (12 and 19) with a fully histological duodenal normalization at GFD, clustered close to controls as reported by the PLS-DA score plot. This would indicate an association between inflammatory status of intestinal mucosa and the kind of colonizing microbiota. Partial recovery of microbiota composition in the 2 patients with full histological normalization seems to indicate that the mucosa inflammation status is not the only factor driving the kind of microbial composition, but certainly is an influencing factor.
In conclusion, our data show a potential role of the duodenal microbiota in the CD pathogenesis. Common TTGE profiles in CD patients are probably due to a similar intestinal habitat creating selective pressures that shape a peculiar dominant microbiota. In addition, the occurrence of distinctive TTGE profiles in celiac patients before and after GFD treatment could open new therapeutic strategies aimed at restoring the intestinal ecosystem balance. Further studies will be necessary to develop such strategies, as well as a more accurate identification of bacterial species or groups having discriminatory properties in the CD spectrum.
Two groups of children referred to the Pediatric Gastroenterology and Liver Unit of the "Sapienza" University of Rome were included in this study: 20 CD (mean age 8.3 years, range 1.2-16.1 years) in active and in remission state (at diagnosis and after at least 9 months of gluten-free diet, respectively) and 10 controls undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for functional dyspepsia (mean age 11.7 years, range 7.8-20.8 years). The latter tested negative for antitransglutaminase and antiendomysial antibodies with normal IgA levels, while histology of duodenum did not reveal features of CD. Diagnosis of CD had been performed according to ESPGHAN criteria . Table 2 summarizes clinical features of the studied population.
Size appropriate and well oriented endoscopic biopsy specimens were obtained from the second part of the duodenum. The histopathological diagnosis was based on typical mucosal lesions with crypt cell hyperplasia, villous atrophy, and increased number of intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IELs) . All untreated CD patients were positive for antiendomysial and antitransglutaminase antibodies at the time of diagnosis. In all patients there was an endoscopic improvement of duodenal mucosa following gluten withdrawal, but only in 2 of them (patients number 12 and 19) there was also a full histological improvement. None of the children included in the study was treated with antibiotics for at least 3 months before the sampling time. The study protocol was approved by the Committee on Ethical Practice of the 'Policlinico Umberto I' hospital. Children were enrolled in the study after written informed consent from their parents. The biopsy samples were placed in liquid nitrogen immediately after their emission and stored at -80°C until analysis.
The strains listed below were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) and used as marker on TTGE gel electrophoresis: Bacteroides fragilis ATCC 23745, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron ATCC 29148, Bacteroides vulgatus ATCC 8482, Parabacteroides distasonis ATCC 8503, Escherichia coli MG1655. Bacterial DNA was extracted with UltraClean kit (MO BIO Laboratories, Solana Beach, California, USA) according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Duodenal biopsy specimens from CD and control patients were first quickly washed in 500 μL of physiologic saline with 0.016% dithiothreitol to remove luminal bacteria from the mucus, and then utilized for DNA extraction procedure by DNeasy tissue kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) according to the manufacturer's instructions. In order to obtain maximum yield of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, a special step in DNA purification protocol was added, following DNeasy tissue kit manual. Briefly, 180 μL of ATL buffer were added to sample followed by 180 μL volume of enzymatic lysis buffer (20 mM Tris·Cl, pH 8.0, 2 mM sodium EDTA, 1.2% Triton® X-100, lysozyme to 20 mg/ml), and incubated for 30 minutes at 37°C. Next, 25 μL of proteinase K solution and 200 μL of buffer AL were added, followed by an incubation step at 56°C for 30 minutes.
DNA concentration was determined using an Eppendorf biophotometer at 260 nm.
We obtained similar DNA concentrations after kit extraction both from celiac patients and controls biopsies. A Mann-Whitney U test was performed on total DNA concentration (P = 0.11), indicating a similar amount of extracted DNA in both celiac and controls.
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed, as previously described using 400 ng of metagenomic DNA, with minor modification. Briefly, to rule out unspecific PCR products we performed touchdown PCR with a starting annealing temperature of 58°C and decreasing it by 0.5°C each cycle to reach 53°C, then 30 cycles at 53°C were achieved. Same amounts of amplified DNA were also obtained. A Mann-Whitney U test was performed on PCR amplicons (P = 0.23), indicating a similar amount of PCR products in both celiac and controls. To minimize heteroduplex formation and single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) contamination during PCR amplification that might cause sequence heterogeneity in a single TTGE band, an additional 5 cycles of reconditioning PCR was performed, taking 1/10 of the previous PCR volume as template in a new reaction. Moreover, we used 16S rDNA V6-V8 region instead of V3-V4 region that showed coamplification with human DNA. To avoid the problem due to the low bacterial load we performed six individual PCR reactions for each sample. The individual PCR reactions were unified, analyzed by electrophoresis on 2% agarose gels containing ethidium bromide to determine their size (498 bp), and concentrated with SpeedVack (Savant, Holbrook, NY, USA). The unified PCR reactions, before and after the concentration step, were titrated using two different methods: first, densitometry analysis of agarose gel by GelQuest software (Sequentix, Klein Raden, Germany); second, measure of DNA density by biophotometer at 260 nm. The results obtained by such measures were in agreement each other.
PCR protocol was optimized to obtain maximum yield from starting total DNA. The band intensity was quantified at every step (touchdown PCR, reconditioning PCR, concentrated PCR) to ensure an equal DNA concentration. A first-step assessment of DNA suitability for subsequent PCR was achieved through a β-globin gene amplification for each starting sample. Briefly, aliquots of each DNA sample (50 ng) were amplified with specific primers: forward primer, 5'-CAACTTCATCCACGTTCACC-3; reverse primer, 5'-GAAGAGCCAAGGACAGGTAC-3'. Amplification reactions were carried out in a 50-μl volume containing 1× PCR buffer II (Applied Biosystems, Roche, California, USA), 3 mM magnesium chloride, 200 μM each deoxynucleoside triphosphate, 50 pmol each primer and 5 Uμ/l AmpliTaq Gold polymerase (Applied Biosystems). The PCR was carried out under the following conditions: 1 cycle of 95°C for 7 min, 35 cycles of 94°C for 1 min, 55°C for 1 min and 72°C for 1 min and 1 cycle of 72°C for 7 min. 500 ng of DNA of PCR product from each sample were used to perform the subsequent TTGE experiments.
TTGE analysis of PCR amplicons
We used the DCode Universal mutation detection system (Bio-Rad, Paris, France) for the sequence-specific separation of PCR products. Electrophoresis was performed as previously described . TTGE runs were conducted in triplicate and gel photographed with DigiDoc-It system (UVP, Cambridge, UK).
We choose to detect those particular species whose presence seems to be involved in celiac disease [7, 9]. 16S rDNA gene-targeted primers were utilized to detect them. The primers used were ECO-1 5'-gacctcggtttagttcacaga-3', ECO-2 5'-cacacgctgacgctgacca-3' for Escherichia coli (585 bp); BV-1 5'-gcatcatgagtccgcatgttc-3', BV-2 5'-tccatacccgactttattcctt-3' for Bacteroides vulgatus (287 bp); g-Ccoc-F 5'-aaatgacggtacctgactaa-3', g-Ccoc-R 5'-ctttgagtttcattcttgcgaa-3' for Clostridium coccoides group (438-441 bp), g-Bifid-F 5'-ctcctggaaacgggtgg-3', g-bifid-R 5'-ggtgttcttcccgatatctaca-3' for Bifidobacterium spp ( 549-563 bp). The PCR were performed as previously described .
Agglomerative Hierarchical Classification (AHC.) Dendrogram generated with XLStat 7.5 (Addinsoft, NY, USA) on binary matrix of TTGE variables was evaluated by one-tailed chi-squared test. Data were automatically mean centred and unit variance (UV) scaled. A P value equal or less 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Dice similarity index (S D , mean % ± SD) was calculated within the respective HC and CD groups to assess inter-individual similarity by the formula S D = (2n AB )/(n A + n B), where n A is the total number of bands in pattern A, n B is the total number of bands in pattern B and n AB is the number of bands common to pattern A and B. Ecological features. Doc-It LS software (UVP, Cambridge, UK) was used for TTGE bands densitometry peak height quantification, and the correspondent data were analyzed for the microbial biodiversity by Shannon-Wiener index with SigmaPlot 9.0 software. Intra-group variance value (V value) was also calculated. V value defines the variance of data points in each cohort, representing the data dispersion, and indicating the homogeneity/heterogeneity between individuals within a population. In addition, the range-weighted richness (Rr), reflecting the carrying capacity of the duodenal system, was calculated by the formula Rr = N2 XTg, where N is the total number of bands in the TTGE profile and Tg the temperature gradient comprised between the first and the last band of the same pattern . Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Linearly-dependent TTGE variables were ortogonalized in new factorial axes (F1,F2...Fn) through PCA by XLStat 7.5 (Addinsoft). The coordinates of the observations on the factorial axes were considered new variables for subsequent factorial discriminant analysis (FDA). Factor Discriminant Analysis (FDA). FDA included in XLStat 7.5 software was performed to create a predictive model useful to classify the patients into one of the three groups according to their TTGE profile. Wilk's Lambda test was used and a P value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA). PLS-DA included in SIMCA+ software (UMETRICS, Umea, Sweden) was performed to depict score plot of TTGE profiles by means of principal components PC1 and PC2, and to assess TTGE band importance. Data were automatically mean centred and unit variance (UV) scaled by the statistical software. Each TTGE band was hierarchically classified based on a software-assigned variable importance (VIP) value. The variables with VIP value > 1 were chosen as discriminatory. Non-parametric statistical methods. For Shannon-Weaver index, species-specific PCR, FDA and PLS-DA, a bilateral Wilcoxon signed rank test was utilized to compare active and inactive CD patients' groups, whilst a bilateral Mann-Whitney U-test was utilized to compare active/inactive CD patients with control group. A P value less than or equal to 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Grants: This work was supported by MIUR grants to SC and University grants to SS and MC.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. | <urn:uuid:e233a7ff-971e-49ea-8ee7-b4e0a86abc58> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2180-10-175 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00301-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875366 | 6,361 | 2.09375 | 2 |
‘Career Opportunities Fair’, significant for young people – Fearon
Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy and MLAs Megan Fearon and Mickey Brady attended a Career Opportunities Fair on Wednesday 27th March at the WIN Conference Centre, Newry.
Speaking after the event Fearon said, “Today’s event was significant in that it enabled young people to access information about relevant employment, training and educational opportunities which are available.
“It gave pupils from various schools, residing in Newry’s Neighbourhood Renewal Areas, the opportunity to talk to local employers, find out about training options and to discuss CV preparation and interview techniques with recruitment professionals.
“It is getting harder to satisfy prospective employers, so everyone needs to be at the top of their game. Young people can find the transition from education to employment difficult, as often they can become overwhelmed with having to choose a career path.
Fearon added, “Events like these are pivotal in giving quality guidance to help people learn of the relevant skills and experience needed to successfully obtain a job. I look forward to future Career Fairs that will help young people in our area choose their career paths.”
Would you like to advertise your business on Newry Times and reach thousands of people every day? Contact the Newry Times office on 028 4062 6520 or email Paul: email@example.com | <urn:uuid:8be8f91e-eafb-4491-9f02-6c9c36e7ee7c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://newrytimes.com/2013/04/02/career-opportunities-fair-significant-for-young-people-fearon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279915.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00284-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958943 | 293 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Supplementary Materials1. distinct methods to stop Cas9 activity including binding to different locations, targeting distinct techniques of catalysis, and inhibiting different scopes of Cas9 orthologs. Launch The evolutionary hands race between bacterias and phages provides led to changing sophisticated antiphage protection systems in bacterial cells. Unique included in this will be the CRISPR-Cas systems, which offer bacterias with adaptive immunity against international nucleic acids (truck der Oost et al., 2014). Based on the ERCC6 up to date phylogenetic classification, CRISPR-Cas systems are grouped into two classes, six types, and a lot more than 20 subtypes (Koonin et al., 2017). Course 2 systems (comprising type II, V, GSK4716 and VI subtypes) symbolize the streamlined versions that require only a single protein to target and cleave foreign nucleic acids (Koonin et al., 2017; vehicle der Oost et al., 2014). Notably, the type II CRISPR-Cas9 system, including subtypes IIA, IIB, and IIC, has been widely adapted for genome editing GSK4716 and additional biotechnological applications (Hsu et al., 2014; GSK4716 Wang et al., 2016a). The cleavage activity of Cas9 requires either a pair of RNA molecules, namely crRNA (CRISPR-derived RNA) and tracrRNA (trans-activating crRNA), or a synthetic single-guide RNA (sgRNA) covalently linking the 3 end of crRNA to the 5 end of tracrRNA (Deltcheva et al., 2011; Jinek et GSK4716 al., 2012). In response to development of CRISPR-Cas systems, phages have developed anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) that directly bind to and inactivate CRISPR-Cas machinery (Maxwell, 2017). Recent studies have shown broad distribution of Acrs and suggested their critical part in the development of CRISPR-Cas systems (Gophna et al., 2015; vehicle Houte et al., 2016). More than 30 unique Acr families have been explained against type I (Bondy-Denomy et al., 2013; Marino et al., 2018; Pawluk et al., 2014; Pawluk et al., 2016b), type II (Hynes et al., 2017; Pawluk et al., 2016a; Rauch et al., 2017), and type V (Doron et al., 2018; Marino et al., 2018) CRISPR-Cas systems. Specifically, three Acrs (AcrIIC1, 2, and 3) that inhibit the type IIC Cas9 from (NmeCas9) have been recognized along with five (AcrIIA1 through 5) that target select type IIA Cas9 orthologs. Given the extensive use GSK4716 of CRISPR-Cas9 in genome editing applications, the finding of type II Acrs offers provided the important prospect of introducing specific genetically encodable off-switch tools for modulating Cas9 activity. Acrs may also prove to be a useful addition to phage therapy protocols for treatment of bacterial infections. Although the number of recognized Acrs is definitely quickly growing, the suppression mechanisms of only a few Acrs have been characterized in detail (Bondy-Denomy et al., 2015; Chowdhury et al., 2017; Dong et al., 2017; Guo et al., 2017; Harrington et al., 2017; Jiang et al., 2018; Liu et al., 2018; Peng et al., 2017; Shin et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2016b; Wang et al., 2016c; Yang and Patel, 2017). The difficulty of the problem arises from the fact that Acrs can potentially inhibit several methods of CRSPR-Cas, including spacer acquisition, Cas protein expression, crRNA processing, crRNA assembly, target DNA binding, and target DNA cleavage. The CRISPR inhibition mechanisms determined in earlier studies can be grouped into two general strategies targeted to disrupt DNA binding (AcrF1, AcrF2, AcrIIA2, AcrIIA4, and AcrIIC3) or inhibit target sequence cleavage (AcrF3 and AcrIIC1) (Maxwell, 2017). The structural basis of inhibition of type. | <urn:uuid:065b51c6-1600-4538-9f0f-11bf5e7d2a4a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://sc-514.info/%EF%BB%BFsupplementary-materials1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572408.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816151008-20220816181008-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.870321 | 922 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Last fall, a first-person narrative by Taylor Woolrich, a student at Dartmouth and a stalking victim, went viral. In the article, which appeared on FoxNews.com, Woolrich wrote that her stalker of several years would soon be let out of jail, yet the college wouldn’t let her carry a gun. The headline read, “Dear Dartmouth, I am one of your students, I am being stalked, please let me carry a gun to protect myself.” The article went on:
I feel that I have no control over my life. My family was forced to move. I have had stay indoors [sic], keep drapes closed, avoid posting on social media sites, and even change my car. It’s almost like being held hostage.
Should myself and other female victims just have to put up with this? The answer, hopefully, is “no.” Women must be able to defend themselves. The most effective way of doing this is by using a gun. When police arrive to enforce a restraining order, it is usually too late.
But Woolrich didn’t write the article. Instead, it was penned by John Lott, a Fox News columnist, economist, and gun advocate whose research claiming that guns reduce crime has been repeatedly challenged and dismissed. Now, Woolrich believes that her experience was repurposed to promote a cause that she never intended to support. “I wanted to talk to the media, if it could mean something positive,” Woolrich recently told BuzzFeed. “But I wanted to talk to the media about stalking. I didn’t realize I was being turned into an NRA puppet.”
Woolrich’s interactions with Lott go back to last summer, when he asked her to speak on a panel at the Students for Concealed Carry conference. She agreed, admitting in her presentation that she didn’t particularly identify with the pro-gun movement but wanted to help stalking victims. Around the same time, Lott and Woolrich shared a byline for an article for the Daily Caller about her experience. Woolrich says Lott wrote it, but she agreed to share the credit with him to make the piece “more reputable.” Afterward, Fox News asked her to write a first-person op-ed. She said she didn’t have time, so Lott offered to write it.
According to BuzzFeed,
The piece incorporated elements of her talk at the conference, but otherwise it was essentially the same article written by Lott, which is still online at the Daily Caller. “It’s his op-ed,” she says. “Word for word, except the chunks that match what’s said in my speech.” The references to Lott’s disputed research? Not hers. The link to the Amazon sales page for his book? Not hers. The headline? “Dear Dartmouth, I am one of your students, I am being stalked, please let me carry a gun to protect myself.”
“I think his first priority was his cause,” she says. “He saw me as a really great asset.”
So did Fox News. “THANK YOU for putting this in the first person,” wrote a Fox editor to Lott. “Here’s hoping this piece might go viral.”
It’s unclear if the Fox editors were aware of the extent to which Lott was involved in writing the piece. An editor’s note at the bottom mentions that Lott “contributed to this story.” But Fox News executive editor John Moody told BuzzFeed that FoxNews.com “published what was characterized to us as a first person account of Ms. Woolrich’s experiences.”
This isn’t the first time that Lott has written in the voice of a young woman seeking safety from a gun. In 2003, Lott was forced to admit he had posed as an active online commenter named Mary Rosh, who presented herself as his former student at the University of Pennsylvania and fiercely defended his research. “Even if I am not wearing heels, I don’t think that there are many men that I could outrun, especially over a short distance. Unfortunately, women are not as fast as men on average,” Rosh/Lott wrote. “You obviously don’t know what it is to be seriously threatened by someone who is much stronger than you are.” Lott later explained that “on a couple of occasions I used the female persona implied by the name in the chat rooms to try to get people to think about how people who are smaller and weaker physically can defend themselves.“ | <urn:uuid:8312f4a0-7426-444c-b237-61dcdc39cafa> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://practice.motherjones.com/politics/2015/08/john-lott-viral-fox-gun-article-taylor-woolrich/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571222.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810222056-20220811012056-00670.warc.gz | en | 0.984061 | 997 | 1.578125 | 2 |
What Color Will My Kittens Be?
PLEASE NOTE: These
genetics articles were written by Mindy Ferreira, and are the sole
property of the author including the tables that were developed.
All living things are made up of cells, inside each cell there are chromosomes, long strands of genetic material. These chromosomes are arranged in pairs: 19 pairs in a cat, 38 chromosomes. The chromosomes, under a microscope, have many many light and dark bands. These light and dark bands are the genes. Each gene is the code for a single feature or group of features, and each gene has a corresponding gene on the other half of its pair.
There are two basic types of behavior with the genes we are looking at: Dominant or Recessive.
A dominant trait will be displayed no matter what the other half of the pair contains. It requires only one gene, on one chromosome.
A recessive trait will be displayed only if BOTH halves of the chromosome pair contain this same gene. The cat needs two copies of this gene, one on each chromosome.
Many of the genes in the cat are indicated by a symbol, using letters of the alphabet. The capital letters are the dominant form of that gene, the lower case letters are the recessive form. The two genes we are looking at in the color prediction table below are:
For those who would rather not try to remember everything, there is a color prediction software program available free for download:
Feline Genetics Primer and FREE Feline Genetics Software
For further information e-mail
Graphic design and website creation by Mindy | <urn:uuid:41996b85-fa4e-4ff7-90d2-ad6c6ced8484> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://rfwclub.org/Genetics.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571472.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811133823-20220811163823-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.893458 | 364 | 3.53125 | 4 |
A great infographic for National Drink Wine Day (February 18), the Food & Wine Pairing Method is a new poster from Wine Folly that shows all of the compatible and Best wine matches for different foods and preparation methods.
See the theory of food and wine pairing in action with this easy to use chart. Then, understand the simple science behind food and wine pairing based on our basic sense of taste.
You can learn the fundamentals of how taste components like sweet, sour, spice, bitter and fat go together. Then, try pairing wine by letting the characteristics of your food suggest your wine.
Available for purchase for $24, it’s also available as a high-resolution download so you can print out your own personal poster.
The design is very clean and colorful. The circles in the table only have two different sizes, small and larger. There can be many small circles to show all of the compatible wines, but only one “Best” match shown with the large circle. The multi-ingredient direction down the left side are easy to understand, but it is still a little difficult for readers to visually compare rows that are not adjacent, and far apart. | <urn:uuid:99162456-3efc-4b25-b5ad-9dfaa1e23e5b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.coolinfographics.com/blog/2014/2/18/food-wine-pairing-method.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285315.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00570-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937849 | 241 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The fresh Kansas State University-School away from Environment and you can Absolute Tips are part of the school off Eating, Agricultural and you will Ecological Sciences at the Ohio County School, among most useful 25 societal universities in the usa. Research and you may outreach affairs in the School try conducted according to the auspices of one’s Kansas Agricultural Research and you may Development Cardiovascular system therefore the Kansas Condition College Extension program.
Someone, whether or not scholar or otherwise not, that have a relationship and you may prefer from character and you can wildlife try permitted, and encouraged, to become listed on the firm
Kansas School Wildlife Pub – This new Ohio College or university Creatures Bar is seriously interested in education and involvement from inside the sufferers and you may products over characteristics, animals, and you will preservation.
Ohio Wetlands Association. An environmental company this new Ohio Wetlands Association (OWA), good 501(c)3 non- funds with a widened objective. OWA are working in order to guarantee wetland cover by the affecting personal coverage, getting education with the qualities and you can viewpoints regarding wetlands and you will knowledge resident researchers to declaration standardized analysis into the regional wetlands.
These types of services ought to include the fresh new cooperation out-of condition-greater experts out of academia, government businesses and you will ecological leaders with unique degree and you can interest in wetland habitats from the condition out of Ohio
Ohio Animals Administration Relationship (previously Ohio Fish and you may Creatures Government Organization) try created in 1950, on the purpose to preserve Ohio’s diverse wildlife to have generations to come. The expectations is: so you can foster, provide, and exercise animals look and government;so you can mentor an annual Ohio Wildlife Appointment or any other conferences that assemble individuals of diverse creatures passions and you may experiences;to present a-year an award for the identification of a great contribution so you can wildlife search and you may government inside the Kansas.
Oxford Parks and you can Recreation. The newest purpose of the City of Oxford Areas and you will Athletics Institution would be to boost the total well being toward citizens regarding Oxford and you may related elements from the considered, development and you may maintaining high quality sport apps, facilities and https://www.besthookupwebsites.org/tendermeets-review you may parks.
Pheasants Permanently (PF) are serious about this new preservation out-of pheasants, quail or other creatures due to habitat advancements, public sense, knowledge and you will home management regulations and applications.
Portage Playground Section aims getting identified during Portage State and you may Northeast Ohio while the a frontrunner for the maintenance of pure information and a major factor to help you local communities’ lifestyle. We work towards are a proper-recognized spouse so you can regional communities to advertise and development the brand new areas and you can tracks and you can getting recreation and you will knowledge software for everyone customers. Courtesy discover interaction, venture and you may value, we could equilibrium different requires in our community to ensure a healthier environment in the place of reducing financial development.
Preservation Areas of Delaware State. What it is from Preservation Areas from Delaware County are to keep eco-friendly room in our easily development county and to provide environmental education to help you the residents. Given that parks create value to the well being, Maintenance Parks try invested in continuing discover and produce more elements that will enhance the fresh new lifestyle and provide clean, safe metropolises for recreation and you can leisure for everybody people in the community.
Quail Forever are centered during the 1981 to take on the trouble away from diminishing quail communities and you will declining wildlife habitat that will be the latest oldest national, nonprofit conservation company serious about this new wise management of America’s crazy quail. Labeled as “America’s Leader Within the Quail Conservation,” the full vision is always to fix America’s quail populations to have coming generations.
Ruffed Grouse Neighborhood participants are mainly grouse and you will woodcock candidates which support national medical maintenance and you will administration work to guarantee the coming of your own species. We headquartered inside the Coraopolis, PA, makes use of a team of wildlife biologists to work alongside private landowners, and you can government, including local, federal and state, residential property managers that happen to be looking for boosting the home having ruffed grouse, American woodcock and the other songbirds and you may animals that have equivalent requirements. | <urn:uuid:a57967b3-28f6-450a-9e2e-5c15e0ef14ee> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://whatisaggregate.com/the-instructional-applications-are-conventional/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.927059 | 923 | 1.710938 | 2 |
A bundle of sensitive British Ministry of Defence documents, found by a member of the public at a bus stop, contained information about the 23 June HMS Defender incident near the shores of the Crimea, as well as other sensitive military information, the BBC has reported, citing the obtained papers.
The documents, dated 21 June, reportedly contained an analysis of the potential consequences of the warship's passage through the waters, deemed by Russia as part of its territory. They also purportedly included information regarding the UK's operations in Afghanistan amid the US withdrawal from the country and London's thoughts on new US President Joe Biden and his administration.
The British Ministry of Defence did not explicitly confirm the authenticity of the documents cited by the BBC. However, the ministry did admit that an employee had reported the loss of sensitive papers, refusing to delve into detail about the matter.
The papers, cited by the British broadcaster, suggested that London expects increased threats towards its military personnel in Afghanistan, should the country decide to leave individuals behind following the US pull-out. The troops are reportedly already lacking awareness about the situation on the ground and even though they haven't faced Taliban attacks for over a year, this could change in the future. According to the papers, London isn't ruling out a complete withdrawal of its own forces.
The 50-page treasure trove of documents, which include emails and presentations, also contains notes on a session of the UK-US Defence Dialogue that took place on 21 June. The briefing notes suggested that the new US administration has "much continuity" with the previous one in terms of its focus on China and the Indo-Pacific region in general. Furthermore, London apparently doubts that Washington's policy towards its allies has changed with the arrival of Joe Biden and seeks confirmation of promised greater US engagement with Europe, the documents claim.
"We should use the meeting to see how much the administration is prepared to share, or whether its stated ambition of consulting more with allies is truer in principle than in practice", a portion of the briefing notes reportedly said.
London Planned Provocation Near Crimea, Expected Harsh Reaction From Moscow
The BBC report also goes into detail about the UK's deliberations on HMS Defender's passage from the Ukrainian port of Odessa to Batumi, Georgia. Per the obtained documents, two plans were on the table: a longer route around the Crimean Peninsula, and a shorter one where the warship would pass as close as 19 kilometres off Crimea's coast.
The second plan meant that Defender would sail right through the waters that Moscow considers its territory since a 2014 referendum during which the overwhelming majority of the peninsula's residents voted in favour of joining Russia. However, western countries do not recognise the results of the referendum (and apparently Crimeans' rights to self-determination), and thus the UK described the second route as crossing "Ukrainian territorial waters".
The same documents, cited by the BBC, show the UK realised it would be Moscow, not Kiev, who would react harshly to HMS Defender's "innocent passage". In international maritime law the term "innocent passage" is used to describe the peaceful movement of a military vessel through another country's territorial waters, which is only acceptable if this country does not object to it. Yet, international law does not permit this in cases where the status of waters is disputed – as is true with the waters off Crimea.
Still, London apparently did not bother itself with the peculiarities of international maritime law in this case, but rather with the potential response by Moscow to its actions:
"Following the transition from defence engagement activity to operational activity, it is highly likely that RFN (Russian Navy) and VKS (Russian Air Force) interactions will become more frequent and assertive", the documents obtained by the BBC said.
Even understanding that Russia's response might range from "safe and professional" to "neither safe nor professional" (according to the documents), Britain chose to send HMS Defender right into the waters off of the Crimean Peninsula. The papers cited by the BBC offer an insight behind the two motives for this decision.
First, London reportedly believed that taking a safer route for the HMS Defender would be understood by Moscow as a sign of the UK "being scared/running away". The papers also suggested the British government thought it would allow Russia to say that London had "belatedly accepted Moscow's claim to Crimean territorial waters".
Second, the UK apparently sought to make a PR stunt out of the bold passage of its warship through the Russian-controlled waters, the documents show. According to the report, London believed the journalists from the BBC and Daily Mail, who were on board the warship on the day of the incident, 23 June, would provide an "independent verification of HMS Defender's action".
Instead, the journalists witnessed how a Russian military vessel and a group of Su-24M fighter jets steered the HMS Defender away from Crimea's waters. The Russian Defence Ministry said the Russian warship had to fire a warning shot and that one of the jets had to drop bombs in the British destroyer's path because of the HMS Defender's refusal to heed warnings demanding it leave Russian territorial waters immediately. The Kremlin strongly condemned the UK's actions and summoned the country's envoy to deliver a note of protest.
London initially dismissed Russia's statements about its military firing warning shots as "Russian disinformation", claiming that Moscow had simply carried out "gunnery exercises" nearby. Yet later, the chief of Britain's defence staff, General Nick Carter admitted that the 23 June incident near Crimea could create the risk of an "unwarranted escalation". | <urn:uuid:70dfc011-6a53-4966-bbc2-6264adff59ca> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://sputniknews.com/20210627/sensitive-uk-mod-docs-reportedly-suggest-london-planned-hms-defender-provocation-as-media-stunt-1083252621.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571147.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810040253-20220810070253-00465.warc.gz | en | 0.964031 | 1,132 | 1.578125 | 2 |
losing someone special quotes
Every man is afraid of something. That's how you know he's in love with you; when he is afraid of losing you.
When friends stop being frank and useful to each other, the whole world loses some of its radiance.
A lost friendship is an enemy won.
A friend in power is a friend lost.
Henry Brooks Adams
True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.
Charles Caleb Colton
Like any other kind of love, friendship can be lost within our lives due to neglect or anger or, sometimes, just because of the circumstances. However it is lost, we often lose a part of ourselves that can never quite be recovered.
By: Ralph Waldo Emerson
By: Roberta Combs
By: Author Unknown
By: Author Unknown
By: Henry Brooks Adams
A good friend can tell you what is the matter with you in a minute. He may not seem such a good friend after telling.
The two most misused words in the entire English vocabulary are love and friendship. A true friend would die for you, so when you start trying to count them on one hand, you don't need any fingers.
Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Never mind. The self is the least of it. Let our scars fall in love.
By: Linda Talley
By: Stone Temple Pilots
By: Phyllis Diller
By: Tony Orlando
A good friend is as rare as a left-handed person in a world filled with right-handed people. He simply stands out!
Shane VJ Stoffels
Since this record is coming out on Machine Shop, our label, I could pick anyone I wanted to work on it, so I chose Brad as our A&R guy, which is hilarious because ... Brad's not a label guy, he's my friend, ... I've known him since I was like 13 years old and he can come in and say, 'Hey, that song, it's good, but trash this part of it and do this differently,' and I will actually listen to him.
Whenever a friend succeeds a little something in me dies.
A memory lasts forever,Never does it die.True friends stay together And never said goodbye.
Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was a choice, but falling in love with you I had no control over. | <urn:uuid:dc82067e-8d19-43d2-bffe-2d0d8d940ab8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.friendsquotesland.com/losing-someone-special-quotes.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00300-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963275 | 541 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Data science has emerged as one of the most sought-after fields in the 21st-century job market. It is the multidisciplinary study of data that combines knowledge of statistics, mathematics, and computer science. The scientific tools extract and uncover useful insights from structured and unstructured data.
So, this revolutionary technology is transforming the landscape of work and delivering immense business value. Following the industry trends, it is no secret that a career in data science can prove to be extremely beneficial. Want more proof? Checkout data science salary in India.
Moreover, the applications of data science reach far and wide. Specialists in the field can follow diverse career paths, which is why data science courses have picked up the pace in recent times. From those transitioning to advanced roles to those simply looking to hone their skills for entering the workforce, the discipline offers something for everyone.
Besides the lucrative pay and the multitude of job positions, there can be various reasons why data science as a career makes sense for you. But, before you commit your time and money to it, consider all the pros and cons. Below are some factors on which you can base your decision!
Pros of Data Science
1. Highly in-demand field
Data Science is one of the most in-demand jobs for 2020. Data science and analytics would create approximately 11.5 million jobs by the year 2026. And India is the second most prominent hub of such positions after the United States. So, data science is a highly employable and appealing sector as per the current industry trends.
2. Availability of highly-paid and diverse roles
Not only is the demand for data scientists booming, but the kinds of job positions are also abundant. As analytics take centre stage in decision-making, more and more businesses are hiring data scientists. Since it is a relatively less saturated area with a moderate supply of talent, opportunities requiring diverse skill-sets and competencies are available today. According to Glassdoor, a data scientist can earn $116,100 per year on average.
3. Evolving workplace environments
Data science is shaping the workplace of the future. With the advent of artificial intelligence and robotics, more and more routine and manual tasks are getting automated. Data science technologies have made it possible to train machines in performing repetitive tasks as humans take on more critical thinking and problem-solving roles. These are highly-paid and prestigious positions that capitalize on technological disruptions to simplify arduous work.
4. Improving product standards
Usage of machine learning has enabled companies to customize their offerings and enhance customer experiences. E-commerce sites serve as the best example of this development. The websites use Recommendation Systems to refer products and give personalized advice to users based on their past purchases. By understanding human behaviour and backing decisions with data, businesses can match their products and services to customer needs and make the necessary improvements.
5. Invigorating businesses
Businesses require skilled data scientists to assist the senior staff members in taking important corporate actions. These specialists extract hidden information from huge chunks of data to provide additional insights for decision-making. The large datasets also have to be cleaned and enriched. So, there are various reasons why data science is valuable for businesses nowadays. Some of the industry sectors that are benefitting include healthcare, finance, banking, management, consultancy, and e-commerce.
6. Helping the world
Predictive analytics and machine learning have revolutionized the healthcare industry. Data science is saving lives by enabling early detection of tumors, organ anomalies, and more. In a similar vein, it is helping the world’s farmers by introducing new ways of scientifically dealing with agricultural pests and harmful insects.
Cons of Data Science
‘Data scientist’ is a broad term. When someone introduces themselves as a data scientist, it can seem difficult to pinpoint what they actually do. This is because the actual role depends on the area of specialization. Depending on one’s skills and qualifications, one can be a data science researcher, developer, business analyst, or even a product engineer. Therefore, data science is often dubbed as an ambiguous field by many experts. At the same time, others regard it as the fourth paradigm of science!
Data science is a complex field of study that borrows concepts from other academic, scientific, and mathematical disciplines. Recently, many online courses have cropped up to fill the skill-gap in the data science sector. But, it is challenging to prepare a workforce that is equally proficient in all three subjects that constitute it – Math, Computers, and Statistics. Someone with a background in Statistics may find it difficult to master computer science. So, data scientists have to keep learning and upgrading their skills to make full use of the opportunities.
Data science roles require a firm hold on domain knowledge. For example, a research study on analyzing genomic sequences would prefer someone with a background in genetics and molecular biology. Similarly, business analytics roles may expect prior knowledge of economics and finance. It is due to this reason that data scientists sometimes find it tricky to transition from one industry to another.
Data-driven predictions minimize business risks to a great extent. But in some cases when arbitrary data is provided, the expected results may not be attained. Such instances can bring down the confidence in data science systems. So, it is equally important to have relevant datasets and data points to get meaningful and actionable insights for decision-making. It is also a good practice for the management and data scientists to set goals collaboratively before they devote time and resources to the process.
5. Privacy Issues
Consumer data fuels major business strategies in modern organizations. Companies hold large volumes of identifiable data with them, which has raised ethical concerns around data privacy. A single security lapse can compromise personal data and thus, pose a threat to the individuals. As a result, it has become pertinent to integrate cybersecurity and privacy measures within data science techniques.
Learn data science courses from the World’s top Universities. Earn Executive PG Programs, Advanced Certificate Programs, or Masters Programs to fast-track your career.
When you are trying to build a career in data science, choosing the next right step can be difficult. There are several data science courses out there, which can complicate your decision-making process. So, evaluate your options by considering all the advantages and limitations before you dive in!
If you are curious to learn about data science, check out IIIT-B & upGrad’s PG Diploma in Data Science which is created for working professionals and offers 10+ case studies & projects, practical hands-on workshops, mentorship with industry experts, 1-on-1 with industry mentors, 400+ hours of learning and job assistance with top firms.
Which is more beneficial: artificial intelligence or data science?
The two most significant technologies in the world now are data science and artificial intelligence. While Data Science employs AI in its processes, it does not fully reflect AI. Pre-processing, analysis, visualization, and prediction are all part of the Data Science process. Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is the use of a predictive model to anticipate future occurrences. Data Science employs a variety of statistical approaches, whereas AI employs computer algorithms. Finding hidden patterns in data is the goal of data science while the goal of AI is to give the data model autonomy.
What aspect of data science is the most difficult?
Data scientists must be capable of resolving difficult issues. These issues are centered on building models that address some of the most difficult business issues. This necessitates a good sense of problem-solving and a strong grasp of mathematics. This makes data science an even more challenging task for many companies. Data scientists also confront significant problems in day-to-day operations, which need a great deal of critical thinking, decision-making, and analytical abilities. One of the most important tasks in evaluating an issue and creating a solution is to first identify the problem and its many aspects.
What role does data science play in assisting firms in making better decisions?
While classical statistics and data analysis have always emphasized the use of data to explain and forecast, data science expands on this particular compulsion. It learns from data by creating algorithms and programs that take data from a variety of sources and use blends of mathematics and computer science approaches to extract more practical insights. Data science, unlike traditional analysis, dares to ask more questions by examining unstructured 'big data' gathered from millions of sources and nontraditional mediums including text, video, and pictures. This enables businesses to make better decisions based on consumer information. | <urn:uuid:935a03a7-1bd3-4861-afec-2fa1771ec9ed> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://prod-eks-app-alb-1037681640.ap-south-1.elb.amazonaws.com/blog/reasons-to-become-a-data-scientist/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571222.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810222056-20220811012056-00672.warc.gz | en | 0.930714 | 1,769 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The UN and the Bosnian Serbs were close to undeclared war as General Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander, said that his forces would shoot down planes flying near their positions.
The Serbian response to Nato's attacks in the Gorazde enclave on Sunday and Monday included laying mines around UN weapon collection sites in Sarajevo, preventing UN vehicles from driving through Serbian checkpoints, and ordering about 40 UN military observers in Serb-held areas not to leave home. The chief UN observer, Roy Thomas, said sentries had taken up guard outside the homes of some of his staff: 'They have not been harmed, just confined.'
In a sign of mounting pressure on Westerners in Serb-controlled zones, Bosnian Serb security officers said they planned to put on trial 11 French charity workers arrested last Saturday while travelling to Sarajevo from the Adriatic port of Split. The Serbs say the team was trying to smuggle ammunition into Sarajevo for the Muslim- led government, an allegation French authorities denounced as a lie.
The 11, who include a 25-year-old female logistics expert, work for Premiere Urgence, a charity that co-operates in Bosnia with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Belgrade television said they were in prison in Lukavica, a Serb-held Sarajevo suburb. The charity's spokesman, Thierry Mauricet, said Serbs had planted the heavy machine-gun ammunition in vehicles and the smuggling charge was nonsense. 'This is a cover-up for sheer hostage-taking,' he said.
The UN was also concerned about the fate of a Dutch military observer and his interpreter who went missing on Monday outside the Serb-surrounded Muslim enclave of Zepa in eastern Bosnia. UN officials said they had sent two letters to the Bosnian Serb armed forces but had had no reply.
Some Western governments have long been worried that Nato strikes against Bosnian Serb targets might jeopardise UN personnel and private aid workers. A similar situation arose in Iraq in 1990 when Saddam Hussein held dozens of Westerners temporary hostage to deter the US-led operation to recapture Kuwait.
To follow up its air strikes, Nato is considering an ultimatum to Bosnian Serb forces to withdraw from positions around Gorazde or face more attacks. But the Western use of force has already provoked a hostile Russian reaction that threatens to have implications for the whole spectrum of East-West relations.
President Boris Yeltsin, angry that Nato attacked the Bosnian Serbs without consulting him, suggested in Spain yesterday that Moscow might refuse to sign Nato's Partnership for Peace initiative 'when Russia is permanently discriminated against'. Russia is supposed to join the programme in Brussels on 21 April.
Serbian and Muslim forces clashed yesterday around Gorazde. The UN commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Michael Rose, said Muslim forces were firing mortars at silent Serbian positions. However, other UN officials said later that the Muslims had come under fire from Serbs.
Extra troops line up for Gorazde, page 9
Letters, page 17Reuse content | <urn:uuid:5db6f1ab-713b-4c7a-82ff-a9cdf90d969c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.independent.co.uk/news/serbs-retaliate-with-undeclared-war-against-un-observers-1369612.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00250-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969975 | 645 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Conjunctivitis is an inflammation or swelling of the conjunctiva. The conjunctiva is the thin transparent layer of tissue that lines the inner surface of the eyelid and covers the white part of the eye.
Often called "pink eye," conjunctivitis is a common eye disease, especially in children. It may affect one or both eyes. Some forms of conjunctivitis are highly contagious and can easily spread in schools and at home. While conjunctivitis is usually a minor eye infection, sometimes it can develop into a more serious problem.
A viral or bacterial infection can cause conjunctivitis. It can also develop due to an allergic reaction to air irritants such as pollen and smoke, chlorine in swimming pools, ingredients in cosmetics, or other products that contact the eyes, such as contact lenses. Sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia and gonorrhea are less common causes of conjunctivitis.
People with conjunctivitis may experience the following symptoms:
- A gritty feeling in one or both eyes
- Itching or burning sensation in one or both eyes
- Excessive tearing
- Discharge from one or both eyes
- Swollen eyelids
- Pink discoloration to the whites of one or both eyes
- Increased sensitivity to light
What causes conjunctivitis?
There are three main types of conjunctivitis: allergic, infectious and chemical. The cause of conjunctivitis varies depending on the type.
- Allergic conjunctivitis occurs more commonly among people who already have seasonal allergies. They develop it when they come into contact with a substance that triggers an allergic reaction in their eyes.
- Giant papillary conjunctivitis is a type of allergic conjunctivitis caused by the chronic presence of a foreign body in the eye. People who wear hard or rigid contact lenses, wear soft contact lenses that are not replaced frequently, have an exposed suture on the surface of the eye or have a prosthetic eye are more likely to develop this form of conjunctivitis.
- Bacterial conjunctivitis is an infection most often caused by staphylococcal or streptococcal bacteria from your own skin or respiratory system. Insects, physical contact with other people, poor hygiene (touching the eye with unclean hands), or using contaminated eye makeup and facial lotions can also cause the infection. Sharing makeup and wearing contact lenses that are not your own or are improperly cleaned can also cause bacterial conjunctivitis.
- Viral conjunctivitis is most commonly caused by contagious viruses associated with the common cold. It can develop through exposure to the coughing or sneezing of someone with an upper respiratory tract infection. Viral conjunctivitis can also occur as the virus spreads along the body's own mucous membranes, which connect the lungs, throat, nose, tear ducts and conjunctiva. Since the tears drain into the nasal passageway, forceful nose blowing can cause a virus to move from your respiratory system to your eyes.
- Ophthalmia neonatorum is a severe form of bacterial conjunctivitis that occurs in newborn babies. This is a serious condition that could lead to permanent eye damage if it is not treated immediately. Ophthalmia neonatorum occurs when an infant is exposed to chlamydia or gonorrhea while passing through the birth canal. For several years, U.S. delivery rooms have applied antibiotic ointment to babies' eyes as a standard prophylactic treatment.
- Chemical Conjunctivitis can be caused by irritants like air pollution, chlorine in swimming pools, and exposure to noxious chemicals.
How is conjunctivitis diagnosed?
Conjunctivitis can be diagnosed through a comprehensive eye examination. Testing, with special emphasis on the conjunctiva and surrounding tissues, may include:
- Patient history to determine the symptoms, when the symptoms began, and whether any general health or environmental conditions are contributing to the problem.
- Visual acuity measurements to determine whether vision has been affected.
- Evaluation of the conjunctiva and external eye tissue using bright light and magnification.
- Evaluation of the inner structures of the eye to ensure that no other tissues are affected by the condition.
- Supplemental testing, which may include taking cultures or smears of conjunctival tissue. This is particularly important in cases of chronic conjunctivitis or when the condition is not responding to treatment.
Using the information obtained from these tests, your optometrist can determine if you have conjunctivitis and advise you on treatment options.
How is conjunctivitis treated?
Treating conjunctivitis has three main goals:
- Increase patient comfort.
- Reduce or lessen the course of the infection or inflammation.
- Prevent the spread of the infection in contagious forms of conjunctivitis.
The appropriate treatment for conjunctivitis depends on its cause:
- Allergic conjunctivitis. The first step is to remove or avoid the irritant, if possible. Cool compresses and artificial tears sometimes relieve discomfort in mild cases. In more severe cases, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications and antihistamines may be prescribed. People with persistent allergic conjunctivitis may also require topical steroid eye drops.
- Bacterial conjunctivitis. This type of conjunctivitis is usually treated with antibiotic eye drops or ointments. Bacterial conjunctivitis may improve after three or four days of treatment, but patients need to take the entire course of antibiotics to prevent recurrence.
- Viral conjunctivitis. No drops or ointments can treat viral conjunctivitis. Antibiotics will not cure a viral infection. Like a common cold, the virus has to run its course, which may take up to two or three weeks. Symptoms can often be relieved with cool compresses and artificial tear solutions. For the worst cases, topical steroid drops may be prescribed to reduce the discomfort from inflammation. However, these drops will not shorten the infection.
- Chemical conjunctivitis. Careful flushing of the eyes with saline is a standard treatment for chemical conjunctivitis. People with chemical conjunctivitis also may need to use topical steroids. Severe chemical injuries, particularly alkali burns, are medical emergencies and can lead to scarring, damage to the eye or the sight, or even loss of the eye. If a chemical spills in your eye, flush the eye for several minutes with a lot of water before seeing your medical provider.
Contact Lens Wearers
Contact lens wearers may need to temporarily stop wearing their lenses while the condition is active. Your doctor can tell you if this is necessary.
If you developed conjunctivitis due to wearing contact lenses, your eye doctor may recommend that you switch to a different type of contact lens or disinfection solution. Your optometrist might need to change your contact lens prescription to a lens that you replace more frequently. This can help prevent the conjunctivitis from recurring.
Practicing good hygiene is the best way to control the spread of conjunctivitis. Once an infection has been diagnosed, follow these steps:
- Don't touch your eyes with your hands.
- Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently.
- Change your towel and washcloth daily, and don't share them with others.
- Discard eye cosmetics, particularly mascara.
- Don't use anyone else's eye cosmetics or personal eye-care items.
- Follow your eye doctor's instructions on proper contact lens care.
You can soothe the discomfort of viral or bacterial conjunctivitis by applying warm compresses to your affected eye or eyes. To make a compress, soak a clean cloth in warm water and wring it out before applying it gently to your closed eyelids.
For allergic conjunctivitis, avoid rubbing your eyes. Instead of warm compresses, use cool compresses to soothe your eyes. Over-the-counter eye drops might also help. Antihistamine eye drops can alleviate the symptoms, and lubricating eye drops can rinse the allergen off the surface of the eye.
See your doctor of optometry if you think you have conjunctivitis. He or she can diagnose the cause and prescribe the proper treatment. | <urn:uuid:07be9e88-377e-4704-a7f3-9b382dec2fd3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/conjunctivitis?sso=y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281574.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00016-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91267 | 1,717 | 4.28125 | 4 |
Scottish poet and hymnist
|This article on an author is a stub. You can help Wikiquote by expanding it.|
- Now Spring returns; but not to me returns.
- "Elegy on Spring" (1767), line 1.
- In every pang that rends the heart
The Man of Sorrows had a part
- "Where high the heavenly temple stands".
- 'Tis very vain for me to boast
How small a price my Bible cost,
The day of judgment will make clear
'Twas very cheap — or very dear,
- Inscription on a Bible,Epigram- The Works of Michael Bruce ed:with memoir and notes by Andrew B Grosart, Murray And Gibb, Printers, Edinburgh (1864). | <urn:uuid:0e0fd63a-e745-4e21-a7cb-69441a1d41a3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Bruce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00209-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.834125 | 169 | 1.71875 | 2 |
When this wave of higher oil prices subsides, is it going to be business as usual? After the oil shocks of the 1970s and early 1980s, the oil price came back down and we went pretty much back to our bad old ways.
But this time it feels different. It is true that all the attitudes that characterised previous surges in the oil price are evident now. There is the resentment against the oil companies at their profits. There is the cockiness of Opec, with its president warning on Monday that the price might go to $200 a barrel. And there are the exhortations to conservation, but without much follow-up.
Taxes on energy are smaller relative to the total tax take now than they were when Labour took over. And there are the mad-cap government initiatives that do more harm than good. In the US in the 1980s the legal requirement on car manufacturers to improve the fuel consumption of their fleets merely pushed Americans into four-wheel-drives that were exempt. This time it is legislation and subsidies in favour of bio-fuels in the US and Europe that have helped force up the price of food globally.
However, though on the surface there is a sense of déjà vu, there are several reasons to suspect that it really will be different this time: that though the oil price will eventually fall back somewhat, we will never have cheap oil again – cheap in the sense of the $20-30 a barrel range of most of the 1990s and the first part of the 2000s.
Never? Well never is a long time but if it is so it is good news for conservation and indeed the planet. In the short-term there may well be some shading back in the price, but our economic structure is determined by long-term prices, not short, and the present surge seems likely to hasten us along the path to a less oil-dependent world.
Here's why. It is that the balance of power between those two old warriors, supply and demand, has irrevocably shifted.
Supply, as Opec keeps reminding us, is tight. Any disruption in supplies has therefore a disproportionate impact on the price. You can see that in the way disruption in the North Sea and Nigeria pushed up the global price over the weekend. Some 60 per cent of the world's supply comes from the non-Opec producers and they are pumping at or close to their limits.
You could say, over-simplifying grossly, that this "Nopec" oil is difficult-to-produce oil in politically easy places, whereas Opec oil is easy-to-produce oil in politically difficult places. As far as Nopec is concerned, many of the easier (ie, cheaper to produce) fields, such as on-shore US supplies, are in decline. The first generation of off-shore fields, including the North Sea, are in decline too.
Oil is still being found but the really big opportunities are in non-conventional sources, such as shale oil and tar sands, and these are expensive to exploit and may carry high environmental costs. So, over the next generation, the total Nopec supplies may creep up a bit – though even that is not clear – but it is not going to be cheap oil.
Opec oil, by contrast, is in geologically easier places. We know where it is; and we know how to get it out. Actually, it is mostly in the Middle East, with a fair amount in Africa. Saudi Arabia remains the world's largest producer. Opec members, for perfectly understandable reasons, wish to retain control over their output, which they do either by operating through national corporations or, when they do get Western companies in on the act, keeping them tightly controlled. In theory it would be easier for Opec to increase its production than for Nopec, but political realities curb the extent to which that is likely to happen.
So supply will remain tight for the foreseeable future. It may become very tight indeed if the "peak oil" advocates are right. These are geologists who believe that the world is close to the technical limits on what can be produced and that oil production is set to reach a peak and then to decline in the next few years. Most people in the big oil companies disagree but even "big oil" would acknowledge that the age of easy oil is past. That is materially different from the situation in the 1970s and 1980s.
Tight supplies clash with strong demand. The burgeoning demand from China for all sources of energy has been widely recognised, with China last year becoming a net importer of coal for the first time. (It has been a net importer of oil since the early 1990s.)
The point about oil, of course, is that it is not just a source of energy but also a feedstock for many chemicals, so while China is scooping up world coal and gas supplies too, it cannot carry on growing without relentlessly, year after year, importing more oil.
Add in demand from India and the consumption situation is utterly different from every previous global downturn. Every time up to now, and particularly in the 1970s and 1980s, a slowdown in the developed world economy fed through into a decline in demand, or at least a slowing in rate of growth. That does not seem to be happening now.
US oil demand is slackening, as you would expect, and European demand may well follow suit. But Asian demand is not. So Chinese growth comes down from 11 per cent a year to, say, 8 or 9 per cent? That does not help release much pressure on the oil fields. Oil becomes more expensive? Sure, but China has huge foreign exchange reserves and has to have it. So it will pay.
As a result, both supply and demand are less responsive to price changes than they were in previous cycles. Eventually, at some price, people are forced to conserve more oil. We either use less of it or we substitute where possible with alternatives. Eventually, if the price is high enough, the oil companies will figure out ways of extracting more of the stuff. But this process will not happen as swiftly or as dramatically as it did in previous cycles.
That is good news. The plunge in the oil price, particularly after the peak in the early 1980s, and the low price through the 1990s until about three years ago, undermined a lot of the conservation efforts those spikes in the price provoked. The price hit $80 a barrel in the early 1980s, in real terms roughly where we are now. Had that price been maintained through the following quarter century we would be in much better shape than we are now.
So we should reasonably hope that the world will not have much more expensive oil. At the present level it is expensive enough to start forcing conservation, and as a result of the impact it is having on food prices – oil at $100-plus takes money from the poor and gives it to the rich – it is not something that supports social stability or human decency.
But let's equally hope that it does not come down too much either. The market mechanism can be a brutal one, but it can also be a powerful one, forcing a necessary change in the way we live on our planet home.Reuse content | <urn:uuid:e21af5f2-7143-4bf8-994c-1adb38198bc4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/hamish-mcrae/hamish-mcrae-we-will-never-have-cheap-oil-again-818008.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283689.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00356-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97788 | 1,497 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Chemicals can either be useful or dangerous. This is why safety precautions are employed in all chemical laboratories and these stringent measures are only appropriate to avoid life-threatening mistakes. Generally, substances are harmless under the appropriate conditions. When we speak of appropriate conditions we are considering the proper storage, right temperature and pressure in the storage area, and the handling. While handling and storage of chemicals should be done with care, the observance of precautions when mixing different substances is even more compelling.
Watch all the household chemicals, for instance, and you will understand that all these items come in solutions and mixtures of two or more ingredients. Mixtures and solutions are also quite important in many industrial sectors from agricultural chemical processing to chemical reagent preparations. In many processes calling for chemical mixing, mixing chemicals should be done in the most controlled procedures, often requiring sophisticated instruments and safety gears or protective suits.
There are many chemicals that are extremely hazardous. Mixing two or more substances can result to one of several types of reactions, all of which have one common feature and this is the production of new substances or new mixtures. Many useful chemicals have been manufactured through mixing of different chemicals. Various effects can happen when mixing substances though. These include precipitation of a new substance, evolution of heat, absorption of heat, and evolution of gas (if one of the products is a gaseous substance).
Of course, change in the color of the mixture is an apparent indication of a reaction happening. The matter with combination of two or more substances is that toxic chemicals or gases may be the products of the formerly inert substances. In other cases, some chemicals could react vigorously with the production of enormous heat, which in uncontrolled instances can set nearby objects on fire. One of the most hazardous effects of crude mixing of certain substances is that a rapid evolution of toxic fumes may result. Doing such procedure without proper gears and instruments could expose one to hazardous substance.
Companies that do substance mixing or chemical filling should ensure that the stringent procedures are followed to avoid fatal accidents from happening. A single mistake can risk the life of many. The education of workers is imperative. Everyone working in the area should understand the sheer danger of chemicals and the products upon mixing. The following of standard procedure is a basic necessity in any chemical labs. Safety apparatuses should be at hand. Protective suits must be worn if necessary and if chemicals that are to be handled are corrosive and toxic. Ventilation is a basic thing.
It is also imperative that industrial workers who are often exposed to certain chemicals know which chemicals to watch out for. Some of them may not exactly understand what the exposure could mean. Furthermore, some do not understand the basics in mixing certain substances safely. Of course, there is no need to remind the chemists and the chemical engineers, but they, too, should realize the repercussions of complacency.
As a general rule, anybody should not attempt to mix two or more unknown chemicals. Also avoid mixing household chemicals if you are unsure about the resulting products. There are certain chemicals at home that could generate dangerous gases when combined. For instance, bleach and ammonia may produce toxic chlorine and other irritating fumes that could render you unconscious. Even mixing some compounds with water should be done with precaution. For instance, mixing water and strong acids and alkaline can produce enormous quantities of heat.
If you are purchasing chemicals, always ask the dealer about the properties of the substances. Also inquire about the proper handling and storage as well as the possible hazards. This information may not come with the chemical packaging, chemical packing, or chemical specifications. | <urn:uuid:215738cd-b30d-4a0c-afa6-d0c4bdb68ce8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://safin54.hpage.com/knowing-the-many-dangers-of-mixing-chemicals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570977.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809124724-20220809154724-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.951266 | 725 | 3.359375 | 3 |
This action might not be possible to undo. Are you sure you want to continue?
Screen 1 of 11 Page 1 of 1
This is a course about how towns, cities and urban regions can lead climate actions and achieve great things for their citizens, and for humanity. Climate actions include both mitigation – reducing a city’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions – and adaptation – preparing a city for the most likely climate change scenarios. These are broad topics to include in a single course. You will not spend much time on details. Rather, the intention is to explore what it means to create a strong vision of where you want to go, and then to think strategically about the best overall approach to planning, implementation and funding. Be sure to look through the ‘Help’ section to familiarize yourself with the course’s navigation if you haven’t already done so.
Onscreen Text A Strategic Approach to Climate Action
• • • • • • • Towns and cities can LEAD climate actions, achieve great things MITIGATION: Reducing GHG emissions ADAPTATION: Preparing for likely scenarios How to create a strong vision, and strategize about: Planning – taking a holistic, integrated approach Implementation – decision-making tools and processes, forging partnerships Funding – taking advantage of new opportunities
Cities and Climate Change Leadership
and on financing options. WBI offers courses for cities on risk management.org/ei/printpdf/CourseCalendarYeartoPDF/2011) View the World Bank Institutes e-Institute web site. senior decisionmakers. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . representatives of cities. you will learn how to access the best practice websites and literature now available. and dates when each course is available. In addition. click on any of the course titles. For a quick look at what’s included. and the implications for development. availability and cost (http://einstitute. The series offers practical guidance on specific sectors like energy and transportation. Intended audience: Offered globally to project developers. and browse through the courses to learn more about content. (http://einstitute. youth and NGO’s. technical consultants.worldbank.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 2 of 11 Page 1 of 2 The Series Narration Text To find detailed information on specific climate actions. CDM Programmatic CDM: Opportunities and Challenges: This five-module course takes about 8 hours to complete. this course in an excellent primer for anyone who needs to understand the basic physics of climate change. the groups involved and the effects of climate change on development. This course is the one of a series of courses on cities and climate change. Fundamentals of Climate Change: A plain language overview of all the theory behind climate change. Onscreen Text WBI COURSES Climate Change Related Courses View a calendar with a synopsis for each course available through the World Bank Institute. Intended audience: Carbon market agents. Intended audience: Originally intended for development professionals. identifies potential sectors and analyzes case studies. It addresses the rationale for developing Programme of Activities (PoA) and its rules and structure. You will also have the option to continue learning from other courses available from the World Bank Institute.worldbank. land use planning and the social dimensions of climate change. development practitioners and urban specialists with a general knowledge of CDM/JI project-based mechanisms.org/ei/) CDM/JI: Navigating the Kyoto Protocol Project-Based Mechanisms: This course provides a rigorous introduction to the CDM/JI process and key guidelines and procedures to successfully develop CDM/JI projects.
Intended audience: City officials in developing countries.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTURBANDEVELOPMENT/0. Best Practice Websites a) World Bank Urban Development (http://web.htm) c) • • • • NGOs.worldmayorscouncil.org/categories..gtz. e. Habitat (http://www.00.: World Mayors Council on Climate Change (http://www.g.southsouthnorth.org/) Cities and Climate Change Leadership . UNEP (http://www. Intended audience: Urban planners in rapidly growing. equitable and efficient development outcomes.org/) ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (http://www.html) b) International agencies. finance access and on decision making under uncertainty to identifying options and establishing priorities to make the city more resilient to climate change impacts and natural disasters. developing cities with limited access to state-of-the-art knowledge and capacity.asp?catid=550).unhabitat. policy and programs stock tacking and gaps analysis. GTZ (http://www.worldbank.iclei.org/) C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (http://www.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 2 of 11 Page 2 of 2 Other Relevant Courses Sustainable Urban Land Use Planning: This course provides participants with a functional and integrated understanding of the dynamics of urban land use and demonstrates how to effectively utilize policies and planning instruments to manage urban growth and achieve sustainable.c40cities.g.unep.org/) South South North (http://www. Introduction to Safe and Resilient Cities: The e-Learning course will expose city officials and practitioners to cutting edge tools on vulnerability assessment.contentM DK:22923088~menuPK:337184~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:337178.de/en/themen/25486.org/climatechange/). e.
php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=23661) Social Dimensions of Climate Change (http://publications.pdf) Climate Finance (http://climatechange. Onscreen Text Key Reference Material for the Course Climate Resilient Cities. A Primer on Reducing Vulnerabilities to Disasters (http://publications.org/index.org/index. With the right leadership and some detailed planning guidelines.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 3 of 11 Page 1 of 2 Target Audience and References Narration Text This Triple C Leadership course is intended for senior and middle-level decision makers.org/content/development-climate-finance) Cities and Climate Change Leadership . and for guidance on how to obtain copies for your library. or to create a Climate Action Plan from scratch.org/index. The course can be used to refine and expand your existing plans for climate action. Smaller cities and towns have more freedom of movement and more opportunity to gather together and work as a single team.iied. If you have already developed a climate action plan or have set targets. For a quick look at the key reference materials. applying new lessons and tools to your specific situation.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=23961) Eco2 Cities: Ecological Cities and Economic Cities (http://publications. urban management or city operations. but they still need to educate their staff and partners with respect best practices worldwide. including anyone who is closely involved with urban development. all sizes of cities can quickly turn visions into actions.org/pdfs/G02718. click on any of the titles.worldbank. the course can help you build on this past work.worldbank.org/index. Larger cities may have more resources for starters.worldbank. The course is suitable for towns and cities of all sizes.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=23596) The Carbon Finance Toolkit: Ensuring Benefits for Communities (http://pubs.worldbank.worldbank. The course content is an amalgamation of recent World Bank publications and research.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=0&products_id=23053) Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda (http://publications.
and how it plans to get there. water. land use. In all other respects the features of a climate action plan will vary according to local context. a climate action plan might be a single document. to strategies. Policies include changes to the built environment and protection of ecological assets.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 3 of 11 Page 2 of 2 What exactly do we mean by a Climate Action Plan? A climate action plan is a strategy both for mitigating climate change and for adapting to climate change. energy. where it wants to go. It spells out where a city is at now. The Plan usually includes strategies for getting key stakeholders to adopt synergistic policies that will create the needed overall change. A climate action plan might be a set of targets and some general directions for policy. It may be a cross-cutting policy. along with local capacity development and institutional reform. or it might be a detailed strategic plan that moves all the way from goals and targets. to implementation. waste. or a suite of plans: one for mitigation measures. to the final commissioning. or a divided into sub-plans for each sector: transport. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . Depending upon the city. another for adaptation measures. monitoring and reporting. Goals and targets are addressed for both mitigation and adaptation.
and accessing financing more efficiently • • • • • • • • Cities and Climate Change Leadership . Onscreen Text Lessons from around the world • • Cities have been taking leadership role for a long time David Cadman – Vancouver city Councilor and President. has been promoting climate action for many years. strategic approaches to adaptation and mitigation. the course gives special attention to change management – offering practical. What is becoming clear to Mr. Cadman and his organization is that cities are at the forefront of mitigation and adaptation planning. ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability ICLEI: 1. Cadman as he describes what he sees as the emerging leadership role for cities.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 4 of 11 Page 1 of 1 City-based Leadership Narration Text Cities have been taking an important leadership role in climate change for many years already. Vancouver City Councilor and President of Local Governments for Sustainability (or ICLEI). OR cities can come together and learn from each other Somewhere. David Cadman. Because of the leadership focus. and local leadership is a challenging but essential factor for success.200 city members worldwide Course has specific focus on cities’ leadership role and change management World governed by nations but most live in cities Can wait for national and sub-national levels to get things done. ICLEI has over 1200 city members worldwide. Some of the skills you may find especially valuable are listed. Please listen briefly to Mr. a city has faced same problems as your own city National governments cannot implement change without cities Speed of learning is much faster than expected Key hurdles remain: national governments. many of whom have already set targets and developed climate action plans.
wherever this can be arranged. or to follow links to background information on topics new to you or of special interest. The learning experience is more rewarding if the Lessons are spread out over several days or weeks according to a prearranged schedule. Cities and Climate Change Leadership .Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 5 of 11 Page 1 of 1 Course Structure Narration Text The course is divided into three Modules. This will take you on a logical progression through the planning process. Each Module is divided into three Lessons. Such an incremental approach allows for important reflection time and better retention. although times vary. from What? to Where? to How? While moving through the course. as shown here. Modules are stand-alone. you should proceed in numerical order. you will have the opportunity to take extra time to check out some of the references. Otherwise. Onscreen Text Recommended: An Incremental Approach to Completing the Course One option is to complete one or two Lessons every day during the work week. It also provides opportunities to combine the self-paced learning and exercises within the course with group discussion or group exercises. or you may already have a schedule to follow that will synchronize your learning with group discussions. and can be taken in any order. You may want to use the course to address an issue of special concern. Every Lesson requires approximately 40 minutes. at the beginning of your day perhaps. and finish the course in one or two weeks.
how to learn quickly by participating in city-based networks. act before the window of opportunity disappears • Contribute to national targets: ‘nations talk. and basic procedures for managing change. city-based approach to decision-making.Understand how Climate Action will Benefit your City • Develop strong arguments for advancing your development agenda. But don’t get side-tracked now – you might get lost! During the course you may also choose to listen to some of the video segments included within each lesson.1 Act Now . If you are not already well connected to these rich sources of information. You will also learn about an integrated approach to design and a long-term. Onscreen Text Module One – What does climate action mean for our city’s development agenda? Module One explores the purpose of climate action. then you may want to jump to Module 2 for a more nuts and bolts perspective on how to get started with your mitigation and adaptation work. Click directly on a square to see the titles for each Lesson. and a point-form summary of the learning objectives. Roll your cursor over each of the squares – one two or three . case studies and other resources. including co benefits and synergies • Avoid the cost of delay. Lesson 1.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 6 of 11 Page 1 of 3 Tour Narration Text Use this optional ‘tour’ to scan the contents of each Module and Lesson. and to develop a ‘feel’ for the entire course. Module 1 also includes a basic introduction to the types of technological and institutional changes that may be required by cities. If you are not so interested in these fundamentals. as they elaborate on the issues under discussion. In this way the course serves as a chart or map to help you navigate through the ‘ocean of information’ on climate change now available on the web. you will want to take a few excursions. Each lesson includes links to city networks and partners that offer tools. You will find lots of information on how to ‘mainstream’ climate action and capture ‘co-benefits’.and read through the pop-up summary for the Module. and how to collaborate with partners at all levels. cities act’ Cities and Climate Change Leadership . Video clips provide an opportunity to learn directly from experienced city officials or other experts.
learning continuously and quickly • Take advantage of technical assistance at every scale: regional. You will learn how to employ a range of plausible but diverse climate scenarios. standards.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 6 of 11 Page 2 of 3 Lesson 1. economic system and social systems • Use maps and indicators to present and compare risk factors.3 Act Differently . international Lesson 1. and a climate resilient city.2 Survey of Threats and Vulnerabilities • Learn the basics about climate modeling. and how you compare. and the necessity of a City-based approach to decision-making Module Two: Where are we now. national. based upon global models and historical records. including physical and institutional changes • Develop a full leadership team • Appreciate the diversity of technologies that may need to be adopted and managed • Consider the importance of the long view. and evaluate the exposure and vulnerability of various city systems. You will define climate threats for the city. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . You will become familiar with the latest approaches for establishing a ‘baseline’ for energy flows and greenhouse gas emissions. tools and work requirements for a GHG emissions inventory Lesson 2. using a variety of methods for risk mapping and risk assessment. and how your city can create robust climate change scenarios • Identify the most significant potential threats • Assess the exposure and vulnerability to climate threats for the city’s physical environment. and where do we want to go? Module Two explores the mechanics of getting started. and develop a suitable team and institutional structure for completing the work. Ultimately visions and targets will be formulated. establishing a pathway to a low-carbon and resource efficient economy. Lesson 2. City-based Approach • Learn what it takes to mainstream. update and share key information • Describe the institutional context for energy systems • Describe energy systems including the local energy assets • Understand the procedures.2 Act Together – Improve your capacity for Climate Action by working closely with others • Develop financial partnerships that can help you access substantial new resources • Participate in a ‘community of practice’. both for mitigation and adaptation.1 A Survey of Energy and Emissions • Appreciate the critical role of surveying and research as part of climate action • Expand your city’s Information and Decision Support System to meet specific needs • Consider how to organize. networking with others.Mainstream Climate Action as part of an Integrated. so you know better where you stand.
2 Strategies for Adaptation • Apply a strategic planning process similar to that used for mitigation • Integrated Disaster Risk Management • Reduce poverty • Increase resilience. This begins with long-term mitigation and adaption strategies. You will learn how to leverage public funds. increase sources of financing. education. research. Your strategy planning will benefit from procedures for engaging public.1 Strategies for Mitigation • Appreciate benefits of strategic planning • Define the scale of action. programs and plans for mitigation and adaptation • Communicate a positive message on climate action • Minimize costs and maximize green growth • Apply principles of adaptive management Cities and Climate Change Leadership . Implementation is a combination of policy tools. structural reforms and institutional capacities. and from tools for engaging public and professionals. get started with no regrets • Engage partners. Lesson 3.3 Guidelines for Implementation • Use full policy toolkit • Make the best use of city powers • Leverage public investments • Consider popular policies. market reform. assess opportunities. including robust systems and adaptive capacity Lesson 3. Lesson 3.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 6 of 11 Page 3 of 3 Lesson 2. The strategies will benefit from an appropriate management framework for exploring opportunities and identifying priorities. explore options for each sector • Identify and sequence the priorities • Develop a supporting policy environment including enabling policies. A step-by-step process moves from ‘first steps’ to transitional strategies to advanced strategies. including regulations. adopt a mitigation framework. and to adapt and learn as time goes by.3 Visions and Targets • Envision your city enjoying the benefits of a low carbon and resource efficient economy • Envision your city as resilient in the face of existing climate variability and long-term climate change • Set targets for implementing climate actions and achieving long-term goals Module Three: How do we get there? Module three explores methods and tools for implementing climate action. fiscal measures and demonstration projects.
Take a couple of minutes to read more on the big picture – what climate change really means for cities. but some things are simple and worth remembering. existing climate variability represents the greatest single threat to the prosperity and sustainability of cities and their inhabitants. Rapid climate change is not a pleasant scenario. to dislocation of populations as they retreat from flooding. When human influences coincide with existing climate cycles. Even today. social unrest. it is changes in weather. the greatest migrations of people. that are responsible for the greatest loss of wealth . It’s a complex subject. the greatest loss of life. it is worth knowing that climate variability has always been a threat to cities. large-scale industrial agriculture. usually as a consequence of existing climate variability. Human activity adds another variable. Cities are especially vulnerable because of their high levels of resource consumption and their many dependencies. History tells us that civilizations commonly rise and fall with changes in climate. prolonged droughts. and livelihoods. economic collapse and possibly even war for those regions most affected. of all possible disasters. wild fires. food shortages. Climate events over the next few decades will in turn. The number and size of cities is another recent development that increases the risk. you may want to take a quick look at the big picture: what climate change means to cities. The potential for further destabilizing climate through emissions of greenhouse gases is a huge risk. with a million towns and cities spread all over the globe. coral bleaching and loss of fish stocks. with occasional rapid reversals. cities and ecologies. Deforestation. climate will change as it always has. then we get a ‘perfect storm’. So it is not unreasonable for cities and their managers to give serious attention to climate.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 7 of 11 Page 1 of 2 The Climate in Context Narration Text Before diving into the Course Modules and Lessons. Sudden and extreme climate events are certain to impact all cities. What is surprising is that in an urban era. For example. At risk are homes. disease. Online Text Big Picture for Cities and Climate Change Broadly speaking. we continue to ignore or understate the importance of climate. Greenhouse gas emissions increase the risk of rapid changes within the next century. urbanization. and precaution is warranted. In addition. and especially atmospheric pollution with particulates. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . gradually. This is nothing new.
Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 7 of 11 Page 2 of 2 For fun. 100 years – Global temperatures over the past three decades are above the1901–2000 average. 2. Oscillating ocean currents (el Niño and La Niña) Cities and Climate Change Leadership . Average global temperatures over the past decade are warmer than temperatures have been in the last: • 50 years • 100 years • 400 years • 1000 years • 10. 3. Droughts – Prolonged droughts are especially costly because they damage the land and lead to starvation and migration. What phenomenon is associated with climate changes that regularly occur over a cycle of 3 to 7 years? • Oscillating ocean currents (el Niño and La Niña) • Solar activity (sun spots). One of these natural disasters is responsible for 10 times the economic loss of all others combined. Which is it? • Typhoons and Tropical storms • Tsunamis • Earthquakes • Volcanoes (vulcanization) • Droughts • Floods • Fires and smoke • Land slides 2. cosmic rays and cloud formation • Periodic variations in the Earth’s orbit • Volcanic activity (vulcanization) • Fluctuations in brightness of sun • Heated arguments during local elections 1. test your knowledge of the big picture (answers are at bottom of page) 1.000 years 3.
com/files/flash/science/features/earth/climate/en/bathtub/index. and the less you contribute to temperature rises. developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A rise signifies illness. ecosystem health and weather events. view the Climate Challenge video (developed by SEED. provides a somber account of the projected impacts of global warming on food and water supplies. every city needs new policies to support these types of changes in the near term as part of a pathway to a low-carbon economy. The earth’s temperature rise is similar to body temperature for people. providing high quality public transit. It takes a long time to get the GHG out of the atmosphere – think of a bathtub with a slow leak. The two-track solution for cities is mitigation and adaptation. compact neighborhoods. temperatures are expected to rise. and designing mixed. how crop yields progressively drop as average global temperature rises. Or for a visual image you will not likely forget. A rise over two degrees Celsius becomes life-threatening – for a person or for a civilization.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 8 of 11 Page 1 of 2 Two-track Solution Narration Text The chart shown here. Regardless of how much and how quickly we invest in mitigation. switching to renewable energy technologies. http://www. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . In general. The faster you move. There is a general consensus that a rise of over two degrees Celsius on average will lead to unacceptably severe consequences. For cities. mitigation typically translates into investments in more efficient types of infrastructure and buildings. the lower will be the costs in the long run.htm?width=5 69&height=383&popup=true).planetseed. Notice for example.
cities have no choice but to adapt. over the next few decades. and further delays in removing the emissions. adaptation might mean relocating housing and roads. and planting green strips for cooling local air temperatures and capturing storm water. and planting wind breaks throughout neighbourhoods. For coastal cities. the lower the costs Adaptation – Coastal Cities • Replanting. restoring wetlands and shorelines. For cities.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 8 of 11 Page 2 of 2 Because of the delays in reducing emissions. we will be lucky to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. For inland cities. In addition. adaptation might mean designing buildings that can stay cool naturally. The long-term solution is a resilient city that is prepared for both the likely changes and for the surprises Onscreen Text Mitigation and Adaptation Mitigation – Typical steps • Efficient infrastructure and buildings • Renewable energy • Quality transit • Compact neighbourhoods • The faster you move. protecting flood plains. all cities need to adopt technologies that are intrinsically more robust and adaptable. You will never know what the future may bring. restoration of coastlines and floodplains • Relocating housing • New growth management plans • Wind breaks and other green infrastructure Adaptation – Inland Cities • Water efficiency and contingencies • Local food production • Urban forestry Resilient Cities • Prepared for likely changes • Adaptable and ready for surprise Cities and Climate Change Leadership . improving water use efficiency. This means that. growing more food locally. adaptation varies a lot with your location.
but also lifestyles. to transform the way we use energy and to deliver a sustainable future. resilient cities is to make climate mitigation and adaptation a standard part of every development project. and more equitable. According to the International Energy Agency we now need a revolution in how energy is used. Much of what is needed for climate action is simply good urban planning and design. Onscreen Text We need “urgently to set in motion an energy and environmental revolution. It ensures that all opportunities are taken. The only practical approach to low carbon. Cities drive 70 to 80% of energy consumption. Historically. The good news is that trade-offs are not so necessary. Trade-offs are seldom required It is difficult to mainstream climate action when cities face pressing needs for poverty reduction and for improving health. and that climate action becomes second nature. changes to energy systems have completing transformed cities – changing their preferred location. To use climate action and climate finance to make cities more affordable. The transformation will not only affect energy and transportation technologies. Transformation Cities have an incredibly important role to play as the world community grapples with climate change. Making cities ‘climate friendly’ will bring many co-benefits.” (IEA. size. more livable. This is referred to as mainstreaming. It doesn’t make sense to trade-off essential development in exchange for climate action. We will look much closer at how and why to mainstream climate action in the first Module of the course. and a low carbon future implies a big change in energy sources and technologies. security and overall quality of life. It should be possible to fully integrate climate action with city’s development agenda. form and competitiveness. take some time to explore key ideas and challenges that you will delve into more deeply in this course. 2009 Energy Outlook) Mainstreaming is the ultimate solution Climate change is a pervasive force that cuts across all sectors and continues for decades.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 9 of 11 Page 1 of 2 New Terms and Key Opportunities Narration Text To complete this Introduction. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . density.
City-based leadership means taking advantage of these new financial resources to achieve many goals at once. Cities and Climate Change Leadership . Much of the new investment will need to focus on cities.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 9 of 11 Page 2 of 2 New Funding Opportunities Financing such a revolution is estimated to require Trillions of dollars over the next 10 years . Such an investment is barely within the capacity of the global financial system. Many new funding mechanisms are being planned. and especially the rapidly growing cities in developing countries.
(World Development Report: http://wdr2011. (WDR 2010). are you ready to ride the wave? To mainstream mitigation and adaptation? To use the new funding opportunities and technical assistance to advance your entire development agenda? These are challenging times. A climate-smart world is possible in our time – yet.org/fulltext) Are you ready? Cities and Climate Change Leadership . As this tidal wave of new support becomes available. the challenge is to “act now. act together and act differently.worldbank. act together and act differently. affecting such a transformation requires us to act now. Onscreen Text Tackling the immense and multidimensional challenge of climate change demands extraordinary ingenuity and cooperation. In the words of the World Bank 2010 World Development Report.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 10 of 11 Page 1 of 1 The Leadership Challenge Narration Text These concepts raise important questions.” Hopefully this course can serve as your personal guide to action.
• Both of above. Cities and Climate Change Leadership .) 1. Some degree of global warming seems unavoidable. • All of above. Why are cities at the forefront of Climate Action? • Cities are home to a majority of people. 2. Why? • GHG emissions are excessive.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 11 of 11 Page 1 of 2 Knowledge Quiz Narration Text Select the correct answer to each of the following three questions. • Cities are interdependent and especially vulnerable to climate change. Mainstreaming refers to what type of practice? • Integrating mitigation and adaptation into a single plan. • Cities are the large majority of the energy is consumed. 3. • It takes time to remove GHG from the atmosphere. • Applying climate actions across all sectors. Once you have finished. • Addressing mitigation and adaptation as part of every investment and all policy development. • Adaptation requires local knowledge. it’s time to start a module. Onscreen Text (Answers can be found on the next page.
(You are partly right. (You are partly right. It’s about input AND output rates. try again) • It takes time to remove GHG from the atmosphere. (Partly right. but try again) • All of above. Why? • GHG emissions are excessive. (Correct. Some degree of global warming seems unavoidable. try again) • Addressing mitigation and adaptation as part of every investment and all policy development. Mainstreaming refers to what type of practice? • Integrating mitigation and adaptation into a single plan. (Correct. Why are cities at the forefront of Climate Action? • Cities are home to a majority of people. it is about changing standard practice) 3. but try again) • Cities are interdependent and especially vulnerable to climate change. but try again) • Cities are the large majority of the energy is consumed. it is a combination of their size. (Partly right. try again) • Both of above. try again) • Applying climate actions across all sectors. (Partly right.Cities and Climate Change – Introduction: A Strategic Approach to Climate Change Screen 11 of 11 Page 2 of 2 Quiz Answers 1. but try again) • Adaptation requires local knowledge. influence and diversity) Cities and Climate Change Leadership . (You are partly right. (Partly right. (Correct.) 2. (You are partly right.
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Get the full title to continue reading from where you left off, or restart the preview. | <urn:uuid:4939f426-28a8-4936-ade1-2a59c870857f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.scribd.com/document/147952669/WBI-Print-0-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285001.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00300-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90369 | 6,777 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Councils have good reason not to like the Right To Buy, the Thatcher-era policy which gives council tenants the right to buy their council homes. It was foisted upon them by national government. It forced them to sell assets that they owned and, in many cases, had built too, and to do so at a discount.
And most annoyingly of all, they didn’t even get to keep the takings: for much of the scheme’s history, those went straight to the Treasury (though they can now hang on to them if they get special permission from the government first). If someone forced you to sell your stuff for a fraction of its value and then ran off with the money, you wouldn’t enjoy the experience either.
So it’d be no surprise if the Local Government Association (LGA), an umbrella group representing councils, might not be wild about Right To Buy either. But it’s come up with a much more subtle strategy than merely hating on it. The problem with Right To Buy, a report published yesterday argues, is not that it’s a poor deal for the taxpayer, or that it’s mucked up the housing market. The problem with Right To Buy is that it’s “threatening the future of Right To Buy”.
Tenants have received discounts of nearly £5bn to help purchase their council home under the Right to Buy (RTB) scheme since the size of the discount was increased in April 2012, new analysis by the Local Government Association reveals today.
While Right to Buy has helped many families get on the housing ladder, the LGA said the scheme faces an uncertain future unless councils are given the flexibility to set discounts locally and retain 100 per cent of sales receipts to fund the replacement of homes sold off under the scheme.
I completely and utterly love the sneakiness of this press release. If zooms past the shocking fact that the government has chucked nearly £5bn at a few lucky people as part of a policy that has always shamelessly being about turning Labour council tenants into Tory voting homeowners. (No such discounts are on offer for private tenants to buy out their landlords, you note.) It doesn’t dwell on the fact the whole policy is frankly insulting to councils, treating them as lackeys for central government rather than democratic institutions in their own right. All that’s in there, but we’re left to infer that it’s bad.
No: the real problem with Right to Buy is that it’s just endangering Right To Buy. If we keep going like this, the argument runs, there won’t be any properties left to sell under Right To Buy, and where will Right To Buy be then? Surely even this Tory government will be moved by Right To Buy’s plight?
To be honest, I mainly wanted to comment on this campaign tactic (honestly, it’s genius), but since we’ve come this far, let’s look at the rest of the press release. The LGA’s figures – that £4.9bn in discounts – were arrived at by adding up the discounts on the 79,119 homes sold under the schemes between 2012-13 and 2018-19.
Why start in April 2012? Because that’s when the Cameron government amended the policy, to increase the available discount to £75,000 or 60 per cent of the value of a house/70 per cent of that of a flat, whichever is lower. That is a hell of a discount – so not unnaturally, a lot of tenants have gone for it, and a lot of councils have been left out of pocket.
There’s more. As it stands, councils are only able to use a third of their receipts – already less than the value of a home – to build a replacement. Shockingly, by which I mean it’s not actually remotely shocking in any way, this hasn’t resulted in like to like replacements, and
…with councils only able to use a third of each retained RTB receipt to build a replacement home, they have only been able to replace around a quarter (21,720) of these homes sold in the same period.
The goverment has promised that homes build under Right To Buy would be replaced by new social homes built using the takings, but that obviously hasn’t happened. Luckily, the government has a plan for this too: blame councils. From a consultation document, dating from August 2018:
…local authorities have not been building enough Right to Buy replacements to match the pace of sales and the commitment that every additional home sold would be replaced on a one-for-one basis nationally is no longer being met. It is clear that local authorities need to increase their rate of delivery of new homes if they are to match the growth in sales.
To rectify all this, the LGA is calling on the government to do two things. One is to give councils more power to set discounts, to take greater account of local market conditions. The other is to allow them to keep 100 per cent of sales receipts to build new homes. Whether government will listen remains to be seen.
I do wonder, though, if the first part of the LGA’s argument might just resonate. Right To Buy is totemic in Tory circles, a symbol of how the party helps the ambitious who want to get on blah blah blah. But it is hard to see how it can continue forever, simply because councils will eventually run out of homes to sell. The attempt to extend it to housing associations – forcing non-government bodies to sell assets that the government doesn’t even own! – is a sign that the government is keen to keep it rolling in some form. One obvious next step would be to extend it to the Private Rental Sector – honestly, it’s no sillier than the housing association thing – but every time anyone suggests that the Tories all start spluttering about property rights, as if housing associations and councils don’t have property rights too.
So perhaps the LGA may have found a clever strategy to win a Tory government round to the cause of building council houses. “You want Right To Buy to continue?” its latest press release asks. “Then let us build more stuff to sell.” Worth a try. | <urn:uuid:4c8ef26e-56e0-4519-b8bb-ae81c3e5606e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://citymonitor.ai/government/right-buy-now-biggest-threat-right-buy-argues-lga-4955 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570793.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808092125-20220808122125-00676.warc.gz | en | 0.96049 | 1,326 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Why does Asparagus Make Some Peoples Urine Smell Funny?.
Asparagus — a green vegetable belonging to the lily family — has one notorious side effect for some diners who eat enough of it. Within a half-hour of consumption, some people notice their urine has acquired a very pungent odor, often compared to rotting cabbage, ammonia, or rotten eggs. The effects of asparagus on urine are generally fleeting and harmless, but it’s not necessarily the consumer’s finest hour, bodily excretion-wise.
The good news is that asparagus does not affect everyone in this way. Studies conducted on the “asparagus urine” phenomenon (aren’t you glad you didn’t volunteer!) indicate that roughly 40 to 50 percent of those tested developed the distinctive odor. Surprisingly enough, there is also a segment of the population who cannot smell the sulphurous fumes of asparagus-laced urine. It is believed that both the generation of the odoriferous urine and the ability to smell it are based on genetics. Only those with a certain gene can break down the chemicals inside the asparagus into their smelly components, and only those with the proper gene can smell the results of that chemical breakdown. What’s more, the two abilities aren’t always embodied in one person. That is, those who produce it, can’t always smell it, and those who can smell it don’t necessarily produce it.
Scientists are still not entirely sure which set of chemical compounds contained in nutritious spring vegetable actually cause the smelly pee. The stalks themselves do not acquire a similar odor as they are prepared, so whatever happens most likely happens after ingestion. Experts believe that those with a certain gene produce a digestive enzyme which breaks down the asparagus into various chemical compounds. One of those compounds is called methyl mercaptan, which is the same chemical which gives a skunk its defensive smell. One theory suggests that the veggie breaks down quickly in the body and an enzyme releases methyl mercaptan, which eventually goes through the kidneys and is excreted as a waste product in the urine.
Others suggest that the smell is created by other chemical compounds called thioesters. There is also a compound called asparagusic acid, which, surprisingly, is not found primarily in asparagus. If these compounds are broken down and mixed with the genetically-created enzyme, the results could be a strong smelling urine. This smell is actually considered to be good news, since it proves that the asparagus eater’s kidneys are functioning as they should. | <urn:uuid:3e16e7d8-88fc-493e-9376-63f83567ccf0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://smartacademicwriting.com/2021/09/12/why-does-asparagus-make-some-peoples-urine-smell-funny/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570913.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809064307-20220809094307-00067.warc.gz | en | 0.963588 | 546 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Last night’s New Curators, New Ideas IV at Meulensteen, formerly Max Protetch, reminded us how little remains of the respected gallery Protetch sold just under two years ago. It’s hard to imagine Protetch ever doing something so tacky as stationing two gallerinas outside the gallery with iPads and a guest list, but that’s what we witnessed last night. Surely, this kind of exclusivity can’t benefit a show meant to give exposure to new talent.
We’ll take a look at the show in the coming months, but in the meantime, let’s take a look at some of the changes we’ve seen over at Meulensteen. Almost none of them are good.
In 2010, Max Protetch told The Art Newspaper that selling the gallery was an economic decision: “There is a recession, and while I am quite adept at getting through it, I don’t enjoy it.” Max Protetch went on to add that he sold the gallery, rather than shutting its doors, because he wanted to keep the staff and the gallery’s artist roster intact. Well, that didn’t happen.
Dutch-born businessman Edwin Meulensteen bought the gallery in 2010. This is his first time as a gallery owner and director, and his first gallery job ever. He grew up around art, however; his parents are collectors, and his dad, Gerard H. Meulensteen, founded the Meulensteen Art Museum in Bratislava, Slovakia. The museum looks like a resort, resting on a well-manicured peninsula; it’s the type of place that could make your Slovakian vacation dreams come true.
After the change in ownership, the gallery’s administrative staff started changing, too. Director Josie Browne left this year, after more than twenty years at the gallery. Eric Gleason took on the Meulensteen directorship in February 2012, coming from a job at Marlborough Chelsea. At Marlborough, he worked on that Rashaad Newsome jousting flop and a handful of other events that were intended to give the gallery a more youthful vibe. The most successful of these was probably William Powhida’s fake Powhida show, which aimed to critique and implicate anyone who even looked at the exhibition in the corruptness that defines the art world. Paddy Johnson speculated over Twitter today whether Gleason was responsible for the guest list. It has a Marlborough flavor to it.
ARTIST ROSTER CHANGES
In October 2010—around the same time as Max Protetch left the gallery—a Wikipedia page listing the gallery’s artists at that time appeared. A brief look at Meulensteen’s current roster shows that the following artists no longer show at the gallery:
Siah Armajani (independent)
Hai Bo (Pace/MacGill Gallery)
Saul Chernick (independent)
Zach Harris (independent; just had a solo show at David Kordansky)
Oliver Herring (independent)
Ren Jian (independent)
Byron Kim (James Cohan Gallery)
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle (Christopher Grimes Gallery, etc.)
Ann Pibal (Rhona Hoffman (Chicago))
Tobias Putrih (International representation)
David Reed (now at Peter Blum, Galerie Schmidt Maczollek, Hausler Contemporary)
Gao Shiqiang (1918 Art Space and others)
Betty Woodman (Salon 94)
Nine artists from the Max Protetch roster remain, along with two estates. Most of the gallery’s New York-based artists have left the gallery: only two of the remaining artists from the October 2010 roster reside in New York.
Since Max Protetch’s departure, there have been only three new additions to the Meulensteen roster: Erik Binder, Tian Xiaolei, and Andrea Galvani. Binder is a Slovakian artist; one suspects that, given the Meulensteen family’s connection to that country, his selection came from the top. The other two are pretty much unknown.
Looking through the remaining stable’s exhibition history, Meulensteen isn’t having much success getting its roster into museums and nonprofits; since the switch, none of the gallery’s artists has had an institutional show in a space larger than a college art gallery. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, Max Protetch stopped participating in the top-tier art fairs back in the mid-2000s. The new owners haven’t gotten the gallery back into Basel, but they haven’t done much harm, either; if Meulensteen is forever a Pulse gallery now, so be it.
That said, it’s hard to cast a positive light on any gallery that so quickly sees an exodus of its artists after a change in ownership. This, more than anything else, has damaged the gallery’s reputation. It suggests poor management and will worry collectors. | <urn:uuid:d7ec87de-a557-4a0c-87b0-a27e6a59c3da> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://artfcity.com/2012/06/08/the-fall-of-max-protetch-to-meulensteen-gallery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719784.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00425-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945301 | 1,081 | 1.5625 | 2 |
|Thailand Table of Contents
In December 1963 Sarit died in office. His deputy, Thanom, peacefully succeeded to the prime ministership and pursued without major modifications the foreign and domestic policies of his predecessor. Retaining the cabinet that he inherited from Sarit, Thanom focused his efforts on seeking to maintain political stability; promoting economic development, especially in security-sensitive areas; raising the standard of living; and safeguarding the country from the communist threat at home and abroad.
A notable departure from Sarit's policies, however, was the Thanom government's decision to shorten the timetable for the country's transition from the military-dominated leadership structure to a popularly elected government. The prime minister urged the Constituent Assembly, appointed in 1959, to finish drafting a constitution as soon as practicable. The new leadership also relaxed stringent official controls on the press, an attempt that the authorities said was aimed at creating a new, relatively liberalized, political climate.
Although the leaders agreed on the desirability of establishing what they described as a more democratic political system in tune with the country's heritage, there were indications that they disagreed on the pace of the projected change. Some leading officials thought that an early resumption of political activities would broaden the base of politics and strengthen popular identification with the government, the monarchy, and Buddhism. Others argued that the restoration of party politics at a time when the country was confronted with serious internal problems was likely to aid the communists in their efforts to infiltrate civic, labor, student, and political organizations.
The constitution was finally proclaimed in June 1968, but martial law, which had been imposed in 1958, remained in effect. Party politics were legalized and resumed shortly after mid-1968, and general elections for the new National Assembly were held in February 1969. Thanom's United Thai People's Party returned 75 members to the 219-seat lower house, giving them the largest representation of the 13 parties, while the second-running Democrat Party won 57 seats.
Thailand's annual economic growth rate in the 1960s and early 1970s averaged a booming 8 percent, much of it attributable to United States military expenditures there during the years of its involvement in Vietnam. An increased flow of foreign exchange resulted from United States and multilateral aid loans as well as from foreign investment, which came primarily from Japan, the United States, and Taiwan.
Foreign policy concerns focused on neighboring Laos, where it was believed a Pathet Lao victory would destabilize the North and Northeast and open Thailand to a direct attack by communist forces. Thailand allied itself closely with the United States position in the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), permitting bases in Thailand to be used for raids on both the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) and Cambodia. Although more than 45,000 United States troops and 500 combat aircraft were stationed in the country by 1968, their mission was not officially acknowledged for fear of possible communist retaliation against Thailand. Sarit also committed a division of Thai army troops to the war in South Vietnam.
President Lyndon B. Johnson's March 1968 announcement that the United States would halt bombing in North Vietnam and seek a negotiated settlement came as a blow to the Thai government, which had not been consulted on the change in policy. Although the defense of Thailand clearly remained essential to the security of Southeast Asia in United States strategic thinking, no provision was made for Laos, whose security the Thai saw as essential to their own defense.
While remaining loyal to its commitments, Thailand thereafter determined to restore flexibility to its foreign policy by moving away from one-sided dependence on the United States. The military, however, was anxious to continue Thailand's active involvement in South Vietnam and in Laos, where several thousand Thai "volunteers" were engaged against the Pathet Lao. Thanom urged United States backing for the Lon Nol regime in Cambodia in 1970 and proposed a formal alliance linking Thailand with Laos, Cambodia, and South Vietnam that would give the conflict in Southeast Asia the appearance of a war being fought by Asian anticommunists for Asian security. The plan failed to get United States support.
Communist activities in Laos and Malaya had already begun to affect the domestic situation in the South and the Northeast in the 1950s, and by the 1960s they presented a problem of increasing magnitude. Communist guerrillas, mostly ethnic Chinese, operated in jungle areas north of the Thai-Malayan border, where they had taken refuge from Commonwealth of Nations security forces during the 1948-60 Emergency in Malaya. A more serious threat in that same region were the Muslim insurgents of the Pattani National Liberation Front, a Thai separatist group composed of ethnic Malays. Meanwhile, in the northern provinces dissident Meo tribesmen reportedly had begun receiving training and arms from the Pathet Lao by 1950. In the Northeast, underground leftist parties took advantage of grievances over relatively poor economic and social conditions to rally opposition to the government. Faced with the problems in the South, North, and Northeast, the Bangkok government frequently identified regional unrest and protest against ethnic and economic policies with the genuine communist-based insurgencies that overlapped and often benefited from it. Opposition groups and critics of the regime in Bangkok were also generally labeled as communists.
Source: U.S. Library of Congress | <urn:uuid:2ede8b50-e451-4f44-a285-ef6a516057bc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://countrystudies.us/thailand/29.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283008.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00085-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976529 | 1,064 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Clinical rotation scheduling is a complex process as it relies on the seamless cooperation between 3 distinct parties: nursing students, nursing schools, and hospitals. Nursing students need the opportunity to care for patients to earn credits for graduation. The healthcare facility relies on the students to provide nursing care to patients. The educational facility relies on the healthcare facility to provide clinical placement opportunities to students, so that they can continue to offer healthcare programs that provide qualified employees available to an industry with a growing demand. When there is a failure on the part of any participating entity, it can impact everyone involved. Rotation Manager is nursing student rotation platform that addresses the needs of all parties involved in clinical rotations, thereby ensuring that there are no gaps in the process.
A growing number of healthcare providers and facilities are increasing their focus on patient care. Like any business, a hospital must deliver exceptional care to remain competitive and successful. Student nurse scheduling software helps hospitals improve the quality of care they provide by eliminating mistakes in the scheduling process that result in too little coverage during any shift. By providing a central location where records and schedules are managed and accessed by every pertinent party, Rotation Manager eliminates the potential for missed or lost paperwork.
Meeting compliance standards is another area of concern for the school’s clinical rotation manager and the hospital liaison. The use of nursing student rotation software simplifies the process of handling and accessing documents and records, making compliance effortless. Rotation Manager’s award winning software solution is already used by many schools and hospitals across the country. The design was developed specifically to address issues of missed rotations and non-compliance for a reputable school and hospital that continued to encounter problems.
If you work for a hospital that relies on nursing students to provide patient care, we encourage you to try Rotation Manager firsthand with a free demo. Its ability to handle all aspects related to clinical rotations will save time, save money, and enhance the reputation of any facility or educational organization. Without a doubt, it is one of the best investments you can make.
About Rotation Manager
Rotation Manager (https://rotationmanager.com) is compliance software that makes it simple for allied health and nursing programs to keep track of records and schedule rotations. The student nurse scheduling software saves time and money while also enhancing customer service. It is accessible by hospitals, schools, and nursing students in an easy-to-use, online format. Users can order drug screenings, track expiring documents, meet requirements on time and schedule rotations without the use of spreadsheets. Email at firstname.lastname@example.org
Company Name: Rotation Manager™
Contact Person: Eleonora
Address:10300 SW 72nd Street, Suite 470J, Miami, FL, 33173
Country: United States | <urn:uuid:3f492503-3153-4fbe-826a-050f4fd6e2b9> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.getnews.info/581619/rotation-manager-student-nurse-scheduling-software-that-addresses-key-issues.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00545-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933867 | 568 | 1.632813 | 2 |
A new tool website from ITP: Sawfly GenUS
ITP is pleased to announce the latest addition to our tool website collection: Sawfly GenUS. Developed in cooperation with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Sawfly GenUS is an interactive identification tool for all sawfly genera found in the United States and Canada. This tool is intended to help recognize exotic sawfly introductions and provide access to general information on affected plants, range, and diversity of these insects. This tool should be useful for port identifiers and screeners, provincial and state departments of agriculture, university extension professionals, and any non-expert with an interest in sawflies.
Sawflies are a unique group of wasp-like herbivorous insects, many of which are economic pests in North America. They have a variety of plant-feeding behaviors; they feed on leaves both externally and as leaf-miners and bore into stems of grasses, shrubs, and trees. Most sawfly species have low population densities and seldom cause economically or ecologically significant damage. However, some have periodic population outbreaks, and a few are persistent pests. Although there are pestiferous sawfly species native to North America, introduced species generally pose the greatest challenges to land managers, horticulturalists, and farmers. Species recently introduced to a region through international trade and travel can be especially damaging, having escaped pathogens or predators that were adapted to them in their historic range. North America is very vulnerable to exotic insect species since the United States is the world’s largest importer, and because commonly traded agricultural products frequently harbor insects. Sawflies have been documented entering North America via wood packing material and nursery stock, leading to several established pests.
The first edition of Sawfly GenUS includes sawfly families Xyelidae, Diprionidae, Cimbicidae, Pergidae, Argidae, Cephidae, Siricidae, Anaxyelidae, Xiphydriidae, and Orussidae. Check back in 2021 for fact sheets and keys for Tenthredinidae sawflies!
Sawfly GenUS joins ITP's collection of 45 identification tool websites. | <urn:uuid:45ebbde6-b305-4007-aa03-d330f3f65092> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://idtools.org/news_02_19_2020.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572215.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815235954-20220816025954-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.935948 | 444 | 2.703125 | 3 |
In the current cause célèbre, the quest for “marriage equality”, the right to marry is touted as a necessary step towards full equality for same-sex couples. During this push for access to an institution largely rejected by opposite-sex couples, there has been very little discussion about the best interests of children.
Perhaps this is so because adults have not been particularly interested in the well-being of children for at least two generations, political posturing aside.
From “no-fault” divorce and abortion rights in the 1960s to the “contraceptive” mandates of today, adult wishes have trumped children’s needs. In the aftermath of these social experiments, many children are reaching adulthood without learning to become responsible, loving spouses and parents. Instead, schools teach them that children are a burden to be avoided by practicing “safer sex”.
Marriage is postponed beyond natural fertility or avoided. New generations of children are conceived out of wedlock or through in vitro fertilization, instead of from an act of love by their parents faithfully committed to each other for life.
To its credit, the Catholic Church, a leading provider of services to families, has resisted these trends. The Conference of Catholic Bishops explained, “Marriage is not just about satisfying adult desires, but is a pro-child institution. Every single child, without exception, a mother and a father. ... Each contributes in a distinct and unique way to the formation of children, helping them to understand their identity as male or female. Respecting a child’s dignity means affirming his or her need for — and right to — a mother and a father.”
As Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone stated, “Marriage is either a conjugal union of a man and a woman designed to unite husband and wife to each other and to any children who may come from their union, or it is a relationship for the mutual benefit of adults which the state recognizes and to which it grants certain benefits. Whoever is for one, is opposed to the other.”
Americans are making decisions about marriage which may permanently redefine the concept of parenthood to fulfill the whims of adults at the expense of children. Will we continue to hold the self-indulgent attitudes promoted by the government and taught by Planned Parenthood? Or will we strengthen marriage as the institution uniting children to their mom and dad, and raise our children to act responsibly towards their children? Unquestionably, single moms, single dads, grandparents and same-sex couples love the children they are raising.
But from the child’s viewpoint, supported by sociological studies, would these children not be better off raised by both their biological moms and dads who are responsible, mature and married to each other?
As 11 year old Grace Evans asked the Minnesota legislature - and us, “Which parent do I not need, my mom or my dad?”
Barb Yagley is a resident of Troy. | <urn:uuid:99dc10ee-ff9d-4ac1-8a2f-b165598163c4> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.macombdaily.com/article/MD/20130425/OPINION03/130429707&template=printart | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718957.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00435-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966726 | 622 | 2.5 | 2 |
INN NEWS (ALTERNATE)
Sawmill is a INN News (Alternate) log analyzer (it also supports the 1021 other log formats listed to the left).
It can process log files
in INN News (Alternate) format, and generate dynamic statistics from them,
analyzing and reporting events.
Sawmill can parse INN News (Alternate) logs, import them into a MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, or Oracle database (or its own built-in database),
aggregate them, and generate dynamically filtered reports, all through a web interface.
Sawmill can perform INN News (Alternate) log analysis on any platform, including Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Mac OS, Solaris, other UNIX, and others.
Sawmill stores the following non-numerical fields in its database for INN News (Alternate), generates reports for each field, and allows dynamic filtering on any combination of these fields:
|Field|| ||Internal Name|
| ||date/time|| ||date_time|
| ||day of week|| ||day_of_week|
| ||hour of day|| ||hour_of_day|
| ||source host|| ||source_host|
| ||daemon|| ||daemon|
| ||server|| ||server|
| ||action|| ||action|
| ||user|| ||user|
| ||group|| ||group|
Sawmill stores the following numerical fields in its database for INN News (Alternate), aggregating them and including them as columns in most reports:
|Numerical Field|| ||Internal Name|
| ||messages|| ||messages|
| ||unique source IPs|| ||unique_source_ips|
See Sawmill Features to learn more about Sawmill's options for viewing, customizing, filtering, exporting and scheduling INN News (Alternate) reports.
Sawmill also supports 1021 other log formats. | <urn:uuid:338d7e23-b239-403f-b096-f10745799ada> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.sawmill.net/formats/innnews_alt.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280292.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00341-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.772557 | 421 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Build Stronger Bones with Power Plate
Working out on a Power Plate forces your bones to work harder and in turn makes them stronger.
In an independent study of 116 women, the group using the Power Plate saw a 4.3% increase in bone density while the group that did not use Power Plate lost 1.9% in bone density (Menopause Review).
Start building stronger bones by using a Power Plate.
here’s what real users are saying about power plate
Dr. Hilary JonesGP Doctor and Health Expert for
The Sun on Sunday
“I have used the Power Plate machine both for fitness training and for remedial sports treatments such as shin splints, muscle stiffness, over exercise, backache and groin strain, and have been really impressed with it...I am also planning to introduce Power Plate training to my mother who suffers from osteoporosis.”
Dr. Yoni WhittenThe Pain Fix Protocol
“The research on whole body vibration training has shown impressive results for increased bone density in the lumbar spine and the neck of the femur. As these are some of the most common fracture sites it is important to increase bone density in those areas, and increase muscular strength and stamina. This is like insurance for protecting your health, your longevity, your functionality and your quality of life.”
Dr. Matthew WyonExercise Physiologist, English National Ballet
“Power Plate training allows dancers to increase power and strength whilst maintaining their aesthetic body lines. An added benefit is that it also helps to increase bone mineral density which is an area of concern especially for female dancers in their upper bodies.”
Increase Bone Density
Gravity applies a constant load on the skeletal system that’s what causes bones to maintain a certain density. Working out on a Power Plate increases this load on the bones helping increase bone density.
Improve Muscle Recovery
The soothing vibrations of Power Plate help increase blood flow that in turn can help improve muscle recovery times. Additionally, placing sore muscles on the vibrating surface helps alleviate muscle soreness.
Reduce Fall Risk
Seniors using a Power Plate can perform exercises that help improve balance and stability. These exercises are designed to engage muscle fibers and also help retrain motor patterns resulting in improvements in balance.
Using a Power Plate routinely has been shown to help increase flexibility. In a study conducted using whole body vibrations indicated that the vibration had a statistically significant influence on flexibility (European Journal of Sports Science.
Tiny vibrations flowing through your body enhance the delivery of nutrients and oxygen to cells and support their functioning. Multiple studies have shown that whole body vibration increases skin blood flow (Medical Science Monitor).
Burn More Calories
Power Plate forces your body to work harder during workouts to stabilize against the vibrations which in turn helps burn more calories. | <urn:uuid:bf76f4ec-fa6a-4957-8b37-ce5044831ec6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://powerplate.com/pages/bone-health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571147.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810040253-20220810070253-00479.warc.gz | en | 0.90857 | 596 | 1.828125 | 2 |
|2012 Natural History Museum.jpg||9.33 KB|
The Museum of Natural History came from Salt Lake City to Canyon Elementary's fourth-grade classes and brought many different animal samples for the students to explore. Students wrote down observations they made about the samples as well as questions they formed while making observations. All four fourth-grade classes were involved. Students learned a lot and had a great time.
Pictured: Daxton Fredericks classifying a frog | <urn:uuid:8ecacdbc-6a5a-4cee-86cf-1d7896c68765> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://canyon.nebo.edu/news/natural-history-museum-visits-canyon | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571538.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812014923-20220812044923-00478.warc.gz | en | 0.97272 | 101 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Sponsored by American Panel Corporation
24 Sep 19. Croatia Gets 5 Unofficial Offers for New Fighter Jets and 8 for Used Ones. The Croatian interdepartmental commission for the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft said on Wednesday that it had received five letters of expression of interest to provide the country with new fighter jets and eight letters of expression of interest for second-hand jets. In early August, the interdepartmental commission, set up by the government on 4 July, sent requests to 26 potential bidders concerning the procurement of multi-purpose combat aircraft, the government’s press office recalls. Since then the commission has considered the proposals made by those bidders who expressed interest in this project.
During the selection procedure, the commission is going to check the validity of all potential bids and to see if they comply with the tactical and technical requirements made by the Croatian Air Force. Media outlet speculate that the expressions of interest have been submitted by Italy, France, Sweden, the USA, Norway, Denmark and Israel. Israel is offering again its used Barak jets, and France is set to offer its used Mirage 2000 planes or brand new Rafale planes. According to media reports, Italy has recommended its used Eurofighter jets. New F-35 and F-16 Block 70/72 aircraft are being offered by the USA, while Sweden has recommended recent versions of Gripen C and D. Norway and Denmark are offering their used F-16 jets. (Source: defense-aerospace.com/Total Croatia News)
20 Sep 19. Industry group head urges US Air Force to better engage with Future Vertical Lift. Key Points:
- The head of an industry group suggests the US Air Force better engage with the Pentagon on its Future Vertical Lift programme
- The USAF wants to investigate the utility of electric VTOL aircraft, but the industry group chief believes this will not provide the necessary military utility
The US Air Force (USAF) should better engage with the Pentagon on its Future Vertical Lift (FVL) next-generation rotary wing development programme instead of relying on commercial industry to provide similar capability, according to the head of an influential vertical flight trade group.
The USAF is embarking on an effort to broaden its industrial base by better partnering with commercial industry. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) recently started the Agility Prime programme that originally began as an effort to look at options to replace the Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor being used by the service’s special operators but has broadened to investigate where commercial innovation is going in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology.
Will Roper, assistant secretary of the USAF for acquisition, technology, and logistics (AT&L) said on 16 September that he is especially interested in this effort to better find options in logistics and, overall, how to make logistics more resilient in contested environments. Roper said he would consider a spectrum of options instead of committing to a new eVTOL aircraft or rotary wing platform and that he wanted a series of challenges presented to him that ranged from smaller vehicles to aircraft moving heavy logistics to, perhaps, a bigger system.
“It is a great opportunity to get our research lab and our acquisition professionals to not think about their requirement or their mission in just the defence industrial base, but to think about it in the United States industrial base,” Roper told reporters at the Air Force Association’s (AFA’s) annual conference. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
REST OF THE WORLD
24 Sep 19. Seoul announces SME funding to boost exports. South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has said it is encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop and adapt military technologies for export markets through new investment projects.
DAPA said on 25 September that 30 local companies have been awarded funding through two funding initiatives to support SME integration into global supply chains and to “remodel” or adapt defence products and components for export markets.
DAPA said the projects are supported by its subsidiary organisation, the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality (DTAQ), which will provide “full support such as budget and policy to help participating companies build overseas export competitiveness”.(Source: IHS Jane’s)
24 Sep 19. Iraq establishes procurement authority. The Iraqi Council of Representatives has passed legislation to set up an independent body to oversee procurement and production of weapons and equipment.
State-run news agency NINA reported on 23 September that the new Military Industries Authority will independently produce materiel for the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), as well as the Iraqi armed forces. NINA quoted Iraqi MP Mohammed al-Darraji as saying that the new agency means that Iraq will no longer “depend on any external party to preserve the sovereignty and prestige of the country”. (Source: IHS Jane’s)
24 Sep 19. Leidos announces key partners for JP2060 Phase 4 bid. Leidos Australia has announced its local key partners for their Joint Project 2060 Phase 4 team. Australian companies MediRecords, Coviu and Nous will partner Leidos to provide a “modern, intuitive, patient-centric and secure health knowledge management system that supports the delivery of health services to the Australian Defence Force (ADF)”.
“Leidos has created an exceptional team to deliver this critical capability to the ADF,” said Christine Zeitz, chief executive for Leidos Australia. “This includes partnering with leading Australian SMEs, within the health sector, who we will further support through our Global Supply Chain Program.”
“The JP2060 partnership brings together healthcare experts from MediRecords, providing the primary and allied healthcare solutions; Coviu, providing the telemedicine capability; and Nous, leading the organisational change management to support the delivery of business transformation,” Leidos said.
Leidos is also working to deliver the MHS GENESIS solution, an electronic health record and care delivery system for the United States Department of Defense, in order to “transform the delivery of care for nearly 10 million service personnel and their families”. (Source: Defence Connect)
23 Sep 19. STAR and ANTAZ team to Respond to Indian Government Military procurement requirements. Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. (CSE:SNA) (SNA.CN) (SNAVF) (“Star” or the “Company”) announces that the Company has entered into a partnership and industrial agreement with ANTAZ Technologies Pvt. Ltd, (“Antaz”). A well-established Indian company with facilities in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi, India, Antaz will adapt, integrate and market STAR products to the Indian Defence Forces (Air Force and Navy) in collaboration with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (“HAL”) (hal-india.co.in).
STAR is already listed as a registered supplier to HAL for military equipment. Recently, a STAR team met with senior officers from both the Indian Air Force and Navy, as well as with HAL top management. The team successfully demonstrated the benefits and features of STAR-A.D.S.® for both fixed wing and rotary aircraft. Of particular interest was the ability of Star’s technology to provide real-time tracking and positioning of aircraft as well as engine status reports.
To complete the approach, STAR, through the Antaz presence and already established military business, will comply with the MAKE IN INDIA requirements of the Indian Government.
In cooperation with HAL and Antaz, a customised and proprietary solution based on STAR’s patented STAR-ISMS ® technology is under final development in order to satisfy the specific defence requirements of the Indian Military.
The solution will address the needs of the transport fleets of both the Navy and of the Air Force, with a first application targeting small transport aircraft and helicopters.
About Star Navigation:
Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. owns the exclusive worldwide license to its proprietary, patented In-flight Safety Monitoring System, STAR-ISMS®, the heart of the STAR-A.D.S. ® and of the STAR-ISAMM™ Systems. Its real-time capability of tracking performance trends and predicting incident-occurrence enhances aviation safety and improves fleet management while reducing costs for the operator.
Stars’ M.M.I. Division designs and manufactures high performance, mission critical, flight deck flat panel displays for defence and commercial aviation industries worldwide. These displays are found on aircraft and simulators, from C-130 aircraft to Sikorsky and Agusta Westland helicopters, as examples. (Source: Google/Yahoo!)
American Panel Corporation
American Panel Corporation (APC) since 1998, specializes in display products installed in defence land systems, as well as military and commercial aerospace platforms, having delivered well over 100,000 displays worldwide. Military aviators worldwide operate their aircraft and perform their missions using APC displays, including F-22, F-18, F-16, F-15, Euro-fighter Typhoon, Mirage 2000, C-130, C-17, P-3, S-3, U-2, AH-64 Apache Helicopter, V-22 tilt-rotor, as well as numerous other military and commercial aviation aircraft including Boeing 717 – 787 aircraft and several Airbus aircraft. APC panels are found in nearly every tactical aircraft in the US and around the world.
APC manufactures the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Large Area Display (LAD) display (20 inch by 8 inch) with dual pixel fields, power and video interfaces to provide complete display redundancy. At DSEI 2017 we are exhibiting the LAD with a more advanced design, dual display on single substrate with redundant characteristics and a bespoke purpose 8 inch by 6 inch armoured vehicle display.
In order to fully meet the demanding environmental and optical requirements without sacrificing critical tradeoffs in performance, APC designs, develops and manufactures these highly specialized displays in multiple sizes and configurations, controlling all AMLCD optical panel, mechanical and electrical design aspects. APC provides both ITAR and non-ITAR displays across the globe to OEM Prime and tiered vetronics and avionics integrators. | <urn:uuid:b8154555-559f-47f9-8758-623565baa1eb> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://battle-updates.com/update/international-procurement-opportunities-256/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573118.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817213446-20220818003446-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.927776 | 2,184 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Summary and Info
Presents recent research in Genetic and Evolutionary ComputingProceedings of the 8th International Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computing ICGEC 2014 held in, Nanchang China, October 18-20, 2014Written by experts in the fieldThis volume of Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing contains accepted papers presented at ICGEC 2014, the 8th International Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computing. The conference this year was technically co-sponsored by Nanchang Institute of Technology in China, Kaohsiung University of Applied Science in Taiwan, and VSB-Technical University of Ostrava. ICGEC 2014 is held from 18-20 October 2014 in Nanchang, China. Nanchang is one of is the capital of Jiangxi Province in southeastern China, located in the north-central portion of the province. As it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake, it is famous for its scenery, rich history and cultural sites. Because of its central location relative to the Yangtze and Pearl River Delta regions, it is a major railroad hub in Southern China. The conference is intended as an international forum for the researchers and professionals in all areas of genetic and evolutionary computing.Content Level » ResearchKeywords » Computational Intelligence - Evolutionary Computing - Genetic Computing - ICGEC 2014 - Intelligent SystemsRelated subjects » Artificial Intelligence - Computational Intelligence and Complexity
More About the Author
Hui Jun is a male former table tennis player from China.
Review and Comments
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Genetic and Evolutionary Computing: Proceeding of the Eighth International Conference on Genetic and Evolutionary Computing, October 18-20, 2014, ... in Intelligent Systems and Computing) 0 out of 5 stars based on 0 ratings. | <urn:uuid:07d86729-5172-438b-8b33-3877ebf362fa> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://libdl.ir/book/71474/genetic-and-evolutionary-computing-proceeding-of-the-eighth-international-conference-on-genetic-and-evolutionary-computi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00273-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912393 | 368 | 1.632813 | 2 |
you generate a Google search, a list of linked "finds"
is displayed showing where the particular words or phrase was
found in all the files of the website. Links are provided to the
files where words were found. The search results of the Notes
pages opens the .pdf file at the beginning of each book when you
click the link, so you need to copy the search word(s) and then
re-enter them in the Acrobat/Adobe Reader "Find" feature
in order to locate all the occurrences in each book.
The PDX index search, made with Acrobat in a stand-alone (non-html)
environment, does not work online. To get the full advantage of
an Acrobat .pdx index search, purchase the Expository Notes CD
from Sonic Light (item TCN-100 under "How to Order"). Sonic Light's
CD includes a .pdx index file that enables a complete word search
of all 66 books of the Notes. This advanced search
feature allows you to quickly find all the instances of
any word or phrase included in the Notes throughout the approx.
8,000 pages. The Acrobat .pdx search results show a complete list
of all the occurrences, book by book in all the books the search
word(s) occur in, with links that go to the exact location in
the Notes (not simply previewing the found words with surrounding
text, but actually hyperlinking to each page of the Notes where
the word/phrase is found).
to see the .pdx advanced index search feature described. You need
either Adobe Acrobat, or an Adobe Reader with the Advanced
Search function, to use the .pdx index search. | <urn:uuid:74f68288-93f5-4072-b861-154ed2e038ff> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.soniclight.com/search/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719843.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00292-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.863354 | 364 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Have you seen igneous rocks in the field?
Igneous rocks are everywhere! One of the most common igneous rocks that make up the crust is granite. Many mountain ranges are made of granite. The spectacular features of Yosemite Valley, like Half Dome, are granitic. Volcanoes are made of igneous rocks, such as basalt. Igneous rocks are also found where you can't see them. Oceanic crust is mostly basalt and gabbro. The mantle is peridotite.
Igneous rocks form when magma cools and forms crystals. Magma is melted rock. What an igneous rock looks like is determined by two things. One is the composition of the magma. The other is how fast the magma cools. The rate of cooling determines the texture of the rock.
Different igneous rocks contain minerals with different compositions. Mafic igneous rocks contain mafic minerals. Mafic minerals are dense and dark in color. They typically contain iron and magnesium; they are low in silica. Olivine and pyroxene are mafic minerals.
Olivine is the green mineral, pyroxene is the black mineral.
Felsic igneous rocks contain felsic minerals. They typically contain aluminum and sodium; they are high in silica. Quartz and potassium feldspar are felsic minerals. Minerals and rocks with a composition in between mafic and felsic are called intermediate.
Potassium feldspar is the pink mineral, plagioclase feldspar is the white mineral, and quartz is the grey mineral.
felsic: Minerals that are light in color and relatively low in density.
mafic: Minerals that are dark in color and relatively dense.
magma: Melted rock.
- Magma cools to form igneous rocks. Two factors determine what type of rock forms.
- The composition of the magma determines if the rock is mafic, felsic or intermediate.
- The rate the magma cools determines the texture of the rock.
Use this resource to answer the questions that follow.
- How do igneous rocks form?
- What is magma?
- What are plutonic rocks?
- How are extrusive rocks formed?
- How are igneous rocks classified?
- What is granite? Where is it used?
- How does an igneous rock form?
- How do mafic and felsic minerals and rocks differ from each other?
- What two factors determine what type of rock a magma will form? | <urn:uuid:7d0cb628-8251-4ee3-b53f-77413220d3c3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Earth-Science-Concepts-For-Middle-School/r7/section/3.7/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281419.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00489-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906757 | 554 | 4.125 | 4 |
"Tokamak the Human Reactor" first appeared in a 1983 pulp from DC Marvel. It was adapted in French in 1986.
Igor Golovin (1913-1997), the Russian physicist who coined the acronym "tokamak" in the late 1950s, certainly did not imagine that a half-century later the word would appear in comics, novels, and on record jackets.
"Tokamak" these days seems to be everywhere. A couple of weeks ago we introduced you to Tokamak, a local rock band. We soon found out that at least two other musical formations had adopted the same name: a "jazz fusion" group in the UK and an "American sound" combo from Brno, in the Czech Republic. "Tokamak" is also the name of a record label in Barcelona and there is a concert operator in Russia who goes by the name "Tokamak Sound System."
In the realm of novels and comics, "tokamak" is fast becoming a household name. Who started it? Our research points to DC Comics, one of the largest and most popular American pulp publishers. In 1983, they created a supervillain character named "Tokamak, the Living Reactor" whose body is filled with radioactive energy and must be contained in a confinement suit. A French version of the series — "Le Réacteur Humain" — was released in 1986.
In 1998, "Universal War One," a six-part French comic book series, anticipated the construction of the first industrial fusion plant in 2043.
In 1998 "Universal War One," a six-part French comic book series, anticipated the construction of the first industrial fusion plant by the Tokamak System Consortium in 2043. The space-opera series was later translated and released in English by Marvel Comics.
The third volume of "Zener's Curse" depicts a vacuum vessel so large a Jeep can ride around the machine's CS coil.
In 2000, French best-selling author Jean-Christophe Grangé included the word "tokamak" in his best-selling novel "The Council of Stone." Grangé's tokamak was a huge stone structure, located deep in the Mongolian steppe where mad scientists conducted experiments in fusion and psychic energy. Early this year "Zener's Curse, Vol 3: Tokamak," a comics prequel to the novel, depicted a highly realistic vacuum vessel so large a Jeep could ride around its CS coil.
(to be continued)
return to Newsline #90 | <urn:uuid:ddef914a-e85a-4f02-835f-9a1c71422fc0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.iter.org/newsline/90/1005 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283689.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00350-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964312 | 530 | 2.3125 | 2 |
As part of the intensifying belt of settlement activity in and around the Old City, there has been a recent burst in touristic settlement projects in the area of Gei Ben Hinnom/Wadi Rababe as well as developments within Silwan illustrated in Ir Amim’s updated map below, offering a zoomed-in perspective of the space. While a small section of Gei Ben Hinnom/Wadi Rababe is situated in West Jerusalem, the remaining portion is located in East Jerusalem adjacent to Abu Tur and Silwan.
Further blurring the Green Line, these projects are being implemented around the vicinity of the planned cable car recently approved (#31 on the map), which will together create a more seamless link between West Jerusalem and particularly Silwan and divert tourist traffic from its traditional routes via Jaffa and Damascus Gates:
- Approximately two months ago, the Elad settler organization opened a new cultural center, “A House in the Valley – the Center for Music and Culture” (marked B on the map) replete with an on-site restaurant strategically located between the Palestinian neighborhoods of At-thuri and Silwan along the seam between East and West Jerusalem. The planned pedestrian bridge (#30 on map) over Gei Ben Hinnom/Wadi Rababe will ultimately originate from the new Elad center and lead towards Silwan.
- The Jerusalem Municipality recently constructed a promenade (marked A on the map) connecting the Jerusalem Cinemateque, a popular cultural establishment in West Jerusalem, directly to Elad’s new complex in East Jerusalem. Public funds have been invested in this project which will lead unwitting Israelis and tourists alike into an arts and culture center owned and managed by a nationalist settler organization and from there onwards into the heart of Palestinian neighborhoods.
- Two weeks ago, the Jerusalem Municipality hung signs in Wadi Rababe, announcing the municipality’s intent to seize 40 dunams of private Palestinian land in the area,(marked C on map) adjacent to the new Elad cultural center for landscaping purposes slated to include gardens, terraces and a walking path. Palestinian land owners have been given a 30-day period to appeal the decision. While according to the municipality, the land would be confiscated for a duration of five years with the declared intent of beautification of the space, there is no guarantee the five-year period will not be extended.
Portrayed as a seemingly innocuous new establishment for arts and culture designed to serve the Israeli public, Elad’s “House in the Valley” serves as an entry point into the settlement ring around the Old City. The new promenade, constructed by the municipality to aid and abet Elad’s efforts by connecting its center with the Jerusalem Cinemateque, not only enables access from West Jerusalem to an Elad-managed site beyond the Green Line, but it propagates the idea of a contiguous Israeli space, while blurring its Palestinian surroundings and diffusing the political agenda behind these efforts.
Additional developments inside Silwan
In parallel to the government’s co-optation of tourism as a tool for erasing the seam between West and East Jerusalem and creating additional links between settlement projects around the Old City, the number of recent developments inside Silwan are further eroding its Palestinian presence.
- On June 16, the Jerusalem municipality approved the naming of several streets in the Batan al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan after prominent Jewish rabbis. While the move is largely symbolic, it serves to further illustrate Israeli attempts to alter the character of the neighborhood and promulgate the idea of the area as an Israeli environment. Batan al-Hawa is the hotbed of Ateret Cohanim's settler activity where it is waging the most comprehensive settler takeover campaign in East Jerusalem, placing roughly 600 Palestinians at risk of eviction.
- On June 18, after a 24-year-long legal battle, the Jerusalem District Court dismissed the appeal against the eviction of Jawad Siyam and his family, conveying the majority of the family's property in Wadi Hilweh, Silwan to Elad. Wadi Hilweh has been the locus of Elad’s settlement operations for the past three decades, where it manages the City of David National Park and taken over roughly 75 Palestinian homes. The ruling in particular deals a severe blow to the Palestinian community in Silwan since Jawad Siyam, a social worker and longtime community activist, who built community centers for local children and youth, serves as a central figure in community mobilization to safeguard the Palestinian presence of Silwan. | <urn:uuid:fcc603c8-7489-497e-b05f-8197b2ceed34> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ir-amim.org.il/en/node/2311 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573699.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819131019-20220819161019-00265.warc.gz | en | 0.941573 | 950 | 1.648438 | 2 |
> Group cites shift in tribal self-determination policy
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Group cites shift in tribal self-determination policy
TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2003
A public employees group on Monday called on the Bush administration to halt efforts to hand control of national parks and refuges to tribal governments.
In a letter to Secretary of Interior Gale Norton, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) said the transfer of federal functions to tribes contravenes federal law. The group charges that Norton "re-interpreted" the Indian Self-Determination Act in a little discussed Federal Register notice published more than a year ago.
"This point is that a wholesale turnover of federal land management to any private group, corporation or sovereign nation is a matter of significant national interest," wrote Gene Hocutt, a former refuge manager for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Dan Meyer, PEER's general counsel.
PEER's immediate target is a pending management agreement for the National Bison Range in Montana. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is in high-level talks with the Department of Interior to take over the range. The tribes have a cultural, legal and historical connection to the 18,800-acre refuge, which is located entirely within the Flathead Reservation.
But the group is also setting its sights on what it contends is a shift in Indian policy, pointing to an April 5, 2002, Federal Register notice that identifies 34 national parks and 31 wildlife refuges for potential tribal control. PEER contends the Bush administration wants to "cede" these units -- and employees -- to tribes.
"It now looks as if scarce federal refuge dollars will be given to tribes to hire contractors to fulfill the tasks that are currently being expertly administered by federal employees," the letter states.
The notice, however, is not all that different than what the Clinton administration published after the Indian Self-Determination Act was amended in 1994 to include a tribal self-governance program, which allows tribes to exercise even more control over their destinies. As far back as 1997, the Interior has listed dozens of national parks and wildlife refuges eligible for compacting due tribal significance.
For the Salish and Kootenai tribes, the National Bison Range is one of those entities. In an April 23 letter to Norton, chairman Fred Matt noted the tribes' connections to the range, which used to be held in trust for the tribes. "Also, the bison that reside on the NBR are descendants from a herd, which originated on the reservation," he wrote.
Deputy assistant secretary Paul Hoffman is the Interior's chief negotiator on the plan and supports the tribal takeover. He led a public meeting in Montana last month where opposition and support was voiced. He commented that non-Indian opposition seemed to be based on "pretty old history," according to a May 20 report published in The Missoulian.
Tribal members and Indian leaders have also questioned whether racism is being injected into the discussions, according to subsequent Missoulian
reports. "What have we sunk to? Drunken Indians? Handouts? The law isn't what you perceive it to be. We're Americans, too," tribal member Joe Dupuis was quoted as saying at another meeting last week.
The Interior expects to have a "funding agreement goal" and a "management agreement goal" ready for public review and comment by the end of this month. A "comprehensive conservation plan" won't be ready until January 2004.
PEER also sent a letter recently to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) about the bison range transfer.
Relevant Documents: PEER Letter to Secretary Norton
(June 9, 2003) | PEER Letter to Senator Burns
(April 8, 2003)
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes - http://www.cskt.org
National Bison Range - http://bisonrange.fws.gov
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility - http://www.peer.org
Related Stories: Tribal members defend takeover of bison range
(6/4) Group opposes tribal takeover of bison range
(6/2) Tribal takeover of bison range moving forward
(05/20)DOI wants Mont. tribe to manage bison range
Copyright © Indianz.Com | <urn:uuid:155fd291-a5f9-4591-b079-f85524fb8f74> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.indianz.com/News/show.asp?ID=2003/06/10/peer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280483.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00298-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946354 | 903 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The transition from monastic to secular medicine in medieval England
By Ginny L. Gaweda
Master’s Thesis, University of North Carolina, 2006
Introduction: During the Middle Ages, up to the twelfth century, monasteries were the primary source of medical education in Europe and maintained medical facilities such as hospitals and infirmaries. By the latter half of the twelfth-century, the location of medical education in medieval England had begun to shift away from the monastic communities to the developing schools and universities in the growing urban areas. According to historian David Lindberg, the transition of medical education to secular universities corresponded with the growing trends of professionalization and secularization that were redefining medical practice. At present, scholars have yet to study the quality and availability of treatment during this period of English history. This is largely due to an academic void surrounding the issue of health care provision during the late Middle Ages. In addressing this gap, this thesis will rely on a combination of primary and secondary source materials as it analyzes the transition from monastic to professionalized secular medicine, the condition of secular and domestic medicine, as well as the altering state of medical education, ethics, and treatment, in order to determine how these changes affected the characteristics and availability of medical care in twelfth, thirteenth, and early fourteenth-century England, ending with the Black Death of 1348. | <urn:uuid:5f12ef4b-0aba-41ad-b26d-fafdf2aa9ec1> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.medievalists.net/2011/01/the-transition-from-monastic-to-secular-medicine-in-medieval-england/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280128.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00390-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953335 | 284 | 2.75 | 3 |
How do I check my fan speed Windows 7?
Find your hardware settings, which is usually under a more general “Settings” menu, and look for the fan settings. Here, you may be able to control the target temperature for your CPU. If you feel your computer is running hot, lower that temperature.
How can I control my computer fan speed?
Look for a System Configuration option, navigate to it (usually using the cursor keys), and then look for a setting related to your fan. On our test machine this was an option called ‘Fan Always On’ which was enabled. Most PCs will give you the option to set temperature thresholds when you want the fan to kick in.
Can you increase CPU fan speed?
The thing a lot of people do not realize is that it is possible to make your computer cool down by turning the fan speed up. The place you have to go to in order to turn up your fan speed is the BIOS menu. Select the option called “Fan Speed Control” from the submenu in order to open the fan controls.
How do I increase my CPU fan speed Windows 7 Toshiba?
Changing the fan speed is a simple and straightforward task.
- Click or tap the “Battery” icon on the Windows 8 taskbar; then click or tap the “More Power Options” link in the Battery Power window.
- Click or tap the “Show Additional Plans” drop-down arrow and select the “High Performance” option.
What is a normal CPU fan speed?
The RPM of CPU fans vary between manufacturers but you can check your CPU specifications for the RPM of your CPU fan. Typically, the normal RPM for CPU fans range from 3,500RPM to 4,000RPM.
How do I adjust my fan speed on my laptop Windows 7?
In Windows 7, go to Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings and click on Change advanced power settings. Go to Processor power management\System cooling policy and make sure it’s set to Active.
Should I run my PC fans at full speed?
Running the fans at full speed is better for your other components, since it will keep them cooler. It may shorten the life of the fans though, especially if they are sleeve bearing fans. | <urn:uuid:adf533f5-2a68-4dd3-8363-5f68e20533ee> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://gzipwtf.com/how-do-i-check-my-fan-speed-windows-7/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808213349-20220809003349-00466.warc.gz | en | 0.884028 | 482 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Presented at the "First International Conference" of CRN Child Science Exchange Program in Asia held in Shanghai, China, March 4-5, 2017.
Communication Conditions Required to Teach and Be Taught
In recent years, the development of artificial intelligence robotics has been remarkable, producing numerous results in the area of computer science. Professional players of chess, go, and shogi have been defeated by artificial intelligence. Automatic driving and machine translation have become more common. It goes without saying that artificial intelligence will inevitably show further development in the future. Will robots ever teach children? On the other hand, what will become of education?
I have been researching infant-related topics since 1998 with a strong interest in the development of infants' minds and brains. I would like to introduce you to the android robots invented by a friend. These robots closely resemble humans but it feels rather awkward when one talks and communicates with them. I don't feel this awkwardness when communicating with humans. What could be the reason? This is another of my research topics.
Let me start by introducing to you an experiment where they talked to American infants in Mandarin. The parents of the infants were Americans and the infants had no knowledge of Mandarin. In Mandarin, there are certain phonemes which do not exist in English. The researcher who did this experiment questioned whether an infant who does not understand Mandarin would be able to distinguish Mandarin phonetic contrasts after repeatedly listening to it. As a result of the experiment, it was proved that the infants were able to distinguish Mandarin phonetic contrasts when taught face to face.
In the next experiment, an infant who does not understand Mandarin is taught Mandarin again. However, this time, the woman teaching the same content was filmed beforehand and the video was shown to the infant. The test was carried out in the same way, after showing the video to the infant for the same length of time as the experiment done face-to-face. The infants who were exposed to Mandarin through video were not able to distinguish Mandarin phonetic contrasts, the same as the other infants who had not been exposed to Mandarin. This is a very interesting result. It suggests that a one-way communication for both teaching and learning does not work. After all, it is effective to communicate face-to-face when teaching and learning.
In our lab, we performed the following experiment to look at "Differences in imitation performance of different media" (Figure 1). We made three settings; live demonstration, recorded but mimicking a real situation, and TV (recorded), and had a young lady demonstrate how to play with the toys. Then, we had the children imitate what they saw and examined how they imitated, i.e. how well they had learnt how to play with the toys. As a result, the imitation score was the highest when taught face to face and the percentage of imitation was higher when shown a recorded demonstration mimicking a real situation than simply being shown a recorded video on TV. This tells us that it is important for the learner to feel that "This is being taught to me here at this very moment" when learning something.
A similar conclusion was reached in an experiment in the UK. Infants showed considerable differences in their reactions to face-to-face communication and communication through recordings. In cases of face-to-face communication, children gazed at the other person relatively longer and smiled more. However, with recordings, they gazed and smiled less (Figure 2).
While numerous similar research projects were conducted, around 10 years ago, we did an experiment to ascertain how babies' brain activity differs between watching an adult's action live and televised through NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) measurement (Figure 3). To be specific, the brain activity is measured by fitting a measuring device to the babies' heads. This device is quite safe and does not cause pain or discomfort. The results indicated that although the infants' brains were active when they were looking at the televised action, the brain behaved differently from when they were watching real people.
Pedagogical Machine: Can Humans Learn from Machines?
Today, I would like to introduce you to our ongoing research about Pedagogical machines. Whether machines can teach humans and the other way around, whether humans can learn from machines, are our research topics. We have three research goals and are working on our research with three methodologies.
- [Research Goal 1] Reveal the functions humans have for "teaching and learning" from a developmental cognitive science point of view and consider the possibility of implementing them to artifacts (Methodology of developmental cognitive science).
- [Research Goal 2] Put together and arrange the scattered ultramodern digital information processing technologies and robot technologies as technology for "teaching and learning" and design and create a Pedagogical machine prototype (Methodology of information engineering).
- [Research Goal 3] Define the issues in realistic situations such as educational sites and creating educational contents on the internet and create a structure where Pedagogical machines can be utilized for resolving issues (Methodology of practical pedagogy).
Now, I would like to talk about the "Methodology of developmental cognitive science." We carried out an experiment to ascertain what it is to communicate in a live situation, in other words, "in real time" (Figure 4). We placed a mother and a child in separate rooms and had them communicate through a TV monitor. In one of the conditions the interaction was done in real time and the other had a delay of one second in the communications. I believe you might have seen a situation where there is a lag between the communications of reporters in satellite broadcasting in the Olympics and such. In the experiment, we asked the mother to teach how to play with the toys to the child around 2 and half years old and had the child imitate it. Comparing the communication in real time and with a one-second delay, although there was not much difference in the actions of the mother, the imitation score of the child was higher for real time communication. These results indicate that even little children are sensitive to whether it is in real time, right there, or whether they have seen something and their actions are based on that.
Next, I would like to talk about the "Methodology of information engineering". We are doing research on "teaching artifacts" using small robots. One of them is a robot that reads to children in French (Figure 5). French is an unfamiliar language for children living in Japan. In this example, the robot first reads "The Three Little Pigs" in French. The movement of the robot corresponds to the "picture" shown in the monitor. Results showed that even children who were hearing French for the first time remembered the major French words in the story precisely. As an extension of this experiment, we are working on a research project using electroencephalographs. At this point, it has become clear that little children are soon able to memorize unfamiliar French words, in experiments using electroencephalographs.
Nowadays, with smartphones becoming common, there are negative opinions regarding mothers raising their children using smart phones. As a researcher, I would like to investigate how we should handle high tech devices from a neutral perspective. However, as a matter of fact, I often see mothers on trains in Japan intently focused on their smartphones to the extent that they do not respond to their babies when they're asking for attention. This does not establish a communication under a "live" situation "directed at me" as I have mentioned earlier. Therefore, I personally think that the issue is not about permitting children to use smartphones or not but more about using them as little as possible when mothers are with their child.
Finally, I think it is important to remember that various issues that call for further research still remain. Other than research in laboratories, which is very important, observation and research in real sites such as nurseries and schools are necessary. There are still a great many things to be discovered but I would like to progress steadily with my research one step at a time. Thank you very much. | <urn:uuid:f3335b40-c08d-4c90-80c8-5b076a464798> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.childresearch.net/projects/crn_asia/2017_03.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572212.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815205848-20220815235848-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.972525 | 1,660 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Fire on USS Midway
Published: July 16, 2015
Fire on USS Midway, Welding construction work being done at the USS Midway Museum sparked a hot fire below decks early Wednesday morning, prompting the ship to be evacuated, a fire official said.
Firefighters were called around 5:30 a.m. to the permanently docked aircraft carrier at Navy Pier in downtown and found light smoke inside, said Lee Swanson, a spokesman for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
The aircraft carrier museum is considered a high-rise so a second alarm was immediately called. The blaze went to a third alarm, which summoned more firefighters and equipment, because firefighters were having trouble getting to the blaze. However, Swanson said many firefighters remained in a staging area and didn’t go onto the ship.
Workers, including welders, had been on the job overnight since the museum had closed for the day Tuesday afternoon. They were onboard when the fire started and evacuated to the dock. One worker reported feeling dizzy and was examined by paramedics, Swanson said.
He said the work was going on two decks below the flight deck, but sparks and hot slag from welding fell through a floor grate and ignited debris and insulation in a small area below.
“They initially poured water on it from above, but eventually got down there,” Swanson said.
Firefighters found a “hot door” with a temperature of about 600 degrees but first couldn’t get close enough to find what was burning. Locked doors made access difficult. They finally reached the flames about 7:40 a.m., used a fire extinguisher to suppress most of them, then doused the fire with water, Swanson said. A spot about three feet across had burned.
Midway spokesman Scott McGaugh said the fire was in an area near the bow of the ship that is being renovated to expand the museum’s popular sleepover program.
After firefighters were finished extinguishing the blaze, staff and volunteers were allowed back on the ship around 8:30a.m.
None of the public areas of the museum was damaged and the attraction was expected to open for business at 9:30 a.m. as usual.
The Midway was the longest-serving carrier in U.S. naval history and was turned into a museum in 2004. It draws more than 1 million visitors annually.
Please feel free to send if you have any questions regarding this post , you can contact on | <urn:uuid:67708e0d-c469-49cb-bb7f-de87950ea8ba> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://apusa.us/fire-on-uss-midway-34397/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280065.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00542-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979502 | 512 | 1.640625 | 2 |
‘They Did Things They Weren’t Expecting to Do’
LEXINGTON, Va., Oct. 15, 2018—Now in its seventh year of existence, VMI’s national security minor allows a select number of cadets to take on more challenge than the Institute already offers—and almost all of them succeed in spades, despite the requirements of coursework, a thesis, and an internship.
Jacob Van Dyke ’19 is no exception. A first-generation college student, he came to VMI because while he was fairly certain he wanted to commission into the military, he didn’t want to be locked in as he would at the service academies.
Van Dyke came in as a physics major, but switched to international studies before classes began—and before he was even out of the Rat Line, he was studying Japanese on his own. He’d heard about VMI’s exchange program with Japan’s National Defense Academy, and since VMI doesn’t offer classes in Japanese, Van Dyke took the bull by the horns and began preparation on his own, despite the fact that he’d never studied an Asian language before.
The next fall, Van Dyke left the United States for the very first time—and studied abroad at the Japanese National Defense Academy, where all classes are taught in Japanese. As the weeks went by, fear was replaced by confidence as his language skills blossomed and strangers became friends.
“Just all in all, it was a growing experience,” commented Van Dyke, who plans to commission into the Army. “That semester was amazing.”
From the moment he arrived back on U.S. soil, Van Dyke had one ambition: to get back to Japan and keep working on his language skills. This summer, he did just that, studying in Tokyo under the auspices of IES Abroad, a company providing study abroad opportunities to college students. The experience not only gave him the language credits he needed to graduate but also fulfilled his internship requirement for the national security minor.
While in Japan, Van Dyke also undertook a research project under the auspices of the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute. For that project, he interviewed Japanese military personnel about U.S.-Japan relations. He’ll take the information he gleaned from those interviews and use that as the basis for his thesis on the national security culture of Japan.
Van Dyke’s trip to Asia even helped to strengthen the ties between VMI and the Japanese National Defense Academy, as he met up with Col. Howard Sanborn, professor of international studies, and introduced Sanborn to leaders at the Japanese academy.
“We’ve had a really nice relationship with [the Japanese military academy],” said Sanborn, who was making his first trip to the academy. “We want to keep that relationship strong and even build on it …. The driving thing for me is to get cadets to Asia.”
Van Dyke’s experience with the national security minor is far from unique, said Lt. Col. Spencer Bakich, associate professor of international studies and director of the national security minor program.
“This is the stuff that makes for organizational leaders down the line,” said Bakich. “For the type of cadet that’s able to get in, the national security minor is a critical component in their intellectual development. I’ve heard from a number of cadets that their projects were incredibly meaningful to them. They did things they weren’t expecting to do.”
Since its inception, admittance to the minor has been via a competitive selection process and enrollment has been capped at 20 cadets—10 from the 1st Class and 10 from the 2nd Class.
Keeping the minor small is necessary for two reasons, Bakich explained. One, supervising cadet theses takes a lot of faculty time, and two, funds are needed to support cadet internships. Not all of the internships are paid, so there’s an effort made to level the playing field by making sure no cadet is denied an internship due to financial concerns.
The national security minor has been quietly underwritten financially by Louis Blair, who recently retired after many years of serving as the Mary Moody Northen visiting professor in the social sciences. “It’s a pretty special thing he’s done,” said Bakich. “He’s an inspiration.”
Bakich isn’t the only one appreciative of Blair’s altruistic spirit. “The minor would not exist without [Blair’s] generosity and commitment,” said Col. Dennis Foster, head of the Department of International Studies and Political Science.
“It’s a phenomenal program,” said Bakich of the national security minor program. “If there’s one thing I’d love to be able to do, it would be to generate more money for it, because I would love to be able to expand these opportunities for the cadets. I’d love to give cadets more opportunities to do more of these types of things.”
This summer, not only did Van Dyke study abroad in Japan, but another cadet pursuing the national security minor, Kristian Perez, attended the Peace and Security in the South Caucasus program in the Republic of Georgia. Yet another cadet interned in the office of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, and still another was an intern at Lockheed Martin. Those cadets, Bakich noted, found these opportunities on their own.
“As in life, very little is given to you,” he remarked. “We work with [the cadets], but they drive the train.” | <urn:uuid:90b53212-5cd4-4cec-be75-893ea4a24d22> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://stagetest-www.vmi.edu/news/headlines/2018-2019/they-did-things-they-werent-expecting-to-do.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570793.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808092125-20220808122125-00665.warc.gz | en | 0.971194 | 1,227 | 1.523438 | 2 |
- Find Edges
- Find Maxima
- Enhance Contrast
- Image Calculator...
- Subtract Background...
- Repeat Command
SmoothBlurs the active image or selection. This filter replaces each pixel with the average of its 3x3 neighborhood.
SharpenIncreases contrast and accentuates detail in the image or selection, but may also accentuate noise. This filter uses the following weighting factors to replace each pixel with a weighted average of the 3x3 neighborhood.-1 -1 -1 -1 12 -1 -1 -1 -1
Find EdgesUses a Sobel edge detector to highlight sharp changes in intensity in the active image or selection. Two 3x3 convolution kernels (show below) are used to generate vertical and horizontal derivatives. The final image is produced by combining the two derivatives using the square root of the sum of the squares.1 2 1 1 0 -1 0 0 0 2 0 -2 -1 -2 -1 1 0 -1
Find Maxima...Determines the local maxima in an image and creates a binary (mask-like) image of the same size with the maxima, or one segmented particle per maximum, marked. For RGB images, maxima of luminance are selected, with the luminance defined as weighted or unweighted average of the colors depending on the Edit>Options>Conversions settings. This command is based on a plugin contributed by Michael Schmid.
A dialog box is displayed with the following options:
- "Noise Tolerance" - Maxima are ignored if they do not stand out from the surroundings by more than this value (calibrated units for calibrated images). In other words, a threshold is set at the maximum value minus noise tolerance and the contiguous area around the maximum above the threshold is analyzed. For accepting a maximum, this area must not contain any point with a value higher at than the maximum. Only one maximum within this area is accepted.
- "Output Type" can be:
- "Single Points" - results in one single point per maximum
- "Maxima Within Tolerance" - all points within the "Noise Tolerance" for each maximum
- "Segmented Particles" - Assumes that each maximum belongs to a particle and segments the image by a watershed algorithm applied to the values of the image (in contrast to Process>Binary>Watershed, which uses the Euclidian distance map).
- "Display Point selection" - Displays a multi-point selection with a point at each maximum
- "Count" - Displays the number of maxima in the Results window
- "Exclude Edge Maxima" - Excludes maxima if the area within the noise tolerance surrounding a maximum touches the edge of the image (edge of the selection does not matter).
- Check Light Background if the image background is brighter than the objects you want to find, as it is in the Cell Colony image in the illustration above.
- "Above Lower Threshold" - (This option appears for thresholded images only.) Finds maxima above the lower threshold only. The upper threshold of the image is ignored. If "Segmented Particles" is selected as "Output Type", the area below the lower threshold is considered a background.
Output is a binary image, with foreground 255 and background 0, using an inverted or normal LUT depending on the "Black Background" option in Process>Binary>Options. The number of particles (as obtained by "Analyze Particles") in the output image does not depend on the "Output Type" selected. Note that "Segmented Particles" will usually result in particles touching the edge if "Exclude Edge Maxima" is selected. "Exclude Edge Maxima" applies to the maximum, not to the particle.
Find Maxima does not work on stacks, but the FindStackMaxima macro runs it on all the images in a stack and creates a second stack containing the output images. The FindMaximaRoiManager macro demonstrates how to add particles found by Find Maxima to the ROI Manager.
Enhance ContrastEnhances image contrast by using either histogram stretching or histogram equalization. Both methods are described in detail in the Hypermedia Image Processing Reference. Look up "enhancement" in the index.
This command does not alter pixel values as long as the Normalize and Equalize histogram options are not enabled.
Saturated pixels determines the number of pixels in the image that are allowed to become saturated. Increasing this value increases contrast. This value should be greater than zero to prevent a few outlying pixel from causing the histogram stretch to not work as intended.
Check Normalize and ImageJ will recalculate the pixel values of the image so the range is equal to the maximum range for the data type, or 0-1.0 for float images. The maximum range is 0-255 for 8-bit images and 0-65535 for 16-bit images. Note that normalization of RGB images is not supported. The Use stack histogram option is ignored.
With stacks another checkbox, Process all slices, is displayed. If this option is enabled, normalization and histogram equalization are applied to all slices in the stack.
Check Equalize histogram to enhance the image using histogram equalization. Create a selection and the equalization will be based on the histogram of the selection. Uses a modified algorithm that takes the square root of the histogram values. Hold the alt key down to use the standard histogram equalization algorithm. The Saturated pixels and Normalize options are ignored when Equalize Histogram is checked. The equalization code was contributed by Richard Kirk.
If Stack histogram checked, ImageJ will use the overall stack histogram instead of individual slice histograms, that allow optimal adjustments for each slice alone. This option may be especially relevant when performing enhancements based on a ROI.
Noise SubmenuUse the commands in this submenu to add noise to images or remove it. For more advanced capabilities, check out Erik Meijering's RandomJ package (Binomial, Exponential, Gamma, Gaussian, Poisson and Uniform) at www.imagescience.org/meijering/software/randomj/.
Add NoiseAdds random noise to the image or selection. The noise is Gaussian (normally) distributed with a mean of zero and standard deviation of 25.
Add More NoiseAdds Gaussian noise with a mean of zero and standard deviation of 75.
Salt and PepperAdds salt and pepper noise to the image or selection by randomly replacing 2.5% of the pixels with black pixels and 2.5% with white pixels. Note: this command only works with 8-bit images.
DespeckleThis is a median filter. It replaces each pixel with the median value in its 3 x 3 neighborhood. This is a time consuming operation because, for each pixel in the selection, the nine pixels in the 3x3 neighborhood must be sorted and the center pixel replaced with the median value (the fifth). Median filters a good at removing salt and pepper noise.
Remove OutliersReplaces a pixel by the median of the pixels in the surrounding if it deviates from the median by more than a certain value (the threshold). Useful for correcting, e.g., hot pixels or dead pixels of a CCD image.
Radius determines the area used for calculating the median (uncalibrated, i.e., in pixels). See Process>Filters>Show Circular Masks to see how radius translates into an area. Threshold determinates by how much the pixel must deviate from the median to get replaced, in raw (uncalibrated) units. Which Outliers determines whether pixels brighter or darker than the surrounding (the median) should be replaced.
Remove NaNsThis filter replaces NaN (Not-a-Number) pixels in 32-bit (float) images by the median of the neighbors inside the kernel area. It does not remove patches of NaNs larger than the kernel size, however.
Radius determines the area of the circular kernel used for calculating the median. The NaNs macro demonstrates how to create, count and remove NaNs. Note that some ImageJ filters, such as Gaussian Blur, Mean, and Variance destroy the surrounding of NaN pixel by setting it also to NaN. Other filters may produce invalid results in the position of NaN pixels.
Shadows SubmenuCommands in this submenu produce a shadow effect, with light appearing to come from a direction corresponding to the command name. The commands use Convolve3x3, ImageJ's 3x3 convolution function. Two of the convolution kernels are shown in the illustration. Shadows Demo uses all eight kernels to demonstrate the speed of Convolve3x3.
Binary SubmenuThis submenu contains commands that create or process binary (black and white) images. They assume that objects are black and background is white unless "Black Background" is checked in the Process>Binary>Options dialog box.
Make BinaryConverts an image to black and white. The threshold level is determined by analysing the histogram of the current selection, or of the entire image if there is no selection. The algorithm used to calculate the threshold is described in the FAQs. If a threshold has been set using the Image>Adjust>Threshold tool, a dialog pops up that lets you specify which pixels are set to the background color and which to the foreground color, and whether the background is black and the foreground is white.
With stacks, all images in the stack are converted to binary using the calculated threshold of the currently displayed slice. Use the ConvertStackToBinary macro to convert a stack to binary using locally calculated thresholds. The MakeSliceBinary macro converts the current stack slice to binary and advances to the next when you press a key.
Convert to MaskConverts the image to black and white based on the current threshold settings (if set) or on a threshold calculated by analyzing the histogram. The mask will have an inverting LUT (white is 0 and black is 255) unless "Black Background" is checked in the Process>Binary>Options dialog box.
ErodeRemoves pixels from the edges of black objects. Use Process>Filters>Minimum to do grayscale erosion.
DilateAdds pixels to the edges of black objects. Use Process>Filters>Maximum to do grayscale dilation.
OpenPerforms an erosion operation, followed by dilation. This smoothes objects and removes isolated pixels.
ClosePerforms a dilation operation, followed by erosion. This smoothes objects and fills in small holes.
Options...Displays a dialog box that allows several settings used by commands in the Binary submenu to be altered.
Iterations specifies the number of times erosion, dilation, opening, and closing are performed.
Count specifies the number of adjacent background pixels necessary before a pixel is removed from the edge of an object during erosion and the number of adjacent foreground pixels necessary before a pixel is added to the edge of an object during dilation.
Check Black background if the image has white objects on a black background. Plugins can set this option usingPrefs.blackBackground = b;and macros can set it usingsetOption("black background", b);where b is 'true' or 'false'.
If Pad edges when eroding is checked, Process>Binary>Erode does not erode from the edges of the image. This setting also affects Process>Binary>Close, which erodes from the edges unless this checkbox is selected.
EDM output determines the output type for the Process>Binary>Distance Map, Ultimate Points and Voronoi commands. Set it to "Overwrite" for 8-bit output that overwrites the input image; "8-bit", "16-bit" or "32-bit" for separate output images. 32-bit output has floating point (subpixel) distance resolution.
OutlineGenerates a one pixel wide outline of objects in a binary image.
SkeletonizeRepeatably removes pixels from the edges of objects in a binary image until they are reduced to single pixel wide skeletons.
Distance MapGenerates a Euclidian distance map (EDM). Each foreground pixel in the binary image is replaced with a gray value equal to that pixel's distance from the nearest background pixel.
Ultimate PointsGenerates the ultimate eroded points (UEPs) of the EDM. Requires a binary image as input. The UEPs represent the centers of particles that would be separated by segmentation. The UEP's gray value is equal to the radius of the inscribed circle of the corresponding particle.
WatershedWatershed segmentation is a way of automatically separating or cutting apart particles that touch. It first calculates the Euclidian distance map (EDM) and finds the ultimate eroded points (UEPs). It then dilates each of the UEPs (the peaks or local maxima of the EDM) as far as possible - either until the edge of the particle is reached, or the edge of the region of another (growing) UEP. Watershed segmentation works best for smooth convex objects that don't overlap too much.
Enable debugging in Edit>Options>Misc and the Watershed command will create an animation that shows how the watershed algorithm works. An example is available.
VoronoiSplits the image by lines of points having equal distance to the borders of the two nearest particles. Thus, the Voronoi cell of each particle includes all points that are nearer to this particle than any other particle. For the case of the particles being single points, this is a Voronoi tessellation (also known as Dirichlet tessellation).
In the output, the value inside the Voronoi cells is zero; the pixel values of the dividing lines between the cells are equal to the distance to the two nearest particles. This is similar to a medial axis transform of the background, but there are no lines in inner holes of particles. Choose the output type ("Overwrite", "8-bit", "16-bit" or "32-bit") in the Process>Binary>Options dialog box.
Math SubmenuThe commands in this submenu add (subtract, multiply, etc.) a constant to each pixel in the active image or selection. When the result value overflows/underflows the legal range of the image's data type, the value is reset to the maximum/minimum value. With stacks, a "Process Stack?" dialog is displayed. This dialog has Yes (process entire stack), No (process current image) and Cancel buttons.
Add...Adds a constant to the image or selection. With 8-bit images, results greater than 255 are set to 255. With 16-bit signed images, results greater than 65,535 are set to 65,535.
Subtract...Subtracts a constant from the image or selection. With 8-bit and 16-bit images, results less than 0 are set to 0.
Multiply...Multiplies the image or selection by the specified real constant. With 8-bit images, results greater than 255 are set to 255. With 16-bit signed images, results greater than 65,535 are set to 65,535.
Divide...Divides the image or selection by the specified real constant. Except for 32-bit (float) images, attempts to divide by zero are ignored. With 32-bit images, dividing by zero results in either NaN (0/0) or Infinity.
AND...Does a bitwise AND of the image and the specified binary constant.
OR...Does a bitwise OR of the image and the specified binary constant.
XOR...Does a bitwise XOR of the image and the specified binary constant.
Min...Pixels in the image with a value less than the specified constant are replaced by the constant.
Max...Pixels in the image with a value greater than the specified constant are replaced by the constant.
Gamma...Applies the function f(p) = (p/255)^gamma*255 to each pixel (p) in the image or selection, where 0.1 <= gamma <= 5.0. For RGB images, this function is applied to all three color channels. For 16-bit images, the image min and max are used for scaling instead of 255.
Set...Fills the image or selection with the specified value.
Log...For 8-bit images, applies the function f(p) = log(p) * 255/log(255) to each pixel (p) in the image or selection. For RGB images, this function is applied to all three color channels. For 16-bit images, the image min and max are used for scaling instead of 255. For float images, no scaling is done. To calculate log10 of the image, multiply the result of this operation by 0.4343 (1/log(10).
ReciprocalGenerates the reciprocal of the active image or selection. Only works with 32-bit float images.
NaN BackgroundSets non-thresholded pixels in 32-bit float images to the NaN (Not a Number) value. For float images, the "Apply" option in Image>Adjust Threshold runs this command. Pixels with a value of Float.NaN (0f/0f), Float.POSITIVE_INFINITY (1f/0f) or Float.NEGATIVE_INFINITY (-1f/0f) are ignored when making measurements on 32-bit float images.
AbsGenerates the absolute value of the active image or selection. Only works with 32-bit float images.
Macro (Expression Evaluator)This command performs image arithmetic using a user-specified expression. It can be used to create fully-synthetic images or to perform precise pixel manipulations on existing images or stacks. The MathMacroDemo macro, written by Tiago Ferreira, demonstrates how to use it.
FFT SubmenuThe commands in this submenu support frequency domain display, editing and processing. They are based on an implementation of the 2D Fast Hartley Transform (FHT) contributed by Arlo Reeves, the author of the ImageFFT spinoff of NIH Image. For 3D FHTs, check out Bob Dougherty's 3D Fast Hartley Transform plugin.
FFTComputes the Fourier transform and displays the power spectrum. The frequency domain image is stored as 32-bit float FHT attached to the 8-bit image that displays the power spectrum. Commands in this submenu, such as Inverse FFT, operate on the 32-bit FHT, not on the 8-bit power spectrum. All other ImageJ commands only "see" the power spectrum.
If the mouse is over an active frequency domain (FFT) window, its location is displayed in polar coordinates. The angle is expressed in degrees, while the radius is expressed in pixels per cycle (p/c). The radius is expressed in [units] per cycle (e.g. mm/c) if the spatial scale of the image was defined using Analyze>Set Scale. With v1.39b or later, the polar coordinates of point selections are recorded by Analyze>Measure. An example is available.
Inverse FFTComputes the inverse Fourier transform. You can filter or mask spots on the transformed (frequency domain) image and do an inverse transform to produce an image which only contains the frequencies selected or which suppresses the frequencies selected. Use ImageJ's selection tools and fill/clear commands to draw black or white areas that mask portions of the transformed image. Black areas (pixel value=0) cause the corresponding frequences to be filtered (removed) and white areas (pixel value=255) cause the corresponding frequences to be passed. It is not, however, possible to both filter and pass during the same inverse transform.
Note that areas to be filtered in the frequency domain image must be zero filled and areas to be passed must be filled with 255. You can varify that this is the case by moving the cursor over a filled area and observing that the values displayed in the status bar are either 0 or 255.
This example illustrates how to create masks that remove or pass the low frequencies of an image.
With off-center selections, the same spatial frequency appears twice in the power spectrum, at points opposite from the center. With ImageJ 1.41k and later, it is sufficient to fill/clear only one of these. In the following example (courtesy of Arlo Reeves), the cleared selections in the upper half of the power spectrum have been automatically mirrored to the lower half, as shown in the power spectrum of the filtered image.
The image used in this example is available at rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/images/abe.tif. There is also an example that demonstrates how to remove noise from images generated by a laser scanning confocal microscope.
Redisplay Power SpectrumRecomputes the power spectrum from the frequency domain image (32-bit FHT). This command allows you to start over if you mess up while editing the 8-bit power spectrum image.
FFT Options...Displays the FFT Options dialog box.
- Display - These are checkboxes that specify which image(s) are created by the FFT command:
- FFT Window is the standard output. It consists of an 8-bit image of the power spectrum and the actual data, which remain invisible for the user. The power spectrum image is displayed with logarithmic scaling, enhancing the visibility of components that are weakly visible. The actual data are used for the Inverse FFT command.
- Raw Power Spectrum is the power spectrum without logarithmic scaling.
- Fast Hartley Transform is the internal format used by the command, which is based on a Hartley transform rather than Fourier transform.
- Complex Fourier Transform is a stack with two slices for the real and imaginary parts of the FFT.
- Check Do Forward Transform and the current image is transformed immediately when closing the FFT Options dialog.
Bandpass Filter..This is a built in version of Joachim Walter's FFT Filter plugin. It removes high spatial frequencies (blurring the image) and low spatial frequencies (similar to subtracting a blurred image). It can also suppress horizontal or vertical stripes that were created by scanning an image line by line.
The Bandpass Filter uses a special algorithm to reduce edge artifacts (before the Fourier transform, the image is extended in size by attaching mirrored copies of image parts outside the original image, thus no jumps occur at the edges).
- Filter Large Structures Down to - Smooth variations of the image with typical sizes of bright or dark patches larger than this value are suppressed (background).
- Filter Small Structures Up to - Determines the amount of smoothing. Objects in the image smaller than this size are strongly attanuated. Note that these values are both half the spatial frequencies of the actual cutoff. The cutoff is very soft, so the bandpass will noticeably attenuate even spatial frequencies in the center of the bandpass unless the difference of the two values is large (say, more than a factor of 5 or so).
- Suppress Stripes - Select whether to eliminate horizontal or vertical stripes. Removal of horizontal stripes is similar to subtracting an image that is only blurred in the horizontal direction from the original.
- Tolerance of Direction - This is for Suppress Stripes; higher values remove shorter stripes and/or stripes that are running under an angle with respect to the horizontal (vertical) direction.
- Autoscale After Filtering puts the lowest intensity to 0 and the highest intensity to 255, preserving all intensities.
- Saturate allows some intensities to go into saturation, and produces a better visual contrast. Saturate only has an effect when Autoscale is enabled.
- Display Filter shows the filter generated. Note that this disables Undo of the filter operation on the original image.
Custom Filter..This command does fourier space filtering of the active using a user-supplied image as the filter. This command does Fourier space filtering of the active image using a user-supplied image as the filter. This image will be converted to 8-bits. For pixels that have a value of 0, the corresponding spatial frequences will be blocked. Pixel with values of 255 should be used for passing the respective spatial frequencies without attenuation. Note that the filter should be symmetric with respect to inversion of the center: Points that are opposite of the center point (defined as x=width/2, y=height/2) should have the same value. Otherwise, artifacts can occur.
For some examples, see the FFTCustomFilterDemo and FFTRemoveStreaks macros.
FD Math..This command correlates, convolves or deconvolves two images. It does this by converting the images to the frequency domain, performing conjugate multiplication, multiplication or division, then converting the result back to the space domain. These three operations in the frequency domain are equivalent to correlation, convolution and deconvolution in the space domain. Refer to the DeconvolutionDemo and MotionBlurRemoval macros for an examples.
Filters SubmenuThis submenu contains miscellaneous filters and plugin filters that have been installed by the Plugins>Utilities>Install Plugin command. For more information, refer to the Hypermedia Image Processing Reference at http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/HIPR2/. Click on Index and look up the keywords convolution, Gaussian, median, mean, erode, dilate and unsharp.
Convolve...Does spatial convolution using a kernel entered into a text area. A kernel is a matrix whose center corresponds to the source pixel and the other elements correspond to neighboring pixels. The destination pixel is calculated by multiplying each source pixel by its corresponding kernel coefficient and adding the results. If needed, the input image is effectively extended by duplicating edge pixels outward. There is no arbitrary limit to the size of the kernel but it must be square and have an odd width.
Rows in the text area must all have the same number of coefficients, the rows must be terminated with a carriage return, and the coefficients must be separated by one or more spaces. Kernels can be pasted into the text area using the ctrl+v keyboard shortcut. Checking Normalize Kernel causes each coefficient to be divided by the sum of the coefficients, preserving image brightness.
The kernel shown is a 9 x 9 "Mexican hat", which does both smoothing and edge detection in one operation. Note that kernels can be saved as a text file by clicking on the "Save" button, displayed as an image using File>Import>Text Image, scaled to a reasonable size using Image>Adjust>Size and plotted using Analyze>Surface Plot.
The ConvolutionDemo macro demonstrates how to use this command in a macro.
Gaussian Blur...This filter uses convolution with a Gaussian function for smoothing. Sigma is the radius of decay to exp(-0.5) ~ 61%, i.e. the standard deviation sigma of the Gaussian (this is the same as in Photoshop, but different from earlier versions of ImageJ, where a value 2.5 times as much had to be entered.
Like all ImageJ convolution operations, it assumes that out-of-image pixels have a value equal to the nearest edge pixel. This gives higher weight to edge pixels than pixels inside the image, and higher weight to corner pixels than non-corner pixels at the edge. Thus, when smoothing with very high blur radius, the output will be dominated by the edge pixels and especially the corner pixels (in the extreme case, with a blur radius of e.g. 1e20, the image will be raplaced by the average of the four corner pixels).
For increased speed, except for small blur radii, the lines (rows or columns of the image) are downscaled before convolution and upscaled to their original length thereafter.
Median...Reduces noise in the active image by replacing each pixel with the median of the neighboring pixel values.
Mean...Smooths the current image by replacing each pixel with the neighborhood mean. The size of the neighborhood is specified by entering its radius in a dialog box.
Minimum...This filter does grayscale erosion by replacing each pixel in the image with the smallest pixel value in that pixel's neighborhood.
Maximum...This filter does grayscale dilation by replacing each pixel in the image with the largest pixel value in that pixel's neighborhood.
Unsharp Mask...Unsharp masking subtracts a blurred copy of the image and rescales the image to obtain the same contrast of large (low-frequency) structures as in the input image. This is equivalent to adding a high-pass filtered image and thus sharpens the image. Radius is the standard deviation (blur radius) of the Gaussian blur that is subtracted. Mask Weight determines the strength of filtering, whereby Mask Weight=1 would be an infinite weight of the high-pass filtered image that is added.
Variance...Heighlights edges in the image by replacing each pixel with the neighborhood variance.
Show Circular MasksGenerates a stack containing examples of the circular masks used by the Median, Mean, Minimum, Maximum and Variance filters for various neighborhood sizes.
Image Calculator...Performs arithmetic and logical operations between two images selected from popup menus. Image1 or both Image1 and Image2 can be stacks. If both are stacks, they must have the same number of slices. Image1 and Image2 must be the same data type but they do not have to be the same size.
You can select one of 12 operators from the Operation: popup menu. Check Create New Window and a new image or stack will be created to hold the result. Otherwise, the result of the operation replaces some or all of Image1. Check "32-bit Result" and the source images will be converted to 32-bit floating point before the specified operation is performed.
With 32-bit (float) images, pixels resulting from division by zero are set to Infinity, or to NaN (Not a Number) if a zero pixel is divided by zero. The divide-by-zero value can be redefined in Edit>Options>Misc.
Add img1 = img1+img2 Subtract img1 = img1-img2 Multiply img1 = img1*img2 Divide img1 = img1/img2 AND img1= img1 AND img2 OR img1 = img1 OR img2 XOR img1 = img1 XOR img2 Min img1 = min(img1,img2) Max img1 = max(img1,img2) Average img1 = (img1+img2)/2 Difference img1 = |img1-img2| Copy img1 = img2
In these examples, the source and destination have inverted LUTs so zero pixels are white. Operations on images with non-inverted LUTs, and RGB images, will not produce the same results.
Subtract Background...Removes smooth continuous backgrounds from gels and other images. Based on the "rolling ball" algorithm described in Stanley Sternberg's article, "Biomedical Image Processing", IEEE Computer, January 1983. Imagine a 3D surface with the pixel values of the image being the height, then a ball rolling over the back side of the surface creates the background. The current algorithm (since v1.39f) uses an approximation of a paraboloid of rotation instead of a ball.
The Rolling Ball Radius is the radius of curvature of the paraboloid. As a rule of thumb, for 8-bit or RGB images it should be at least as large as the radius of the largest object in the image that is not part of the background. Larger values will also work unless the background of the image is too uneven. For 16-bit and 32-bit images with pixel value ranges different from 0-255, the radius should be inversely proportional to the pixel value range. For example, typical values of the radius are around 0.2 to 5 for 16-bit images (pixel values 0-65535).
The Light Background option allows the processing of images with bright background and dark objects.
With the Create Background option, the output is not the image with the background subtracted but rather the background itself. This option is useful for examining the background created (in conjunction with the Preview option). Create Background can be also used for custom background subtraction algorithms where the image is duplicated and filtered (e.g. removing "holes" in the background) before creating the background and finally subtracting it with Process>Image Calculator.
For calculating the background ("rolling the ball"), images are maximum-filtered (3x3 pixels) to remove outliers such as dust and then smoothed to reduce noise (average over 3x3 pixels). With Disable Smoothing, the unmodified image data are used for creating the background. Check this option to make sure that the image data after subtraction will never be below the background.
Repeat CommandReruns the previous command. The Undo and Open commands are skipped. For a shortcut, type shift-R. | <urn:uuid:5c1cf1f8-23af-4975-ab20-01c801030643> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://imagej.nih.gov/ij/docs/menus/process.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279915.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00276-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.865339 | 6,989 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Here are just a few of the many demolition specific resources from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). NDA membership offers you access to resourses from goverment agencies and can connect you to the right staff at these agencies to answer your questions. Contact Kevin McKenney, Director of Government Affairs at 202-367-2480, firstname.lastname@example.org.
US EPA Mapping Tool for Managing Debris: The "Disaster Debris Recovery Tool" can assist the demolition industry and emergency planners to identify facilities to recycle, compost, or dispose of disaster debris. Managing disaster debris is critical for communities due to the uncommonly large volumes or many types of debris after a hurricane, flood, or other disaster.
Large-Scale Residential Demolition Resource Directory: EPA webpage lists demolition best practices, technical assistance contacts and links to additional information on specific regulatory issues.
On the Road to Reuse: Residential Demolition Bid Specification Development Tool: The residential demolition toolkit identifies the environmentally-sensitive activities associated with demolishing residential buildings, from pre-planning to demolition to site rehabilitation. For each activity, the toolkit provides decision-making information and bid specification language to help local government officials update their bid specification documents. The use of environmentally beneficial demolition practices can benefit neighborhood stabilization strategies and set the stage for vacant lot revitalization.
- Illinois Municipal League article: Green Demolitions, a brief overview of EPA toolkit.
Deconstruction Rapid Assessment Tool: So many blighted structures, so little time. The Deconstruction Rapid Assessment Tool enables organizations to triage blighted buildings as candidates for deconstruction and salvage operations. A simple checklist allows rapid data collection to make informed decisions on which structures to pursue for deconstruction and salvage.
Brownfield Program Accomplishments: The Brownfields Program tracks the many accomplishments leveraged by the program’s investments in our nation’s communities.
Targeted Assistance for Brownfields (TAB): The Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) Program provides technical assistance to communities and stakeholders to help address their brownfield sites, and to increase their understanding and involvement in brownfields cleanup, revitalization and reuse. The TAB Program is funded by EPA and available to all stakeholders.
Residential Demolition Bid Specification Development Tool Report & Factsheet: Report and bid specification development tool for use by cities, counties or land banks undertaking large-scale residential demolitions. Anticipate the environmental issues and concerns so you can factor them into the planning and procurement process. Develop contract language for a bid package that instructs contractors on specific technical requirements to achieve improved environmental results in a demolition project.
Greening Vacant Lot Case Studies: Explore how greening vacant lots can contribute to environmental benefits and neighborhood revitalization in your community. Eleven case studies available online.
Opportunity Zones - White House/HUD Resources
Additional EPA Resources
- Construction Sector Snapshot - This sector snapshot is an interactive pdf that showcases environmental and economic performance of the construction sector, as defined by U.S. Census Bureau North American Industry Classification System codes 236 (construction of buildings), 237 (heavy and civil engineering), and 238 (specialty trade contractors).
- EPA Opportunity Zones website (Office of Policy)
- Fact Sheet on IRS Regulations for OZs and BF Redevelopment – OBLR finalized this fact sheet in April 2020. It provides brownfield specifics as they related to the IRS Opportunity Zone regulations (also available on our website under the Tax Incentives and Credits webpage).
- Link to newest version of the Brownfields Federal Programs Guide, which highlights Opportunity Zone connections (p. 100-102).
- Cleanups In My Community – Map of all EPA funded BF sites overlaid with Opportunity Zones (the check box to activate this layer is at the very bottom).
- Link to CDFA webinar focused on Opportunity Zones and Brownfields | <urn:uuid:73adb5d0-006c-44d8-8ac9-29083ebaca3b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.demolitionassociation.com/Industry-Resources/Environment/EPA-Demolition-Resources | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571982.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813172349-20220813202349-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.877699 | 804 | 2.0625 | 2 |
A bill that would allow schools to set aside regular classroom days for teacher professional development advanced in the Utah House of Representatives on Wednesday--but not without some contention.
Professional development days give teachers time out of the classroom to collaborate and train on new technologies, learning materials and curriculum. Prior to the recession, Utah spent roughly $70 million dollars on professional development but that money is no longer available.
Senate Bill 103, sponsored by Republican Senator Aaron Osmond would allow districts to restore up to four professional development days in exchange for time in the classroom.
Representative Francis Gibson supports the bill.
“Our teachers need the extra time to hone in and develop their skills and unless we’re ready to pony up to do it, we need to look for other opportunities for them to hone in.”
Democratic State Representative Patrice Arent voted against the bill.
“Now, yes we need teacher preparation time. We need it desperately, but we need to pay for it. We need not to take it out of our student’s time. We need to add additional time. This is not the right approach.”
House co-sponsor Republican Representative Jim Bird says it won’t negatively impact student’s.
“We’re not taking a lot of time if the local school boards use this correctly at one day a quarter on a Friday out of a children’s time in a chair.”
The original bill called for up to eight days of professional development, but members of a house education committee voted to change that to four.
The bill passed the house on a 50 to 24 vote. It now goes to the Senate floor for consideration. | <urn:uuid:fcf25cd0-a3c8-41e7-8a54-2a77f52a9307> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://kuer.org/post/house-passes-bill-swap-classroom-time-teacher-development | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280763.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00523-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950969 | 351 | 1.570313 | 2 |
An Exciting Return to the Unknown
Planetary science is back.
After many years of struggle and difficult budgets that threatened America’s pre-eminence in planetary science, Congress is poised once again to make a major investment in exploring our universe and beyond.
During the worst of the Great Recession, many parts of the NASA budget took a significant hit. This was to be expected; domestic spending had to be reduced and NASA would have to share the pain. But for reasons unrelated to the nation’s overall financial difficulties, planetary science faced the most draconian cuts of all – an oddly disproportionate sacrifice from perhaps the most successful part of NASA’s portfolio.
Why planetary science was singled out in this way is not clear. The Administration and NASA have always said the right things about the Mars program and other robotic missions, but the budget they have submitted to Congress over the last several years told a different story.
Funding for the Mars program, perhaps planetary science’s most stunning achievement, was cut by hundreds of millions of dollars and its future put in doubt.
NASA considered not only canceling future missions to Mars to bring back a sample from that red planet – the science community’s highest priority – but turning off the power to existing rovers like Spirit which continue to roam the surface and send back valuable science more than a decade after its 90 day intended life span. With all the time, money and effort it took to land that craft and others on the forbidding surface of Mars, to even consider such a course demonstrates the low priority in which planetary science had been placed.
John Kennedy’s vision of going to the moon and beyond not because it was easy but because it was hard, and because that goal would “serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills,” was replaced with an America’s-best-days-are-behind-it philosophy of “no more flagship missions.”
But two weeks ago, in the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee on which I serve, we passed an annual funding bill that represents a giant leap forward for planetary science. The bill provides a hundred million dollars for a Mars 2020 mission that will pave the way for a sample return. It also invests a like amount in an exciting new mission to one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa. And importantly, it instructs NASA to abandon the self-defeating principle of “no new flagship missions” which would constrain us to a future defined more by its limits than its limitless potential.
In our part of Los Angeles, no one needs to be told of the wonders of space science and exploration. Home of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in La Cañada Flintridge and the many thousands of its brilliant scientists and engineers, we bask in the glow of Cassini’s new discoveries, Hubble’s amazing images and the improbable (impossible really) success of Curiuosity’s sky crane. We marvel at fascinating new evidence of an underground sea on Europa, maybe even an ocean, with all the potential of life that comes with such a large body of water.
We also recognize that without these new missions our ability to attract another generation of American students to choose scientific and technical careers will be seriously undermined. Profoundly important research and development and all the economic benefits it brings will be lost. And America would step back from its place of pre-eminence in planetary science, with Russia, China and Europe leading the new voyage of discovery into space.
President Kennedy gazed upward and spoke of America’s passion for the unknown, the unfinished and the unanswered. The exploration of space, he said, was “one of the great adventures of all time.” How fortunate we are that so many of the nation’s leaders in this great adventure are our friends and neighbors, and that America is once again setting its sights on the heavens.
Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) represents the 28th Congressional District, including the communities of Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Los Feliz, Montrose, Shadow Hills, Sunland and Tujunga. | <urn:uuid:608131d6-c8ba-4b72-b260-c599269eebdf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.crescentavalleyweekly.com/viewpoints/05/22/2014/news-washington-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282140.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00128-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950663 | 866 | 2.40625 | 2 |
VA Bill Makes Progress Toward Helping Vets Access Education, Timely Health Care, Larsen says
WASHINGTON—The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved reforms to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today with support from Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02. The bill, H.R. 3230, the Veterans’ Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014, is a final compromise between the House and Senate addressing changes to the VA’s practices regarding health care and education access.
“This bill directs the VA to make needed reforms so veterans in the Pacific Northwest and across the country can get the health care they need in a timely way. Veterans will have a wider range of options for their care, and VA officials will be more accountable to provide that care in an appropriate amount of time.
“As servicemembers end their time in the military, these women and men must be able to get both the health care and education they need to help them succeed in civilian life. That’s why I’m pleased this bill also allows veterans to get in-state tuition at public universities.
“Veterans should be able to access the resources needed to fully participate in our economy and our democracy. This bill makes progress on those goals.
“As a recent audit shows, scheduling practices at our local VA clinics need to improve. I will continue to monitor ongoing audits and talk with veterans in my district about their health care needs and experiences getting VA care,” Larsen said.
The bill provides funding to allow veterans who live more than 40 miles from the nearest VA facility or those who have waited 30 days or more for an appointment to get care at a facility that serves the general public. The bill also provides funding for the VA to hire more doctors and medical staff, and makes it easier to fire senior leadership for poor performance.
The Senate also must approve the bill. | <urn:uuid:d0c434f2-5013-4c65-b916-46c926049609> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://larsen.house.gov/press-release/va-bill-makes-progress-toward-helping-vets-access-education-timely-health-care-larsen | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00207-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946352 | 398 | 1.5 | 2 |
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For the first time in 20 years, the crime of soring is being prosecuted in the U.S. court system. As a result, four individuals have been convicted and four more indicted in regard to soring of Tennessee Walking Horses during the past 6 months.
The surveillance, indictments, criminal charges, convictions and horse rescue has resulted from an ongoing, extensive investigation into the walking horse industry by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials. These results once again confirm that soring, the high-stepping gait or “big lick” of the Tennessee Walking Horse, often comes at a painful price.
Although the Horse Protection Act (HPA) has been in place for more than 40 years, violators have seldom been prosecuted. While the majority of people who show and work with walking horses aren’t involved with soring, some wealthy owners of these competition horses over the years have used political action committee contributions and influence with members of Congress to challenge the USDA’s efforts at enforcement and to block increased HPA funding.
But bowing to equine industry and general public pressure, the USDA took steps in 2010 to upgrade the HPA enforcement. While the HPA had been funded with only $500,000 annually for most of the past four decades, congressional funding rose to $700,000 in 2011.
In 2011, the USDA documented 587 HPA violations while inspecting animals at less than 10% of an estimated 650 gaited horse events. At just one event, the 2011 National Trainers’ Show, USDA inspectors cited participants with 49 HPA… | <urn:uuid:83530813-f445-4af8-80cb-269756813f2d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.americanfarriers.com/articles/416-for-the-first-time-in-20-years-the-crime-of-soring-is-being-prosecuted-in-the-us-court-system?v=preview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572127.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815024523-20220815054523-00274.warc.gz | en | 0.948647 | 335 | 1.875 | 2 |
Last Friday afternoon, as I was leaving my house to en route to the airport with the family for a short vacation, Nicholas Carr's latest book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, arrived in my mailbox. I grabbed it, jumped in the car, flipped it open during the drive to Dulles Airport (don't worry, the wife was driving), and began devouring it. I say "devour" because once I started reading it, I didn't stop. I was wholeheartedly absorbed in the text from start to finish.
I tell you all this not just because Carr's book is that good, but because according to the thesis he sets forth in The Shallows, fewer and fewer people are likely to be engaged in such contemplative, deep reading activities due to the highly distractive nature of the Internet and digital technologies. "With the exception of alphabets and number systems, the Net may well be the single most powerful mind-altering technology that has ever come into general use," Carr claims. "At the very least, it's the most powerful that has come along since the book." (p. 116) The Net and multimedia "strains our cognitive abilities, diminishing our learning and weakening our understanding," he says. (p. 129) And we have no one to blame for this mess but ourselves:
We want to be interrupted, because each interruption brings us a valuable piece of information... And so we ask the Internet to keep interrupting us, in ever more and different ways. We willingly accept the loss of concentration and focus, the division of our attention and the fragmentation of our thoughts, in return for the wealth of compelling or at least diverting information we receive. Tuning out is not an option many of us would consider. (p. 133-4)
Drawing upon a wealth of scientific studies, Carr calls into question the widely-held belief that the Net's vast reserves of instantly accessible information have enabled us to "free up" brain space and made room for more mental processing and productivity. "Those who celebrate the 'outsourcing' of memory to the Web have been misled by a metaphor," he argues. (p. 191) "When a person fails to consolidate a fact, an idea, or an experience in long-term memory, he's not 'freeing-up' space in his brain for other functions," he says. (p. 192) Instead, we are just losing that wisdom and experience, or at least dulling our intellects in the process of farming out that learning process to the Web. He elaborates:
We don't constrain our mental powers when we store new long-term memories. We strengthen them. With each expansion of our memory comes an enlargement of our intelligence. The Web provides a convenient and compelling supplement to personal memory, but when we start using the Web as a substitute for personal memory, bypassing inner processes of consolidation, we risk emptying our minds of their riches." (p. 192)
And many people won't be. After all, Carr is a bit of a skunk at the cyber-garden party. I mean, how dare he suggest that all is not wine and roses with our glorious new world of instantaneous connectivity, abundant information flows, and cheap (often free) media content! Obviously, most of us want to believe that all adds up to a more well-rounded worldview and greater wisdom about the world around us.
Carr is skeptical of those claims and The Shallows is his latest effort to poke a hole in the cyber-utopian claims that sometimes pervade discussions about Internet. But the ultimate question is: Do the costs really outweigh the benefits? Is it the case that these technologies "turn numb the most intimate, the most human, of our natural capacities--those for reason, perception, memory, emotion"? (p. 211) I think that goes a bit too far.
Carr uses the same famous allegory from Plato's Phaedrus that I've used many times over here to explain the origins of this great intellectual debate. (p. 54, 177-8) I won't bore regular readers with yet another retelling of the Theuth-Thamus story, but instead just cite back to my "Are You an Internet Optimist or Pessimist" essay for the complete rundown. Interestingly, however, Carr recasts this as a debate between technological "determinists" vs. "instrumentalists." Determinists, he says, argue that "technological progress, which they see as an autonomous force outside man's control, has been the primary factor influencing the course of human history." Instrumentalists, by contrast, are "the people who... downplay the power of technology, believing tools to be neutral artifacts, entirely subservient to the conscious wishes of their users. Our instruments are the means we use to achieve our ends; they have no ends of their own." (p. 46)
I like that analytical framework, but it fails to capture the moral or philosophical overlay some of those other Net skeptics / pessimists bring to the table. Nonetheless, students of this debate may find Carr's reformulation of this intellectual debate more sensible than my simplistic "optimists vs. pessimists" construction.
Anyway, let's return to the question of whether the Net's benefits justify the costs of the information overload it creates. Carr acknowledges that every technological revolution entails some gains and losses for society and humans, but he is obviously preoccupied with the negatives here. The problem is, there's just no scientifically precise method of stacking gains against losses. Many others, of course, have discussed the gains in greater detail. Clay Shirky, Jeff Jarvis, Yochai Benkler, Don Tapscott, and many others on both sides of the political fence have played up the Net's many benefits for society. For me, the crucial question that these scholars have asked is: Were we really better off in the decades prior to the rise of the Net? Did we really read more and engage in the more contemplative deep-reading and thinking that Carr fears we are losing because of the Net?
That's where Carr loses me and where Clay Shirky's insights about "cognitive surplus" become relevant. Shirky has reminded us that most of us were busy watching "Gilligan's Island" and "The Partridge Family" back in the day, not reading War and Peace. Shirky recently noted in Wired that, "Someone born in 1960 has watched something like 50,000 hours of television already. Fifty thousand hours -- more than five and a half solid years." So count me among those who think that--whatever most of us are doing in front our our computers most nights, and no matter how distracting it is--it has to be better than much of the crap we wasted our spare time on in the past!
However, here's an interesting question: Could it be possible that both Shirky and Carr are correct? I think so: We are living in a world where we have access to more and better forms of informational inputs than ever before (as Shirky suggests), and yet precisely because of that we have become a bit more scatter-brained and distracted (as Carr fears). In the end, however, while I can sympathize with many of the concerns Carr raises in The Shallows, I just can't bring myself to believe that we are somehow worse off than we were in the "good ol' days," whenever those were, exactly.
I have talked here about my attempts to strike a more sensible balance between my online and offline lives. After my two kids were born, I became acutely aware of the need to take more "digital sabbaticals" or a weekly "technology Sabbath" (i.e., a day or at least evening entirely away from digital gadgets and the Net). I now try to find specific moments each day to shut the lid on my laptop, toss my mobile phone in the drawer, and turn off all my other digital gizmos and gadgets and just go do something terribly old-fashion or archaic. Alas, the struggle continues. Even when I swear off digital gadgets or connectivity for a few hours, I still find myself sneaking a peak at e-mail traffic piling up on my phone.
In a brief "digression" chapter entitled "On the Writing of This Book," Carr does mention some of the steps he took personally to make sure he could complete The Shallows without being driven to distraction by the Web and digital technologies. But he doesn't dwell on that much, which is a shame. One of the things I liked about Freeman's Tyranny of E-Mail is the way that he closed the book with ten sensible recommendations for getting email communication and clutter under control. A bit of a self-help can go a long way toward alleviating the worst forms of cognitive overload, although it will continue to be a struggle for many of us. Carr should have offered some constructive advice in the book instead of just adopting such a hopelessly defeatist attitude. Many of us would agree with Carr's plea that, "We shouldn't allow the glories of technology to blind our inner watchdog to the possibility that we've numbed an essential part of our self." (p. 212) But we also shouldn't lose sight of how -- when properly managed and assimilated into our lives -- those technologies really can do glorious things for us. You need to meet us half way, Nick!
Back in 2008, I named Carr's previous book, The Big Switch, as runner-up for info-tech book of the year behind Jonathan Zittrain's The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It, but that's because Zittrain's book is probably the most important of past decade. The Shallows, however, transcends The Big Switch in many ways and it will be required reading for many years to come.
I recommend you read it. All of it. Slowly. | <urn:uuid:23eaec58-75ba-4a89-a798-8c4f68b9eb4d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://blog.pff.org/archives/2010/06/print/006064.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719468.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00530-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962473 | 2,044 | 2.375 | 2 |
1 Environment on Fri Sep 10, 2010 9:40 pm
A quick fix for global warming - BBC Magazine - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - By Chris Bowlby BBC News - It's the stuff of science fiction, but could mirrors in space or sea water sprayed in the air be shortcuts to halt global warming? - "It's Dr Strangelove. But it's the kind of Dr Strangelove you could see governments really using." - That's how one expert describes geo-engineering - the idea that we can use a kind of technical quick fix to cool the planet if global warming accelerates. Plans for geo-engineering can sound bizarre. - That plan was inspired by watching what happened after the eruption of the Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines in 1991. - 31 July 2008.
A Severn barrage or tidal lagoons? A comparison - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - Friends of the Earth Cymru.
BBC Science/Nature - Severn barrage would stretch from south Wales to the Somerset coast
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BBC Science/Nature - Source Strathclyde University/Energy Authority of New South Wales
'Action needed' on home emissions - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - BBC Science/Nature - By Richard Black - Environment correspondent, BBC News website - European governments and the European Commission are being urged to hasten the development of housing that produces no greenhouse gases. - 28 January 2008.
Air Quality - UWE - Dr Tim Chatterton - Senior Research Fellow.
Airline in first biofuel flight - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - BBC News Science/Technology - The first flight by a commercial airline to be powered partly by biofuel is to take off from London. - Billed as a green fuel breakthrough, the Virgin Atlantic flight to Amsterdam will not have any passengers on board. - Earlier this month, Airbus used the world's largest passenger jet, the A380 to flight test another alternative fuel - a synthetic mix of gas-to-liquid. - 24 February 2008.
Antarctic glaciers surge to ocean - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - BBC Science/Technology - By Martin Redfern Rothera Research Station, Antarctica - UK scientists working in Antarctica have found some of the clearest evidence yet of instabilities in the ice of part of West Antarctica. If the trend continues, they say, it could lead to a significant rise in global sea level. - 24 February 2008.
Antarctic shelf 'hangs by thread' - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - BBC Science/Technology News - By Helen Briggs Science reporter, BBC News - A chunk of ice the size of the Isle of Man has started to break away from Antarctica in what scientists say is further evidence of a warming climate. - Satellite images suggest that part of the ice shelf is disintegrating, and will soon crumble away. - 25 March 2008.
Arctic ice 'is at tipping point' - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website - Arctic sea ice has shrunk to the second smallest extent since satellite records began, US scientists have revealed. - The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) says that the ice-covered area has fallen below its 2005 level, which was the second lowest on record. - Melting has occurred earlier in the year than usual, meaning that the iced area could become even smaller than last September, the lowest recorded. - Researchers say the Arctic is now at a climatic "tipping point". - 28 August 2008.
Arctic losing long-term ice cover - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website - The Arctic is losing its old, thick ice faster than in previous years, according to satellite data. - The loss has continued since the end of the Arctic summer, despite cold weather across the northern hemisphere. - 18 March 2008.
Arctic sea ice melt 'even faster' - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - BBC - By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website - Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than last year, despite a cold winter. - Data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) shows that the year began with ice covering a larger area than at the beginning of 2007. - But now it is down to levels seen last June, at the beginning of a summer that broke records for sea ice loss. - Scientists on the project say that much of the ice is so thin that it melts easily, and the Arctic may be ice-free in summer within five to 10 years. - 18 June 2008. | <urn:uuid:fd0e783a-3f85-4ef5-86a5-e75243b0c034> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://inb-english.forumotion.com/t11-environment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281151.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00115-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925393 | 1,015 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Pronunciation: (fēd'bak"), [key]
a. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback).
b. See acoustic feedback.
2. the furnishing of data concerning the operation or output of a machine to an automatic control device or to the machine itself, so that subsequent or ongoing operations of the machine can be altered or corrected.
3. a reaction or response to a particular process or activity: He got very little feedback from his speech.
4. evaluative information derived from such a reaction or response: to study the feedback from an audience survey.
5. Psychol.knowledge of the results of any behavior, considered as influencing or modifying further performance. Cf. biofeedback.
6. Biol.a self-regulatory biological system, as in the synthesis of some hormones, in which the output or response affects the input, either positively or negatively.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. | <urn:uuid:0aa0539b-3518-41a4-9aa1-61c57af410a2> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://dictionary.infoplease.com/feedback | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720000.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00023-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.873436 | 240 | 3.078125 | 3 |
For safety and security, a US Coast Guard approved PFD is necessary when boating or enjoying watersports. Help prevent accidental drowning with a comfortable, easy to wear nylon life jacket from O'Neill Wetsuits.
- USCG Approved Type III Nylon PFD rated for children with body weights 30 to 50 pounds.
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- Adjustable safety belt goes between the legs to keep the vest secure
- Strategically placed drain holes keep the vest from retaining water | <urn:uuid:31c91ba8-6b00-48ce-97cd-9add32a916ce> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.isnorkel.com/oneill-nylon-child-life-vest-uscg-lifejacket-for-kids-children-30-50-lbs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572908.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817122626-20220817152626-00072.warc.gz | en | 0.863037 | 221 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Policy Paper No. 174
Every spring, taxpayers across America are required to file their federal income taxes. As painful as it can be for many to find out how much they are required to pay, that’s just one of many taxpayer concerns. Last year, Americans spent over $220 billion and more than 6 billion hours just complying with federal tax laws, according to an annual study by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU). This is a significant deadweight loss that inhibits economic growth and cannot be recovered. Many citizens’ filings will inevitably be flagged for further review or audits by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): the budget shows the IRS is spending just over $5 billion on enforcement this year and requests to raise that amount by $355 million for next year. Enforcement staff would increase from 42,944 to 45,910.
On top of the effort required to navigate the filing process and the anxiety caused by the prospect of an IRS audit, taxpayers now have to confront the reality that even as electronic filing has made the process marginally more convenient, it also exposes their personal financial information to identity theft and digital attacks: there were nearly 642,000 cases of identity theft identified by the IRS in 2012.
Although tax reform to any degree has proven to be politically difficult in Washington, time and again watchdog groups and taxpayers themselves have demonstrated that the effort, money, and security lost to the current Code’s complexity must be addressed. It is the aim of this paper to demonstrate some of those costs, but more so to highlight some of the alternatives already under consideration. These include plans for new tax systems that would effectively abolish the IRS.
II. Risks Under Current System
The most pressing problems with the current Tax Code can be summed up in three words: complexity, cost, and centralization. Each of these issues burdens taxpayers, both directly and indirectly.
Perhaps the clearest way to measure the Tax Code’s complexity is by tracking its size as well as the staggering amount of time taxpayers spend every year filling out paperwork, filing returns, and generally navigating the tax compliance process. For 16 years, NTU has published an annual update of its ongoing study of these factors. NTU recently released the 2014 edition of “A Taxing Trend: The Rise in Complexity, Forms, and Paperwork Burdens,” which offers some data points illustrating the labyrinthine challenges taxpayers face each April.
Most taxpayers are probably familiar with the IRS Form 1040, which today – though only two pages and 77 lines long – requires an instructional booklet 206 pages long. That booklet was just two pages long in 1935; by 2000, it was over 50 times as long, coming in at 117 pages. The Tax Code itself is well over 3.9 million words long, and is joined by 20 volumes of federal regulations totaling over 14,000 pages and 10.48 million words.
Table 1. Length of IRS Form 1040 – Form and Instructions
Instruction Booklet Pages
* Excludes one extra page in the IRS’s online PDF version for Typhoon Haiyan relief contributions.
The sheer size of the Code makes it remarkably difficult to comply without spending a great deal of time. The IRS’s National Taxpayer Advocate estimates that taxpayers spent over 6.1 billion collective hours filing their taxes last year, not including responding to audit requests or the time spent on state and local taxes. On top of that, the Office of Management and Budget reported in 2013 that the Treasury Department alone accounts for 74 percent of the paperwork burden across the entire federal government: 6.7 billion hours’ worth. For perspective, no other agency contributed more than 6 percent of the total.
Even when taxpayers resort to specialized filing strategies – be it a paid preparer’s guidance or customized software programs – there is a very real chance that their returns could still contain significant errors. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined returns filed by 19 randomly selected paid preparers, and found that only 2 of them calculated the correct refund amount. Errors ranged from giving taxpayers $52 less than they were owed, to overstating their refund by $3,718. That is especially worrisome considering that in 2011, 55.7 percent of all returns were signed by a paid tax preparer.
Altogether, these problems mean that the U.S. tax environment is becoming increasingly cumbersome relative to those of other nations, not just for individuals but for corporations as well. A 2014 report from consulting and accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) published jointly with the World Bank Group revealed that the U.S. ranked 61st out of 189 countries for the amount of time businesses spent complying with the Code. In a hypothetical case, PwC and the World Bank Group estimated that a business would spend 175 hours filing its taxes in the U.S., compared to 110 in the U.K or 131 in Canada.
As the Tax Code becomes more complex, it also becomes more expensive for the government to enforce and for taxpayers to manage. The time spent complying with the IRS’s procedures and regulations can be quantified and monetized.
According to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average non-federal civilian employee costs employers about $31.57 per hour of work. Considering the 6.1 billion hours of time spent preparing returns, then, the value of the labor alone that was lost to tax compliance last year comes out to nearly $192.58 billion. Individuals spent an additional $31.57 billion in out-of-pocket costs to cover preparation and submission fees, postage, and software, for a total compliance cost of $224.3 billion. That is just over 1.3 percent of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as estimated by the Bureau of Economic Analysis for 2013. By comparison, total U.S. GDP increased by $555.1 billion in that year.
The rise in complexity and cost is also reflected in the fees that paid preparers charge clients to work through the process on their behalf. In 1980, H&R Block charged, on average, $27.36 in fees (in nominal dollars). By 2000, that amount had grown to $101.40, and in 2013 reached $198. The IRS last estimated average costs for professional tax services in 2006, but even then, taxpayers who filed more than one form could have expected to pay anywhere between $125 and $866, depending on the number and combination of forms submitted. That’s particularly difficult for small business owners or the self-employed, who often need to report multiple sources of income.
Official statistics show that a large majority of U.S. taxpayers are now filing their returns online: in the 2008 tax season, about 59 percent of the 151 million returns the IRS processed were filed electronically; that amount increased to 84 percent during the 2013 filing season. That is encouraging for those concerned with administrative costs, because while e-filing can be more convenient for many taxpayers, it also means fewer processing expenses for the IRS: a paper form cost $3.36 to process in Fiscal Year 2012, but an online form came to just 23 cents.
However, in spite of more efficient filing, the IRS was still unable to keep up with the processing demands. In 2013 over 47 percent of paper correspondence between the IRS and taxpayers was considered “overage” – that is, more than 45 days old. That was up from 40 percent in the year before, and from 25 percent in 2009. Taxpayers looking for help on the phone could also expect delays: those who phoned in for assistance waited an average of 15.5 minutes, nearly double the 8.4 minute wait in 2009.
Gaps in the IRS’s capabilities can be time-consuming and frustrating for taxpayers, but the Digital Age and amount of personal data the IRS collects to enforce the Code has brought with it the potential for much more dangerous consequences. In 2012, the IRS reported 641,690 instances of tax-related identity theft, over 2.6 times as many recorded in the year prior. Officials acknowledge that the actual number could be even higher:
The IRS does not know the full extent of the occurrence of identity theft. Officials said that they count the refund fraud cases that IRS identifies but that they do not estimate the number of identity theft cases that go undetected. IRS officials explained that “we don’t know what we don’t know,” because if a fraudulent return goes through IRS’s identity theft models and other programs, personnel are unable to tell if they failed to detect the fraudulent return. Table 2 (below) shows the number of identity theft cases identified by the IRS from 2008 to 2012.
Table 2. Identity Theft Cases Recognized by IRS
Source: GAO, IRS.
The resolution of such cases can be painfully slow as the IRS’s National Taxpayer Advocate recently pointed out in her annual report to Congress. The tax agency takes an average of 312 days to resolve an identity theft case, even though cases referred to the Advocate directly can be straightened out in an average of 87 days. The Advocate noted:
To its credit, the IRS has recognized identity theft as a major challenge and has devoted significant resources to addressing it. Yet the IRS still takes much too long to fully unwind the harm suffered by identity theft victims and issue refunds to the legitimate taxpayers. Moreover, the IRS has yet to implement an effective program for overseeing cases with multiple issues that require coordination among different IRS units, and is allowing too many victims to fall between the cracks of IRS bureaucracy. Thus, victim assistance overall, as well as the IRS’s specialized but decentralized approach, continues to be inadequate.
It is only natural, if unfortunate, that these maladies have occurred. The sheer enormity of information regarding incomes, investment transactions, business operations, payrolls, and other financial details circulating between the IRS and taxpayers virtually guarantees serious financial security breaches. Aside from the tens of millions of tax returns filed each year, billions of related information returns (such as Form 1099) are submitted to the IRS annually.
Over the year from April 2013 to 2014, the Government Accountability Office audited the internal controls that the IRS had put in place to protect taxpayers’ sensitive data, including Social Security records, financial information, addresses, and more. They concluded that “… weaknesses… in IRS’s security program increase the risk that taxpayer and other sensitive information could be disclosed or modified without authorization,” citing inconsistent employee verification procedures and a tendency for the IRS to grant certain users more access privileges than necessary to perform their duties. In other words, even low-level IRS employees are too easily able to access and manipulate personal information stored in government databases.
And in fact, there have been many instances of IRS employees abusing their access to financial records for political purposes. During the Kennedy Administration, the “Ideological Organizations Project” within the IRS singled out and investigated conservative groups; President Richard Nixon’s political opponents were often the subject of IRS audits initiated by a secret “Special Services Staff,” and a 1976 Senate investigation found that the FBI intentionally harassed left-leaning groups who were critical of the agency by urging the IRS to audit them.
Such abuse has once again been brought to the public’s attention after a recent high-profile investigation showed the IRS had intentionally targeted right-leaning groups applying for tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012. According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), “[t]he [IRS] Determinations Unit developed and used inappropriate criteria to identify applications from organizations with the words Tea Party in their names,” and developed extensive procedures to excessively scrutinize tax-exempt applications from groups that focused on issues like “government spending,” “government debt,” and “taxes.” The TIGTA determined that 91 of the applications flagged for review – 31 percent – showed no signs of significant political involvement or focus, and some cases had been under review for over two years through two election cycles.
And, as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) implementation continues, taxpayers ought to be wary of the implications the law could have on the IRS’s ability to intervene in their financial affairs as never before. Because so many of the law’s provisions are contingent on filers’ income and current insurance coverage, the IRS now has the authority and responsibility to verify whether or not Americans qualify for the law’s benefits or are subject to its penalties. (The law’s employer mandate, and the individual mandate requiring citizens to obtain insurance coverage or pay a fine, were delayed until 2015.) Additionally, businesses and insurance providers will undergo continual scrutiny and review to ensure that the insurance plans they offer meet the mandated criteria. According to testimony from the National Taxpayer Advocate, the IRS is already overburdened, and adding additional layers of regulatory oversight to its responsibilities means that should taxpayers require adjudication or assistance, the IRS is unlikely to be able to respond adequately.
Recent court decisions have also caused administrative confusion. The Halbig ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the IRS did not have the authority to provide refundable tax credits to some 5 million people who tried to obtain coverage through ACA’s federal exchanges. Yet, a separate decision from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the IRS’s power to do so, setting the stage for consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.
III. Options for Reform
The current Tax Code costs taxpayers substantial time and money, and those burdens are only increasing as the system continues to become more complex over time. Additionally, the administrative structure is vulnerable to new and continued security threats as well as political abuse. The need for reform is clear: but what options should we consider, and how would they minimize the inherent risks of the current system?
A. Principles of Reform
In order for tax reform to be effective and reduce the dangers to taxpayers and the economy, it needs to improve on the current system in three areas: equity, efficiency, and simplicity. All three principles are inter-related, as an adjustment to one augments the others.
An equitable system avoids making arbitrary exceptions to the Code. It ensures that the tax base is clearly defined and revenue flows are predictable. The tax system can have a very different impact on any given individual depending on his or her income, age, occupation, family, or place of residence, and all of these components shape how we view and evaluate what makes a system “fair” or not. The very definition of what constitutes “income” for tax purposes is vital as well.
To give just one example, many policy experts have contended that all genuine charitable gifts must be deducted from gross income, because that money was given away and did not give the taxpayer any economic benefit beyond the general public benefit. Some have proposed an exclusion from income in the tax law to address this issue.
Efficient tax systems minimize economic distortions in the market. Efficiency makes it possible for individuals and businesses to capture as much utility as possible from the economic decisions they make, whether that is to save, spend, hire, or invest. Simpler systems impose fewer costs on filers, are less expensive to administer, and lessen the burden on the broader economy.
But tax reformers need to also consider transparency and accountability, primarily for the security and political reasons discussed above but also in the interest of keeping compliance and administrative costs low over the long term. A more transparent system, with mechanisms for holding administrators accountable, provides safeguards against a number of these potential flaws, or at least makes their early detection likelier.
Legislative efforts generally fall into two broad categories: those that would reform the Code, and those that would replace it entirely.
B. Reforming the Code
Proposals that would reform the Code without entirely replacing it are perhaps more politically and logistically viable. However, they are likelier to allow “cost and complexity creep” to continue, since they build on an existing system defined by expensive and difficult compliance. The tax reforms enacted in 1986 lowered the overall burden for many and simplified the Code by reducing loopholes, deductions, and brackets; however, the Code has only gotten more complex since then because of a gradual accretion of new rules and complications. The IRS’s enforcement powers, budget, intrusiveness, and inability to secure sensitive information have grown as well.
1. The Camp Proposal
The most comprehensive of the current reform alternatives is Representative David Camp’s (R-MI) Tax Reform Act of 2014. Representative Camp is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and introduced his bill after a concerted effort with former Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) to broaden the tax base and restructure corporate and individual tax rates.
Under the current Code, individual income is taxed at one of seven different levels (brackets), ranging anywhere from 10 percent to as high as 39.6 percent (even higher when accounting for Affordable Care Act surtaxes). The Camp proposal consolidates these brackets into three: 10 percent, 25 percent, and 35 percent. Only single filers making $400,000 or more per year in taxable income, or $450,000 as joint filers, would be taxed at the 35 percent rate. The 10 percent rate would replace the current 10- and 15-percent brackets, and the 25 percent rate would replace the current 25-, 28-, 33-, and 35-percent brackets. The brackets would be indexed to the “chained” Consumer Price Index, or CPI (a somewhat less generous measurement than full CPI) to compensate for inflation. To reduce the number of itemized deductions taxpayers take and further simplify the Code, the Tax Reform Act of 2014 increases the standard deduction for individuals to $11,000 and $22,000 for married couples. Single filers with at least one child could take an additional $5,500 deduction.
In addition the Act would completely repeal the highly complicated Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which requires many taxpayers to complete their taxes twice, taking into account a broader base of their incomes and submitting to a separate process that doesn’t allow for many of the Code’s deductions and exemptions.
The Camp proposal also makes adjustments to several tax credits, including the child tax credit and the Earned Income tax credit (EITC), both of which are examples of “refundable” credits. These provisions are designed to assist low-income earners and can be claimed regardless of a filer’s tax liability. The legislation increases the child tax credit to $1,500 (up from the current $1,000) and establishes a reduced $500 credit for non-child dependents. Both amounts would be indexed to a chained CPI formula and would require verification through the use of Social Security Numbers (unlike the current child tax credit). The EITC would be converted into an exemption against a certain amount of employment-related taxes, including the payroll tax.
The legislation proposes many more reforms to the existing Code. A detailed, section-by-section summary of the Tax Reform Act is available on the House Ways and Means Committee’s website.
2. The Camp Proposal and Complexity, Costs, and Security
The Camp proposal is based on making adjustments to the existing system. It succeeds to varying degrees in accomplishing the goals of reducing costs and complexity but is still vulnerable to many of the security challenges an IRS-administered system faces.
Consolidating the brackets into a smaller, three-tiered system, along with reducing the number of itemizers and increasing the standard deduction, would eliminate about 25 percent of the Code, according to Ways and Means Committee staff. Almost 99 percent of taxpayers would face a maximum rate of 25 percent under the new bracket system, and a higher standard deduction means more families and individuals are likely to accept it, avoiding the compliance challenges imposed by the process of claiming exemptions and itemizing deductions. Only charitable contributions in excess of 2 percent of gross income would be deductible, while home mortgage interest would be deductible only on up to $500,000 of acquisition indebtedness (as opposed to the current $1 million).
Repealing the AMT (which even the IRS’s Taxpayer Advocate has recommended) and the additional calculations it requires not only reduces complexity, but it also means that taxpayers who make similar incomes will face similar tax burdens. Tax credits like the EITC have been plagued by fraudulent and erroneous payments in the past, and a Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) analysis of Rep. Camp’s bill shows that the modifications it makes will likely reduce those errors (in the case of the EITC, by $378 billion over the next ten years).
The JCT estimated that the legislation has the potential to boost economic productivity. A Congressional Research Service study said “[t]he JCT’s analysis finds that the Tax Reform Act of 2014 would be expected to reduce effective marginal tax rates on labor, creating an incentive to work, and increase the after-tax income of individuals, increasing demand for goods and services. Both of these effects would be expected to stimulate the economy.” The JCT estimated the bill would, on net, increase revenue by $23.5 billion over the 2014-2018 period and by $3 billion through 2023, and reduce outlays by $67 billion through 2018.
3. The Flat Tax
The flat tax proposal embraces the principles of simplicity and efficiency by eliminating all tax brackets and income tax credits and deductions, and enforcing a single tax rate on all taxpayers.
Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) introduced H.R. 1040, the Flat Tax Act, last year. It would not make adjustments to the existing system, but would instead give taxpayers the chance to opt into a flat income tax system. For the first two years after opting in, filers would be taxed at a rate of 19 percent; the rate would then fall to 17 percent for every year after that. No estate and gift taxes would be levied, and the legislation includes a standard deduction ranging from $16,248 to $32,496 (indexed to CPI) depending on filing status. An additional $6,998 deduction is available for each dependent.
Another modified version of the idea has been put forth in the 113th Congress in legislation introduced by Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), known as the Simplified, Manageable, and Responsive Tax (SMART) Act; it would impose a 17 percent rate on any individual making over $13,410 ($17,120 for households). Businesses would pay 17 percent of the difference between gross revenue and purchases from other businesses, wage payments, and pension contributions. A standard deduction would still exist, ranging from $14,070 to $28,140 (indexed to CPI) depending on filing status.
The SMART Act, and other flat tax proposals like it, would likely broaden the tax base and reduce compliance costs. In addition, they are inherently simpler because of an overall reduction in loopholes, deductions, exemptions, and credits. However, in the case of the Flat Tax Act, the existing Tax Code would remain in place, along with all of its administrative procedures and institutions; so although it may reduce compliance costs throughout the economy as a whole as some elect to be taxed at the flat rate, it would only be to the degree that taxpayers choose that option. And under both legislative cases, the IRS would still administer the Code, with all attendant risks to taxpayer privacy and data security.
However, there are other proposals that would go even further by completely eliminating the current Code and fundamentally altering its administration.
Most proposals to repeal and replace the existing Tax Code take the form of a consumption tax.
1. The Consumption Tax in General
A consumption tax, as the name implies, levies taxes on the goods and services consumers buy rather than the income that they earn. Proponents argue for it based on a number of reasons:
- Consistency. Consumption taxes introduce less economic distortion to the market because they do not discourage or encourage the purchase of any particular good or service; all are taxed equally.
- Simplicity. Most states already administer consumption taxes in the form of a sales tax. Taxpayers generally understand the consumption tax and its effects: money spent is taxed; money saved or earned is not. Under the current system, accurately measuring income is extremely difficult, if not impossible.
- Savings effect. A consumption tax is thought by many economists to encourage saving and investment.
- Growth. Most academic research has shown that a consumption tax would increase GDP in the long run.
2. The FairTax
The FairTax has a nearly 10-year legislative history and has been reintroduced in the 113th Congress as H.R. 25/S. 122 by Congressman Rob Woodall (R-GA) and Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA).
The FairTax would completely repeal the individual and corporate income taxes, as well as the self-employment, payroll, estate, and gift taxes, and replace them all with a 23 percent national retail sales tax (applied to the after-tax value of any purchase). At the beginning of every month, families and individuals are eligible to receive a “prebate” on essential goods and services, which would be sent as a payment equal to the entire federal sales tax payable on a monthly income amount equal to the federal poverty level. In that way, a poor household consuming goods and services at the average established amount for its number of members would have an effective tax rate of 0 percent, while, for example, a family of four spending at 50 percent above that level - $47,190 – would have an effective rate of 7.7 percent. This provision, which would be universal for all Americans, serves a similar purpose as the standard deduction and personal exemption in current law – to allow everyone to provide for themselves before they provide for government.
Unlike income tax refunds, which require a filing process that is vulnerable to identity theft, prebates amount to a more straightforward financial transaction between the taxpayer and the government. Nearly 3 out of 4 federal income tax returns claim a refund, and a refund is inherently very hard to protect. It is all too easy for an identity thief who has stolen a few key items of data from a taxpayer to file a quick, early, false return in the taxpayer's name, showing a change of address (perhaps a use-once PO box) on the tax return. The taxpayer can protect himself (herself) only by filing very early, but even then the thief's false return may get IRS action sooner.
The government estimates that nearly $4 billion in bogus federal tax refunds were issued last year due to identity theft. A recent Associated Press article cited FBI Supervisory Special Agency Jay Bernardo as saying, “Based on the parameters that are in place now, it's very difficult to stop.” Here again, a FairTax prebate system is not immune to identity theft, but could be better protected from unscrupulous acts than the current tax-filing scheme.
The legislation does not alter spending on mandatory programs like Social Security or Medicare, and it does not force states to collect the tax themselves (though if they choose to do so, they are compensated with a 0.25 percent fee).
3. The FairTax and Complexity, Costs, and Security
The provisions in the FairTax legislation would also defund the IRS by 2017. According to NTUF’s estimates, doing so would reduce outlays by about $12.1 billion; in its place, the FairTax would establish a new collection agency within the Treasury Department, which NTUF assumes would resemble the Tax and Trade Bureau that preceded the agencies that existed after the permanent imposition of the federal income tax. That agency would cost about $102 million per year to administer. After factoring in the costs of mailing prebates to U.S. households – about $241 million per year, assuming bulk mailing rates are used – and a reduction in refundable credits – $85.8 billion over five years – the FairTax would, on net, reduce federal outlays by $19.4 billion per year. Costs could be further reduced by implementing a direct deposit system to deliver prebates in lieu of mailing them, but there could be privacy concerns associated with such a system since it would require filers to submit their financial information to the government’s administrators. Citizens should be given the choice of how to receive their prebates; perhaps new technologies will emerge that can combine the advantages of privacy as well as convenience.
Beyond the administrative cost reductions, academic studies suggest that the FairTax could broaden the existing tax base and promote economic growth. Under the proposal, it is possible that disposable income for households across the U.S. could increase by as much as 11.8 percent in ten years’ time. That in turn could spur an 11.7 percent growth in consumption over the same period, relative to the baseline under the current tax system.
A FairTax would certainly be less costly in a financial sense to administer than the present law, and economic theory suggests consumption taxes are likely to increase saving while broadening the revenue base. However, by eliminating the IRS and dozens of exemptions, deductions and loopholes, it comes much closer to accomplishing the other goals of tax reform, among them simplicity, security, and accountability. Proponents of the FairTax suggest that because it is a singular, highly visible tax, it is one of the more transparent alternatives available to lawmakers. In the absence of the IRS, fraudulent activity and risk of identity theft are presumably reduced: in fact, the FairTax makes registering with any agency in charge of administering the tax and distribution of prebates a voluntary process. Even those who do opt in to the prebate system would not be required to report income; instead, they would be required to present a Social Security Number, household size, and a physical address. Also, issues with the current tax system such as fairness to charitable givers would be moot since the FairTax does not utilize income as its base.
Included in the legislation is a statement of rights taxpayers can expect under the new system. It includes a clear explanation of any legal action taken against them; a right to professional assistance in the event of legal action and 30 days’ notice before any enforcement action is taken; and a promise of confidentiality related to any information contained in the collection agency’s reports.
The Tax Code in its current form has failed to protect taxpayers’ time, money, and peace of mind. The IRS continues to grow in size and reach year after year, yet seemingly every week there are new revelations and government reports citing failed enforcement, a lack of adequate security precautions, and political targeting. Even when the problems are unintentional, they carry significant costs for the country’s taxpayers and businesses. It is clear that the U.S. tax system is inefficient and overly complicated.
Legislators have several options to consider when it comes to tax reform, which to varying degrees address the issues of cost, complexity, security, and transparency. Reworking the system with those priorities in mind would better serve the interests of taxpayers across the board.
About the Author
Michael Tasselmyer is a Policy Analyst for National Taxpayers Union Foundation (NTUF), the research and educational affiliate of National Taxpayers Union. | <urn:uuid:66f397b9-5b2b-445a-adc2-39e3992747a8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.ntu.org/foundation/detail/ntuf-policy-paper-174-need-for-tax-reform-simplicity-savings-and-security-9-22-2014 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284352.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00191-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958755 | 6,505 | 1.953125 | 2 |
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“Right now we have two big battles,” said Dmytro Podvorshansky, a soldier with the Ukrainian 1st Dnipro Battalion. He continues: “The first is an artillery battle, and the second is a technological battle.”
Dmytro fights this largely invisible second war and leads a group of just 10 soldiers who make up the drone intelligence unit in Dnipro 1.
Dmytro, who prefers to call the unit “combat IT men”, adds: “They are all volunteers, most of them have an IT background, and they knew each other before the war started.”
A member of the team showed a BBC reporter on a cell phone drone footage of the Russian targets they had already destroyed. Say “big hits”.
“One tank, three or four cannons, two mortar positions and five or six ammunition heaps,” explains Dmytro.
“Good results for only 10 people,” he says, before smiling.
They had already fought in Rubezhny and Severodonetsk – the cities taken by the Russians. Now they are preparing to defend Sloviansk.
Drones or remotely controlled vehicles were widely used in other wars, but not on this scale. They are the main weapons of both Russia and Ukraine. Both sides own a large arsenal of such aircraft, such as the Russian Orlan-10 or the famous Ukrainian Bayraktar, a Turkish-made UAV. They are often more expensive and complicated, but it can be easier to target and drop.
During the last period, dozens donated their unprofessional and commercial drones to Ukraine after Kiev appealed to anyone who could supply him with drones to form an “army of marches”.
The country also called on everyone to donate funds for the purchase of 200 military reconnaissance drones.
But Justin Pronk, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, a British center for military studies and research, argues that while drones can often be useful, there are methods developed to combat them.
Pronk said small commercial drones could emit a live video stream that helps see the situation behind enemy lines.
“Both sides in Ukraine have the ability to quickly exploit live footage to shoot down artillery shells and quickly correct their trajectory so that they are as accurate as possible, even with unguided old-school artillery while firing at the enemy. be, “he added.
But he warned that the efficiency of the electronic procedures used to shoot down those planes is becoming more efficient.
The drone army is a complex program that requires procurement, maintenance and replacement, as well as training for operators of these types of aircraft, according to the Ukrainian side.
Colonel Oleksiy Noskov, Assistant Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian forces, said that “the drone force will allow continuous monitoring of the front line, which extends over an estimated distance of 2 470 km, in addition to the possibility of an effective response to the enemy. attacks with modern technology. “
Ukraine’s digital transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov told the BBC in an email that the aim of the current campaign was to buy tactical drones with a flight range of up to 100 miles and equipped with a sophisticated camera, GPS and mapping tools.
Despite this, Federov said after investigating the issue: “Our team believes that the military still needs quadcopters and that the country is asking people to donate their drones.”
Ukraine hopes to raise thousands of multi-use commercial drones through donations.
Aircraft that meet the minimum standards are donated to Ukraine in two main warehouses in Poland and the United States.
Fedrov also called on companies to join the Ukrainian campaign, saying: “The project is a wonderful opportunity for drone manufacturers to test their equipment in difficult conditions.”
The campaign, which was launched last Friday, has so far raised about £ 5.7 million with which Ukraine could buy two military drones. The campaign also received dozens of drones, according to a tweet by Fedorov on his account on the social networking site Twitter.
Pronk said the Warmite drones are a type of air ammunition made in Poland that could be used as an alternative to “counter-tank guided missiles,” according to the company’s website.
Fedrov said the unprofessional and commercial drones showed combat prowess.
Russia also uses non-professional and commercial drones for military purposes.
Ukraine’s digital transformation minister earlier this year called on DJI, a leading manufacturer of drones, to stop selling drones in Russia. Indeed, the Chinese company had a major intervention when it stopped sales in Russia and Ukraine.
“Russia uses unprofessional and commercial drones in reconnaissance missions in its unjustified and unjust war,” the Ukrainian minister said.
“It was necessary for the largest manufacturer of commercial drones around the world to stop sales in Russia,” he added.
Valery Yakovenko, co-founder of Drone AU, told BBC News that China’s DJI had decided to increase the cost of manufacturing drones in Ukraine while Russia could still get drones via Belarus.
Yakovenko provided drones and robotic equipment to the Ukrainian government until the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This type of vehicle, along with a satellite internet system developed by billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink company, has become one of the world’s most in – demand technological products, according to Yakovenko.
Even small aircraft of this type can be used to gather field information, detect enemy forces and correct the trajectory of artillery shells.
“The large number of volunteers who drove the drones that joined the Ukrainian forces made a difference,” said the co-founder of Drone AU.
He added: “The drone operators are conducting air intelligence operations along the front line.”
He pointed out that the importance of using this technology lies in the rapid transfer of information from the battlefield to the chief of staff, “to make decisions at the required speed.”
Pronk said that especially the Ukrainians have the ability to devise ways to acquire and operate commercial drones, as well as to supply and operate the military type of those vehicles.
He added that these capabilities include “using them as carriers of homemade guided ammunition to bomb long-range targets, including the bombing of the oil refinery in the Russian city of Rostov using a commercial drone equipped with a homemade missile warhead. “
But he warned that the methods of targeting those connections were changing.
“What has happened in the Donbass over the past few months is that Russia has been able to increase electronic warfare equipment and integrate it into its continuing operations in the country,” he said.
Thus, when Ukraine sends out an RFID-guided drone, electronic warfare equipment can detect it immediately, and then capture it or at least prevent it from being remotely controlled by the Ukrainian side and forced back, according to Pronk.
He pointed out that to avoid this, instead of driving it with a remote control, these vehicles could be programmed to fly in a specific path and then identify targets by taking the images obtained after their return. analyze. He also suggested that this slow process is less efficient when dealing with moving targets.
But he believed that what Ukraine needed were ammunition carriers that could be used to attack Russia’s electronic warfare systems.
And while unprofessional drones may seem useful, “popular support for the provision of military equipment at the moment could be of great value in raising the morale of those involved in that support and the morale of those at the front as well,” according to Pronk. . | <urn:uuid:65fb6859-c907-4f6c-9fb7-92332ca14421> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://propeciapharm.com/2022/07/10/russia-and-ukraine-can-the-drone-army-change-the-course-of-the-war-in-kievs-favor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571222.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810222056-20220811012056-00676.warc.gz | en | 0.96079 | 1,604 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Oxfam, together with five local organizations and the World Food Programme, helped communities recover while they prepare.
Intense rains that fell in October 2011 triggered heavy floods in El Salvador, putting to the test Oxfam’s program to strengthen the capacity of Salvadoran partners to respond to emergencies.
In October 2011 in El Salvador, the rains were cataclysmic. A tropical depression that hovered over the region for more than a week dumped nearly 60 inches of rain—far more than the devastating hurricane Mitch delivered in 1998. Thirty-five people died in the October storm, a number that is too high but that reflects great improvements in preparedness and response: Hurricane Mitch took the lives of 240 Salvadorans. But the floods of October dealt greater economic losses than Mitch: 30-40 percent of corn crops and 70 percent of bean crops were destroyed.
Oxfam's program in El Salvador builds on years of working with communities and partners to reduce the risks and suffering that so often accompany hazards like floods and earthquakes. We had provided partners with in-depth training in emergency response, and we had prepositioned supplies near an area prone to flooding.
When the storm struck, the Salvadoran response team was ready to move. At the shelters where people from flood-affected communities were gathering, team members quickly installed water tanks and banks of latrines. They distributed hygiene kits containing soap, toothbrushes and paste, sanitary napkins, diapers, towels, and detergent—materials aimed at protecting the health and well-being of those forced to leave their belongings behind. Stoves, pots, utensils, and portable sinks from our warehouse facilitated cooking and eating. Read more.
As the rains abated and the flood waters receded, people returned to their communities where damage to homes, wells, and crops was severe. Oxfam and partners continued our work, installing water tanks, distributing supplies, carrying out agriculture rehabilitation projects, and, where possible, helping communities mitigate future floods.
Stories & updates
When a major storm strikes El Salvador, preparedness and local partnerships make all the difference.
Oxfam joins with partners and communities to save lives.
Saving lives 24/7
Some disasters can’t be prevented—or imagined in advance. But as soon as they strike, Oxfam needs to be ready to respond. Lives depend on it.
Your gift to Oxfam’s Saving Lives 24/7 Fund will go directly toward our emergency work, present and future, so that when crises erupt, we're ready to spring into action. | <urn:uuid:e61ac266-375f-4517-9035-3ba2f2bef510> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.oxfamamerica.org/take-action/save-lives/past-emergencies/2011-el-salvador-floods/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284405.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00037-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957142 | 528 | 2.703125 | 3 |
You are not alone if you are asking, “Where will I get my protein?” People believe this single nutrient is so important and difficult to get that we must actively pursue foods that contain high amounts of it, even when those foods, such as meat and dairy, in so many ways compromise our health.
We have been led to believe that primarily animal-based foods contain sufficient protein and, furthermore, that we need to eat those foods to avoid becoming protein deficient. The reality is that protein deficiency is almost exclusively seen in people suffering from a calorie deficiency. In these cases, there will be an overall nutrient deficiency, not just protein deficiency, and when this happens the concern should be getting more calories and all nutrients—not just more protein.
When you eat a diet based on fruit, vegetables, tubers, whole grains, and legumes about 10% of your total calorie intake will be from protein. We list this percentage only to demonstrate how the diet contains a sufficient amount of this nutrient—not as any kind of target. In fact, you should not worry about how much protein you’re getting any more than you should worry about the perfect number of breaths you should take in a day. And, if you’re worried that 10% isn’t adequate, note that there’s evidence that consuming too much protein is harmful—especially when it comes from animal sources.
Do Vegetarians and Vegans Eat Enough Protein?
The No-B.S. Guide to Vegan Protein
Many believe that it’s important to get enough calcium from certain foods, especially milk and other dairy products, which they perceive to be excellent “sources” of it. It’s easy to interpret this message—that constant vigilance is necessary to make sure we’re getting our calcium—as an implicit warning that we might not otherwise get enough.
Just as with protein it is not difficult to get enough calcium—you just need to eat whole, plant-based foods. Calcium, like iron, magnesium, and copper, is a mineral. It is found in the soil, where it is absorbed into the roots of plants. Animals get their calcium by consuming the mineral-abundant plants and metabolizing that calcium into their bodies. Surprised? That’s because we’ve been so conditioned to think that calcium comes primarily from milk and dairy products that few of us realize it actually comes from the earth and is abundant in all whole foods.
For strong bones and calcium, how much of the nutrient you get isn’t as important as where you get it—and how you lose it. There are two major contributing factors to the leaching of calcium from bones, which leads to their weakening and may increase the risk for osteoporosis: First, consuming a highly acidic diet. Our bodies are alkaline. It is vital that the acidity level of your diet is not so high that your bones must leach calcium to keep your body’s alkaline levels balanced. The levels of acidic compounds are lower in plant foods so they won’t draw the calcium from your bones the way animal foods will. Eating a whole-food, plant-based diet gives your body the acid/alkaline balance it needs for optimal bone health. Second, consuming a high-sodium diet. The diet we recommend is naturally low-sodium, as it relies very little on processed foods, which tend to be very high in salt.
Once a certain threshold for calcium has been met—which you will do eating a whole-food, plant-based diet—the formula for strong bones relies on two other factors entirely: First, that you get sufficient vitamin D from exposure to the sun. Vitamin D is a key factor in calcium absorption, and the sun is the best way for us to meet our requirement. The key is getting sufficient sun exposure on our bare skin without getting burned. (The vitamin D in milk is added to it; we do not recommend getting vitamin D from milk or other fortified foods in which the vitamin does not naturally occur.) Second, that you practice strength training and impact exercise. When you lift weights or do resistance exercises you not only build muscle, you stress your bones—this makes them stronger. Walking, jogging, and running are examples of impact exercises that will also help with bone strength.
As with protein, many organizations will suggest that you need to consume a specific amount of calcium per day for strong bones. We do not make any such recommendations because we know that good bone health has nothing to do with hitting an arbitrary number for calcium intake. Furthermore, we fervently believe that when people are instructed to achieve these subjective targets, it creates a skewed notion of what is good nutrition and leads people to make poor food choices—as is the case with dairy.
Getting Clarity About Calcium
Calcium and Bone Health: What Plant-Based Eaters Need to Know
We are always surprised by how many people continue to think that fish is beneficial and important to include in the diet, even long after they become convinced that mammals are not health foods. Much of this perception stems from periodic reports that some study or another has found that fish is “heart healthy” or “good for our brains.” In our review of these studies, time and again we find data is misinterpreted and faulty conclusions are drawn from otherwise reasonable research. Unfortunately, such misinterpretations have occurred so frequently that a false narrative has developed.
The practice of misinterpreting data is not unusual. The frequently referenced studies of Okinawan and Mediterranean populations have followed this pattern. The benefits of a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains frequently get credited to small amounts of fish in the diet (just like they are often credited to olive oil and wine). In the case of the famous Okinawan Centenarian Study, for example, only 1% of calories of the calories consumed by the residents came from fish; the vast majority of the diet—69%—came from sweet potatoes!1 Yet the perception from this very study is that Okinawans are healthy from a fish-heavy diet.
What is happening here? We have meaningful long-term studies presented by the researchers with care, which are then pored over by individuals or organizations who cherry-pick data, often to reinforce a specific agenda. The big picture is ignored in favor of subjective claims and reporting, and the public receives false takeaway messages like “Eat more fish!”
As our friend and teacher Dr. John McDougall likes to say, “A muscle is a muscle, whether it comes from a chicken, cow, or fish.” In other words, the nutrient profile of all animal products—i.e., high in fat, acid, and cholesterol, and low in fiber and carbohydrates—is as true for fish as it is for beef and other meats. In fact, although fish is often marketed as a wise, “heart-healthy” food choice, it has as much cholesterol as beef, chicken, and pork. And when we look at studies of populations and what they eat, we should examine the entire big picture. In doing so, we see the message is consistent: “Eat more plants!”
1B. J. Willcox, D. C. Willcox, H. Todoriki, et al. “Caloric Restriction, the Traditional Okinawan Diet, and Healthy Aging: The Diet of the World’s Longest-Lived People and Its Potential Impact on Morbidity and Life Span,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1114 (October 2007): 434–55.
Is Fish a Health Food, or Have We Just Let It Off the Hook?
Some fats are necessary in our diet. Consuming oil, fish and processed foods as a means to get these, however, is unnecessary, and even harmful. Every whole plant food has fat, and there’s no evidence that we need any more fat than what occurs naturally in a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet. Just as is the case with protein and calcium, we should not target specific foods to get enough of a particular kind of fat.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids appear to be involved in a variety of important bodily functions, including cell membrane stabilization, nervous system function, immune system function, and blood clotting, as well as impacting triglyceride levels, blood pressure, inflammation, cancer, and heart disease. Although they are both essential (meaning you need to consume them), you have probably heard a lot more often that you need to seek out omega-3. This is not because it is more essential than omega-6. Instead, it is because, in general, these two essential fatty acids should be consumed in a healthy ratio to each other. Studies are not clear exactly what that ratio should be, but we do know that the Standard American Diet is significantly skewed in such a way that we get an excess of omega-6. This excess consumption of omega-6 impairs the absorption of omega-3.1 The answer, however, is not simply that you need to eat more omega-3 fats. The answer is to eliminate or minimize processed and animal-based foods and instead eat a whole-food, plant-based diet, which we know in most cases restores a healthy omega-6 to omega-3 balance and, more important, leads to positive health outcomes. And isn’t that what we care about most?
If 1 to 3 percent of your calories come from the essential fats, you’ll be in great shape. Adequate omega-3 intake specifically is 1.1 g for adult women and 1.6 g for adult men.2 That’s 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 teaspoon per day. If you meet all your caloric needs with a low-fat, whole-foods diet full of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, you will easily consume enough essential fatty acids and those fatty acids will be in good balance to each other. Note that while walnuts and flax- and chia seeds are whole plant foods with higher concentrations of essential fatty acids, there’s no evidence that you actually need to eat these foods to get the proper amount of any kind of fat. Most whole plant foods have small amounts of essential fats. Over the course of a day full of these foods you will achieve the needed amounts—which aren’t that much to begin with. In fact, it is significantly more important to worry about not consuming excess fat than it is to worry about consuming sufficient omega-3.
1Philip C. Calder, “N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Inflammation, and Inflammatory Diseases,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 83 (June 2006): 1505S–19S.
2Jennifer J. Otten, Jennifer Pitzi Hellwig, and Linda D. Meyers, eds., DRI: Dietary Reference Intakes: The Essential Guide to Nutrient Requirements (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, c. 2006).
We are baffled that certain oils are presented as “health” foods. Olive oil is not a health food. Neither is coconut, grape seed, flaxseed, or any other oil you’ve heard you must endeavor to add to your diet because it’s good for you. Sure, if you replace some or all of the butter in your diet with vegetable oil, some of your cholesterol numbers may look a little bit better, but that’s not at all the same as doing well. Oil is a bad idea because it is highly refined and its nutritional package is inadequate.
How is it that we know that processed sugars are junk foods, yet we’ve allowed ourselves to be convinced that certain oils are somehow good for us? Oil follows essentially the same model as processed sugar, which is also pressed from plants. Think about what oil is: fat—and nothing but fat. All the nutrients, including protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and water, have been thrown away. Oil of any kind has more calories per gram than any other food we know. And without any fiber or water in it, oil lacks the bulk to convey to your senses how many calories you have eaten; this virtually guarantees you will consume more calories at the meal than you need. So we ask you: Why would you waste calories on something that has no nutrients in it other than fat? And why would anyone believe that highly concentrated fat is healthy?
So let’s look at where the “good oil” hype came from. Its origins lay in data collected in the 1960s that showed the people on the island of Crete. At the time these people had the lowest all-cause mortality rates over twenty years when compared to people in other Mediterranean countries. A main contributing factor was their diet, which included some animal products and a little bit of olive oil, but otherwise consisted primarily of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.1 In the years since then, unfortunately, the phrase “Mediterranean diet” has become synonymous primarily with olive oil. What subsequent researchers—and marketers—took from those early studies was that olive oil was the Holy Grail. But it never was.
All oils have a negative impact on blood vessels and promote heart disease.2 Furthermore, they may also lead to increased bleeding through thinning of the blood; negative effects on lung function and oxygen exchange; suppression of certain immune system functions; and increased risk of cancer.3 Not to mention that excess calories from fat get stored as fat, no matter what type of fat calories you consume.
1Antonia Trichopoulou, Tina Costacou, Christina Bamia, and Dimitrios Trichopoulo, “Adherence to Mediterranean Diet and Survival in a Greek Population,” New England Journal of Medicine 348 (June 26, 2003): 2599–608.
2Robert A. Vogel, Mary C. Corretti, and Gary D. Plotnick, “The Postprandial Effect of Components of the Mediterranean Diet on Endothelial Function,” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 36 (November 1, 2000): 1455–60. AND Blankenhorn DH1, Johnson RL, Mack WJ, el Zein HA, Vailas LI. The influence of diet on the appearance of new lesions in human coronary arteries. JAMA. 1990 Mar 23-30;263(12):1646-52
2D. C. E. Nordström, C. Friman, Y. T. Konttinen, V. E. A. Honkanen, Y. Nasu, and E. Antila, “Alpha-Linolenic Acid in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled and Randomized Study: Flaxseed vs. Safflower Seed,” Rheumatology International 14 (1995): 231–34; M. A. Allman, M. M. Pena, and D. Pang, “Supplementation with Flaxseed Oil Versus Sunflowerseed Oil in Healthy Young Men Consuming a Low-Fat Diet: Effects on Platelet Composition and Function,” European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 49 (March 1995): 169–78; M. R. Namazi, “The Beneficial and Detrimental Effects of Linoleic Acid on Autoimmune Disorders,” Autoimmunity 37 (February 2004): 73–75; P. Purasiri, A. McKechnie, S. D. Heys, and O. Eremin, “Modulation in Vitro of Human Natural Cytotoxicity, Lymphocyte Proliferative Response to Mitogens and Cytokine Production by Essential Fatty Acids,” Immunology 92 (October 1997): 166–72; D. Hazlett, “Dietary Fats Appear to Reduce Lung Function,” Journal of the American Medical Association 223, no. 1 (1973): 15–16; Clifford W. Welsch, “Relationship Between Dietary Fat and Experimental Mammary Tumorigenesis: A Review and Critique,” Cancer Research 52 (April 1992): 2040S–48S; Patrizia Griffini, Olav Fehres, Lars Klieverik, et al., “Dietary Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Promote Colon Carcinoma Metastasis in Rat Liver,” Cancer Research 58 (August 1, 1998): 3312–19; Lars Klieverik, Olav Fehres, Patrizia Griffini, Cornelis J. F. Van Noorden, and Wilma M. Frederiks, “Promotion of Colon Cancer Metastases in Rat Liver by Fish Oil Diet Is Not Due to Reduced Stroma Formation,” Clinical & Experimental Metastasis 18 (September 2000): 371–77; Kenneth K. Karroll, “Experimental Evidence of Dietary Factors and Hormone-Dependent Cancers,” Cancer Research 35 (November 1975): 3374–83; J. H. Weisburger, “Worldwide Prevention of Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases Based on Knowledge of Mechanisms,” Mutation Research 402 (June 18, 1998): 331–37; Leonard A. Sauer, David E. Blask, and Robert T. Bauchey, “Dietary Factors and Growth and Metabolism in Experimental Tumors,” Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry 18 (October 2007): 637–49; Clement Ip, “Review of the Effects of Trans Fatty Acids, Oleic Acid, N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, and Conjugated Linoleic Acid on Mammary Carcinogenesis in Animals,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66 (December 1997): 1523S–29S.
3N. F. Chu, D. Spiegelman, J. Yu, N. Rifai, G. S. Hotamisligil, and E. B. Rimm, “Plasma Leptin Concentrations and Four-Year Weight Gain Among US Men,” International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 25 (March 2001): 346–53; N. F. Chu, M. J. Stampfer, D. Spiegelman, N. Rifai, G. S. Hotamisligil, and E. B. Rimm, “Dietary and Lifestyle Factors in Relation to Plasma Leptin Concentrations Among Normal Weight and Overweight Men,” International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders 25 (January 2001): 106–14; Motonaka Kuroda, Masanori Ohta, Tatsuya Okufuji, et al., “Frequency of Soup Intake and Amount of Dietary Fiber Intake Are Inversely Associated with Plasma Leptin Concentrations in Japanese Adults,” Appetite 54, no. 3 (June 2010): 538–43.
Is Coconut Oil Healthy or Hazardous?
Why Olive Oil Isn’t a Health Food
The relationship between whole food and the human body is very intricate and has come about as a result of millions of years of evolution. There are countless nutrients and substances in food that lead to thousands of metabolic reactions when they are consumed. As T. Colin Campbell, PhD, describes it, when it comes to nutrition, the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts. The nutrients in whole food work together much like a symphony; extract and consume those nutrients apart from the whole, and all bets are off as to their effects.
The complex, harmonious relationship between our bodies and the whole food we eat might explain why the hardworking supplement industry has not been able to produce beneficial products, despite decades of effort and billions of dollars. Consequently, we do not recommend our patients take supplements—with the notable and important exception of vitamin B12— unless a specific deficiency arises that cannot be corrected with whole, plant-based foods. Putting aside the bluster of consumer marketing, the research on multivitamin supplements is consistent: They do not demonstrate benefit and may cause harm.1 A review of twenty-four randomized controlled trials showed “no consistent evidence that the included [vitamin and mineral] supplements affected CVD [cardiovascular disease], cancer, or all-cause mortality in healthy individuals.”2 Single-vitamin supplements have shown similar negative results. In fact, the harm caused by some of them is dramatic. For example, vitamin A, beta-carotene, and vitamin E—while all healthy when consumed in food—have been shown to significantly increase death when consumed as supplements.3
The problems with supplements shouldn’t come as a surprise. The fact that we need a particular nutrient doesn’t mean we need a megadose of it, nor should we consume it in isolation from all the other nutrients and substances it’s designed to work with. It may run counter to what we’ve been taught, but when we think about nutrition, we should think about getting the right amount of nutrients; this means obtaining neither too little nor too much of them—and being sure they are packaged in the right proportions. We should not think for a moment that we are “playing it safe” by taking supplements; the only true way to play it safe is to not take those supplements—and to look instead to whole, plant-based foods for the nutrition we need.
1Jaakko Mursu, Kim Robien, Lisa J. Harnack, Kyong Park, and David R. Jacobs, “Dietary Supplements and Mortality Rate in Older Women. The Iowa Women’s Health Study,” Archives of Internal Medicine 171 (October 10, 2011): 1625–33.
2Stephen P. Fortmann, Brittany U. Burda, Caitlyn A. Senger, Jennifer S. Lin, and Evelyn P. Whitlock, “Vitamin and Mineral Supplements in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer: An Updated Systematic Evidence Review for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force,” Annals of Internal Medicine 159 (December 17, 2013): 824–34.
3Goran Bjelakovic, Dimitrinka Nikolova, Lise Lotte Gluud, Rosa G. Simonetti, and Christian Gluud, “Mortality in Randomized Trials of Antioxidant Supplements for Primary and Secondary Prevention: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” Journal of the American Medical Association 297 (February 28, 2007): 842–57.
Vitamin B12 is important for the development and protection of nerve cells and red blood cells and helps in the production of DNA. Insufficient B12 can lead to many health issues, including weakness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, increased irritability, gastrointestinal distress, anemia, and nervous system dysfunction. B12 is the one nutrient that cannot be obtained sufficiently from today’s plant-based diet. This is not because we need to eat animal products to obtain it. In fact, animal products themselves don’t always contain enough B12.1 The reason for this is that neither plants nor animals naturally synthesize B12. It is made from bacteria. Animals consume dirt, which is full of bacteria, through the unwashed plants and non-chlorinated water they consume. B12 accumulates in the animals’ tissues, which becomes a source of the vitamin for humans when we eat the animal.
We humans, on the other hand, rarely eat anything unwashed. In our quest to be clean, we remove the dirt that contains B12-producing bacteria from our foods. This sanitary approach certainly has its benefits, as it has decreased our exposure to parasites and other pathogens. As a result, we believe that when you eat a whole-food, plant-based diet, taking a B12 supplement is the best way to ensure adequate amounts of the nutrient. There is enough research about supplementing B12 that, when taken appropriately, we trust it is beneficial.
1Marijke van Dusseldorp, Jorn Schneede, Helga Refsum, et al., “Risk of Persistent Cobalamin Deficiency in Adolescents Fed a Macrobiotic Diet in Early Life,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 69 (April 1999): 664–71.
Why Every Vegan and Vegetarian Needs Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12: All Your Questions Answered
While some people prefer to eat only organic, fresh food, this is not absolutely necessary from a health perspective. Most modern diseases that afflict people are not the result of the difference between organic and conventional produce, fresh and frozen broccoli, or canned and dried beans. Whether our diets lead to health or sickness is determined mainly by the significant difference between whole, plant-based foods on the one side and animal-based and highly processed foods on the other. We should not let our need for convenient, affordable food—including shortcuts, such as canned and frozen as well as less expensive conventional produce—deter us from consuming the whole, plant-based foods that will stave off disease.
The nutrient makeup of animal foods (for example, high in fat and cholesterol; low in fiber and antioxidants) is the main reason why consuming these foods will increase your chances of getting chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This nutrient profile exists whether animal foods are organic or not, or whether they are grass-fed or not. Replacing animal foods with whole plant-based foods is a significant change that will greatly improve your chances of achieving good health, whereas the change between organic and conventional animal foods is relatively small and therefore unlikely to make much of a difference.
New Study: White Meat as Bad for Cholesterol as Red Meat; Plant-Based Diet Best for Health
- fruit. (bananas, blueberries, oranges, strawberries)
- Vegetables. (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, kale, lettuce)
- Tubers & starchy vegetables. (potatoes, corn, green peas, winter squash)
- Whole grains. (barley, millet, oats, quinoa, wheat berries, brown rice)
For Wendel, the idea quickly morphed into Fork Over Knife and then Forks Over Knives. “Once I had it in my head, that was it,” Wendel says. The title concisely captured the film's central message and served as a call to action: “Fight disease by changing what you eat, and you can avoid going under a surgeon's knife.
A whole-food, plant-based diet—which is what Forks Over Knives advocates—is centered on whole, unrefined or minimally refined plant foods and excludes or minimizes meat, dairy products, eggs, and highly refined foods such as bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil.
Foods from plants are OK, but foods from animals are off limits, including common ingredients like eggs, cheese, milk, and honey. About 3% of Americans follow a vegan diet. Their reasons for eating this way vary.
- Fresh produce can be very perishable, so buy just as much as you need to minimize waste.
- Possibly a protein-deficient diet. ...
- Possibly deficient in certain nutrients such as iron calcium, and B12. ...
- If you decide to go vegetarian or vegan, it could be challenging to give up eating animals.
Is the forks meal planner worth the price? If you purchase a full year's subscription, the FOK meal planner costs only about $2.30 per week. If you want a month-to-month subscription you pay $19.99 per month.
A plant-based diet consists of all minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, herbs, and spices and excludes all animal products, including red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products.
We do not advocate alcohol from a health perspective, but wine may be used on occasion in the meal planner for added flavor.
Though plant-based meats still contain saturated fat, they contain far less saturated fat than animal meat on average. Plant-based meats also contain some fiber and plenty of protein, if not just as much protein as animal-based meats.
Most peanut butter is vegan
Therefore, most types of peanut butter are free of animal products and can be enjoyed as part of a vegan diet. Some examples of peanut butter products that are vegan-friendly include: 365 Everyday Value Creamy Peanut Butter. Justin's Classic Peanut Butter.
Lifestyle & Food
For example, french fries, Oreos, potato chips, many fake meat products, and soda are “vegan,” but they are not considered to be “plant-based.” Why? Because they are refined food products and usually not healthy at all.
Editor's Note: The most common vegan bread types are sourdough, Ezekiel bread, ciabatta, focaccia and baguettes. Don't miss our recipe for homemade vegan banana bread!
"Many vegan alternatives (quinoa, beans, and lentils) actually contain more grams of carbohydrates than they do protein," said Hyman. Consuming more calories than your body can use, whether it comes from carbohydrates, protein, or fat, results in weight gain over time, she suggested.
Eggs are a wonderful complement to a plant-based lifestyle as they can help you consume more vegetables. Plus, eggs can help you absorb more of the fat-soluble vitamins and antioxidants found in plant foods such as vitamin E and carotenoids.
Physicians should consider recommending a plant-based diet to all their patients, especially those with high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.
But if you eat a vegan diet or have vegan guests, you might wonder if popcorn is OK to eat. Here's what you need to know. Yes, popcorn is vegan. Popcorn is a type of corn kernel.
Olive oil is a processed, calorie-heavy, nutrient-deficient fat source. And even if it's a little bit better for you than the oils in animal products, it's still not a whole food, and it isn't included as part of the whole-food plant-based lifestyle. Leave the olive oil in the olives where it belongs.
Nothing artificial is added to the wine during the filtration process, so organic and plant-based wine is far less likely to cause you health problems if you drink it in moderation.
The less processed bread is, the higher the likelihood it's vegan. Moreover, flatbreads, savory, or dry types of bread are more likely to be vegan, whereas fluffier brioche-types often contain dairy, eggs, or both, making them non-vegan.
Pasta dishes make an excellent option for those adhering to a plant-based diet for several reasons. To start, pasta is a natural plant-based food made simply from grain, and it is also and easy food to incorporate other plant-based foods into, like veggies and beans.
Coffee can be part of a healthy WFPB diet for most people. Some folks who suffer from anxiety/GI issues/low iron may want to steer clear or limit consumption. Tea is a great beverage to include in your WFPB lifestyle - especially herbal teas.
Can I drink coffee on this plan? Although coffee beans are minimally processed plant-based foods, people's reactions to drinking coffee vary widely. If you like hot drinks, Forks Over Knives recommends unsweetened herbal teas.
If you are wondering whether you can still enjoy chocolate when switching to a plant-based diet, then let us assure you: yes, you can! Chocolate is made using the cacao plant and it is naturally plant-based.
Overall, this is a smart, easy and convenient way to eat a WFPB diet with minimal time spent planning, shopping and cooking. You will most likely make adjustments to the recipes to fit your taste preferences, but I didn't find it too much of an issue with the recipes I've made so far.
However, both this cereal and the original Cheerios are also fortified with Vitamin D, derived from wool grease. This means that, though the ingredient list is vegan, since they are fortified it is not suitable for those on a plant-based diet.
Individuals with an allergy to cow's milk protein can safely consume coconut milk. Coconut milk has a similar advantage over other plant-based milks, which contain major allergens (e.g., soy and almond). Coconut milk is also suitable for inclusion in a vegan or ovo-vegetarian diet.
Both are processed foods
Many people view the Impossible Burger and Beyond Burger as healthier alternatives to meat-based burgers. That's in large part because plant-based diets have been linked to a variety of health benefits, including a lower risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Following a plant-based diet means saying goodbye to all animal products — including lean meat and dairy products such as milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream.
Unlike animal-based products like meat, eggs, and dairy, foods obtained from insects do not fall into the vegan category. But still, some vegans avoid honey as it is obtained from the exploitation of bees, while other vegans do not mind having it.
What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.
Brian Wendel is the founder of Forks Over Knives and the creator and executive producer of the Forks Over Knives feature film.
In 2001, Brian Wendel attended a conference on nutrition. There, a plant-based expert made a compelling enough argument that a Staten Island boy raised on pizza and roast beef decided to go all in on plant foods. He had no idea it would forever alter the course of his life.
Dr. McDougall uses a low-fat, starch-based diet that results in dramatic health benefits and can reverse serious illness, such as heart disease, without drugs. He is co-author of The Healthiest Diet on the Planet, The Starch Solution, McDougall Quick and Easy, and author of The McDougall Program and many other books.
#1 Rated Diet Program. #1 Rated Diet Pill. #1 Rated Online Diet Plan How does it work?How does it work?. That can lead to another smattering of health problems, including weight gain; however, by sticking to plant-based whole foods, the body will thrive and lose excess weight, even though the diet would be considered high carbohydrate.. Dieters on the Forks Over Knives Diet will likely lose weight if they follow the diet to the letter.. In fact, a diet that consists only of plant-based foods, such as the Forks Over Knives Diet, can be dangerous to the body.. #1 Rated Diet Program. #1 Rated Diet Pill. #1 Rated Online Diet Plan How does it work?How does it work?
Although some people correlate the Forks Over Knives diet with following a vegan lifestyle, the practices employed through the eating of unrefined, whole items from plant-based foods is a different application.. If you are looking for a different eating plan to support your health, then these are the pros and cons of the Forks Over Knives diet to consider.. When you decide to follow the Forks Over Knives diet, then your consumption of whole foods and fresh produce will increase the number of antioxidants that are in your diet.. People who eat a plant-based diet must establish habits which help them to maintain their awareness of eating at all times.. The Forks Over Knives diet focuses more on the quality of the foods you choose to eat more than the substances it contains.. Since many of these products contain gluten and can lead to food sensitivities or allergies (along with triggers from Celiac Disease), the Forks Over Knives diet may not be the healthiest choice for some people.. Most people who follow an eating plan like the Forks Over Knives diet encounter many of the same issues that vegans experience.. If you decide to start following the Forks Over Knives diet, then it will require a radical change in your eating habits unless you are already following a vegan-like lifestyle.. There are over 100 different recipes to follow with this eating plan that can help you to succeed, but someone accustomed to eating dairy or animal-based products frequently may encounter feelings of grief, despair, or depression because of the new gaps forced upon them by this eating plan.. Because there are strict limitations in place with the Forks Over Knives diet plan, it might become impossible to find something to eat on a local menu.. It is easy enough to believe that if you start following the Forks Over Knives diet, then you are making healthier choices with your eating plan.. You will need to spend about $15 to pick up the Forks Over Knives diet book if you want to receive a complete overview of this eating plan.
Many people have shunned soy from their diet, fearing that it causes health woes like breast cancer, while others embrace soy as a health food.. Soybeans are used to make a variety of products, from healthful, minimally processed foods such as soy milk and tofu to less-healthy versions like soy oils and protein isolates.. A study published in 2020 in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation examined data from more than 200,000 people and found that those who ate at least one serving of tofu per week were 18% less likely to develop heart disease than people who rarely ate tofu, even after adjusting for other contributing factors such as overall diet quality and body mass index.. In addition to soy’s direct benefits on heart health, Messina notes that adding more soy foods into the diet has the effect of “crowding out” foods higher in saturated fat such as meat and dairy, which is another way that eating more soy can lead to lower cholesterol.. Research involving human subjects (as opposed to other animals) suggests that soy does not increase the risk of cancer, and in fact, it may actually lower the risk of certain types of cancers.. As Karen Collins, MS, RDN, CDN, FAND, of the American Institute for Cancer Research explains , “Population studies don’t link soy consumption with increased risk of any cancer, and limited evidence shows soy possibly protecting against lung cancer in people who have never smoked tobacco, and either no effect or decreased risk of prostate cancer.” A 2018 meta-analysis reviewed the available research on soy intake and prostate cancer and found that eating soy foods was associated with a significantly lower risk of prostate cancer.. Also, “clinical studies show neither soy foods nor isoflavones increase indicators of breast cancer risk,” he adds.. A 2021 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also shows that soy improves cerebral blood flow in older men and women, which could be important for memory.. Minimally processed: Soy milk, tofu, tempeh, soy nuts. While other forms like tofu and tempeh can also be part of a healthful plant-based diet, because they are processed, albeit minimally, Forks Over Knives recommends enjoying them in moderation.
Plant-Based India: Nourishing Recipes Rooted in Tradition features more than 100 vibrantly photographed vegan recipes that center on whole plant foods and can be adapted for oil-free eaters.. Recently, Shukla spoke with us from his home in Illinois about the new cookbook, his culinary influences, and the art of practicing medicine.. Sheil Shukla: It’s difficult to distill the cuisine of this entire country with billions of people into just one single book.. So for that reason, I focused on the cuisine of Gujarat, which is where my family’s from, but I also have a sampling of some other recipes from Northern parts of India and also Southern parts of India as well.. SS: Gujarati cuisine is relatively minimalistic [compared with] Indian cuisine in general.. SS: One of the biggest things that I learned from her is taking advantage of seasonal produce.. Even if it wasn’t traditionally used in Indian cuisine, she would find a way to incorporate it into the food that we were eating.. SS: Spices are really the hero of Indian cuisine.. And for plant-based cooking, spices are a way to really elevate the flavor of dishes.. Lentils are often used in stews and that sort of thing, but the lentil in this purpose is used to create a nutty flavor in the spice blend.. SS: I do use a sprinkling of salt, oil, and sugar throughout the book, not only because those ingredients are traditionally used [in Indian cooking] but also because it’s reflective of how I cook and eat, and I think it would be disingenuous to have a strictly SOS-free book when that’s not necessarily how I cook for myself and for my family.. When I call for frying spices in a small amount of oil to develop their flavors (a technique called vaghār), you can just toast the spices in a dry pan.
The Forks Over Knives Diet is all the rage right now.. That’s right, feature documentary “Forks Over Knives” is now also known as the Forks Over Knives Diet .. So, what exactly is the Forks Over Knives Diet?. In short, it’s a vegan diet, or a plant-based diet built on the critically acclaimed film that looked at the effects of the Western diet on the human body and the benefits of switching to a plant-based diet.. But, still, the vegan diet is not panacea; even vegan or vegetarian diets can often fall short on the health spectrum.. It’s part of the reason some people are moving away from the term “vegan diet” and opting for “plant-based” instead—because it implies a healthier more rounded approach to food rather than just eschewing animal products.. But the Forks Over Knives Diet seems to take that even further, drilling into the benefits of five specific food categories: fruits, vegetables, tubers and starchy vegetables, whole grains and legumes.. The Forks Over Knives Diet also points to the benefits in the “whole package” of a food.. The quest for protein, for example, has steered us toward meat consumption.. “No food is a single nutrient, and we should never think of foods in that way.. Any given food has countless nutrients.. And some research now suggests that we may be getting too much of certain nutrients by eating fortified foods and taking vitamins.. The Forks Over Knives Diet plan recommends sticking to its suggested food categories, but also to stop worrying about things like calories or nutrients.. On a well-balanced diet, it’s not so much how much you actually eat, but what it is you’re eating.
Although some people correlate the Forks Over Knives diet with following a vegan lifestyle, the practices employed through the eating of unrefined, whole items from plant-based foods is a different application.. If you are looking for a different eating plan to support your health, then these are the pros and cons of the Forks Over Knives diet to consider.. When you decide to follow the Forks Over Knives diet, then your consumption of whole foods and fresh produce will increase the number of antioxidants that are in your diet.. The Forks Over Knives diet focuses more on the quality of the foods you choose to eat more than the substances it contains.. Most people who follow an eating plan like the Forks Over Knives diet encounter many of the same issues that vegans experience.. If you decide to start following the Forks Over Knives diet, then it will require a radical change in your eating habits unless you are already following a vegan-like lifestyle.. There are over 100 different recipes to follow with this eating plan that can help you to succeed, but someone accustomed to eating dairy or animal-based products frequently may encounter feelings of grief, despair, or depression because of the new gaps forced upon them by this eating plan.. It is easy enough to believe that if you start following the Forks Over Knives diet, then you are making healthier choices with your eating plan.
Here, we review five common side effects of diabetes and what you can do to offset them.. How Much Should I Exercise for Better Health?. To ensure you’re getting the most out of your regimen, we take a look at some rules of thumb that are easy to follow.. How Dermal Fillers Provide Natural-looking Results You want to dial back the signs of aging in your face, but you don’t want to look “plastic.” Dermal fillers are an excellent anti-aging solution that provides natural-looking results—it’s you, just a few years younger.. Signs of a Vitamin C Deficiency Vitamin C supports your health in many different ways, from fighting disease to keeping your skin healthy.. Things You're Doing That Might Aggravate Your Arthritis Arthritis can be very frustrating to deal with since there is no cure, but there are lifestyle changes you can make that go a long way toward better managing the joint pain and inflammation.. Why Can't I Sleep?. A whopping 70 million people in the United States suffer from chronic sleep problems due to a wide range of reasons.. Here, we’re going to discuss the role that nutrition and hormones play in your ability to sleep well — or not!
One of Campbell's pivotal arguments in The China Study , repeated in Forks Over Knives , was research showing that rodents administered aflatoxin were more likely to get cancer if they ate high-protein (20%) diets.. "Monkeys on low protein diet surviving for 90 weeks or more show foci of preneoplastic lesions, whereas those on high protein diet reveal no such alterations at the corresponding time interval...It appears that in the simian model used by us, the liver injury caused by [aflatoxin] is accentuated by simultaneous restriction of dietary protein and in animals on such combined regimen preneoplastic lesions appear around 90 weeks of experiment.. And as Denise points out, Campbell has a long history of using crude unadjusted data to support his case; he's published numerous papers during his 'distinguished' career using - you guessed it - unadjusted data to form dodgey conclusions on everything from heart disease to colorectal cancer incidence.. And unlike unadjusted data, adjusted data doesn't lend itself to Campbell's favored and convenient escape clause of "Oh, don't be so silly, that's the unadjusted data, my ignorant cutesie little meat and dairy industry-sponsored malevolents!". As for cancer, neither total protein, animal protein, fish protein, plant protein, meat intake, saturated fat, fat calories, eggs, nor milk demonstrated any statistically significant association with mortality from all cancers.. Since the publication of Campbell's The China Study book, data from China Study II has been released.. Total animal protein intake, percent of total calories as animal protein, egg intake, meat intake, red meat intake, fish intake, and consumption of dietary cholesterol?
Are you searching for a plant based meal planner that will provide healthy recipes under $2?. As you can see, the meal planner provides meals for 5 days.. If you wish to have your weekends planned out too, simply add more recipes to day 5, or double up on the recipes from day 4 and 5.. I think I could have used baby spinach instead to make the salad.. All ingredients were whole foods and my family enjoyed them.. The rest of the recipes were really filling, even the salad!. I printed my grocery list for this plant based meal planner and it contained 5 dinner meals and 2 snacks.. I doubled up on the serving size of each dinner to eat for lunch the next day.. It should save you time shopping and planning, plus you can collect all your favorite recipes from the meal planner in a folder and keep using them even after your subscription ends.. “Members save an average of 20 hours meal planning and grocery shopping per month, all for less than the cost of a take out meal!” – Forks Meal Planner. you take a long time finding items in the store (the meal planner sorts items by aisle) you don’t know what to cook you meal plan longer than 15-20 minutes each week you overspend on food (going out a lot, spend more than $2 per serving) you have a lot of food waste your recipes take longer than 20-30 minutes to prepare you try new recipes but they don’t taste good you would like to start a more plant based diet you are searching for healthy, easy recipes you would like to lose weight you would like to prevent or reverse a disease with a plant based diet you would like to create a collection of fresh and delicious recipes that you can re-use year round.. you only spend 20 minutes meal planning per week you are on a budget and know how to cook cheap meals you have plenty of healthy cookbooks that you already enjoy you don’t have much (or any) food waste you don’t want to try a plant based diet. Additionally, you can consider starting a workout routine or start taking 20-40 minute walks daily.. All 4 meals should be around 1800 calories which is enough to eat healthy and activate your metabolism, but still in a good range to lose weight naturally. | <urn:uuid:44ecdd04-30b3-4d32-91e6-f6f6f727d99d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://myronnoodleman.com/article/the-forks-over-knives-diet-forks-over-knives | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571909.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813051311-20220813081311-00271.warc.gz | en | 0.942934 | 10,384 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Educating investors may be key to keeping another financial crisis from destroying the savings of Americans hoping to one day retire.
During a presentation with officials from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock, brought that message home Monday to Lubbockites hoping to find how to protect themselves in the face of financial uncertainty.
"We've seen our financial markets do things that haven't been seen in this country for a very long time," Neugebauer said during his opening remarks. "Now the question is, what next?"
An uneasy crowd asked questions regarding the recent financial disaster and what the government could have done to prevent it.
Neugebauer said there was plenty of blame to go around.
"What we don't want to do is take the tools away, but make sure there is integrity in those tools," he said, launching into the FINRA presentation "What Every Investor Needs to Know."
Established to regulate more than 600,000 brokers and securities trading houses, FINRA is charged with keeping an eye out for fraudulent investment schemes and providing resources for investors looking to broaden their knowledge.
Jeannie Jans, senior vice president with FINRA, said most investors are looking for an opportunity to learn more about their strategies and what will grow their money in a steady and secure manner.
Some topics covered included:
Indentifying investment objectives - analyzing financial factors and determining a timetable for financial goals.
Understanding risk - how much risk can be taken on, age factored into level of risk and the understanding that every investment comes with some risk.
Diversifying - spreading your portfolio over various kinds of categories and checking up on investment allocation periodically to make sure there's not too much money tied up in investments.
Investing for the long term - patience is key.
Jans warned of easy investment options that seem to provide above-market returns as they can often be fraudulent. Following the financial crisis, many brokers may be stretching your dollar for more risk than they would have in an attempt to make back money lost.
"Have the willpower to walk away from a pitch and product you don't understand," she said.
FINRA research found most investors taken by fraud were men older than 55 with a college education and plenty of financial experience, a warning that anyone is open to a scheme.
Jans said watching the behavior of your broker, checking with third-party sources and being weary of any changes is a good way to keep your money safe.
The group's Web site, www.finra.org, also provides access to tools designed at protecting investors from fraud.
Neugebauer said there is no doubt that Americans are facing unprecedented times, but he hopes brighter days are just around the corner.
"The goal is to make sure that we restore America back to the great country that it is and that we fix the parts of the market that are broken but not to overhaul the market," he said. "You have to decide on whether you believe in America or not, because essentially we're investing in America."
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First appeared on lubbockonline.com: 9:16 p.m. Monday.
BUSINESS/Neugebauer, FINRA officials tell residents how to protect themselves
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Vacation rentals in Italy (villas, farms, estates, agriturismo, apartments)
Public Transportation in Rome
Driving and parking in Rome can be quite difficult. The best solution for getting around Rome, when you're not walking, is to use public transportation. The bus lines cover the entire city and give you a chance to mingle, though at times a little too closely, with Romans and other tourists.
The metro can be useful if you're staying near a station. The 2 lines don't cover much of the city but it can be a very fast way of getting around if you happen to be going near a station. The metro also connects with some of the train stations and the Cotral buses that go out of town.
This section contains all the information you need to use the buses and metro (subway) in Rome. Click on the links below to go to the sections.
Tickets: Where to buy them, types of fares and tickets, how to validate your tickets on the bus or in the metro.
Hours of Operation: Hours that the buses and metro run.
Buses in Rome: Getting on and off, types of buses, bus stops.
Metro (Subway) in Rome: Rome metro lines, getting on and off, using passes
Getting to Rome's Airports by Public Transportation: Buses and metro to Fiumicino (FCO) and Ciampino airports
Taxis: How to use Taxis in Rome.
A Word About Pickpockets
As in any big city, there are pickpockets working the buses and metro in Rome. Some buses are notorious, such as Bus 64 that goes from the main train station, Termini, to the Vatican.
Buses and the metro can be quite crowded making it easier for the thieves to work. If you're carrying a purse, keep your arm over it. A backpack should be placed on your chest or carried by hand, not on your shoulders. In general, just be aware of who is around you and try to keep a hand over your wallet or purse.
Rome Buses and Metro on the Internet
Buses in Rome: www.atac.rome.it
Rome Metro (subway): www.metroroma.it
Tourist Lines: www.trambus.com
Airports of Rome: www.adr.it
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Original Gandhi Poster in his own words. Image made of Gandhi’s quotes!
If you like Gandhi, you’ll love this! Gandhi in his own words! His image composed of more than 40 of his greatest quotes including:
“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind”
“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever”
Figures Of Speech “Quotographs” bring the words of The Dalai Lama to life thru the transformative combination of his image and quotations. Sure to enhance your living space as well as your life!
- Original Wall Art - Approximately 24" x 30" Unframed.
- Printed in 12 Color Canon Lucia EX Pigment Ink!
- Canon 170gsm / 8 mil Matte Coated Paper.
- 3 level Black Ink Technology for wide contrast ratios and more expressive blacks.
- Grain free images with smooth tonal transmission and gradation.
- Guaranteed crisp, clean and clearly legible.
- Print/pigment permanence tested to last up to 200 years!
- Shipped rolled in tissue paper, plastic sleeve and sturdy cardboard tube for secure arrival. | <urn:uuid:8a5ce1a5-e030-4692-a8de-8cbcaef096b6> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://figuresofspeech.us/collections/staff-picks/products/original-gandhi-poster-in-his-own-words-image-made-of-gandhi-s-quotes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571758.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812200804-20220812230804-00675.warc.gz | en | 0.934017 | 270 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Responsible gambling charity GambleAware has disclosed its new five-year strategy, focusing on a ‘whole system approach’ to reduce and prevent gambling related harm.
Beginning the group’s presentation on its new roadmap, Chair of Trustees Kate Lampard CBE outlined GambleAware’s ambition for its strategy to be used as a ‘compass for all organisations, partners and individuals working to prevent gambling harm’.
“To keep people safe from gamlbing harms there is a clear need to have appropriate messages, referral routes and care pathways in place,” she remarked.
“This requires a coherent and coordinated whole system approach, which should involve partnerships with the NHS, healthcare agencies, local authorities and include collaboration with those who have lived experience of gambling harm.”
Zoe Osmond, CEO of GambleAware, then discussed the specific details of the strategy, again focusing on a ‘whole system community based response’ to gambling harm, incorporating awareness raising, early intervention and referral routes into treatment’.
She also outlined the group’s primary strategic priorities for the next five years, identifying the following targets:
- Accelerating engagement and awareness
- Transforming capacity and capability via a range of partnerships
- Increasing equality and championing diversity
- Delivering best-in class commissioning
Describing GambleAware’s overall mission, Osmond said: “We are an independent charity guided by a board of trustees, many of whom work in the health sector.
“Our charitable objectives are twofold – the advancement of education aimed at preventing gambling harm, particularly against young people and those who are most vulnerable.
“Secondly, working with people in Great Britain to keep them safe from gambling harms through the application of that health model.”
Also speaking during the webinar was Dr Jane Rigbye, who outlined GambleAware’s commissioning strategy and its four key objectives.
Source – BeGambleAware YouTube Channel | <urn:uuid:a3325ebe-b79c-43c5-b07f-6d4dd1d91bbc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://gamblingtv.com/webinars/2021/04/28/gambleaware-details-whole-system-approach-in-new-strategy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573908.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220820043108-20220820073108-00277.warc.gz | en | 0.935492 | 422 | 1.625 | 2 |
Oral Pathology Plantation FL | Essentials of Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine
In dentistry, oral pathology Plantation FL is regarded as a specialty in identifying, managing and diagnosing oral diseases. Most dentists who know what oral pathology is would tell you that you need to spend two more years of training to practice this specialization. After training, dentists are now allowed to diagnose oral diseases of their patients and recommend oral care. The practice of oral pathology includes the examination of the impact of food and oral hygiene in the formation of various oral diseases. Oral pathologists may collect a patient’s DNA and examine it to determine what kind of bacteria, fungus, or virus is causing the disease.
Fundamentals of Oral Pathology
What is Oral Pathology?
In oral pathology, the first step in treating oral diseases is proper identification and diagnosis of the symptoms. A dentist must conduct a comprehensive examination before recommending any treatment to the patient. Treating disorders of the mouth requires extensive research because it’s a sensitive area of the body. The next step is to gather samples from the patient. Data gathering includes collecting DNA samples from patients through mouth swabs and blood testing. After collecting the samples, the oral pathologists examine the samples, process it and then give their findings.
How is Oral Medicine Related?
Certain types of oral diseases can be caused by fungus, bacteria, and viruses. Certain types of diseases such as mouth sores can be cured by prescribing the appropriate medicine. Oral medicine is frequently regarded as separate from dentistry because it is included in oral pathology. Oral medicine is sometimes synonymous with oral health because it includes proper hygiene. Your oral medicine dentist can prescribe proper hygiene to patients since this is part of your oral pathology training.
Where to Find Oral Pathology Plantation FL?
Avoid making these mistakes to keep your oral health in its best shape. Contact us for inquiries! | <urn:uuid:a62e71b0-0fde-4912-8cb1-448ee83f53e8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://oralfacial.com/oral-pathology-plantation-fl-essentials-of-oral-pathology-and-oral-medicine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573667.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819100644-20220819130644-00076.warc.gz | en | 0.936896 | 388 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Find your path, see what it’s all about and choose your own Colorado hunting and scouting adventure via the steps below:
Species: Mule deer in the mountains, whitetail on the plains or the legendary elk of the Rockies — these are only some of many species that call Colorado home.
Method of Take: Go primitive with a longbow, stay modern with a centerfire rifle or split the difference with muzzle-loading. Colorado is accommodating to most types and styles of take as long as you have that handy hunter education card (from Colorado or your home state).
Season: It’s hard to resist hunting among golden aspen leaves in early season bow-and-muzzle-loading seasons, but cool weather and snow often help in a successful hunt. Big-game seasons run from August through January.
Scout It Out: Make a pre-season basecamp in one of Colorado’s welcoming small towns and bring friends or family along. Staying stealthy any time of year can reveal the secret side of wilderness, which loud or talking hikers rarely encounter.
Fish Side Dish: Big-game habitat almost always overlaps with small-game and fish habitat. Bring along that shotgun or fishing rod and experience the richness of Colorado’s varied terrain.
Love at First Site: Adherence to Colorado’s hunting and fishing guidelines are extremely important to the overall health of the wilderness. The first responsibility on any trip is to visit wildlife.state.co.us or pick up a printed manual to stay up to date on changes in the law.
Learn: Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers Elk Hunting University, instructional videos and a whole lot more to get you ready for the hunt. And find information on outdoor survival, a guide to Colorado’s game management units, scouting tips and numbers to call when you have questions.
Plan: Apply by mail or online for limited-draw licenses, always due on the first Tuesday in April. For more information on dates and fees, visit Colorado Parks & Wildlife.
Find a directory of Colorado hunting outfitters, who can lead you on guided or semi-guided hunts, as well as Colorado Parks and Wildlife field offices. | <urn:uuid:810a7cf2-b67d-4cc3-9878-64678633096d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.colorado.com/articles/beginning-hunting-colorado | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285001.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00301-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928446 | 451 | 1.609375 | 2 |
By Dr Moeed Pirzada
Today we have unique challenges: we have the Islamists but without the spirit of Islam; we have democracy without the democrats and we have liberals without liberalism.
My parental home was like most homes in Pakistan. Each year just before Eid-ul-Azha or ‘Bari Eid’ we talked of the prices of goats, of lambs, and how such and such corrupt official, Thekedar (contractor) or smuggler (basically everyone our parents hated) has bought a big fat healthy cow for qurbani (sacrifice). And each year we meekly purchased a goat or a lamb, for remembering Abraham and Ishmael and for fulfilling our responsibility to God and to society. As children we joined our parents and other elders in touching the heads of these goats and later in the day gleefully consumed the best part of their meat in Biryani or roast; carefully saving many valuable chunks in our deep freezer before distributing the rest among neighbours, rich friends and poor folks around the town. And I remember rushing to the front gate dozens of time to receive and collect the sacrificial meat from all friends and family and city notables, including the same smugglers we hated. And on our dining table we often discussed which Maulvi or madrasa will extract the black, brown or the white sheepskin.
But then came a strange year. Our mother, for reasons best known to her, decided to buy a goat many weeks before Eid. All my siblings fancied that black goat with big eyes and a furry mane. We joined our servant and took turns in feeding her, cleaning her shed and in walking her around. She even fell ill before Eid so we called a vet who took care of that. And then came the day of the sacrifice. I do not know how animals have an intuition of what is about to happen or there is a thing called ‘animal ESP’. But from the night before Eid, our goat’s usual baah’s and meh’s changed to moans. In the morning when the busy and much sought after ‘man of the day’ — the butcher — arrived, we had to drag a reluctant, resistant, protesting goat to the front of our lawn for the butcher’s knife. During my CSS examinations I had read that the mother of King George III used to admonish the shy would-be monarch, “George be a king,” but I remember that day my mother shouting at me and my brother, “Be a man, go assist the butcher.” I still remember the helpless look of surprise and horror in that goat’s eyes as she lay there moments before the moving of the knife looking at me; someone she had internalised as the caretaker and someone who had betrayed her. On that Eid, my siblings ensured that no meat was served on our dining table and nothing went into our mother’s deep freezer; all of it went to the neighbours and to the poor.
It was the first day in my life when I had to grapple with the spirit and power of the biblical parable of Abraham and Ishmael (some sources argue it relates to Isaac). Though we all profess to love children but I had to wait many more years in my life before I held my own child in my arms and to experience the joy and to understand what it might have been for Abraham to have Ishmael or Isaac. My religious beliefs were never akin to those of a bishop or a maulana and in years of traversing through life and absorbing a bit of Voltaire here and Russell there like most of us do, I might have come to understand things a little differently. But despite all this, in my own way, I have always been religious and looked and searched for greater meaning in all the divine religions and their parables.
No doubt rituals have been important in defining, orchestrating and deepening religious experiences. I do not want to spend time describing how today on TV and radio we will consume endless hours discussing the price inflation of sheep; or that today we purchase goats one day before Eid or how across the world we get certificates of our financial share in a qurbani. Societies have held together and shaped themselves around rituals but I wonder what happens to a society when it loses its power to interpret and reinterpret and all it is left with is rituals. We know that when ideas lose their spirit, words lose their meaning and thus their power and effect but have you wondered that something more than that may also happen.
So please forgive me for going totally berserk and refer to something very unusual and bizarre for this kind of discussion. A few years ago while studying ‘Media and Internet Regulation’ at the London School of Economics, I came across a very provocative book, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace by Professor Lawrence Lessig who has taught Internet Law at both Harvard and Stanford and who in my judgement is to Internet Law what Steve Jobs is to computation. Lessig, at one point, while trying to explain how statutes and constitutional enactments of an early age may not only lose their original intent and meaning but if interpreted literally in a different age and context may end up meaning the opposite.
To help explain Lessig takes us to a 1928 US Supreme Court case, ‘Olmstead vs the United States’. The US government was fighting prohibition era alcohol cartels; it had just become technically possible for the government to tap telephone lines and record private conversations from its telephone exchanges without physically going into private property; and using this newfound power the government used such phone recordings to convict alcohol smugglers. Lawyers of the defendants argued before the Supreme Court that such recordings, without a warrant, constituted ‘trespass’ and ‘invasion of privacy’ and that the government had violated the US constitution and the Fourth Amendment that guarantees citizens their right to privacy.
What do you think happened? The US government argued that since the police never physically entered the premises, merely recorded phone conversations from exchanges, so trespass never happened. In 1928, Justice William Taft agreed with the government. However, another judge on the panel, Justice Brandeis, wrote a note of dissent arguing that newer technologies had made it possible for the government to violate the privacy enshrined in the Fourth Amendment without the need of a physical trespass. And that the court, grappling with challenges of a different age and time and context, needs to reflect beyond the words of the Fourth Amendment to preserve the original meaning and the spirit of the framers of the Fourth Amendment.
Lessig relieved us by telling that 40 years later, in ‘Katz vs the United States’, the US Supreme Court was able to understand what Justice Brandeis was arguing, and it overturned the judgement of ‘Olmstead vs the United States’
Now let’s come back. Lessig was obsessed with Internet Law and how the 200-plus-years-old US constitution’s original meaning can be preserved in defining laws and governance for cyberspace. And I was thinking of religions and Islam. Today we have unique challenges: we have the Islamists but without the spirit of Islam; we have democracy without the democrats and we have liberals without liberalism. If on this auspicious Bari Eid day, I have made you pause and reflect that words and statutes may not only lose their meaning in a changed context, but may end up meaning the opposite, then maybe I have succeeded. Eid Mubarak!
The writer is a political analyst and a TV anchorperson.
Source: The Daily Times, Lahore | <urn:uuid:c7955373-10cf-4f36-8e87-c5fef7dbde27> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-society/of-qurbani-ritual-and-religion-/d/5858 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572286.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816090541-20220816120541-00265.warc.gz | en | 0.966469 | 1,564 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Republican efforts to expand oil production on public lands, ramp up oversight of the Obama administration’s domestic energy policies and scale back efforts to expand national parks would begin in a committee that hasn't had much respect lately.
The House Natural Resources Committee has a broad jurisdiction – overseeing federal lands, oil and gas drilling policy, and endangered species laws, for starters – but hasn't flexed its muscles under the Democrats for the past four years.
Story Continued Below
Republicans and energy lobbyists say that should change should the GOP take control.
“The Republicans have got to decide whether that committee should continue to be a parks and recreation committee or whether they should get their s—- together and be a powerhouse,” said an energy lobbyist close to the panel.
West Virginia Democrat Nick Rahall, the panel's chairman since 2007, has won kudos from the environmental community for his efforts to shepherd a host of wilderness bills through the committee and to overhaul federal onshore oil and gas and geothermal stream leasing systems. But he’s come under fire from the right for being too subservient to the environmental community and House leadership – namely Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah, in line to chair the Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee, said Rahall is a decent person, but he always got the feeling that the chairman “had limitations placed on him coming from the speaker’s office.”
Pelosi’s chief of staff, John Lawrence, was staff director of the Natural Resources Committee under former Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) and a former Republican committee aide suggested that he may be pulling the strings of the committee from Pelosi’s office.
Other top committee Republicans complain that Rahall didn’t do enough to expand drilling and mineral extraction issues.
“In the 111th Congress, those issues have been punted to another day and consequently, the industry has been paralyzed,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
In order to become a powerhouse, the committee that oversees federal land and water policies, including national parks, national forests, wilderness areas, Indian reservations and BLM lands, may have to expand its jurisdiction.
The panel could be modeled after the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which oversees federal energy policy as well as federal lands, one lobbyist suggested.
Chaffetz said he would be in favor of taking some of the energy production jurisdiction that’s now held by the Energy and Commerce Committee. “There’s certainly more the committee could take on,” he said, adding, “Energy and Commerce has a full plate.”
The committee's issues aren't as "sexy or front page" as other committees," Chaffetz added, "but to those of us in the West, they're imperative."
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) wants to see the committee beef up domestic energy production.
“It is high time we began using the resources we were blessed with and use part of the royalties to develop alternative energy sources,” he said. “That means jobs in the U.S. and a cleaner world environment. We don't help the environment by sending jobs to countries that are not as protective of the environment as we are.”
Sources close to the committee say there have long been efforts in the House to hijack jurisdiction from Energy and Commerce and they’re rarely successful. And it’s unclear whether likely House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would be interested in restructuring the committees. | <urn:uuid:ba4db579-57cf-4f84-a049-0ffa79c2ada7> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.politico.com/story/2010/11/gop-aims-to-bolster-resources-panel-044524 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720941.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00519-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960912 | 739 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Since I was a young boy I have heard that “Republicans are the party of the rich.” My parents were among the few Republicans in a precinct dominated by Democrats and this allegation made my father angry. He fired a boiler at a Catholic hospital and was lower middle class. A German immigrant, he came to the United States because of the kindness of the chaplain at the Catholic hospital and a foreman at the J.I. Case Tractor plant who sponsored him and agreed to care for him for five years if needed. My father had never met the man until he arrived in America.
We were anything but rich. We did not have a car for eleven years. We never took a vacation. We didn’t have many things which ordinary households had. My father was just happy to be in America. He felt he was far better off here than if he had stayed in depression-torn Germany. He became a Republican because he believed President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke his promises. Whenever my father heard Roosevelt insist that the Republican Party consisted only of rich people he became so upset that my mother had to calm him down.
God rest his soul, my father has been gone for twenty years now. There are so many things I wish he had seen. He was a fierce opponent of the Soviet Union. Its dissolution would have brought great joy to his heart. Another is a study by my friend and colleague Mike Franc, Vice President for Congressional Relations at the Heritage Foundation. Using data provided by the Internal Revenue Service, Franc looked at single-filer taxpayers earning more than $100,000 per year and married joint-filers earning more than $200,000 per year. Franc discovered that the Democratic Party is the “party of the rich.” Franc said, “Electing Democrats is very closely correlated with how many wealthy households are in a district.”
Franc said that the number of Democrats representing wealthy districts significantly increased after the 2006 elections. These Democrats have pushed for passage of H.R. 3970, the Tax Reduction and Reform Act of 2007. The bill, proposed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), would eliminate the middle class from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), a tax originally intended for the very wealthy but which more and more Americans must pay each year because its income requirement was not indexed to inflation. To make up for the shortfall that would result in this loss of revenue, the bill also proposes an enormous increase in taxes for Americans whose adjusted gross incomes are in excess of $250,000. The bill probably will be dead upon arrival in the Senate. Franc said the Democrats can’t go too far in levying huge tax increases on the rich because they would be doing it to themselves.
As with the surge in Iraq, the success of which key Democrats refuse to acknowledge, it is unlikely Democrats will admit they are now the party of the rich. They need to appear as the party of the poor to maintain specific voting blocs. Still, if mainstream media would acknowledge the new party of the rich just as it now acknowledges the success of the surge in Iraq, things may change. Want to guess which Republican will brand the Democrats the party of the rich? | <urn:uuid:e3c73665-0ead-4e7d-b44e-b19e41e56a47> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://townhall.com/columnists/paulweyrich/2007/11/28/the_party_of_the_rich_but_which_party | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283689.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00346-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985985 | 662 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Entrepreneurs from ethic minorities have a tougher time getting loans in comparison to their white UK counterparts, recent numbers have revealed. The chances of African entrepreneurs being denied loans are four times higher, while those from the West Indies, Bangladesh and Pakistan are charged a higher rate of interest. Deputy PM Nick Clegg spoke out against this inequality and biased practice by banks in his speech at the 30th anniversary of the Brixton riot report by Lord Scarman.
Clegg said that iniquities such as these ought to be removed as they were discouraging many hopefuls from the ethnic minority communities from starting their own businesses. Equal opportunities and fairness are crucial to ensure true equality, he declared, and urged banks to encourage entrepreneurs from racial minorities.
The country’s banks were able to get back on their feet after being pumped with taxpayers’ money. They owe the people of Britain a great deal, and are responsible for helping build a robust economy, said Clegg. He added that it is also their duty to motivate ethnic minority and black entrepreneurs.
It is estimated that while 35 per cent of the UK population belonging to African backgrounds is looking at entrepreneurial careers, less than 10 per cent are able to successfully set up their own business. Even in the private sector, it has been seen that for every £1 earned by a white employee, his black counterpart has to make do with only 89p. It is important that banks raze down the barriers that are preventing ethnic minority start-ups from accessing credit. | <urn:uuid:b9d527e5-156e-4b25-afa2-7c2df181b149> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.officegenie.co.uk/blog/20111130-nick-clegg-asks-banks-support-ethnic-minority-entrepreneurs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00466-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981038 | 305 | 1.929688 | 2 |
I’ve been interviewing ScrumMaster candidates lately and I like to ask about retrospective techniques. Specifically, I ask the candidate “what types of retrospective techniques do you use for a new team as they adopt the Scrum framework? Do you have any favorites?” I ask this question for 3 reasons:
- In my opinion, retrospectives are the most important meeting in Scrum;
- It gives you a sense of the ScrumMaster’s creativity; and
- It gives you a sense of the ScrumMaster’s depth of knowledge.
I’ve been disappointed to discover that most of the ScrumMasters I’ve interviewed only say that they ask the standard:
- What went well?
- What didn’t go well?
- What can we improve?
Sure, that’s a valid answer and an awesome place for new teams to start, but those same questions get boring really quickly. In addition, no one I have interviewed lately has mentioned the MOST important question to ask…what did we learn!
There are many great retrospective ideas out in the Agile community, including variations and additions on the basic questions and creative facilitation techniques. ScrumMasters should develop a toolkit of retrospective techniques that they can use and adapt with their teams.
Here are 10 retrospective ideas that you can add to your Scrum toolkit.
- Liked, learned, lacked, longed for (4 L’s)
- Starfish (small, large)
- Stop, start, continue
- Mad, sad, glad
- Token of appreciation
- One word retrospective
- KALM (Keep, add, more, less)
- and when you have no idea what to do…just use lean coffee style
Need more retrospective ideas? Check out the retrospectives portion of my Agile resources page.
Oh…and PS…please don’t forget the prime directive. | <urn:uuid:a11420a8-b6e4-453a-917c-c4b2d27dafc8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://andybacon.com/2016/09/07/10-retrospectives/?replytocom=156 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.91348 | 417 | 1.523438 | 2 |
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Free easy-to-access books, lesson plans, running records and so much more from all of our flagship programs. Register for free to access over 200 books in both English and Spanish, with full instructional support. | <urn:uuid:4c10be94-7d6e-4ebf-aa57-209af13cb3fc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.ahrenseducation.com/free-resources | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572043.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814143522-20220814173522-00478.warc.gz | en | 0.901922 | 196 | 1.875 | 2 |
Published on October 31st, 2015 | by Steve Hanley0
Mercedes Vision Concept (w/Video)
For the Tokyo motor show this year, Mercedes rolled out one of the strangest cars to wear the three pointed star since the half-track staff cars it built for Rommel’s desert campaign. Its Vision concept is more nightmare than sweet dreams.
Looking like a 1962 Chevy work van that got chopped and channelled by George Barris, the Mercedes Vision is a hybrid, but not in the usual sense. It has an electric motor and battery, but also features a hydrogen powered fuel cell to assist with forward progress. Does that sound weird? Wait till you step inside.
The Vision is intended to appeal to those citizens born since 1995 who can’t bear the thought of being separated from their cell phones and friends on social media for one nanosecond. The interior features an oval couch, where up to 5 Generation Z types can sit around and marvel at their collective wonderfulness. Once ensconced, apps, maps and displays emanating from the entertainment system are presented as three dimensional holograms within the interior space. How utterly way cool is that?
Outside, the gargoyle-like front fascia changes color to the beat of the music flooding the interior, so those poor souls excluded from the nonstop self-admiration going on inside can be envious. According to Ecomento, on those rare occasions when someone actually has to drive this thing, one section of the couch separates itself from the group and turns toward the front of the vehicle, where the steering wheel will be waiting after it undocks itself from its usual hiding place.
The rest of the time, the Vision will find its own way through urban congestion to whatever awesome destination the perennial partygoers prefer, then park itself autonomously. Presumably it will also be able to snap a couple hundred selfies for the denizens within to share with their coterie of close personal friends.
It is hard to imagine that Mercedes Benz would waste its time and resources to create this excrescence. The only way this vehicle can help meet the challenge of climate change is if it floats. Instead of calling it Vision, they should have called it Narcissus. | <urn:uuid:110da933-c729-40ff-abf6-6ce9e98461c7> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://gas2.org/2015/10/31/mercedes-vision-concept-wvideo/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285315.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00567-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94513 | 458 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Definitions for pass away
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word pass away
die, decease, perish, go, exit, pass away, expire, pass, kick the bucket, cash in one's chips, buy the farm, conk, give-up the ghost, drop dead, pop off, choke, croak, snuff it(verb)
pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
"She died from cancer"; "The children perished in the fire"; "The patient went peacefully"; "The old guy kicked the bucket at the age of 102"
go out of existence
"She hoped that the problem would eventually pass away"
The numerical value of pass away in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
The numerical value of pass away in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
Many people pass away with these deposits who never develop the disease.
It was pilot illness. Unfortunately, that pilot did pass away. Of course, we're saddened.
Grieve not that I die young. Is it not well To pass away ere life hath lost its brightness?
Times of luxury do not last long, but pass away very quickly nothing in this world can be long enjoyed.
I know when he goes there he’s going to be really afraid and he’s probably going to pass away from stress.
Images & Illustrations of pass away
Translations for pass away
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- sove ind, gå bortDanish
- فوت کردنPersian
- mourir, décéderFrench
- imigh sallIrish
- הלך לעולמו, נִפְטַרHebrew
- wafat, meninggal duniaIndonesian
- falecer, ir-sePortuguese
- sfârși, muri, a-și da duhul, decedaRomanian
- умереть, скончатьсяRussian
- преминути, preminutiSerbo-Croatian
- gå bortSwedish
- vefat etmekTurkish
- qua đời, từ trầnVietnamese
Get even more translations for pass away »
Find a translation for the pass away definition in other languages:
Select another language: | <urn:uuid:088fd436-7fa0-41c5-8e49-dceea850aee0> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.definitions.net/definition/pass%20away | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279169.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00210-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.852153 | 559 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Note: #TwitterEnCatalà is the Catalan-language hashtag for #TwitterInCatalan.
On July 6, 2012, thousands of Catalan-speaking netizens celebrated the fact that Twitter finally speaks their language. The hashtag #twitterencatalà quickly became a trending topic in Spain, and Data'n'Press launched twitterencatala.org to monitor the number of users who switch their accounts into Catalan. Within the first 24 hours, more than 10,000 did so.
Many Twitter users have rejoiced in the website's newest language edition, but many others have expressed their anger at the announcement, tweeting derogatory remarks about the Catalan language and people.
On the positive side, many directly thanked Albert Cuesta, who organized the public petition for a Catalan Twitter, as well as all those who signed it:
There were also abundant tweets that celebrated the launch of Catalan Twitter as a victory for Catalan identity in the context of Catalonia's current sociopolitical situation:
That being said, Catalan Twitter's launch also provoked a storm of angry, in some cases racist tweets towards the Catalan language and people, and conversely, some vitriolic, as well as sarcastic, responses:
The website Apuntem.cat, dedicated to denouncing anti-Catalan racism on the Internet, collected some of the most violent tweets (note: in Spanish, “catalufo” is used as a slur for Catalans):
@AdrianVic04: Catalans, I wish you the worst illness and suffering, and that death follows you through life, you are the fucking shit of SPAIN.
@manuelrodrigue1: come on, man now that want to put #twitterencatalà, when will these piece-of-shit separatist catalufos quit? they're just disgusting
@Ander89zgz: These catalufos disgust me. Can't we just exterminate them all?
Violently anti-Catalan tweets have worried Catalan netizens for a long time. European MP Ramon Tremosa has brought these concerns before the European Commission, arguing that these kind of statements shouldn't be protected as free speech because they “carry the seed of hate” [cat].
Catalan Twitter was launched less than a week after the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió's latest public opinion poll [cat], which highlighted that over 51% of the Catalan electorate would vote in favor of independence if a referendum were held tomorrow. | <urn:uuid:e9440d33-be83-4eb7-b722-01081d1f0dba> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://globalvoices.org/2012/07/12/twitterencatala-provokes-tweets-of-joy-and-hate/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718866.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00004-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93324 | 515 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951)
Release Date: September 28th, 1951 MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Robert Wise Actors: Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Frances Bavier
saucer-like spacecraft lands in Washington, D.C., capturing the attention of denizens across the globe. Humanoid emissary Klaatu (Michael Rennie) emerges with an immediate introduction of peace and good will – alongside his intimidating, hulking, 8-foot robot bodyguard Gort – but is accidentally shot while presenting an exotic gift. As the military takes control of the situation by rushing Klaatu to a hospital and confining him to a cell, the strange visitor decides he must intermingle with other humans to help him with his ultimate mission: to warn the leaders of the world that total obliteration awaits if human aggression and violence are not put to a halt.
After escaping from his quarters and assuming the name of Mr. Carpenter, Klaatu rents a room adjacent to Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her inquisitive young son Bobby (Billy Gray). He interacts with them to experience the decency and reasoning humankind can exhibit, which the strict, unfriendly, regimented U.S. war machine could not offer. When Klaatu arranges a meeting with the top scientists in the nation, jealousy and paranoia from Helen’s boyfriend (Hugh Marlowe) lead to further military intervention.
Klaatu doesn’t want to clarify his assignment to individuals, but he has no problem detailing his advanced methods of medicine, his 130-year life expectancy, or his knowledge of space travel. His people have learned to live without war and violence; presidential advisor Mr. Harley (Frank Conroy) admits that mankind has not learned to live without stupidity. The government’s ability to solve the escalating situation of utilizing deadly weaponry is questioned, alluding to the Cold War paranoia, political turmoil, and general economic unrest of the post-WWII era. But Klaatu readily provides a solution, with a demonstration of Earth’s dire predicament necessary to dictate the seriousness of the situation. The complete neutralization of electricity, which literally causes the Earth to stand still (giving substantial meaning to the title), is imposed over a 30-minute blackout – resulting in a panicked, nationwide manhunt and the quarantining of the city.
In the 1951 classic, alien visitor Klaatu arrives simply to deliver a message – one that leaves the fate of the planet in the hands of the people yet cautions them to govern with moral proprieties. In the 2008 remake, Klaatu arrives for a different reason: he must pass judgment over the guilty as well as carry out an execution. The differences in his purpose cause both films to head toward drastically contrasting plot directions. But what is most surprising about the update is the removal of almost everything creative, allegorical, and thought-provoking devised in the original.
Writer Edmund H. North’s adaptation (of the short story “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates) proves that an intelligent, well-written script can easily make up for a lack in visual luster. A few visible wires, a crash of cymbals to replace onscreen intensity, and a clunky robot design (which is now famously iconic) are quickly forgiven as an engaging storyline and memorable characters fill the void of what would nowadays be computer-augmented special effects. While some accuse “The Day the Earth Stood Still” of preaching messages over delivering thrills, it’s a frequently recognized science-fiction staple of alien invaders, the near-miss engaging of failsafe switches for out-of-control technological dependence, and a prescient warning of the decline of civilized international cooperation.
– The Massie Twins | <urn:uuid:10ede6aa-958b-467b-943d-916539f150a6> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://gonewiththetwins.com/new/day-the-earth-stood-still-the-1951/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280872.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00319-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912574 | 803 | 1.757813 | 2 |
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