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The California Science Center says "Darwin's Dilemma"… (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles…)
L.A.'s California Science Center will start the new year defending itself in court for canceling a documentary film attacking Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
A lawsuit alleges that the state-owned center improperly bowed to pressure from the Smithsonian Institution, as well as e-mailed complaints from USC professors and others. It contends that the center violated both the 1st Amendment and a contract to rent the museum's Imax Theater when it canceled the screening of "Darwin's Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Record."
The suit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the American Freedom Alliance, an L.A.-based group described by senior fellow Avi Davis as a nonprofit, nonpartisan "think tank and activist network promoting Western values and ideals."
The AFA seeks punitive damages and compensation for financial losses, as well as a declaration from the court that the center violated the Constitution and cannot refuse the group the right to rent its facilities for future events.
The AFA had planned an Oct. 25 screening of two films at the Exposition Park museum -- one a short Imax movie called "We are Born of Stars," which favors Darwin's theory; the other, "Darwin's Dilemma: The Mystery of the Cambrian Fossil Record," a feature-length documentary that criticizes Darwin and promotes intelligent design.
Intelligent design is the theory that an intelligent being, rather than impersonal forces such as Darwinian natural selection, is responsible for shaping life on Earth. An overwhelming majority of scientists and science and natural history museums consider the theory of evolution to have been proved beyond a doubt by genetic and fossil evidence. Critics of intelligent design have dismissed it as a superficially scientific cloak for the straightforwardly religious belief known as Creationism that's anchored in a literal reading of the biblical Book of Genesis.
The AFA's Davis said his group has no position on Darwinism and intelligent design but is concerned that debate is being stifled by the scientific establishment.
During the fall, the AFA organized a series of public events, including the film screening, geared to the 2009 bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of his landmark work, "On the Origin of Species."
On Oct. 5, the science center, one of 165 national affiliates of the Smithsonian that enjoy special access to loans from its massive collection, received an alert -- and a complaint -- from Harold Closter, director of the Smithsonian's affiliates program. Closter gave the science center the head's-up about a news release that had been issued not by the AFA but by the Discovery Institute, a Seattle-based think tank that promotes intelligent design and whose researchers are featured in "Darwin's Dilemma." In an e-mail that's an exhibit in the lawsuit, he wrote that the news release wrongly implied that the California Science Center is "a West Coast branch of the Smithsonian, and that the film showing is a Smithsonian event." Closter asked science center officials to correct the error but did not mention canceling the screening.
The Smithsonian has a history with the Discovery Institute: In an embarrassing episode in 2005, it approved Discovery's rental of an auditorium at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History for a screening of a different film promoting intelligent design. That led to an outcry from the scientific community. But, having signed a contract, the Smithsonian allowed the screening to go forward, trying to distance itself from the event by returning the $16,000 rental fee and emphasizing that the Smithsonian did not endorse the screening.
The California Science Center, in contrast, canceled the AFA's screening on Oct. 6, saying that the AFA had violated its rental agreement.
Science center President Jeffrey Rudolph said in a statement entered in the case file that the news release violated a standard contractual requirement: All promotional materials for outside users' events must be submitted to the museum before they can be made public.
The AFA's suit, filed Oct. 14, contends that the contract issue was a "false pretext" and that pressure from the Smithsonian and the academic community was the real reason for canceling the film. It alleges that Rudolph first met with museum board members, then "contrived a justification" -- the unauthorized news release -- for preventing the screening. The AFA says that it should not have been held responsible for a release that it didn't issue itself.
The AFA alleges that in failing to be honest and open about its reasons for negating the contract, the science center committed a contract fraud that should now expose it to punitive damages on top of the $75,000 or more that Davis says the AFA lost by hastily having to transfer the $20 per ticket screening to a smaller space at USC's Davidson Conference Center, where the pro-Darwin Imax film could not be shown properly. | <urn:uuid:b2670c16-36f4-42a7-92ae-e2cffdcfcdeb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/29/entertainment/la-et-science-center29-2009dec29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280410.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00451-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95577 | 1,010 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The effect of hold-times on the fatigue behaviour of type AISI 316L stainless steel under deuteron irradiation
Strain controlled fatigue tests have been performed in torsion at 400 C on type 316L stainless steel samples in both 20% cold worked and annealed conditions during an irradiation with 19 MeV deuterons. A hold time was imposed in the loading cycle. For the cold worked material, at shear strain ranges of 1.13% and 1.3%, irradiation creep induced stress relaxation led to the build up of a mean stress. The fatigue life was significantly reduced in comparison to thermal control tests. For the annealed material, tested under similar experimental conditions, irradiation creep effects were negligibly small compared to cyclic and irradiation hardening. The fatigue life was only slightly reduced. Continuous cycling tests conducted under irradiation conditions lay in the scatter band of the thermal control tests. The difference in fatigue life between continuous cycling and hold time tests is attributed mainly to the observed difference in irradiation hardening.
Bibliographic Reference: Article: Journal of Nuclear Materials (1998)
Record Number: 199810904 / Last updated on: 1998-08-07
Original language: en
Available languages: en | <urn:uuid:5b40e478-5901-4a3a-b092-b0f7da02f91b> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://cordis.europa.eu/publication/rcn/199810904_en.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285315.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00569-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923303 | 256 | 2 | 2 |
Quinoa is a protein-packed grain that can be used in both sweet and savory dishes, adding a distinctive texture and nutty flavor. Never heard of quinoa? Look for it in the rice and pasta aisle at your local supermarket or at your local whole foods store - it comes packaged as well as in bulk. Then give these three delectable quinoa recipes a try.
What is quinoa?
Quinoa is an ancient, nutty-flavored grain that was highly esteemed in the Inca culture. Also referred to as the "mother grain," dating back 5,000 years, this good for you grain is protein-rich, gluten-free and incredibly versatile in the kitchen. Even better, it cooks in 15 minutes – faster than many other whole grains – and can be transformed into dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as healthy desserts.
Creative quinoa recipes
Banana Cranberry Quinoa Bread
Makes 1 loaf
This tender and flavorful bread is ideal for busy moms – bake a loaf and have it on hand for a quick breakfast or snack. Ingredients:
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons honey
2 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup dried cranberries Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease an 8X4X2.5-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix together spelt flour, quinoa flakes, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together honey, bananas and eggs. Mix dry and wet ingredients together just until moist. Stir in cranberries.
4. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Busy cook's tip:
Once bread is cooled, cut into slices and freeze for on the go bars. When ready to eat, simply microwave to rewarm.
Toasted Quinoa Salad
Serves 4 to 6
Recipe courtesy of Northern Quinoa CorporationIngredients:
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1-1/2 cups water
1 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 sliced green onions
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
1-1/2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chili sauce (Tabasco) Directions:
1. Rinse quinoa and drain (not necessary if using Norquin brand quinoa). Put quinoa in a pot over medium-high heat and dry toast until a few grains begin to pop.
2. Add water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until quinoa has absorbed all the liquid. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
3. Mix carrots, pepper, parsley and green onions in a large bowl. Add quinoa and toss to combine. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon and lime juices, soy sauce or tamari, garlic and chile sauce.
4. Pour over salad and combine well. Chill until serving time.
Quinoa-Stuffed Sweet Peppers
Tired of the same old burger and rice stuffed green bell peppers? Try substituting sweet peppers for the bells, and quinoa for the rice. The quinoa gives this dish a nutty taste and more protein. Ingredients:
5 cups water, divided
8 medium-sized sweet peppers also called chile dulce or cubanelle
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 (8-ounce) bag Mexican or taco style shredded cheese Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium-sized pot, bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add peppers to pot and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, set aside and let cool.
2. Brown ground beef in a large frying pan. Before beef is fully-cooked, add chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Once beef is completely cooked, add stewed tomatoes and half of the tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and than let simmer together for 10 minutes.
3. In a medium-sized pot, bring 2 cups water to a boil. Add quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed. Add quinoa to beef mixture and stir together.
4. Stuff sweet peppers with quinoa beef mixture and transfer peppers to a 9X13-inch baking pan. These peppers will not stand upright like green bell peppers – lay them on their side. If there is leftover beef mixture, either stuff in open spaces between peppers in baking pan or freeze for next time this recipe is made.
5. Pour remaining amount of tomato sauce on top of peppers. Sprinkle with cheese and cover pan with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes then uncover and cook for an additional 15 minutes to lightly brown the cheese.
More creative recipes with quinoa California Plum and Quinoa Salad Turkey and Quinoa Picadillo Southwestern QuinoaKid-friendly quinoa recipes | <urn:uuid:76eaa5b9-fdbf-4a7f-aa08-a0d7f5a4b8bb> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/805865/creative-quinoa-recipes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279224.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00479-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.879924 | 1,142 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Eight people, many of them strangers to one another, are summoned to a ritzy Manhattan penthouse apartment by an unidentified host. Once everyone has arrived, the servants are dismissed and all the doors and windows are automatically locked. The unseen host's voice is then heard emanating from a radio loudspeaker, explaining that all of the guests are old enemies of his, and that all are doomed to die this very evening! A couple of foolhardy souls try to escape, only to be electrocuted by one or another of the mysterious host's booby traps. Who is the "hidden" murderer --- and whoooooo will survive? Remarkably similar to Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians (which hadn't been written yet!), Columbia's The Ninth Guest was remade -- without acknowledgment -- as the 1939 Boris Karloff vehicle The Man They Could Not Hang.
butler, death, diner, dinner-party, guest, host, killing, maniac, multiple-murder, murder, panic, party, radio | <urn:uuid:832a8d9e-0363-435a-ae60-e0f183d3fe33> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-ninth-guest-v104086 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573029.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817153027-20220817183027-00275.warc.gz | en | 0.935577 | 222 | 1.53125 | 2 |
The Honduran activist Berta Cáceres was at home last week, in a town called La Esperanza, when gunmen stormed in and shot her dead. Cáceres, who was forty-four, had known she was in danger. Late last month, while leading a march in a nearby village, she had an altercation with soldiers, police officers, and employees of a Honduran company, Desarrollos Energéticos S.A., or DESA, that she had been fighting for years. In 2010, the Honduran Congress passed a law that awarded contracts to a group of private companies, including DESA, to build dozens of hydroelectric dams throughout the country. Four of the approved dams, which are known collectively as the Agua Zarca Dam, were along the Gualcarque River, in western Honduras, on territory inhabited by the indigenous Lenca people.
The Lenca voiced their opposition as soon as the plans became public, around 2011—first with formal votes and entreaties, and, after those were ignored, with road blockages and demonstrations. In the spring of 2013, these turned to violent confrontations with police, who arrested Lenca protesters en masse. That summer, soldiers based out of DESA’s local headquarters opened fire on a crowd of residents, killing one indigenous leader and seriously injuring several others. Cáceres was on the front lines from the start, having founded the group that has organized much of the opposition, the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).
At one point, in 2013, Cáceres was briefly forced into hiding. At least three of her colleagues had been murdered for opposing the Agua Zarca Dam, and DESA had launched a criminal case against her, first for possession of an unlicensed gun and later for incitement. “They follow me. They threaten to kill me, to kidnap me; they threaten my family. That is what we face,” she said afterward. Later that year, two of the dam’s main backers—the Chinese engineering and construction company Sinohydro and an arm of the World Bank—withdrew their support because of the public opposition and increasingly bloody state crackdown. (Last year, Cáceres won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her role in persuading them to abandon the project.) The threats against Cáceres increased. This past October, and again in December, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (I.A.C.H.R.) called on the Honduran government to take “precautionary measures” for her security. COPINH complained of a fresh wave of threats just days before she was murdered.
Between 2010 and 2014, a hundred and one environmental activists were killed in Honduras, which is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and the most perilous for environmental activists, according to a report from Global Witness. Ninety-eight per cent of violent crimes in Honduras go unsolved. A week after Cáceres’s assassination, there is little clarity on how it happened. Were there two killers or as many as ten, as some rumors have suggested? Did they fire just the four shots that killed her, or were there more? The police at first claimed Cáceres was killed in a robbery, and also insinuated that her killing might have been a “crime of passion.” President Juan Orlando Hernández was more diplomatic in his statements, calling Cáceres’s murder “a crime against Honduras” and “a blow for the people.” At present, the only two people who are said to have been in police custody in connection to the murder are a fellow activist and a Mexican colleague who was with Cáceres when she died and was shot twice himself. As the sole witness to the crime, he has been ordered not to leave the country, and his life remains in danger; in an open letter to a local newspaper, he insisted that the investigating authorities tampered with the crime scene and that Cáceres’s killers would likely return for him. Two other members of COPINH are reportedly under investigation. (A spokesperson for the Honduran government said it was working with American law enforcement, including the F.B.I., to investigate the killing.)
On Tuesday, I called a longtime friend of Cáceres and a fellow human-rights advocate, a Jesuit priest named Ismael Moreno Coto, better known as Padre Melo, who runs the Jesuit-sponsored community radio station Radio Progreso. The station is openly critical of the government, and its employees work in a climate of extreme danger. In 2014, its marketing manager was stabbed to death, even after the I.A.C.H.R. spent three years petitioning the government to protect him. Cáceres had been scheduled to appear on Melo’s show the day we spoke. “I always had a certain fear of Berta Cáceres,” Melo said, in a wry, melancholy voice. They met when Cáceres was a twenty-year-old schoolteacher obsessed with social justice. “She had a special way of making us uncomfortable,” he said. “She wouldn’t leave us in peace until we were all part of the fight.”
Cáceres was born into the Lenca community, and grew up in western Honduras in the nineteen-eighties, when violence was sweeping through neighboring El Salvador. Her mother, who was a midwife and social activist, cared for the refugees who streamed across the border. Cáceres became a student leader, gaining prominence in the community for fighting logging operations on Lenca land. She was also a mother of four—a son and three daughters—who eventually received threats as well. As the pressure on Cáceres mounted, in the winter of 2013, her son and two of her daughters fled the country.
For the past three years, Melo told me, the threats against Cáceres and COPINH were constant—“dozens of them, and getting stronger each time,” he said. “All of them were documented. They came from people working for, or with, DESA.” For Melo, the fact that the government hasn’t followed those leads, focussing instead on a group of fellow activists, was typical. “Anyone who questions the government winds up penalized as being opponents of the public order,” he said. “We are portrayed in the media as bad people. We are persecuted, subjected to repression or worse, death, like what happened to Berta Cáceres.” He called for a serious investigation conducted under the direction of international monitors. (The Honduran government denies ever having “made negative public comments about the activities” of COPINH and says it is pursuing all open leads in its investigation.)
When I asked Padre Melo if speaking out might put his own life at even greater risk, he was unflinching. “I want it to be absolutely clear. The government of Juan Orlando Hernández is responsible for the death of Berta Cáceres.” He was suggesting, as so many others in Honduras have, that the government knew about the escalating clashes between the local community and DESA but did nothing to stop them. The thugs who beat up, intimidated, and even evicted Lenca residents were given cover by federal troops, who often broke up peaceable demonstrations themselves.
Just days before Cáceres’s murder, President Hernández was in the U.S. to meet with American leaders and reassure them of his continued commitment to tamping down violence in Honduras. The U.S. continues to treat Hernández as a partner in fighting corruption and swelling gang violence in the region. But as Dana Frank, a historian and Honduras expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz, pointed out last year in Foreign Policy, the current government “is perpetuating an ongoing human rights crisis while countenancing a cesspool of corruption and organized crime.” Before becoming President, Hernández, a member of the conservative National Party, was in Congress, where, in 2009, he endorsed the military coup that toppled then-President Manuel Zelaya and plunged the country into a period of unprecedented violence and lawlessness. (The U.S. government all but endorsed the coup and in many ways remains responsible for the chaos that ensued.) It was in the aftermath of the coup that Congress awarded DESA its dam contracts, even while the principal financiers of the company were roundly denounced as key supporters of the 2009 uprising.
A few years later, Hernández helped depose four Supreme Court judges, then led an effort to illegally appoint a new attorney general. When he ran for President, in 2013, there were multiple allegations of vote buying, intimidation, and the killing of political opponents. His time in office has been bloodier still. Rather than root out the corruption in the state’s police forces, Hernández expanded the military and tasked it with domestic policing. Claims of rapes, beatings, and intimidation have trailed soldiers across the country. Echoing these complaints, Melo has demanded that the government remove federal soldiers from Lenca territory, where they’ve been strong-arming the population in apparent coördination with DESA.
In remarks made the day of Cáceres’s memorial service, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, called for the Agua Zarca Dam project to be abandoned. A few days later, I spoke to a member of his staff on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tim Rieser, who has helped Leahy shape key deals in the region in recent years. “Will Honduras stop supporting projects like this that disrupt local communities and threaten the environment?” he asked. (Rieser was authorized to speak for the Senator.) “The local population was not properly consulted, they are unlikely to benefit from the project, and look at all the problems it has caused,” he added. At this point, a few foreign contractors are still on board—among them, Siemens and Voith Hydro—but Cáceres’s slaying, and what it brings into view, may change that.
How Honduras responds to Cáceres’s murder may also affect how the U.S. deals with the government in the future, Rieser told me. For the current fiscal year, Congress has already approved seven hundred and fifty million dollars in aid to Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, with various strings attached. The U.S. may withhold further aid to Honduras unless it demonstrates a commitment to defending human rights, including those of social activists and journalists, Rieser said. On Thursday, more than two hundred interfaith, environmental, and human-rights groups worldwide called on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to support a thorough investigation into Cáceres’s assassination.
Cáceres and her legacy will haunt the Honduran government as it decides how to proceed, both with the murder investigation and the Agua Zarca Dam project. “She was a person with an enormous capacity to communicate humanity and to defend it,” Padre Melo said. She could empathize and spar with humble people, he told me, telling jokes and stories “with the same smile as always.” But when she was in front of the police or the military, he said, “se engrandecía”—she grew big—“speaking firmly, elevating her voice with strength. She was like a machine gun. She would finish talking to the authorities who opposed the community, and then return to the people. She would go back to being Berta.” | <urn:uuid:f2e66b6b-bf2d-4f0b-b2a1-447cfca8b1c8> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-death-of-berta-caceres | 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 | 0.979226 | 2,497 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Back to Let's Get Moving Unit Lesson Plans
- Grade level: Upper Elementary, Middle School
- Subject Area: Health and Sports, Math
Students will visit sites that contain information about a variety of health and fitness activities. They will be expected to analyze the activities according to several criteria, and will later be asked to describe how their particular activity choices can contribute to a healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families.
- Compare and contrast various forms of physical activity according to a given set of criteria.
- Consider those activities in which they could participate with family members on a regular basis.
- Consider and discuss ways to involve their family members with them in their physical activities.
Materials and Resources
In developing our lessons and activities, we made some assumptions about the hardware and software that would be available in the classroom for teachers who visit the LETSNet Website. We assume that teachers using our Internet-based lessons or activities have a computer (PC or Macintosh) with the necessary hardware components (mouse, keyboard, and monitor) as well as software (operating system, TCP/IP software, networking or dial-up software, e-mail and a World Wide Web client program, preferably Netscape, but perhaps Mosaic or Lynx). In the section below, we specify any "special" hardware or software requirements for a lesson or activity (in addition to those described above) and the level of Internet access required to do the activity.
- Special hardware requirements: None.
- Special software requirements: None.
- Internet access: Modem-speed: high
- Classroom materials: None
Introduce the assignment to students. Let students know that they will be visiting sites that have a good deal of information about health and fitness activities, that they will be expected to analyze the information according to several criteria, and that they will later be asked to describe a set of physical activities that would appeal to them and their families. Discuss the list of criteria that students will use to analyze the components of a healthy lifestyle:
The following are a list of possible criteria:
Have students visit the Internet sites listed below and consider the wide variety of choices that might appeal to family involvement. Students should keep with them a list of the questions above. After they have had sufficient time to consider their choices, assemble the class for a whole group discussion of students' observations. Conclude the discussion by highlighting the suggested criteria for choosing family fitness activities. Ask students for their ideas on techniques that might be used to get their family members involved in a physically-active lifestyle.
- The Personal Trainer
A handy calorie counter to assess energy (caloric) expenditure of different activities.
- 99 Tips for Family Fitness Fun
This website is also part of the "Shape-up America" website.
- The Fitness Library
The Fitness Library is full of helpful articles and advice on weight management, nutrition, and physical activity. You can also catch up on the latest news in health and fitness, read book reviews and browse through past monthly features. Read the article, "Ways to BoostYour Physical Activity Level", among others.
- Fitting Fitness In
This web site is located within the "Shape-Up America" website, designed to provide you with the latest information about safe weight management and physical fitness.
- Frequently Asked Questions about Fitness Activities
This website offers an extensive list of physical activites and answers many of the common questions about each of them.
- "Get Active"
A part of the "Fitness Files" web site of Racine County, Wisconsin. Included are sections on fitness fundamentals, fuel for fitness, injury prevention and mangement, and tips for "getting active". | <urn:uuid:0fb9d3ff-c2fe-4aa1-96ef-1180650618db> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/letsnet/noframes/subjects/health/b8u4l3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279368.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00321-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930518 | 752 | 3.828125 | 4 |
Nursing can be an incredibly rewarding career, no matter the venue. However nursing volunteers in countries most desperately in need of healthcare are reaping the satisfaction of enormous fulfillment, even under dire circumstances. Aiding in countries hardest hit by poverty, natural disasters and disease often provides concrete evidence that what nursing volunteers are doing is making an impact.
Obviously it’s not only the nursing volunteers who gain satisfaction. By helping those in developing areas of the world the population grows stronger, healthier, and able to better contribute to their community. Volunteer nursing also helps those in healthcare hone their skills and abilities in ways that are rare in the non-first-world countries.
Why Nursing Volunteers are Essential to World Health
Many of the countries that clamor for nursing volunteers may never otherwise be given attention. It’s easy to see the immediate needs of so many areas when they’re front and center on the evening news. Haiti, for instance, has been the victim of relentless assaults by Mother Nature. Certain African countries where citizens have been denied access to even the most basic of human needs due to civil war and unrest. Sadly, once the cameras go home the needs are no longer in the spotlight and these areas desperate for care tend to be forgotten.
Where Nursing Volunteers are Needed Right Now
If the idea of taking your nursing talents on the road interests you, you may want to give your attention to one of these 3 countries as they are among the most desperate for healthcare.
After more than 3 decades of a dictatorship that severely limited education for much of Paraguay’s population, the results are a tragic lack of trained healthcare workers. The impact of a lack of qualified healthcare professionals is exponential. Not only are the residents of Paraguay not afforded access to doctors and nurses, the lack of professional healthcare workers means not enough doctors and nurses are available to begin training the next generation.
No longer under the rule of dictatorship Paraguay’s economy is getting healthier by the day. The people of Paraguay are warm and welcoming and desperate for your help and experience as a nurse. There is ample opportunity in Paraguay for nursing volunteers. You can work in one of the missions set up to help the indigenous population, find placement in a hospital, or even try your hand at teaching the next generation.
Paraguay is a safe environment for nursing volunteers from the US, which makes it an excellent starting point. The Embassy reports no known threats at this time. Spanish is spoken throughout Paraguay and is to your advantage to understand and speak, however Guarani is also widely spoken.
Already one of the most impoverished countries in the world, Haiti has been the victim of unrelenting natural disasters in recent years. Hurricanes, earthquakes, and abject poverty create a desperate need by the people of Haiti for nursing volunteers. Statistics are devastating; life expectancy is less than 50 years, 79 out of 1000 live births end in infant mortality, over 140,000 residents are infected with HIV and only half of the population of Haiti has access to clean drinking water. As far as access to healthcare, there are 11 nurses and 25 physicians per 100,000 Haitians.
Although security is of moderate concern for US residents traveling to Haiti, the biggest warnings concern lack of access to medical care and unhealthy surroundings. The US Department of State encourages nursing volunteers interested in traveling to Haiti to coordinate with organizations already in place.
There are so many countries on the continent of Africa that are lacking in even the most basic of healthcare. Kenya is no exception. This breathtakingly beautiful country has almost no healthcare support, especially in rural areas. Relatively impoverished Kenya provides several options for nursing volunteers.
Nurses with experience or interest in treatment of global disease will be able to address one of the deadliest. Kenya is fourth in the worst HIV epidemics world wide. Nearly 2 million Kenyans are living with HIV and a staggering number of Kenyans die from AIDS-related illnesses each year, leaving close to 2 million children orphaned and in need of care.
Of course Kenya, as many countries in Africa, is under constant flux as far as safety. Terrorism, violent crime, and constant unrest has resulted in ever-changing US State Department Guidelines involving travel. The best step you can take if you’re interested in travel to Kenya is to check with the State Department and healthcare organizations already in place.
Sharing Beyond Your Own Community
Of course there are far more countries in need of nursing volunteers than these 3. It isn’t difficult to find opportunities and the payoff is amazing for all involved. Sharing your talents wit those desperate for them is one of the most gratifying experiences for any nurse at any stage of their career.
Along with the deep satisfaction of making a difference, nursing volunteers abroad experience adventure in ways beyond that of the typical-or even ‘extreme’- traveller. You’ll discover other cultures, forge relationships, increase your sense of compassion and open your mind and heart to a world beyond the borders of your own community. The benefits gained through volunteer nursing abroad are endless. | <urn:uuid:2af85e74-593a-4c95-ab8a-fe66360473e1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.bosmedicalstaffing.com/2017/11/29/top-3-countries-need-nursing-volunteers-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570651.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20220807150925-20220807180925-00478.warc.gz | en | 0.957016 | 1,047 | 2.359375 | 2 |
(Reuters) - The United States has administered 356,433,665 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Sunday morning and distributed 415,957,645 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
Those figures are up from the 355,768,825 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Aug. 14 out of 415,915,655 doses delivered.
The agency said 198,088,722 people had received at least one dose while 168,362,058 people are fully vaccinated as of Saturday.
The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, as well as Johnson & Johnson's one-shot vaccine as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Sunday.
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru) | <urn:uuid:ff2cd477-6686-4808-ab81-76d20e894e83> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/news/us-administers-3564-million-doses-of-covid-19-vaccines-cdc-100623817/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573908.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20220820043108-20220820073108-00277.warc.gz | en | 0.962928 | 174 | 1.664063 | 2 |
India will not have universal upper secondary education (covering the age group 14-17 years and 9th to 12th standard) till 2085, over half a century late, according to the Global Education Monitoring Report 2016. This has to be viewed against recent improvements in education in India, most notably that there has been an overall increase in gross enrolment ratio (GER, or student enrolment as a proportion of the corresponding eligible age group) at almost every level of education as of 2013-14.
Gender disparity in schooling has been largely addressed, and the enrolment of girls in higher education increased from 39% in 2007 to 46% in 2014. An increase in single-sex toilets in schools has led to an increase in the enrolment of adolescent girls and female teachers, the Unesco study shows. However, there is still large disparity in achievement of basic skills, such as reading and math, where there has been a decline in learning outcomes, as highlighted in the Unesco report. | <urn:uuid:bf862c9e-1e94-4a4e-9aff-a8c3997bc228> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://citytoday.news/india-to-miss-target-for-upper-secondary-education-by-50-yrs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573744.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819161440-20220819191440-00465.warc.gz | en | 0.971732 | 202 | 3.125 | 3 |
LARRY ELDER: He was one of America’s most popular president –handsome, charismatic, a war hero. He believed a strong military was the best guarantor of peace. He explained that cutting taxes was the best way to grow the economy. He firmly opposed racial quotas, and was horrified by the idea of unrestricted abortions. Can you name him?
Here’s one more clue: He was not a Republican. The answer? John F Kennedy.
When he was elected in 1960, Kennedy’s views were considered mainstream in the Democratic Party. But while the Kennedy name is still revered by the Democrats today, the policies he espoused are not…
If Kennedy were alive now, which party would he belong to? It is impossible to know of course, but we can compare his political positions to those of today’s Democratic party.
On race: JFK disliked the idea of using racial preferences and quotas to make up for historic racism and discrimination. Today, affirmative action is Democratic Party orthodoxy. But Kennedy thought the policies were counterproductive.
“I don’t think we can undo the past,” Kennedy said. “We have to do the best we can now. I don’t think quotas are a good idea. We are too mixed, this society of ours, to begin to divide ourselves on the basis of race or color.”
On taxes, Kennedy was a proponent of across the board tax cuts, believing that more cash in the hands of Americans, including the so-called wealthy, and a lighter footprint from the IRS would grow the economy. “A tax cut means higher family income, and higher business profits,” Kennedy said in an address to the nation shortly before his death.
Every family will have more money left over after taxes for a new car, a new home, new conveniences, education, and investment. Every businessman can keep a higher percentage of his profits… or put it to work expanding or improving his business.
On foreign policy, Kennedy was very firm about his red lines. When the Soviet Union built missile sites in Cuba… Kennedy threatened a decisive military response. The Soviet Union backed down. JFK believed, as Reagan did, in peace through strength, not strength through peace. In his inaugural address, Kennedy made the case for a strong U.S. military. He saw this as the only way to deter America’s enemies.
“Only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt, can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed,” he said…
Today, if a Democrat advocated the positions on race, taxes, foreign policy, guns, and abortion, that our 35th president once did, he wouldn’t be a Democrat. He’d belong to the other party. | <urn:uuid:2da29d9d-3b2a-4033-abd1-dd3f7e6e878b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://thekcompany.co/news-release/real-clear-politics-larry-elder-the-modern-left-would-have-you-believe-jfk-is-a-right-wing-extremist/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.974627 | 579 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Deixis (gr. δεῖξις «display») – «point of reference or function of lexical unit expressed by lexical or grammatical means» (LED). Lexical units and expressions which performs a reference function are called deictic units. The sphere of deixis includes:
- reference to a participant of the speech event (personal deixis) – to a speaker and an addressee, expressed by different types of pronouns (first person «I, me, my, mine» and second person «you, your, yours»)
- reference to the subject of discourse (third person pronouns)
- reference to the spatial location of the object expressed by the demonstratives or particles (this – that, here – there)
- reference to the temporal and spatial position of a referent (time deixis) expressed by the pronominal adverbs «here» and «now». Some authors divide this kind of deixis into the deixis of place and time. In some languages the spatial deixis can be related to the geographical objects. Thus, the demonstrative pronouns in the Yupik languages reflect the opposition “upstream / downstream / through the river”; in West Greenland – “north / south”, and in the languages of Australia, New Guinea and the Himalayas the common opposition is «uphill / downhill».
- reference to the social characteristics of the participants in a speech event (social deixis). This reference is carried out, for example, through addressing people in the languages of South-East Asia (Japanese verb affix “-mas” serves to show a special respect for the addressee); through taboo in Aboriginal languages of America and Australia; through various registers in European languages (in the English language, depending on the formality of situation, they use «eat» or «dine», «home» or «residence»). Moreover, in the Tamil language deixis is expressed by different morphological markers depending on the degree of formality of communication.
Lexical units and grammatical categories can serve the deictic function. Thus, deictic value of prepositions and demonstrative pronouns is their lexical meaning. From the grammatical categories, deictic characteristics are inherent, for example, for the verbal categories of time, taxis and person, the so-called category of politeness (indication of the social status of the participants of the speech act, for example, in the Japanese language).
The paradigmatic deixis is related to the content structure of the sentence and is focused on extralinguistic features. In addition, deixis can be oriented towards the internal organization of the text, i. e. providing the semantic coherence of discourse; this kind of deixis is called anaphora. The intermediate variety of deixis is observed in some grammatical categories, where the reference sphere is limited by the system of language and corresponds with the formal structure of the sentence. Thus, gender, according to J. Kurilovich, is a deictic category of nouns (indicates its belonging to a certain class of agreement) and anaphoric adjectives (indicates the gender of a noun with which it agrees to provide a syntax coherence of constituents). Deixis is a universal feature of language, but the types and modes of expressing deixis in different languages vary. However, such deictic categories as person are universal for all languages (though are expressed extremely diversely) and that speaks of their fundamental role.
Levinson S. Deixis in The Handbook of Pragmatics edited by L.R. Horn and G. Ward. – Blackwell Publishing, 2000.
http://tapemark.narod.ru/les/index.html – Лингвистический энциклопедический словарь под ред. В.Н. Ярцевой // Советская энциклопедия. М., 1990.
Anna Brattseva (Ph.D. student)
Translated by Dasha Barikova | <urn:uuid:e56a956e-c88c-4c3c-abd7-e2ea051d562c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://scodis.com/for-students/glossary/diexis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572161.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815054743-20220815084743-00467.warc.gz | en | 0.838009 | 937 | 3.625 | 4 |
The city council joined Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres in calling for the boycott of the iconic Beverly Hills hotel owned by the anti-gay sultanate of Brunei
The Beverly Hills council has joined Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres in condemning the government of Southeast Asian sultanate Brunei, which owns the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel and has passed new laws targeting gays and woman.
Brunei’s leader Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah introduced harsh anti-gay penalties last week that will eventually include death by stoning for homosexuality and adultery. The government owns the Beverly Hills hotel, which has seen the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Tom Cruise and Ozzy Osbourne and is a celebrated part of Los Angeles life.
The Beverly Hills City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday night urging the government of Brunei to divest itself of the Beverly Hills Hotel and other properties in the area, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The council was divided, however, on whether to boycott the hotel, the BBC reports, which employs 600 people, and pays about $7 million in bed taxes and $4 million in city taxes annually.
“They won’t stop the implementation of the new laws,” Christopher Cowdray, the hotel group’s chief executive said of the boycotts and protest but rather would “only hurt the [hotel’s] employees.” Cowdray added that Brunei had no plans to sell the hotels. | <urn:uuid:dfc173e6-af99-47e3-b730-ca742a4c44a5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://time.com/90651/jay-leno-ellen-degeneres-beverly-hills-anti-gay-brunei/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279368.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00320-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944113 | 305 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Senate, governor last two gay marriage steps
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Minnesota is a Senate vote and a governor's signature away from becoming the 12th state to allow gay marriage.
Same-sex marriage supporters are optimistic because the House was regarded as the biggest hurdle. After the bill passed the House surprisingly easily 75-59, they were euphoric.
The Senate is due to take up the bill Monday and Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton says he will sign it.
Standing for hours in the Capitol rotunda, bill backers sang "give love a chance," their take on the protest ballad "Give Peace a Chance." When the bill passed, they sang a line from a 1960s tune: "Goin' to the chapel and we're gonna get married."
Inside the House chamber, instead of the chaotic atmosphere that usually accompanies House sessions, the gay marriage debate was quiet and polite. Hardly anyone moved from their seats.
"Same sex couples, we pay our taxes, we vote ... we own businesses in Minnesota," bill sponsor Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, said. "Freedom is freedom for everyone."
Clark and Sen. Scott Dibble, another Minneapolis Democrat, are two openly gay members and sponsors of the bills that would overturn existing law banning gay marriage. A crowd that waited outside the House chamber during the debate greeted them and their partners as heroes after the vote.
Clark said she has worked to legalize same-sex marriage for 20 years.
As she pushed her "yes" button, a picture next to it showed her parents at a 1993 Rock County parade. They carried signs promoting equality for gays.
An estimated 1,000 to 1,200 people crowded into the Minnesota Capitol Thursday, a smaller crowd than many expected.
"It's incredible," Shelley Medernach of Eagan said after the bill passed. "I'm 56 years old and I didn't think I would live to see this day. It's amazing to be here."
Margaret Schow of Richfield said she made the trip to St. Paul to ensure lawmakers heard from same-sex marriage opponents.
"I wanted to show that there are a great number of Minnesotans who do not want them to pass this bill," Schow said. "There are many people who do not want this."
The bill that passed calls all marriages "civil marriage," an attempt to allay fears that clergy would have to officiate at gay marriages.
The civil marriage change helped Rep. Tim Faust, DFL-Hinckley, vote for the measure.
"Not too long ago, I probably would have voted 'no' on this bill," Faust said.
But, he added, he got married last summer and cannot imagine living without his wife. He said he cannot imagine government forbidding others from living with the one they love.
"Give our fellow brothers and sisters of God the same rights we have," said Faust, a Lutheran minister.
Two Democrats voted against the bill, Reps. Mary Sawatzky of Willmar and Patti Fritz of Faribault, who live in districts that strongly back the existing gay marriage ban. Republican Reps. Pat Garofalo of Farmington, Andrea Kieffer of Woodbury, David FitzSimmons of Albertville and Jenifer Loon of Eden Prairie bucked their party and voted for the measure.
Chris Kluwe, the just-released Minnesota Vikings punter who has worked for pro-marriage activists, said in a tweet that he lobbied Garofalo. "I talked with @PatGarofalo before the vote, and he made a tough choice. Glad he did."
The marriage bill resulted in a continuation of a campaign that started almost two years ago when lawmakers put a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot to ban gay marriage. That attempt failed last November, and the two campaigns immediately began ramping up for a legislative vote to remove an existing gay marriage ban in state law.
House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, said Minnesotans are not ready for gay marriage.
"I'm not sure if this is the right thing," he said, "but this is not the right time."
The House turned down 111-22 a Rep. Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, amendment that would have eliminated "marriage" from state law, replacing it with "civil union."
Kelly said he supports equal rights for all Minnesotans, which he said the civil union concept would provide.
The Red Wing lawmaker said Democrats have complained about government defining marriage, adding that is what Clark's bill does.
When Democrats said the Kelly plan would invalidate existing marriages, Kelly countered: "There is no way government can take my marriage away."
Rep. Andrea Kieffer, R-Woodbury, became one of four on the GOP side to back the bill.
"I think this is a compromise," she said of the proposal to define marriages as civil unions.
"I think this would be a good solution so we can heal and move forward as a state," she added.
Rural Democratic lawmakers, especially, were on the spot because many of their districts oppose gay marriage.
"This is a difficult issue and I have had many heartfelt, respectful discussions with people on both sides of the issue," Rep. Mary Sawatzky, DFL-Willmar, said. "Based on the feedback I've received from constituents, I feel that voting no is the best way to represent the people of District 17B."
Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, came out in favor of the bill.
If gays cannot marry, he said, "we will deprive Minnesotans of their rights."
Persell said that when he woke up Thursday morning, he thought of the biblical passage: "Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly." That, he said, provided assurance that a "yes" vote was proper.
"It's about liberty," he said.
Some constituents of Rep. Joe Radinovich, DFL-Crosby, criticized his decision to vote for gay marriage.
A long-time friend recently told him he is gay, Radinovich said, which made him realize it is tough being gay in a small town. His vote, he added, was inspired in part by his friend.
Radinovich said he was voting for the bill because he wants all Minnesotans "to have family like mine."
Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, said she marries her high school sweetheart next month, something all Minnesotans should be allowed to do.
"Now is the time we allow all Minnesotans to marry who they love," she said.
Rep. Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, announced ahead of the vote that he would favor gay marriage.
"The bill does not force a religious institution to marry two individuals of the same sex." Falk said. "Furthermore, language has been added to the bill to offer additional comfort that no religious institution will be forced to act in violation of its own religious beliefs."
Falk released a letter late Wednesday indicating that he will vote for gay marriage. The lawmaker said "I don't like it" is not a good reason to oppose the bill. "Marriage is about love. Marriage is about commitment. Marriage is about equality. Marriage is about finding the person that you cannot live without."
Rep. John Ward, DFL-Baxter, was one of the first to hug Clark after the vote.
"In my seven years in the Legislature, this is the most difficult issue I have ever voted on," Ward said. "I thought, prayed long and hard and listened to both sides before following my conscience and voting for freedom and equality."
"As a legislator I believe that breaking down walls of injustice and inequality is part of my job," Ward said.
Rep. Jay McNamar, DFL-Elbow Lake, was opening mail before Thursday's debate began.
"The voices of my constituents are what carried most of the weight for me over the past few months," McNamar said. "I said from the very beginning that I would make my decision based on what my constituents told me. Because of the number of constituents urging me to support the bill, and because of my personal commitment to respect everyone as equals, I voted in favor of the bill to allow same-sex marriage."
The state should not decide "who gets to enjoy certain rights simply because they have differing religious beliefs," Rep. Roger Erickson, DFL-Baudette, said. "This bill won't take away anyone else's rights. It simply allows same-sex couples to have equal rights under the law."
Conservative religious groups were not happy with the vote.
"It marks a radical redefinition of marriage and will lead to lawsuits attacking the religious freedoms of Minnesotans," Minnesota Family Council President Tom Prichard said. "This legislation means it's no longer an expectation in state law that a child will have a relationship with his or her mother and father."
Reporter Danielle Killey contributed to this story.
Here is how area state representatives voted on the same-sex marriage bill:
Dan Fabian, R-Roseau, no
Deb Kiel, R-Crookston, no
Roger Erickson, DFL-Baudette, yes
Steve Green, R-Fosston, no
David Dill, DFL-Crane Lake, yes
Mary Murphy, DFL-Hermantown, yes
Ben Lien, DFL-Moorhead, yes
Paul Marquart, DFL-Dilworth, yes
John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, yes
Tom Anzelc, DFL-Balsam Township, yes
Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, yes
Jason Metsa, DFL-Virginia, yes
Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, yes
Erik Simonson, DFL-Duluth, yes
Bud Nornes, R-Fergus Falls, no
Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, no
Mark Anderson, R-Lake Shore, no
Ron Kresha, R-Little Falls, no
John Ward, DFL-Baxter, yes
Joe Radinovich, DFL-Crosby, yes
Mike Sundin, DFL-Esko, yes
Tim Faust, DFL-Hinckley, yes
Jay McNamar, DFL-Elbow Lake, yes
Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, no
Jeff Howe, R-Rockville, no
Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, no
Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, no
Andrew Falk, DFL-Murdock, yes
Mary Sawatzky, DFL-Willmar, no
Dean Urdahl, R-Grove City, no
Tim Kelly, R-Red Wing, no
Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, no
Joe Schomacker, R-Luverne, no
Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake, no
Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, no
Kathy Lohmer, R-Lake Elmo, no
Andrea Kieffer, R-Woodbury, yes
Dan Schoen, DFL-St. Paul Park, yes
Denny McNamara, R-Hastings, no
Anna Wills, R-Apple Valley, no
Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, yes | <urn:uuid:4ff033a3-48bf-456b-b7a9-c3b817aa5550> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/content/senate-governor-last-two-gay-marriage-steps-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280730.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00247-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96501 | 2,418 | 1.726563 | 2 |
|Created by||Nigel Paterson
|Written by||Nigel Paterson
|Directed by||Nigel Paterson|
|Creative director(s)||Phil Dobree|
|Narrated by||John Hurt|
|Country of origin||United Kingdom|
|No. of series||1|
|No. of episodes||6|
|Executive producer(s)||Andrew Cohen|
|Running time||30 minutes|
|Production company(s)||Jellyfish Pictures|
|Original channel||BBC One|
|Original airing||14 September 2011|
Planet Dinosaur is a six-part documentary television series produced by the BBC, narrated by John Hurt, first aired in the United Kingdom in 2011, produced by VFX studio Jellyfish Pictures. It is the first major dinosaur-related series for BBC One since Walking with Dinosaurs. There are more than 50 different prehistoric species featured, and they and their environments were created entirely as computer-generated images, for only a third of the production cost that was needed a decade earlier for Walking with Dinosaurs. By the time the third episode aired, the companion book to the series was released accompany it. The DVD will be released after the series finishes.
Spin-off[change | change source]
CBBC aired a spin-off, Planet Dinosaur Files, from 29 September, 2011, hosted by Jem Stansfield. Each episode compares three Mesozoic creatures and invloves practical tests to replicate certain behaviours in an attempt to find out which creature holds a certain title, such as the "most powerful" theropod.
Reception[change | change source]
Tom Sutcliffe in the Independent found that it was visually "polished and jazzed up" but that the "knowledge and science generally take second place to B-movie spectacle".
List of episodes[change | change source]
||The English used in this section or section may not be easy for everybody to understand. (May 2014)|
|#||Title||Era||Director||Writer(s)||Original air date||UK viewers
|1||"Lost World"||95 MYA||Nigel Paterson||Nigel Paterson & Tom Brass||14 September 2011||4.74|
The episode begins in a swamp in what is now North Africa. A herd of Ouranosaurus are surprised by a Spinosaurus, which ignores them. Instead, it hunts Onchopristis (a giant sawfish), which are migrating into freshwater rivers to breed. A Rugops feeds off its leftovers. The episode cuts to a pair of Carcharodontosaurus, fighting to gain hunting rights to a herd of Ouranosaurus. The victor then hunts and kills one of the herbivores. The episode then cuts to the Spinosaurus habitat, where a drought is taking place and the Spinosaurus, scared away from the remaining water by a Sarcosuchus. This is a giant crocodilian which can hibernate during the dry season. The Spinosaurus is forced to hunt on land. After killing and eating a pterosaur, it comes across a group of Ouranosaurus. Catching the scent of a kill, it discovers a Carcharodontosaurus, which has brought down a herbivore. After a fight over the carcass, the Spinosaurus drives off the other theropod, although its sail is seriously injured. The narrator explains that a million years later, rising sea levels destroyed the Spinosaurus habitat, causing it to go extinct.
|2||"Feathered Dragons"||154 / 85 / 120 MYA||Nigel Paterson||Nigel Paterson||21 September 2011|
The episode begins in a forest late in the Jurassic of what is now China. An Epidexipteryx escapes from a juvenile Sinraptor by climbing a tree. It finds a beetle grub in the tree bark, being shown to use its elongated fingers in a similar way to a modern day Aye-aye. However, its prey is stolen by another, larger Epidexipteryx, and after a brief bout of posturing, the smaller individual goes to find more food. It drops a second grub to the forest floor, where the other Epidexipteryx retrieves it, only to be killed by the juvenile Sinraptor. The episode then cuts to a desert in late Cretaceous Mongolia, where a Saurornithoides is shown brooding a nest of eggs. When it leaves the nest, an Oviraptor raids it, fleeing when the troodontid returns. The Saurornithoides is suddenly attacked and eaten by a Gigantoraptor, which then heads to compete in a breeding ritual for mates. The males use their feathers for display, a brief fight between two erupting at one point, allowing the females to choose the best suitor. The episode finally cuts to an early Cretaceous forest in China, where a Xianglong is being hunted by a Microraptor, which uses its feathers to pursue the gliding lizard in the air. A Sinornithosaurus attacks it, and after a brief chase the Microraptor manages a lucky escape. The Sinornithosaurus is then shown hunting a Jeholosaurus and its three young, along with two other members of its species. The group brings down the parent, the narrator explaining that their possibly venomous bite allowed them to tackle animals much larger than themselves. A montage is then shown of the feathered dinosaurs featured in the programme, with the narrator saying that Microraptor not only hints at how flight might have developed, but also that dinosaurs still live amongst us today, as birds.
|3||"Last Killers"||75 / 70 MYA||Nigel Paterson||Nigel Paterson||28 September 2011||3.97|
The episode begins late in the Cretaceous of Canada, in what is now Dinosaur Provincial Park. A Daspletosaurus stalks a Chasmosaurus in a forest, but loses the element of surprise and is forced to retreat. The Chasmosaurus comes across a younger Daspletosaurus, before being ambushed by Tyrannosaurs. The episode then cuts to the high arctic, where Edmontosaurus are hunted by a large subspecies of Troodon. The theropods attack at night, separating a juvenile from the heard and severley wounding it, only to be driven away by an adult. In the morning, they return to eat the carcass of the juvenile, which died during the night. The episode returns to the Daspletosaurus, who chase and bring down the Chasmosaurus. The larger adults bully the youngsters off the carcass, forcing them to wait until they have finished. The episode then cuts to Madagascar, where a mother Majungasaurus (an Abelisaurid) and her two young chase a group of Rahonavis off a carcass. However, they are temporarily driven off themselves by a male Majungasaurus. But, after he steals some food from one of the babies, the female attacks him, before she and her offspring cannibalise his body. The episode returns once again to North America, where the Daspletosaurus are waiting for the annual migration of Centrosaurus. They attack during a rainstorm, killing some of the ceratopsians. The Centrosaurus make it to a flooded river and begin to swim across, and although many make it to the other side, some are eaten by giant crocodilians or are severley wounded by obstacles and thus drown, or drown for unseen reasons. In the morning, the carcasses attract scavengers, including the Daspletosaurus. A montage is then shown of Daspletosaurus and Majungasaurus, the narrator saying that together, the tyrannosaurids and abelisaurids were the last of the killer dinosaurs.
|4||"Fight for Life"||147 / 150 MYA||Nigel Paterson||Nigel Paterson & Tom Brass||5 October 2011|
The episode begins in the seas around Europe in the later Jurassic. Kimmerosaurus hunt Squatina. They are ambushed by Predator X, but manage to escape to water too shallow for the enormous pliosaur. The episode then cuts to North America, where Stegosaurus and Camptosaurus coexist in a mutually beneficial relationship. The two fossils are almost always found together in the Morrison Formation, and the script suggests they work together to defend against large predators. The Camptosaurus serve as lookouts, while the Stegosaurus provide protection. An Allosaurus attacks the group, and after the Camptosaurus flee, attacks the Stegosaurus, but in the end is severley wounded by a Stegosaurus thagomizer (the four spikes on its tail). However, the Allosaurus survives and recovers from the injury. The episode returns to the Jurassic seas, where the tide has risen, allowing Predator X to attack the Kimmerosaurus, but it is unable to use its full power in the shallow water, allowing the agile plesiosaurs to escape. However, they must eventually return to deeper water to feed. The episode returns to North America, where another Allosaurus is hunting a pair of Camptosaurus, who are away from the protection of Stegosaurs. The theropod manages to bring down one of the Camptosaurus, only to be chased off its kill by a Saurophaganax. The episode returns again to the seas around Europe, where a Kimmerosaurus is feeding near the surface in deeper water. It is attacked from below by Pliosaurus, which finally manages to kill the plesiosaur, leaving half of it to sink to the seafloor. The episode ends with the narrator stating that creatures like Predator X ruled the oceans for 100 million years.
|5||"New Giants"||100 / 95 MYA||Nigel Paterson||Nigel Paterson||12 October 2011|
The episode begins in Upper Cretaceous South America at a nest site. An Argentinosaurus hatches, and is almost immediately attacked by a Pterosaur. The pterosaur is scared away by a Skorpiovenator, which proceeds to kill and eat the hatchling. However, it itself flees when a herd of adult Argentinosaurus arrive, although they offer no protection for the hatchlings, which begin to feed on the surrounding vegetation. The episode then cuts to Upper Cretaceous North Africa, where a herd of Paralititan take a drink from a river to cool down. They are spooked when a group of crocodiles emerges from the water, and a juvenile becomes stuck in mud. The crocodiles are scared away by a Sarcosuchus, which closes in on the trapped Paralititan. The episode returns to South America, where the herd of Argentinosaurus move across a volcanic ash field to find food. Due to their sheer size, they churn up the ground with each step, creating quicksand that becomes a death trap for the small Hypsilophodonts travelling with them. The Titanosaurus find a clump of trees and begin feeding, but are attacked by a group of Mapusaurus. The theropods manage to rip a chunk of meat off one of the sauropods, but due to its size it is not fatally wounded. During the attack, one of the Mapusaurus is crushed by an agitated Argentinosaurus. Back in north Africa, the Sarcosuchus gets a hold of one of the Paralititan's legs, but a Carcharodontosaurus grips its neck, and eventually wrestles it from the giant crocodilian's jaws. However, it is chased away by the adult Paralititan, and the juvenile survives. The episode finally cuts back to South America, where the injured Argentinosaurus lies dying. A time lapse is then shown of Mapusaurus, Skorpiovenator and Chaoyangopterid pterosaurs feeding on the carcass until the bones are all that is left. The narrator explains that when Argentinosaurus went extinct, so did Mapusaurus. The same event happened with Paralititan and Carcharodontosaurus in Africa. The Argentinosaurus skeleton is then shown biodegrading until only the bones found when it was first discovered are left to be fossilised.
|6||"The Great Survivors"||65 / 92 / 85 MYA||Nigel Paterson||Nigel Paterson & Tom Brass||19 October 2011|
The episode begins towards the end of the Cretaceous period, on Hațeg Island. A herd of Magyarosaurus feed on vegetation, while a Bradycneme hunts lizards amongst them. A group of Hatzegopteryx descend from the sky, and hunt and eat young Magyarosaurus. The episode then cuts to Montana, 92 million years ago. A Zunityrannus attacks a pair of Nothronychus, but is driven off. The Therizinosaurs feed on the surrounding vegetation, but are then attacked by a group of Zunityrannus, but again manage to fight them off. The tyrannosaurs are forced to scavenge on a nearby carcass of their own species. However, they catch botulism from the rotting flesh, and die. The episode then cuts to Mongolia, 7 million years later. A Gigantoraptor and her mate guard their nest from marauding predators, driving off an Alectrosaurus. The female leaves the male with the nest, presumably to find food. After a rainstorm, the male is attacked by a pair of Alectrosaurus, and while they fight, an Oviraptor raids the nest. The Gigantoraptor manages to drive off the tyrannosaurs, and chases away its smaller relative without losing any eggs. However, he is later buried during a sandstorm, still guarding his nest. The episode then cuts to 65 million years ago, when an enormous asteroid crashes into the gulf of Mexico, causing devastation upon impact and filling the atmosphere with debris. 4 months later on Hațeg Island, most vegetation has died due to the lack of sunlight, starving the Margyarosaurus. Scavengers do well for the time being, with a group of Hatzegopteryx driving a Bradycneme off a carcass. The smaller dinosaur is forced to hunt lizards, while the narrator explains that 60% of species went extinct, with the dinosaur's size being what ultimatley condemmed them to extinction. A claim is made that "On land no animal weighing more than 25 kg survived". A montage is then shown of various creatures featured throughout the previous 5 episodes, with the narrator saying that dinosaurs are the most successful group of animals ever to exist on earth, and that it was a large extraterrestrial event that finally ended Planet Dinosaur.
References[change | change source]
- "Planet Dinosaur". BBC One. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014m55k. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- "Planet Dinosaur". Jellyfish Pictures. http://www.jellyfishpictures.co.uk/job/planet-dinosaur. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- "Planet Dinosaur". CGSociety. http://www.cgsociety.org/index.php/CGSFeatures/CGSFeatureSpecial/planet_dinosaur. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- Planet Dinosaur Files. BBC. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- BBC iPlayer: Planet Dinosaur Files "Most Powerful". BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- Sutcliffe, Tom (15 September 2011). "Last Night's TV: Planet Dinosaur/BBC1
Live Rugby World Cup/ITV1". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/last-nights-tv-planet-dinosaurbbc1br-live-rugby-world-cupitv1-2354849.html. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- "Weekly Top 30 Programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. 14 September 2011, 28 September 2011. http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weekly-top-programmes-overview.
- Whether Microraptor could actually do this is not certain.
- Fossil footprints suggested it could hunt on the ground.
- There is no basis in science for such a claim. | <urn:uuid:c808b8ec-baaf-4b67-8ffd-ad7449b16f7d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Dinosaur | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560283008.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095123-00083-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913 | 3,438 | 1.5625 | 2 |
100 Year Anniversary of the Austrian Constitution
First page of the Federal Constitutional Law of Oct. 1, 1920, as published in the Austrian Federal Law Gazette.
Unlike most countries, Austria does not have just one constitutional document, like the Constitution of the United States for example, but several documents that have constitutional status. Of these documents, the most important one is the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz). It was adopted by the Constituent National Assembly on October 1, 1920—100 years ago today—and entered into force on November 10, 1920. It was amended in 1925 and 1929, and rendered inoperative in 1934. In 1945, after the end of World War II, the Federal Constitutional Law was reinstated. The Federal Constitutional Law established the Austrian State as a federal republic with a strong bicameral parliament and set out the basic structure of the state, democracy, and the courts.
The university professor, legal philosopher, and jurist Hans Kelsen, also known as the “Father of the Austrian Constitution,” had been tasked in 1919 by Karl Renner, the then-chancellor of the Austrian republic, to produce a draft constitutional text. The deliberations with the provinces and in the Constituent National Assembly took more than a year and the draft was revised multiple times. In particular, the division of powers between the federation and the provinces proved controversial. Kelsen’s influence in the final version of the Federal Constitutional Law is particularly noticeable in the rules on the composition of the Federal Council (Bundesrat), whose members were delegated by the provinces and represented the latter’s interests, and the establishment of the Federal Constitutional Court with the power to review the constitutionality of legislation. On some issues, such as the fiscal constitution, the organization of administrative services in the provinces, and competences regarding schools and education in general, no compromise could be achieved, and they were dealt with in the 1925 amendment. The amendment of 1929 strengthened the role of the federal president, providing that he be directly elected by the people instead of by both houses of parliament (Federal Assembly).
Debate of the Draft Constitution in the Constituent National Assembly
Another controversial topic was the inclusion of a comprehensive bill of rights. As no agreement on a new catalog of rights could be reached, the representatives decided to adopt the rights enshrined in the Basic Law on the General Rights of Nationals of 1867. (Federal Constitutional Law, art. 149.) There are a few isolated provisions in the Federal Constitutional Law that grant civil and political rights and procedural guarantees. After Austria joined the Council of Europe in 1955, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its first additional protocol were awarded constitutional law status in 1964. The rights codified in the ECHR are human rights and are granted to everyone, whereas those contained in the Basic Law of 1867 and the Federal Constitutional Law are mostly citizen rights, meaning they are granted to Austrians and EU citizens only.
Bill of Rights
The Federal Constitutional Law of 1920 established a strong bicameral parliament, composed of the National Council (Nationalrat), whose members are directly elected by the people for a period of four years, and the Federal Council (Bundesrat). (Federal Constitutional Law, arts. 24, 34.) The Federal Constitutional Law provided that the federal government be elected by the National Council and depended on its confidence. (Id. arts. 70, 74.) In addition, the federal president was to be elected by the Federal Assembly, meaning jointly by the National Council and the Federal Council. The first federal president, the independent jurist Michael Hainisch, was elected in December 1920. In 1929, an amendment to the Federal Constitutional Law provided that the federal president henceforth be directly elected by the people. (Id. art. 60.)
Facade of the Austrian Parliament. June 24, 2006. © Parlamentsdirektion / Peter Korrak
Constitutional Court building. ©VfGH/Achim Bieniek
The Federal Constitutional Law of 1920 set up a Federal Constitutional Court with the power to review the constitutionality of legislation. (Id. arts. 137-148.) Hans Kelsen, who served as a member of the court until 1930, said that this part of the Federal Constitutional Law was what “mattered most” to him and he regarded it as his “most personal work.” (The Constitutional Court, at 29.) At the time, such a specialized constitutional court was unique, only the then-Czechoslovak Republic had established one. (Id. at 30.) In the second half of the 20th century, the “Austrian model” inspired many countries to adopt similar models, such as the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany. The 1925 and 1929 amendments strengthened the powers of the court and changed the modalities for the appointment of judges in an effort to “depoliticize” the process. (Id.) The amendments prohibited the appointment of members of federal or state governments or members of parliament to the court. Half of the members are proposed by the federal government and the other half by the two houses of parliament. (Federal Constitutional Law, art. 147, paras. 2, 4.)
Throughout this year, the Austrian Federal Constitutional Court is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Federal Constitutional Law with a lecture series on the constitution and the Court. Summaries and videos of some of the past events are available on their website. In addition, the Federal Constitutional Law has been published in an easily readable magazine format with added graphics.
Unlike most countries, Austria does not have just one constitutional document, like the Constitution of the United States for example, but several documents that have constitutional status. Of these documents, the most important one is the Austrian Federal Constitutional Law (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz). It was adopted by the Constituent National Assembly on October 1, 1920—100 years ago today—and entered into force […]
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Author: Jenny Gesley | <urn:uuid:89200582-681f-4007-8667-522416974495> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://politicallysocial.com/100-year-anniversary-of-the-austrian-constitution/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570871.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808183040-20220808213040-00278.warc.gz | en | 0.954938 | 1,247 | 3.984375 | 4 |
1 Model Organisms
This Element presents a philosophical exploration of the concept of the ‘model organism’ in contemporary biology. Thinking about model organisms enables us to examine how living organisms have been brought into the laboratory and used to gain a better understanding of biology, and to explore the research practices, commitments, and norms that have made such understanding possible.Footnote 1
We contend that model organisms are key components of a distinctive way of doing research. This way of doing research parallels broader trends in contemporary biology, including moves towards ‘big science’ approaches, particularly in relationship to the large-scale genomic sequencing projects of the 1990s. It also is unique due to its emphasis on projecting data beyond their original domain and establishing their broader applicability, especially to questions relating to human health and disease. We focus on what makes model organisms an important type of model within the contemporary life sciences, and how the use of these models shapes biological knowledge.
The Element is thus centred on six sets of interrelated questions. First, what do model organisms represent? How does this role compare to others that organisms play in biological research, and in particular how does it relate to non-representational functions of model organisms (such as their use as tools for intervention)? Second, how do model organisms represent, and how do processes of idealisation and abstraction contribute to and warrant the use of such organisms? Third, for whom do they represent? What is the relationship between such organisms and the experimental contexts within which they are utilised? How do the epistemic structures and shared scientific practices within the communities of scientists focused on these organisms influence the ways in which research is conducted and how these organisms are understood? Fourth, why are model organisms accepted as credible representations of biological phenomena? When and why are arguments about projectability of data and other results well founded? Fifth, in what sense can model organisms be thought of as a scientific model? How is knowledge created using these models, and how do the representational and interventionist roles of these models intersect? Finally, what is likely to be the legacy of these models, and what scientific roles are they likely to play in the future?
1.2 What Are Model Organisms?
Particularly since the advent of large-scale genomic sequencing associated with the international Human Genome Project (HGP), the term ‘model organism’ has become ubiquitous in contemporary biological discourse. It is difficult to trace the precise point in history at which the actual term was introduced. Use of aspects of the underlying concept can be traced back within organism-based research programmes, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, in part due to the rise of the techniques associated with molecular biology. Formalisation of the terminology occurred in the 1990s via the HGP which, in turn, resulted in increased numbers of publications associated with certain organisms (Reference Dietrich, Ankeny and ChenDietrich, Chen, & Ankeny 2014). In the most general terms, model organisms are non-human species that are extensively studied in order to understand a range of biological phenomena. The hope is that data and theories generated through use of the model will be applicable to other organisms, particularly those that are in some way more complex than the original model, especially humans. The most widely acknowledged inventory of these organisms includes those officially recognised by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH 1999) as model organisms for biomedical research, which ultimately listed thirteen species, including mouse (Mus musculus), rat (Rattus norvegicus), zebrafish (Danio rerio), fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans), baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana).Footnote 2
Much biological research aims at extrapolating knowledge beyond the organisms that are actually being studied. The study of an individual specimen is taken to provide understanding about all other members of the same species. Further, it is often expected that the study of a single species will provide biological insights into many other species, though this type of claim is necessarily contingent and requires empirical justification in any particular case. This idea is grounded in evolutionary theory, according to which all life forms are related through a common evolutionary history and thus share a smaller or greater amount of genetic make-up and a number of developmental features. Evolutionary or phylogenetic conservation can be both genomic and also developmental and mechanistic (Reference Love and TravisanoLove & Trevisano 2013). It is therefore used to justify the treatment of an organism as a sample of a larger class of organisms that are phylogenetically related to that species and hence display significant morphological, structural, developmental, or other types of similarities with it (Reference WeberWeber 2005). As a consequence, a model organism can represent other species: we discuss precisely how this representational role works in more detail in Section 2.
Model organisms have a variety of well-recognised experimental and pragmatic advantages. For instance, they are typically easy to breed and maintain in large numbers under laboratory conditions. Model organism research characteristically involves the standardisation of the organism in question and the accumulation of knowledge and resources on the organism on a large scale. These resources include relevant networks, organism-focused conferences, stock centres, and cyberinfrastructures. Such research is done with a view to creating a platform for interdisciplinary integration across biological disciplines and a reference point for comparative research across species. Many features of model organisms are thus the result of human interventions, including domestication. One of their main functions is to support scientific and technological interactions with the biological world. Indeed, a well-recognised characteristic of model organisms is their usefulness as tools for biological intervention, for example when they are employed to investigate and test techniques for genetic modification or phenotypic imaging.
In this Element, we contend that the representational and interventionist roles of model organisms are deeply linked. Even in situations where model organisms are used primarily as tools to intervene in the biological world, the representational commitments associated with this type of modelling (which we discuss subsequently) persist and underpin their use in research practices. In other words, we argue that there can be no adoption of hybridisation probes or gene-mapping techniques developed on model organisms without also making the representational commitments involved in using those organisms as models. These commitments have thus become entrenched in biology in ways that are often difficult to challenge, despite novel findings that draw the representativeness of model organisms into question, such as gene–environment interactions.
1.3 The Significance of a Label
The term ‘model organism’ has come to serve not only as a descriptor for organisms used in biological research that have certain attributes but also as a label with prescriptive power. Large amounts of attention and funding were poured into model organism–related research in the 1980–2010s, with the HGP sequencing efforts providing a crucial incentive and rallying point for the need to focus on a limited number of species. Partly as a consequence of such investments, model organisms have played the role of reference point or touchstone for a wide variety of research questions and approaches to biological practice (Reference Ankeny and LeonelliAnkeny & Leonelli 2011). Some critics have argued that the model organism concept is ‘swamping out’ contemporary biological research agendas, particularly in terms of funding, making it difficult to pursue biological research on organisms not considered to be official ‘model organisms’ and to use techniques and methods that do not include or prioritise molecular approaches (Reference BolkerBolker 1995; Reference DaviesDavies 2007), although empirical data on publication patterns do not tend to support these claims (Reference Dietrich, Ankeny and ChenDietrich, Chen, & Ankeny 2014). Others have criticised what they have termed ‘organismism’, namely over-reliance on model organisms without sufficient attention to whether particular organism-based models are adequate (Reference RobertRobert 2008).
Given the significance of the label, questions about whether and in what sense a particular experimental organism is a ‘model organism’ require explorations that go beyond abstract philosophical analyses or laboratory boundaries; answers to these questions have clear epistemic, social, political, and economic implications with regard to how science is conducted and how knowledge is constructed. Hence, we provide a philosophical examination of the model organism concept that is grounded in the extensive body of previous scholarly work on relevant contemporary and historic scientific practices in the biological and biomedical sciences (for a detailed historiographic overview of this literature, see Reference LeonelliAnkeny & Leonelli 2018). This analysis makes a critical contribution to the literature on the philosophy of biology and has important implications for the conduct of contemporary science, including how we understand the underlying epistemic structures and scientific practices relating to this type of research.
1.4 Grounding Philosophy in the Study of Research Practices
This Element identifies and analyses philosophical issues associated with the concept of a ‘model organism’ against the backdrop of in-depth empirical study of the history of these organisms within biology and the practices within the fields associated with this type of research (although we do not develop any detailed historical accounts about particular organisms in this context). We therefore intertwine descriptive and normative analysis of scientific practices in developing and presenting our account. This approach is necessary because understanding how model organisms work as scientific models involves understanding how scientists use them in their everyday work and reasoning practices, and how those uses and associated arguments have changed over time.
This type of scientific practice cannot be documented using published articles alone, which typically provide a line of reasoning and a set of conclusions without reporting all of the processes through which these were developed. Given the limits of published literature for analysing how organisms are actually used, it was essential for our account that we develop and utilise a range of rich descriptive materials using techniques from history and the social sciences. In this Element, we rely on previously published scholarly literature, archival material, scientific records (such as grant applications and institutional records), and grey literature (such as newsletters, reports, guidelines, ‘how-to’ documents released by stock centres, and databases). We also carried out interviews with researchers and others involved in scientific practice. These included administrators and technicians from various labs, at different career stages, from diverse fields, and working in different geographic locations. Additionally, we made ethnographic visits to observe practices in laboratories, field sites, funding institutions, scientific conferences, and other settings.Footnote 3 Finally, we draw on our long-term collaborations with practising scientists through common projects and publications, membership of expert working groups, and advisory positions in steering committees and stock centres relating to model organism biology. These activities have increased our exposure to laboratory life both at the policy and organisational level – through the perspectives of relevant funders, learned societies, and institutions – and at the level of researchers’ own interests and strategies, including the constraints and impediments that they face.
This philosophical study of model organisms thus exemplifies the value and importance of fostering collaboration between humanists and scientists, as well as constructive dialogues across subfields that focus on the contemporary life sciences within the history and philosophy of science (HPS) and science and technology studies (STS). Understanding how an organism can function as a scientific model means delving into questions concerning the value, epistemic pay-offs, and skills involved in manipulating a physical object (rather than a mathematical construct or a simulation). It also requires reflection on ways that the relationships between researchers and organisms, which include familiarity and affect, may shape biological understanding and resulting knowledge. Equally critical are the roles played by instruments, techniques, institutions, and infrastructures organised around the organism in channelling and entrenching particular ways of doing research. Finally, it is important to consider the extent to which historically rooted commitments and social dynamics contribute to the development, use, and interpretation of these models. Far from a matter of logical reconstruction informed solely by the study of scientific publications, elucidating the epistemic role of model organisms within biology requires situating these research components in their material, social, and historical contexts.
2 What Do Model Organisms Represent?
Model organisms help to create knowledge that can be projected beyond the immediate domain in which it was produced. We argue that this projection happens simultaneously in two respects: in terms of the range of organisms being represented (what we call ‘representational scope’) and the type of phenomena that model organisms are used to study (‘representational target’). We then consider the implications of this claim for understanding the representational power of model organisms as scientific models and comparing it to other ways in which organisms are used and interpreted within research. This account emphasises the characteristics associated with model organisms that are necessary to ground their abilities to serve as models (but does not yet address the question of what makes a good model, which we confront in Section 5). These characteristics are simultaneously biological and epistemic, and are shared by all model organisms to a greater or lesser extent.
2.2 Representational Scope
Why do biologists study fruit flies, worms, or mice, when they are actually interested in humans or biological processes in general? Some species may well be of interest to biologists in and of themselves. But when specific organisms are selected and studied as model organisms, researchers are typically claiming that they will provide some information or understanding about forms of life beyond the original focal organism. We use the term ‘representational scope’ to describe how extensively the results of research conducted on a group of specimens (tokens) can be projected onto a wider group of organisms labelled through reference to a type (e.g., a taxonomic class), a classic form of the problem of induction. The projection can vary from a single species for which the organism is serving as a proxy (notably humans) to a wider class of organisms such as a family or a kingdom (say all mammals or animals), or perhaps even to all organisms, if a process or phenomenon is thought to be universal or common. The extent of representational scope assumed by researchers is often related to the criteria for the selection of the organism in the first instance, together with the particular context of use and the questions or processes to be investigated. This concept is a critical epistemological feature that shapes which organisms are selected as a research focus and how they are developed for research.
The representational scope of an experimental organism can be very narrow and extend only to its own species or those that are closely related: for instance, red-eared terrapins are used to study turtle shell development (Reference MaherMaher 2009) and tamar wallabies are used as a model for reproduction and development in kangaroos, and marsupials more generally (Reference Hickford, Frankenberg and RenfreeHickford, Frankenberg, & Renfree 2009). Researchers may hope that the study of these organisms reveals something about behaviour or physiology that is generalisable. However, this outcome is rarely attained, particularly for research that does not rely on previous empirical evidence about evolutionary or phylogenetic conservation.
By contrast, model organism research programmes share an underlying interpretation of the representational scope of their organisms; the assumed or hypothesised representational scope is broader and more inclusive in the case of model organisms than the representational scope assigned to other experimental organisms. It is common for the results of D. melanogaster genetics or C. elegans physiology, for example, to be interpreted as applying to a much wider range of organisms, often including humans. Even in the cases of A. thaliana and S. cerevisiae, findings have been projected well beyond the realm of plants and fungi respectively.
Model organisms serve as the basis for articulating processes that are thought to be common across all (or most) other types of organisms, particularly those processes whose molecular bases can be articulated. Hence, it is often claimed that processes in model organisms are representative of processes shared by higher level organisms, especially humans: in other words, ‘the fish is a frog … is a chicken … is a mouse’ (Reference KimmelKimmel 1989, as paraphrased in Reference Grunwald and EisenGrunwald & Eisen 2002, 721). The most common sense in which these organisms are ‘representative’ relates to their use in the HGP and, in most cases, as models which provide the basis for biomedical research. Model organisms thus lie at one extreme of the spectrum associated with representational scope, namely being associated with a high degree of generalisability.
2.3 Representational Target
Another sense in which findings from research on organisms can be generalised is the number and type of phenomena to which organisms allow experimental access. What are being studied using model organisms? We utilise the term ‘representational target’ to indicate the collection of phenomena that are to be explored through the use of an organism. By ‘phenomena’, we refer to the labels used by researchers to define concepts, entities, and processes related to their research interests. Whether understood as observable or unobservable, deeply theory-laden, or ‘mirroring’ reality in an objective way, phenomena constitute for us the object of scientific claims. Thus, anything from ‘metabolism’ to a ‘hox gene’ constitutes a phenomenon and can become the representational target (cf. Reference MeunierMeunier 2012).
What is epistemologically distinct about model organisms is their representational target: they serve as models for a relatively wide range of systems and processes that occur in living organisms, including those studied within genetics, development, physiology, evolution, and ecology. This approach allows pursuit of one key goal associated with this type of research: to perform large-scale, comparative work across species, integrating a range of disciplinary research approaches. This goal is achieved using a specific strategy, initially gathering resources and building infrastructure on individual whole organisms, and integrating a range of disciplinary approaches, followed by work on comparisons between these organisms using the model organism as a reference point. For example, a number of homologous genes have been identified across a range of model organisms. Researchers conceptualise identification of these homologs as a key step in producing knowledge about the molecular basis of phenotypes across very different types of organisms, and particularly of variations associated with disease (e.g., the gene BRCA1, which is associated with human breast cancer and whose homolog has been found in variant forms in C. elegans and M. musculus).
Another example of the fruits of such a research strategy can be found in the elucidation of the mechanisms associated with programmed cell death, which is a regulated process that generally confers some sort of advantage during an organism’s life cycle. Using the nematode worm C. elegans, researchers identified key genes regulating the processes of cell death in this organism (for a summary, see Reference WoodWood et al. 1988). It was subsequently shown that corresponding homologous genes exist in higher species, including human beings, and that the basic morphological and biochemical features of programmed cell death are conserved in both the plant and animal kingdoms. In these sorts of research programmes, understanding molecular and developmental processes in the model organism is the initial focus of research which then serves as a building block or platform (e.g., C. elegans Sequencing Consortium 1998) for a more general investigation of developmental processes together with molecular and other processes across a much wider range of organisms.
What, then, distinguishes model organisms from the general class of experimental organisms in terms of their targets? The difference does not lie solely in the capacity of these organisms to support human interventions or in their use as tools in research practice; all experimental organisms are, to a greater or lesser extent, used as scaffolds for developing techniques for the control and manipulation of biological processes. Rather, what defines model organisms as a specific subclass of experimental organisms is the representational power attributed to them. This representational power is in turn grounded in the specific modes of intervention and standardisation used to establish and develop these organisms over the past few decades.
Model organisms explicitly represent whole organisms; they simultaneously allow access to specific processes and are investigated using a range of disciplinary approaches with the intention of integrating these approaches to develop a multi-level understanding of their evolution, structures, and behaviours. In contrast, experimental organisms are models for specific phenomena, to be investigated through a particular discipline or approach with its accompanying set of techniques and practices. Thus, experimental organisms need not be as versatile as model organisms in order to be useful and successful for particular types of research. For instance, even if it would be extremely difficult to study dogs in genetic terms due to their relatively large genome size and long generation times, these limitations make them no less valuable for the study of behaviour or disease.
We should note that while mechanisms are clearly an important target for many explanations derived from research with model organisms, and biologists place high value on elucidating mechanisms as an epistemic goal, we do not view mechanistic reasoning as the only type of reasoning associated with model organism research. Precisely due to the emphasis on multi-level integration, causal-mechanistic approaches are combined with mathematical models and simulations of dynamic processes both within and beyond the cellular scale (e.g., intercellular transport and protein folding: see Reference O’Malley, Brigandt, Love, Crawford, Gilbert and KnightO’Malley et al. 2014). Moreover, understandings of gene functions have benefitted from increasingly data-intensive analysis of the correlations between metabolic and gene expression profiling and phenotypic differences across specimens, which may well underpin causal reasoning but do not necessarily involve the formalisation of mechanisms or even a molecular gene concept (Reference WatersWaters 2013). Since we do not take mechanistic reasoning as the sole goal or the primary means of model organism research, we will not delve here into related philosophical debates on causal reasoning and reductionism, which have been well covered in the existing philosophical literature (for a summary, see Reference Brigandt and LoveBrigandt & Love 2017).
2.4 What Is Represented: The Whole Organism and Other Organisms
In our view, the distinctive representational power of model organisms stems from the simultaneous attribution of wide representational scope and wide representational target. They are at the same time models of (many) higher organisms, thus instantiating properties common to many other species, and models of the complex interrelations of processes and entities that occur in and make a whole organism, thus instantiating the interdependencies and links between different biological phenomena and diverse levels of analysis.
By contrast, consider Reference BolkerJessica Bolker’s account (2009), which distinguishes two types of animal models: what she calls ‘exemplars’ (or ‘proxies’), which are examples of a larger group such as a taxon or other more extensive groups, and ‘surrogates’, which are substitutes for another entity of special interest, particularly humans in the biomedical sciences. She stresses that when researchers take elucidation of shared fundamental patterns as their aim, organisms are used as exemplary models; this type of goal would be present in most model organism work, and most often occurs in ‘basic’ research (in our view, any stark, principled distinction between ‘basic’ and ‘applied’ or even ‘translational’ research is difficult to maintain, but detailed discussion of this issue is not necessary for our current purposes). In contrast, Bolker maintains that organisms used as surrogates are substituted for what would be the ideal target (in many cases humans) for ethical or pragmatic reasons, but that those using such models do not necessarily seek to understand underlying biological processes or mechanisms since this is not necessarily required to develop applications such as medical treatments and therapies.
This way of distinguishing the functions served by various animal models does not apply cleanly to model organisms, even though it may initially appear that Bolker’s categories can be directly mapped onto our distinction between representational scope and representational target. Her notion of a ‘surrogate model’ exemplifies a very specific type of representational target (one that has a clear translational role and is most commonly associated to biomedical research on rodents, as we discuss in 4.6), and one that simultaneously implies a limited representational scope. Taking a wider spectrum of model organisms into account, and particularly the common features characterising thale cress (A. thaliana), fruit fly (D. melanogaster), nematode (C. elegans), baker’s yeast (S. cerevisiae), and zebrafish (D. rerio), we contend instead that both the target and the scope of model organisms are typically broad, and that focus on projecting results across a wide range of species does not diminish researchers’ interest in targets including molecular, developmental, and evolutionary processes (and their interactions). In other words, model organisms can and often do serve both as exemplars and surrogates, though this way of framing their representational role takes attention away from the broader range of species for which they function as models (i.e., beyond the human).
Another account that only partially captures what we take to characterise model organisms is the one provided by Reference Levy and CurrieArnon Levy and Adrian Currie (2015; see also Reference ParkkinenParkkinen 2017), which stresses the importance of shared ancestry as a unique part of what makes model organisms a distinct type of model. They argue that inferences using them rely on empirical extrapolations such that biologists can treat the organism as a representative specimen of a broader class, which in turn is part of a more general biological strategy known as the comparative method. As discussed in more detail later (2.4), we agree that commitments to working assumptions about shared ancestry and genomic and other forms of evolutionary conservation are an essential feature of model organism research, but they are certainly not the sole component of what makes model organisms a distinct type of model. Again, we contend that it is the simultaneous attribution of a wide representational scope and a wide representational target, together with attention to how these features intersect and are instantiated in research practice, which make model organisms unique models that represent and are used in a distinct way.
Michael Reference WeisbergWeisberg (2013) explores what he terms ‘model organisms’ by using a very wide initial definition. This definition includes not only the canonical model organisms on which we focus our account, but also any organisms used as models in any sense to study something beyond themselves, including humans as well as broad classes of phenomena (such as the use of rabbits in Australia to study invasive species in ecology). This broad definition allows him to frame model organisms as one subset of the broader class of concrete models whose representational power stems from their resemblance to a concrete target. Thus according to him, model organisms differ from other models only insofar as they are not constructed and have their origins in the wild: there are no other special properties of relevance. We disagree with this account in numerous ways. His views rely on a definition of model organisms that is empirically imprecise and overly inclusive, thus missing the significant features of these models and making it impossible to explain their central role in biology within the last century. As we explain later, though of course model organisms have their origins in the wild, they are in fact constructed through a diverse range of practices. These have in turn facilitated their adoption as reference tools to develop techniques and problems for biological, and especially genetic, manipulation. Moreover, the simultaneous focus on a broad representational target and a broad representational scope does constitute a special property of traditional model organisms. It differentiates their use as models from other uses of organisms in research and makes them a special case within the broader category of material models (see also Reference Frigg and HartmannFrigg & Hartmann 2018). We do not contend that they are the only scientific models that have these attributes (this may well be the case, but is not significant for our argument), but that they are particularly notable and important examples of this type of focus.
Finally, it is important to note that our analysis does not map easily onto distinctions used by Mary Morgan or Evelyn Fox Keller with regard to the representational functions of organisms. They both draw a distinction between the notions of ‘representative of’ versus ‘representative for’. In Morgan’s account (Reference Morgan and Radder2003, p. 230; see also her 2007 and Reference RattiRatti 2018), the distinction captures a difference in the scope of the representation: ‘representative of’ indicates a narrow, endogenous scope, while ‘representative for’ stands for broad exogenous scope (e.g., the laboratory mouse M. musculus is representative of mice and may be representative for humans). This distinction is compatible with our account with regard to the concept of ‘representational scope’ but it does not apply to what we call the representational target. Keller’s account (2000) differs from Morgan’s insofar as it focuses on the purposes for which a model is used, which she calls ‘representative for’, as opposed to being ‘representative of’ specific phenomena. While Keller’s account usefully places emphasis on the epistemic role of the goals of representation in the case of experimental organisms, it again does not capture the difference between the target and the scope of the model. We believe this distinction is crucial for understanding the epistemic functions of various types of research organisms, particularly model organisms.
While benefitting from dialogue with the above-mentioned scholars, our account is most obviously complementary to philosophical views on model organisms that are deeply embedded in the study of scientific practices, such as Kenneth Schaffner’s work on behaviour and C. elegans (Reference Schaffner1998, Reference Schaffner2016). Also complementary are views arising from historical and social scientific scholarship such as Richard Burian’s important early contribution (Reference Burian1993), Hans-Jörg Rheinberger’s long-standing work on the use of whole organisms as units of analysis (e.g., Reference Rheinberger2010), and Marcel Weber’s exploration of D. melanogaster (Reference Weber2005). For instance, Weber argues that model organisms should be viewed as a central aspect of science’s material culture and are part of a distinctive economy that governs the interactions of scientists who work with them. As he also notes, the features that make certain organisms considered good to use as ‘model organisms’ go well beyond the material features of the organisms themselves and are highly contingent. Most importantly for our purposes (and his), these contingencies have considerable epistemic implications. In addition, although the initial choice of an organism may have been highly contingent and local, what is critical to its continued use is what Weber calls its ‘vindication’ (Reference Weber2005, 179), a concept that is closely related to what we explore later in detail in our discussion of attributions of plausibility (6.2).
2.5 What’s Special about Model Organisms? Features and Differences from Other Uses of Experimental Organisms as Models
At the core of model organism research are several pragmatic features that warrant closer exploration as they supplement our understanding of the representational power of model organisms. First, the role of evolutionary conservation (particularly genetic but also developmental and mechanistic) is critical to the claims and practices associated with model organisms. For example, highly conserved genomic sequences are those which have been maintained through natural selection and typically go far back in evolutionary time. They thus often relate to the most fundamental biological processes shared by many living entities. As such, a key working assumption in early model organism research was that lower-level organisms with smaller genomes were likely to have highly conserved and more compact forms of the more complex, larger genomes found in higher-level organisms, although evidence was not yet available to provide support for this. Note that such a claim has become more complicated to maintain in light of evidence relating to the C-value paradox: the amount of DNA in a haploid genome (the C value) does not seem to correspond strongly to the complexity of an organism, and C values can be extremely variable. Notwithstanding, such working assumptions were common in the early stages of model organism work, providing justification for their use as models for fundamental biological structures and processes of interest.
It is important to note that few actual relationships between the model organism and the larger group being modelled were recognised or well-articulated in the earliest stages of model organism work, precisely because the detailed genomic sequencing required to analyse the validity of these sorts of claims was yet to occur, although there are some notable exceptions such as homologies in the Hox genes in D. melanogaster and other species (see also Reference WeberWeber 2005). Thus, the criteria by which claims of representational scope can be judged to be more or less likely were often external to any particular model organism research project, relying on a promissory note or set of working assumptions about general principles associated with various forms of evolutionary conservation. Notably, choices of model organism also did not hinge on precise knowledge of the phylogenetic placement of a particular organism in relation to others. As various authors have observed, most forcefully Reference BolkerBolker (1995), many of the classic model organisms have proven to be taxonomic outliers (see also Reference Gilbert, Barberousse, Morange and PradeuGilbert 2009). However, the zebrafish D. rerio arguably may be an exception as it was chosen in part because of its taxonomic placement. In contrast, both the nematode C. elegans and the fruit fly D. melanogaster have genes that are often very divergent at the sequence level from the homologous genes in mammals for which they are intended to serve as models.
A second defining feature of what makes something a model organism as opposed to any organism that can be used for research purposes relates to characteristics that make doing research with the organism more tractable, as extensively discussed in the historical and sociological literature (reviewed in Reference LeonelliAnkeny & Leonelli 2018). The usual narrative associated with model organisms is that they were specially selected as research materials because they were viewed as easy and relatively inexpensive to procure, transport, maintain, and manipulate experimentally, especially when compared to higher mammals and primates (which also present more complex, ethical, and affective concerns). The so-called August Krogh principle is perhaps the most commonly cited slogan associated with choice and use of experimental organisms: ‘For a large number of problems, there will be some animal of choice, or a few such animals on which it can most conveniently be studied’ (Reference KroghKrogh 1929; Reference KrebsKrebs 1975; Reference JørgensonJørgenson 2001; with reference to model organisms in particular, see Reference GestGest 1995). However, this principle tends to be used in diverse and inconsistent ways (Reference Green, Dietrich, Leonelli and AnkenyGreen et al. 2018; Reference Dietrich, Ankeny, Crowe, Green and LeonelliDietrich et al. 2020), and hence its use can obscure the diversity of characteristics present in organisms that are associated with different research programmes.
What is essential in the case of model organisms is that their experimental characteristics are closely related to their power primarily as tools for genetic intervention and manipulation. Again, some exceptions should be noted such as the frog Xenopus laevis, which was envisioned as a developmental tool. Model organisms typically have small physical and genomic sizes, short generation times, short life cycles, high fertility rates, and often high mutation rates or high susceptibility to simple techniques for genetic modification. Furthermore, model organisms have been developed using complex processes of inducing particular characteristics in order to establish a standard strain which then serves as the basis for future research. The standard strain, often paradoxically referred to as ‘wild type’, is a token organism developed through various laboratory techniques (ranging from cross-breeding to genetic manipulation) so that it possesses features valued by researchers and can be reproduced with the least possible variability across generations, for example, through cloning (on such processes in the neurobiology of the nematode C. elegans, see Reference AnkenyAnkeny 2000). Of course, not all of the important biological characteristics of these organisms were evident when they were first obtained in the field (in their truly ‘wild’ form), but rather they come to be expressed or even induced in the processes of manipulation and standardisation in the laboratory setting. Thus, the ways in which model organisms represent the world is peculiar, if not unique, and strongly grounded in their use as tools for the control and manipulation of biological, particularly genetic, processes.
These standardisation procedures are an essential step in establishing something as a model organism because model organism research hinges on (eventually) developing a detailed genetic account of the standard organism in terms of sequence, gene function, phenotype, and so on. This characteristic derived from the historical context in which model organism research was developed and through which the term ‘model organism’ came to have the epistemic significance now associated with it. Throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, genetics has had a prominent role in biological research and thus has come to define how biologists understand two notions of central importance for developing widely representative models. The first idea relates to what is termed as the ‘pure line’, which is crucial for the purposes of experimental control over what strains are used, for reducing variability, and for which genetic analysis acts as a defining measurement (Reference Rheinberger and StaffanRheinberger & Müller-Wille 2010). The idea of ‘comparability’ across species has become closely associated to the principle of genetic and other forms of conservation described earlier. A genetically based approach to understanding cross-species comparison and in turn standardisation was not strictly necessary for the conceptualisation of the category of model organisms and their use. However, for reasons that were at least partly contingent, the classical tradition of genetic analysis ended up playing an important role in shaping the experimental practices and concepts used to investigate and standardise organisms (see e.g., Reference KohlerKohler 1994; Reference WeberWeber 2005, Reference Weber, Creager, Lunbeck and Norton Wise2007 on D. melanogaster).
Many experimental organisms do share some of the attributes found in model organisms, particularly those associated with tractability. Some undergo extensive processes of standardisation, and of course biologists may do research on them using genetic methods. However, standardisation is not a defining, generic feature of the broad class of experimental organisms, since how standardised the organism is in genetic or other terms is also a function of the question under investigation. For instance, if one is interested in variations in behaviours of pigeons, the standardisation of specific ‘pigeon types’ will not be a critical part of developing the experimental organism. By contrast, using frogs for the study of respiration required trying to find organisms with similar morphologies and size, so that their lungs could be studied as though they belonged to the same token animal, and hence involved standardisation processes, albeit not in a genetic sense.
It is clearly not an essential requirement for all experimental organisms to be genetically tractable; again whether this is necessary is a function of what research question is under investigation. For example, some research groups will invest considerable efforts in organisms that are not tractable (genetically or otherwise) according to conventional definitions because they are nonetheless viewed as biologically interesting. For various sorts of experimental organisms, obtaining the organisms on which to do work involves considerable efforts in the field, let alone to grow, maintain, and manipulate them. Researchers continue to use their organisms of choice in part because they think that they are particularly well-suited for the questions of interest: for instance, turtles have characteristics that make them extremely useful for studying transitions from one cell type to another due to the fact that they convert soft tissue into bone (Reference MaherMaher 2009). In summary, the most important criterion for the selection and development of experimental organisms is the way in which they enable the study of specific questions; experimental tractability is also relevant but will be diversely defined depending on the question of interest and is often subsidiary to it.
2.6 Conclusion: Tools for Which Job? Model Organism Research as a Way of Knowing
Our use of the notions of representational scope and representational target broadly parallels the account of models found in the ‘models as mediators’ account defended by Reference Morrison, Morgan, Morrison and MorganMargaret Morrison and Mary Morgan (1999). The notion of mediation is used to suggest that a model serves ‘both as a means to and as a source of knowledge’ (Reference Morrison, Morgan, Morrison and MorganMorrison & Morgan 1999, 35): models constitute the meeting point between knowledge and reality, thus providing ‘the kind of information that allows us to intervene in the world’ (Reference Morrison, Morgan, Morrison and MorganMorrison & Morgan, 1999, 23). In this same sense, experimental organisms are models that mediate between theory and the world. The theory or question to be investigated is the representational target, and the ‘world’ that the model represents can be defined in terms of its representational scope. Such scope may be quite delimited, for instance, to understanding the phenomenon in question within a certain group such as mammals, or much broader, as is the case with model organisms.
Representational scope and target can vary not only organism to organism, but they also over time with regard to a specific organism during the process of research. Indeed, Reference RheinbergerRheinberger (1997) and others (2000; Reference Morgan and RadderMorgan 2003, 2007) have pointed to the ability to lead researchers in unexpected directions as one of the main attractions of working on real organisms in the lab. Experimental organisms have been engineered and modified to enable the controlled investigation of specific phenomena, yet at the same time they remain largely mysterious products of millennia of evolution, whose behaviours, structures, and physiology are often still relatively ill-understood by scientists. Through this hybrid status as both natural and artificial objects, experimental organisms facilitate exploratory research by enabling biologists to ask questions without necessarily having clear expectations about what answer they will obtain or even about what questions will end up being the focus of inquiry (on the theoretical issues associated with this type of ‘exploratory experimentation’, see Reference BurianBurian 1997; Reference O’MalleyO’Malley 2007).
Model organisms are an important subset of experimental organisms with very particular qualities and representational power, which include a mixture of features intrinsic to the organisms themselves, features derived through the manipulation of organisms for research purposes, and features attributed to organisms by the researchers who use them. We summarise the characteristics contributing to the establishment of a model organisms in Table 1. Rather than being generic tools for experimental interventions, model organisms in fact represent a unique ‘way of knowing’, in John Pickstone’s terms (Reference Pickstone2001). They involve a set of essential commitments, features, and practices that emerged in relation to a set of distinctive epistemic goals. These in turn have been finely tuned to the study of the objects that these models are taken to represent, namely, shared fundamental biological phenomena. Model organisms are the right tools for a very specific type of scientific job, that of investigating and manipulating organisms that are kept in isolation from their natural environments. What is critical to understanding their unique status is that they are grounded in epistemic commitment to pursuing integrative and comparative accounts of life by focusing on individual organisms as the main unit of analysis.
|Characteristics of the Organism||Natural or intrinsic|
|Induced/uncovered through experimental interaction and transfer to lab|
|Attributed to or projected onto the organism by researchers|
3 How Do Model Organisms Represent?
This section explores how generalisable arguments are made through abstracting from individual specimens recognised as model organisms and provides an overarching framework for understanding how experimental interventions on these organisms inform the development of biological theories and the scientific understanding of various life forms. We explore the activities associated with abstracting, including the ways in which theory informs (but does not determine) these activities. We argue that model organisms play an anchoring role that arises out of their dual status as both samples and artefacts, particularly because of their highly controlled variability that creates considerable limitations on their relationships to the wider environment. We also explore the ways in which model organism research is comparative in a very particular sense, namely, in how it sets boundaries on comparisons to make them more productive through exploiting variability in its narrowest sense. Model organisms thus are transformed into models within highly standardised, uniform, and simplified environments, which because of their ‘placelessness’ can function as anchors for a broad and ever-evolving modelling ecosystem. The representational power attributed to model organisms hence shapes the research practices within which they are used. Related conceptual commitments become entrenched in the ways in which biologists theorise and perform material interventions in the world, such as genetic and phenotypic manipulations. These factors in combination make model organisms into potential models for a very wide variety of phenomena.
3.2 Making Organisms into Models
Model organisms as research tools have an ambivalent status; they are simultaneously artefacts and samples of nature. On the one hand, specimens of model organisms are actual organisms: they are entities that we could not hope to create from scratch in a laboratory (despite many attempts to do so via robotics and synthetic biology techniques), precisely because we understand only a minimal part of how they work in most cases. Model organisms have the power to generate surprising results, both in terms of their representational target (as when signalling pathways in the zebrafish D. rerio turned out to be useful to study the onset of Alzheimer’s disease) and representational scope (e.g., the 1983 discovery that certain D. melanogaster sequences, such as homeobox, are conserved not only in fruit flies but also across the animal kingdom). As such, model organisms are favoured materials for exploratory experimentation. They remain samples of the very part of nature that they are taken to represent, that is, they are samples of the variability present in a natural population.
On the other hand, the transition of any organism into a research environment is accompanied by a series of modifications to the organism itself, particularly in cases where researchers plan to use the organism in the long term and over many generations, and when they have specific representational demands (as detailed in the previous section). The process of preparation of an organism for experimental use requires the selection of traits on which researchers wish to focus (and thus to stabilise and control), such as the zebrafish D. rerio’s transparent skin and ability to absorb drugs poured into aquarium water. This process starts from the selection of specimens as research materials. The individuals chosen to populate a lab need to conform, at least in some respects, to the expectations of researchers that intend to experiment on them. They must display features that are appropriate in combination with the research procedures and instruments in use. They also need to adapt to the climate of the storage facilities where they are kept, which are often geared towards generating standard reactions (e.g., in the case of plants, regulating their circadian rhythms via the lab’s lighting conditions).
Specimens initially adopted by researchers as model organisms never conform to all of these expectations, and are typically manipulated in a variety of ways ranging from genetic to environmental interventions, so as to fit these requirements as well as possible. Standards of care and maintenance also need to be developed for specimens to retain these characteristics through generations, and thus remain relatively stable biological platforms for biological investigations (Reference Rosenthal and AshburnerRosenthal & Ashburner 2002; Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2007b). It is through these diverse activities that the traits displayed by a few individual organisms become models not just for their own taxon, but for different kingdoms. Obtaining specimens that conform to researchers’ expectations thus requires relevant techniques, standardised tools and guidelines, and extensive experience in handling the organisms: it is a matter of skilful production, rather than mere convention, transfer, and use.
The dual status of model organisms – at once samples of nature and human artefacts, simultaneously modelling known and unknown phenomena – is the feature that makes them such interesting objects in biological research, and indeed an important and distinctive type of scientific model. They are highly domesticated samples of nature, whose handling and traits become so familiar to the researchers employing them as to become ‘tame’. Organisms are reproduced and modified under such controlled and purpose-oriented conditions that they may end up bearing relatively little resemblance to their relatives in the wild: their features have been largely reshaped by scientists according to their research needs, and yet they include processes and entities that are yet to be understood by researchers.
Manipulation is crucial and strongly underpins representational choices and directions (see also Reference Love and TravisanoLove & Trevisano 2013). The material modification of the physical features of organisms to create tractable and representative models can be understood as involving processes associated with abstracting. In other words, such modification involves the transformation of some features of a phenomenon into parameters used to model it, depending on the specific aspect of biology that the model is deployed to study. For instance, a trait such as ‘short life cycle’ or ‘experimental tractability’ is identified and treated as a parameter for the selection and use of a model. Thus, the model is developed to instantiate that trait in the clearest and most effective way possible, for example, by eliminating strains that exhibit longer life cycles and higher levels of vulnerability to life in the lab. Defined in this way, abstracting is one of the processes required to create a model, rather than an attribute of the model itself. In other words, the model is ‘abstracted’ in various ways depending on the specific circumstances and research goals in any particular case rather than being ‘abstract’ in an absolute sense (Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2008). Further, abstracting is essential in the context of modelling practices, as it is the process by which any material model acquires representational value with respect to some aspects of a phenomenon.
Maintaining control over the development of traits characterising different individuals ensures the replicability of specimens with particular traits, as well as the stability of their features regardless of the time and location of their use. Abstracting involves physical interactions between the researchers and the objects to be modelled, including selecting a limited set of material features of organisms as potentially interesting for research purposes. It involves devising ways in which these properties can be incorporated into a unique specimen, making certain that specimens with those characteristics can actually be stored and safely kept in the available research space, and constructing a toolkit of guidelines, materials, and instruments that allow researchers worldwide to obtain and maintain uniform specimens. These conditions are realised in part by modifying the environment of the organism, including living spaces, nutrition, light, and other husbandry conditions. For instance, A. thaliana ecotypes are expected to have uniform height and developmental schedules, which are generated by providing the same growth conditions for all plants and isolating strains to prevent cross-breeding. Direct interventions on the organisms themselves, such as genetic modification, also are involved. Researchers may eliminate plants with unexpected leaf shapes to control for the risk of unexpected mutations in the population to be studied or use bacteria to generate more mutants with surprising traits. In this manner, what is eliminated and abstracted away is some of the population-level variability.
Background theoretical knowledge is involved in researchers’ choices of which traits to abstract and reproduce in the models: abstracting is clearly theory-informed (Reference WatersWaters 2007). The theoretical commitments made while developing material models such as model organisms thereby become entrenched in the subsequent uses of these models as laboratory tools, sometimes with significant implications (see Section 7). However, abstracting is not theory-guided: theoretical knowledge does not wholly determine the activities and results of modelling. The manipulation of models and the selection of traits to be modelled require only some interest in exploring one or more aspects of the phenomena that they are taken to represent, and the processes tend to be highly descriptive (Reference AnkenyAnkeny 2000). Specimens are taken to be representative of a set of phenomena dependent on the research context. Epistemic access to phenomena is granted first and foremost by material manipulation, since the amount of intellectual manipulation necessary to handle these models is minimal. Material models obtained in this manner thus constrain and enable investigation as well as the formulation of research questions, modes of intervention, and choices and use of instruments and methods.
3.3 Controlling (Not Eliminating) Variability: Model Organisms as Families of Specimens
An immediate question arising from the abstracting of individual specimens into model organisms concerns the significance of variation not only among individual specimens but also among different strains of the same species. While most model organism researchers (particularly those active between the 1980s and early 2000s) have focused on few highly standardised strains of the same species, and the strain used to produce reference genomes typically becomes the most popular, model organism work rarely involves focus on only one strain. Rather, it typically involves comparisons across results obtained through experimentation on two or more strains of the same organism, which help to identify significant mutations and to assess whether (or not) they may be conserved. For example, much D. melanogaster work happens on two particular strains (Canton-S and Oregon-R) but in parallel with other strains; the Columbia ecotype of A. thaliana, used as reference for its sequencing, is flanked by the Wassilewskjia and the Landsberg erecta, which are also popular with researchers. In addition to this heterogeneity, there is also the facility with which the original specimens that have been abstracted and standardised for experimental purposes themselves acquire variants: again in A. thaliana, we find several variations on the Columbia ecotype that all derive from the same lineage but are likely to have maintained different polymorphisms and accumulated different mutations.
This variability should not be surprising, given that researchers are working with a ‘live’ model, an entity that develops and evolves, and whose dynamic, processual nature continuously defies reification (see Reference Nicholson and DupréNicholson & Dupré 2018). Indeed, taking an organism as a model does not involve transforming it into an inanimate object with fixed characteristics: stabilising some of its features is necessary to focus on the types of variation of interest to researchers. In this sense, model organisms are best understood as indicating a family of material objects with very similar characteristics and a common phylogeny. These families of objects provide and delimit a space for comparison, while also functioning as a (presumed) stable material platform for experimentation across different sites and times.
A critical implication of this point is that model organism research does not exclude comparative approaches, as sometimes claimed in the literature. Rather, model organism research strongly delimits comparison in order to fit the very narrow variability fostered and admitted within the models being produced via abstracting and standardisation: it sets boundaries on comparisons to make them more productive. This approach relies heavily on the commitment to evolutionary conservation that is central to research with model organisms. Thus, comparative analysis exploits variability in its narrowest sense, and largely from the point of view of experimentalists interested at least in part in molecular approaches. At the same time, the enduring significance of comparison – even in this highly delimited form – cuts across rigid distinctions between experimental and naturalistic approaches. Model organism biology clearly relies on the use of few species to make claims of wider validity (what historians Reference Strasser and SorayaBruno Strasser and Soraya de Chadarevian (2011) call the ‘exemplary’ method), yet also appeals to the legacy of natural history in the ways in which it capitalises on comparison across closely related cases (see also Section 7.2).
In discussing the comparative methods at work within recent evolutionary morphology, James Reference GriesemerGriesemer (2013) has highlighted the significance of model taxa as ‘material platforms for a research system on which to conduct integrative science’ (526). We claim that model organisms function in much the same way, but that the characteristic narrowing of variability and the reliance on genetically grounded comparison associated with model organisms enables researchers to do the kind of multi-level integration that became fundamental to developing interrelations between molecular, developmental, physiological, ecological, and behavioural approaches at the start of the twenty-first century.
3.4 A Modelling Ecosystem: How Model Organisms Facilitate Integrative Understanding
Recognising the diversity of objects that can be encompassed by the idea of a ‘model organism’ does not undermine our abilities to understand model organisms as scientific models. Rather, recognition of this multiplicity helps us to highlight something that many philosophers have observed in relation to biological research: one model is never enough. Modelling strategies in biology are extremely varied in both the form that they take and the ways in which they create bridges between theories and data (Reference GriesemerGriesemer 1990; Reference Leonelli, Laubichler and MüllerLeonelli 2007a; Reference GreenGreen 2013). Most research projects require the employment of several types of models, as well as several models of the same type, to achieve their goals. Model organisms are part of a much larger modelling ecosystem, and the manipulation of material organisms anchors a multiplicity of modelling practices that include mathematical, theoretical, and diagrammatic models (see, for instance, Reference MeunierMeunier 2012 for the case of zebrafish D. rerio).
Why do model organisms play this anchoring role? Their ability to play this role arises from their dual status as both samples and artefacts, which makes them into potential models for a wide variety of phenomena. Indeed, it makes it possible for researchers to attribute a wide representational scope to them. There is no straightforward pairing between model organisms as material models, and any one model description (as required, for instance, in Reference WeisbergWeisberg’s 2013 framework); the opportunity to directly intervene on organisms as material models further secures their epistemic value as integrative platforms. These models encompass countless aspects of the world (potential phenomena) that come under scrutiny for different purposes by various types of biologists.
How does this process work? It functions through limiting variability dramatically not only in terms of the variability directly associated with these organisms but also with their relationships to their wider environments. In fact, the standardisation of the model organisms’ environments – the fact that exposure to natural changes in climate, nutrients, lighting, and other factors is typically limited if not altogether eliminated for model organisms – constitutes the biggest source of uniformity. It also has crucial conceptual aspects: model organisms are not models of organisms situated in their natural environments; instead model organisms are separated from their natural environments. What researchers want to study is how organisms develop under standard laboratory conditions. The variability originating from relations to other organisms (including via the microbiome), soil, climate, and so on is eliminated. From their origins as organisms that are co-dependent on a broad and complex biological ecosystem, model organisms are transformed into models within highly standardised, uniform, and simplified environments, which because of their ‘placelessness’ can function as an anchor for a broad and ever-evolving modelling ecosystem. What is important here is the relation of model organisms with the research environments in which they are being studied and manipulated, which includes other models as well as the laboratory conditions, methods, tools, and infrastructures that come to constitute their new milieu.
The development of infrastructures, techniques, and mathematical models specific to model organisms that facilitate their study is historically and epistemically intertwined with the development of the actual organisms as material models with specific physical characteristics. The choice of which properties of the original specimens should be abstracted and retained into the standardised model was made partly on the basis of researchers’ theoretical interests and partly on what available methods and infrastructures made possible, which in turn has changed through time (Reference Leonelli and AnkenyLeonelli & Ankeny 2012). As the techniques, lab conditions, and instruments built to interact with and use model organisms have become more sophisticated and specialised, researchers increased their abilities to control the organisms themselves and in turn their abilities to standardise and stabilise specific characters.
Repeated use of and reference to similar organisms kept under the same environmental conditions provides considerable opportunities for sharing knowledge (including know-how) across a vast constellation of biological disciplines, groups, and research schools. This sharing of knowledge is achieved through formal means such as peer-reviewed publications, but importantly also through more informal processes of communication such as grey literature and lab visits aimed at learning skills and techniques. The research environments within which these instruments, data, methods, and infrastructures are used can be assumed to be the same or at least to be broadly reproducible. All of these factors make model organisms into movable resources that can be easily resituated (Reference KohlerKohler 1994). Through this shift from a biological to a modelling ecosystem, model organisms become low-cost, low-maintenance research materials that are easy to control and on which a substantial body of knowledge can rapidly be accumulated.
This type of abstracting is what makes model organisms into platforms through which several other types of models can be related and integrated. Coordination can be achieved via different domains of questions asked by the biologists involved as well as the acquisition of common epistemic skills used in laboratory work, thereby providing a strategy to navigate diverse theoretical and methodological commitments, integrate know-how with theoretical knowledge (Reference Leonelli, de Regt, Leonelli and EignerLeonelli 2009), and pursue common goals (Reference LoveLove 2008). It can therefore facilitate the acquisition of integrative understanding and underpin interdisciplinary collaboration across domains as diverse as molecular biology, physiology, development, and even ecology (Reference Bevan and WalshBevan & Walsh 2004). Model organism research is now a canonical example of multi-level research, which includes the ability to relate multiple conceptual, methodological, and explanatory perspectives to one another (Reference MitchellMitchell 2003) as well as the integration of causal-mechanistic and mathematical models representing findings pertaining to different levels of organisation of the organism, ranging from the molecular to the cellular and developmental (Reference O’Malley, Brigandt, Love, Crawford, Gilbert and KnightO’Malley et al. 2014).
3.5 Model Organisms as Models
In the previous section, we emphasised that model organisms function as representations of both other organisms (their representational scope) and the organism taken as a whole (their representational target), and this duality lies at the core of their representational power as models. In this section, we have considered the characteristics of the material objects that constitute model organisms and the ways in which they relate to a broader modelling ecosystem and research goals. Let us now bring these elements together to further clarify how model organisms function as models of life. To do so, we build on Roman Frigg and James Nguyen’s Denotation, Exemplification, Key and Imputation (DEKI) model of representation (2018) and provide a more formal characterisation of how model organisms, as models, represent both other organisms and the whole organism, which we summarise in Figure 1. We then defend this representational role as foundational to the functioning of model organisms as models, including the many ways in which model organisms are used as tools for the study of other organisms. We thus propose to view the role of these models as representations and as research tools as one and the same: model organisms are not useful in biological practice without an underlying commitment to a specific form of representational power. Such a commitment unavoidably affects the ways in which these models are employed to study and manipulate biological processes.
A family of individual specimens, typically displaying similar phenotypic properties including their appearance, genetic make-up, and growth/development patterns, constitutes the material object that functions as a model. What makes this object into a model is an underlying commitment to the idea that a combination of properties of the object (e.g., colour, metabolism, circadian rhythms, and genetic traits) represent the properties of the assumed target (other species and the organism taken as a whole). The object is thus interpreted as a type of representation for the intended target: in our case, the model consists of the positing of the object ‘standardised specimens’ as a ‘whole and other organism(s)’-like representation. The commitment to the idea that properties of the object represent the properties of the assumed target is exemplified by specific properties of the model, which include, for example, conserved genetic pathways, complex developmental mechanisms, and specific causal relations between a given gene cluster and phenotypic traits. In the course of their work, researchers impute these properties to the target of their study (the biological phenomena in which they are ultimately interested), thus solidifying the representational relationship between model and target.
What makes this crucial passage possible is commitment to a ‘key’ that allows researchers to connect properties of the model (P in Figure 1) with properties of the target (Q in Figure 1). The key specifies why, how, and under which conditions the properties of the model that have been singled out by researchers, such as conserved developmental pathways, can legitimately be attributed to the target. The key typically associated with model organisms typically includes several factors such as principles (e.g., evolutionary conservation); the fit with other models such as simulations, diagrams, and mathematical models of development; and pragmatic factors such as the extent to which the objects chosen as models make the properties tractable and accessible. Frigg and Nguyen view researchers who use models as free to choose whichever key they may like and find useful. In the case of model organisms, the key emerges from consideration of the physical (and partially abstracted) features of the model as well as commitments and habits adopted by model organism communities over the course of decades. It thus makes choices more social than individual (for a study of the processes of scaffolding and entrenchment involved in such cultural developments, see Reference Caporael, Griesemer, Wimsatt, Caporael, Griesemer and WimsattCaporael, Griesemer, & Wimsatt 2014). As we argue in Sections 4 and 5, individuals need to accept the key for their work with model organisms to be recognised and sanctioned by their peers: we will come back to the significance of this observation later in the Element.
Another important characteristic of this approach to modelling is its agnosticism towards the ontological status of the target. We prefer to construe the target of the model (the phenomena that the model is taken to represent) not as a literal description or embodiment of the world, but rather as the result of researchers’ efforts to conceptualise their interactions with the world. Thus in our account the target ‘whole organism’ refers to any one organism in the world, but it does so through a theoretical perspective that is embedded in the language used. This interpretation provides one way to understand our framework; it is perfectly compatible with regarding targets as actual parts of the world or alternatively as literal, truthful descriptions of the world.
Frigg and Nguyen note that the fact that ‘a model as a whole denotes a target as a whole does not preclude there being additional denotation relationships between parts of the model and parts of the target’ (Reference Frigg and Nguyen2018, 14). We agree with this assessment in the case of model organisms. The model as a whole – the family of specimens under investigation by the researchers – represents the ‘whole organism’ and ‘other organisms’, which is perfectly compatible with specific features of the model (e.g., the ways in which cells divide in a given yeast strain) being themselves used as models for specific features of the target (e.g., the proliferation of cancer cells in humans, or the mechanisms underpinning patterning in embryo development, e.g., Reference MeunierMeunier 2012). These specialised models are part of larger modelling ecosystems that model organisms help to anchor and integrate. Most model organism research does in fact focus on such specialised models, as researchers focus on one selected subgroup of questions (and part of the organism) at a time. The commitment to using model organism specimens as models facilitates the material realisation of these specialised projects, since it provides researchers with the necessary background knowledge and appropriate key to link properties of the target with properties of the model. It also makes it possible to integrate the results of specialised projects into a broader integrative understanding of the organism as a whole, and the ensemble of techniques and methods of biological intervention developed through the experimental manipulation of these models.
The DEKI schema is particularly helpful in the case of organisms used as models because the object that forms the base of the model (the particular organisms in question and their properties P1, P2, …) is easy to confuse with the phenomenon that is being investigated (which is not the organisms themselves, but rather specific clusters of properties attributed to a wide range of organisms and to organisms taken as wholes). Being specific about what elements are involved in any particular instance of denotation, and the fact that the object used as a representation is not the same thing epistemically as the phenomenon being represented (even when these two things may appear to be the same in practice), is crucial not just philosophically but in terms of the precise types of claims being made about model organisms by researchers. Thus, this account undermines oversimplified notions of model organisms acting as ‘general models’ or as straightforward embodiments of phenomena without explanation or interpretation. It instead emphasises both the extent to which the use of organisms as models is theory-informed, and the extent to which it can involve creativity and novelty in terms of the types of knowledge and insights obtained.
Furthermore, this account of modelling provides a way to situate representational claims in relation to experimental practices and know-how. Recent philosophical scholarship on modelling has (rightly) moved away from treating representation as the main goal and measure of excellence for research (e.g., Reference CartwrightCartwright 1989; Reference WoodyWoody 2000; Reference KnuuttilaKnuuttila 2011). Our analysis of the significance of experimental practices and cultural understandings of model organisms underscores that we agree with this emphasis on the use(s) of models as paramount in determining their epistemic roles and status. Clearly, there are many uses of model organisms that are not tied solely or primarily to their representational power. For instance, homeobox genes from D. melanogaster are not representations of partially homologous genes from other organisms, nor are they used as representations: they are important tools for identifying more genes that might play similar roles. They have led to the discovery of homeobox-containing genes in hundreds of other metazoans, but also often end up failing to represent because such genes are not found in the organisms of interest.
Similarly, it could be claimed that probes or methods resulting from model organism research, such as RNA hybridisation probes, gene mapping techniques, or knockout experiments, are not tied to the representational power of model organisms as models, but rather to their versatility as laboratory tools.Footnote 4 However, even in these cases, we argue that the representational power attributed to model organisms continues to define the epistemic significance and implications of adopting such organisms as models. Building on DEKI, we are interpreting the representational power of the model as itself grounded in their use as research tools and the related habits and commitments made by model organism communities. Thus, while it is true that homeobox-containing genes in D. melanogaster do not always serve as reliable representations of the genetic make-up of other organisms, the use of D. melanogaster itself as a model organism is the reason why such genes are sought in other organisms, and why they can in fact serve as tools for identifying additional genes that might play similar roles. The adoption of D. melanogaster does, in turn, carry specific conceptual commitments, such as the attention to genetic mechanisms over and above the susceptibility of the organism to environmental changes, resulting from the representational power of this model. The same applies to the adoption of probes and techniques derived from model organism research: these carry with them specific commitments to how model organisms represent a burden whose significance for future research is often overlooked by researchers, and yet must be critically assessed.
We conclude that understanding how model organisms represent is crucial to understanding their role as tools to study other organisms. As Ian Hacking put it nearly four decades ago (Reference Hacking1983), modes of representing and intervening are tightly interconnected in scientific practice; the case of model organisms elegantly instantiates this insight. Model organisms are material models with a specific representational power, which facilitates and underpins their use in biological practice. This link between the representational and interventionist dimensions of the model is crucial to its power and its potentially pernicious effects on research. Whenever researchers use model organisms, and/or techniques, probes, and infrastructures produced in association to those models (i.e., the repertoire that we shall analyse in Section 5), they commit to the conceptualisation of organisms that we outlined in the previous section; in other words, they commit to a view of organisms as genetically conserved, placeless, and highly standardised. This commitment affects the subsequent study and manipulation of biological processes, for instance by making it harder to fit results coming from model organism research into studies of biological variability in relation to changes in climate, ecosystem, and soil composition (as we shall see in more detail in Section 7).
At the same time, formalising our analysis in this way provides no insights on whether model organisms are in fact good models for their biological targets, or more precisely, how researchers determine whether a model is likely to be correctly denoting its target and what grounds they use to make these sorts of judgements. As Frigg and Nguyen explicitly acknowledge (Reference Frigg and Nguyen2018, 14), what establishes that a model denotes a target is not easily explained as part of their framework. In our view, answering this question requires complementing their abstract, a temporal schema with a study of the actual practices of model organism research as a way of knowing, which we do in Section 4. A crucial epistemic consideration emerging from considering practices in detail is the iterative nature of the relations of representation expressed in Figure 1, and their implications for experimental practice. As we show, commitments made around what constitutes the model (in a material sense and in the sense of what it is taken to represent), what constitutes the target, what properties the model is taken to exemplify, and whether and how those properties are imputed to a target can change. These commitments result from the conceptual, material, and social developments within the research communities in question, many of which become entrenched over time and strongly affect experimental practice. We return to the question of what makes a ‘good’ or plausible model in Section 6, providing an updated version of Figure 1 that takes these aspects into account.
3.6 Conclusion: Modelling Life
Infrastructures, multiple models of various kinds, and model organisms are co-constructed as part of the same way of doing research and as part of the same push towards standardisation. This mode of investigation becomes entrenched, generating families of models that work with each other and can be easily adopted as ways of doing biological research (Reference Wimsatt, Oyama, Griffiths and GreyWimsatt 2000). Thus, model organisms by themselves do not provide an integrative, holistic, multi-level understanding of biology; rather, it is the modelling ecosystem that makes it possible for model organisms to function as reference points for biological integration across levels. In turn, the development and upkeep of this modelling ecosystem depends on the resourcing, organisation, and institutionalisation of research communities and practices, which we discuss in Section 4. The use of model organisms is a peculiar and oftentimes controversial way of modelling and understanding life. Examining who developed, adopted, and accepted this way of knowing is crucial to assessing its advantages and limitations, as well as the grounds on which model organisms can be regarded as plausible models in the first place, which we examine in Section 5.
4 For Whom Do Model Organisms Represent?
The history of each model organism differs in several respects, not least due to the variation in habits and institutions characterising the researchers who work on different kingdoms (plants as compared to animals or fungi, for example). Despite this diversity, distinct ‘model organism communities’ have formed around particular organisms in order to profit from the expertise, methods, instrumentation, and data accumulated by participating biologists. These communities differ in size, internal structures, and degree of formality, among other factors, and yet they share a set of norms and attributes that are closely connected to the epistemic value associated with model organisms. In this section, we explore the common norms and institutional mechanisms fostered within model organism communities to encourage collaboration and the sharing of resources. We discuss the ways in which these norms and practices have been circulated and refined through discussion both within and across these communities, and the epistemic implications of these developments.
4.2 A Common Vision and Ethos
The biologists credited with beginning the use of a specific organism as a model organism typically have been charismatic leaders with strong scientific skills, whose influence on the subsequent development of the community was so strong as to warrant the label ‘founder effect’. These biologists also possessed sophisticated political and organisational abilities which helped to attract considerable support from peers, funders, and institutions. In some model organism communities, attention tended to focus initially on a particular individual: think of Sydney Brenner for the nematode (C. elegans), George Streisinger for zebrafish (D. rerio), and Paul Nurse for fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). In other communities, a cast of energetic founders came into play, as in the case of A. thaliana with Frederick Laibach and George Rédei, where early efforts were continued and dramatically expanded in a highly coordinated fashion by a handful of highly influential researchers based in the United States and Europe between the 1960s and the 1980s (see Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2007b).
These individuals shared keen interests in exploiting the opportunities presented by molecular approaches to investigate broader questions around the biology of organisms including developmental and evolutionary dimensions. They sought to develop detailed understandings of their respective organisms in order to use results and insights for application in other domains, either to more complex organisms including humans or to make generalised claims about biological processes and phenomena. Such approaches were thought to be appropriate and likely to be effective due to shared (but largely untested) assumptions about evolutionary conservation (see Section 2.4). These researchers also shared a strategy to investigate organisms in a complex, interdisciplinary way: they advocated a holistic, inter-level approach to organisms in isolation from their environment (which as discussed in Section 3 meant paying little or no regard to organisms’ living conditions, as long as they were stabilised and kept uniform within any one laboratory environment). This integrative vision was crucial to shaping the conceptual goals associated with the model organism way of knowing. These goals have shaped the ways in which model organisms are not only viewed, but also how they are used, as models. That is, these epistemic goals are closely tied to the representational scope and target of model organisms, as discussed in Section 2.
The founders of model organism communities also shared a strong sense of the norms that should govern scientific communications and interactions. The actual implementation of such norms differed from community to community both in terms of their extent and relative success, as has been adequately documented in historical scholarship. They tended to emphasise mechanisms and processes to support efficient and collaborative divisions of labour among groups focused on the study of the same organism. These sometimes included relatively controversial practices such as sharing data and insights at the pre-publication stage, engaging with a wide international network when planning research to ensure that research efforts would not be duplicated, and generally favouring collaborative over competitive behaviours. This ethos or moral economy (Reference KohlerKohler 1994) was aptly summarised as ‘share and survive’ (Reference RheeRhee 2004), and explicitly opposed to the ‘publish or perish’ motto that underlay much animal-based research in the 1980s and 1990s.
It is striking that the ethos of sharing, now widely recognised as a distinct characteristic of contemporary model organism communities, was present even in the absence of digital communication technologies. Until the early 1990s, coordination within each model organism community occurred among what were relatively small groups of researchers through newsletters, meetings, lab visits, personal contacts, and so on. For instance, from the 1980s onwards, researchers working on the nematode C. elegans used a newsletter to distribute information on techniques and strains as well as pre-publication results (on similar mechanisms in D. melanogaster, see Reference KeltyKelty 2012). They also published handbooks on worm biology authored by ‘the Worm Community’ (Reference WoodWood et al. 1988) to capture all work to date and to underscore their communal approach to research. In addition, in early C. elegans and related nematode research, publications were delayed because many projects were very large in scale and took considerable time, and the funding structures associated with the main UK lab did not require prompt journal publications (Reference de Chadaraviande Chadarevian 2002; Reference Jones, Ankeny and Cook-Deegan.Jones, Ankeny, & Cook-Deegan 2018). Thus more informal sharing mechanisms helped to maintain the coherence of what became a geographically diffuse yet intellectually unified group, in part to avoid costly research duplications but also to permit free exchange of important findings. The founders of the A. thaliana community, particularly Rédei and Chris and Shauna Sommerville, enforced the sharing of results at the pre-publication stage of research from the very start of molecular work on the plant in the 1970s (Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2007b). These efforts laid the groundwork for more sophisticated methods of sharing that arose in the 1990s–2000s.
4.3 Resourcing: Fitting Into the Political Economy of Biology
Most popular model organisms have enjoyed relatively steady governmental funding, particularly during the HGP that resulted in the formal recognition of a set of these organisms as ‘model organisms’ and enabled many of the associated communities to flourish and expand exponentially. Whether funding for model organisms has resulted in reduced support for research with other organisms or even particular types of biology has been a matter for considerable debate, with results depending on the particular metrics utilised (we do not engage with this literature here, but for discussion see e.g., Reference DaviesDavies 2007; Reference Dietrich, Ankeny and ChenDietrich, Chen, & Ankeny 2014). The period from 1980s to the 2000s thus has been dubbed the ‘age of model organisms’ by biologists themselves (Reference DavisDavis 2004).
The proponents of the key model organisms were able to convince colleagues, peers, and funders that repeated use of and reference to the same organism provided critical opportunities for sharing knowledge, materials, and technologies across biological disciplines and research groups. It allowed growth of comparative research, and indeed constituted an anchor around which entire research communities could be built (Reference Ankeny and LeonelliAnkeny & Leonelli 2011). The leaders of these communities also had significant public relations skills which allowed them to sell their projects well beyond the scientific community that allowed funding and attention including from a large amount from governmental and smaller amounts from non-governmental entities including foundations and industry. In addition, funding was in many cases global; the international HGP started a sort of ‘arms race’ between different countries with competing prominent labs eager to participate in this novel big science effort. Norms from model organism work being promoted more generally through human genomic projects was in part due to leadership from those in the original C. elegans community (Reference Jones, Ankeny and Cook-Deegan.Jones, Ankeny, & Cook-Deegan 2018).
In the case of A. thaliana, the strong professional and personal bonds established among its advocates enhanced the profile of the plant. It became possible to devise and successfully implement common strategies to obtain funding from national and international bodies (such as the U.S. National Science Foundation and the European Commission), thus implementing the ‘share and survive’ ethos discussed in Section 4.2. This model of research fostered major infrastructural resourcing such as databases (e.g., The Arabidopsis Information Resource [TAIR] created in 2000 based on previous, less systematic efforts) and steering committees (the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee [MASC]). These were jointly devised by representatives of each country active in plant biology in order to coordinate A. thaliana research projects around the world.
These efforts also fit well with even broader socio-technical and political–economic regimes, institutional structures, and moral economies governing the uptake and financing of science and technology during this period, and the vision of basic molecular research as critical for innovation in medicine and agriculture (Reference Cook-DeeganCook-Deegan 1994; Reference HilgartnerHilgartner 2017). Parallels were drawn between the HGP and other big-scale science initiatives such as the Manhattan Project; advocates noted the need for investment in basic science such as genomic sequencing as had occurred with fundamental physics. Critics highlighted fears about top-down, centralised funding, speculating that these efforts created focus on high-profile national goals in part to distract from other problems, such as the failed ‘war on cancer’ and contemporaneous fears relating to the emergence of HIV/AIDS (Reference RosenbergRosenberg 1996).
On the ground, the importance of institutional buy-in cannot be underestimated; numerous prominent institutions were willing to invest in model organism research through hires, capital investment, infrastructure support, and so on. In the case of C. elegans, these efforts began with Medical Research Council funding at the University of Cambridge from the 1960s onwards, with multiple major labs subsequently supported in the United Kingdom, the United States, and beyond. They were followed by the creation of what became the Wellcome Genome Campus, including the Sanger Sequencing Centre just outside of Cambridge (Reference de Chadaraviande Chadarevian 2002). These jointly oversaw the HGP along with hosting several model organism projects. The German, French, and Japanese arms of the HGP invested heavily in non-human organisms: by 1997, a substantive of their funding was dedicated to subprogrammes focused on mouse M. musculus, rat R. norvegicus, fruit fly D. melanogaster, and zebrafish D. rerio, with similar programmes arising elsewhere.
4.4 Digital Infrastructures: Databases
The advent of the HGP in the 1990s, and the availability of funding for sequencing projects on what became the canonical model organisms attached to it, played two important functions with respect to the collaborative strategies of model organism communities. First, they consolidated and institutionalised their epistemic goals. The pursuit of sequencing data was a powerful shared aim, as well as a common denominator that could serve as the basis for future collaborative work. Biologists involved in these projects agreed that gaining access to sequence data was of central importance for future research in all areas of biology, thus constituting a collaborative platform for the integration of knowledge about single organisms as well as for comparative research across species. Second, the new wave of funding for sequencing also facilitated the use of new digital technologies to support the sharing ethos of model organism communities even as they expanded well beyond the initial informal and relatively contained networks to become very large groupings. As conferences organised around research on specific organisms became large (numbering thousands of delegates in the cases of A. thaliana, C. elegans, and D. melanogaster) and publication numbers relating to each organism ballooned (see data in Reference Dietrich, Ankeny and ChenDietrich, Chen, & Ankeny 2014), researchers turned to digital infrastructures such as databases and repositories in order to facilitate immediate data sharing on a large and efficient scale.
Through application and dissemination of the ethos of sharing, the pre-existing networks associated with what became model organism communities helped to shape what became the community databases associated with many of the model organisms in the late 1990s and early 2000s (Reference Leonelli and AnkenyLeonelli & Ankeny 2012). Their immediate goal was to store and disseminate genomic data, which became more formalised in the context of the 1998 Bermuda Principles mandating daily release of HGP-funded DNA sequences into the public domain (Reference Jones, Ankeny and Cook-Deegan.Jones, Ankeny, & Cook-Deegan 2018). The longer-term vision associated with these databases reflected the deeper goals related to the ethos of these communities. They aimed to establish agreed terminology and language; to incorporate and integrate all data available on the biology of the organism in question within a unique dataset, including data on physiology, metabolism, and even morphology; to promote cooperation across communities and databases so that the available datasets eventually would be comparable across species; and to gather information about laboratories working on each organism and the associated experimental protocols, materials, and instruments, thus providing a platform for continued community building as they began to grow rapidly in size and dispersal.
The focus on sequencing data also presented some additional issues: such data taken on their own could not provide meaningful functional information about the biology of organisms, and hence highlighted the limitations of the typical credit attribution systems based on academic publications which typically require communication of claims and hypotheses attached to specific biological phenomena (Reference HilgartnerHilgartner 1995; Reference Leonelli, Howlett and MorganLeonelli 2010). Reconsideration of what makes a ‘publishable unit’ was a critical part of the transition in practices that occurred during the era of large-scale genomic sequencing, particularly with model organisms, as well as changes in how authorship was determined to allow for extremely large groups who had participated in these communal, larger-scale projects (Reference Ankeny, Leonelli, Stevens and RichardsAnkeny & Leonelli 2015).
The use of community databases made it possible to dramatically increase the quantity of information on model organisms that could be stored and integrated, as well as the quantity and geographical spread of researchers with access to such information. This quantitative shift brought about a series of qualitative changes in the nature of the community that could do work with a particular model organism and the ways in which members of such communities could communicate with each other. Community databases were established to enable researchers to locate information on a given organism without having to read through all existing literature or be personally acquainted with all research being done. They also fostered researchers’ abilities to move across biological subfields at a time when biological research was increasingly fragmented and specialised, for instance, by facilitating searches on state-of-the-art insights coming from different subfields and exposing researchers to diverse instruments, methods, terminologies, and standards. As a result, model organisms became accessible well beyond the original communities that established them and became extremely powerful tools for biological research.
4.5 Material Infrastructures: Stock Collections
In parallel to the growth of data infrastructures for model organisms, the production, use, and dissemination of actual specimens of these organisms has been increasingly standardised and centralised, in part due to large-scale funding out of recognition of the importance of such initiatives. Stock centres have been established in order to collect, maintain, and ensure access to strains of specimens that proved to be particularly responsive within laboratory settings. Since their early days, prominent labs within each model organism community have established and circulated protocols and standardised methods about how best to handle organisms in the laboratory, so as to ensure continuity in experimental procedures and results. The Morgan laboratory started to classify and standardise D. melanogaster specimens and distribute them to other labs in the 1920s (Reference KohlerKohler 1994); various strains of JAX mice have been produced and disseminated by the Jackson Laboratory since the 1930s (Reference RaderRader 2004); C. elegans stocks have been available via a formal strain centre since 1978; and A. thaliana collections were established in the 1930s in Germany then moved to twinned stock centres in the United Kingdom and the United States, with the Laibach collection still featuring at the core of A. thaliana stocks. These collections became increasingly centralised, with many communities agreeing on one or two key sites to place in charge of storing, maintaining, and disseminating stocks on demand.
Access to specimens from these collections initially occurred via paper catalogues, newsletters, and informal contacts. As digital infrastructure became established, stock collections became increasingly integrated with databases, facilitating the posting of accurate and up-to-date information on stocks and promoting the selection and obtaining of the ‘right (strain of the) organism for the job’ by interested researchers. Although community databases typically have no direct responsibility for how specimens are collected and distributed by stock centres, they still play key roles in supporting the work done at stock centres by offering centralised online access to specimens (Reference Rosenthal and AshburnerRosenthal & Ashburner 2002). This service requires tight coordination between the ways in which stock centres describe their specimens and the information reported online about them within the databases. Further, database curators must align information about each available strain of mutants with the online data available in relation to those strains. Because these collaborative activities are essential to the coordination of stock centres and databases to permit systematic choice and use of strains by researchers, the curators of community databases clearly influence the ways in which specimens are described, stored, and disseminated to users.
The organisms C. elegans and A. thaliana are the most successful examples of close collaborations between stock centres and databases: the Caenorhabditis Genetics Centre is directly accessible through WormBase, while the two existing Arabidopsis stock centres (the European Arabidopsis Stock Centre and Arabidopsis Biological Resource Centre) were developed and expanded in the late 1990s in collaboration with TAIR. The fruit fly and mouse communities have generally been less efficient in aligning database development with the standardisation of stocks, primarily because stocks of these organisms have not yet been successfully centralised. In the fruit fly community, collections are greatly diversified and some are privately held. The mouse situation is even more diffuse, as stock collections are highly diverse and mainly held by individual laboratories or institutions. Even (one might say especially) in these situations, community databases play a key role in guaranteeing access to stocks. FlyBase lists all existing Drosophila collections, which can then be contacted by users for orders, while mouse collections can be obtained through a portal called the International Mouse Strain Resource. The absence of a centralised stock centre with a direct link to Mouse Genome Informatics is the object of heated debates within the mouse community (e.g., Reference Sundberg, Ward and SchofieldSundberg, Ward, & Schofield 2009). Some argue that this lack of common access has delayed, and in some cases impeded, research progress (Anonymous 2009).
4.6 Conclusion: Characteristics of Model Organism Research
As detailed in this section, distinct ‘model organism communities’ have formed around particular organisms in order to benefit from the expertise, methods, instrumentation, and data accumulated by participating biologists. Although these communities have many diverse characteristics – differing in size, internal structures, and degree of formality, among other factors – we contend that they share a set of norms and attributes associated with encouraging collaboration and resource sharing, and these norms are closely connected to the epistemic value associated with model organisms (see Table 2 for a summary).
|Characteristics of the Community||Conceptual commitments|
|Shared skills and practices|
|Dependable funding sources|
In addition, model organism research was grounded in the broader landscape present in the 1980s–2000s relating to the HGP within which these projects were funded, but also was shaped by a range of institutional, social, political, and economic factors, as summarised in Table 3.
|Characteristics of the Broader Landscape||Fit with political and social goals||Vision of basic molecular research as grounding innovation in medicine and agriculture|
|Intellectual property regime||Free or otherwise well-regulated exchange of materials, techniques, and data|
|Institutional buy-in||Existence of institutions willing to invest in model organism research (through hires, capital investment, infrastructures, etc.)|
We return to the components summarised in these tables in Section 5 where we explore the notion of a model organism repertoire.
5 The Model Organism Repertoire
In this section, we frame the stable alignment of elements underpinning model organism work as an important type of repertoire within biology. The robustness of this repertoire is fundamental to how model organisms are made to represent beyond themselves, and to the plausibility of using model organisms as models (as we shall see in Section 6). As we illustrate, its significance is underscored by recent attempts to establish new model organisms, as well its role in facilitating translational research ‘applying’ model organisms to clinical and agricultural research.
5.2 Establishing a Repertoire
The norms of model organism communities described in Section 4 were developed alongside other changes in the contemporary biosciences, including the increasing professionalisation, globalisation, and computerisation of biological and biomedical research which has been characteristic of the past three decades. As a unique way of doing science, model organism research thus involves a set of characteristic practices that emerged in relation to a set of distinctive epistemic goals, which in turn have been finely tuned to the study of the phenomena that these models are taken to represent. These practices together have culminated in what we call a model organism repertoire. A repertoire is a general framework for analysing the emergence, development, and evolution of particular ways of doing science. In a repertoire, the successful alignment of conceptual, material, logistical, and institutional components (including specific skills and behaviours by participants in scientific efforts) results in a blueprint for how to effectively conduct, finance, and support research in the longer term (for more detail including how this account compares to others in the philosophy of science that explore collaboration and related issues, see Reference LeonelliAnkeny & Leonelli 2016).
Model organism research is an excellent example of a repertoire, inasmuch as it depends on specific material, social, and epistemic conditions under which individuals joined together to perform projects and achieve common goals, in a way that was relatively robust over time despite changes in the broader landscape and other features. In the case of model organisms, the adoption and increasing entrenchment of specific theoretical commitments, such as the working assumption of evolutionary conservation and commitments to emphasis on integrative, cross-level accounts, were key components of the story. Looking specifically at cases of modelling in biology, Griesemer refers to the core beliefs of a research community as its ‘theoretical perspective’, that is, the set of concepts, interests, and values that are (largely unreflectively) used by biologists in their research and demarcate their epistemic culture. He characterises the goal of a theoretical perspective as ‘coordinating models and phenomena’ (2000, S348); a perspective is thus responsible for determining which aspects of a theory (and hence of the models collectively constituting that theory) are relevant to phenomena and how. A theoretical perspective thus does not apply directly to a specific set of phenomena. Rather, it contributes the analytic and practical tools needed by a scientific community to pursue and obtain knowledge about a specific phenomenon.
Importantly, a theoretical perspective thus conceptualised is grounded in the adoption and development of specific instruments, techniques, and ways of choosing and handling materials. In the case of model organisms, standardisation procedures for both the organisms themselves, the ways in which data and samples were handled (e.g., infrastructures), and the availability of laboratory techniques and reliance on tools such as high-throughput sequencing machines turned out to be crucial to the development of the repertoire. In addition, broader social, institutional, and financial conditions of research shape what is considered as interesting and valid: these conditions are instrumental in facilitating the adoption of specific models as reference points for scientific work. The popularity of model organisms in contemporary biology has not occurred because they constitute the ‘best’ materials or models with which to work in any objective sense, biological or otherwise; animal models are never a ‘given’ (Reference Lewis, Atkinson, Harrington and FeatherstoneLewis et al. 2013). Nor did they become so prominent because other species are too experimentally difficult or unwieldy, even though many model organism species were initially adopted because of their tractability, ease of storage, and low costs of production and maintenance. Instead, these species have risen to prominence thanks to their proponents’ efforts to portray them as ‘obligatory passage points’ (Reference CallonCallon 1984) for multidisciplinary collaboration across biological subfields.
Thus, the model organism repertoire is a specific type of system of practice that aligns itself very closely with broader regimes, existing technological and institutional platforms, and existing experimental systems as well as a precise theoretical perspective, all of which combine to allow model organisms to ‘represent’ for those who utilise them. Thousands of researchers from a variety of locations across the globe came to be involved in enacting and developing a broadly shared repertoire that included the very conceptualisation of specific organisms as models of reference for a large work programme with related theoretical commitments about which research questions to pursue. The repertoire also encompassed strategies to acquire blue-skies funding support particularly from the US and UK governments, which in turn enabled research to develop within relatively well-resourced conditions. Specific norms and behaviours, particularly an ethos of sharing data and techniques prior to publication, were attractive to like-minded researchers and contributed to the continuity of the research efforts and their abilities to accrete over time. Finally, the standardisation and centralisation of the production, use, and dissemination of specimens in stock centres, and the establishment of databases to gather both published and unpublished data in a standardised manner also were critical components. Table 3 provides a synoptic overview of these components as discussed in this and preceding sections.
These components may appear to be disparate, but in fact are closely related and tightly interconnected: they arguably could not function effectively without each other. For instance, norms around sharing would not have been sustainable in the absence of large-scale governmental support enabling individual researchers and laboratory groups to disseminate results and materials efficiently in terms of time and resources. Work relating to Drosophila, for instance, suffered a temporary set back with the closure of some of its stock centres in the 1990s due to lack of funds. The situation was remedied through lobbying by the research community, leading the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the NIH to pull together support for one of the stock centres (unsurprisingly, the one most tightly related to FlyBase, the main Drosophila database), and the institution of charges for users to help recover costs (Reference BanghamBangham 2019). The two Arabidopsis stock centres, the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre and the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center, are similarly dependent on a combination of revenue and governmental funding regularly promoted by lobbying and support from the research community. Without a combination of canny management by the stock centres, databases, and their users; public relations efforts by governmental funders across the globe; and regularly updated arguments about the role played by these resources in research development including new data-driven methods, these essential components of the repertoire would have disappeared along with much of the attraction of working with model organisms.
|Characteristics of the Organism||Natural or intrinsic|
|Induced/uncovered through experimental interaction and transfer to lab|
|Attributed to or projected onto the organism by researchers|
|Characteristics of the Community||Conceptual commitments|
|Shared skills and practices|
|Dependable funding sources|
|Characteristics of the Broader Landscape||Fit with political and social goals||Vision of basic molecular research as grounding innovation in medicine and agriculture|
|Intellectual property regime||Free or otherwise well-regulated exchange of materials, techniques, and data|
|Institutional buy-in||Existence of institutions willing to invest in model organism research (through hires, capital investment, infrastructures, etc.)|
Significantly, the hard-won abilities of researchers to effectively align these components gave rise to a wealth of theoretical and experimental results. It also led to ways of labelling and organising those results for future use for a variety of other research purposes including by those outside the community. This combination of influences shaped biologists’ understandings of these organisms themselves. Hence, the community for whom a model organism does productive work (and is therefore accepted as representing a given set of phenomena) defines what counts: the model organism and the community become co-constitutive. The repertoire has been essential to the establishment of model organisms as reference points within biology.
5.3 Emerging Model Organisms
The significance of the model organism repertoire as a way of doing research is underscored by the numerous efforts to establish new model organisms in recent years. A key attraction is the opportunity to implement the repertoire in relation to new biological domains and locations, in the wake of the recognition and prestige associated with work on the original model organisms. In the words of a leading developmental biologist, ‘there can be few career outcomes more satisfactory for a bioscience professor than the successful introduction of a “new” model organism’ (Reference SlackSlack 2009, 1674–75). Another motivation is to make certain that more traditional model organisms do not displace biological research on other organisms, particularly in terms of funding provided. Researchers who do not work on traditional model organisms often lament being forced to rationalise what they do because work on non-model organisms is viewed as less desirable (e.g., Reference BolkerBolker 1995). For instance, in grant applications that may require defence of the use of something less well established (or explicit plans for sharing and maintaining new organisms, in line with existing model organism norms). Our account of the repertoire associated with model organisms helps to explicate not only what is unique about model organisms, but also why not all biological research can or should focus on them: not all organisms can (or should) be ‘model organisms’. The model organism repertoire is one among many repertoires that co-exist within contemporary biological sciences but should not be viewed as a ‘one size fits all’ answer to what can lead to productive research.
One of the most notable efforts to widen which organisms are utilised has occurred via the introduction of the category of ‘emerging model organisms’ publicised by the well-recognised Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory book series (Cold Spring Harbor Protocols 2019; for a similar approach focused on ‘non-model model organisms’, see Reference Russell, Theriot, Pranidhi Sood, Marshall, Landweber and Fritz-LaylinRussell et al. 2017). A series of protocols details methods, available information and techniques, and the potential utility of certain species of organisms, and is geared at those likely to be unfamiliar with the organism in question. Advocates cite advances in genomics and particularly decreases in the time and costs associated with sequencing, which permit exploration of species beyond those traditionally used. Among those discussed are organisms with long histories of use, such as axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) for regeneration, development, and evolution; planaria for regeneration, stem cell biology, ageing (see also Reference Valenzano, Aboobaker, Seluanov and GorbunovaValenzano et al. 2017), and behaviour; and maize as an alternative model plant. Others are touted as good comparators to existing model organisms, such as the red flour beetle (Tribolium castaneum) for comparison of developmental mechanisms with D. melanogaster to address questions concerning the evolution of morphology and other characteristics. Yet another motivation is to identify organisms that might be in some sense ‘better’ than the existing model organisms, such as a cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus), which has a mode of development described as ‘more typical’ than that of the fruit fly D. melanogaster, and a nematode (Pristionchus pacificus), which has similar experimental advantages to the nematode C. elegans but very different genetics and diverse ecological features.
What is important for our purposes is that these organisms are unlikely to fulfil all of the attributes associated with the model organism repertoire. In many instances, organisms are being selected to explore particular phenomena and not as good models for a diverse range of fundamental phenomena. Hence, researchers are not making the same types of attributions to them as were made to the more traditional model organisms, nor do they share many of the underlying conceptual commitments that grounded model organisms. These changes are partly due to shifts in research interests (and the success of existing model organisms in becoming points of reference for such work) and partly to the lack of infrastructures, established norms, and wide-ranging institutional support for these newcomers. In addition, the broader research landscape differs significantly: the large infusion of resources for blue-skies funding that occurred in concert with the HGP and in alignment with broader socio-technical and political–economic regimes, institutional structures, and moral economies in the 1990s and early 2000s was a highly contingent phenomenon, unlikely to be repeated on this scale. As a result, these research organisms do not function as models in the same sense as traditional model organisms: they do not have, or aspire towards, a particularly wide representational scope or target.
However, it is striking that some of the proposed emerging model organisms do incorporate particular aspects of the model organism repertoire in their arguments about why they will be particularly useful for this type of research. For instance, available technologies including genomic methods (in the case of moss Physcomitrella patens, and the paramecium Paramecium tetraurelia) are cited as advantages. Other organisms including social amoeba (Dictyostelium discoideum) are argued to be good choices because of the availability of community resources including a genome database (dictyBase) and stock centre. Thus, some takeaways from the history of model organism development and use are being deployed well beyond their original domains.
Furthermore, it is arguable that some of the original ‘model organisms’ were not as successful as hoped, or as quickly as was hoped, in part because they were not initially positioned to fulfil all of the components of the repertoire. For instance, chicken was historically an important research organism, particularly for the study of development for which it was extremely tractable given the accessibility and eases of manipulation of embryos, and obviously was very important for commercial reasons within agriculture. However, its use as a model organism faced obstacles, as its genetics are considerably more complex than many of the other model organisms. The initial lack of availability of various molecular genetic techniques, such as transgenics and knockouts, made it difficult to develop. Similarly, although the frog Xenopus laevis had a long history as an experimental organism especially for development (Reference Cannatella and De SáCannatella & de Sá 1993), its genetics were more complex and made less tractable until the development of a diploid organism, completion of genomic sequencing of several species of Xenopus, and the advent of gene editing (Reference Blum and OttBlum & Ott 2019).
As can be seen from these examples, what makes model organisms into unique models is the complex intersection of components associated with the model organism repertoire. Not all biologists do or should use model organisms: there are research questions that could benefit from molecular biological approaches that nonetheless may be more appropriate to address in species that are not among the traditional or classic models. As emphasised throughout this Element, model organisms are aligned with a distinct way of knowing, which is not suited to all purposes nor necessarily better than others in any general sense.
5.4 The Translational Role of Model Organisms
One epistemic goal of model organism research that deserves further attention is its role in acquiring knowledge about humans (Reference SchaffnerSchaffner 1986) and developing medical applications such as pharmaceuticals. As noted earlier, model organisms are understood to have a broad representational scope and serve as the basis for articulating processes that it is thought will be found to be common across all (or most) other types of organisms and also have broad representational targets. A particularly important use of model organisms occurs within biomedicine, namely, focus on humans and especially those with some type of disease condition. In those cases, humans constitute the representational scope of the model, and one or more aspects of the disease of interest become its representational target (cf. Reference PiotrowskaPiotrowska 2013). Thus, the case of use of model organisms within biomedicine can be seen as a more specific example of the use of model organisms more generally (Reference Huber and KeuckHuber & Keuck 2013).
Some model organisms have come to be strongly associated with their abilities to allow translation of findings back to humans. These particularly include those on which developmentally relevant genes can be modified (e.g., deleted via knockouts or added via knockins) in a precise and controlled manner, and that are therefore valued as useful predictive models to study human disease mechanisms. The mouse M. musculus has been said to be the most commonly used model organism in research on human disease (Reference Rosenthal and BrownRosenthal & Brown 2007), in part because of the large degree of genetic similarity but also due to a range of factors associated with its tractability and long-established track record of associated resources, tools, and technologies. For example, the so-called p53 knockout mouse relies on a tumour suppressor with important functions in relation to DNA transcription, cell growth, and cell proliferation, and hence associated with cancer prevention. Large numbers of human tumours contain mutations or deletions relating to the p53 gene, and hence mice with this gene knocked out have been extensively used to study a range of human cancers, including their proliferation and spread (Reference DaviesDavies 2013; Reference NelsonNelson 2018). Zebrafish (D. rerio) also have a high degree of genetic similarity with humans, with many conserved genes, pathways, and features, and they are cheaper and easier to raise in large quantities. Although they are not useful to study human diseases in those tissues that they lack (e.g., lungs), knockout D. rerio have been used to study the severity and progression of human diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
In recent years, concerns have emerged about the lack of replicability of biomedical research using mice. Our account of model organisms helps to provide guidance about these issues. First, the adoption of model organisms can have potential negative side effects, including canalisation with regard to what organisms are utilised for research. There is no doubt that M. musculus has in many senses become the default experimental organism for biomedicine. Yet, there may be evolutionary and other reasons to think that use of mice as model organisms is in many cases not well-supported in evolutionary or other terms (e.g., Reference BolkerBolker 1995, Reference Bolker2009; Reference PerlmanPerlman 2016), which may in turn raise problems with regard to reproducibility.
In addition, as with any other form of experimental research, a series of background commitments must be in place in order for such models to be valid. To be used to model a human disease, the research organism must (in some sense) evidence the same attributes as the condition in humans in terms of the underlying genetic, physiological, or other processes, and in terms of the disease phenotype produced. Hence, certain types of disease conditions simply may not be able to be accurately modelled in mice or other non-human model organisms (e.g., Reference RansohoffRansohoff 2018). Moreover, the selection of the allele and strain on which to focus must be made carefully, particularly given limitations of certain strains including genetic drift over time; the environment in which experiments are done must be articulated, and appropriate experimental controls established. What constitutes an appropriate control can be problematic because of the different understandings of the idea of ‘control’ within the biological and biomedical research contexts (Reference GüttingerGüttinger 2019), which are themselves related to use of different research repertoires. While biomedical replicability presupposes randomisation as the gold standard, for example, biological replicability focuses more on the accurate reporting of experimental conditions and the investigation of variation as an important phenomenon in and of itself which may help to explain divergent results arising in attempts at replication (Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2018).
The dominance of mice models in biomedicine points towards an intriguing tension: on the one hand, the mouse M. musculus could be viewed as the best example of a model organism, given its prominence and sheer quantity of usage in contemporary scientific practice. However, it arguably does not share many of the attributes associated with the model organism repertoire outlined previously, due to the complexities inherent in the diverse research programmes using mice. The use of research organisms in translational efforts has become a strong motivator particularly within model organism-based research, especially given the considerable amounts of global funding dedicated to biomedical research in comparison to exploratory biological research. Mouse research has been largely commercialised for nearly a century (Reference RaderRader 2004), with various strains of mice available for purchase rather than via sharing of specimens and similar. Sharing of data has been considerably restricted due to the sizable investments made by private companies as well as public institutions, all of which are in competition with each other, especially in terms of potential pharmaceutical products, thus creating a situation in marked contradiction to the ‘share and survive’ ethos. As a result, there is no unified community (and only limited discrete subcommunities) of mouse researchers and few centralised resources. Perhaps most importantly, mice are conceptualised more as tools, with much less emphasis on multi-level modelling or integration of knowledge across levels, disciplinary approaches, and locations in order to understand the organism taken as a whole.
5.5 Conclusion: Using the Repertoire Framework
This section demonstrates the significance of understanding model organism research as a repertoire, as well as the complexity of applying this framework across different communities that invoke the ‘model organism’ label. Clear articulation of the elements of the model organism repertoire makes it possible to explore similarities and differences between model organism communities as well as the evolution of their practices over time. It also enables the study of variations due to different degrees of exposure to translational endeavours, commercialisation, and regimes of intellectual property, which is important as restrictions on the sharing of results and international collaboration directly impact the effectiveness with which the model organism repertoire can be used to enable an integrative understanding of organisms. It is not enough in this case to assert that many researchers working on mice tend to have different goals from researchers working with the nematode C. elegans: even when goals may be the same (e.g., studies of cell degeneration with a view to oncological applications), the differences between uses of these two models involve values and norms of scientific communication, availability and management of infrastructures, and relations between researchers working on different projects. All of these components are intertwined and result in divergences in the researchers’ resources and practices. In Section 6, we explore how this approach can inform a deeper understanding of the plausibility of model organisms as biological models.
6 When Are Model Organisms ‘Good’ Representations?
Starting with a discussion of the importance of understanding modelling as an activity, this section examines what makes model organisms plausible as biological models. In other words, we look at the grounds upon and conditions under which groups of researchers in a community commit (implicitly or explicitly) to the view that model organisms can represent other organisms. Reliance on model organisms as plausible models that are ‘good’ or ‘useful’ depends on their tight association with a powerful and effective repertoire. We illustrate these issues through discussion of what was involved historically for the mouse M. musculus and the thale cress A. thaliana to become accepted as plausible models in alcoholism studies and plant biology respectively. We then discuss the limits and constraints associated with this way of modelling, and address questions arising in cases where model organisms are widely recognised as inadequate and therefore implausible models.
6.2 From Models to Modelling Activities
Models come in an endless variety of forms. A combination of these is always required when they are used in scientific practices, where they interrelate and work together in a variety of ways (for discussion and examples, see the volumes edited by Reference Morrison, Morgan, Morrison and MorganMorrison & Morgan 1999; Reference de Chadaravian and Hopwoodde Chadarevian & Hopwood 2004; and Reference Laubichler and MüllerLaubichler & Müller 2007; as well as Reference GreenGreen 2013). Given this dramatic diversity, and the resulting ‘promiscuity’ (Reference Griesemer, de Chadarevian and HopwoodGriesemer 2004, 436) of the notion of model itself, much attention has been paid, particularly by philosophers, to the actual features of models employed in scientific practice. These discussions have allowed clarification off the epistemological status of various types of models (ranging from scale or toy models, to physical or theoretical, to idealised and fictional, and so on: for a summary see Reference Frigg and HartmannFrigg & Hartmann 2018) as both products of scientific practices and as tools used to develop or interpret theories.
Much less attention has been devoted to the variety of activities that need to be performed in order to yield adequate or ‘good’ models and to productively employ them in processes relating to explaining the world and intervening in it. Scientists not only refer to models in their explanations, but also use, manipulate, and constantly modify them in order to achieve and justify those very explanations, and develop related strategies for experimental intervention. The adequacy of any instance of such use is determined both by the features of the phenomena under scrutiny, and the material, social, and institutional settings associated with the scientific practices at issue and the commitments of the researchers involved. In this context, ‘representation’ is not taken merely as some sort of complete or static mirroring of a phenomenon, system, or theory by the model. Rather, representation is a type of rendering that is necessarily active and partial, insofar as it is grounded in and instantiated by research practices, which in this case include the development of a repertoire with specific conceptual, material, and social components. Models owe their representational power to this complex set of historical and epistemic circumstances; in this sense they mediate between theory and world (and thus our account is indebted to Reference Morrison, Morgan, Morrison and MorganMorrison & Morgan 1999 and Reference MorganMorgan 2012).
Examining modelling activities, rather than solely focusing on their products such as theories, is a useful approach. Such an approach is particularly valuable when investigating how model organisms help to create knowledge that can be projected beyond the immediate domain in which it has been produced and thus serve as ‘good’ models. Models can fulfil many diverse functions, including as representations, but only by being used, manipulated, or put to work, and is supported by the growing philosophical literature on practice-focused accounts of modelling (e.g., Reference KnuuttilaKnuuttila 2011; Reference ChangChang 2012; and Reference GelfertGelfert 2016 to name just a few) in which our account is grounded. The critical question here is what makes such projections more (or less) plausible, particularly because model organisms are sometimes used to represent phenomena that are arguably not directly observable using the organisms themselves or for targets (such as humans) that are very dissimilar to the original organism. In the terms presented in Section 3, the issue is how to account for the imputation of properties of the model to the target. Such imputation involves understanding communities of researchers’ choices and justifications of a key to connect properties found in the model to properties imputed to the target, which in turn determines the representational power of the model, as well as the commitments involved in deploying it in experimental practice.
6.3 Focusing on the Plausibility of Models
Adoption of a ‘science in practice’ approach requires focus on modelling as an activity that occurs in a complex research environment that includes conceptual commitments, specific shared practices and experiences, institutional framework and aims, and other broader aspects of scientific practice. What makes an organism-based model plausible as a representation depends on the degree to which communities of researchers deem the use of the organism as a model for a given phenomenon to be epistemically fruitful and justifiable within the broader research environment. This notion of plausibility is necessarily dynamic, encompassing a spectrum that can vary from low to high plausibility; it evolves and iterates as additional evidence is gathered, conceptual commitments and practices change, and so on, and is grounded in communities of researchers’ overarching perceptions and evaluations of their own research practices and goals.
We thus define plausibility as the degree to which communities of researchers deem the use of an organism as a model for a given phenomenon or group of organisms to (1) be acceptable to others, in the sense of being taken seriously as a tool for scientific work by at least some of the researchers’ peers (usually a sizeable group spanning multiple locales and institutions); and (2) fit within an epistemic space (Reference RheinbergerRheinberger 1997, Reference Rheinberger2010) created by the availability of background knowledge, questions, concepts, technologies, methods, data, and/or materials that researchers are already investigating or using in their work, and which therefore makes it possible for researchers to rationalise and justify commitments to a specific organism. Consider, for example, the case of a researcher interested in a particular type of coral reef because she loves working in tropical regions. The preferences for spending time in a pleasant location and the affective link between the researcher and certain organisms are important grounds for choosing them and likely for continuing to use them (Reference Ankeny, Leonelli, Matlin, Maienschein and AnkenyAnkeny & Leonelli 2020; Reference Dietrich, Ankeny, Crowe, Green and LeonelliDietrich et al. 2020), yet do not contribute towards making the organism in question a plausible model. To do so, the researcher must consider how the organism can contribute to ongoing debates in her field, to the collection of data relevant to a specific set of questions or phenomena, or to the development of techniques or technologies that may foster scientific innovation, in conjunction with the features of any repertoire that might exist in her research community. These arguments frequently occur in different types of contexts, ranging from lab group discussions, grey literatures such as informal community communication mechanisms, and conference presentations, administrative reporting, funding applications, and publications. But as observed in the case of emerging model organisms (Section 5), only once that type of argument is made, and at least some peers are persuaded that the choice of the organism is acceptable as a model, can the researcher with some degree of confidence use the organism explicitly as a model in her research. She may of course do research without making these types of modelling-related arguments, especially in early stages where information is being gathered and the potential for the organism to serve as a model is being investigated, all of which contribute to future arguments about plausibility.
There are several qualifications necessary in relation to this definition of plausibility. First, we are well aware that the size of the group of peers that find the model acceptable will vary enormously depending on field, type of organism, time period, and a range of other factors, and hence we are not wedded to any specific community size in relationship to the acceptability of a model. For our purposes, we only wish to signal that the plausibility of a model necessarily involves some degree of social consensus beyond the preferences of a solitary investigator (who of course is largely a fictional figure within today’s extensively collaborative and team-based research).
Second, the idea of acceptability does not necessarily mean that the use of an organism as a model is empirically well-warranted or successful using any definitions of these terms. A given model may well be viewed as plausible before much or any substantive evidence is produced about it or knowledge claims established through its use, but still fit within the available epistemic space that constitutes the second half of our definition discussed earlier. Again, there is undoubtedly a continuum present here in terms of available empirical information, and the processes that occur to strengthen arguments about plausibility. Consider our earlier historical discussions, where for example arguments about serving as a model were thought to be quite compelling to a particular community of researchers in the earliest days of research using the nematode C. elegans even though actual evidence about some key features (e.g., degree of genetic conservation) was in fact quite limited. Relatedly, the extent to which these arguments are explicit in its strictest sense (e.g., in published peer-reviewed literature) may well vary, again according to the fields, research cultures, historical moment, and so on.
Finally, we recognise that operationalising this definition by developing a defined metric of plausibility (such as for instance how many peer-reviewed journal articles make arguments or cite a certain organism as a good model) will not be possible. Any such metric would invariably be linked to a very specific set of assumptions around the characteristics of ‘successful’ research, which can vary widely across research cultures in both space (field, geographical, or otherwise) and time (historical or stage of research programmes). Thus, while there may be scientific and sociological concerns around whether our definition can be operationalised, what we wish to emphasise are the significant advantages that a focus on plausibility provides which in turn allow philosophical understanding of the use of organisms as models in biology.
What are the advantages of our focus on plausibility? For a start, the dynamic nature of this notion requires us to explore the idea that a model can gain more (or less) plausibility over time depending on a range of issues including, but not limited to, its representational power. Researchers typically engage in processes of ‘plausibility building’ (see Reference HofferHoffer 2003 on a similar idea in medicine), which involves gathering a range of types of information and considerations to make the use of a particular model more (or in some cases less) plausible. So in the case of our hypothetical coral reef researcher, although she may start working on her organism of choice for a range of affective reasons, her research may permit her to gather evidence, try out new techniques or methods, investigate available data from other domains in the context of her organism, and so on, which can contribute to plausibility building and result in a compelling argument about the use of the chosen organism as a model (relatedly see Weber’s idea (Reference Weber2005) of ‘preparatory experimentation’). In addition, this notion of plausibility grounds determinations about what makes a particular model choice a good one, including considerations of researchers’ overarching perceptions and evaluations of their own research practices and goals.
The notion of plausibility has been used in other contexts, notably in the so-called Bradford Hill criteria associated with epidemiology and medicine, where it is used to evaluate the reliability of causal claims. It is useful to contrast our notion to this one: the focus in the Bradford Hill criteria is primarily on biological plausibility in that it holds that proposed causal associations must be consistent with existing biological and medical knowledge including theoretical commitments and working assumptions; hence it is analogous to the focus on mechanisms in the philosophy of biology literature (as discussed in more detail in Section 6.4), and particularly genetic and other forms of evolutionary conservation as the main (or sole) grounds by which researchers make arguments about organisms as models. By contrast, we wish to consider the broader conditions under which such judgements are made, and thus are interested in which factors underpin researchers’ determinations with regard to plausibility, ranging from specific investigative experiences to broader institutional frameworks and aims.
Our notion of plausibility is also distinct from several other concepts that are nonetheless relevant but not co-extensive with it, and which have been dominant in philosophical scholarship on models. The idea of credibility, for instance, is heavily evidence based and focuses on empirical warrants for imputations of plausibility, rather than the broader set of considerations that may ground judgements of plausibility beyond the presence of empirical data. Another related but distinct concept, realism, refers to the capacity of a model to capture or reflect aspects of the world in a truthful or accurate manner; although such considerations might be relevant in some cases, this concept does not help us to understand cases where highly idealised or modified organisms are taken as plausible, though not realistic, models. Many philosophers also discuss the representativeness of organisms as models, in ways which are either too vague or require a close mapping of features using similarity relations or isomorphisms (see our critique of this approach to representation in Sections 3.4 and 3.5). We think that plausibility provides a much better entry point for understanding how representational claims are made within actual scientific practices, in all of their rich complexity, and we return to this issue in Section 7.
6.4 Plausibility in Action: Establishing Good Models
To date, philosophers’ assessments of what makes a ‘good’ model for research (or in our terms what makes it ‘plausible’) have largely relied on articulation of the underlying mechanisms relating to the phenomenon of interest as providing the basis for them to serve as representations (e.g., Reference CartwrightCartwright 1989; Reference Schaffner, Machamer, Grush and McLaughlinSchaffner 2001; Reference WeberWeber 2005; Reference Craver and DardenCraver & Darden 2013). Models that share mechanistic features with their targets are more likely to generate the phenomena of interest via the same causal pathways and respond in similar ways when these pathways are disturbed. Hence, shared underlying mechanisms is argued to be the basis for establishing or determining what we term the ‘plausibility’ of a model; to put it in Frigg and Nguyen’s terms, it is taken to provide the key through which properties of the model are identified as relevant and imputable to the target.
In the case of model organisms, such arguments are undoubtedly an important part of what underlies assessment of plausibility, particularly given typical implicit assumptions about genetic and other forms of evolutionary conservation. Many have claimed that inferences from model organisms are empirical extrapolations based on evidence about shared genetic ancestry (e.g., Reference SteelSteel 2008; Reference BolkerBolker 2009; Reference WeisbergWeisberg 2013; Reference Levy and CurrieLevy & Currie 2015). Such extrapolations involve treating the organism as a representative specimen of a broader class (e.g., as Reference BolkerBolker 2009 terms it, a ‘surrogate’). Such accounts are insufficient to understand what is occurring in research practices that depend on model organisms for at least two reasons. First, these views rely on narrow definitions of what counts as ‘extrapolation’ (or the related concepts of ‘interpolation’), arising largely from statistical and quantitative ideas about using known relationships that have been measured and observed to understand those that have not yet been (see also Reference BaetuBaetu 2016). Second, they do not facilitate the analysis of why and when model organisms are viewed as (more or less) useful and appropriate to use in actual scientific practice. Traditional accounts are overly focused on the underlying entities and their attributes without attention to what is done using these entities during research-related processes, which in turn tends to reinforce static ideas of what counts as a good model. Our account relies on attention to modelling processes in action where judgements about models, and the commitments that underpin their uses as representation, are highly iterative and evolve over time. In other words, these processes are brought about through changes in understandings relating to components of the key used to connect properties of the model to those imputed in the target.
By way of illustration, we now briefly consider condensed histories of two models that ended up being widely adopted despite being initially judged as ‘implausible’: A. thaliana for plant science (summarised from Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2007b) and M. musculus for alcoholism research (drawing on Reference Ankeny, Leonelli, Nelson and RamsdenAnkeny et al. 2014).
6.4.1 Making a Model Plant: Arabidopsis thaliana
The first era associated with interest in A. thaliana as an experimental organism occurred in the 1940s, mainly through the work of Laibach based in Frankfurt and Rédei at Columbia University. Laibach was drawn to the species due to its extraordinary natural variation in phenotype, and began the first systematic collection and classification of A. thaliana wildtype mutants in the late 1930s. He believed that A. thaliana could become a suitable organism to study the mechanisms responsible for its surprising diversity due to its tractability, accessibility, short generation time, and relatively simple genetics.
Upon his retirement in 1965, Laibach’s wildtype collection was replicated and shared so that researchers in Europe and the United States could access the full complement of A. thaliana lines. At around this time, Gerald Röbbelen began publication of the Arabidopsis Information Service, an annual newsletter that gave updates on experimental work and improved lines of communication. In his first editorial, Röbbelen billed A. thaliana as the ‘botanical Drosophila’. However, early attempts to bring the plant into the laboratory had not been successful at this point for two main reasons. First, most post-war plant research was focused on breeding techniques, particularly on agriculturally significant organisms such as tobacco, which meant no funding was being provided for plants viewed as commercial dead ends such as A. thaliana. Second, A. thaliana appeared to be resistant to chemically induced mutation, a method that was proving highly effective in other organisms: the few artificially induced mutations obtained between 1950 and the early 1980s were costly, requiring months of experimental labour with no foreseeable hope of speeding up the process. The resilience of A. thaliana to genetic modification caused many European and American biologists to turn away from it to more tractable model organisms such as baker yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), and maize (Zea mays).
In 1986, an unexpected solution to this obstacle emerged in the form of a simple technique for generating mutants: spraying the A. thaliana wildtype with a bacterium (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) doctored with a plasmid permitting incorporation of a gene of interest. Thus it became suddenly possible to easily obtain a great variety of A. thaliana mutants in which phenotypic growth had been disrupted. This development won a great number of biologists over to the study of A. thaliana. The organism also was explicitly marketed to animal geneticists as offering the opportunity to pursue new lines of enquiry in a less competitive environment, one free from the dogma of an older generation and where research could be organised afresh in a highly collaborative fashion. A. thaliana had a rich and well-systematised collection of ecotypes and a simple chromosomal structure; even better, some genetic data were already available and yet it had not become the subject of a large research project. The relevant question for molecular biologists in the 1980s became: ‘why not a plant?’ Several meetings were organised to answer this question, giving shape to a community of likeminded researchers. It thus became acceptable to study a plant that was highly suited to laboratory life, but of no immediate agronomic interest.
In the mid-1980s, the NSF decided to provide abundant funding to the US proponents of A. thaliana. Lobbying by the molecular biologist James Watson (who later was the Head of the US part of the HGP at the NIH) certainly contributed to NSF’s benevolence, as did its desire to enhance its profile among US funding agencies. Outside the United States, researchers argued for the need for similar investment to avoid being left behind, leading other governments to quickly follow the NSF’s lead. Within five years, Britain, Germany, the European Union, and Japan were ploughing considerable amounts of money into A. thaliana research. In 1990, the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative was born, a multinational research effort that successfully managed to yield a complete map of the A. thaliana genome by the year 2000. As the first plant to undergo complete genomic sequencing, its preeminent status within plant biology was confirmed.
6.4.2 Using Mice to Model Alcoholism
Mice, particularly M. musculus, have long been well-accepted models particularly for behavioural investigations, given that they are highly standardised, readily available via stock centres, and easily manipulated under experimental conditions. But use of non-human animals in general has been contested when it comes to alcoholism research, where free will and human volition, as well as a complex set of behaviours and social relations, seem integral to the study of the disease. The successful adoption of mice as a plausible model for twentieth-century alcoholism research thus involved considering not only the features of the organisms themselves but also the environment and experimental settings within which they were studied.
Early alcohol researchers tended to work with a diversity of types of organisms and to use a wide variety of experimental set ups. However, one of the major problems increasingly recognised by researchers in later part of the twentieth century was how to use animal models to understand the uniquely human phenomenon of alcohol addiction: even when interested in using some alcohol, non-human animals do not tend to consume large amounts of it, and mice and rats are especially reluctant to drink alcohol when given a choice between alcohol and water. Thus, alcohol addiction in experimental animals is generally viewed as induced, inasmuch as the behaviours and preferences of animals have to be transformed in order for them to serve as experimental models for human alcoholism.
Hence, the community of alcoholism researchers developed detailed criteria for the methods and experimental set ups required to make them plausible as models: animals have to self-administer alcohol by the oral route and consume it in quantities that would result in pharmacologically significant blood alcohol levels; alcohol should be consumed for its pharmacological properties and not for its taste or caloric properties; animals should be willing to work for alcohol; and tolerance and dependence must emerge as a result, measured by reduced effects of alcohol consumption and acute withdrawal symptoms (Reference Cicero, Majchrowicz and NobleCicero 1979). These criteria became a touchstone for later debates in the field of alcohol addiction research about the plausibility of certain animal models and helped to ground key features of the experimental set ups on which the community came to agree, namely, the characteristics of the cages in which organisms are kept and the actions they are required or allowed to perform (Reference RamsdenRamsden 2015). It is critical to note that researchers relied heavily on the experimental set ups (rather than underlying conceptual commitments, for instance) in part to avoid making firm commitments to what causes alcoholism and the extent to which it depends on environmental factors, a question that is a key part of what their research aims to answer. In addition, the adoption of mice in this context has involved a narrowing of research focus amongst some researchers to genetics and physiology (see Reference NelsonNelson 2018 for more detail), separate to an extent from social and behavioural factors which are studied by others using human experimental subjects.
6.5 Model Organisms as Plausible Models
Plausibility judgements thus shift over time: there is no one ‘good’ model organism at all points in time for all purposes. The brief histories provided earlier highlight the ensemble of conceptual, technological, and social developments that facilitated the adoption of these two organisms as plausible models where there were initially viewed as rather unlikely. In both cases, repertoires play critical roles in shaping the interpretations that are required whenever a model is taken as representing. In other words, some of the components of the repertoire provide the key through which properties exemplified by models can be associated with properties of their representational targets (Reference Frigg and NguyenFrigg & Nguyen 2018). These components include conceptual commitments (particularly the implicit working assumption of evolutionary conservation and genetic/genomic approaches as the primary focus to the exclusion of experiments involving environmental factors), availability of methods (e.g., Agribacterium transformation to produce A. thaliana mutants) or consensus about experimental approaches (e.g., Cicero’s criteria as a way to control mice behaviour and generate the ‘right kind’ of responses to the environment), and explicit lobbying with funders and institutions (e.g., A. thaliana researchers’ appeals to national prestige). So long as these features were not in place, the use of the organism as a model was not thought by researchers who were familiar with it to be justifiable.
The communities utilising model organisms share in the experimental methods and conceptual commitments underpinning them, which constitute the key for using those organisms as models. For instance, they agree that the organism’s environment is not relevant, inasmuch as external environmental conditions have been black-boxed through processes within the laboratory that hold them constant in the form of a highly reified experimental setting; they also have come to assume use of a highly standardised organism so that it can be assumed to be the same from lab to lab and over time. Whether a model organism is a plausible model also hinges on the availability and access to the phenomena of interest, and a range of infrastructures that provide models, diagrams, and various types of information in a usable and interoperable format (Reference Leonelli and AnkenyLeonelli & Ankeny 2012) that permit connections to be made between the model and its intended target. Thus an organism’s ability to represent any particular phenomenon is only partly determined by material features of organism itself (including the degree of evolutionary and particularly genomic conservation): many other factors are involved in the broader scientific practices associated with the organism’s use, and contribute to researchers’ judgements about how likely it is to be a plausible model.
6.6 Limits of Model Organisms as Representations
This exploration of how model organisms come to be viewed as plausible models and the roles of the key and the repertoire in how they represent allows us to reflect on cases where such models are viewed as implausible. For instance, it has been claimed that reliance on a small number of model organisms does not permit adequate understanding of the relevant phenomenon relating to biodiversity and development (Reference BolkerBolker 1995; Reference Bolker and RaffBolker & Raff 1997). Relatedly, evo-devo research is said to use criteria for the selection of experimental organisms that differ greatly from those criteria used to select suitable organisms for molecular studies including on model organisms (Reference Jenner and WillsJenner & Wills 2007; Reference SommerSommer 2009; Reference Minelli and BaedkeMinelli & Baedke 2014). Hence, for questions associated with environmental influences on development or wider understandings of natural biodiversity and evolution, critics note that model organisms are likely to be limited in their abilities to serve as models. Relatedly the processes of laboratory-based cultivation associated with model organisms have involved idealisations or known departures from features present in the model’s target (Reference Ankeny and SuárezAnkeny 2009); for instance, most of the traditional model organisms share the same developmental processes, including immediate separation of the germline from somatic lines (Reference GilbertGilbert 2001). Thus for research focused on diversity in these developmental processes, model organisms are likely to be implausible or ‘bad’ models. We can usefully view these claims as related to different interpretations of the key (as well as in some cases to distinct targets). Researchers whose primary focus is on certain types of biological phenomena (e.g., environmental influences on development or questions in evo-devo) do not believe that they will be able to impute the properties of the model (model organisms) to the target of their studies in a manner that will allow them to answer their research questions.
Thus, although there is no doubt that these concerns are well-founded, our account of what makes for a ‘good’ model aims to go beyond the sorts of features which relate only to empirical findings arising from research, particularly those kinds of claims which biologists produce and defend with reference to specific organisms (as stressed for instance by Reference WeberWeber 2005). While there will be cases where empirical or biological information (e.g., claims about conservation) may well be the main grounds for arguments about plausibility (and hence constitute the critical property within the key), these claims are always made within the context of the conditions associated with our definition of plausibility. Thus, empirical claims are always part of a broader epistemic space which will have repercussions for any broader uses of an organism as a model. So, for instance, criticisms of use of model organisms as developmental models rely on empirical claims about typicality, particularly in comparison to natural or wild organisms. However, they are often embedded in a broader epistemic space which does not share many of the attributes of the model organism repertoire, for instance, the privileging of use of molecular techniques, and also frames its concerns in terms of different types of questions than those typically pursued in model organism research.
The model organism repertoire provides an excellent, explicit, and replicable way of grounding claims about model plausibility. Even in cases where the similarity between the organism and its target seems obvious, researchers still need to make explicit arguments to their peers about why they should accept an organism as a model. Hence, it is useful to reflect on the properties of the model that can legitimately be attributed to the target and therefore used to ground arguments about plausibility.
At the same time, the model organism repertoire may inadvertently warrant a kind of ‘organism imperialism’ (see also Reference Hopwood and PelegriHopwood 2011 on the related idea of ‘species politics’) by making it much easier to stick to one of the traditional model organisms rather than investigating whether other organisms may be better suited to the questions and research environment at hand (Reference AnkenyAnkeny 2010). Components of the model organism repertoire may be employed as part of the key to justify uses of model organisms as models in situations where they are in fact less appropriate: in some sense, the use of rodents as models for alcoholism, as discussed earlier, potentially provides an example of introducing a range of what some might view as ad hoc experimental set ups and conceptual commitments in order to maintain a genetically focused research programme. But as noted in Section 5.3 with regard to emerging model organisms, the model organism repertoire will not be valid or useful in many research contexts and hence should not be forced or assumed.
It also has been argued that existing limitations of model organisms can be in some cases converted into strengths, if the problem or phenomenon to be studied is carefully selected (e.g., Reference Jenner and WillsJenner & Wills 2007). For instance the nematode C. elegans is well-recognised as extremely developmentally stable and resilient even in face of environmental and other types of perturbations, which makes it very dissimilar to many other organisms. However, as a consequence, worms can be used to study the evolution of this type of developmental canalisation which in turn might permit correlated features and their underlying mechanisms to be articulated and their absence to be explored in other species. Thus, seemingly ‘biased’ models can permit biologists to address important general issues, and hence ‘represent’ even in these sorts of extreme cases, again so long as arguments about plausibility are well-grounded in clear articulation of the components of the key.
6.7 Conclusion: Good Models for What Purposes?
This section has defended the crucial role of the model organism repertoire in underpinning researchers’ arguments about the plausibility of model organisms as models, with particular focus on the use of a key closely associated with model organisms. As we have stressed, it is critical that model organisms are only ‘good’ models in particular contexts, and hence it is important to examine for whom they are ‘good’. As Reference WeisbergWeisberg (2007) has noted in asking ‘who is a modeler’, researchers’ goals are key to establishing any model and legitimating its use. While agreeing with him on this important point, the roles of institutions, regimes, instruments, skills, and political economy are critical. Therefore, our view is broader and more cognizant of a range of scientific practices than what his focus on individual preferences appears to admit as relevant. The brief cases of A. thaliana as a model plant and ‘alcoholic’ rodents as presented provide clear evidence about the need to explore these types of factors: the justifiability of use of these changed over time, and they would not have been widely adopted without various forms of institutional legitimisation, explication of shared conceptual commitments, and technological developments.
In closing, we note that our notion of plausibility has some overlap with Weber’s claims about ‘vindication’, which he describes as occurring in later stages of organism-based research. He notes that model organisms only ‘prove their worth after a while, by enabling fruitful research in many different laboratories, the results of which can again serve as a basis for further research’ (2005, 179). This claim highlights the iterative nature of the process in parallel to our account illustrated in Figures 1–2. He argues that the generality of certain biological principles over a large number of species is not inferred by enumerative induction, but through a more sophisticated type of inductive argument which relies on phylogenetic conservation. He also claims that model organisms have epistemic functions over and above providing a basis for inductive inferences or extrapolations to other organisms, including use as important tools (see Reference GermainGermain 2014 on instrumental uses of animal models more generally). Our analysis underscores these considerations and provides more detail about the processes associated with these types of practices by placing them in a broader context. This context involves the intertwining of funding and institutional structures, technologies and techniques, community dynamics, and effective marketing with conceptual and methodological commitments, and biological or material factors.
7 Conclusions: What Future for Model Organisms?
The special role of model organisms in contemporary biology is undeniable. What we have added through our account is a detailed argument about the underlying mechanisms and rationales associated with the science that is practised using them, with particular focus on the epistemological implications related to use of these organisms. The ability to sequence the genomes of key species clearly magnified their role as platforms for integrative biological research. By the end of the last century, C. elegans, E. coli, and A. thaliana had become the first organisms to have their DNA fully sequenced, thus opening an entirely new space for research aimed at deciphering the code, which although now detailed still requires considerable interpretation. The importance assigned to implicit assumptions about evolutionary conservation, the vision of genomic sequencing as an indispensable tool for biological research, and other commitments, clearly affected the choice of model organisms: for instance, species whose small genome was more amenable to detailed molecular analysis (such as A. thaliana) were favoured over species with big genomes. For example, even though maize (Z. mays), was very popular as a research organism in the 1950s and 1960s because its large chromosomes are visible under the microscope, it has a large genome that was not as tractable for sequencing-based approaches. But closely related to these sorts of technological and material factors were a range of institutional, social, and conceptual elements that contributed to shaping model organism research, as documented throughout this Element. These in turn affected the ways in which research centred on model organisms has been performed, with commitments linked to the adoption of model organisms as models becoming entrenched over time in biologists’ approaches to experimental practice.
With the advent of new sequencing technologies, genome size is less likely to affect the choice of which organism is best suited to experimental and other forms of research in specific areas. Other factors, such as natural variability or the potential environmental or commercial impacts of a species, are becoming more prominent. In this concluding section, we discuss where model organism research is likely to be heading, including both its prospects and limitations, as well as exploring broader emerging trends within contemporary biology arising out of such research.
7.2 Comparative Uses
The use of model organisms as reference for comparisons across very diverse species, including some that are very different from the models themselves, is frequently highlighted as a key trend in contemporary biology and one of the main reasons for the continuing importance of model organisms. The ability to use model organisms in this way has been strengthened by the availability of high-throughput data production and increasingly sophisticated computational methods for data storage and analysis. These include the construction and alignment of reference genome networks (e.g., Reference Srinivasan, Shah, Flannick, Eduardo Abeliuk, Novak and BatzoglouSrinavasan et al. 2007); the development of powerful data warehouse systems, such as Intermine (Reference Smith, Aleksic, Butano, Carr, Contrino and FengyuanSmith et al. 2012), created specifically to integrate and analyse complex biological data, and historically grounded in long-standing attempts to link model organism databases; the construction of standardised, crowdsourced annotation systems for reference genomes, such as the Chado system (Reference Mungall, Washington, Nguyen‐Xuan, Condit, Smedley and KöhlerMungall et al. 2015), through which researchers can contribute and compare data, metadata, and background knowledge; and the use of programming interfaces to match genotypic and phenotypic profiles that facilitate comparisons between model and non-model organisms, as well as between model organisms and humans for clinical purposes (e.g., Reference Mungall, Washington, Nguyen‐Xuan, Condit, Smedley and KöhlerMungall et al. 2015).
It should not be surprising that model organisms continue to play important epistemic roles in this context. Comparative approaches are central to how model organism researchers have conceptualised and carried out their work over the last fifty years (see Section 3.3). Far from being a new component of model organism research due to the availability of new technologies as claimed by some authors (e.g., Strasser 2019, 259), the opportunity to compare model species with more diverse types of organisms has always animated this way of doing research and constituted one of its key goals (Reference Ankeny and LeonelliAnkeny & Leonelli 2011). Throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, one finds a plethora of scientific publications exploring opportunities for comparison not only among specific strains of model organisms, but also with similar species, frequently within the same family. Thus, on the one hand, model organism research aimed to perform comparisons across similar organisms as a first step towards broader comparative exercises and in order to work out which tools, knowledge, and resources were actually needed to fulfil this aim. On the other hand, the attempt to develop tools, standards, and infrastructures to facilitate comparison among wildly different species has also underpinned the history of model organism research from the beginning, including a focus on understanding the conditions under which integration of data coming from different model organisms may be possible and informative. Several joint initiatives occurred in the 1990s–2000s, which brought together representatives of different model organism communities to devise ways of sharing data and comparing insights. These initiatives included, for instance, the development of a Gene Ontology embracing all major model organisms and of a Generic Model Organism Database toolkit through which data could be linked, visualised, and analysed together (Reference Leonelli and AnkenyLeonelli & Ankeny 2012; Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2016).
This build-up of expertise and resources facilitating comparative analysis resulted in an explosion of papers using model organisms to understand features of what are frequently characterised as ‘non-model’ organisms. For example, the thale cress A. thaliana is used to study vernalisation and metabolism in important crop species such as barley and rice, and energy yield in grasses with rapid growth and high biomass such as the African elephant grass Miscanthus that are considered as possible biofuels (Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2016, ch. 6). The ability to build on the extensive blueprint provided by model organism work, and related knowledge and tools, has undoubtedly accelerated discovery in other species and paved the way towards a systematic, integrative approach of to the study of biodiversity.
In this sense, the current ‘reframing’ of model organism research as reference for a much wider comparative exercise is not a reframing at all, but rather the culmination of this programme of biological work and the reasoning and resources underpinning it. The increase in opportunities for comparative approaches across species is not necessarily taking attention away from model organism research, but it is shifting perceptions of its role within biology (e.g., see Reference HedgesHedges 2002). Rather than serving as stand-ins for other organisms, model organisms are now explicitly used as baseline for cross-species comparison. Comparative tools are becoming part and parcel of what it means for a model organism to represent both whole organisms and other organisms. These roles would not have been possible without support from the various components of the model organism repertoire.
7.3 Towards New Approaches to Natural Variation
Comparative tools, and related big genotypic and phenotypic data, facilitate the identification of both differences and similarities among species. Emphasis on difference has enabled a systematic investigation of both significant and minute forms and sources of biological variation, including variation among model organism specimens and strains. This line of research provides a way to address one of the limitations of the ability of model organisms to ‘represent’, namely, the high degree of standardisation of the species and strains used and the well-recognised idealisations inherent in making their cultivation in laboratory settings more efficient and hence their use more tractable (Reference Ankeny and SuárezAnkeny 2009; Reference Love and TravisanoLove & Trevisano 2013). As we saw in Section 2, the processes of abstracting organisms for laboratory use involve purposefully departing from some aspects of the representational target, while emphasising others. It is well-recognised that specimens stocked in centralised collections and kept in highly rarefied laboratory settings do not represent how biology works in the natural world in any straightforward way, once organisms are in contact with an ever-changing and varying environment. In addition, over time the lab processes used to maintain stocks are likely to have allowed differences between model organisms and their wild relatives to accumulate, while at the same time lab-based stocks have of course been subject to evolutionary change.
Therefore, more recently there has been strong interest in assessing limitations of the commonly used strains of model organisms. For instance, in the case of the nematode C. elegans, experiments have documented selective pressures that appear to have led to the fixation of laboratory-derived alleles for particular genes in the typical research strain (Bristol or N2, see Reference AnkenyAnkeny 2001), which have influenced a large number of traits as well as behaviours that in turn affect experimental interpretations (Reference Sterken, Basten Snoek, Kammenga and AndersenSterken et al. 2015). In addition, strong phenotypic effects caused by these laboratory-derived alleles are claimed to be hindering the discovery of ‘natural’ alleles. Hence with C. elegans and other model organisms, there has been renewed attention to comparing results across different lab environments, including comparisons related to nutrition, living quarters, breeding processes, and the extent to which they interact with other organisms in the laboratory environment including microbes.
These efforts have been accompanied by more focus on documenting and studying natural variants of various model organism species around the world and comparing stock specimens with ‘wild’ specimens. For example, the recently established Caenorhabditis elegans Natural Diversity Resource (Reference Cook, Zdraljevic, Roberts and AndersenCook et al. 2017) aims to isolate and collect wild strains from a variety of natural environments. It provides genome-wide sequence and variant data for every strain as well as integrated tools for comparative analyses in order to support study of how populations of individuals are genetically different from one another and how those differences might impact disease, particularly given the medical and agricultural importance of nematodes.
These types of efforts have been described as aiming to develop a ‘natural history of model organisms’ particularly given we know very little about the ‘real lives’ of many model organisms (e.g., Reference Alfred and BaldwinAlfred & Baldwin 2015). Additional examples include increased focus on wild house mouse (M. musculus) populations in terms of the spread of their resistance to rodenticides. This research focus permits investigation both of various adaptation processes given the commensal lifestyle of humans and mice, but also molecular and biochemical explorations of specific anticoagulant mechanisms in this context in comparison to the standard lab strains (for a review, see Reference Phifer-Rixey and NachmanPhifer-Rixey & Nachman 2015). Both lab strains and ‘natural’ populations of various Drosophila species have been used comparatively to study responses to changing environments, particularly because certain species have very limited climatic distributions; hence they provide ways to study the genetic bases of adaptations to extreme climates and potentially to address problems of species loss in the face of global warming and other anthropogenic climatic changes (Reference HoffmannHoffmann 2010; Reference MarkowMarkow 2015). These types of uses are yet another form of comparative research, which allow model organisms (and their close relations) to be useful in new domains and wider set of fields, especially in medicine, and ecology and environmental science.
In terms of our account, we can see in these processes a conscious weakening in the commitments of researchers in terms of their previous focus on highly standardised organisms in fully standardised environments, which were key components of the (original) model organism repertoire. As argued throughout this Element, during much of the history of model organism research, environmental variation became something to be disregarded since it introduced far too much complexity to an already very complex experimental problem, that of understanding organisms as integrated wholes. As understanding of model organisms increased over the years within that delimited context, and the repertoires around model organisms became more complex and sophisticated, researchers have acquired the ability to actively reconsider the experimental environments in which organisms are kept. They are thus able to assess the extents to which those set ups and their underlying commitments affect their research, as also occurred in the case of rodents as models for alcoholism discussed in Section 6 (Reference Ankeny, Leonelli, Nelson and RamsdenAnkeny et al. 2014).
7.4 The Digital, the Biological, and the Synthetic
These emerging approaches have broader implications for how biological work is done, and particularly efforts to digitise organismal research and the data associated with it. As we have argued, a fundamental component of the model organism repertoire was the building of large-scale accessible databases incorporating genomic and other types of data for reuse both by those working with these organisms but also permitting applications beyond those communities including comparative use. However, there are well-recognised limitations to what has been collected: many databases do not have much systematic information (in other words, metadata) on some of the broader aspects of such research, for example, on the environments in which experiments were carried out (Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2016).
In these cases, it is likely that the information provided in data infrastructures is being supplemented with and interpreted through working assumptions about the uniformity of laboratory environments and techniques employed by different investigators. The regular meetings among model organism researchers, for instance, at dedicated conferences and workshops, also no doubt facilitated the sharing of background knowledge and training in relevant methods and techniques. Continued reliance on these mechanisms is however problematic in light of the increasing size of the communities as well as the growing recognition of the many factors that can influence experimental results (as discussed in Section 7.3). These issues have deep implications. For instance, it may be problematic to reuse existing data when they are gathered using mutants grown in highly insular laboratory environments that were not necessarily standardised or whose characteristics were not recorded in any detail and hence are not retrievable as metadata. In turn, the parameters used to collect and organise data on model organisms are shifting. Additional research will be required to update and supplement what has been collected in order to be able to reuse and integrate data on various organisms in a productive manner.
These issues point to the continued importance of carrying out new experiments (or reproducing old ones) with established model organisms, particularly at a time when various conceptual components associated with the model organism repertoire have come into flux, and in light of the changing roles of these models in the wider research landscape. The significance of the relation between analogue and digital work on model organisms is underscored by long-standing attempts to ensure and retain easily retrievable links between data and the material samples on which data were originally obtained, as exemplified for instance, within the Arabidopsis community. This close link between the material and the data produced from them can be viewed as a cautionary note in response to hyped interpretations of the revolutionary import of artificial intelligence and work on simulated, digital organisms for biological understanding (Reference LeonelliLeonelli 2018). As much as these tools are indeed transforming the research world, they do not make wet laboratory work with actual biological materials superfluous, not least of all because of the importance of verifying the quality and reliability of information through engagement with actual organisms.
Model organisms also are crucial to research in synthetic biology and associated attempts to recreate or fundamentally modify living organisms to fit human aims, precisely because they facilitate the application of computational tools and sophisticated engineering techniques using organisms that are highly predictable, easily obtainable, and better understood than any other species. Synthetic biology arguably was been built upon a very small set of model organisms, primarily E. coli and S. cerevisiae, and it has recently been recognised that it is necessary to move to ‘next generation’ chassis about which there is a large knowledge base and adequate technologies, among other factors, but critically which will allow applications that can be deployed in the field to be developed, in part by looking to organisms beyond the lab (e.g., Reference AdamsAdams 2016). As argued, for instance, in the latest comprehensive review on the past and future of Arabidopsis research (Reference ProvartProvart et al. 2016), its role in supporting synthetic plant biology constitutes its most attractive feature: the integrative understanding acquired on A. thaliana underpins efforts to engineer plant networks in heterologous contexts and engineer novel networks with genetic components from other organisms.
Thus, to underscore what has sometimes been called the ‘paradox of model organisms’ (Reference HunterHunter 2008), the need for and reliance on them is likely to diminish only when most of the fundamental biological processes have been detailed which in turn will permit greater use of other organisms including human biomaterials as well as in silico and digital methods.
7.5 Conclusion: Situating Organisms as Models
In their original form, model organisms were not models of organisms in their natural environments but entities separated from their natural environments and explored in standardised laboratory conditions which in turn functioned as anchors for a broad and ever-evolving set of modelling ecosystems. They were able to serve these functions in the context of a range of laboratory conditions, methods, tools, and infrastructures. They were situated within particular communities that shared conceptual commitments and experimental methods, as well as fitting with a broader landscape which had certain political, social, and institutional features. These features all come together in the model organism repertoire.
Model organisms are thus necessarily what we term situated models. Repertoires play a critical role in shaping the interpretations that are required whenever a model is taken as representing, that is, when properties exemplified by models are associated with properties of their representational targets. Repeated use of and reference to similar organisms kept under the same general environmental conditions has provided considerable opportunities for sharing knowledge across a vast constellation of biological disciplines, groups, and research schools. These processes have made model organisms into movable resources that can be easily resituated. We contend that model organisms are in the process of being shifted yet again to a range of different roles. In particular, they are being used for comparative and integrative investigations that take the role of environment as something to be studied rather than held constant, and for synthetic and digital approaches to engineering life.
The contents of this Element were presented and discussed at numerous talks over the last decade. We are very grateful to hundreds of colleagues in the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences who gave us feedback and prodded us on.
We are indebted to Michael Dietrich, Roman Frigg, James Nguyen, and a very sharp and helpful anonymous reviewer for their detailed comments on the manuscript draft. For specific and substantive input through long-term discussions, we thank Dick Burian, Alberto Cambrosio, Jim Collins, Bob Cook-Deegan, Gail Davies, Elihu Gerson, Scott Gilbert, Sara Green, James Griesemer, Kathryn Maxson Jones, Alan Love, Jane Maienschein, Mary Morgan, Nicole Nelson, Edmund Ramsden, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, and Jason Robert. The Exeter Centre for the Study of the Life Sciences hosted us while writing the manuscript, and we are grateful to our colleagues there, particularly John Dupré, as well as to administrator Chee Wong for her expert assistance. Sabina is also grateful to the GARNet committee for collaboration and relevant discussions over the last decade. The manuscript was expertly shepherded through production at CUP by Michael Ruse and Grant Ramsey. We are grateful for the proofreading provided by Laura Ruggles, and the support and input from her and the other Organisms team members, Karina Burns and Dook Shepherd.
This research was supported by the Australian Research Council via the Discovery Project “Organisms and Us: How Living Things Help Us to Understand Our World” (DP160102989) and the European Research Council under award number 335925.
Our deepest gratitude goes to our families, who endured our absences while on writing retreats and supported us in all possible ways (short of writing the manuscript themselves!): thank you Glenn, Luca, Michel, Leonardo, and Luna!
Grant Ramsey is a BOFZAP research professor at the Institute of Philosophy, KU Leuven, Belgium. His work centers on philosophical problems at the foundation of evolutionary biology. He has been awarded the Popper Prize twice for his work in this area. He also publishes in the philosophy of animal behavior, human nature and the moral emotions. He runs the Ramsey Lab (theramseylab.org), a highly collaborative research group focused on issues in the philosophy of the life sciences.
Florida State University
Michael Ruse is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy and the Director of the Program in the History and Philosophy of Science at Florida State University. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada. He is a former Guggenheim fellow and Gifford lecturer. He is the author or editor of over sixty books, most recently Darwinism as Religion: What Literature Tells Us about Evolution; On Purpose; The Problem of War: Darwinism, Christianity, and their Battle to Understand Human Conflict; and A Meaning to Life.
This Cambridge Elements series provides concise and structured introductions to all of the central topics in the philosophy of biology. Contributors to the series are cutting-edge researchers who offer balanced, comprehensive coverage of multiple perspectives, while also developing new ideas and arguments from a unique viewpoint. | <urn:uuid:e8a1b57b-be47-4171-b5a7-7789c6aa5a8b> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/model-organisms/F895B26EAC0373BCA5A138835AC73AEA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573197.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818124424-20220818154424-00671.warc.gz | en | 0.946614 | 36,802 | 2.9375 | 3 |
This presentation was presented by Harvey Schellenberg of HP Builders. It compares the complexity, labor, materials, time, and cost of two identical buildings built at the same time on the same lot.
This presentation was presented by Jill Lewis Smith, AIA, NCARB and prepared by Civic Consultants Inc. for the 2017 ICF Summit at the World of Concrete in Las Vegas, NV. This presentation discussed the role of materials in mid-rise multi-family construction.
This guide has been compiled by the Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA) which is a membership organization of ICF manufacturers and other stakeholders in concrete construction. The information presented herein has been collected from a cross-section of industry professionals who are dedicated to the construction of high-performance buildings that employ insulating concrete form (ICF)…Read more | <urn:uuid:cd0d9bed-f01b-4a0a-885f-32cbe5689fb5> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://icf-ma.org/tag/mid-rise/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571538.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220812014923-20220812044923-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.947222 | 174 | 1.742188 | 2 |
“There is a very likely link between this small shift in mindset and the encouraging decrease in income to debt ratio recently reported by the South African Reserve Bank, as well as some of the debt and loan related findings in our research,” says Lynette Nicholson, Research Manager at Old Mutual.
The research findings of the 2017 Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor, released today, indicate that there has been a decline in the incidence of people from working metropolitan households taking out personal loans. Personal loans from financial institutions have dropped from 21% (2016) to 14% (2017). Micro-lending loan arrangements are also slightly down from 8% (2016) to 6% (2017), while borrowing or taking loans from friends and family is down from 15% (2016) to 13% (2017).
Nicholson believes this shift in behaviour reflects South Africans’ growing awareness of the serious implications and vicious financial consequences of bad debt, and a better understanding of the importance of reducing debt as fast as possible. However, due to the strained economic conditions, South Africans are finding it increasingly difficult to save for their futures, she adds.
An area of particular concern highlighted by the Monitor is that only 44% of South Africa’s working metropolitan parents are saving for their children’s education (down from 46% last year), which means a staggering 56% are not saving for their children’s education.
Among lower income earners (where the household income is less than R6 000 per month) only 29% say they are saving for their children’s education.
When it comes to preparing for retirement, Nicholson points out that South African working metropolitan households still suffer from a lack of long-term planning. An alarming 40% of respondents said they have no form of formal retirement savings at all, including pension/provident funds or retirement annuities.
“The harsh reality of this scenario is that if South Africans think they are feeling the financial squeeze now, they are in for a major future shock unless they remedy the situation,” Nicholson warns.
Although the majority of South Africans surveyed continue to lack confidence in the economy (with only 34% feeling confident), the latest research findings show that a third (33%) still believe that the government will take care of them when they are no longer able to take care of themselves – a statistic that has remained almost unchanged.
A further 37% believe their children will look after them when they are old. This sentiment rises to 53% among lower income households (those earning less than R6 000 a month), but a surprising 22% of those in the upper income households (those earning more than R40 000 a month) share this belief.
Research into the Sandwich Generation - those that are looking after their own financial needs as well as those of their ageing parents and their own children – shows that the incidence remains at 28% of the working metro population. “But there are signs that this phenomenon will grow,” says Nicholson, “especially as nearly half (49%) of 18 – 34 year-olds still live at home with their parents, which is up from last year’s 42%.”
An area of continued interest is the informal saving sector, and stokvels in particular. Reportedly worth R49 billion, stokvels remain one of the most popular savings vehicles, together with funeral policies, with just over 70% of the population using them.
When asked why they save through stokvels, 44% of respondents stated they use them to save for a rainy day, 43% to pay off debt, 31% to purchase groceries at month end, 31% to purchase furniture and appliances, and 25% to save for education.
“South Africans are very resourceful and resilient, and to cope with rising monthly expenses, consumers from all income groups are beginning to purchase their groceries in bulk, while shopping for cheaper brands and looking for discounts,” says Nicholson.
She adds that economic pressures have led to about 39% of respondents considering opening their own businesses. “This percentage is particularly high in the 35-49 age groups (42%). However, our research shows that the number of fully self-employed entrepreneurs has dropped from 12% to 8%,” she says.
“The one resounding message that emerges from our research each year is that we are not saving enough: as individuals and as a nation. The reality is that we all need to accept that we must reduce our spending today to make provision for tomorrow. Yes, there are small signs of improvement, but as individuals we need to urgently take more drastic steps if we are to have any hope of building a financially secure future,” Nicholson concludes. | <urn:uuid:7c446e46-4be6-407b-b31f-7baf0bad85cc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.oldmutual.co.za/news/old-mutual-survey-shows-south-africans-starting-to-manage-debt-better | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.97073 | 967 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Distance from Toyooka to Gyoda
Distance from Toyooka to Gyōda is 424 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 263 miles.
The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Toyooka and Gyōda is 424 km= 263 miles.
If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles) from Toyooka to Gyoda, It takes 0.47 hours to arrive.
Toyooka is located in Japan.
|GPS Coordinates (DMS)||35° 32´ 24.2880'' N |
134° 49´ 13.3680'' E
Toyooka Distances to Cities
|Distance from Toyooka to Futtsu||455 km|
|Distance from Toyooka to Okuchi||548 km|
|Distance from Toyooka to Wako||436 km|
|Distance from Toyooka to Shiki||432 km|
|Distance from Toyooka to Odawara||395 km|
Gyoda is located in Japan.
|GPS Coordinates||36° 8´ 26.6640'' N |
139° 27´ 36.3960'' E
Gyōda Distances to Cities
|Distance from Gyoda to Fuji||129 km|
|Distance from Gyoda to Iyo||672 km|
|Distance from Gyoda to Ami||68 km|
|Distance from Gyoda to Wako||42 km|
|Distance from Gyoda to Tsukuba||58 km| | <urn:uuid:76ab5baf-51c1-4ea3-b878-14ade3340a13> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.distancefromto.net/distance-from-toyooka-jp-to-gyoda-jp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719468.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00528-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.852343 | 321 | 2.03125 | 2 |
The Transportation Security Administration announced Friday that it would retest every full-body X-ray scanner that emits ionizing radiation — 247 machines at 38 airports — after . TSA officials have repeatedly assured the public and lawmakers that the machines have passed all inspections. The agency’s review of maintenance reports, launched Dec. 10, came only after USA TODAY and lawmakers called for the release of the records late last year.
The TSA announced steps to require its maintenance contractors to “retrain personnel involved in conducting and overseeing the radiation survey process.” Some lawmakers remain concerned, however. The TSA “has repeatedly assured me that the machines that emit radiation do not pose a health risk,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said in a written statement Friday. “Nonetheless, if TSA contractors reporting on the radiation levels have done such a poor job, how can airline passengers and crew have confidence in the data used by the TSA to reassure the public?”
She said the records released Friday “included gross errors about radiation emissions. That is completely unacceptable when it comes to monitoring radiation.”
U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz also was troubled by the information posted by the TSA. Chaffetz, R-Utah, chairs a House oversight subcommittee on national security and has sponsored legislation to limit the use of full-body scans. He has been pushing the TSA to release the maintenance records.
At best, Chaffetz said, the radiation reports generated by TSA contractors reveal haphazard oversight and record-keeping in the critical inspection system the agency relies upon to ensure millions of travelers aren’t subjected to excessive doses of radiation.
“It is totally unacceptable to be bumbling such critical tasks,” Chaffetz said. “These people are supposed to be protecting us against terrorists.”
In the past, the TSA has failed to properly monitor and ensure the safety of X-ray devices used on luggage. A 2008 report by the worker safety arm of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the TSA and its maintenance contractors had failed to detect when baggage X-ray machines emitted radiation beyond what regulations allowed. They also failed to take action when some machines had missing or disabled safety features, the report shows.
Chaffetz said the TSA’s characterization of the maintenance mistakes “sounds like an excuse rather than the real facts.”
“I’m tired of excuses,” Chaffetz said. “The public has a right and deserves to know. It begs the question, ‘What are they still not sharing with us?’ These are things you cannot make mistakes with.” Chaffetz said he expects to address some of his concerns during a hearing Wednesday. The TSA is responsible for the safety of its own X-ray devices. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has said it does not routinely inspect airport X-ray machines because they are not considered medical devices. The TSA’s airport scanners are exempt from state radiation inspections because they belong to a federal agency.
As a taxpayer, I want my money back, please. Oh, and send some of these morans to prison while you’re at it, starting with Michael Chertoff.
Read about adverse effects of . | <urn:uuid:7eacbe5c-96c5-4859-8f8e-79e35aeb1bbf> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2011/03/12/airport-body-scanners-emit-up-to-10-times-more-radiation-than-expected/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281424.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00339-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960742 | 677 | 1.835938 | 2 |
When Eskom held its state of the system briefing a week ago, the situation looked more upbeat this winter considering that it had secured more power supply capacity from short-term independent power producers (IPPs) than last year, availed more generating units for electricity production and for the first time had renewable energy IPPs to supply power during the day.
Six days later, South Africa plunged back to darkness.
Eskom had not ruled out load shedding when it held its state of the system briefing but looking at how this winter’s events played out, it is clear that planning is becoming problematic for Eskom’s ageing power generation fleet.
The utility is constantly balancing its planned maintenance against unplanned maintenance but there is no telling when unplanned outages will strike.
This means that even though Eskom has units that have capacity to generate 36 000 megawatts (MW) during the day, that can change when it needs those units to beat the evening peak.
On Wednesday night, it took only two units down from both Duvha and Kendal power stations to put the utility in a crisis mode. And when some capacity from Cohara Bassa in Mozambique became unavailable, lights went off.
So the question was: is South Africa over-reliant on the Cohara Bassa supply?
But analysts said the problems had more to do with South Africa’s tight reserve margin that typically fluctuates between zero and 5 percent.
Cohara Bassa has a contract to supply 1 320MW of hydro-power to Eskom.
Azar Jammine, the chief economist at Econometrix, pointed out that this was not more than 5 percent of South Africa’s demand.
And even though Eskom partly attributed load shedding to unavailability of some Cohara Bassa capacity on Wednesday, the utility actually received 1 200MW from Mozambique. So it was only 120MW that was not available.
If planning is this difficult and if one setback is this detrimental to Eskom, until Medupi comes on stream, the economy will be held ransom.
Every cloud has a silver lining and as the platinum strike nears its end the upside may be moves to find mechanisms to resolve strikes that become dysfunctional and destructive.
This week the SA Attorneys Association called for a compulsory arbitration in the platinum strike.
“An arbitration tribunal of experts… can be given the mandate to hear representations and to finally determine what minimum wage would be fair to all parties.”
It said this would enable all parties to save face without having to make unpopular concessions.
In January, labour law experts interviewed by Business Report shot down the idea of two dispute deadlock-breaking mechanisms proposed by Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant: compulsory and interest arbitration. They said they would not pass constitutional scrutiny.
Her aim was to curb long, violent strikes.
Oliphant told the annual Nedlac labour conference on January 25: “Violence during strikes remains an issue of concern to the government and the general public.”
She said every right had to be juxtaposed against a responsibility. The right to strike and protest should not infringe on other people’s rights to make a living or their right to refuse to protest.
Oliphant said: “There are unlikely to be specific legal amendments to address this issue. For example, the requirement to ballot – but we will have to find ways of addressing violence during industrial action. We have to exercise leadership and show leadership.”
Edited by Peter DeIonno. With contributions by Londiwe Buthelezi and Wiseman Khuzwayo. | <urn:uuid:0db63b5a-1243-44cb-a0f3-888820108558> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.iol.co.za/business-report/opinion/economy-held-to-ransom-until-medupi-gets-going-1702852 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279224.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00481-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966769 | 754 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Natural Resources & Agriscience
Instructors: Katie Hill, Kayleen Keatley
Students in the Natural Resources & Agriscience program will explore the environment and how it's impacted by human interactions. Areas of study include forestry, soil chemistry, plant and wildlife identification and ecosystems.
All students in this program will have an opportunity to participate in a work based learning experience where they are placed in a local employer to get extended insight into the environmental/agricultural industries. | <urn:uuid:76e3fdb8-dcbc-421e-afa9-fc3f12801805> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.oaisd.org/ctc/programs/programsbycareerpathways/naturalresourcesagriculture/natural-resources--agriscience/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00269-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924554 | 99 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Madison Hospital certified as ‘Baby Friendly Hospital’
MADISON – Madison Hospital has the distinction as one of only four Alabama hospitals to achieve certification as a “Baby Friendly Hospital.”
The certification process required about two years, Madison Hospital President Mary Lynne Wright said.
“When we opened in 2012, we had a vision for our model of care. We planned that all babies would go skin to skin after delivery (and) to embrace maximize family bonding,” Shari Crowe said. Crowe is Director of Perioperative Services, Obstetrics and Materials Management.
Also, staff wanted mothers to have “unlimited access to breastfeeding support during and after their stay,” Crowe said. To go ‘baby friendly,’ staff
examined all practices that impact mother and baby’s lifetime health.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program that the World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund launched in 1991 to encourage hospitals to give optimal care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding. “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding” and “International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes” are its guidelines.
The certification was “an employee-driven process and could not just involve the leaders. It challenged us all to question our standard ways of doing things,” Crowe said. For example, hospital employees interviewed mothers to understand the patient’s perception of hospital care, both strengths and challenges.
Lead Obstetrics Coordinator Renee Colquitt and Lactation Consultant Kristine Taff attended training in Montgomery and then dispersed their facts to the entire staff and coordinated online training for physicians. Grant writers with Huntsville Hospital Foundation secured a grant to fund a study from Centers for Disease Control and Carolina Breastfeeding Institute.
“We established a Breastfeeding Task Force with local agencies and groups that interact with pregnant and breastfeeding mothers,” Crowe said.
Twice-weekly support groups allow moms to interact with lactation consultants.
The hospital has even added a monthly group for moms continuing to breastfeed past the first year. Sessions with Lactation Consultants are free.
“We also partnered with Purchasing … to pay for our formula. When formula is free, even infants not requiring formula may receive it,” Crowe said.
As a Baby Friendly USA hospital, Madison Hospital has established uninterrupted skin-to-skin between mom and baby after delivery, even for
cesarean section babies. Baby Friend staff has evaluated those procedures.
Families practice ‘rooming in’ and avoid unnecessarily separation of mother/child. All tests are performed at bedside, unless mom requests otherwise. Pediatricians ’round on’ babies in the mom’s room,
Surveyors interviewed staff and mothers and were complimentary on the consistency of their practices. “We know we’re getting it right for our families,” Crowe said.
For more information, visit babyfriendlyusa.org. | <urn:uuid:cf517404-778e-4486-8743-5549951fa525> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://themadisonrecord.com/tag/baby-friendly-hospital/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572581.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816211628-20220817001628-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.932968 | 638 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The railway from Ormskirk to Skelmersdale commenced construction in the summer of 1858 after first being authorised in August 1846, with the delays being caused by the Directors of the East Lancashire Railway suspending work until they received notification from the owners of Blaguegate Colliery that they intended to use the line, in 1853 Parliament authorised the extension of the line through to Rainford, and in the meantime through all this they needed to purchase the land the line was to run through.
So the line which was initially completed to the north western edge of Skelmersdale was finally completed through to Rainford Junction and after being scrutinised by the Government Inspectors of Railways on Tuesday 23rd February 1858 was opened on Monday 1st March 1858.
The line ran from the north end of the Ormskirk to Preston line and swept easwards along the northern edge of Ormskirk, ran along the northern edge of Westhead (you can see the raised edge where the line was from the road down to Westhead and the remains of the bridges down Castle Lane and Dickets Lane), across Plough Lane over Sephtons Bridge (now gone), under Firswood Road bridge until it arrived in Skelmersdale at the Station crossing the Ormskirk to Wigan Road (where the roundabout is now) - you can see where the line arrived if you look to the left as you drive up Neverstich Road you will see a valley shape go off in to the trees.
The line then continued to Rainford down where Railway Road is now, under the bridge on Liverpool Road (now a pedestrian bridge) and where the road bends left the line used to go straight on over White Moss Road where there was a Crossing Halt and on it went to Rainford.
At first the station at Skelmersdale was called "Blaguegate" but from 1st August 1874 it was renamed "Skelmersdale" which it remained till its closure, and in the following year another line was laid making the track from Ormskirk double.
Here are some fare and timetable details (date not known)
|Fares to Ormskirk:|
|Ist Class ||7d|
|2nd Class ||5d|
|3rd Class ||3 1/2d|
|To Rainford & St Helens ||To Ormskirk|
|8.37 am ||9.59 am|
|11.24 am ||12.30 pm|
|1.15 pm ||4.28 pm|
|4.52 pm ||6.37 pm|
|8.05 pm (Saturdays only)|| |
|Note: All were 1st and 2nd Class apart from the first and last trains which also had a 3rd Class|
|9.42 am ||8.10 am|
|7.10 pm ||2.30 pm|
| ||8.55 pm|
|Note: All were 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class|
The Railway did rather well for itself and on 1st July 1906 a steam railmotor service was introduced running 28 trains in each direction and also halts were opened at Westhead and White Moss. Another increase in use was due to the Army Remount Depot at Lathom Park which introduced a specially constructed branch line to Lathom House at the beginning of the First World War. This was completed by February 1915 and ran from the Station, across Engine Lane and Slate Lane, alongside Firswood Road, across Spa Lane, through Samples Farm and into the Lathom estate to the Depot. This branch line was mainly used to ship horses to the Depot, and after the War had ended it was last used to store unwanted railway wagons until after 1920 when the line was taken up.
By the time the Second World War started the Skelmersdale Station offered facilities for Goods, Passengers and Luggage, there was a 5 ton crane and three sidings - one used by the Straw Rope Works and the other two by the Collieries. The one main memory people may have of the old railway is the old "Skem Jazzer" or "Skem Joey", this was the passenger train that serviced Skelmersdale and earned it's nickname through the rough ride it gave - people were "jazzed" about!
The railway line and Skelmersdale Station was open until 5th November 1956 when the passenger service ceased. It remained open for Goods from Ormskirk until 4th November 1963 but the Goods service from Rainford had ceased on 16th November 1961. The line was dismantled and the remains of the Station and the Level Crossing on Ormskirk Road was removed in 1969 to make way for the appropriately named Railway Road as mentioned above.
For some further information and memories see the Ormskirk Road chapter in the "Streets" book | <urn:uuid:eed4b995-f8e2-4f64-adc6-8eaa124a92ef> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.skemheritage.org.uk/ackerley/railway.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282935.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00247-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983118 | 1,023 | 2.09375 | 2 |
By Cindy Jackson
July 1, 2020
At a special meeting of the Board of County Commissioners earlier today (July 1, 2020) and after a conference call with health officials, city officials and business leaders, it was decided an ordinance would be drafted to encourage all residents to wear masks when in a public place.
Martin County, Florida, issued an Emergency Order on June 19th, 2020, which states:
“All persons working in restaurants, grocery stores, food service, any retail establishments, businesses open to the public or any other locations visited by the public where social distancing is not possible within incorporated and unincorporated Martin County shall wear face coverings.
All other persons physically present in any public place in Martin County are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings.”
A copy of Martin County’s ordinance in its entirety can be found here: https://www.martin.fl.us/resources/martin-county-emergency-order-20-11
The BOCC thought the Martin County approach was a good one and County Attorney Mike Mullin was tasked with drafting a similar executive order. City Manager Dale Martin was in on the conference call and stated that a special meeting of the City Commission would be called for tomorrow afternoon.
Noting that the line of demarcation is confusing to many people, all commissioners were in agreement that it should be a joint effort between the City and County. Said Martin, “We look forward to following your lead.”
It is unlikely the ordinance will specify a type of mask as Dr. Seidel noted that any mask is better than no mask at all. It is expected that the order will be in effect for 30 days. | <urn:uuid:ac19566d-0633-4004-972e-cd85ae21c961> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://fernandinaobserver.com/2020/07/01/nassau-county-commissioners-to-encourage-masks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572127.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815024523-20220815054523-00264.warc.gz | en | 0.969006 | 355 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Estes Park is home to birds of prey, including golden eagles, turkey vultures, falcons and hawks. These fascinating creatures are suited for life in craggy rock outcroppings, such as Lumpy Ridge.
On Saturday, June 1, at 2 p.m., flock to the Estes Park Museum for a special demonstration from the Birds of Prey Foundation, an organization based in Broomfield, Colo., which helps rehabilitate and release raptors into the wild.
The program will feature live birds and a discussion about how raptors contribute to the ecology and natural history of Estes Park. The program costs $5 per person for youth and adults (free for children under 10 years old) or $15 for a family. Space is limited, first come‐first served.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and Sunday, from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. The mission of the Estes Park Museum is to collect, interpret and preserve local history, as well as to present exhibits, programs and events for the education and benefit of residents and visitors of all ages. For more information, call the Estes Park Museum at 970-586‐6256 or visit the museum's website at estes.org/museum. Admission is free. | <urn:uuid:8fecde6c-1673-45d0-a47f-406bb4a8142c> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.eptrail.com/datebook/ci_23291841/birds-prey-day-live-bird-demonstration-and-program.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988721141.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183841-00415-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946347 | 278 | 2.46875 | 2 |
How much money do you need to live comfortably in the Philippines?
Cost of Living in the Philippines
The Philippines has a generally low cost of living. International Living reports that you could comfortably live on $800 to $1200 a month, covering housing, utilities, food, healthcare and taxes. If you live on $800 a month, your $100,000 can spread out to about ten and a half years.
How much money do you need to be considered rich in the Philippines?
It takes a lot of money to be among the high net worth individuals in the Philippines. If you want to achieve wealthy elite status, you will need around P5,000,000 ($102,436) in annual pre-tax income to be in the 1% and about P1,300,000 ($26,512) to be in the 10%.
Can I live on $1000 a month in the Philippines?
It all depends on your lifestyle. If you’re a homebody, $1,000 USD can be adequate to live in the provinces. $1,500 by many is considered the gold standard average to live in expat communities like Subic Bay, Angeles City, Dumaguete, Cavite, and even the suburbs of Manila. The Philippines is diverse.
How much does it cost to live well in the Philippines?
You can live a comfortable retired life in the Philippines for between $800 and $1,200 a month. That money may even stretch to having help around the house! Entertainment, leisure and other activities don’t cost anywhere near as much as they do in the US, UK, Australia or Europe.
Can a US citizen live permanently in the Philippines?
Yes, under the Philippine Immigration Act of 1940, Section 13 (a) you are eligible for permanent residency in the Philippines.
What is a good salary in Philippines?
A person working in Philippines typically earns around 44,600 PHP per month. Salaries range from 11,300 PHP (lowest average) to 199,000 PHP (highest average, actual maximum salary is higher). This is the average monthly salary including housing, transport, and other benefits.
What is middle class income in the Philippines?
How much do you earn and spend?
|Income classification||Monthly income|
|High income (but not rich)||Between ₱131,484 to ₱219,140|
|Upper middle income||Between ₱76,669 to ₱131,484|
|Middle class||Between ₱43,828 to ₱76,669|
|Lower middle class||Between ₱21,194 to ₱43,828|
Is 1000 dollars a lot in Philippines?
So based on our above calculations, you can easily live comfortably on $1,000 a month since the cost of living in the Philippines in US dollars is so low. This leaves you with $190 to play with, whether you spend that on insurance or use it to invest in other projects or just put into your savings!
Where is the cheapest place to live in the Philippines?
Below are 10 cities in the Philippines with the cheapest cost of living.
- Dumaguete City. Dumaguete is a small city found in Negros Oriental. …
- Davao City. …
- Bacolod City. …
- Tarlac City. …
- Cagayan de Oro City. …
- Baguio City. …
- Dasmariñas City. …
- Iloilo City. | <urn:uuid:c66bc29f-4b76-4178-8fc2-842812adff7c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://vietnamcarrentaldeals.com/southeast-asian-countries/how-much-money-do-i-need-to-live-in-the-philippines.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572304.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816120802-20220816150802-00472.warc.gz | en | 0.923627 | 743 | 1.75 | 2 |
— France will be proud of you, corporal … your name?
— I do not understand (with thick accent).
The French have a long tradition of satire. Some would say it is part of the French DNA–a collective and individual impulse towards amusement by mocking and poking fun of authority figures, making dark commentary on current events or simply making light of the human comedy/tragedy where we all exist. Graphic and written satire certainly exists in many other countries but for volume and quality none do it as well as the French. Charlie Hebdo immediately comes to mind.
This cartoon is a perfect example of French Satire. It is a simple one panel cartoon depicting an exchange between a senior French Army officer and a lowly corporal in the Foreign Legion. The officer is offering praise on behalf of France but the poor legionnaire does not understand French. As good satire the subtle meaning of this graphic goes far beyond the immediate joke. It could be taken as a critique that questions the very existence of the Foreign Legion and asks “do the foreigners of the Legion even realize why they are fighting for France?” and “do they even care?” or “why do we have men who don’t understand French fighting on France’s behalf?”. It may have been meant to be ironic, in that the heroic corporal can’t understand the very officer who has chosen to convey the gratitude of France in her own language. It’s also tragic when words can’t convey the gratefulness of France to many of those foreigners who lay their lives on line on her behalf. One can infer many different meanings into this picture.
…or maybe it’s just a semi-funny cartoon (a woodcut no less) by Felix Vallotton. | <urn:uuid:304eda1b-27cb-4a1c-98ff-6566616e2f38> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://monlegionnaire.wordpress.com/2016/07/23/some-satire/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572161.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815054743-20220815084743-00468.warc.gz | en | 0.964158 | 369 | 2.625 | 3 |
Whether you’re gearing up for your first round of exams or you’re a seasoned expert at studying for finals, it’s important to be prepared. Here are some tips to make sure you are ready!
Looking for more information on Exam Schedules?
Exam Prep Tip #1: Know Where to Go for Your College Final Exams
While most professors will make sure this information is shared over and over again, others might assume you know where to go. First, check your syllabus – it should provide you the exact date and time you will be taking your final. Keep in mind that some colleges may schedule finals at a different day and time from your usual class. If it’s not listed in your syllabus, ask your professor. The Registrar’s Office should also have the final exam schedule. Make sure to know when and where you need to be; missing a final exam could cause you to fail a class.
Exam Prep Tip #2: Be Aware of How Many Finals You’re Taking Each Day
In most cases, you will have one or two final exams a day. What do you do if you have multiple finals in one day? Some students may like to get everything out of the way early. If this is not you, check to see if you can reschedule one. At the University of St. Thomas, our policy states that you’re not required to take more than two in one day. Check with your school to see if they have a similar policy.
Exam Prep Tip #3: Know What You Need for Your Final Exam
So you made it through your whole semester with just your laptop. Now you find out your final exam will be written. Are you allowed to use regular notebook paper? Will you need a blue book? Do you have either? Now is the time to check and go to your college bookstore to purchase one (or more).
If you are taking your exam in a testing center, you may be required to use a Scantron form. This information should be listed in your syllabus or at the testing center. Speaking of testing centers, do you know where yours is and what you should or shouldn’t bring? Check their policy to find out what you’ll need. Most will ask you to bring nothing with you, or require you to place your bag in a locker.
If you need a calculator for your exam, be sure to bring either a graphing calculator or a single-function calculator. You will not be able to use your phone, tablet or computer’s calculator app while taking an exam. Be sure to test your calculator’s battery and function before the exam.
Exam Prep Tip #4: Accessorize!
Sure, you may think of your laptop or tablet as a close friend. After all, you’ve been together at least since the start of the semester. So what could go wrong? Lots of things… First, if you’re going to take a test online, make sure your computer is charged and you’re near a power outlet. I’ve started many tests during my time in college only to scramble around and lose valuable time searching for a charger so I wouldn’t lose my work. Also, make sure you have internet access and the proper software installed on your computer.
All of these things can be a factor in whether you take the test or miss it entirely. Just in case, identify a backup. Maybe your roommate or college library has a computer you can use.
Exam Prep Tip #5: Know the Exam Structure
It should be safe to assume your finals will test your knowledge of the topics addressed in your class. However, you might get lucky and have a final over the last topic covered, meaning there’s no need to run back to your notes from the first week of class.
You can also guess the questions by knowing how the test will be given. Is it an essay exam or is it a multiple choice exam? If you’re writing short answers, you will want to focus on concepts and examples addressed in class. If you’re taking a multiple choice exam, start memorizing those class details.
College Finals Study Tips:
College Finals Study Tip #1: Keep in Mind the Class You’re Studying For
If it is a required class that ALL students are taking or a class that requires you to take the test in a testing center or through a program purchased in your textbook, this will tell you what to focus on. In these cases, while your professor is helping you learn the material in the book, you will be tested in a more standardized way, guaranteeing that each student in all the sections has the same opportunity.
Start with the book and only use your notes to help you through any confusing material areas. When you get into more specialized classes you might start to find your teacher using their required books a bit differently. That’s when your notes will become more important. Throughout the course of the semester, many instructors will emphasize when something is important and highlight that you should remember it for the final.
College Finals Study Tip #2: Review Your Notes
Some students are diligent note takers, while others spend more time doodling. Either way, it’s time to start reviewing your notes. Studies show that writing information down actually helps with the recall process. Highlight areas of high importance, but make sure to keep this to a minimum. You should not be highlighting more than one or two sentences per page.
Some classes will provide a student guide. If you are one of the lucky ones, fill it out, add notes and bring it with you. In some situations you will have an opportunity to join a study group, which is recommended. If you have friends who have taken the class before, offer to buy them lunch and ask questions. Take the information from your notes and see what matches up with the book.
Once you’re comfortable with the material, take time to read through acronyms, margin notes and the appendix. Professors may expect you to know this information.
College Finals Study Tip #3: Use A Lifeline
Don’t worry! Near the end of the semester it can feel like what you learned is running together. It’s natural not to remember everything. You’re studying to help you recall the material. This is a good time to reach out to a classmate or your professor for a meeting. Sometimes there is something small missing that can help you refocus and make sense of everything. Other times you just need a refresher.
Maybe it will help to get the advice of someone else. Whatever your reason, taking time to focus on one topic with someone can be the difference between success and failure. Now, if nothing looks familiar because you have been skipping class, then it’s time for you to get to know your entire book really well. You will also need to learn from this experience because you cannot expect to be successful in a class if you don’t put in the work required to do well.
College Finals Study Tip #4: Know When to Say When
Everyone will tell you to study, eat a good meal and sleep the night before your exam. If you’ve put in the preparation time to do well, it’s now time to take these more relaxing steps. Pulling an all-nighter isn’t going to make you test better; it’s only going to make you tired. In some cases, lack of sleep will undo all the hard work you just put in.
If you don’t know the material eight hours before the exam, you have a better chance of sleeping and hoping you absorbed the information in other ways. Also, make plans to do something fun when you’re done with your test. It gives you something to look forward to at the end of the day, regardless of how you feel you did on your test. Once an exam is over, it’s over. Now is the time to focus on something else for a while so you don’t burn out on the topic.
written by Emily Stickle, edited by Nikki Miller | <urn:uuid:341bb7e6-e846-41ff-900c-545ef8fec364> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://blogs.stthom.edu/celtadmissionsblog/uncategorized/the-ultimate-college-finals-study-guide-exam-prep-101/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572221.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816060335-20220816090335-00077.warc.gz | en | 0.938269 | 1,706 | 2.171875 | 2 |
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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
NIEHS Allocates $74 Million to Study Environmental Causes of Disease
As part of the new Exposure Biology Program, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health, today announced $74 million in grant opportunities for the development of new technologies that will improve the measurement of environmental exposures that contribute to human disease.
The three grant opportunities will support research to develop portable, easy-to-use sensing devices that will accurately measure personal exposure to a wide variety of chemical and biological agents. The grants will also support the development of sensitive biomarkers, based on subtle changes in DNA structure, proteins, metabolites and other molecules, that will enable scientists to study how the body responds to environmental stress.
The Exposure Biology Program is one of two complementary research programs outlined in the Genes and Environment Initiative, a five-year, NIH-wide effort to identify the genetic and environmental underpinnings of asthma, diabetes, cancer, and other common illnesses. The program will focus on the development of innovative technologies for assessing exposures to chemical and biological agents, dietary intake, physical activity, psychosocial stress, and addictive substances, as well as new methods for quantifying the biological responses to these environmental stressors.
“These new exposure technologies will enable researchers to accelerate their discovery of genetic and environmental risk factors for human disease,” said NIEHS Director David A. Schwartz, M.D. “The discoveries made with these new tools will ultimately lead to new strategies for the prevention and treatment of many illnesses.”
There is increasing evidence that common human diseases result from a complex interplay between genes and environmental exposures. Population studies designed to investigate the role of gene-environment interactions in human disease have often been hampered by the lack of precise measurement tools for assessing a person’s exposure to environmental agents that impact disease risk.
“The technologies used for the detection and measurement of environmental exposures should be as precise as the measurement tools currently used for genetic research,” said Brenda Weis, Ph.D., senior science advisor at NIEHS and program coordinator for the Exposure Biology Program.
The following are trans-NIH grant opportunities led by the NIEHS:
- Environmental Sensors for Personal Exposure Assessment
This announcement will support the development of field-deployable or wearable sensing devices that provide direct measurements of exposure to ozone, fine particles, diesel exhaust, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, pesticides, microbial toxins, and other environmental agents that have been linked with respiratory disease, cancer, and other common illnesses.
- Biological Response Indicators of Environmental Stress
This announcement will focus on the development of sensitive biomarkers that reflect subtle changes in inflammation, oxidative damage and other pathways that can lead to disease. By measuring the cellular and molecular responses that are involved in disease development, researchers will be better able to define the relationships between the genetic and environmental components of human illness.
- Biological Response Indicators of Environmental Stress Centers
This announcement will focus on the development of sensitive biomarkers that reflect subtle changes in inflammation, oxidative damage and other pathways that can lead to disease, and the incorporation of these markers into field- and laboratory-based sensing devices.
The Exposure Biology Program also includes two other grant opportunities: Improved Measures of Diet and Physical Activity for the Genes and Environment Initiative, led by the National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and Field-Deployable Tools for Quantifying Exposures to Psychosocial Stress and to Addictive Substances for Studies of Health and Disease, led by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“Any individuals with the skills, knowledge and abilities required to carry out the proposed research, including scientists who work in NIH laboratories, are encouraged to submit an application for participation in the program,” said Weis.
NIEHS will host an information meeting and videoconference, October 20, 2006 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to allow potential applicants to obtain information and clarify any questions about the funding opportunities. Detailed information about the meeting, including time, location, and the new grant opportunities, is available at the Exposure Biology Program website: www.gei.nih.gov/exposurebiology/index.asp.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), a component of the National Institutes of Health, supports research to understand the effects of the environment on human health. For more information on environmental health topics, please visit our website at http://www.niehs.nih.gov/.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health® | <urn:uuid:96d03bff-731b-49dd-87b5-9102d2c13930> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/niehs-allocates-74-million-study-environmental-causes-disease | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282202.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00554-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92154 | 1,037 | 2.421875 | 2 |
By Alicia Adamczyk, Daily Staff Reporter
Published October 25, 2012
Though most students dread the thought of voluntarily waking up before 8 a.m., the Coalition for Tuition Equality did just that Thursday morning to advocate for undocumented student tuition equity.
More than 100 students representing all 17 member groups of CTE — including the University’s chapter of College Democrats and the Migrant and Immigrant’s Rights Advocacy group — attended the protest outside the Fleming Administration Building. Fighting Obstacles Knowing Ultimate Success, a student organization that uses the arts to promote social equality, planned the early morning event in an attempt to attract administrator attention to their cause. Attendees plastered The Cube in Regent’s Plaza with stickers while carrying posters and banners boasting the protest’s message — “the dream of affordable tuition for undocumented students is too large to be silenced.”
The theme of the event was “My dream is bigger than...” and attendees scrawled messages such as “My documents,” “Michigan Football,” and “Mary Sue” on stickers, posters and chalkboards.
After a few brief speeches and rally cries, the student activists linked arms, creating a human chain around the administration building.
“What do we want? Justice,” they chanted as a few University employees watched from inside the building. “When do we want it? Now!”
LSA junior John D’Adamo, a College Democrats member, led chants and gave multiple speeches throughout the event. D’Adamo criticized University President Mary Sue Coleman for her lack of public response to the coalition’s goals, saying it was inconsistent with the University’s values.
“The (University) president probably uses ‘diversity’ more than any other word in the English language,” D’Adamo remarked to a laughing crowd.
LSA sophomore Sam Hahn stood at the front of the administration building, passing out free coffee and fliers to administrators arriving to work. One woman declined to accept the flyer.
“No thanks,” she said as she headed inside. “I’d better not.”
LSA senior Tatiana Hofmans, a FOKUS member, said as a Jamaican immigrant, she wants to take the initiative to help other immigrant students.
Hofmans said MyDreamIsBiggerThan.com — a website created specifically for Thursday’s protest that allows students to type their dreams and aspirations into a form — will compile the student entries and send mass e-mails to the University’s Board of Regents.
“It’s a creative and fun way for people to get involved as well as see the information about what the cause is all about and why to come out,” Hofmans said.
University spokesman Rick Fitzgerald wrote in a statement that Thursday's protesters were respectful and “thoughtful” in their approach to addressing the issue.
“This is a difficult, complicated and important topic,” Fitzgerald wrote. “The University will continue its ongoing collaboration with the coalition and others to develop a practical response that is legally compliant and reflects the University’s core values of fairness to all students and commitment to maintaining a diverse and inclusive community.”
Sanjay Jolly, a Public Policy graduate student and a representative from the University’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the protest was intended to demonstrate to University officials that the fight for tuition equality is enduring.
“All of these events are different ways of engaging administrators,” Jolly said. “There is enormous support for this change and there is enormous opposition to this discrimination against our peers.” | <urn:uuid:ada052ae-f085-4935-817b-a322e5d91970> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.michigandaily.com/news/10students-protest-tuition-equality25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280929.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00424-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946927 | 782 | 1.53125 | 2 |
This article was written by Sara Freitas-Maltaverne, a French to English translator. She specializes in high-quality translating, training and copywriting and works with a team of translators to provide the same service in the major European languages. You can find her blog here. This is part two, of a four part series.
Three Basic Concepts
Before we get into the nuts and bolts of personal finance and retirement planning, there are three basic concepts that should apply regardless of where you live.
1. Pay yourself first. This is the golden rule of personal finance. Whatever your current goals are (building up your emergency fund, saving for a medium-term goal, or growing your retirement nest egg), paying yourself first means setting aside a given percentage of your income and putting it away where you can’t get at it before you even start to budget for other living expenses. The opposite of this is waiting until the end of the month to see what, if anything, is “left over” and then saving (sound familiar?).
Automatic transfers or direct debit from your checking or current account are great tools for achieving the goal of paying yourself first. Of course, as freelancers, we don’t have a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly paycheck like employees do. I used to take money from my business account on a very irregular basis “as needed.” This made it impossible to stick to any kind of a savings plan. Now that my business has been up and running for a few years, I pay myself a regular monthly “salary” based on the previous year’s business income. Because my income has gone up steadily, this has two benefits. I have a steady “salary” to facilitate budgeting and savings and, if my income is higher than last year, I end up with a “surplus” at the end of the year that goes to my emergency fund, medium-term savings, or retirement savings. Estimating how much your “salary” should be will depend on the tax and social welfare systems in your country. In France, contributions to social welfare programs are high, as are income taxes. I base my monthly “salary” on 50% of the previous year’s total income divided by 12. This leaves me with more than enough to pay my social contributions and income tax. If your income drops from one year to the next…well, that’s what your emergency fund is for (see below)!
2. The magic of compounding. For the mathematically inclined, this is rate of return x time. For the rest of us, the earlier you start saving, the longer your money-and the returns on your money-will work for you (rather than you working to save money). If you are under 30, this is excellent news (even if you feel that you are too “broke” to start saving). Here’s a good example of compounding from the Morningstar Investing Classroom:
When compounding, the earlier you start, the better off you’ll be. Let’s consider the case of two investors, Joe and Sam. Say that Joe put $1,000 into the market at age 25 and earned a 10% after tax return. Sam also put in $1,000 and earned the same return, but waited until he was 35 to do so. When both were nearing retirement at age 60, Joe ended up with $28,102, while Sam only has $10,834 from his investment.
For a fun illustrated (Flash) example of compounding, visit Vanguard’s Investor Education Center.
3. People first, then money, then things. This is Suze Orman’s “First Law of Money” as explained in her book The Courage to Be Rich.
People first. Those things that are created by and kept with love must always come before anything else. Family, friends, your partner, your children, yourself […]
Then money. Can you imagine going to someone’s house and having them proudly show you a room filled with thousands of dollar bills and telling you the history of how all that money came to be? You would be appalled at the vulgarity. At the same time, you would think nothing of it if you were to go to someone’s house and be given a tour of a room they had just redecorated. What did it take to redecorate that room? Money. […] In either case you are being shown a room full of money. The difference in your perception was the value system that you applied-a room full of things is okay, whereas a room full of money is not. That is because you value things more than you value money.
Then things. When your financial priorities are in order, things come last.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by debt or are just disorganized and don’t know where to start, I would recommend reading The Courage to Be Rich as the first step to planning for your future. While the investment advice is geared to US investors, there are a number of universal life lessons in this book that can help anybody to face their financial future more effectively.
If, on the other hand, you feel that you are ready to take the plunge, the following three guidelines are the foundation of any personal financial plan and will help you get started. I will try to keep these guidelines as general as possible, but I encourage budding investors to seek tax and investment advice from qualified professionals in their country to see what options are available locally.
1. Emergency cash reserves. Most financial advisors recommend saving enough to cover six months’ living expenses (rent, food, utilities, etc.). This emergency or “rainy day” fund should be in an account that is risk-free or low-risk, accessible, that charges no penalties for withdrawing funds (such as a money market account or a savings account) but that is ideally separate from your checking or current account (the account you use for your month-to-month living expenses). If you do not have an emergency cash reserve, this should be your first savings priority. It will cover unexpected medical expenses, car repairs, and living expenses if you suddenly lose work or are too sick to work (you might also look into the option of a private insurance policy to cover long absences from work due to illness). Once you have built up your emergency fund, you can get started on the next two savings goals (medium-term savings and retirement savings). Again, pay yourself first. Set a goal for building your emergency fund (aim for 15% to 20% of your income each month), open an account to hold this money for you, and automatically transfer the funds to this new account each month until you reach your goal.
2. Medium-term reserves. This is money you have earmarked for goals such as vacations, a down payment on a home or home renovations, a new car, or a career change. It may be placed in term accounts, CDs, or other low-risk investments that will enable you to withdraw the money when needed (but not before, or at least not without dissuasive penalties). You can work on this while you build your retirement nest egg.
3. Retirement savings. These are long-term savings that you will not withdraw until retirement. Right now, even if you do not know where or how to invest, do not have the time to get started, or are simply afraid to invest, the important thing is to save regularly every month, even if you are just putting the money into a savings account until you can figure out what to do with it (although a savings account is not a good long-term solution as inflation will erode any earnings). Once you do figure out how to invest your savings, investing regularly is important as it will “smooth out” the effects of market fluctuations over time (for instance, it is better to invest $100 per month than $1,200 all at once each year). This is also known as “dollar cost averaging.” In some countries, there are tax considerations to factor in when saving for retirement. See a professional in your country for tax-related investment information. Saving for retirement may be a way to significantly reduce your taxable income. So, by saving, you are doing yourself a favor now that will also pay off in the future (unfortunately this is not the case in France where I live, where such tax breaks are limited!).
Most financial advisors suggest saving 10% to 15% of your income for retirement. This estimate is often geared towards employees and takes into account employer-sponsored pensions and state pensions. For freelance professionals, I am afraid that this is not enough. To secure a comfortable future, 15% to 20% of your income is a good starting point. Remember, pay yourself first and then base your monthly budget on what is left. If you don’t feel that you can live on the remaining 80% to 85% of your income, then it is time to take a look at how you can cut spending or increase your income. Learning to live within your means and within a budget is a whole topic unto itself, and I would encourage you to read Suze Orman for more on how to achieve this.
Now, the 15% to 20% figure can vary depending on a number of factors. I consider this a minimum. The closer you are to retirement, the higher the percentage will be. In order to refine your investment plan, you will have to assess your retirement needs in greater detail and get to know yourself a bit better (your investor profile). | <urn:uuid:b1fb2a7a-a9bb-401b-a3df-86b571c65e7d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://almostfrugal.com/2008/04/10/personal-finance-for-freelancers-part-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281450.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00176-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961055 | 1,998 | 2.0625 | 2 |
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REFERENCE LINKING PLATFORM OF KOREA S&T JOURNALS
> Journal Vol & Issue
Journal of Information Management
Journal Basic Information
Journal DOI :
Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information
Editor in Chief :
Volume & Issues
Volume 24, Issue 4 - Dec 1993
Volume 24, Issue 3 - Sep 1993
Volume 24, Issue 2 - Jun 1993
Volume 24, Issue 1 - Mar 1993
Selecting the target year
A Study on Korean Question Processing System Using Knowledge Base
Kim, Pan-Jun ;
Journal of Information Management, volume 24, issue 3, 1993, Pages 1~30
Providing users who intend to retrieve document information in korean natural language with direct access to retrieval systems, a korean question processing system was developed in which korean natural language was translated into boolean search statements, which are the most frequently used in current information retrieval systems.
Commercial Database : The Keypoints and Practical Use(2) - Newspaper Articles -
Cho, Jae-Ho ;
Journal of Information Management, volume 24, issue 3, 1993, Pages 31~56
In order to respond to the public needs to utilize the newspapers as high-valued information resources, the number of the commercially available news items which are transformed into a form of database has been remarkably increased by the introduction of CTS into the newspaper companies. As for the domestically available Japanese and foreign newspaper article database, explanations are given to the following items. 1) Characteristics of database, such as date of coverage, frequency updating, time-lag, news sources, search terms, available information, etc. 2) Matters to be noticed at the utilization. 3) Pattern of utilization depending on the object of the investigation, such as the investigation of company, market trend, etc. Since the newspaper article database will be available in a form of digitized information, making the combination with the inter-company LAN system possible, increased opportunities to use it in near future are expected.
Collection of Foreign Academic Journals in Domestic Libraries : Status and Issues
Kim, Suk-Young ;
Journal of Information Management, volume 24, issue 3, 1993, Pages 57~72
The purpose of this study is to investigate the present status of foreign academic journal collection in Korea and to explore the problem. In order to survey the current situation, the data from "Union Catalogue of Foreign Journals:Science & Technology, 1992" database constructed by Korea Institute of Industry and Technology Information has been analyzed. Major problems are poor collections, collection overlap, and lack of resource sharing.
The Design of Retrieval System Using Fuzzy Logic
Cho, Hye-Min ;
Journal of Information Management, volume 24, issue 3, 1993, Pages 73~100
In attempting to respond to boolean retrieval system's limitations, this paper presents the design of a retrieval system using fuzzy logic. The fuzzy retrieval system introduces the weights of terms in the documents and in the query and makes use of them to determine how much relevant a document is to the given query. After comparing and analyzing the previous researches, an effective model of the fuzzy retrieval system is suggested and the performance of the system is evaluated through actual examples. | <urn:uuid:d04dc8be-f409-42ef-870e-1a089aa3181c> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.koreascience.or.kr/journal/JournalIssueList.jsp?kojic=GGJBCP&volno=24&issno=3&cnov_no=&year_GB=1993 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718285.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00105-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.844718 | 668 | 1.976563 | 2 |
ETUC position on the creation of a second ETS on road transport and building and of a new Social Climate Fund
Adopted at the Executive Committee meeting of 8-9 December 2021
On 14 July 2021, the European Commission published its Fit for 55 Package. This package consists in 13 legislative proposals that aim at aligning EU climate and energy policies with the new climate targets set by the recently adopted Climate Law – a GHG emission reduction of 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and climate neutrality by 2050.
As part of this package, the Commission proposes to create a new ETS as from 2026, covering road transport and buildings. This new separate self-standing ETS would focus on upstream fuel suppliers. Emissions from road transport and building sectors would be capped, with the cap reduced over time so that total GHG emissions for these sectors are reduced by 43% by 2030 as compared to 2005. This system would aim at creating a price incentive for companies and consumers to switch to low carbon solutions while raising additional revenues to finance the transition. Overall, this new system is expected to raise €288,8 billion over a seven-year period.
In parallel to this second ETS, the Commission also proposes to create a new Social Climate Fund. The objective of this new fund would be to counter the negative impact of the new ETS on building and transport by financing activities that would principally benefit vulnerable households, vulnerable micro-enterprises or vulnerable transport users, in particular by ensuring affordable and sustainable heating, cooling, and mobility. To benefit from the fund, Member States would need to develop Climate Action Social Plans, as part of their National Energy and Climate Plans. In terms of budget, the new Social Climate Fund is expected to raise around €72,2 billion over a seven-year period, equivalent to 25% of the revenues to be generated by the new ETS. In addition, Member States would have to co-finance their Climate Action Social Plans by dedicating another 25% of the revenues they generate through the new ETS. The total amount spent on those plans would therefore be around €144 billion.
Concerns about the creation of an Emission Trading System covering road transport and buildings
ETUC does not reject the idea of creating carbon pricing mechanisms per se. Indeed, in some cases, such mechanisms can help provide the right incentives to companies and consumers to move towards more sustainable alternative solutions. However, such mechanisms should always be designed in a way that they create the right conditions for a just transition and do not lead to more inequalities and poverty.
In that regard, ETUC has expressed several concerns about the idea to create an ETS covering road transport and buildings:
- First of all, it is widely documented that carbon pricing policies on road transport and buildings produce regressive distributional effects, affecting proportionally more low- and middle-income households than high income households. This is because low-income households dedicate a higher share of their revenues to energy related expenses. This could result in more inequalities and in an increase in energy poverty since the additional costs generated by this second ETS would likely be passed on to the consumers. It should be noted that energy poverty is already a widespread problem across Europe. Indeed, the European Energy Poverty Observatory estimates that more than 50 million households in the European Union are already experiencing energy poverty today. The introduction of a new ETS on transport and buildings would therefore add an additional variable to an already unsolved problem.
- It is also clear that an EU carbon pricing mechanism on road transport and building would affect differently people, depending on the country or region they live in. A common carbon price will not impact citizens in the same way if they live and work in a country with high or low wages, and with high or low energy price levels. Besides, the reliance on coal in the energy supply, or the ageing car fleet of households, will mean higher costs for countries that are already affected by high energy poverty. Within these countries, citizens would also be affected differently whether they live in an urban area or a rural area. Without sufficient national social policy and adequate solidarity mechanisms in place, this will result in an increase in regional inequalities.
- Another concern is that the effect of such a carbon pricing mechanism might be limited in terms of GHG emissions reductions, since road transport and building markets are often depicted as relatively inelastic to higher carbon prices. Indeed, the necessary upfront investment costs as well as the different obstacles to the renovation of buildings or adoption of cleaner transportation solutions can prevent many households from modifying their consumption, even if carbon prices rise. This is especially true for low-income households. Ultimately, this means that those affected by the price of this ETS will be the ones who will not have been able to invest in low carbon alternative solutions. Hence, the need to massively mobilise funding to support those households, and to invest in public transport and building renovation.
- We cannot separate the transportation mode of workers from the geographical location of their companies and the possibilities to reach them, which is largely determined by business choice, on which workers have limited influence. In many regions the public transportation means to reach these companies are insufficiently developed and must be scaled up to allow alternative options for a modal shift. Regarding clean individual transportation solutions, the stability of this business model is yet not consolidated to completely substitute internal combustion engines vehicles by the time of the introduction of the second ETS, and its current non-affordability might be a challenge in the transition. Policy makers must implement measures to accelerate the uptake of zero and low emission vehicles notably by boosting the development of the charging infrastructure and the electricity grid.
- Finally, the uncertainties related to the future price of carbon, which can fluctuate quite a lot with such a system, constitute an additional worry. Relying on a cap-and-trade system means that policy makers have limited control on future prices, which could be subject to market fluctuation and speculation. This uncertainty creates a volatile investment environment and, in case of sudden price spikes, measures for social compensation might become inadequate.
If not addressed properly, all these effects combined could result in a lack of political acceptance of climate policies by EU citizens and in some sort of political backlash, such as the gilets jaunes movement in France. Far right, climate sceptic or Eurosceptic movements would also use any real negative effect of a second ETS on revenues of working people and vulnerable households to fuel their own political agenda. The EU cannot take the risk of jeopardising the unprecedented efforts of the European Green Deal.
The Commission’s proposal to create a new Social Climate Fund tries to address some of these concerns through several mechanisms: (1) it would redirects part of revenues generated to help compensate vulnerable households; (2) it foresees an allocation criteria to ensure solidarity among Member States to correct the effects of a common EU carbon price; (3) it creates a separate self-standing ETS decoupled from the current ETS to avoid inadequate carbon pricing; and (4) it foresees a transition period with frontloading of money one year before the second ETS enters into force. We acknowledge these proposals, but they appear to be insufficient to fully address the worries expressed above.
Indeed, the creation of a Social Climate Fund to mitigate the effects of the second ETS only partially answers the concerns expressed by ETUC: for example, the current Commission’s proposal of combining a second ETS with a new Social Climate Fund does not solve the issue of inelasticity to higher carbon prices of the road transport and building market, nor does it provide sufficient resources to both compensate workers and their households from higher energy prices and to finance the transition to clean solutions. It is also not clear how the current proposal would provide sufficient fund to both compensate the regressive effects of the ETS2 and eradicate already existing energy poverty. Finally, the Commission does not answer concerns related to the potential political backlash the creation of a second ETS could create.
In order to answer those concerns and to guarantee workers’ support to the climate agenda, ETUC is of the idea that a Social Climate Fund is needed and opposes the proposal of a new ETS for road transport and building.
A new Social Climate Fund without a second ETS on road transport and building
The idea to create a Social Climate Fund as proposed by the Commission is welcomed and supported by ETUC. A new fund to support households in dealing with rising energy prices and in investing in energy efficient, and clean, housing and mobility solutions is indeed needed urgently. Along with adequate resources to secure a just transition of the workers in the construction and transport sectors.
ETUC therefore suggests creating a new Social Climate Fund as a standalone proposal and to finance it with other – more progressive – sources of revenues. For example, part of the revenues generated by the existing ETS could be used to compensate vulnerable households for rising energy prices. The additional money available due to the phase out of subsidies to environmentally harmful activities would also help to finance the fund. Other sources of revenues related to a fairer taxation system could also be mobilised, such as the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax, a minimum corporate tax, a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base with an appropriate apportionment formula, a digital tax or a Wealth Tax.
At the same time, it should be kept in mind that both the transport and the building sectors need to rapidly accelerate the pace of their emissions reductions. Efforts made in the building sectors have, so far, been largely insufficient to achieve climate targets while emissions in the transport sectors have increased since 1990.
It should be clear that cap and trade mechanisms such as ETS are not the only policy instrument available to achieve GHG emissions reduction and should not be the core of EU’s climate action. In that regard, ETUC welcomes the Commission’s proposal to revise existing standards and regulations to increase the uptake of clean mobility solutions on the market (e.g. through CO2 standards for cars and vans) and to reduce the energy consumption of buildings. It should, however, be made sure that these changes are accompanied by sufficient measures to ensure the just transition of the workforce in these sectors, as well as sufficient financial support to guarantee affordable renovation costs and adequate public transport infrastructures. To complement these standards and regulations, ETUC believes that a possible alternative to the creation of a new ETS on road transport and building could be to use the Energy Taxation Directive to provide a price incentive, while ensuring a control over energy prices and a progressive taxation based on the revenues of households, the share of urban versus rural, and the country reality. The revenues generated by such taxation would, in any case, need to be recycled to support workers and their households and ensure a socially fair transition and could also be used to finance the new Social Climate Fund.
If unanimity procedure prevents these proposals to be deployed and if – despite the above recommendations – EU policy makers decide to go ahead with the creation of a second ETS covering road transport and buildings, ETUC calls for a much stronger Social Climate Fund to mitigate the effects of the new ETS with a truly progressive redistribution of the revenues generated and a just transition.
Mitigating the effects of the new ETS with an improved Social Climate Fund.
Boosting the Social Climate Fund would require the following changes to the current Commission’s proposal:
- The size of the fund should be significantly increased. The amount currently proposed – taking into account the co-financing of Member States – would result in an average budget of €527 per year per household if the entire amount was only distributed to the 20% poorest households in the EU. This amount may be sufficient to partly compensate these households for the rise in energy prices, but it would clearly be insufficient to both compensate and offer them solutions to decarbonise. ETUC therefore calls on EU and national policy makers to dedicate 100% of the revenues generated by the second ETS – or an equivalent amount – to compensate workers and their households, finance clean mobility and energy efficiency alternatives, and reduce energy poverty. Climate taxes should be earmarked to finance climate and social action. Furthermore, the redistribution criteria should make sure that workers and their households receive more from the fund than what they pay and that there is no unfair treatment between rural and urban territories and between countries. To ensure this and to fight against the already widespread energy poverty, those revenues should be complemented by other sources (see point 11).
- The timing of the availability of funding compared to the applicability of the new ETS is also a crucial element. If the money comes at the same time when the carbon price is introduced, households will not have the ability to make upfront investments in clean alternative solutions and would be hit hard by the rise in energy prices. ETUC acknowledges that the Commission is proposing a frontloading of money one year before the new ETS would enter into force but believe this still comes too late. ETUC calls upon policy makers to ensure that funding is available at least three years before the introduction of a new ETS, to ensure sufficient time for vulnerable households to anticipate the transition. Besides, public authorities should also make the necessary upfront investment to ensure the development of alternative low carbon infrastructure, for example in public transportation. Here again, this frontloading of money could be financed by revenues coming from the existing ETS or from more progressive sources of revenues such as an FTT, a minimum corporate tax base, a CCCTB with an appropriate apportionment formula, a digital tax or a wealth tax.
- In terms of governance, ETUC supports the idea that Member States would have to develop Climate Action Social Plans as part of their NECPs. The NECPs should be the translation of climate ambition into concrete measures, ensuring just transition and social ambition. However, it should be guaranteed that social partners are properly involved in the design and implementation of those plans, along with local actors and civil society. Those plans should be developed in line with the best implementation practices of the European Code of Conduct on Partnership, through social dialogue with social partners and in close consultation with local authorities and civil society.
- The activities to be financed by the Social Climate Fund should be additional to what already exists in the different Member States. This would not be the case in the current Commission’s proposal where, if Member States already have existing policies or funding in place, they could simply account it as part of their expenses without the need to do more.
- Finally, ETUC believes that the new Social Climate Fund should also be used as a leverage to promote high quality employment and decent working conditions. Activities related to the world of work that will be financed by the fund should be subject to social conditionality. In other words, any funding of activities by the Social Climate Fund that requires hiring workers should be conditional to decent wages, decent working conditions (including health and safety aspects and direct employment contracts), proper trade union representation, social dialogue and the right to bargain collectively. Also, the Social Climate Fund should not be used to finance projects related to unabated fossil fuels, in accordance with the “do no significant harm” principle. EU policy makers should also take adequate measures make sure that a new ETS on road transport and building does not lead to carbon leakage in those sectors.
ETUC believes that the Fit for 55 package can only be socially fair and acceptable for EU citizens if it does not lead to loss of revenues for low- and middle-income households. In that regard, a new ETS on road transport and buildings risks to fail the test of public opinion. ETUC recalls that carbon pricing policies should not be the core of EU climate action. When it comes to road transport and building, we believe that regulation and standards also have a role to play. More should also be done to implement the energy efficiency first principle, notably through strong measures to support low- and middle-income households. Boosting initiatives under the EU renovation wave and the EU Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy could significantly contribute to that objective. In parallel to that, the Commission should put more focus on the need to increase living standards of people to avoid energy poverty and to make sure households can afford the green transition. Measures to increases wages and to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights should be higher on the political agenda. An adequate Social Climate Fund to support vulnerable households is part of the answer.
Trade unions have been front runners in asking for a socially fair and ambitious climate action. Furthermore, trade unions do not wish to allow the opportunity for the far right to use the regressive effects of the new ETS on road transport and buildings on workers and their households as a reason to challenge climate policies. Nor can we gamble workers' support for climate policies on the belief that governments that have allowed fuel poverty and low wages to grow will, with the Social Climate Fund, really tackle strongly and genuinely the regressive consequences of the introduction of the new ETS. The urgency of climate action and just transition requires from us to fight the climate sceptics while proposing solutions that will improve the living conditions of workers and their households. This is also what we expect from the EU and national policy makers.
The European Commission estimates that based on a carbon price of ~€50/tCO2, this new ETS would generate around €47 billion of annual revenues.
Hence the need to boost the roll out of the charging infrastructures needed to enable the uptake of electric vehicles and to accelerate the uptake of energy efficiency and decarbonisation solutions in buildings.
It should be noted that trade unions also have a role to play to negotiate with the employers – through social dialogue and collective bargaining – mobility solutions to accelerate the uptake of low carbon transportation in companies and modal shift.
See ETUC resolution on EU taxation and own resources, March 2021
Cf. discussion related to EU own resources. | <urn:uuid:0b1fcd2a-5fda-438b-82be-9879fad6216e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://etuc.org/en/document/etuc-position-creation-second-ets-road-transport-and-building-and-new-social-climate-fund | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572833.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817032054-20220817062054-00470.warc.gz | en | 0.953381 | 3,669 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Do you like potatoes? Do you like science? Well Allen Kurzweil has the book for you.
Kurzweil, author of the Grand Complication, was in the historical thriller genre back when Dan Brown was still in short pants. His latest book, however, written with his son Max, is explores science and history from a different angle. It’s all about potatoes, potato chips, and all things tuber. The 82 page book is just the beginning when it comes to PCS because inside the packaging – a potato chip bag, of all things – you get lots of tools for making your own odd potato projects.
The most obvious and coolest project is the kit is the potato battery. They include a small LCD clock and a small noisemaker that can both be powered with an ordinary potato. But jamming a small copper lead into one side of the spud and a zinc lead into the other, you basically get a clever lesson in catalysts and electronics.
Other experiments include spud guns, compasses made out of Pringles can tops, and even a shrunken head made out of potatoes.
You can even make a kite out of a potato chip bag and a Chia Pet out of a potato, some peat, and some grass seed. As you can see, the possibilities are seemingly endless.
Generally, this book is about reusing and recycling and exists in the some vaunted sphere as the Boy/Girl Scout’s Handbook and other fun books for boys (and girls). I remember spending hours poring over those books for fun activities. I think the real value in books like Kurzweil’s is the instillation of the tinkering spirit. If you’re reading CG or TC, you’re probably a tinkerer to begin with or, at least, the tinkerer’s fire was stoked in you at an early age by something like this book. As a parent, I see the value in teaching science and conservation through something fun like potatoes and potato products. Considering my five year old only wants to eat fries anyway, he might as well learn about composting and electricity through Idahos.
The book is available now for $12 from Amazon. Bottom line: If you have kids between ages of 9 and 12 – younger kids will be a bit baffled by the experiments – you owe it to them to make them a potato clock. | <urn:uuid:27da6de3-bee1-4165-a1f7-317d66b7fd90> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://techcrunch.com/2010/10/14/review-potato-chip-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280587.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00562-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959613 | 500 | 2.25 | 2 |
Bryan Stascavage, a 30-year-old Wesleyan University student who served two tours in Iraq, penned an op-ed in the school newspaper that criticized the Black Lives Matter movement for creating an environment he believes advocates violence by spreading anti-cop hatred, and questioned the movement’s legitimacy.
“Is the movement itself actually achieving anything positive?” Stascavage wrote in his op-ed, “Why Black Lives Matter Isn’t What You Think,” published Sept. 14 in the Wesleyan Argus.
“It boils down to this for me: If vilification and denigration of the police force continues to be a significant portion of Black Lives Matter’s message, then I will not support the movement, I cannot support the movement. And many Americans feel the same,” Stascavage wrote.
“Is it worth another riot that destroys a downtown district? Another death, another massacre? At what point will Black Lives Matter go back to the drawing table and rethink how they are approaching the problem?” he questioned. (Read more from “Iraq War Veteran Criticizing Black Lives Matter Movement Stirs Controversy” HERE) | <urn:uuid:eabc36e0-fd9a-470d-b439-51dc2a8dc23d> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://joemiller.us/2015/09/iraq-war-veteran-criticizing-black-lives-matter-movement-stirs-controversy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572063.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814173832-20220814203832-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.911286 | 250 | 1.9375 | 2 |
The Internet of Things Assistant is a Ruby on Rails application that can act as a front-end for an Adafruit Internet of Things Printer. It turns your IoT Printer into a handy assistant that will print out snippets of information you tell it to at a certain time each day, or on demand.
- Multi-user support. Any number of users can share one printer (for example a team in an office, or a family at home).
- A web-based interface to pick what you want printed and when.
- Scheduled-based printing; print once a day at the time you specify on the days you specify.
- On-demand printing; print whenever you like at the touch of a button.
- Administration interface for configuring your Assistant; e.g. disallowing new user creation and downloading the code for your Printer.
- The application can be deployed on Heroku using the cedar stack.
In addition, the following ‘modules’ for the printouts are included by default:
Adafruit IoT Printer Project Pack “Internet of Things” printer. Build an “Internet of Things” connected mini printer that will do your bidding! This is a fun weekend project that comes with a beautiful laser cut case. Once assembled, the little printer connects to Ethernet to get Internet data for printing onto 2 1/4″ wide receipt paper. The example sketch we’ve written will connect to Twitter’s search API and retrieve and print tweets according to your requests: you can have it print out tweets from a person, a hashtag, mentioning a word, etc! Once you’ve gotten that working, you can of course easily adapt our sketch to customize the printer.
The project is not very difficult but does require some light soldering, so you’ll want to have a little experience with a soldering iron. You’ll also need a small flathead screwdriver to assemble the box. It’s also best if you’ve had a little Arduino experience so you can feel comfortable downloading the IDE and uploading our example sketch.
- Mini Receipt Printer. BPA-Free
- 50 foot long receipt paper
- 5V 2A power adapter
- 2.1mm Panel Jack
- Waterproof metal On/Off button
- Extra long header piece
- Ribbon cable
- 1/8″ heat shrink
- Laser cut enclosure + hardware
This pack does not contain an Arduino+Arduino Ethernet Shield, Arduino Ethernet or Ethernet cable To complete the project you will need to add either an Arduino + Ethernet Shield or an Arduino UNO Ethernet. If you’re using an Arduino UNO Ethernet you will also need an FTDI friend or FTDI cable to upload the sketch. A plain straight-thru Ethernet cable is also required (any length)
Before purchasing, please check out the full tutorial with images, code, etc!
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Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time. | <urn:uuid:e8aeac36-2577-494c-859b-beebe612c147> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://blog.adafruit.com/2012/04/05/internet-of-things-assistant/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00030-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.828746 | 746 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Home Facts about vikings primary homework help
Facts about vikings primary homework help
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As the world considers how best to regulate the ‘virtual reality’ of online information exchange and communication, Kazakhstan has taken a tough and clearly disproportionate step to tighten its grip on the internet.
The news that amendments to the legislation regulating internet and online content were under consideration by the authorities first appeared in August 2008, but public attention towards the initiative of the Agency for Informatization and Communications (AIC) was only aroused when the draft law was submitted to the parliament in January 2009. The law-making process, which is traditionally rather closed in Kazakhstan, was particularly opaque this time; there was very little coverage of the parliament’s discussions or participation of civil society in this process − even the final text of the adopted law was published two weeks after it had been signed by the president.
The main target of public indignation was the equation of blogs, chat-rooms and other websites, which used to be deemed a user’s private territory, with mass media outlets, imposing the same liability for libel, calumny, violation of privacy and other breaches, which are subject to criminal prosecution in Kazakhstan. However, this novelty is just an upgrade of the existing legislation, tailored to the booming web2.0 ‘prosumer’ technologies by changing the word ‘websites’ to the broader term ‘internet resources’. Both legal experts and IT specialists repeatedly pointed out the lack of clarity about notions and mechanisms – and this makes the law too susceptible to ‘creative’ enforcement. For example, liability for illegal content rests upon the owner of an internet resource, but it is not specified whether it is going to be the blogger, the community moderator, or the blogging platform proprietor.
Previous legislation already enabled the authorities to effectively shut down a number of internet newspapers by court decisions on the basis of alleged incitement to social/national discord or extremism in the user comments sections. Therefore, a more crucial novelty was, probably, the state’s prerogative to block any web-resource (“to stop dissemination of its content on the territory of Kazakhstan”) by court decision, in the case of a breach of legislation. This measure used to be applied to the Kazakhstani websites. The new law allows a filtering of the worldwide web in absentia of the defendant, even without the need to notify the outlawed website or blog of the decision to block it in Kazakhstan. The law does not require the authorities to report on or explain the blockage to the local users. Moreover, if before only the national operator Kazakhtelecom JSC was obliged to directly implement a ban, now a special body will supervise observation of the court’s ruling by all ISPs.
The government’s rhetoric has changed significantly. At the beginning of discussions it cited the need to prevent online extremism, terrorism and pornography. As it turned out, officials acknowledged that the major purpose was to “restrict the level of information penetration” and to “have a leverage to manage the information flow” in order to avert scenarios similar to the protests in Moldova or Iran, which were staged via the internet or gained international backing due to the internet-based channels of information delivery. Although the new legislation empowers the government with wide opportunities to filter the internet, thus spreading its censorship power much further than the already controlled traditional media sector, it will hardly lead to a ubiquitous surveillance of the blogosphere and routine restriction of online discussions. More likely, the new law will be applied in an uneven way and target only the most dangerous anti-regime content.
The law is definitely loaded with certain implications, however, above all, for the freedom of speech in Kazakhstan; especially against the current background of the poor level of rule of law, lack of judicial independence and the tradition of treating dissent, it is therefore highly probable that opinions and commentaries will be considered as defamation or calumny etc. Obviously, this situation may further constrain political expression and promote self-censorship, exacerbating the climate of fear and the decline in civil motivation and awareness. Experts have repeatedly noted that the law is too rudimentary and allows the blocking of, for example, the whole blogging platform on the basis of an illegal comment in one of the blogs. Such an approach will directly hamper access to other sorts of information and (often paid) services for users that have nothing to do with the outlawed content. Serious concerns are voiced by the web businesses, access and hosting providers, which will now have an additional supervisor – newly created Service for ICT Incidents – and will also be obliged to incur extra costs due to the requirement to store all user-related data (including IP and reference addresses, identifiers and billing details) for two years. The new legislation has been criticised several times by the OSCE and by Sweden’s EU presidency, which expressed the fear that the law considerably limits the internet and media in general. The US Mission to the OSCE also urged Kazakhstan to bring the law into line with democratic standards on the freedom of expression.
Obviously, the state’s desire to control this powerful information resource is not justifiable, but it is understandable from the point of view of the political system’s instinct for survival. On the other hand, the suggested mechanism is certainly the most primitive approach to regulation, equal to the on/off censorship switch. Long before the law was submitted to the parliament, the authorities blocked the popular blogging network Livejournal.com, and only half a year later they acknowledged the fact of filtering, by a court decision, due to nationalist comments in one of the blogs, which appeared five months after the implementation of the block. Another point of concern is that implementation of the law will require substantial budgetary outlay, meaning that the taxpayers will have to pay for the rather arbitrary filtering of online content.
It could be that these legal novelties could herald early elections or major shifts in power, taking into account that the model case studies – Iran and Moldova – faced public protests in the aftermath of elections. Besides, logically, in order to ensure the fully-fledged implementation of the law, all circumvention tools (proxy servers, anonymizers, Tor etc.) should be outlawed too, thus putting Kazakhstan in the same boat as the most repressive states. The fragmented groups of legal experts, internet professionals and enthusiasts are currently trying to understand the new rules of the game and develop better approaches to putting the virtual reality into legal frameworks without the violation of free speech or hampering ICT development. This is taking place against the background of increased interest on the part of the state, the general public and international donors in the internet and the development opportunities it offers, so the EU could play a creative role in support of constructive dialogue between the players in this field. | <urn:uuid:e9b9ac6a-de39-415c-b13f-83d6fe30a721> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://eucentralasia.eu/kazakhstans-grip-on-virtual-reality/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572089.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814234405-20220815024405-00070.warc.gz | en | 0.94746 | 1,382 | 2.234375 | 2 |
NIC tuition reduced in 2007 for Washington, Montana residents
In an environment where enrollment numbers are directly tied to state funding, North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene has gotten serious about its recruiting efforts and recruitment’s effect on bolstering enrollment.
Like many community colleges nationwide, North Idaho College saw the largest enrollment increase in the history of the college following Sept. 11 in 2001. However, the strengthening economy and booming job market in years that have followed have caused the college’s enrollment to decline, prompting NIC officials to seek new markets to boost enrollment.
NIC is located in the 70-mile wide Idaho panhandle, making it closer to large portions of Montana and Washington than to much of the state of Idaho. That’s why NIC is looking across Idaho’s borders into Washington and Montana to try to reach a market of students that has yet to be fully tapped. As part of this measure, North Idaho College recently announced its plan to lower tuition to out-of-state students from those states.
Washington students attending NIC currently pay $4,040 per year and Montana students pay $4,488 per year. But beginning in the fall of 2007, Washington and Montana students alike will pay $3,165 per year.
The new tuition amount is still greater than the rate Idaho students pay, currently $1,496. The total is the average out-of-state tuition cost between four regional community colleges.
“Reducing tuition for Montana and Washington students is a necessary step because it allows us to compete with lower-priced institutions in those states, and it affirms NIC’s commitment to providing an affordable education to the entire Northwest,” said NIC Vice President for Student Services Eric Murray.
The new initiative is also a response to other states’ efforts to increase enrollment by looking at Idaho. For example, Community Colleges of Spokane, which sits just across the Washington-Idaho border from Coeur d’Alene, recently lowered its out-of-state tuition as well in an effort to attract students from Idaho.
“We’re all looking at the same market of students now and thinking about how we can best serve them,” Murray said. “Offering tuition in a range that’s viable for them is the first step.”
North Idaho College’s board of trustees approved the measure unanimously even in a time of budget shortfalls. That’s because the tuition cuts will not cost NIC a cent if at least 53 new Washington or Montana students enroll under the new initiative.
NIC has also placed a greater emphasis on recruiting, with the creation of an additional recruiting position this summer. Those recruiters can now market to Washington and Montana students, telling them that attending NIC would only cost them $300-$600 more per year than the in-district rate at their local community college.
“Since Washington and Montana are so close we find a lot of interest in NIC, but the out-of-state tuition rate has made it difficult for those students to attend NIC,” said NIC Admissions Director Maxine Gish. “We would like to be more competitive in getting them to consider NIC as an affordable option.”
Recruiters will spend time this spring and summer visiting high school students and other prospective NIC students in Washington and Montana, informing them of the new out-of-state tuition rates for the fall of 2007.For More Information
NIC Vice President for Student Services Eric Murray, (208) 769-3370, NIC Admissions Director Maxine Gish, (208) 769-3313Posted: Friday, Oct. 27, 2006 | <urn:uuid:0cff5489-749a-41b7-9702-67b4fcb6c6aa> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://nic.edu/news/single.aspx?id=6433 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281151.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00111-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954113 | 762 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Just in case you hadn't been paying attention, USA Today reports that
Clarence Thomas takes hard line on defendants
That's the headline. Joan Biskupic lays it out for us.
During two decades as the court's most consistent conservative, he has taken a tough approach to criminal defendants' cases, showing a disdain for hard-luck tales of bad childhoods and a conviction that defendants accept responsibility.
There's nothing new here. Biskupic runs through a few of Thomas's opinions - for the Court and in dissent - just to remind us. But read the details she offers and you see a man who's more than "tough."
Thomas signaled his approach early four months after his October 1991 confirmation. He dissented in a case involving a Louisiana prisoner who had been shackled and punched by guards as a supervisor looked on. The beating loosened the inmate's teeth and cracked his dental plate.The court majority in Hudson v. McMillian ruled the beating violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Thomas, joined only by Scalia, argued that the Eighth Amendment was not violated by the "insignificant" harm the inmate suffered.
Biskupic notes that the New York Times
blasted Thomas' dissenting opinion in an editorial titled, "The Youngest, Cruelest Justice."
But it isn't cruelty. That's not the right word. Consider Cullen v. Pinholster from this term. Biskupic writes:
Thomas wrote: "When he was very young, Pinholster suffered two serious head injuries, first at age 2 or 3 when he was run over by a car, and again at age 4 or 5 when he went through the windshield during a car accident. When he was 5, Pinholster's stepfather moved in and was abusive, or nearly so."In her rendition of the facts, Sotomayor noted that it was Pinholster's mother who ran him over as child. Regarding the stepfather, Sotomayor offered no "nearly so" caveat: "Pinholster's stepfather beat him several times a week, including at least once with a two-by-four board," she wrote. "There was so much violence in the home that Pinholster's brother dreaded coming home each day. Pinholster's half-sister was removed from the home as a result of a beating by his stepfather."
You can skip over most of that. Focus on these two things. Thomas says Pinholster's stepfather was "abusive, or nearly so." Sotomayor says Pinholster was beaten by the man "several times a week, including at least once with a two-by-four board."
It's not cruel to question whether that's abusive. It's disdainful. (And essentially irrelevant to the decision, but that's a different question.)
Suck it up is his mantra. Whether you deserve it or not. Them's the breaks. If your life sucks, live with it. If someone hurts you, too bad. No remedies. No relief. No comfort. No apologies.
So what if you spent decades in prison for a crime you didn't commit, almost got executed for it? That's life. Why should the people who cheated to put you there have to pay for what they did? Some people are winners, others losers.
And who cares about the losers? | <urn:uuid:1fa00011-939e-48f5-b836-08c0824c6f61> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://gamso-forthedefense.blogspot.com/2011/06/who-knew.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279933.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00120-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981456 | 705 | 1.804688 | 2 |
A condensed, easier-to-understand student version of the acclaimed Tietz Textbook of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, Tietz Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics, 7th Edition uses a laboratory perspective in providing the clinical chemistry fundamentals you need to work in a real-world, clinical lab. Coverage ranges from laboratory principles to analytical techniques and instrumentation, analytes, pathophysiology, and more. New content keeps you current with the latest developments in molecular diagnostics. From highly respected clinical chemistry experts Carl Burtis and David Bruns, this textbook shows how to select and perform diagnostic lab tests, and accurately evaluate results. Authoritative, respected author team consists of two well-known experts in the clinical chemistry world. Coverage of analytical techniques and instrumentation includes optical techniques, electrochemistry, electrophoresis, chromatography, mass spectrometry, enzymology, immunochemical techniques, microchips, automation, and point of care testing. Learning objectives begin each chapter, providing measurable outcomes to achieve after completing the material. Key words are listed and defined at the beginning of each chapter, and bolded in the text. A glossary at the end of the book makes it quick and easy to look up definitions of key terms. More than 500 illustrations plus easy-to-read tables help you understand and remember key concepts. New chapters on molecular diagnostics include the principles of molecular biology, nucleic acid techniques and applications, and genomes and nucleic acid alterations, reflecting the changes in this rapidly evolving field. New content on clinical evaluation of methods, kidney function tests, and diabetes is added to this edition. NEW multiple-choice review questions at the end of each chapter allow you to measure your comprehension of the material. NEW case studies on the Evolve companion website use real-life scenarios to reinforce concepts.Skokie, Ill: College of American Pathologists, 2013. Carlson RO ... A usera#39;s classification of problems identified by proficiency testing surveys. ... US Centers for Medicare aamp; Medicaid Services. ... Appendix C of state operations manual.
|Title||:||Tietz Fundamentals of Clinical Chemistry and Molecular Diagnostics|
|Author||:||Carl A. Burtis, David E. Bruns|
|Publisher||:||Elsevier Health Sciences - 2014-08-14| | <urn:uuid:4e52fa91-ff2a-4720-a3b1-ea96ff70dc29> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.informatyczna-pomoc.eu/download-pdf-tietz-fundamentals-of-clinical-chemistry-and-molecular-diagnostics-book-by-elsevier-health-sciences.pdf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719465.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00097-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.830793 | 484 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Each person fulfilling his or her duties to the utmost can generate great power when gathered together…
released on September 2007
Founder of Toyota Motor Corporation
Using the business of his father Sakichi Toyoda as a springboard into the automotive industry, Kiichiro Toyoda laid the foundations for what is now known as Toyota Motor Corporation more than 70 years ago.
In 1910, Sakichi, who is known for his automatic loom inventions, departed on a tour of European and US textile mills. While there, he saw just how much Americans had embraced motorization. He had always believed all people have their own callings in life; and, upon recognizing great potential in the automotive industry, he strongly urged Kiichiro to follow this new path.
Kiichiro joined his father's company in 1920, and the next year he also visited the West. There, he saw for himself the growing popularity of cars, and his father's earlier words came to him: "You should make cars." Kiichiro returned to Japan with the dream of entering the industry.
In 1929, Sakichi transferred the G-type automatic loom patent to the British company Platt Brothers & Co., offering Kiichiro the 100,000-pound revenue to fund his automobile research. Sakichi passed away soon after, but not before encouraging Kiichiro to follow his dreams.
Through trial and error, Kiichiro and his team completed a small prototype gasoline engine in 1931, achieving a milestone in Toyota's history. Not all challenges were technical, however — Kiichiro encountered some opposition, not the least of which was when he revealed his business plans to President Risaburo Toyoda in 1933.
Risaburo, initially cautious about entering the automotive industry, wanted to minimize risk and advocated small-scale production of small cars. However, Kiichiro had his sights on bigger goals: a 3,000-cc mass-produced "people's car." Swayed by Kiichiro's conviction, Risaburo eventually supported the plan, and the company took its first real step into the automotive business.
Kiichiro devoted himself to this new venture, studying and disassembling an American car and acquiring land for a factory. Again, through trial and error, he and his team completed the Model G1 truck (1935) and the Model AA (1936).
In 1937, Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. was established, and the Koromo Plant — Japan's first full-fledged auto manufacturing plant — was completed the following year. On November 3rd at the plant's inauguration ceremony, Kiichiro himself pushed the start switch, marking the realization of his dream and the dawning of a new era for the company. This date has since been celebrated as Toyota Motor Corporation's founding anniversary.
At that momentous ceremony, Kiichiro said, "Each person fulfilling his or her duties to the utmost can generate great power when gathered together, and a chain of such power can generate a ring of power." With these words, he expressed the core philosophy upon which the Toyota Way, including the just-in-time system, would be born.
Plans for the construction of the plant in Koromo City, now the city of Toyota
Executives at the inauguration of the Koromo Plant on November 3rd, 1938 | <urn:uuid:6d677d5d-f41e-42af-bc89-953ed83a76f3> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.toyota-global.com/company/toyota_traditions/philosophy/sep_oct_2007.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279410.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00171-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970623 | 683 | 2.796875 | 3 |
2013-05-01 / Columnists
Pets pets pets
Grants can transfuse lifeblood into animal rescue efforts and, at times, intertwine groups. On that note, Last Hope Animal Rescue, Inc. in Wantagh would like to send a double “thank you” to the Petco Foundation.
First, for the wonderful $12,000 grant the Petco Foundation gave Last Hope to transport desperate dogs (mainly hounds that would be euthanized) from our rescue partners at Daviess County Animal Control in Owensboro, Kentucky; and then, for the generous $15,000 grant they just awarded our rescue partners at Summers County Humane Society (also known as ACWP) in Hinton, West Virginia to help purchase a new transport van (Mutt Mobile) which will move dogs to the North East, but also will assist in spay/neutering locally owned dogs and cats in Summers County.
Humane groups across the country are parallel universes; yet, contrary to geometry class, these parallel worlds can intersect. Last Hope’s connection to needy shelters in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia, where their discarded dogs don’t stand a chance but are quickly adopted here, may be long distance; but our missions to rescue innocent dogs and cats are mutual. Generous grants, like these two from the Petco Foundation, strengthen the ties between remote rescue collaborations.
For instance, Last Hope is already a Charitable Partner of the Petco Foundation because we keep cats at satellite adoption centers within the Syosset and Wantagh Petco; while ACWP is in a WV county without a Petco retail store, which ACWP feared would make them less eligible for a grant. However, many Last Hope transport dogs, including those from ACWP, are showcased at weekend adoption events at our satellite cat adoption center in the Wantagh Petco which is near the Last Hope Adoption Center.
Daviess County Animal Control (KY) - The Petco Foundation grant will help Last Hope with transport and veterinary costs of adoptable Kentucky dogs. In rural states, Beagles and other hounds are routinely abandoned, starved or even shot when not deemed worthwhile hunting dogs. Daviess County’s shelter currently has a staff of five, including some prison inmates, handling more than 5,000 animals a year. With the help of shelters like Last Hope on Long Island, Daviess has dramatically been able to improve adoptions and lower the number of animals put to sleep. In 2008, 90 percent of the dogs and cats at this Kentucky shelter were euthanized. Now the figure is much lower, less than 10 percent.
“In 2009, Daviess County approached us about saving a Coonhound named Valentine they had nursed back to health,” said Linda Stuurman, president of Last Hope Animal Rescue. “This was the beginning of our commitment to take several Daviess dogs a month. In 2011, we rescued 40 dogs from this shelter, and 65 more in 2012. Our Petco Foundation grant will enable Last Hope to rescue more Kentucky dogs and also restore their health before finding them loving homes. We can continue to make a difference for dogs at home, plus dogs from faraway.”
Daviess tries to get medical procedures like spay/ neutering and even heartworm treatment done before putting the dogs on the transport but their funds and staff are minimal. After a recent Beagle batch arrived, “Aaron” was rushed to the emergency hospital for a near-fatal parasite infestation and “Dustin” needed a damaged eye removed. Many females, like a current favorite named “Amelia,” have had multiple litters. After a spay on LI, her breeding machine days are over. If all goes well, Amelia will be going to a loving home. reliable van is essential for the lifesaving work they do. Unlike Daviess and most sending Appalachian-area facilities, ACWP does not have a municipal shelter, just an animal control officer who must euthanize right away so ACWP fosters as many pets as they can. ACWP only has several foster homes, including a girls’ boarding school, spread far apart, so Beth Vuolo, ACWP executive director, and four other drivers share the shuffling plus the NE transporting. The vet clinics are 25 to 50 miles away, and plenty of unseasoned passenger pets get carsick. The current van has over 200,000 miles and a cracked manifold since ACWP averages 5,000 miles a month.
Last year, ACWP transported over 300 vetted and behaviorally assessed dogs to NE rescues (more than 2,000 since 2001). Trust me; Beth is very meticulous and thorough. These pups, such as our “Bryce,” a Border Collie mix who is now a companion to a disabled LI veteran, are truly treasures.
In addition, Beth does outreach throughout Summers County. In 2012, their undependable Mutt Mobile facilitated the spay/neuter of over 250 cats and 350 dogs belonging to WV residents because ACWP provided pick-up and delivery. ACWP also offered a spay voucher without transportation but since only one-third of these certificates were redeemed, the plan is to start driving voucher clients’ pets too. Education is essential. Beth reasoned with a woman who thought she had to wait for a cat to be pregnant before spaying her. In the long term, improving quality of life and curtailing unwanted litters will reduce the number of pets abused, abandoned and neglected. Beth’s husband is originally from Lindenhurst, proving parallel rescue universes really are small, sometimes intersecting, worlds.
The Petco Foundation has served as a voice for companion animals across the country since 1999.
Today, with more than 8,000 local animal-welfare partners across the country, the foundation donates approximately $15 million a year to make a difference in the lives of millions of animals. The organization is funded through donations raised during fundraisers conducted in Petco’s more than 1,200 stores across the country, as well as from Petco associates, vendors and corporate contributions. In 2012, the Petco Foundation surpassed $100 million in funds raised for companion animals since the organization was created. To learn more, visit www.petcofoundation.org.
Closer to home, at Babylon Town Shelter (631- 643-9270) Lamar St. W. Babylon, “Wanda” #13-233, a Shepherd/Rottie stray, was terrified by the barking in the kennel but relaxed as soon as she was taken into the yard and realized the staff and volunteers were her friends. “Jake” #13-148, the office Pit crew, is Mr. Perfecto. His microchip reveals he is six years young. | <urn:uuid:8b9645c9-fa11-417a-b24c-20af8453c69f> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.amityvillerecord.com/news/2013-05-01/Columnists | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719027.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00302-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953278 | 1,424 | 1.671875 | 2 |
In his Thursday GDC talk, Michael John observed that video games are fundamentally similar to activism. "Games are about verbs acting on a system," he said. "That's also what it means to be an activist."
John spent 25 years working in the commercial industry on franchises like Spyro and Daxter. He's now program director at the UC Santa Cruz Games & Playable Media program, and has been creating and consulting on serious game projects for the last four years.
At GDC, he described his experience with serious games, and he had a message for developers: you are both needed and wanted.
John says he's met with (and brainstormed with) people from outfits like the Carnegie Corporation, the MacArthur Foundation, N Square, Ploughshares Fund. The caricature in the past is that these companies were willing to fund serious games, but that they were clueless about what games are and what they can do. That's not John's impression. His main takeaway for GDC attendees: "Smart people are learning that who they want to talk to is you."
John suggested that stories and linear narratives can be a powerful way to highlight social issues, such as the documentary Blackfish. But he points out that An Inconvenient Truth--the book and the documentary--have not had a similar impact. In fact, polling shows that more people don't believe in global warming now than when the book was release.
"Sometimes linear media fails," he says. "It has a fundamental problem--it can only show one aspect of a complex situation, only one of many potential outcomes. Stories are effective but reductive; they're the most efficient form of data compression in world."
John suggests that interactivity may be a better way to convey messages about complex systems. , "Global warming is complicated--maybe a game could do it better,' he says. "The complexity of games is what makes them special. A game with lots of marginal win states...is a good game."
There are lots of other issues out there. For example, the growth in antibiotic resistance, which is worsened by over prescription and people failing to take the full course of antibiotics once they've been prescribed. "The only way you can really understand this problem is if you know how evolution works, and that's a complicated thing," he says.
John pointed out that there are more and more financial incentives to explore serious games--for instance, Games For Change is running $10K challenges for games that encourage savings or educate about climate issues. He invited developers interested in learning more to subscribe to the Level Up Report newsletter, and join the Games Make Good Facebook group. | <urn:uuid:7c922ed9-ba90-4196-bb1a-0cbb3a80a79a> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/268492/Michael_John_Games_are_a_great_way_to_explore_complex_social_issues.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281226.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00381-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975878 | 539 | 1.867188 | 2 |
If you thought your smartphone was the only gadget with brains in your home, wait 'til you get a load of your next dishwasher (that texts you when it's done), baby monitor (with wireless video access) and lights that turn off (when you leave the room).
There's no shortage of smart devices for today's homes, and if your bank account is as big as your ambition, so the following are a handful of ideas to consider.
We've seen Internet-enabled refrigerators in the past but Samsung's latest — the RF4289 (US $2,999) — goes one step further with integrated Wi-Fi connectivity and support for multiple apps on the 8-inch LCD touchscreen, just like your smartphone or tablet. Who needs apps on a fridge, you say? How about tapping and flicking through Epicurious recipes, Facebook profiles while you're waiting for your baking to be done, Weatherbug forecasts, AP news, Picasa photos, streaming Spotify music and a Google Calendar to keep the family organized. The four-door fridge offers 28 cubic feet of storage and ultra-bright but energy-efficient LED lighting.
Nest ($249) is a "learning thermostat" that helps you save money on electricity at home as it can automatically turn itself down when you're away and guide you to energy-efficient temperatures when you're at home. Through a combination of sensors, algorithms, machine learning and cloud computing, Nest can save you up to 20 percent on your home heating and cooling bills, says the company. You can also make adjustments remotely over the Internet via a free app, if desired.
Now this is a table worth pulling up to. Samsung's SUR40 ($7,599) is Microsoft's second-gen multitouch table measuring just 4-inches thick, yet it houses a Full HD 1080p 40-inch display covered with a sheet of toughened Gorilla Glass. Unlike the first Surface table, the SUR40 doesn't use cameras underneath the table to recognize finger-touches — instead Microsoft's PixelSense technology can handle more than 50 simultaneous touch-points from fingers, hands and objects. Imagine sitting with your family after a vacation, flicking digital photos back and forth between each other, so everyone can pik their favorite to create a family slideshow for YouTube.Smart TV
Fusing the Internet with a big-screen television, Smart TVs offer hundreds of apps to populate your screen with, wireless connectivity with other devices in your home (laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc.) and a full web browser in which to surf with your feet up on the coffee table. LG's 55-inch Cinema 3D Smart TV (model # LM8600; $1,545) has these features, along with the ability to control content with your voice or gestures, Skype calling and Dual Play technology that lets two gamers who don 3D glasses see an entire screen with their own unique view of the action (bye-bye lame split-screen play).
The iRobot Roomba 630 ($349.99) is one of those vacuum cleaning robots that can go about your home and suck up dirt, crumbs and pet hair off carpet, hardwood, tile or laminate. Simply plug in the iRobot to charge it up and when you leave for the day, turn it on and let it do its job. As the most affordable of all Roomba products, the 630 chooses from dozens of decisions more than 60 times per second to clean efficiently, whether it's to go over an area again, tuck into areas not easy to clean (under beds, couches) or hug walls and counters as it makes its way around the premises.Smart faucet
More smart tech for the kitchen: Delta's Pilar pull-down kitchen faucet (about $400) features Touch2O technology, which lets you touch anywhere on the faucet with a part of your body — say, you're elbow or forearm because you just touched raw chicken with your hands — to start and stop the flow of water. Some of the bathroom faucets from this company have a proximity sensor, so you don't need to touch anything at all to turn it on, and it will shut off automatically, too. Those who turn off the water flow every time they brush will save nine gallons of water every day (if they brush three times a day for a minimum of two minutes).
When is a mirror not just a mirror? When it's also a television, of course. The Hidden Vision by Aeria ($2,399) is a 42-inch commercial-grade LG LCD TV you can mount to your wall like any other television. But as its name suggests, when you turn off the 1-inch thick TV, it becomes a reflective mirror. In fact, you wouldn't even know it was a TV when it's not displaying a picture. Aeria also offers waterproof mirrored TVs for the outdoors and for the bathroom: some models replace your existing bathroom mirror, allowing you to watch the news while you shave or brush your teeth, while others can be mounted in a shower.
Smart alarm clock
If you're having trouble getting up for work or school, perhaps all you need is a smarter alarm clock? Cruel and cool at the same time, the Clocky ($39) -- when it goes off — rolls off your night table and quickly moves around with its large, rubber legs and durable body. The only way you can turn off its loud alarm is to find where the Clocky rolled, such as under the bed or across the room — and by the time you do this, you're awake and ready for the day. At least you can set this mobile alarm clock to snooze once before it takes off on you. The Clocky is available in multiple colors.
- Home & Garden
- Technology & Electronics | <urn:uuid:35bb6758-98a7-45d1-ab15-a09f45df0669> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/home-smart-home-gadgets-increase-abode-iq-191749008.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560285289.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095125-00153-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934501 | 1,197 | 1.59375 | 2 |
|"Are you a wizard or not?"
The title of this article is conjectural. Although it is based on canonical information, the actual name is conjecture and may be supplanted at any time by additional information released from canonical sources. If this occurs, please move this page to the appropriate title.
During the First Task, Cedric used this spell on a rock in the arena. The spell transfigured the rock into a Labrador. However, the dragon decided midway through attacking the dog that she would rather have Cedric. Cedric was burned and was required to have Madam Pomfrey heal him. | <urn:uuid:acc0123d-25cd-4c91-88f1-28820191ce4f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Rock-to-dog_spell | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00028-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956295 | 123 | 1.929688 | 2 |
First in a series about "Day of Service" events
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Close to 100 volunteers from the Montgomery Alabama Stake found joy in serving with the 10th Annual Joy to Life Foundation’s "Walk of Life" on April 16, which raised nearly $200,000 that will be used for mammograms for the poor and uninsured.
A Montgomery couple started the Joy to Life Foundation to provide free mammograms for medically underserved women under the age of 50 in close to half of Alabama’s 67 counties. In its first year, the 5K run-walk through downtown Montgomery attracted about 300 racers.
This year, about 4,900 participants from 18 states took to the streets on a breezy Saturday morning where pink was the color of the day. As the stake’s service project for the North America Southeast Area’s annual “Day of Service,” members helped with registration, guiding racers, manning sponsor tents, set-up and clean-up.
John Enslen, a member of the Wetumpka Ward, oversaw this year’s service project: “We felt it was a praiseworthy endeavor to detect and prevent breast cancer in women,” especially in light of cutbacks in government funding, he said.
The members of the stake captured the spirit of the Day of Service while fostering ties between the church and the community.
“I saw bridges being built as we worked with the staff of the Joy to Life Foundation,” said President Kurt Lloyd of the stake presidency who came up with the idea of partnering with this particular charitable foundation.Comment on this story
Last year, the stake partnered with a dozen other Central Alabama organizations to hold a week-long food drive. Volunteers gathered 4,221 pounds of food and nearly $3,700 in cash donations to benefit the Montgomery Area Food Bank that serves 25 Alabama counties.
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley declared the month of April as “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Month of Service” in Alabama to recognize the LDS Church’s long history of humanitarian service and current efforts to partner with other community members to “perform a labor of love.”
Susan L. Turley is a public affairs specialist in the Montgomery Alabama Stake. | <urn:uuid:4a6337c5-4d21-4d9c-9244-e860eb75ad36> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705371815/Alabama-Saints-volunteer-at-Walk-of-Life-event.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281331.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00220-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955536 | 478 | 1.617188 | 2 |
|The silky appendages of the fruits|
Clematis vitalba (also known as old man's beard and traveller's joy) is a shrub of the family Ranunculaceae.
Clematis vitalba is a climbing shrub with branched, grooved stems, deciduous leaves, and scented greeny-white flowers with fluffy underlying sepals. The many fruits formed in each inflorescence have long silky appendages which, seen together, give the characteristic appearance of old man's beard. The grooves along the stems of C. vitalba can easily be felt when handling the plant.
C. vitalba has a preference for base rich alkaline soils and moist climate with warm summers.
In the UK it is a native plant and is common throughout England south of a line from the River Mersey and the River Humber. It also commonly occurs in southern, Eastern and northern Wales. Outside of these areas it is widely planted and occurs as far north as the southern highlands of Scotland.
- Reproductive organs:
- Type of fruit: achene
- Dissemination: With the wind
- Habitat and distribution:
Due to its disseminatory reproductive system, vitality, and climbing behavior, Clematis vitalba is an invasive plant in many places. Some new tree plantations can be suffocated by a thick layer of Clematis vitalba, if not checked.
- New Zealand
In New Zealand it is declared an "unwanted organism" and is listed in the National Pest Plant Accord. It cannot be sold, propagated or distributed. It is a potential threat to native plants since it grows vigorously and forms a canopy which smothers all other plants and has no natural controlling organisms in New Zealand. New Zealand native species of Clematis have smooth stems and can easily be differentiated from C. vitalba by touch.
Clematis vitalba was used to make rope during the Stone Age in Switzerland. In Slovenia, the stems of the plant were used for weaving baskets for onions and also for binding crops. It was particularly useful for binding sheaves of grain because mice do not gnaw on it. In Italy, the sprouts are harvested to make omelettes (called "vitalbini" in Tuscany, "visoni" in Veneto).
- New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora
- "Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV00)[Overview]". Global Database. EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization). 2002-11-26. Retrieved 2022-05-05.
- Invasive Species Compendium. "Clematis vitalba". Retrieved 2017-05-24.
- Johnson, Magnus. 2001. The genus Clematis. Södertälje: Magnus Johnsons Plantskola AB, p. 37.
- Petauer, Tomaž. 1993. Leksikon rastlinskih bogastev. Ljubljana: Tehniška založba Slovenije, p. 139.
- Kržan, Vanja. 2010. "Mi pa oznanjamo Kristusa, križanega (1 Kor 1,23)." Zaveza 42 (25 February). Archived 2012-06-29 at the Wayback Machine (in Slovene) | <urn:uuid:5a6bbe5c-25a1-414b-8155-f57aa1a25e23> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clematis_vitalba | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572192.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815145459-20220815175459-00066.warc.gz | en | 0.834204 | 890 | 2.75 | 3 |
Richard Keith Call (1792-1862) served as Florida's third and fifth territorial governor during the 1830s and 1840s. Born in Virginia and educated in Tennessee, Call served in the Creek War and became and aide and protegee of Andrew Jackson. He later served with Jackson in Florida, and returned to the territory in the early 1820s to assist in the establishment of a new American territorial government.
Call would sit in the state legislative council and as Florida's delegate to Congress. He also was a brigadier general in the state militia and in 1836 became territorial governor. While governor, Call commanded troops in the Second Seminole War. He was dismissed as governor as a result of conflicts with the Van Buren administration, but he was re-appointed governor in 1841. Defeated for governor in 1845, he would not again hold public office.
Call frequently changed his political affiliations, being in turn a Democrat, Whig, Know-Nothing, and Constitutional Unionist. As the country lurched toward Civil War in the late 1850s and early 1860s, he remained an ardent Unionist. Though no supporter of the Republican Party, Call opposed secession in the weeks after Lincoln's election and published a pamphlet entitled An Address to the People of Florida from General R.K. Call in which he labeled disunion "'high treason against our constitutional government.'" Call sent a copy of his pamphlet to Edward Everett, a noted northern orator who had unsuccessfully run as vice-president on the Constitutional Union ticket in the election of 1860. In Everett's reply, reproduced here, he thanked Call for the pamphlet and suggested that the U.S. Congress, in an effort to prevent Civil War, might provide Lieutenant General Winfield Scott with dictatorial powers for six months.
Following Florida's withdrawal from the Union in early January 1861, secessionists taunted Call: "'Well, Governor, . . . we have done it!'"
Call replied prophetically, "'And what have you done? . . . You have opened
the gates of Hell, from which shall flow the curses of the damned which shall
sink you to perdition!'"(1)
(1) Herbery J. Doherty, Jr., Richard Keith Call: Southern Unionist (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1961), 158.
31 Decr. 1860
My dear General,
I received a few days Since
your favor of the 12th, with
two copies of the pamphlet
containing your address to the
People of Florida. I have
read it with profound attention
& deep Sympathy. Would to
Heaven, that Your wise &
prudent counsels might have
their just influence with your | <urn:uuid:060d9439-f23d-48f8-bb9d-ae2455c8eb5b> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | https://www.floridamemory.com/exhibits/floridahighlights/rkcall/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988725470.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183845-00076-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963464 | 559 | 2.1875 | 2 |
To treat a waste gas containing a high strength H2S, the two-stages microbial desulfurization process that consisted of a bioreactor immobilized with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and a chemical absorption scrubber has was proposed. After 4 times repeat of batch cultures, the immobilized bioreactor has been stabilized and the rate of iron oxidation reached 0.89 kg·m-3·h-1 at steady state. The two-stages microbial desulfurization process was able to be operated for a long term over 54 days. The removal efficiencies of H2S were 97-99% at a space velocity of 70 h-1 and a inlet concentration of 37,000 ppmv. The maximum elimination capacity of H2S was approximately 3.3 kg S·m-3·h-1. In the bioractor, the concentrations of the Fe3+ and the immobilzed cell were constantly maintained during the desulfurization.
|Number of pages||6|
|Journal||Korean Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology|
|State||Published - Dec 2004|
- Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
- Hydrogen sulfide
- Immobilized bioreactor
- Microbial desulfurization process | <urn:uuid:9e076a1e-96c4-42af-9f2a-84f33063d7bf> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://pure.ewha.ac.kr/en/publications/removal-of-high-strength-hydrogen-sulfide-gas-using-a-bioreactor- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572063.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814173832-20220814203832-00665.warc.gz | en | 0.899656 | 310 | 2.1875 | 2 |
75th Holocaust Anniversary: Faint Echoes From Our Horrible Past?
Holocaust Museum Memorial
May 8th marks the official end* of a very traumatic and inhumane episode in our human history. Seventy plus years is a human lifetime ago and with all our technological, medical and scientific advancements we would be right to assume that we've improved on the moral and ethical plane as well. Those that were confronted with mankind's utter inhumanity and depravity either as victims or liberators instilled in their progeny the will & desire for the antithesis to it - hoping and praying we would never again have to deal with something that horrible and demoralizing. Even with the formation of the United Nations in 1945, the miraculous establishment of the Jewish homeland in 1948, the annual memorials and tributes (Link 1 & 2) which are to remind us not to relegate the unpleasant facts to our stuffy archives in our skeleton closets - and yet somehow we are again dealing with this ugliness rearing its head.
* apparently this is up for debate: old history books say May 1945 Germany surrenders when Hitler committed suicide; new evidence suggests Hitler never died, yet quietly lived in South America... whether he died or not - his teachings & legacy did not.
After the Holocaust
Holocaust or Genocide? Same or different?
Since 1945 this world has seen a decline in war related deaths according to Max Roser3. My research tallies: 51 million people killed 4 and we had 10 dictatorial leaders 5 , but I think we need to add five or more to that list.
What each of these types of conflicts and casualties had in common was a power-hungry leader and their perceived enemy (victim). If you study the strategies you'll start discerning a common thread. Fairly soon the victim group emerges because they are being singled out, marginalized to the fringes because they are considered problematic. Each victim group becomes more and more isolated, then they'll be ostracized and ultimately forced to be muted or silenced (spreading lies and fear are very good tools to get that accomplished). Until finally they are no longer heard or seen as "human" at all but more like a problem that needs to be eradicated. Depending on their risk assessment strategies the problem will not be recorded* or they'll be tallied as trophies so they can meet their quotas or bragging rights. (Links 6 & 7)
Here are some examples of problem people.
Another example of problem people?
Choosing to Walk for Life - it's fundraising time again!
The responsibility lies with us....
“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”
The earnings of the righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) lead to life, but the profit of the wicked leads to further sin. He who heeds instruction and correction is [not only himself] in the way of life [but also] is a way of life for others. And he who neglects or refuses reproof [not only himself] goes astray [but also] causes to err and is a path toward ruin for others. -Proverbs 10:16-17 Amplified Bible (AMP)[italics mine]
I am convinced we all are capable of becoming a power-hungry leader or the victim depending on the circumstances... I am convinced of what the bible says about me & you: that we are all righteous in our own eyes, but we have all gone astray.... our works, our deeds, and our efforts are worthless (like filthy rags) in the sight of God unless we allow our Creator to build His kingdom with love & life through us...
How will you honor the lessons of the past? How will you not forget to honor someone today who gave you life? Start by honoring your father and your mother, honor all human life, all life here on earth, and those not yet born...and certainly honor their Creator - then maybe we won't fall for the same traps: like the beautiful illusions, glorious promises and politically-correct speeches that we keep falling for time and time again thereby hurtling us closer towards another holocaust and another world war....
The 180 movie - who's responsibility is it anyway?
March of Rememberance (link 1)
- Never forget the Holocaust, Support Israel, and Come against world-wide genocide
Never forget the Holocaust, Support Israel, and Come against world-wide genocide. Bring awareness to our community of the terrible results of remaining silent. Motivate people to pray for Israel, America and the world.
Diane von Furstenberg's tribute to her mother & herself (link 2)
- Diane von Furstenberg - on creating a legacy, her timeless wrap dress and hiring her first CEO
Dec. 15 -- On “Charlie Rose,” a conversation with Diane von Furstenberg. She is a fashion designer, businesswoman, former princess and grandmother, and has written a new memoir called “The Woman I Wanted to Be.
Ten brutal dictators list (incomplete - my addition)
- List of Top 10 Most Brutal Dictators in Modern History - History Lists
A list of 10 most brutal dictators in modern history, their rise to power and terror against their own people during their government.
Authors or Survivors from the Holocaust (link 6)
- List of 84 Holocaust Survivor Books
Looking for Holocaust Survivor Books? Browse a list of books tagged "holocaust survivor" by our club members to find the best holocaust survivor books.
Children's children of the Holocaust - Keeping the Candle Lit
Dr. Mike Evans from The Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem, Israel 20 Yosef Rivlin Street Nahalat Shiv'a' Jerusalem 9424017 - http://www.fozmuseum.com/
Dr. Mitch Glaser from The Chosen People Ministries International Headquarters 241 East 51st Street . New York, NY 10022 - http://www.chosenpeople.com/main/
Unbroken - Bestseller by Laura Hillenbrand (The remarkable story of the triumph of the human spirit)
- Laura Hillenbrand: Author of Unbroken and Seabiscuit
On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieuten | <urn:uuid:6228e005-e62d-42de-9981-8cd40ba19486> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://hubpages.com/education/70th-Holocaust-Anniversary-faint-echoes-from-our-horrible-past | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573699.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819131019-20220819161019-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.939282 | 1,376 | 1.84375 | 2 |
|Instructions regarding War Diaries and Intelligence
Summaries are contained in F.S. Regs., Vol. 1.
and the Staff Manual respectively Title pages
will be prepared in manuscript.
|Army Form C.2118|
|Unit: 2 Lincolns|
|Month and Year: November 1944||(Erase heading not required).||Commanding Officer: Lt.Col. C.L. Firbank|
|HOLLAND||1||This month opened very quietly. Snipers operating in front of our forward posirtions.|
|2||To-day we received instructions for laying two minefields forward of "D" Coy's positions.|
|2||1500||The R.E. officer made his recconaisance and protected by covering party from "A" Coy, both field were completed without accident by 2215 hrs.|
|3||The forward Coys were subjected to light shelling. "D" Coy losing 1 OR killed and 1 OR wounded.|
|HOLLAND||4||Recce party under Maj. L.H.B. Colvin MC visited 1st Suffolk Regiment preparastory to change-over. Battalion completed the relief by 2000 hrs it will be necessary for "D" Coy, under the command by by Maj. P.H.W. Clarke, to be relieved after dark. "A" Coy commanded by Maj. S.J. Larkin came under the command of the 2nd Bn Royal Ulster Rifles and took position with Coy HQ at 791323. During the afternoon , "A" Coy was visited by the Brigadier and the Commanding Officer. A few shells landed by the area during this visit but nu casualties sustained.|
|5||The day was spent improving billets. Very uneventful apart from one casualty caused by a booby trap|
|6||"A" Coy returned to Battalion area having been relieeved by The Royal Ulster Rifles.|
|7||A platoon of "C" Coy was detached to act as local protection to the A/Tank guns at 784335; 2/Lt. Orwin rejoined the Battalion having been granted an emergency commission.|
|8||A Platoon of "A" Coy was sent to VIERLINGSBEEK in support of "C" sqn Recce, with the object of ambush a German 'Bazooka'Party. No enemy patrols our positions so the ambush did not materialise. To-day Lt. Piper rejoined the Battalion having been granted an imediate commission.|
|8||1400||Recce party consisting of company representatives under Maj. L.H.B. Colvin MC visited 2BN The Royal Ulster Rifles.|
|HOLLAND||9||The Bn relieved Royal Ulster Rifles and established companies at 'A' Coy 791323 'B' Coy 794317 'C' Coy 792323 'D' Coy 793316 and Bn. HQ at 784322. During the day 'C' Coy had one casualty caused by a mortar bomb.|
|10||Spent in improving positions by means of communication trenches etc.|
|11||Light shelling and mortar fire otherwise fairly quiet.|
|12||During the night (400 hrs) was attacked by a strong nenemy fighting patrol, both sides suffering casualties.|
|13||0630||Standing patrol of 'D'Coy whilst moving into position was fired on by a Spandau and sustained three casualties; Recce party under Maj. L.H.B. Colvin MC went to ST. ANTHONIS.|
|HOLLAND||14||The Battalon was releived by 1 KOSB and movedto the areanof ST. ANTHONIS with Bn. HQ at 726379. To-day Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery KC.B. D.S.O. Commander-in-Chief 21 Army Group visited the area to present decoratios to Officers and men of the 9th British Infantry Brigade. Members of the Battalion who received awards were, Maj. L.H.B. Colvin MC and Lcpl. Dyson MM. During our stay in ST. ANTHONIS the battalion was at 3 hours notice to operate in a counter attack role as detailed in 2 Lincolns O.O. no. 8.|
|15,16, 17,||During this period the Battalioin enjoyed a well-earned rest. Advantage was taken of this period and we checked and cleaned weapons, stores and equipment.|
|19||1030||Recce parties under Maj. L.H.B. Colvin MC moved to concentration area at 749251 and the Battalion arrived during the afternoon.|
|19||1730||The battalion moved forward to relieve 3 Monmouths. The relief was carried out quietly, efficiently and wthout incident.|
|20||Fairly heavy shelling and mortaring throughout the day. Standing patrols were maintained by 'B' and 'D' Coys|
|21||Light enemy mortar activity troughout the day increasing during the night.|
|HOLLAND||22||Orders were received to continue our advance to the MAAS. Troops were briefed and all preparations were made fore the following morning.|
|23||0600||To-day we started an 'advance to contact' operation and reached our objective without opposition from the enemy. We advance from VEULEN to SCHOON searching on the way the 'Factory'at 777227 and a demolished radiolocation station at 780226. The Battalion concentrated with companies at 'A'Coy 793235 'B'Coy 787233 'D'Coy 794232 with 'C'Coy forward at 802242. Bn HQ at 789234|
|24||A force comprised of 'C' Coy 2 Det Mortars, sec. carriers, under command of Maj. L.H.B. Colvin MC pushed forward to the MOLENBEEK at 856243 and remained there until 1600 hrs when the were revieled by The Royal Ulster Rifles.|
|25||Under instruction from Brigade we made a recce of all roads leading to the MOLENBEEK to see if they would take heavy convoys, but the majority of the roads proved very unsuitable as they were little better than cart tracks.|
|26||Church services conducted by the Padre were held in Battallion area.|
|HOLLAND||27||General clean up. Kit inspection etc. Batt.Recce party under Lt. Col. C.L. Firbank visited the 2nd Bn. East Yorkshire Regt in the area SMAKT, MAASHEES.|
|28||Coy recce parties visited the area and contacted their opposite numbers in the East Yorkshire Batt.|
|29||Orders were received postponing move for a minimum of 24 hours|
|30||Spent in getting thoroughly acquited with our future area|
Helaas geen map gevonden.
Source: Jeroen Koppes, TracesOfWar.com, transcribing: Theo Vervoort.
Disclaimer: This War Diary is based on its original, but typos might be corrected. Locations are calculated, so might not be in the correct place. For historical research, always check the originals. | <urn:uuid:8b082358-d536-4505-9809-ce30bc132c0f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.tracesofwar.com/docs/wardiary.asp?docid=370&menu=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808213349-20220809003349-00471.warc.gz | en | 0.946315 | 1,600 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The USF Recycling Drop-Off Station permanently shut down its operations July 7 as a result of the irregular disposal of nonrecyclable materials such as batteries and old mattresses, leaving students wondering about the decision’s impact on campus as well as in surrounding communities.
The City of Tampa’s Department of Solid Waste and Environmental Program Management and the university decided to shut down the drop-off station after it was subject to illegal dumping of hazardous and nonrecyclable materials. The station, originally located on USF Sycamore Drive, was open to the public as a means to adequately dispose of recyclable waste and included two green roll-off containers from the City of Tampa for public recycling.
“The USF location was consistently used by residents of the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County. Unfortunately, the drop-off site at USF was used as a dumping ground (versus true recycling) and created a negative environmental impact on the site and for the USF campus, which was the opposite of its intended purpose,” City of Tampa’s Department of Solid Waste and Environmental Program’s Chief of Administration Adriana Colina wrote in an email to The Oracle.
Although the center has been closed since July, the news came as a surprise for some in recent weeks.
Sarah Bulthuis, a junior majoring in business and pre-law, said despite having recycling bins near residence halls across campus, the recycling site’s closure will consequently encourage fewer students to recycle on campus.
“I definitely think students’ recycling will decrease greatly, especially those that live on campus,” Bulthuis said. “There are small little bins in the dorms but not a mass recycling center like we had. I went there often, maybe once or twice a week. I’m so upset that they took it away and feel it reflects badly on USF’s view on being environmentally friendly.”
Amber Brocki, a junior majoring in environmental science and policy, said she believes the surrounding community, including students living off-campus, will be the most impacted since many apartment complexes don’t offer recycling bins for their residents.
“The closing of the USF recycling center is definitely disappointing. With the recycling center closed, recycling in the area is most definitely going to decrease,” Brocki said. “Students and faculty need recycling centers to be conveniently located in order for them to want to recycle, with these centers being closed many will no longer bother recycling and the amount of trash produced will inevitably increase.
“Recycling centers are vital for people who want to make a positive impact on their community and prevent unnecessary items from going to landfills.”
While the station was located on USF grounds, it was not part of USF’s recycling program. Rather, it was part of an initiative by the City of Tampa’s Department of Solid Waste and Environmental Program Management that included two other drop-off stations that are still open in Tampa — one is located at South 34th Street and the other at East 9th Avenue.
The recycling drop-off station was originally located on the Museum of Science and Industry’s (MOSI) grounds, but after construction started in 2003, USF agreed to temporarily house the station on the edge of campus.
The move from MOSI to Sycamore Drive was supposed to be temporary, but it was never relocated back to its original location after construction was completed at MOSI.
Assistant Director of Communications for Administrative Services Aaron Nichols said USF never agreed to permanently house the drop-off station. In addition to having to pay a contractor to pick up the materials from the drop-off station, the ongoing misuse of the center was getting costly.
“USF had to incur the cost of dealing with these items and commit labor resources to keep the area cleaned up,” Nichols said. “As a result of the additional cost and labor, the decision was made to close the Recycling Drop-Off Station on Sycamore.”
For Annelise Curtin, a junior majoring in chemical engineering, the site’s closure is a “step back for sustainability.”
“I think fewer students, both on and off campus will recycle, especially students without cars,” Curtin said. “I lived across the street from campus, and I collected my recycling and brought it over every three weeks or so. I feel disappointed, since it feels like a step back for sustainability, and at odds with the school’s other sustainability initiatives.”
Kelly Gordie, a grad student in the doctor of audiology program, said she relied on the USF Recycling Drop-Off site to dispose of her recyclables as the option was not available in her apartment complex.
“My apartment complex doesn’t recycle, so I really relied on that recycling center,” Gordie said. “Every weekend, I’d gather up my recyclables and drive to campus just for the recycling center.”
For Gordie, the harm caused by those who irregularly disposed of nonrecyclable materials was beyond the USF community.
“Apparently they had to close the recycling center because too many people were littering all around, and the workers were going into too much overtime trying to clean up after those garbage monsters,” Gordie said. “They make it so difficult to recycle and do the right thing for the planet, I’m sure others who relied on that recycling center just gave up.”
Despite the site’s closure, Gordie found a way out of the situation to still practice recycling.
“Luckily, I found another recycling dumpster on campus next to [Juniper-Poplar], so now I take my recyclables there,” Gordie said.
USF’s recycling program was established in 1994 and since then, has recycled over 7,100 tons of paper and 48 tons of aluminum. Nichols said the university currently has single-stream recycling bins around campus, where a single recycling bin can be used to collect both recyclable fiber materials, including cardboard and nonfiber containers like glass and plastic.
Besides reducing sorting efforts, Nichols said single-stream recycling encourages recycling from students while it’s also more cost-efficient since single-compartment trucks are cheaper and easier to operate. Their collection routes can be automated and are more efficient, according to Nichols.
The Department of Solid Waste and Environmental Program Management began looking on July 7 for additional sites to accommodate a new station. Colina said the department has yet to announce a new site, but is “considering other options at this time.”
While drop-off sites do promote recycling in the community, Colina said the hazards of illegal dumping far outweighed the benefits the station had for residents, with the station amassing a “very minute piece of the total recycling tonnage the City collects.”
Despite the station’s closure, Nichols said the USF recycling program hasn’t been affected as there are still several recycling bins across campuses near residence halls, general buildings as well as the USF Library. | <urn:uuid:5b2a0db7-2e34-48ba-bba6-b041ab3059d1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.usforacle.com/2020/09/14/usf-shuts-down-recycling-drop-off-station-students-left-concerned/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00669.warc.gz | en | 0.972614 | 1,522 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Porto Vecchio, also known as the “City of Salt” as part of the city is built on ex-salt marshes, is the third largest city in Corsica. It has 2 distinct areas; a vibrant marina and port overlooked by a picturesque old town with 16th-century fortified walls.
The old town is one of Corsica’s most popular destination for visitors thanks to its characterful maze of streets, piazzas, restaurants, boutiques, charming atmosphere and magnificent views.
As part of a redevelopment strategy, the local authorities wanted to create a distinct identity for the old town and its citadel. It commissioned new street furniture and lighting to reinforce this regeneration.
Lighting to reflect the city’s character
The project managers had discovered the BOREAL in the city of Dijon and were immediately won over by its design, originality and lantern-like shape. Without doubt, the BOREAL is ideal for enlivening urban spaces and creating festive atmospheres with its perforated stainless steel mask. This perfectly captures the spirit of Porto Vecchio, which is a lively, young and contemporary city.
Lanterns as a storytelling canvas
The project managers wanted the BOREAL to act as a canvas to tell the citadel’s story. Our Schréder SIGNATURE team took up the challenge of depicting the history of the city. More specifically, the mask was designed to reflect the community’s affection for a fresco in the city hall, where lots of events including weddings take place. The local authorities had wanted to build a new more modern hall but the residents opposed the proposal at a public meeting, stating that the mural represents the story of the city.
This representation dates back to the 1960s. Composed of a patchwork of granite stones and pieces of glass, this fresco is a cultural emblem that features in all the wedding photos of the local community and the families are extremely attached to it.
The mask integrates different elements of the fresco, depicted with great care and the name of the city in Corsican; PortiVechju. It perfectly reflects the unique identity and character of the citadel and the old town.
Connecting people and heritage
The lanterns are fitted with LEDs of different colour temperatures (3,000K and 2,200K) to give the impression of an oil-burning lamp. They create a striking visual display along the streets, creating a more engaging experience that connects residents and visitors to the city during the hours of darkness.
The mask of the luminaire captures the different elements of the mural. We see the maritime heritage, with the coastline of Porto Vecchio and boats present. The parasols represent tourism in the city, a very important aspect for the economy. The portrayal of the salt marshes and cork oak trees pays tribute to these two elements that have brought fame to the citadel. The pine forest highlight Ospedale forest and the mountainous landscape. Finally, the name of the city is inscribed in Corsican. These elements are a tribute to past and present activities that have made and still contribute to the identity of Porto Vecchio. | <urn:uuid:3de6b430-d321-4b2a-a529-331aa9e6019e> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.schreder.com/en/projects/bespoke-lantern-tells-story-porto-vecchio-connect-people | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571090.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809215803-20220810005803-00075.warc.gz | en | 0.944726 | 660 | 1.789063 | 2 |
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
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OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
application OSM sketch (“Application”) for mobile devices that was created by ao_zeal.
User Provided Information
The Application obtains your drawing data by drawn on this Application. When you upload your drawing data to openstreetmap.org, you provide your openstreetmap ID and password to the Application.
Your OpenStreetMap ID and password are securely stored on your device and not shared with or accessible to others including Application developer.
When you visit the Application, we may use GPS technology (or other similar technology) to determine your current location in order to display a location map.
Third parties access
The Appliction transmits your OpenStreetMap ID and password to openstreetmap.org when you upload your drawing data only for authentication. Your OpenStreetMap ID and password are not transmitted
You can stop all collection of information by the Application easily by uninstalling the Application. You may use the standard uninstall processes as may be available as part of your mobile | <urn:uuid:e87503f6-11e7-4032-ba05-7a0a7f567eea> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://az-dev.jimdofree.com/osm-sketch/credit-and-term/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809003642-20220809033642-00676.warc.gz | en | 0.800923 | 568 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Baylor Heart And Vascular Hospital Opens The Valve To Advanced Heart Care
More than a decade ago, the Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital (BHVH) opened its doors to exclusively treat patients with cardiovascular disease. Now BHVH’s new Center for Valve Disorders is making that narrow focus on the heart even more detailed by specializing exclusively in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the heart’s valves.
The Center for Valve Disorders, which is based at BHVH on the campus of Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, provides comprehensive evaluation, diagnosis and treatment for patients with any type of structural heart disease or defect. Many BHVH patients travel some distance to receive cardiac care, making a one-stop center more efficient for them.
“The Center for Valve Disorders is a place where patients can receive all evaluations in one location in one trip,” says Nancy Vish, PhD, RN, president and chief nursing officer of BHVH. “All the physicians on the medical staff and cardiac care nurses who work at the center are trained in the treatment of valve disease.”
The Center is comprised of a highly skilled multidisciplinary team of interventional cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons and imaging specialists on the BHVH and Baylor University Medical Center medical staff. With the help of advanced technology and techniques, the team provides comprehensive treatment for aortic and mitral valve disease, taking a minimally invasive approach to repairing valves and defects within the heart whenever possible. In some instances, valves can even be replaced through a minimally invasive procedure offered at only a handful of medical centers across the country, which eliminates the need for open-heart surgery. In addition, the Center can provide access to clinical trials.
“Over the past 11 years, we’ve seen the outstanding outcomes that specializing solely on cardiovascular conditions can bring about,” says Vish. “We think that creating this new center just for patients with valve disorders will produce similar results.”
About Baylor Health Care System
Baylor Health Care System is a not-for-profit, faith-based supporting organization providing services to a network of acute care hospitals and related health care entities that provide patient care, medical education, research and community service. Baylor recorded more than 2.8 million patient encounters, $4.1 billion in total operating revenue, $5.3 billion in total assets and $502 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2011 (as reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services). Baylor’s network of more than 300 access points includes 30 owned/operated/ ventured/affiliated hospitals; joint ventured ambulatory surgical centers; satellite outpatient locations; senior centers and more than 190 HealthTexas Provider Network physician clinics.
Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System’s subsidiary, community, or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital or Baylor Health Care System | <urn:uuid:0b71a8a4-5350-4a0d-8e24-3460fc92deba> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://news.bswhealth.com/releases/baylor-heart-and-vascular-hospital-opens-the-valve-to-advanced-heart-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00493-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924301 | 624 | 1.898438 | 2 |
In his recent speech on Wall Street, President Obama tried to delegitimize any criticism of his proposed financial regulations and taxes. He said, “What’s not legitimate is to suggest that somehow the legislation being proposed is going to encourage future taxpayer bailouts, as some have claimed. That makes for a good sound bite, but it’s not factually accurate. It is not true. In fact… a vote for reform is a vote to put a stop to taxpayer-funded bailouts. That’s the truth. End of story.”
One of Wall Street’s toughest critics, New York Times columnist Gretchen Morgenstern, must have missed the memo. Two days after the president attempted to foreclose debate, Morgenstern explained that the so-called financial reform bills “would encourage smaller companies to grow large and dangerous so that they, too, could have a seat at the bailout buffet… . The message is this: Subject as they will be to a newly codified “resolution authority,” these [large and intertwined] institutions and their investors and lenders can expect to be rescued if they get into trouble. This perception delivers lucrative advantages to these institutions. The main perquisite is lower borrowing costs, a result of lenders’ assumptions that the giants are less risky because they will be in line for government assistance if they become imperiled.”
Morgenstern told the truth. End of story. Why else would the Senate bill need a new $50 billion bailout fund? The TARP slush fund still exits and the FDIC still insures depositors. Who stands to collect that extra $50 billion if not the big foreign and domestic institutions that might make big bad loans to big bad failures?
[T]he president wants the banks to make more small business loans and also to take fewer risks, which is completely contradictory.
The president’s broadside against derivatives was based on an assertion that investors “weren’t fully aware of the massive bets that were being placed. That’s what led Warren Buffett to describe derivatives that were bought and sold with little oversight as ‘financial weapons of mass destruction.’ And that’s why reform will rein in excess… “
One man’s weapons may be another man’s favorite investments, but in this case it’s the same man. Buffet’s firm has invested $65 billion in derivatives, and Berkshire Hathaway exemplifies what Obama called “the furious effort of industry lobbyists to shape this legislation to their special interests.” Like many businesses that use derivatives to hedge risk, the financial bills would hit Warren Buffet hard, requiring his firm to keep an extra $8 billion in reserve, uninvested, for no sensible reason.
A Global Recession with Unhelpful Bailouts
President Obama says, “One of the most significant contributors to this recession was a financial crisis… that brought down many of the world’s largest financial firms and nearly dragged our economy into a second Great Depression.” But the causality ran both ways. That is, one of the most significant contributors to the financial crisis was an ongoing recession. Failure of very few large financial firms in this country certainly did not cause a recession began that began nine months before the financial crisis was far more severe in other countries. There was never any rational reason for anyone, let alone the president, to have expected the recession of 2008-2009 to be remotely comparable to 1930-33.
As in the 1930s, it was small banks that accounted for nearly all of the recent banks failures. Out of nearly 225 bank failures since 2008, only one (WAMU) was really big. Another eight were mid-sized, with assets of $11-32 billion.
The president relied on expediency as an excuse for the “Troubled Assets Relief Program,” (TARP) although that fraudulent executive branch slush fund never contributed a dime toward relief from troubled assets. Obama claims that “to save the entire economy from an even worse catastrophe, we had to deploy taxpayer dollars. Now, much of that money has now been paid back and my administration has proposed a fee to be paid by large financial firms to recover all the money… because the American people should never have been put in that position in the first place.” Yet several of the big banks were strong-armed into taking TARP money, like it or not, and all but one (Citigroup) paid it all back. The Treasury grabbed windfall profits of $3.5 billion so far by trading related warrants (which are derivatives, ironically).
In reality, the Treasury’s bailout program is at risk of losing tens of billions only because of small banks and large auto companies. Yet the president’s proposed tax would exempt those troublemakers and fall only on the biggest banks. And that would be a permanent levy having nothing to do with the temporary TARP scheme to add government capital (loans) to participating banks while simultaneously diluting and threatening private capital.
The Obama Team Made Big Banks Bigger
For reasons Gretchen Morgenstern explained, the president tried to transform the subject of too-big-to-fail bailouts into an attack on bigness rather than on bailouts. “To that end,” he says, “the bill … does something very simple: It places some limits on the size of banks and the kinds of risks that banking institutions can take.” But this selective crusade against bigness is hypocritical. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, FDIC chairman Sheila Baer, and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke have spent the past two years using arm-twisting, sweetheart deals and FDIC guarantees to make sure the biggest banks became much bigger — by taking over failing banks, brokerage house and mortgage lenders. The result, notes The Wall Street Journal’s Peter Eavis, is that “Bank of America now has $2.23 trillion of assets, compared with $1.46 trillion at the end of 2006. J.P. Morgan Chase now has $2.14 trillion in assets, against $1.35 trillion in 2006.” With the Obama team walking them down the aisle, J.P. Morgan Chase was marched into bigamous shotgun weddings with Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Bank of America likewise acquired Merrill Lynch; Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia; PNC Financial acquired National City Corp, etc.
Amazingly, the president now feigns surprise that these federally-built megabanks have grown larger after all the federally-engineered mergers and takeovers. So he suggests they need to be cut down to size — while nonetheless making more loans, of course.
In the State of the Union speech, Obama complained that “even though banks on Wall Street are lending again, they are mostly lending to bigger companies. Financing remains difficult for small business… .” In other words, the president wants the banks to make more small business loans and also to take fewer risks, which is completely contradictory.
If the president really expected Wall Street to make small business loans, then he has no idea what Wall Street is or does. “Wall Street” always meant the biggest investment banks in Manhattan, not commercial banks from such cities as Charlotte and San Francisco. Bear Stearns and Lehman, for example, were classic Wall Street firms — poster boys for the antiquated Glass-Stiegel separation between taking deposits and making loans (which Wall Street never did) and making investments and putting together business and security deals (which Wall Street does). Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley became bank holding companies in the wake of the crisis, but their dominant investment bank activities remain separated from their subsidiary FDIC-insured depositary institutions.
In short, the presidential rhetoric behind “financial reform” is so muddled as to leave us all confused about what these bills even hope to accomplish. The hasty illogic of it all should also make us prudently leery about the unexpected consequences of granting dangerous discretionary authority to SEC and Federal Reserve regulators simply because they failed so miserably once again (as with Enron).
Do threats of tighter regulations and higher taxes on banks sound like a way to increase lending? President Obama seems to think so. | <urn:uuid:a1b77757-3ed1-4deb-969b-cb75bac05c13> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/obama-stumbled-wall-street | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281574.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00015-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964944 | 1,727 | 1.570313 | 2 |
University of Montreal researchers have discovered a novel molecular mechanism that can potentially slows the aging process and may prevent the progression of some cancers. In the March 23 online edition of the prestigious journal Aging Cell, scientists from the University of Montreal explain how they found that the antidiabetic drug metformin reduces the production of inflammatory cytokines that normally activate the immune system, but if overproduced can lead to pathological inflammation, a condition that both damages tissues in aging and favors tumor growth.
"Cells normally secrete these inflammatory cytokines when they need to mount an immune response to infection, but chronic production of these same cytokines can also cause cells to age. Such chronic inflammation can be induced, for example by smoking" and old cells are particular proficient at making and releasing cytokines says Dr. Gerardo Ferbeyre, senior author and a University of Montreal biochemistry professor. He adds that, "We were surprised by our finding that metformin could prevent the production of inflammatory cytokines by old cells ".
In collaboration with Michael Pollack of the Segal Cancer Centre of the Jewish General Hospital, McGill University, Dr. Ferbeyre and his team discovered that metformin prevented the synthesis of cytokines directly at the level of the regulation of their genes. "The genes that code for cytokines are normal, but a protein that normally triggers their activation called NF-B can't reach them in the cell nucleus in metformin treated cells", Dr. Ferbeyre explained.
"We also found that metformin does not exert its effects through a pathway commonly thought to mediate its antidiabetic effects", he added. "We have suspected that metformin acts in different ways on different pathways to cause effects on aging and cancer. Our studies now point to one mechanism", noted lead authors of the study Olga Moiseeva and Xavier Deschênes-Simard. Dr. Ferbeyre emphasized that, "this is an important finding with implications for our understanding on how the normal organism defends itself from the threat of cancer and how a very common and safe drug may aid in treatment of some cancers and perhaps slow down the aging process.
He adds, "It remains that determining the specific targets of metformin would give us an even better opportunity of profit from its beneficial effects. That's what we want to figure out next".
Explore further: Solving the mystery of an old diabetes drug that may reduce cancer risk | <urn:uuid:b7ed95e0-0764-4a10-8450-c8dd242cb36f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-team-drug-aging-cancer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280242.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00072-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943486 | 495 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Today’s guest blogger is Nisrine. Nisrine is a cookbook author and food blogger. Her blog Dinners and Dreams features easy, healthful Mediterranean recipes. She was born in Morocco and now lives in Florida with her husband and daughter.
Nisrine’s Tip: Say NO to sugar
Nisrine’s Recipe: Blackberry Almond Torte
I was shocked at how much sugar flavored milk contains when I watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution video. A wheelbarrow full of sugar is what each school child consumes yearly just from flavored milk. That should be a wake-up call to every person concerned about his/her health. We consume exorbitant amounts of sugar in ways we don’t realize especially from processed foods. It is important to eliminate or at least reduce our sugar consumption.
Tip: Say NO to sugar
It is easy to think that life without sugar is impossible or at best painful. It is further from the truth. I used to be one of those people who couldn’t imagine a good cup of coffee or a delicious warm tea without sugar. After drinking my coffee and tea unsweetened for the past three years, I have realized that not only I’m enjoying my drinks much better that way but am also unable to go back to sweetened drinks, which are now too sweet and unappealing to me. It truly is a question of habit and forming good habits is only a question of consistency and determination. Recently, I have started experimenting with sugar-free baking and love it. Sweeteners such as honey, stevia, date syrup and maple syrup taste great and are easy to blend into batter and dough. Even if you have to use sugar for baking, use moderate amounts, bake at home and avoid packaged desserts which tend to contain much more sugar than necessary.
1 cup blackberries
1 ½ cups almond flour
2 tablespoons millet flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ stick unsalted butter, softened
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon almond extract
Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9-inch nonstick cake or tart pan.
In a large bowl, mix the almond flour with the millet flour and salt. Stir in the butter, honey then mix in the eggs and almond extract. Pour the batter in the prepared pan and disperse the blackberries in the batter, pushing them lightly in. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. | <urn:uuid:1d531e46-0851-4876-94d8-594b139dea92> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.thewholegang.org/2010/07/30-days-to-a-food-revolution-dinners-and-dreams/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988718957.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183838-00436-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947871 | 504 | 1.703125 | 2 |
A global perspective on safe nanotechnology.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2009-130, 2009 Aug; :1-14
The past decade has seen intense interest in developing technologies based on the unique behavior of nanometer-scale (nanoscale) structures, devices, and systems which has lead to the rapidly expanding and highly diverse field of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is somewhat loosely defined, although in general terms it covers engineered structures, devices, and systems that have a length scale between 1 and 100 nanometers. At these length scales, materials begin to exhibit unique properties that affect physical, chemical, and biological behavior. Researching, developing, and utilizing these properties is at the heart of new technology. One of the best channels to achieve the goal of keeping workers safe from potential harm of this new technology is by collaborating on research in the field of nanotechnology. A recent symposium held at the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, "Approaches to Safe Nanotechnology: A Global Perspective", brought seven international scientists together to discuss the topic. The lessons learned and the importance of global collaboration on nanotechnology safety and health research were discussed.
Aerosol-particles; Aerosols; Airborne-dusts; Airborne-particles; Biological-factors; Cellular-function; Cellular-reactions; Chemical-properties; Control-technology; Disease-prevention; Engineering-controls; Explosive-dusts; Explosive-hazards; Fire-hazards; Injury-prevention; Lung-function; Medical-examinations; Medical-screening; Molecular-structure; Occupational-exposure; Occupational-hazards; Occupational-health-programs; Particle-counters; Particulate-dust; Particulates; Physical-properties; Pulmonary-system-disorders; Respirable-dust; Respiratory-system-disorders; Safety-measures; Safety-practices; Safety-programs; Safety-research; Sampling; Sampling-equipment; Sampling-methods; Surveillance-programs; Work-environment; Worker-health; Work-practices; Nanotechnology
NTIS Accession No.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health | <urn:uuid:e479e8b5-76c8-4121-bdc7-b42d5f32536c> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nioshtic-2/20036007.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280242.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00072-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.844721 | 504 | 2.765625 | 3 |
This is my second blog post on the U-Shahid project in Egypt. The first one analyzed 2,000+ reports mapped on the Ushahidi platform during the country’s recent Parliamentary Elections. Egypt is one of my dissertation case studies and in this blog post I summarize some initial findings based on a series of interviews I had several Egyptian activists who were part of the U-Shahid project.
The Egyptian government began asking questions about U-Shahid well before the project was even launched. They found out about the project by tapping phone lines and emails. Once the project was launched, the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior continued to shadow the project in several ways. They requested copies of all meeting agendas and a list of names for everyone who was trained on the Ushahidi platform, for example.
In order to remain operational, the Egyptian activists spearheading the U-Shahid project said that they “stressed the technical aspect of the project, and remained fully open and transparent about our work. We gave Egyptian National Security a dedicated username and password [to access the Ushahidi platform], one that we could control and monitor [their actions]. This gave them a false sense of control, we could restore anything they deleted.” That said, one activist recounted how “there were attempts by the government to overload our website with many fake reports […] but we were on it and we were able to delete them. This happened a minute or two every three hours or so, attacks, overload, but eventually they gave up.”
When asked why the regime had not shut down the platform given the potential threat that U-Shahid represented, one blogger explained that “many of the activists who began using Ushahidi had many followers on Facebook and Twitter, they also had the attention of the international media, which could create unwanted attention on the regime’s actions.” This same blogger also noted that many of the activists who collaborated on the U-Shahid project were “connected with people in the US Congress, directors of international human rights NGOs, and so on.” Perhaps the Mubarak Regime was concerned that cracking down on the U-Shahid project would backfire.
In any case, the activists “did a lot of scenario building, considered many ‘what if’ situations. The fact that we were so well prepared is why they [the regime] could not touch us. We tried to connect all the data on Facebook and Twitter so that if they closed our Ushahidi map, we would move to a new domain name and let all our followers know. We also had a large database of SMS numbers, which would allow us to text our followers with information on the new website. Finally, we had a fully trained team in Lebanon ready to take over the project if we were completely shut down.”
“We were well prepared,” added another blogger, “we knew they could not arrest all of us on the day of the election, and just in case, we trained a group in Lebanon who could take over all operations if we were stopped.” According to one activist, “using this mapping technology provided a way to collect and recruit a lot of activists, and not just any activists, but more effective ones. This actually created a headache for the regime because a growing number of digital activists became interested in using the Ushahidi platform.” Another interviewee added that the technology acted as a “magnet” for activists. One activist also remarked that “they [the government] don’t understand how we work; we can learn very fast but the government has many rules and processes, they have to write up reports, submit them for approval, and allocate funding to acquire technology. But for us, we don’t need permission. If we want to use Tor, we simply use Tor.”
Another explained that their project’s credibility came from the realization by many that they were simply focused on “getting the facts out without agenda. We were both transparent and moderate, with no political or party affiliation, and we emphasized that our goal was to try and make the election process transparent.” In sum, said another activist, “we let people decide for themselves whether the content mapped on Ushahidi was good or not.” Another activist argued that the use of the Ushahidi platform “created more transparency around the elections, allowing easier access than in any previous election.” More specifically, “in previous elections and before the existence of Ushahidi, many NGOs made reports of election irregularities, but these were rarely shared publicly with policy maker or even with other NGOs. And even after the elections had taken place, it was very difficult to access these repots. But the Ushahidi [platform] is open and online, allowing anyone to access any of the information mapped in near real-time.”
Still it is really challenging to fully assess the potential political impact (if any) the U-Shahid project had–something the activists are very aware of. One can only investigate so much for so long. One activist noted that “next time we use the Ushahidi platform, this year for the presidential elections, we will be sure to track the reports submitted to the judicial courts and compare them with those we collect. We also plan to better advertise our project with lawyers and political candidates so that they can use our reports including videos and photos in court and for trials.”
What I’m particularly pleased about in addition all the learning that has taken place is the fact that the U-Shahid project spawned off a number of *copy cats during the elections and new maps are being launched almost every other month in Egypt now. The project also increased the number of Egyptian who participated in directly monitoring their own elections. Lastly, I’m excited that the Egyptians who spearheaded the U-Shahid project are now training activists in Tunisia and other Arab countries. They have acquired a wealth of practical knowledge and experience in using the platform in authoritarian environments, and now they’re sharing all this hard-won expertise.
There’s a lot more to share from the interviews, and I hope to do so in future posts. I also plan to blog about the findings from my case study of the Sudan. | <urn:uuid:3986406e-e8d4-4f82-ae8f-70febbde93dc> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://irevolutions.org/2011/05/25/u-shahid-interviews/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280587.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00556-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980258 | 1,324 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first member of the Supreme Court to perform a same-sex wedding, when she officiates the union of Kennedy Center President Michael M. Kaiser and his partner, economist John Roberts, tomorrow.
Ginsburg, who has given statements in support of full LGBT equality before, may have been holding off on such an act until after the Court ruled on DOMA and Prop 8, lest she be considered biased. (Washington, DC, legalized marriage equality in 2010.)
“I think it will be one more statement that people who love each other and want to live together should be able to enjoy the blessings and the strife in the marriage relationship,” Ginsburg, 80, said in a recent interview. “It won’t be long before there will be another” same-sex wedding performed by SCOTUS justice. In fact, Ginsburg, 80, already has another same-sex wedding scheduled for September.
Justice Ginsburg is old friends with Kaiser, who’s been at the Kennedy Center since 2001 and is considered a Power Gay in the nation’s capital. “I can’t imagine someone I’d rather be married by [than Ruth],” he said.The Washington Post has the deets:
Kaiser and Roberts are scheduled to be married in the Kennedy Center atrium Saturday night before 220 guests. Invited are stars of opera (Renee Fleming, Harolyn Blackwell), from Broadway (Ron Raines, Barbara Cook) and an array of some of Washington’s most influential philanthropic and arts patrons, such as Richard and Betsy DeVos, Catherine and Wayne Reynolds and Jacqueline Mars.
We’re gonna take a guess and say Justice Scalia’s invitation got, um, lost in the mail. | <urn:uuid:c48ff89d-5ddd-43c9-8d3a-9c7c88b10bbe> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.newnownext.com/ruth-bader-ginsburg-to-officiate-same-sex-wedding-in-d-c/08/2013/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00235-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939724 | 373 | 1.742188 | 2 |
DigitalOcean is a cloud computing and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) company (IaaS). DigitalOcean is recognized for its affordability and flexibility, with subscriptions starting at $5 per month. This framework may assist anyone in swiftly establishing a cloud presence.
What Is the Function of DigitalOcean?
Developers are the focus of DigitalOcean’s design. It’s used to keep track of droplets and manage them. In DigitalOcean, what exactly is a droplet? Droplets are virtual machines (VMs) that run on DigitalOcean infrastructure and are based on the Linux operating system. Each virtual computer is a droplet in the ocean of virtual machines. To get started, teams may deploy one and grow up as needed.
DigitalOcean may be used to administer Kubernetes, create databases, store things, and develop apps.
Customers Love DigitalOcean for a Reason
DigitalOcean, which was founded in 2011, makes infrastructure deployment easier. It provides a basic yet feature-rich platform for startups and independent studios (without added cost). As projects progress, teams may readily adapt.
If you’ve ever attempted cloud deployment, you know how challenging it can be. There is several alternatives available, as well as new terminology to learn. With a simplified configuration, DigitalOcean takes a fresh way. DigitalOcean does not lack functionality despite having fewer alternatives to choose from. For organizations to install and manage scalability there are plenty of solutions.
Command-line and a simple API
DigitalOcean offers a simple API for automating and integrating with third-party solutions. To call the API and configure their environment, developers can utilize conventional tools. For programmers who want to get their hands dirty, they have a command-line interface.
Simple apps are frequently under-performing. However, this is not the case with DigitalOcean. According to the company website, provisioning takes only 55 seconds. DigitalOcean can offer production-level settings for game development and beyond, thanks to its global presence of 14 dispersed data centers.
Model of Cost-Effectiveness
Many consumers may find that migrating to the cloud saves them money. Companies can grow immediately to meet their demands without having to invest in expensive gear. DigitalOcean has an easier-to-understand pricing mechanism than the competition. It is certainly the most economical, starting at under $5 per month for 512 MB of RAM, 1 CPU, and 20 GB of SSD. This pricing also includes a bucket of network transfer, which other companies charge as a “hidden” fee.
Droplet sizes come in a variety of sizes. Don’t be concerned, though. To calculate final prices, you don’t need to utilize complicated calculators. To make pricing more predictable for users, DigitalOcean utilizes hourly and monthly billing.
Community that is strong
The accessible community has welcomed DigitalOcean. It’s obvious why. They care about their clients! DigitalOcean values input in all forms, from documentation to functionality, and it has been important in their growth.
Cons of Digital Ocean
Because DigitalOcean is geared for developers, they focus on Linux deployments with no OS or Windows support. Also, if you want to run SAP or Microsoft SQL, DigitalOcean isn’t the best choice. This may make it extremely difficult for organizations to use DigitalOcean. However, given the increased support, it is possible that it may happen soon. | <urn:uuid:655f5658-bfe2-4732-94c6-0660d8bd1cf0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://freehosting123.com/what-is-digitalocean-and-why-should-you-care/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570921.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809094531-20220809124531-00278.warc.gz | en | 0.924548 | 713 | 2.21875 | 2 |
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Damian C. Lee, Jing Xu, Marinko V. Sarunic, Orson L. Moritz; Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography as a Noninvasive Means for In Vivo Detection of Retinal Degeneration in Xenopus laevis Tadpoles. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2010;51(2):1066-1070. doi: https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.09-4260.
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© ARVO (1962-2015); The Authors (2016-present)
To determine the efficacy of Fourier domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) as a noninvasive, nonlethal method for detecting in vivo, pathologic signs of retinal degeneration in Xenopus laevis larvae.
A prototype OCT system using FD detection customized for tadpole imaging was used to noninvasively obtain retinal scans in two different transgenic X. laevis models of retinal degeneration. FD-OCT retinal scans were compared with laser scanning confocal micrographs of histologic sections of the same eye. Retinal thickness was measured in the histologic micrographs and compared with in vivo measurements acquired with FD-OCT.
In vivo retinal images of X. laevis tadpoles were obtained that visualized the major retinal layers. FD-OCT successfully detected the ablation of rod outer segments (OS) in degenerating tadpole eyes. Measurements from FD-OCT and histology showed a decrease in retinal thickness in transgenic mutant tadpoles relative to the wild-type control. The accumulation of phagosomes from dying rod OS was also visualized in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in a degenerating tadpole retina.
This report demonstrates that FD-OCT is a viable technique for screening, diagnosing, and monitoring retinal degeneration in X. laevis tadpoles in vivo.
This PDF is available to Subscribers Only | <urn:uuid:00963feb-92a9-42c6-b563-091809515906> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2126341 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571987.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813202507-20220813232507-00268.warc.gz | en | 0.863446 | 451 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Symptoms of Rickets
Symptoms of Rickets
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources
for Rickets includes the 35
symptoms listed below:
Research symptoms & diagnosis of Rickets:
Rickets: Symptom Checkers
Review the available symptom checkers for these symptoms of Rickets:
Rickets: Symptom Assessment Questionnaires
Review the available Assessment Questionnaires for the symptoms of Rickets:
Review medical complications possibly associated with Rickets:
Diagnostic testing of medical conditions related to Rickets:
Research More About Rickets
Do I have Rickets?
Wrongly Diagnosed with Rickets?
The list of other diseases or medical conditions
that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses
for Rickets includes:
See the full list of 9
More about symptoms of Rickets:
More information about symptoms of Rickets and related conditions:
Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms
Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list
of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions,
or drug side effect causes of that symptom.
Rickets as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions
When considering symptoms of Rickets, it is also important to consider Rickets as a possible cause of other medical conditions.
The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Rickets may cause:
- (Source - Diseases Database)
Rickets as a symptom:
For a more detailed analysis of Rickets as a symptom, including causes, drug side effect causes, and drug interaction causes, please see our Symptom Center information for Rickets.
Medical articles and books on symptoms:
These general reference articles may be of interest
in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:
Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis
About signs and symptoms of Rickets:
The symptom information on this page
attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Rickets.
This signs and symptoms information for Rickets has been gathered from various sources,
may not be fully accurate,
and may not be the full list of Rickets signs or Rickets symptoms.
Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Rickets may vary on an individual basis for each patient.
Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they
are indeed Rickets symptoms. | <urn:uuid:485c984c-946a-4063-b4fc-b73961583e67> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/r/rickets/symptoms.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280587.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00561-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.892319 | 496 | 1.992188 | 2 |
More than a year and a half after the platform was used to organize a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Facebook announced on Wednesday that it would no longer allow “praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram.” The ban comes months after Facebook made the decision this fall to ban white supremacist content, but not white nationalism.
“It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services,” a company spokesperson outlined in a press release on Wednesday. According to the announcement, the policy change was the result of three months of discussions with civil society groups and academics who “confirmed that white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups.”
Facebook, in discussing the policy change, included examples, with redactions, of content that would be barred by the ban:
The policy changes, which will go into effect next week, will not include expressions of white or nationalist pride. Gray areas still permitted by the policy have raised alarm bells among some advocacy groups.
“We still have tremendous concerns about the policy,” says Keegan Hankes, an analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, who says it was “ridiculous” that it so long for Facebook to acknowledge the connection between white separatism and white supremacy.
The policy change comes just a little over a week after Facebook faced a wave of scrutiny for its role in facilitating of the spread of the manifesto of a white supremacist who attacked mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this month, murdering 50 Muslims, and of the livestream video he recorded of the killings. The shooting called into question Facebook’s historical efforts to combat Islamic extremism while turning a blind eye to anti-Muslim hate speech.
According to Hankes, much of the content that radicalized the shooter may not be banned under the new policies. He pointed to the “Right Stuff Radio Listeners” group, which allows users to share content from a network of white supremacist podcasts, and whose content was shared by the killer.
“They’re a great example of an organization that is going to keep their rhetoric right under the line,” says Hankes, who added that it did not seem that the new policy would ban the promotion of white supremacist theories like “The Great Replacement.”
Muslim Advocates, an organization that has been critical of Facebook for allowing anti-Muslim bigotry on its platforms, also expressed skepticism.
“We need to know how Facebook will define white nationalist and white separatist content—for example, will it include expressions of anti-Muslim, anti-Black, anti-Jewish, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ sentiment, all underlying foundations of white nationalism?” asked Madihha Ahussain, a lawyer with the organization, in a statement provided to Mother Jones.
“As the horror in New Zealand has once again shown us, hate has deadly consequences,” said Ahussain.
“As we have seen with tragic attacks on houses of worship in Charleston, Pittsburgh, New Zealand, and elsewhere, there are real life consequences when social media networks provide platforms for violent white supremacists, allowing them to incubate, organize, and recruit new followers,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in a statement. “While Facebook’s new policies are one step forward in the fight against white supremacist movements, much work remains to be done. Without proper implementation, policies will prove to be just empty words, and white supremacy will continue to proliferate across its platform.”
Color of Change, which has been working to combat racism on Facebook for years, also sounded a note of cautious optimism.
“We are glad to see the company’s leadership take this critical step forward,” said Color of Change president Rashad Robinson in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our work with Facebook to ensure that the platform’s content moderation guidelines and training properly support the updated policy and are informed by civil rights and racial justice organizations.”
Facebook representatives conceded that the company won’t be able to catch all bad actors on the site.
“Unfortunately, there will always be people who try to game our systems to spread hate. Our challenge is to stay ahead by continuing to improve our technologies, evolve our policies, and work with experts who can bolster our own efforts,” a spokesperson wrote. “We are deeply committed and will share updates as this process moves forward.”
This post has been updated with additional response to Facebook’s announcement. | <urn:uuid:885b3eeb-46de-46e1-9365-ff383c39bb29> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://adops.motherjones.com/politics/2019/03/facebook-just-announced-plans-to-ban-white-nationalists-and-separatists/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573197.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818124424-20220818154424-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.946505 | 979 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Victoria Walks early work
Plan for a Walkable Melbourne
Victoria Walks has been closely involved in the ongoing debate on the Metropolitan Planning Strategy - Plan Melbourne.
We developed our Plan for a Walkable Melbourne in response to the previous government's discussion paper Melbourne Let's Talk About the Future. Our Plan sets out a range of measures that could create a walking city. For more information see our media release.
Victoria Walks continues to push for walking to be a key element of planning strategies.
Principal Pedestrian Network Demonstration project
The Principal Pedestrian Network Demonstration (PPND) project involved the development of Principal Pedestrian Networks (PPN) in four local council areas (Booroondara, Frankston, Geelong and Yarra Ranges) with some funding from the Australian and Victorian Governments adn the suppport of Victoria Walks.
The PPN methodology was developed by the Victorian Governemtn to ensure pedestrians are appropriately prioritised in transport planning and investment. The PPN process involves mapping out and planning for a higher quality walking environment on key routes to local activity centres such as shops and schools and to transport hubs. Victoria Walks was involved in the devlopment of the PPN methodology.
Pedestrian Access Strategy
Victoria Walks sat on both the Working Group and Steering Group for the development of the then Department of Transport's Pedestrian Access Strategy: A strategy to increase walking for transport in Victoria 2010.
The Pedestrian Access Strategy was developed under the Victorian Government (2006-2010) as a vision for a more pedestrian-friendly transport system for Victorians. The aim of the strategy is to encourage more Victorians to walk, especially for short trips. We will leave this link live until such time as the Victorian Government develops a new strategy... | <urn:uuid:0b3aa6c1-da07-4a1d-96d4-a512c4f02e58> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.victoriawalks.org.au/early_work/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571150.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810070501-20220810100501-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.917409 | 372 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Could your tooth pain be telling you that you need a root canal from St. Francis Dental's Baltimore office? Read on to learn if this treatment from St. Francis's Dr. John Taylor is right for you!
What are root canals?
Root canals are recommended if you have an infection or inflammation inside of your dental pulp. During a root canal, your Baltimore dentist first numbs your mouth with a local anesthetic before removing the diseased pulp and thoroughly cleaning the tooth and its canals. Then a temporary filling is placed in order to permit drainage and prevent any recurrent damage until your next appointment takes place.
When you arrive for your second appointment, your dentist will examine the tooth to make sure it's healthy before adding a permanent filling and perhaps a dental crown.
What signs and symptoms occur if I need a root canal?
Pain is one of the most common symptoms and can range from a mild, intermittent ache to a severe pain that keeps you up at night. If your tooth is inflamed or infected, you may notice that your pain increases when you chew. Pain can also flare up after you consume hot, cold, or sugary foods/beverages.
If your pain is severe, you may have a dental abscess. An abscess can make you feel sick and cause your lymph nodes to swell. Other symptoms include pus or a bump on your gum, fever and swelling around your jaw. Call your dentist immediately if you notice any of these symptoms. If you don't receive antibiotics and root canal therapy, the infection may spread to your brain or heart!
Concerned? Give us a call!
Do any of these root canal signs and symptoms sound familiar? If so, call your Baltimore, MD, dentist, Dr. John Taylor of St. Francis Dental, at (410) 347-2995 to schedule an appointment. | <urn:uuid:70843156-c3b6-413b-a722-22faa1f95ea4> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.johntaylordental.com/blog/404065-do-you-need-root-canal-therapy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570921.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809094531-20220809124531-00273.warc.gz | en | 0.928072 | 382 | 2.84375 | 3 |
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A person's happiness can affect their genes and different types of happiness have surprisingly different effects on the human genome, U.S. researchers say.
For the last 10 years, Steven Cole, a University of California, Los Angeles, professor of medicine and a member of the UCLA Cousins Center, and colleagues, including first author Barbara L. Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina, examined how the human genome responds to stress, misery, fear and all kinds of negative psychology.
The researchers examined the biological implications of both hedonic, pleasure seeking happiness, and eudaimonic happiness, contentment from a life of purpose and meaning, through the lens of the human genome -- a system of some 21,000 genes that has evolved fundamentally to help humans survive and be well.
The researchers drew blood samples from 80 healthy adults who were assessed for hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, as well as potentially confounding negative psychological and behavioral factors. The team used the CTRA gene-expression profile to map the potentially distinct biological effects of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being.
While those with eudaimonic well-being showed favorable gene-expression profiles in their immune cells and those with hedonic well-being showed an adverse gene-expression profile, "people with high levels of hedonic well-being didn't feel any worse than those with high levels of eudaimonic well-being," Cole said.
"Both seemed to have the same high levels of positive emotion. However, their genomes were responding very differently even though their emotional states were similarly positive."
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said doing good and feeling good have very different effects on the human genome, even though they generate similar levels of positive emotion.
"Apparently, the human genome is much more sensitive to different ways of achieving happiness than are conscious minds," Cole said. | <urn:uuid:39ab261d-987c-4dd8-8916-6e8ab8ea8215> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2013/08/01/A-persons-type-of-happiness-can-affect-their-genes/UPI-78311375412636/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280835.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00051-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957994 | 407 | 3.0625 | 3 |
In the chain log view you can restart any chain process (instance) that was terminated; this in turn ends the chain run.
Depending on the process type, there are two possibilities:
This enables you to restart processes that cannot be repeated with a new instance because the data to be edited is attached to the instance, as for example with a data transfer process. A data transfer process, for example, cannot be repeated with a new request number because the data itself is attached to the request.
You can restart a terminated process in the log view of process chain maintenance when this is possible for the process type. In the plan view of process chain maintenance you can set whether a process can be repaired or repeated when terminated, under Settings → Maintain Process Types (table RSPROCESSTYPES).
Do not change the settings for the SAP process types. Otherwise this could lead to inconsistencies in the data handled by the process.
In the log view of the affected process chain, choose Repeat or Repair from the context menu of the terminated process.
If the process cannot be repaired or repeated after termination, the corresponding entry is missing from the context menu in the log view of process chain maintenance. In this case, you are able to start the subsequent processes. A corresponding entry can be found in the context menu for these subsequent processes. | <urn:uuid:99e5d487-9c66-4a1a-aac6-a68f798000c1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://help.sap.com/doc/saphelp_nw73/7.3.16/en-US/f3/0d4a975f450443be900e89a47ad48e/content.htm?no_cache=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571056.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809155137-20220809185137-00672.warc.gz | en | 0.917953 | 272 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Aliases for ATP2B1 Gene
External Ids for ATP2B1 Gene
Previous GeneCards Identifiers for ATP2B1 Gene
The protein encoded by this gene belongs to the family of P-type primary ion transport ATPases characterized by the formation of an aspartyl phosphate intermediate during the reaction cycle. These enzymes remove bivalent calcium ions from eukaryotic cells against very large concentration gradients and play a critical role in intracellular calcium homeostasis. The mammalian plasma membrane calcium ATPase isoforms are encoded by at least four separate genes and the diversity of these enzymes is further increased by alternative splicing of transcripts. The expression of different isoforms and splice variants is regulated in a developmental, tissue- and cell type-specific manner, suggesting that these pumps are functionally adapted to the physiological needs of particular cells and tissues. This gene encodes the plasma membrane calcium ATPase isoform 1. Alternatively spliced transcript variants encoding different isoforms have been identified. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
GeneCards Summary for ATP2B1 Gene
ATP2B1 (ATPase Plasma Membrane Ca2+ Transporting 1) is a Protein Coding gene. Among its related pathways are Platelet activation, signaling and aggregation and Cardiac conduction. GO annotations related to this gene include nucleotide binding and calcium-transporting ATPase activity. An important paralog of this gene is ATP2B2.
UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot for ATP2B1 Gene
This magnesium-dependent enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of ATP coupled with the transport of calcium out of the cell. | <urn:uuid:609b2b8a-1cf4-4269-a867-45e42dd825f4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=ATP2B1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280364.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00028-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.86482 | 342 | 1.859375 | 2 |
In the first part of the workshop you will learn about what are the must know constructs of Container Security (SELinux, Seccomp, Cgroup and Namespace). A container is a runtime process executed within a namespace which is resource managed by cgroups and various other LSMs and security features to ensure complete process isolation during runtime.
In the second part of the workshop you will learn more about eBPF (Extended Berkeley Packet Filter a new kernel technology) and how can Security Observability be achieved with open sourced eBPF-based projects, like Tetragon and it will allows to secure Cloud Native workloads very efficiently.
Join us for an eBPF-based Security Observability and Runtime Enforcement deep dive with a following demo section:
– Inspect system, application, and network behavior via the amazing Tetragon CLI
– Automated detection of I/O & Sensive File Access, Namespace, Capabilities with real-time enforcement
In the last part of the workshop (equally important) you will learn about “Is Cloud (AWS) Secure for mission critical and sensitive data?”
An effective strategy for securing sensitive data in the cloud requires a good understanding of general data security patterns and a clear mapping of these patterns to cloud security controls. As organisations manage growing volumes of data, identifying and protecting their sensitive data at scale can become increasingly complex, expensive, and time-consuming. You will learn how you can leverage AWS Services and avoid these security risks and secure your data. | <urn:uuid:023a13a6-b7fc-467a-bc37-3baf11e85283> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.devseccon.com/events/container-constructs-security-observability-and-cloud-security | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573623.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819035957-20220819065957-00667.warc.gz | en | 0.90513 | 312 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The Liberal Democrats say it is the only answer. The Tories oppose it. The government is thinking about it. What would happen if Northern Rock were nationalised?
Will it soon be owned by the state?
What is nationalisation?
Nationalisation is quite simple. It means the government passes a law to take a business into state or public ownership.
By the 1970s, about a quarter of the entire UK economy had been taken into public hands as a result of governments, usually Labour ones, deciding that basic industries and the main levers of the economy should be owned by the public, not private share owners.
At one stage, the long list covered coalmining, steel, British Leyland cars, British Airways, airports, docks, shipbuilding, gas and electricity companies and the railway system.
What is the point?
Many of these industries had fallen into a decrepit state by the time they were nationalised. One reason for taking them over was precisely to keep them going rather than see them fold. That is clearly the goverment's aim with Northern Rock.
How easy is it to do?
In theory, and in practice, Northern Rock could be nationalised very quickly.
The government could simply put a one-line Enabling Bill before Parliament, stating simply that the bank would be taken over within 24 hours and giving the government all powers necessary to do so.
Has that ever been done before?
The most famous example of an emergency nationalisation was in 1971, when the Conservative government of the day, led by Edward Heath, took over Rolls Royce to stop it going bust.
The renowned maker of luxury cars and aero engines was regarded as a flagship manufacturer of the UK economy, but had overspent on developing the RB-211 jet engine.
What about banks?
Although a much smaller affair, the Johnson Matthey bank was nationalised for just £1 in 1984, again by a Conservative government.
Half of its loan book was dud and its debts outweighed its assets.
Although it was a tiny bank, it was thought too important to allow it to close down because of its role at the time in setting the price of gold, along with four other banks. It was later sold.
Just £1? What about the shareholders?
Good question. What about them? The government could decide to give Northern Rock shareholders almost nothing, or it could offer them a payment related to the stock market value of their shares, perhaps on the day before the nationalisation was announced.
The government would have some very big decisions to make and, hopefully, would have thought about them in advance.
Would it put in new management or keep the current lot, who have been recently installed themselves?
It would have to decide what it wanted to do with its new bank. Restore it to health and sell it later on; sell it at a more leisurely pace but without much effort to improve its finances; or run it off?
Running it off would involve closing it to new business, transferring the savers' accounts to another bank and then running down the mortgages over a long period of time.
Are there any other ways of taking over the bank?
The government is now the single biggest creditor. The bank clearly cannot repay the £25bn or so it has already borrowed.
So Alistair Darling could put in administrators and do a "pre-packaged" deal with them to buy the bank immediately, and cheaply.
However, the administrators might well want a government indemnity against being accused by other creditors of selling the bank too cheaply.
A normal administration, however, would be very complex and long drawn-out. In this situation, unless a buyer popped up quickly, it would almost certainly lead to Northern Rock being closed down and dismembered.
Any other tricks up the government's sleeve?
If it did not fancy passing a quick law, the government might think of using its reserve powers under the Bank of England Act of 1998.
This says that "The Treasury, after consultation with the Governor of the Bank, may by order give the Bank directions with respect to monetary policy if they are satisfied that the directions are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances."
It might be arguable that taking over Northern Rock was "required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances", as the government has already propped it up by lending it very large sums of money.
So on the face of it, that one-line Bill in Parliament looks the easiest, cheapest and quickest method of doing things. | <urn:uuid:4338c75e-dfdc-4092-96c2-0770601302a5> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7138242.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719215.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00199-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981521 | 937 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Emergency Escape Plan
Being involved in a violent relationship is kind of like living on top of a volcano. Some people leave once they realize it and never look back. Others run off during the eruption, wait out the danger, and come back once things calm down. Many go back and forth a few times, but eventually leave for good. Whatever your long-term plan is (staying or leaving), it's crucial to ensure your basic safety in the here and now, while you're still sharing the house with your abuser and the volcano can erupt any minute.
The beauty of an emergency escape plan is that you don't have to hide it, because it's applicable in any emergency: fire, flood, earthquake, burglary, etc. Any reasonable person would commend you for being conscious of safety, your partner won't question your motives, and your friends and family won't suspect abuse (if you wish to keep it secret). You can even disguise your plan as a joke, a game, or a hobby (e.g. zombie apocalypses). It consists of simple adjustments that are easy to implement, but that would drastically increase your chances of surviving violence at home, and eventually escaping it.
Many people wear pajamas or bathrobes all day, and walk around the house barefoot. It's cozy, but not very safe: should an argument escalate to physical violence, you'll want to leave immediately. It only takes a minute to find your pants and put them on, but stabbing you with a kitchen knife won't take long either. Just make it a habit to get dressed every morning, even if you're planning to stay home all day. Wear shoes too: a pair of canvas slip-ons doesn't cost a lot, won't look weird indoors, and can be pretty comfortable. When you go to bed, know where your clothes are, so that you can easily find them even if you have to get up and run in the middle of the night.
Keys, phone, and IDs
Keep your keys, phone, and IDs consistently in one place, so that you'll be able to grab them quickly if you need to run out. A decorative bowl/basket, a wall hook, or a small shelf by the entrance door tend to work particularly well. Some people get cell phone cases with slots for credit cards and cash, combining the phone and the wallet together so that they are easier to grab as you run. However, this approach can backfire: if your partner grabs your phone/wallet first, you'll be leaving with nothing. Play it by the ear, chose whichever solution makes the most sense to you, but do keep your keys, phone, and IDs in the same place consistently, so that you won't have to search for them in an emergency. Some people also hide spare keys outside of the house: under a rock on your front lawn, in your desk drawer at work, in your car, etc.
Practice emergency exits, hiding, and calling for help, so that your child knows exactly what to do. Approach it as a fire drill or any other emergency, without specific focus on domestic violence. When you're teaching them to leave the house - specify where they should go, if they should wait for you or not, if they need to take anything with them, etc. When you're teaching them to hide - specify where they should hide and for how long, when is it safe to come out. When you're teaching them to call for help - specify what number to dial and what to say. Have them memorize their home address and full name: there are 911 calls placed by children every day, saying "please help, mommy isn't breathing, my name is Jesse, we live in a big house with a brown door." Tracing calls takes time, so if your child knows their name and address, the police would be able to help them faster. Teach your kids to call extended family, friends, or hotlines when they're unsure what to do.
Cash, documents, phone numbers
Having some cash hidden (that he doesn't know about and has no access to) is crucial for escape planning and for emergency situations. Cash stashes are the start of your independence. Twenty bucks hidden in the sole of your shoe allows you to take a cab or buy food for a few days, so you're not completely at the mercy of your partner and walk away if you need to. Even if you decide to come back once things calm down, it's still good to be able to survive in the meantime. Don't keep cash in your wallet: your partner can easily find it there and take it from you. Instead, hide it somewhere: in a book, in your hygiene products, in the sole of your shoe, in a ziploc bag buried under a bush in your backyard, etc. Preferably in all of these places at once. In addition to cash stashes, make copies of important documents: birth certificates, social security cards, passports, benefit cards, credit cards, police reports, court orders, etc. You can save them to a flash drive - those can be disguised as pretty much anything, e.g. chapstick. Write down important names, addresses, and phone numbers: police and fire departments, DV shelters, mental health crisis lines, your lawyer, therapist, doctor, friends, family, etc. Most people store this information on their cell phone, but what if your partner takes it away or breaks it?
Domestic violence victims often have no property of their own, that their abusive partner has no control over, down to underwear and toothbrush. Such items can be bought when needed, but they might be easier to stash than cash, and add a sense of security and independence. Just pack a change of clothing (underwear, socks, a t-shirt or two, a hoodie, a pair of pants), personal hygiene items (toothbrush, travel-size toothpaste, soap, shampoo, etc.), a spare phone charger, kids stuff (if you have kids), and any other items you'd need to survive for a few days. Keep it light, and don't include items that your partner would notice missing. It's best to store your emergency backpack/suitcase outside of home: at your mom's, friend's, neighbors', etc. If that's impossible and you have to keep it at home - disguise it as a laundry basket, a trash bag, a box of items to be donated to Salvation army, etc.
Sentimental value items
When you're stripped off your dignity, safety, boundaries, health, happiness, friends, family, job, property, basic human rights - personal possessions of sentimental value (dad's picture, mom's ring, friend's keychain, etc) become a lot more important, as they might literally be the only thing you have left that is your own. You would go to great extents to keep it. And your abusive partner would go to great extents to take it away, specifically to show you who is the boss. It's not uncommon for abuse victims to accept a beating, a rape, even risk to life - just to keep an item of sentimental value. I knew people who attempted suicide when their partner destroyed such an item. Try to keep these items outside of the house you share with your partner. Your neighbors, friends, or family might let you store a shoebox with these items in their closet. If that's not possible, you could rent a small safe deposit box at your local bank; it only costs $15-25 per year. If that's not an option either, at least buy a small metal box with a lock that you can hide somewhere in the house. Aside from keeping your items safe, this would greatly affect your overall outlook on life: things feel very differently when you know you have stuff that your partner does not control or even know about. Abuse strips victims of all self-worth, so protecting yourself often starts from protecting your property.
Neighbors, friends, family, or shelters
Violence requires privacy, so your partner will probably be against you socializing with people. You might be against it too, being a victim of DV is embarrassing and time-consuming. However, people are an important part of your safety net. You don't have to pour your soul out to your neighbors on daily basis if you don't feel like it, but you need to know what their names are, have them know what your name is, exchange phone numbers with them, and say hi when you bump into them - this way you (and your child) will be able to knock on their door in an emergency, and they'll open it. Stay in touch with your friends and family too: you could stay over at their place for a few days (or send your kids there for a weekend), store your valuables and emergency backpack, and overall have someone to call if you need support. If staying in touch with neighbors, friends, or family is not an option - at least find and write down the address and phone number of your local DV shelter: you need to have a place to run to in an emergency.
© 2008-2022 Fort Refuge. Please don't reproduce without permission. | <urn:uuid:ace6534a-526d-48a9-8970-be21c73ff0bc> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.fortrefuge.com/emergency-escape.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808213349-20220809003349-00465.warc.gz | en | 0.965985 | 1,899 | 1.6875 | 2 |
We drove down a long dirt road on the northern side of Curaçao looking for a remote place to snorkel and sample. After a 30-minute bumpy ride, our team stepped out of the car into a breeze and the sounds of wind and crashing waves. It’s a moment I will never forget; although no one was in sight for miles, the evidence of human activity was apparent. We had stepped onto a shoreline blanketed in garbage.
We were on the northern and windward side of the island, so we wondered if the trash came from the ocean, or if the site might be an old dump, or one still in use. Regardless of where it came from, it was here to stay, unless the tide carried some back out to sea.
I started thinking about the large amount of marine debris, much of it plastic, in the ocean. I thought of the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, a large area of garbage floating in the Pacific Ocean. There is a common misconception that the trash is simply on the surface, but the facts are a bit more disturbing. While large patches of plastic exist, much of it is small and suspended throughout the water column, and the trash is widely dispersed due to wind and water currents. Another misconception is that marine debris is a problem confined to the Pacific Ocean, when in fact it is a global issue.
This summer, Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP) scientists saw tires, beer bottles, and even a plastic grocery bag floating below 30 meters (100 ft, shown in the above video taken from a submersible). Few people get to see the deep sea firsthand and although it is typically out of sight, it should not be out of mind.
I was saddened when I saw these familiar items in the deep reef and on the coast. I wanted to pick up every bottle, fishing net, foam piece, and lonely shoe I saw. All of this made me feel so helpless; it was a big beach and a big ocean and I was just one person! But then it struck me: all this was here because of the collective actions of many individuals.
How many plastic bags, bottles and other disposable items have I used in my lifetime? Although our group could not clean up the beach that afternoon, I thought about what I could do back home to make a difference. And while I try and make eco-friendly choices, I knew I could make a few more changes to use less plastic.
Ever since this experience, I have been consistently using my reusable grocery bags. I’ve also started to notice and avoid food and products needlessly packaged with excess plastic. And I was happy to find that many coffee shops give discounts for using your own cup. Although it is almost impossible to completely avoid using plastics in our daily lives, it is very easy to recycle, reduce, and reuse.
A lifetime of personal choices can really add up. Consider holding on to that empty plastic bottle an extra 5 minutes until you find a recycle bin or make a small investment in reusable containers. Educate yourself about marine debris, learn how trash travels, and how to make your daily routine a little more green… or blue. So take some steps to be there for our planet and share what you learn with others. Don’t be afraid to talk trash!
Editor's Note: This is the fourth post in our "Summer in a Sub" blog series, which features the work of the Smithsonian's Deep Reef Observation Project (DROP). | <urn:uuid:5c633a99-10a6-4ea7-8663-023341cf728f> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://ocean.si.edu/blog/ocean-trash-marine-debris-shore-sea | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281353.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00069-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962426 | 717 | 2.65625 | 3 |
BOULDER – Xcel Energy Inc. (NYSE: XEL) asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday to issue rulings on the city of Boulder’s efforts to condemn company assets through eminent domain.
Boulder has proposed taking Xcel’s assets in the city and in Boulder County, including 32 miles of transmission lines and all or part of nine substations, Xcel said. The utility contends the federal commission maintains jurisdiction over the transfer of such assets under the Federal Power Act, which says federal approval must occur for transfer of more than $10 million in assets.
Xcel contends that Boulder failed to follow a Colorado Public Utilities Commission directive that Boulder had to first initiate a proceeding with the state commission to address the transfer of facilities that affect customers outside the city.
“We believe it is important to ask (the federal commission) to declare its jurisdiction over the transfer of transmission facilities and for the city of Boulder to follow all required regulatory processes, both with the (state commission) and the (federal commission),” said Bill Dudley, Xcel lead assistant general counsel, in a statement.
Boulder wants to create its own utility to generate more electricity from renewable energy, while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions that cause climate change. Xcel wants to keep its assets, contending it can help Boulder reach its clean-energy goals faster and more economically than the city can do by itself.
The city received Xcel’s filing Tuesday afternoon, and its attorneys were still evaluating it, Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley said.
“We will respond according to the timelines and processes established by FERC,” she said
In its filing, Xcel Energy has asked the federal commission to make the following three rulings:
>The city of Boulder cannot condemn the transmission facilities it seeks without federal approval;
> In considering whether to grant approval, the federal commission will consider factors such as cost and system reliability;
> The federal commission’s jurisdiction does not overrule the state commission’s jurisdiction.
Xcel’s filing follows a petition filed July 17 by the city in Boulder County District Court to condemn Xcel’s assets through eminent domain. Xcel has requested that the court dismiss the condemnation case. | <urn:uuid:1d72585e-1380-4475-ae2c-ba95973ab604> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://bizwest.com/xcel-federal-energy-regulatory-commission-should-rule-on-boulder-condemnation-case/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284352.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00200-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952973 | 462 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Sponsored Post: Smack Your Lips Over Sweet and Savory Artisan Products From Clif Family
A myriad of honeys certainly abound on supermarket shelves. But Clif Family Solar Grown Honey Spreads definitely stand out. Not only do they pack a wallop of flavor, but they are made with honey specifically harvested from bee hives located on or around pollinator-friendly solar farms.
It’s a concerted effort to encourage both clean energy and biodiversity. After all, flowering meadows planted under solar farms not only create cooler microclimates that improve energy efficiency, but foster thriving beneficial insect populations.
Talk about a sweet win-win.
I had a chance to try samples of three different Solar Grown Honey Spreads ($10 for a 5.5-ounce jar), each smooth, creamy, and thick enough to slather on most anything with a knife.
For added oomph, they are blended with spices sourced from Burlap & Barrel, a public benefit corporation that partners with small farmers to improve their livelihoods.
The Solar Grown Cinnamon Honey Spread boasts a potent Red Hot candies-like warmth. Just imagine it sandwiching two buttery shortbread cookies, stirred into a batter for madeleines, infusing a pan sauce for pork chops, or stirred into mulled apple cider or a mug of hot chai tea.
Blended with cacao powder, the Solar Grown Cacao Honey Spread is as indulgent as dark chocolate ganache but with the added sweet, floral taste of honey. Jazz up Sunday brunch by serving scones or Belgian waffles drizzled with this rich honey. Or put a smile on your kids’ faces by letting them dip doughnut holes into it. This particular honey is a Good Food Awards winner, too.
Light up your taste buds with the Solar Grown Hot Honey with Cobanero Chile, which is the epitome of sweet heat. Another Good Food Awards winner, it is infused with the rare Maya variety of chili pepper for a fireball taste of smoky, fruity heat. This tongue tingler would make magic drizzled over fried chicken, sausages, pizza, grilled cheese or as an accompaniment to a charcuterie board.
Kit Crawford and Gary Erickson founded Clif Bar & Company in 1992, makers of that now-ubiquitous energy bar. In 1997, the couple moved to the Napa Valley and created sister company, Clif Family, which produces famed Napa Valley wines and now a host of other artisan products.
Among them are Organic Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Almonds ($12 for a 5-ounce container), which are big, lightly roasted almonds enrobed in matte, dark chocolate. They are super crunchy with a deep chocolate taste and possess the perfect sprinkle of sea salt on the finish.
On the savory side, Rosemary Roasted Almonds & Pistachios ($9 for a 4-ounce resealable bag) deliver with crisp nuts heady with the woodsy herb and a touch of orange zest that are as addictive as potato chips.
Find Clif Family products at Northern California Whole Foods, and Maker’s Market in San Jose’s Santana Row. Or purchase at Cliff Family’s online store, and use code, “SUMMER22” to receive 20 percent off any one order. Offer is good through June 30. | <urn:uuid:bf075c5c-8fdc-40ac-8caa-b48d57498be0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.foodgal.com/2022/06/sponsored-post-smack-your-lips-over-sweet-and-savory-artisan-products-from-clif-family/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571502.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811194507-20220811224507-00071.warc.gz | en | 0.915885 | 704 | 1.601563 | 2 |
“How long does this drivel go on?”
That’s what Edward Everett Horton, impersonating an angel, says about the romantic conversation between Robert Montgomery and Evelyn Keyes that he is forced to overhear in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). It’s a good way of letting at least half the audience know that the moviemakers share their feelings, and won’t let the drivel go on much longer.
During the past year, as I dutifully followed the linguistic adventures of my fellow Americans, that line kept coming back to me: “How long does this drivel go on?” Unfortunately, no angels appeared to keep the story moving. The drivel never stopped.
“Drivel” isn’t a random term of abuse. It is almost scientifically accurate. A dictionary defines it as “(1) saliva flowing from the mouth, or mucus from the nose; slaver; (2) childish, silly, or meaningless talk or thinking; nonsense; twaddle.” Drivel is language that flows out naturally, no matter how ugly and stupid it is. The difference between verbal drivel and biological drivel is that people usually wipe the second kind off; the first kind they publish to the world, without a hint of self-criticism — and sometimes with more than a hint of pride.
If Jackson had any sense, wouldn’t she know that “make a difference” includes the possibility of “make things worse”?
We saw this in the president’s second inaugural speech. What can you say about “affirm the promise of our democracy,” “bridge the meaning of [old] words with the realities of our time,” “never-ending journey,” “America's possibilities are limitless,” “the love we commit to one another must be equal,” and “awesome joy”? That’s all drivel. Drivel on stilts, perhaps — although “awesome” is nothing more than surfer babble — but drivel nonetheless.
Now what can you say about EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who resigned her post, saying that she was leaving for "new challenges, time with my family, and new opportunities to make a difference"? You can say:
Clearly, these thoughts, though obvious, are too much to expect from high-placed government officials. Jackson’s statement was drivel, pure drivel.
But drivel isn’t confined to government. What can you say about an ad for a concert that promises “a legendary night of music”? Many such pre-legendary ads appeared during 2012 — and this despite the fact that Americans already possessed, by their own account, the largest legendary in the world. By 2012, every celebrity, past celebrity, and would-be celebrity whom anybody could remember (admittedly, American historical thought has its limits) had been proclaimed a “legend.” Every second banana from a ’60s sitcom had become Hercules or Hiawatha, or at least Elvis Presley. That was bad enough. But to treat a one-night show, a show that hadn’t even occurred, as if it were a living legend in its own time — that’s drivel. As I write, news arrives of John Travolta’s receiving an award at the 10th Annual Living Legends of Aviation festivities in Beverly Hills, California. Congratulations, John! I’m sure you deserve every bit of it.
Anyone who uses such terms is either a fool or a political swindler.
More drivel — but perhaps not really important drivel. More serious is the drivel that is used to “argue” for political positions and public expenditures. Notice: I’m not referring to wrong ideas — that’s a whole ’nother category. I’m referring to childish, silly, or meaningless talk. One example is the sounds we hear about “the environment.”
First there was “global warming.” This “warming” may or may not be happening; if it’s happening, it may or may not be bad; and if it’s bad, it may or may not be caused by human beings. I suspect that it isn’t happening, and if it is, it isn’t caused by us. But whether I’m right or wrong, “global warming” isn’t exactly drivel. It means something. Something vague and maybe silly, but you can still detect a meaning.
“Warming,” however, wasn’t the end of the line. Far from it. Its successor was “climate change.” Whether this phrase originated as drivel is a subject for debate. It didn’t flow spontaneously out of somebody’s mouth or nose; it originated as a conscious cover-up of perceived flaws in the “warming” theory. You may not be able to show that the whole planet is heating up, but you know that climate is always changing, locally, in one way or another. But whatever its origin, the phrase itself is drivel. It is “meaningless talk,” in the sense that the words have no specific meaning. They are used as a synonym for “global warming, with bad effects, caused by man,” but that is a long, long way from “climate change,” which could just as easily signify “temporary changes in the weather of Boston, with good effects, and attributable to the sunspot cycle.”
One interesting thing about “climate change,” which is used to imply the necessity of resisting change, is that it is a platitudinous reversal of other platitudes. I refer to those nasty stews of syllables that authority figures start dishing up whenever they decide to do something you don’t like. “Life is change,” they tell us; “change is a constant,” “we all [i.e., you all] must adapt to change,” et cetera. But whether it’s feel-good drivel or feel-bad drivel, pro-change drivel or anti-change drivel, it’s drivel, that’s for sure. You can bet that anyone who uses such terms is either a fool or a political swindler. “We have always understood that when times change, so must we” (Barack Obama, second inaugural address). Question: How is it that our understanding is “always” the same, despite the fact that “times” are always changing? Has there never been a “change” that convinced us not to change?
But to return. During 2012, we witnessed the third float in the grand parade of environmental claptrap. Just as “global warming” once engendered “climate change,” so “climate change” now engendered “sustainability.” The word had appeared long before 2012, of course, and for all I know it once possessed a meaning. In 2012, however, it started flowing from every public orifice, on every possible occasion; and its meaning, if any, could no longer be established. Yet billions were expended in its name. Buildings became sustainable. Foods became sustainable. Septic tanks became sustainable. Any absence of plastic qualified for admission to the Sustainability Hall of Fame. Energy itself became sustainable — or was denounced as wicked, abominable, and subject to outlawry.
I can see, in a way, why fossil fuels might be regarded as nonsustainable. Someday, under some circumstances, those fossils may run out. I’m sorry to say, however, that by this standard our lives are much less sustainable than fossil fuels. In one hundred years, we will all be dead, unless we die even sooner, perhaps from attempting to eat only sustainable foods. Yet enormous resources of coal and oil will still exist. They will long survive us. Depressing, isn’t it?
But you see the true idiocy of “sustainability” when you notice that wood products have become “nonsustainable.” Wood products. Now, what is more sustainable, renewable, all those things, than trees? Trees, unlike coal or oil, grow back. And they grow back right away, unless you spend a lot of money keeping them off the property. Thinking in this way, however, is not ultimately sustainable.
It’s true that children are often exploited for emotional effect, but when else have you seen children’s funerals exploited in this way?
Are you still with me? I think you are. Now will you follow me into the world of “gun control” (that is, abolition of all guns not owned by government)? This, I believe, was the number 1 source of drivel during 2012, and in December of that year this drivel nearly drowned the nation.
By December 17, three days after what it called the “unthinkable massacre” at Newtown, Connecticut, USA Today was already proclaiming in a banner headline: “Gun Debate at Tipping Point.” In case the people who were allegedly “tipping” the debate didn’t know which way to tip it, the paper told them, in a subtitle: “Newtown Victims’ Age May Be Key.” “Victims’ age”: cool! That will whip up the mob. Meanwhile, “may” will establish journalistic fairness.
Next day, the big headline was “Calls for Change; NRA Mum.” We know that change is good, unless it’s climate change; but “mum” is such an old, oldword, so that must be bad. Above the headline: a picture of “young mourners” going to “the funeral of their friend”; above that, a headline reading, “Tiny Coffin Rendered Me Speechless.’” Do you detect a political bias here?
Would that USA Today had rendered itself speechless. It’s true that children are often exploited for emotional effect, but when else have you seen children’s funerals exploited in this way? When an airplane crashes, when a schoolbus goes off the road, when 500 people, many of them children, are murdered in Chicago in a single year, do tiny coffins appear above a banner headline? No, they don’t; because there is no political purpose for the exploitation. And in the absence of a design to manipulate, normal manners, normal standards of respect prevail, even in the media.
But for USA Today (and many other media outlets) normal standards aren’t moral enough. The paper was morally disappointed, morally frustrated, morally aggrieved, morally enraged that four whole days after the Newtown maniac used his gun, guns had still not been outlawed. Perversely, the debate refused to tip. Clearly, more talking points had to be provided. And they were. The banner headline on December 19 read: “Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Aurora, Sandy Hook . . . Names Only Hint at Mass Killing Crisis. One Every Two Weeks.”
This isn’t pure and refined drivel — it’s still too calculated — but it’s an outline for drivel. It’s the passage from which drivel is supposed to flow. “Mass Killing Crisis?” Might this be a crisis even larger than the “crisis of obesity” — another gift of 2012? But “Mass Killing Crisis” isn’t just another hysterical politicization of a chronic human problem. Falsehoods about dead people aren’t the same as falsehoods about the overuse of French fries. They’re a hundred times more disgusting. In this case, they’re also more flagrant. Anybody who stopped to think would realize that if “mass killings” took place that often, they wouldn’t be news. But that’s not the point; it was never the point. The anti-gun propaganda wasn’t news; it was intellectual, or at least verbal, marching orders for people who never stop to think or realize.
The stuff provided almost irresistible. One knew, as surely as one knows that someone at an open-casket funeral will have to say “Doesn’t he look natural?”, that the emerging “debate” would involve a constant outflow of the question, “If it could save only one life, wouldn’t you be for gun control?” This is literal nonsense. More than one life would be saved by banning red meat, chocolates, staircases, swimming pools, snow shovels, films about sex, and automobiles of any kind. Yet this was the mighty question insistently posed by the egregious David Gregory in his famous interview with Wayne LaPierre, head of the National Rifle Association. Gregory ordered LaPierre to answer the question, answer the question, just answer my question: if it could save only one life, wouldn’t you be for gun control? To his shame, LaPierre didn’t mention the fact that the question was drivel. Nobody ever does. But every thinking person should.
When I watch Fox News, regarded by the White House and my academic friends as an outlet for insane rightwing propaganda, I am startled by its ability to emit the same drivel as the modern liberal outlets If it weren’t for John Stossel and Greg Gutfeld, Fox would be in serious intellectual trouble. Here’s Karl Rove, commenting about the Newtown disaster on Fox News’ “Special Report” (Christmas Eve): “This is a horrific event. It has torn at the soul of America, that so many innocent lives were snuffed out.”
Public and effusive “mourning” is the pastime of politicians, newsmongers, and sadists, who have no real feelings about death at all.
Define “torn at.” Define “soul of America.” One would think that Nazis had invaded the country. I don’t demand that Rove say the simple truth, which is that many, many innocent lives are snuffed out every day, and that every innocent death merits mourning and reflection. And I certainly don’t demand that Rove, or anyone else on TV, say the more complicated truth, that whether we should or not, we ordinarily do not care about deaths that do not personally involve us; that the deaths at Newtown are truly mourned only by some extraordinarily empathic people; that public and effusive “mourning” is the pastime of politicians, newsmongers, and sadists, who have no real feelings about death at all; and that if these “mourners” were sincere, they would give the murders of the 500 people in Chicago (median family income $52,000) at least as much thought as the 26 victims at the school in Newtown, Connecticut (median family income $120,000).
As I say, no one should be required to enunciate these truths. But why go out of your way to avoid them? Why insist on discussing “the soul of America”? This sort of thing is drivel. Actually, it is worse than drivel. It is false and indecent.
It is false because it wantonly denies the essential terms of human life, which include the fact that some people become unbalanced and as a result do horrible things. In 1927, in the insignificant community of Bath, Michigan, a man burdened with some grievance, or set of grievances, or Satanic inspiration, or whatever, laboriously planted explosives under his home, his farm buildings, and the local school. When he had planted enough of them, he murdered his wife, blew up his house and farm (he had hobbled his horses to make sure they would be burned to death), and, by means of timed explosives, blew up the school. After that, grinning, he drove his truck to the ruins of the school, observed the behavior of the anguished crowd, called the school superintendent over to the truck, shot into it, and detonated the explosives he had put inside. He and the superintendent were killed. A total of 42 other people were killed, and 58 were injured. Most of the victims were young children.
A horrible, sickening event. But it did not tear at the soul of the nation. To say so would be drivel. As long as human beings are human beings, some of them will find ways to do such things. To be startled about this fact is false and futile.
But indecent — why?
It is one thing to assert that you have feelings when you do not have them; it is another to exploit the deaths of innocent people in order to advance some argument of your own, or (as in the case of Mr. Rove) to avert the arguments of other people.
What do I mean by “exploit”? Good question. If I believe that my fellow citizens should surrender their guns, because guns sometimes kill innocent people, and these deaths can be prevented by laws, there is surely nothing immoral about stating how many innocent people are killed by guns in a given year. And it is not exploitation to emphasize any new gun deaths that are reported. Exploitation happens when deaths occur and you are willing to say anything, no matter how ridiculous, to display your supposed regret and sympathy, your “thoughts and prayers,” and make other people look hardhearted if they refuse to follow suit.
Is it possible that such exploitation is engineered without pleasure and satisfaction? “Aha! More corpses! Now they will listen.” No, it is not possible.
This, I hold, is indecency — the behavior of moral vultures, hovering over the countryside, waiting for deaths on the highway. Vultures, I hear, are often seen to drivel. | <urn:uuid:5dbb3f8c-1892-4ba1-a0ef-502b6e75cc9d> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.libertyunbound.com/print/988 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988722951.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183842-00209-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967576 | 3,842 | 2.015625 | 2 |
If President Bush is in so much trouble, Democrats wonder, shouldn't John Kerry have a much bigger lead? Why does this election still look close?
And so they worry: Maybe the Republican attacks on Kerry are working; maybe voters are fearful of turning to someone new and untested in a time of war. "The senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security," Vice President Cheney charged at Westminster College last month.
Here's another possibility: Kerry's doing just fine. The prospective Democratic nominee told a fretful supporter in St. Louis last week, "Listen, man, I don't know if you saw the polls, but we're in good shape." Is he? Tad Devine, senior adviser to the Kerry campaign, put it this way: "No incumbent president who has been as low as President Bush is today has won re-election."
Look at the last three incumbents who won re-election—Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. In May of the year they went on to be re-elected, Nixon's job-approval rating was 62 percent in the Gallup Poll, Reagan's was 54 percent, and Clinton's was 55. All were well above 50.
Now look at three incumbents who lost. In May, Gallup showed Gerald Ford at 47 percent approval, Jimmy Carter at 38 percent, and George H.W. Bush at 37. All were below 50.
Where is the current president now? Forty-six percent in the latest Gallup Poll (May 7-9). That doesn't look good.
The latest Newsweek poll (May 13-14) has the president's approval rating even lower, at 42 percent. Bush could be headed below the fatal 40 percent line that spelled doom for his father and for Carter.
But, of course, the incumbent's approval ratings are only half the story. "So what if President Bush has problems?" Republicans say. "We're going to turn this election into a referendum on John Kerry." Matthew Dowd, senior strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said, "We're in that in-between place where comparisons between the two candidates are going to matter a great deal."
Check out the trial heats matching challengers against incumbents. At this point in 1972, 1984, and 1996—the years when incumbents got re-elected—presidents held double-digit leads over their challengers in the Gallup Poll. Nixon was almost 20 points ahead of George McGovern (53 percent to 34 percent). Reagan was 10 points ahead of Walter Mondale (53 percent to 43 percent). And Clinton was leading Bob Dole by 15 points (49 percent to 34 percent).
Now look at years when incumbents lost. In May 1976, Ford, who had pardoned Nixon for his role in the Watergate cover-up, trailed Carter by 13 points. But in May 1980, Carter was ahead of Reagan, 40 percent to 32 percent. And in May 1992, the first President Bush was leading Clinton, 35 percent to 25 percent. Clinton was running third, behind both Bush and Ross Perot.
Even doomed incumbents were in the lead at this point, except in 1976. Ford, the exception, had never been elected in the first place.
The latest trial heats show Bush 2 points ahead of Kerry in the Gallup Poll (47 percent to 45 percent), 1 point ahead of Bush in the Newsweek poll (43 to 42 percent), and 5 points ahead of Bush in the Time/CNN poll (49 to 44 percent). Either the race is virtually tied or the challenger is ahead by a small margin. That's rare this early in the campaign. It's also a good sign for Kerry.
Bush is in trouble. In the past, he got extremely high marks for his handling of terrorism and low marks on the economy, with Iraq somewhere in between. Now, according to the Time poll, the number of Americans who think the president is doing a good job on the economy has dipped below 40 percent for the first time. By 55 percent to 39 percent, the public says that Bush is doing a poor job on the economy.
Continuing job gains appear to have done nothing to boost public confidence in the economy. For one thing, many newly created jobs are part-time ones. Moreover, soaring gasoline prices are hurting many more Americans than job gains are helping.
Bush's rating on Iraq is now just as bad as his rating on the economy—55 percent to 39 percent negative. His Iraq ratings have taken a real tumble since the insurgency began. The American public is split over whether the United States was right to go to war in the first place.
The big shock has to be Bush's ratings on terrorism, which since 9/11 had been the president's strong suit. The public is now divided over whether Bush is doing a good job (46 percent) or a poor job (47 percent) on terrorism. Asked which candidate would handle the war on terrorism better, Kerry has nearly caught up with Bush (49 percent prefer Bush, 42 percent Kerry). If Bush doesn't have a solid lead on terrorism, he's in serious trouble. It's the only issue he has left. The Time/CNN poll shows Kerry ahead on health care, the environment, jobs, the deficit, and even taxes!
The Bush campaign's strategy has been to rally the conservative base. That sometimes works in low-turnout midterm elections, such as the ones in 1994 and 2002. But in a presidential election, a lot of swing voters turn out. And right now, they're not happy with Bush. | <urn:uuid:472399a1-65f6-4c93-a03a-7be3a1fe7da1> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2004/05/bushs-poll-troubles/377946/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572127.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20220815024523-20220815054523-00274.warc.gz | en | 0.976809 | 1,151 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Here we go, another person criticising our name. Can’t we move past this?
The simple answer is no.
At every single World Cup the same two words are repeated over and over by players, managers, pundits and fans: pride, and respect.
The vast majority of people in this country (let alone the world) don’t associate these words with football in Australia. If you don’t believe me, simply take note of how many Australians wear the apparel of football clubs from other countries in relation to our own national team and domestic clubs.
This needs to change.
The Australian national team is the spearhead of football in this country. I still find it incredible that our domestic league was launched off the back of us winning a single game… and it worked!
But we can’t keep relying on on-field success and star players to bolster the game. It could be a decade or more before our national team finds its next golden generation and enhancing the quality of talent over here will take much time and investment.
However, there are things we can change that will help generate the pride and respect we desire.
When Graham Arnold explained why he chose Andrew Redmayne for the penalty shootout against Peru, he said it was all about the one-percenters. Would Peru’s third penalty have hit the post if the taker was staring down a smaller, less intimidating keeper? Of course we’ll never know but you can’t rule out it being a one-percenter.
Changing the name of our national team is a glaring one-percenter.
Our current moniker was proposed as the name of the mascot in our 1974 World Cup bid. Like Syd, Olly and Millie from the Sydney Olympics or Arsenal’s Gunnersaurus, it was designed to appeal to children, not to be the name of a team representing an entire nation at the biggest sporting event in the world.
It’s also a name which uses a word which the Australian football community attempted to banish 17 years ago when the vast majority of local clubs began updating their crests so the word ‘soccer’ was replaced with ‘football’. These efforts have gone largely unnoticed by mainstream media as our most publicised team continues using ‘soccer’ in its name.
When advertising agencies rebrand a company, they choose a name which best represents the values, spirit and goals of the organisation. Do you think of pride and respect when you hear the word ‘Socceroos’?
So, looking at this objectively, our name was designed to appeal to children, is made up of a word that is no longer associated with our local clubs and doesn’t capture the pride and respect that our national team desires. Whether you like the name or not, it’s hard to say that it’s suitable.
And I understand that changing the name is not going to be the catalyst for a huge influx of fans or instantly have journalists writing daily columns about football.
But over time it could be a one-percenter.
It could persuade a fan to buy a green-and-gold jersey over a European mega-club, it could change the perception of the national team in a journalist’s eyes, it could give the next ex-manager of this country a little bit more respect when he sends his resume overseas, it could edge a migrant’s son closer to choosing Australia over his parents’ birth country, it could assist unifying local clubs with the national team, and it could lead to all supporters calling the sport the same name.
I’m not suggesting we introduce a brand new name. The team is too ingrained in the public consciousness for a fresh start. All I’m proposing is that we simply stop using our nickname.
Let’s be Australia.
And if we must have a nickname, shorten it to the Roos. | <urn:uuid:34c6b20b-bec2-4030-b94c-d85282fc685c> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.theroar.com.au/2022/06/18/its-time-to-finally-scrap-the-name-socceroos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573699.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20220819131019-20220819161019-00278.warc.gz | en | 0.942102 | 824 | 1.835938 | 2 |
These are the tools I often use during the training sessions. I find that giving teachers pedagogical workshops as an effective intervention strategy. Teachers need to be given hands-on training in cooperative strategies for them to apply the strategies confidently in their English Language classrooms. At some point, when the school administrators feel that there is a need to share the strategies with all the teachers, I am always happy to help. However, some homework need to be done when it involves other than English Language subject, in which I study some of the contents of other subjects such as Science, Maths, Islamic Education etc.
|DISCUSSION MAT: This is used to help the teachers in managing group work in the classroom |
using Numbered-Heads-Together strategy.
|PICTURE CARDS: Suitable for group formation.| | <urn:uuid:e3d4fd46-2711-44be-8dd6-c2d5700cf332> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://julia2001.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282140.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00133-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951627 | 170 | 2.875 | 3 |
Terror expert: Incidents similar to earlier London blasts
Terrorism analyst Shane Brighton
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Two weeks after the London terror attacks that killed more than 50 people, apparent explosions occurred Thursday at three subway stations and on a bus in the British capital.
CNN's Nic Robertson discussed developments Thursday with terrorism analyst Shane Brighton.
ROBERTSON: Shane, you study terrorist incidents. ... What can we learn from what we've seen so far today?
BRIGHTON: Well, looking at evidence that's in front of us, there are clear continuities with the earlier incidents of this month. These are [at many sites] but simultaneous, and so the pattern is very similar.
What we seem to be getting is evidence that it's nothing like as serious. The tubes wouldn't be as crowded as they were when the bombs went off before at this time of day, and [these] also seem to be more peripheral stations.
This isn't in the heart of London in quite the same way that the other attacks were. So what exactly is happening, it's not clear. These may be devices that haven't triggered properly.
ROBERTSON: One analyst I spoke to a little earlier told me that he thought that the sour smell people were smelling could be the detonators going off. Is there a possibility here that these people had explosives, and the explosives didn't go off?
BRIGHTON: Well, it might be that the explosives have corrupted over time if they're homemade devices. Some explosives don't last that long once they're mixed.
The fact that they're using the term detonators though, specifically detonators, does indicate that this might be a serious device that we're talking about rather than something that's been hooked up at home by a real amateur.
ROBERTSON: So there is a real possibility this could have been much worse?
BRIGHTON: It could have been certainly if these were serious devices and they had gone off probably; it would have been much worse, of course.
ROBERTSON: The very fact that they didn't go off -- we're hearing these reports now of armed police going to a hospital. Could there potentially be in this live witnesses, perhaps people who may well have been the bombers who survived? Could this have happened? And how could that help police with their inquiries?
BRIGHTON: Well, we're getting partial reports that somebody may have been tackled and has been caught. Now clearly, they would be an extremely significant witness, or somebody that could be of great help in investigating what was going on.
What's not clear any way though ... is that this is the same group, or an extension of the group that launched the earlier attacks.
ROBERTSON: If the police have somebody that was involved with these bombs, what are they going to be asking them?
BRIGHTON: I think in the first instance, it depends how -- the report we've had is that they were injured in the blast or the partial blast. Depends on what state they're in. But [the police are] certainly going to be wanting to find out if there's any likelihood of an immediate threat. That's going to be the No. 1 priority -- to rule out the fact that we're going to have to deal with anything else today.
ROBERTSON: When you heard Sir Ian Blair, commissioner of the [Metropolitan Police], warning there was potential for more attacks, did you take that seriously?
BRIGHTON: I think it's certainly something that had to be assumed to be the case. I think it would be complacent not to. The fact that there was more explosives found in the immediate follow-up to these devices did indicate that there's a capability over and above that that was used in the earlier attacks.
ROBERTSON: Other explosives were found as part of the investigation?
BRIGHTON: Correct, yes, they were found -- there was evidence of them in Leeds but also in a car in Luton, I believe. There was a controlled explosion and evidence of other explosives there.
ROBERTSON: Your read of today's situation -- it could have been far worse -- and in fact, there may be bigger explosives that didn't go off, but it could provide police with significant leads?
BRIGHTON: I think that's correct, yes. We could have been looking at something much worse. But on the evidence of it, it doesn't look like anything like as significant an incident as the one we experienced recently.
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Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us. Site Map. | <urn:uuid:deff7b73-5635-4e74-aab0-d9eb74e34389> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/21/brighton/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280763.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00517-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985051 | 1,008 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The Delta variation was first seen in India’s Maharashtra state in 2021, during a big wave of Covid-19 cases. After this variant arrived in the United Kingdom, it started to spread quickly. After some studies, scientists determined that Delta was approximately 60% more transmissible than Alpha, the previous variant.
According to some studies from Wendy Barclay’s laboratory, a virologist at Imperial College London, it had been found that Delta is able to multiply and infect people so much faster than other variants. That is because this variation has higher levels in the airways of infected patients, which is probably going to outpace the initial responses against SARS-CoV-2.
Knowing that it’s happening all over the world, we can say that the Delta variant is responsible for thousands of deaths and infection cases. | <urn:uuid:0d6f0726-78fb-48f3-a645-80022a990515> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://sciencetoday.eu/how-covid-19-has-changed-through-the-years.html/8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571147.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810040253-20220810070253-00478.warc.gz | en | 0.966947 | 174 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Chief Physician- M. P. Krishnan Vaidyan Memorial, S. K. V. A. Pharmacy, Kollam. 8891138612
June 8 is observed as World Brain Tumour Day. This article throws light on the brain tumours, its types, diagnosis and fatality. The author elucidates its ayurvedic view. How well can ayurveda manage this deadly disease and how can we prevent it.08 Jun 2020 by Dr. Rajagopal K.
Chemotherapy is like carpet bombing. It does not specifically target on malignant cells or spare healthy tissues in its vicinity. Moreover, chemotherapy shuts down our immune system and its modulation. The innate power of our body to heal by itself is forced to retire. The approach of Ayurveda in this scenario is polar opposite to that of Chemotherapy. It works more like stealth attackers, diligently sniping down morbid elements while still keeping the body in full command. This methodology is increasingly proving to be a better way. The complications are much lesser, the chances for relapse is minimal and the recovery is astounding. Perhaps, it is time we give more attention to the solution that Ayurveda has to offer in this regard. This article is all about the solutions from Ayurveda. (Malayalam)14 May 2020 by Dr. Rajagopal K. | <urn:uuid:647a8932-b883-400e-bb10-c2050864b1e7> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://ayurvedacommunity.org/author/35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882573399.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20220818185216-20220818215216-00068.warc.gz | en | 0.950291 | 281 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Olivia Ward, "Pizuka accepted to Peace Corps Pizuka accepted to Peace Corps, "thelewisflyer.com
Pizuka image from article
Senior international relations major Michael Pikuza was accepted to the Peace Corps on Sept. 9, attributing much of his inspiration to his family’s background.
“I wanted to go into the Peace Corps to help people who go through poor conditions and challenges, such as my grandparents did,” Pikuza said. “This is to make a difference in the lives of those who go through challenges within their country, and I’m here to assist in that aspect of their life. This is what I know I was meant to do.”
Pikuza’s grandparents were refugees from eastern Europe, his grandfather from Belarus and his grandmother from Lithuania. He said that his grandparents have been incredibly influential in his life, inspiring his pursuit of education.
“I chose to be an international relations major because I come from a very international background. My grandparents were actually refugees from eastern Europe, during the the time of World War II. Understanding the oppressions they went through during their youth has really inspired me to pursue a career within international affairs and to obtain some sort of political position where I can speak on behalf of those who don’t have the time or who don’t get the chance to speak about the circumstances and challenges that they go through,” Pikuza said.
Pikuza’s grandparents introduced him to different languages and new cultures, resulting from what they learned within the refugee camps.
“Some of these refugees were scholars,” Pikuza said. “They were very well educated people. Within the refugee camps, a lot of those educated people had backgrounds in different languages and my grandparents spoke seven different languages fluently because of the little lessons that were set up within the camps. These people who were educated wanted to teach the youth the importance of language and the importance of being able to interact with someone in times of need. I felt like that was very influential to me.”
The Peace Corps serves countries that are experiencing difficulties in the education, economic, agricultural or health care areas of government.
Pikuza explained that Peace Corps asks Americans to take their academic and career skills to countries in need, acting as a global advocate and helping these communities to grow from within.
“This is something that I feel God has placed me on this Earth to do: to go into these communities, to hear what their challenges are and to make some sort of difference within their community,” Pikuza said. “When I found out, I was so at peace with my heart. I was just so thrilled to be given this opportunity.”
Pikuza explained he is not nervous and does not have any hesitations regarding his work with the Peace Corps.
“I think it’s my biggest accomplishment. I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this,” Pikuza said. “To see someone else happy fulfills my happiness.”
Pikuza will be teaching middle school and high school level English, as well as constructing English curriculums in Moldova, an eastern European country, previously under Soviet control. “It is the poorest country in Europe,” Pikuza said. “Moldova was my number one preference because of my eastern European heritage.”
Pikuza explained that both of his grandparents came from Soviet-occupied countries and feels a familiarity with the people of Moldova, especially with their use of the Russian language.
“I wanted to do it to serve people who went through similar oppressions to my grandparents. That’s why I chose Moldova. Even though I have no Moldovan nationality, I can understand who they are as people within their culture,” Pikuza said. “I feel like it’s going to be home away from home.”
Pikuza explained that Peace Corps representatives emphasize the isolation associated with the 27 – month commitment and the need for a strong support system among friends and family.
“My grandma is very excited for me. She’s excited that it’s Moldova,” Pikuza said, explaining his family’s support and reaction to his Peace Corps acceptance. “They’re excited for me, but they are sad because it has a big commitment…They know this is what I want and they’ve accepted it.”
Pikuza has previously taught English while studying abroad in San Jose, Costa Rica. He wanted to become a teacher after being inspired by his own instructors.
“I felt like I wanted to be that for young students who are also trying to achieve something greater, like myself and all of us here at Lewis,” Pikuza said. “It’s really rewarding because not only are you helping them learn English, but you’re also learning about who they are and where they come from around the world. That gives you a global perspective and I feel like that’s so vital.”
Pikuza leaves for Moldova two weeks after his spring 2017 graduation. After working with the Peace Corps, Pikuza will pursue a master’s degree in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies at Stanford University.
Pikuza will pursue this degree with hopes of becoming a public diplomacy officer working in United States embassies across eastern Europe.
“We all are one international community and a lot of people forget that,” Pikuza said. “We can hopefully come up with some sort of relations where it’s not just politically driven, but based on friendship and understanding one another.” | <urn:uuid:5aaa2cf2-c34e-4d2e-89cb-ae71c159c808> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://publicdiplomacypressandblogreview.blogspot.com/2016/10/pizuka-accepted-to-peace-corps-pizuka.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279410.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00169-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98439 | 1,212 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Thank you for your interest in the doctoral psychology internship at Ohio University Counseling and Psychological Services. CPS mission is to provide generalist practitioner training in the areas of psychological counseling, education, and consultation to the Ohio University community. We strive to offer services that promote emotional, physical and social well-being for Ohio University students facing adjustment and developmental challenges while respecting and appreciating all cultural identities of our student population. Further, our goal is to prepare generalist practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed for successful entry-level practice of psychology careers.
I hope you find the following information provided on this website informative. I’d like to take a minute to highlight a few aspects of our training program that may be helpful to you in your decision making process.
CPS training program utilizes a Developmental Mentorship training philosophy. Our program is designed to build upon previously acquired skills and knowledge, fostering the competencies for delivering professional psychological services. We provide graduated learning opportunities with increased responsibility as the year progresses, and focus on the developmental process and transitions of interns as they move from student/learner in the classroom, to learner/practitioner in the field, to entry-level professional psychologist. As a staff, we are committed to providing ethical, culturally competent mentoring throughout the internship training experience. Intern growth and maturation occur under the guidance of licensed psychologists and other licensed mental health professionals, who value the reciprocal nature of learning within supportive and challenging mentor relationships.
Our staff members are strong generalists with a variety of specialty areas. As part of their professional development, interns may choose an area of clinical/theoretical focus during the internship year, and apprentice with a “mentor” in a supportive relationship marked by an individualized pace of learning. This learning is enhanced by the development of safety and trust between apprentice and mentor, which allows for appropriate levels of self-reflection and challenge, and we value the privacy of apprentice-mentor communications. Supervisors will communicate about the content of the apprenticeship relationship when ethical violations or other issues of competence arise, when general feedback regarding an intern’s professional development is offered as part of our assessment process, and other times when deemed necessary given the supervisor’s professional judgment.
An important aspect of our philosophy, which is infused throughout our training, is our center’s commitment to celebrating and honoring diversity in our relationships, practices, policies, and procedures. We strive to foster an environment of respect for differences and continually work toward creating a safe, affirming, and inclusive environment for all individuals.
Selecting an internship site is an important decision. We hope that your will find our program to be a good fit with your training needs and goals in the upcoming year. You will find a complete description of our training program, including links to our internship handbook and policies and procedures for training on this website. If, after reviewing the materials, you have any questions about our training program, please do not hesitate to contact me at email@example.com or 740.593.1616.
The mission of Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) doctoral training program at Ohio University is to provide a generalist practitioner training in the areas of psychological counseling, education, and consultation to the Ohio University community. We strive to offer services that promote emotional, physical and social well-being for Ohio University students facing adjustment and developmental challenges, as well as a broad range of psychological problems while respecting and appreciating all cultural identities of our student population. Further, our goal is to prepare generalist practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed for successful entry-level practice of psychology careers.
At Ohio University’s Counseling and Psychological Services, interns engage in structured training and professional practice designed to provide a sequence of increasingly complex professional experiences, roles, and responsibilities. As confidence and competency increase, interns learn by becoming progressively more independent while retraining access to consultation, training, and support. By the end of the internship year, interns are expected to be ready to function as autonomous, entry-level practitioners with an intermediate to advanced level of competency in all professional areas.
To accomplish this, the training program at Ohio University uses the Developmental Mentorship Model. We help interns build on previous skills and knowledge with hands-on learning opportunities as full-time practitioners in training under the guidance of skilled clinicians. We emphasize the dynamic relationship between the larger conversations going on in the scientific field of psychology and the more intimate conversations going on between the mentor and the apprentice.
The basic components of our training program are a strong emphasis on the growth process of the interns throughout their experience of socialization into the field of professional psychology and the amount and quality of supervision and mentoring the intern receives from experienced clinicians.
Professional Issues and Ethics Series (1 hour/week, all year): This seminar addresses ethical issues, multicultural and diversity issues, and issues of professional development and entry into the field of professional psychology. Presentation by staff members, community professionals, and interns cover a wide range of topics based on the intern group’s needs and special topics that are of interest to them.
Clinical Training Series (1.5 hours/week, all year): This seminar series will address differential diagnosis, evidence based treatments, and case conferences. Differential diagnosis will provide an overview of the DSM-5. Evidence based treatments will focus on those treatments used with common presenting issues at a university counseling center. (e.g. anxiety, depression, substance abuse, trauma). In case conference, interns will have the opportunity to develop their case conceptualization skills and present more formal case presentations. Interns and staff are invited to contribute alternate theoretical perspectives, research or treatment information, as well as feedback too the presenter.
Group Supervision of Supervision (summer intensive, 2 hours/week, fall and spring semester): Provides training and preparation for supervision of master’s level trainees at CPS.
Group Therapy Seminar/Supervision (summer intensives, 1.5 hours/week fall and spring semester): Provides didactic training on group theory and facilitation and ongoing supervision of groups co-lead by interns.
Outreach and Consultation Seminar (summer intensives, meets 2x/month through fall semester, as needed in spring semester): This seminar will provide an overview of theory, models, and techniques of consultation and outreach, including how to design and implement programming and foster collaborations across campus. The amount of supervision of these activities decreases over the course of the year as interns move toward operating more autonomously.
Summer intensive seminars (approximately 25-30 hours per week for 3 weeks): Brief, intensive seminars are offered in summer to get interns “jump-started” so they can begin providing services in a wide range of areas for fall semester. These seminars are offered in the following areas: alcohol and substance abuse treatment, group counseling, provision of supervision, working with Appalachian clients, clinical interviewing, outreach services, emergency services/crisis intervention.
Clinical Team Meetings : (1hour/week, all year): All interns join with senior staff for one hour of clinical consultation weekly. This meeting provides an opportunity to distribute new clients, as well as receive support, feedback, and suggestions for particularly interesting or challenging clients, or those where some factor(s) present potential ethical/legal conflicts. This is also a forum to discuss emerging, critical clinical issues from the university community: recent university crises or emerging situations likely to lead to a crisis, such as severe conflict in a program, a student death, an attempted suicide, etc. This meeting is used, at times, for professional development topics of interest to the staff, especially those related to supervision. The meetings are informal in format, and all participants are invited and encouraged to bring in relevant information, viewpoints, or case materials.
Diversity Series (1.5 hours/month, year round): All staff and interns are required to participate and trainees are strongly encouraged to participate monthly in the diversity brown bag series. Topics are collaboratively identified and address a wide variety of diversity issues based on the interests and needs of current staff, interns, and trainees. The goals are to promote ongoing personal reflection on diversity issues in order to increase awareness and knowledge about these issues and to create a safe environment to have genuine discussion about these issues. The format is varied and may include reading and discussing articles, watching videos, having panel presentations from campus or community members, or staff presentations. All interns will be required to present on brown bag at some point during the year.
Individual Clinical Supervision (2 hours/week, all year): Intern supervision is a priority of the program and is geared to the intern’s level of professional development. Each intern receives a minimum of two hours of individual supervision weekly. All primary supervisors are licensed psychologists. As might benefit the intern, other staff contribute supplementary supervision in areas such as group work, consultation and outreach, etc. Interns will be evaluated by their clinical supervisors at the midyear and end point of their internship by each of their clinical supervisors (please see the Internship Handbook for a sample evaluation form). The evaluations will include feedback from all staff members who had worked with the intern during that evaluation period and will be shared with the intern’s home department. ***NOTE: CPS does not complete additional evaluation forms from academic departments. If this is a requirement of your department, please check with them about this policy.
Apprenticeship Supervision (2-4 times/month): (Please see the Internship Handbook link for a tentative list of available apprenticeship rotations) Clinicians at CPS have expertise in a number of areas, whether clinically (i.e. eating disorders, substance abuse), other service areas (i.e. diversity training, group therapy, outreach), or administratively (i.e. training, clinic management) for which they offer specific mentorship. Interns will need to choose one area for apprenticeship that they focus on for the entire year.
Administrative Staff Meeting (1 hour/week, all year): All clinical staff members, including interns, meet once a week to discuss administrative issues, such as documentation, policies and procedures, scheduling, or other issues related to running a university counseling center.
Meeting with Training Director (1-2 times/month): The training director will meet with each of the interns individually once a month and as a group once a month. This is an opportunity to discuss and process any challenges, opportunities, or issues that have come up within the cohort, with supervisors, in training seminars, or in life in general. The purpose of the meetings is to keep the lines of communication open between the interns and the training director.
Committee Work (variable): Interns are required to participate in one internal CPS committee. The committees include the Eating Disorder Support Team, The Clinical Services Committee, The Diversity and Outreach Committee, The Training Committee, and the Safety Committee. Interns may, as a result of their apprenticeship project, participate in more than one committee.
Professional Development Time (variable): Interns are allowed to use professional development time to attend conferences, go on job interviews, attend home program meetings for dissertation and graduation, etc. All professional development time must be submitted in writing and approved by the training director.
Clinical Services: Twenty-five percent the intern’s time must be spent in direct clinical service. In order to achieve this goal, interns must maintain between 15-23 clinical hours per week. Direct clinical service includes individual, couples, and group therapy, and in-person drop-in/crisis coverage. Clients at CPS represent a wide range of backgrounds and identities, presenting concerns, and levels of clinical complexity. Each intern will be able to develop both specific clinical interests and broad generalist skills.
Consultation and Outreach : Interns will engage in regular outreach and consultation programming with the campus community as representatives of CPS. Over the course of the year, each intern must complete 12 outreach programs (6 per semester). Interns will meet with the Outreach Coordinator, as necessary, to develop programs, identify opportunities, and receive feedback on their programming.
Supervision of Practicum Students : Interns are required to provide clinical supervision to at least one trainee during the internship year.
Interns are responsible for documenting their hours on an excel spreadsheet that is provided to them ahead of time. Hours can be totaled for report in the spreadsheet. A copy of the spreadsheet data needs to be submitted to the Training Director on a monthly basis. Interns will be given feedback about their hours every 3 months at a minimum.
|Direct Clinical Services||Hours Committed|
|Preparation for presentations||0-1|
|Receiving/Giving Supervision||Hours Committed|
|Supervision of supervision||2.0|
|Provision of supervision to trainee||1.0|
|Preparation for supervision||2.0|
|Training and Professional Development||Hours Committed|
|Clinical Skills Series||1.5|
|Professional Issues and Ethics Seminar||1.5|
|Group therapy seminar||1.5|
|Diversity brown bags||1.5/month|
|Clinical team meetings||1.0|
|Administrative/Other Activities||Hours Committed|
|Administrative staff meeting||1.0|
|Brownbag with training director||.5|
Goal 1 : To promote the development of an identity as a professional psychologist through the integration of science, theory, and ethics in professional practice.
Goal 2 : To promote the development of skills and competencies as an entry-level generalist psychologist in professional practice.
Goal 3 : To promote the development of knowledge, skills, and awareness of the role of cultural and individual diversity in the professional practice of psychology.
For more information on competency areas for evaluation and exit criteria, please refer to the Internship Training Handbook.
Evaluation, Disciplinary Actions, Appeals and Grievance Procedures are available in the Internship Training Handbook.
Additional information is available in the Training Policies and Procedures.
Candidates must be enrolled in an APA-accredited doctoral program in counseling or clinical psychology. All of the formal coursework and comprehensive examinations for the doctorate must be completed, including all supervised practicum courses. It is strongly recommended, but not required that applicants have complete their dissertation proposal by the time of the internship interview, as it is required that the dissertation proposal be defended by the time internship begins in August. A complete description of the entrance criteria is provided in the handbook.
The internship is for 12 months and carries a stipend of $28,851.00. Health insurance, dental insurance, retirement benefits, sick leave, and vacation time are included in the benefits package.
Internship begins on August 1 st.
How to Apply
CPS is an APPIC member agency and adheres to all APPIC Match policies, and participates in the APPIC Match. Applicants for internship must currently be enrolled in an APA-accredited doctoral program in clinical or counseling psychology.
All applicants must complete the on-line AAPI to be considered for Ohio University’s internship program. Ohio University does not require any supplemental materials be submitted with the AAPI. A complete application will include:
All application materials must be available for our review by 5pm EST on November 16, 2016.
For questions or clarifications regarding the Ohio University CPS internship program or application procedures, contact:
Ohio University’s Equal Employment and Educational Opportunity Policy can be found at the website: http://www.ohio.edu/policy/40-001.html
Information on our Affirmative Action Policy can be found at the following link: http://www.ohio.edu/diversity/upload/AffirmativeActionPolicy.pdf
Ohio University has clear guidelines for defining and handling discrimination in the university community: http://www.ohio.edu/diversity/upload/NonDiscriminationNotice.pdf
You can also find our diversity statement within Ohio University’s mission statement: http://www.ohio.edu/catalog/96-97/mission.html
CPS operates within the context of a university counseling center that puts a high premium on valuing diversity among people. Any trainee/intern coming to CPS would work within this value. The multicultural staff at CPS recognize that many factors including race, ethnicity, range of ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, culture, socioeconomic status and other unique challenges are salient in students’ lives. It is our commitment to welcome all people with respect and sensitivity. CPS values all identities and we value students in all their individuality.
Michelle Barron-Wearsch, M. Ed.
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Lauren Ranney, M.S.
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Matthew Kellar, Psy. D.
Anna Stark, Psy.D.
Sofie Shouse, Psy.D.
Kristi (Peterson) Post, Ph.D.
Brandi Pritchett-Johnson, Ph.D.
Dawn Graham, Ph.D.
Steven Hubbard, Ph.D.
Sasha Ribic, Psy.D.
Jonathan Mosko, Ph.D.
D’Arcy Reynolds, Ph.D.
Kizzie Walker, Ph.D.
Joy Butcher-Winfrey, Psy.D.
Matthew Lee, Ph.D.
Morgan Lucas, Psy.D. | <urn:uuid:86373dc5-d1a4-444d-8ce0-76520e9201d5> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.ohio.edu/counseling/training/Doctoral-Internship.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280221.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00237-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914066 | 3,789 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Nazareth - The killing of a 22-year-old Arab youth by Israeli police on November 7, has highlighted tensions that have been building rapidly between the Israeli authorities and the country's 1.5 million-strong Palestinian minority.
Kheir al-Dein Hamdan's shooting in the Galilee town of Kafr Kana, near Nazareth, sparked protests in most Palestinian communities inside Israel, in some incidents turning into violent clashes with the police.
A general strike was widely observed on November 8 and simmering anger is still bringing the youth out onto the streets at night in Kafr Kana and elsewhere.
Hamdan is one of scores of Palestinian citizens of Israel who were killed by police in unexplained circumstances over the past 14 years. His death, however, has magnified a mood of intense anger and frustration among the Palestinian minority, which comprises a fifth of Israel's population.
The atmosphere was set earlier this year with a wave of violent attacks carried out by Jewish settlers targeting Palestinians in Israel, rather than Palestinians in the occupied territories, burning mosques, defacing churches and vandalising cars. Police have mostly failed to identify the culprits.
A series of events then followed, including the gruesome killing of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir in Jerusalem at the hands of Jewish extremists in early July. Israel's war on Gaza, which left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, most of them civilians, also incensed the Palestinian minority.
The widespread protests over the summer were marked by frequent clashes with the police reaching a level not seen since the start of the second Intifada in 2000.
Police responded with hundreds of arrests, including of many children, often in heavy-handed, night-time raids on homes that have become a familiar sight in the occupied territories. Leading human rights lawyers in Israel have described Hamdan's death as a police "execution".
The intensifying efforts over the past few weeks by government officials and Jewish extremists, backed by the Israeli police, to assert greater control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem has added another layer of distress.
Many Palestinians accuse the police of enforcing racist policies that dehumanise all Palestinians, ignore their rights and concerns, and brook no dissent, whether peaceful or violent.
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For the minority, this incident was yet another graphic and shocking illustration that they are seen not as citizens but as the enemy.
Over a decade ago, that was precisely the conclusion of a state commission of inquiry into the police's killing of 13 Palestinian citizens in towns across the Galilee in October 2000, at the start of the second Intifada.
During demonstrations against the Israeli army's assault on Palestinians in the occupied territories, the police fired live ammunition and rubber bullets on unarmed protesters and deployed, for the first time, an anti-terror sniper unit.
The head of the commission, Justice Theodor Or, found that the police viewed Palestinian citizens in similar terms to the army's conception of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza: As an enemy to be crushed with brute force.
Justice Or also identified systematic and institutionalised discrimination against the Palestinian minority over many decades as a major contributing factor in their protests.
Their towns and villages were heavily overcrowded, and homes often declared illegal because of meagre land allocations and oppressive planning restrictions. Their communities were deprived of industrial zones and overlooked in the state budget, leaving their local municipalities penniless. Their schools were massively underfunded, and universities placed obstacles in their way to higher education.
But what Justice Or failed to understand, or perhaps admit, was that the attitudes of the police, government and the Israeli public were shaped - and still are - by a more general political atmosphere that derives from Israel's founding ideology, Zionism.
Israel's Palestinian minority is viewed as the state's Achilles' heel; an opening for Palestinians in the occupied territories to undermine the state's Jewishness.
The threat is seen as two-fold.
Demographically, Palestinian citizens can erode the Jewish majority by reversing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian population in 1948 through, for example, winning citizenship for spouses from the occupied territories. Israel closed that door in 2003 with legislation effectively barring such marriages.
And ideologically, Palestinian citizens have risked exposing Israel's lack of meaningful democracy by proving, through their own treatment, that a Jewish state cannot be fair to them.
That the prime minister [Netanyahu] tells Arab citizens who protest that they should leave for the West Bank sends a message that getting rid of us is a legitimate political option. Transfer has entered the mainstream, and with it the right to use state violence to solve political problems.
A political campaign by the minority for equality - urging Israel's reform from a Jewish state to a "state for all its citizens" - is officially classified as "subversion".
Israeli Politicians - from the right and the left - share a common view, often expressed or implied, that Palestinian citizens can never truly belong to a Jewish state. Instead, they are described variously as a "fifth column", "Trojan horse" and "demographic time bomb".
Revealingly, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exploited Hamdan's death to issue a series of further warnings that the Palestinian minority was unwanted.
At a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu told his interior minister to examine ways to strip of citizenship anyone who "acted against the state" or attacked the police.
The next day, Netanyahu told demonstrators to leave Israel and "move to the Palestinian Authority or Gaza".
His comments have consciously blurred the distinction between the legitimate anger unleashed by Hamdan's killing and the spate of recent attacks by Palestinians from the occupied territories on Israelis in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Tel Aviv. Dangerously, Netanyahu has implied that they are all part of the same "terrorism".
His two most senior coalition partners have echoed him.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman praised the officers for acting "resolutely and effectively". Naftali Bennett, the economy minister, called Hamdan "a crazed Arab terrorist" and described the police response - killing him when he posed no threat - as "what is expected of our security forces".
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has ordered the justice ministry's police investigations unit, Mahash, to investigate Hamdan's killing. But the unit is already deeply distrusted by the Palestinian minority.
A recent report by Adalah, a legal centre for the Arab minority, found that Mahash closed 93 percent of the complaints against the police between 2011 and 2013. More disturbing, Adalah found cases were closed even when there was strong evidence of police use of excessive force.
That reflected similar failings by Mahash to properly investigate the police officers responsible for the 13 deaths in October 2000. None were ever indicted, Adalah noted.
The current police chief, Yohanan Danino, pre-empted the current investigation by saying the officers involved not only had his "full backing" but that criticism of them was "unfounded" and "irresponsible".
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However, suggestions that Hamdan's killing will ignite a new Intifada, this time in Israel, may prove premature.
Much as in the West Bank and Jerusalem, a sense of hopelessness in the face of Israel's entrenched racism and refusal to make political concessions has built to the point where it has found an outlet in spontaneous protests and outbursts of violence.
But Palestinians are more divided territorially, and their leaders ideologically, than they were at the start of the second Intifada.
Israel is offering no solutions, which is stoking the anger, but the Palestinian leaderships appear to have no credible answers or plans for how to challenge Israel. That lack of direction is stifling the organised resistance necessary for an Intifada.
Nonetheless, Hamdan's killing and the protests of the past few days mark another milestone in the steadily deteriorating relations between a self-declared Jewish state and its Palestinian citizens.
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According to Mohammed Zeidan, director of the Human Rights Association in Nazareth, the emphasis on protecting Israel's Jewishness at all cost is pushing both sides towards ever-greater confrontation.
"That the prime minister [Netanyahu] tells Arab citizens who protest that they should leave for the West Bank sends a message that getting rid of us is a legitimate political option," Zeidan told Al Jazeera.
"Transfer has entered the mainstream, and with it the right to use state violence to solve political problems."
That message has been on prominent display recently in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, where efforts have intensified to eradicate the minority's political parties and representatives.
Earlier this year, the Knesset raised the electoral threshold sufficiently high that none of the Palestinian parties is likely to reach it.
A leading legislator, Haneen Zoabi, has been suspended from the Knesset, for a record six months, for expressing her opinions and is in danger of being put on trial. And Netanyahu has again compared the main Islamic Movement in Israel to ISIL and vowed to outlaw it.
It is clear to Palestinian citizens, both from incidents like Hamdan's killing and from the contempt for their representatives, that their future in a self-declared Jewish state is growing more tenuous by the day.
For that reason, if no other, the fires burning in Kafr Kana, and other Palestinian communities in Israel, are not likely to die down any time soon.
Source: Al Jazeera | <urn:uuid:0338318c-04dd-404e-ade9-1ca1ee9f9a98> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/analysis-transfer-israeli-arabs-201411135141968716.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280761.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00100-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961205 | 1,965 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Video Calling: The Case for Interoperability – Part 3
Video calling is changing the world we live in. Healthcare is using video conferencing to provide services by doctors to patients in rural areas or those too ill to travel. Schools use video calling to enable their students to interact with experts and professionals across the country without having to leave the classroom. And courts are increasingly using video communications for specialized skills, such as language interpretation.
All of these rapid advancements will make a greater impact if our technologies work together. In a recent Cisco study, two-thirds of respondents believe that innovation is what keeps companies growing, that innovation is fostered through interoperable devices, and that it’s better if companies agree to common standards without government intervention. As new technologies are formed, these innovations are the fuel for economic growth and community well-being. It’s important to understand the role that interoperability plays in forming our technological foundation. | <urn:uuid:c9f4690e-8deb-4bf4-be41-f669e5c93d2d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://blogs.cisco.com/video/video-calling-the-case-for-interoperability-3?wpmp_switcher=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284352.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00197-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938024 | 190 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Compassionate Use of Triheptanoin (C7) for Inherited Disorders of Energy Metabolism
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.|
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01461304|
Expanded Access Status : No longer available
First Posted : October 28, 2011
Last Update Posted : December 10, 2021
|Condition or disease||Intervention/treatment|
|Very Long-chain acylCoA Dehydrogenase (VLCAD) Deficiency Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase Deficiencies (CPT1, CPT2) Mitochondrial Trifunctional Protein Deficiency Long-chain Hydroxyacyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency Glycogen Storage Disorders Pyruvate Carboxylase Deficiency Disease ACYL-CoA DEHYDROGENASE FAMILY, MEMBER 9, DEFICIENCY of Barth Syndrome||Drug: triheptanoin|
This study will treat children and adults who have documented deficiencies of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation including disorders of the following enzymes: Carnitine-Acylcarnitine Translocase (CATR), Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase I and II (CPT I, CPT II), Very-Long Chain Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (VLCAD), L-3-Hydroxy-Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase (LCHAD), Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase type 9 (ACAD9) and Mitochondrial Trifunctional Protein (TFP) with triheptanoin oil. This study is also open to patients with any type of glycogen storage disease, pyruvate carboxylase deficiency, or Barth Syndrome.
Symptoms often persist with standard diet including supplementation with medium chain triglyceride oil. Preliminary data shows triheptanoin to reverse many of the clinical symptoms not well controlled by standard diet.
On study entry, clinical and laboratory assessments will be carried out with the subject on their usual home diet. A complete history and physical exam will be performed. An echocardiogram must be obtained within the past year or it will be performed on the day of study entry. Following analysis of their diet and a negative pregnancy test, subjects will receive a modified diet containing triheptanoin (up to 2 grams/kg/24 hours for most subjects; subjects who experience cardiomyopathy may receive doses up to 4 grams/kg/24 hours), or continued on their previously established triheptanoin dose; not to exceed RDA for fat, substituted for their MCT oil and/or natural fat. This will be given by g-tube or orally divided into 2 or more doses. The dose will be adjusted on the basis of safety laboratory monitoring at specific time points and for adverse symptoms. The remainder of their diet will be modified to maintain appropriate caloric intake and balance. Total calories appropriate for RDA will be prescribed.
Study subjects will continue the triheptanoin-supplemented diet for a period of 12 months and then be able to continue into an indefinite extension phase in this compassionate use study. Laboratory evaluations will take place at two, six, and twelve months, as well as every 12 months in the extension phase. Laboratory tests may be completed at a local lab and the results forwarded to the PI for review between visits in Pittsburgh. Patients will monitor their weight at home on a monthly basis. Interim metabolic evaluations will be arranged as needed on a clinical basis with the study PI or the subject's home metabolic physician. Following the initial 12 months of the protocol, subjects will be placed on a continuing schedule for maintenance of triheptanoin therapy with a yearly follow up visit for an undeterminable period of time. Echocardiograms must be completed on an annual basis and sent to the study PI to review.
Travel to Pittsburgh, PA at the start of the study and annually is the responsibility of the subjects. Additionally, there may be study costs that insurance will not cover and subjects will be responsible for covering them. Examples of out-of-pocket study costs subjects may incur in addition to travel expenses including the following: necessary laboratory testing and echocardiograms. The study medication will be provided free of charge.
|Study Type :||Expanded Access|
|Official Title:||Dietary Therapy for Inherited Disorders of Energy Metabolism|
- Drug: triheptanoin
subjects will receive a modified diet containing triheptanoin (up to 2 grams/kg/24 hours; subjects who experience cardiomyopathy may receive doses up to 4 grams/kg/24 hours), or continued on their previously established triheptanoin dose; not to exceed RDA for fat, substituted for their MCT oil and/or natural fat. Study subjects will continue the triheptanoin-supplemented diet for a period of 12 months and then be able to continue into an indefinite extension phase in this compassionate use study. Laboratory evaluations will take place at two, six, and twelve months as well as every 12 months in the extension phase.Other Name: C7
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01461304
|United States, Pennsylvania|
|University of Pittsburgh Division of Medical Genetics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh|
|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15224|
|Principal Investigator:||Jerry Vockley, MD, PhD||Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh| | <urn:uuid:ca12409d-976a-465d-87ae-8260824c2bd8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01461304?term=%22Expanded+Access%22+%5BSTUDY-TYPES%5D&recr=Open&rank=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572033.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20220814113403-20220814143403-00277.warc.gz | en | 0.89053 | 1,231 | 1.945313 | 2 |
"The poor have typically been concentrated in big cities and rural America. Increasing poverty in the New York metropolitan area’s historically affluent suburbs mirrored a national trend detailed in the analysis, “Confronting Suburban Poverty in America” by Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program, and Alan Berube, a deputy director of the program.
"The first decade of the 21st century was a tipping point, the authors wrote. Suburbia, they said, is now home to the 'fastest-growing poor population in the country.'"
Monday, May 20, 2013
Our Increasingly Poor Suburbs
The Brookings Institution confirms that the suburbs are now experiencing conditions that Flint and other cities have been facing for decades: | <urn:uuid:894fcfcd-8afa-4d4f-99ea-8523553fbc31> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.flintexpats.com/2013/05/our-increasingly-poor-suburbs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720737.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00219-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933079 | 156 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Experimental eye-tracking headset could help the disabled
For people who cannot speak, nor move their arms, hands or even heads, computer-connected eye-tracking systems allow for communications via eye movements. Such systems have some drawbacks, however, which a new prototype headset is claimed to address.
According to Christopher McMurrough, who is a computer science and engineering lecturer from the University of Texas at Arlington, the calibration of regular eye-tracking systems requires assistance from trained experts. Additionally, there is often a lag in the processing of tracked eye movements, not allowing for instantaneous communications.
The 3D "point of gaze" headset that he invented reportedly has neither of these problems.
First developed as a thesis project when McMurrough was a student, the prototype features a forward-facing 3D depth-mapping camera on the top, along with dual eye-tracking devices pointing in at the wearer's eyes.
A program on a linked computer creates a 3D map of the environment in front of the user, based on the camera's output. By combining this data with the output of the eye-trackers, the direction of the user's gaze can be deduced, allowing the program to determine what they're looking at within the 3D map.
As a result, the system should conceivably be capable of performing tasks such as activating the controls of an electric wheelchair, or instructing a robotic arm to grab an object such as a bottle of water – all the user would have to do is look at those things.
"My interest in this technology grew out of seeing how my mother-in-law struggled with eye-tracking devices as an ALS patient," says McMurrough. "The latest version of our device can be worn as a pair of ski goggles with cameras on top and eye-trackers embedded in the lenses, making it very easy for patients to use it over long periods of time as it moves with them."
The technology, which has been patented, could also have applications in fields such as gaming, augmented reality, and the monitoring of medical conditions that affect eye movements.
Source: University of Texas at Arlington | <urn:uuid:245615e4-bf49-4113-9958-16d5ce00f301> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://newatlas.com/eye-tracking-headset/55312/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572408.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20220816151008-20220816181008-00673.warc.gz | en | 0.966778 | 436 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Published OS X and iOS crash log symbolicator written in Swift on GitHub.
Many people assume software development is scientific, precise, boring, follow-the-rules type of work. While that’s true to some extent (except the boring part of course :), I would argue it’s as much art and feeling as is music, painting or writing a book - starting a new software project is like staring at blank paper and slowly filling it with virtual ink. And many times you’re solving issues not just by deducing, but by following a “gut” feel. Which partially comes from years of experience working in the field.
Most of the time, being software developer is thrilling experience. Being able to create stuff out of nothing while working with talented people from all over the world. But there are times when some piece of code on some particular computer just doesn’t cooperate like it’s supposed to. Most of the time, it’s bugs in our own code, but sometimes it’s code in system provider’s frameworks to which we don’t have access and can only deduce by eliminating all other possibilities. That can be very time consuming. Luckily for us, there are many tools we have at our disposal that help us pinpoint the issue. On Apple’s platforms that’s Xcode and Instruments. However the front most interface with users which have issues with our products, especially when the issue involves crashes, are crash logs.
When OS X or iOS application crashes, the operating system detects it and saves all available information into a crash log. For developers, these logs provide valuable information about potential cause. But raw system data needs to be interpreted before it reveals which parts of our code are affected. This process is called symbolication - converting raw memory addresses into method names that relate to our code.
While situation regarding symbolication is better on iOS where Xcode will do it on your behalf, there’s no such thing for OS X (actually there are utilites and blog posts but they are either old or don’t provide nice automated way).
All the tools for symbolicating the crash logs are already present with every Xcode installation in the form of
atos command line utility. That’s nice, but it requires you to provide couple of information: architecture, Xcode archive, base memory address and all addresses you want to symbolicate. As you can imagine that’s very error prone but as it turns out also very automatable. Most of the information is already there, in the crash log itself: application identifier, version, build number, architecture, all the addresses, so all it requires is scanning archives folders and match the info. Once match is found, pass it to
atos and let is symbolicate all addresses.
I’ve been using
atos for a long time and imagined a tool that would automate this for me. But never came to write it. Until now that is :)
Download symbolicator from GitHub. Check the included readme file for build and run instructions. Wish you happy symbolications :) | <urn:uuid:5d3dc994-5c72-4dfe-96f1-fd4ee6f9d9ef> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://gentlebytes.com/blog/2014/06/12/symbolicator/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560284411.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095124-00466-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936261 | 642 | 1.789063 | 2 |
This Joint Mission Report describes the findings of the UN Environment/OCHA Joint Unit, UNEP Sudan, UNHCR and OCHA in South Sudan during a mission aiming to operationalize the environment as a cross-cutting issue during protracted crisis situations.
The objective of the mission was to collect and document experiences to formulate a strategy and framework to operationalize the environment as a cross-cutting issue. The mission team observed deforestation near the refugee camps and spoke with both host communities and the refugee groups. Through the application of a landscape approach in managing land and natural resources, the mission concluded there was potential to resolve conflicts and improve harmony among the host communities and the refugee population, and also to reduce environmental degradation in the near future. The mission also concluded that humanitarian financing can be counterproductive to sustainable development (e.g. encourages temporary solutions and short term return on investment).
Consult the report here. | <urn:uuid:3cbe6c53-8a0f-44fd-b112-d7194689ed2f> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://eecentre.org/resources/joint-mission-report-maban-camps-upper-nile-state-south-sudan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571950.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20220813111851-20220813141851-00672.warc.gz | en | 0.95639 | 179 | 2.1875 | 2 |
NYTimes | This is the first in a series of interviews about religion that I will conduct for The Stone. The interviewee for this installment is Alvin Plantinga, an emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, a former president of both the Society of Christian Philosophers and the American Philosophical Association, and the author, most recently, of “Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism.”
Gary Gutting: A recent survey by PhilPapers, the online philosophy index, says that 62 percent of philosophers are atheists (with another 11 percent “inclined” to the view). Do you think the philosophical literature provides critiques of theism strong enough to warrant their views? Or do you think philosophers’ atheism is due to factors other than rational analysis?
Alvin Plantinga: If 62 percent of philosophers are atheists, then the proportion of atheists among philosophers is much greater than (indeed, is nearly twice as great as) the proportion of atheists among academics generally. (I take atheism to be the belief that there is no such person as the God of the theistic religions.) Do philosophers know something here that these other academics don’t know?
What could it be? Philosophers, as opposed to other academics, are often professionally concerned with the theistic arguments — arguments for the existence of God. My guess is that a considerable majority of philosophers, both believers and unbelievers, reject these arguments as unsound.
Still, that’s not nearly sufficient for atheism. In the British newspaper The Independent, the scientist Richard Dawkins was recently asked the following question: “If you died and arrived at the gates of heaven, what would you say to God to justify your lifelong atheism?” His response: “I’d quote Bertrand Russell: ‘Not enough evidence, God! Not enough evidence!’” But lack of evidence, if indeed evidence is lacking, is no grounds for atheism. No one thinks there is good evidence for the proposition that there are an even number of stars; but also, no one thinks the right conclusion to draw is that there are an uneven number of stars. The right conclusion would instead be agnosticism.
In the same way, the failure of the theistic arguments, if indeed they do fail, might conceivably be good grounds for agnosticism, but not for atheism. Atheism, like even-star-ism, would presumably be the sort of belief you can hold rationally only if you have strong arguments or evidence. | <urn:uuid:eb986211-9c9f-4892-8e4d-d76e55bc32a9> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://subrealism.blogspot.fr/2014/02/is-atheism-irrational.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988720972.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183840-00250-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947691 | 530 | 2.078125 | 2 |
“I read a lot about Jehovah’s Witnesses on the Internet, I heard some rumors, and I listened to a great deal of prejudiced talk,” wrote a trainee reporter in Denmark. “As a result, I formed a very negative view of Jehovah’s Witnesses”
THAT reporter then interviewed a family who are Witnesses. The result? “My view of them changed from the moment I entered their home!” she wrote. “Maybe people don’t know them well enough, or maybe we are all simply too quick to judge. I know I was. And I found out I was wrong.”
On the basis of his dealings with Jehovah’s Witnesses on a professional level, a human resources consultant for a chain store in Europe found them to be honest workers. As a result, he sought to hire Witnesses.
Of course, Jehovah’s Witnesses are primarily known for their public ministry. They find that some people prefer not to discuss the Bible, while others enjoy a discussion. In fact, more than seven million people, in virtually every country, have a regular Bible study with the Witnesses, and some of these students later become Bible teachers themselves. In the United States, for example, a National Council of Churches report notes that of the 25 largest religions, Jehovah’s Witnesses are 1 of only 4 that have shown an increase.
Why are millions of people studying the Bible with the Witnesses? How are these studies conducted? Are students expected to become Witnesses themselves? At the very least, you are entitled to truthful answers. So do not listen to prejudicial hearsay, or rumor, but search for the facts. Says the Bible at Proverbs 14:15: “A simple man believes every word he hears; a clever man understands the need for proof.”
May this issue of Awake! help you to understand Jehovah’s Witnesses more fully and accurately. Indeed, the very fact that you are reading this magazine suggests that you have an open and fair mind. So why not do this: As you read the next four articles and the accompanying boxes, look up the cited scriptures in your own Bible. * Doing so is both wise and, as the Bible says, “noble-minded.”
^ par. 7 If you do not have a Bible but have access to the Internet, you can check the scriptures electronically at www.watchtower.org. There you will see the box “Read the Bible Online.” Additionally, the Web site contains Bible literature in more than 380 languages. | <urn:uuid:2146ff65-17e4-442d-b66c-686eb4608055> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201008/know-about-jehovahs-witnesses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281649.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00439-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967298 | 534 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Images © AECOM
The Rio 2016 Olympic Park at Barra da Tijuca, a tropical landscape that reflects the mountains and valleys of Brazil, with a network of pathways.
AECOM’s master plan for the project focuses on approximately 300 acres of land in the district of Barra de Tijuca, southwest of Rio. It includes three phases: the Rio Olympic Park area during the 2016 Games, a transition plan and the final position showcasing the site in legacy mode after 2016.
The plan’s first phase shows the 300-acre site, which will host 15 Olympic sports competitions and 11 Paralympic contests. The Media Center will also be constructed at the same location, which will host approximately 20,000 journalists.
The second phase illustrates how the site can operate during the transition stage — a 5- to 7-year period of time following the games when the site is not fully developed. This final phase comprises a legacy mode master plan that demonstrates economic, environmental and social sustainability development around the permanent structures and without the temporary structures. The new permanent sports facilities will be concentrated around existing ones — the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, Velodrome and HSBC Arena. After the games, these facilities will be renamed as the “Olympic Training Center” and be used to discover and develop new sporting talents. | <urn:uuid:ff0be094-4d5b-4590-b3c3-ced6d334abfd> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://wordlesstech.com/rio-2016-olympic-park-aecom/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882572870.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20220817062258-20220817092258-00671.warc.gz | en | 0.911582 | 284 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Benefits of Cooking with Kale
Rising immensely in popularity over the last year, kale has changed the diets of healthy eaters around the world. Low in calories, high in iron, and filled with powerful antioxidants, this vegetable has it all. And while kale’s vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K help your body stay healthy, it also serves as a delicious addition to a variety of dishes.
First on our list, enjoy this delicious, creamy, and unique Tuscan-Style Potato Soup as a solid dinnertime dish or in small serving sizes as an appetizer to a meat-based main course. Sprinkle with shaved cheese for a nice presentation and added flavor.
Two-Bean Soup with Kale
This hearty vegetarian soup warms up chilly nights and is packed with nutritious vegetables such as carrots, celery, and kale.
White Bean Soup with Kale and Chorizo
In this Mexican-inspired dish, Spanish chorizo plays an important role in creating a unique flavor that mixes wonderfully with kale, garlic, and onion for a meal you won’t soon forget.
Brimming with fresh vegetables, this hearty minestrone also features creamy, heirloom borlotti beans—the Italian variety of cranberry beans.
Navy Bean Soup
The ham hocks in this soup create a rich stock, and their smoky flavor permeates the entire dish. It will soon become a weeknight favorite for the family for its easy and delectable taste.
White Bean and Sausage Ragout with Tomatoes, Kale, and Zucchini
Chock-full of vegetables, this one-pot ragout—a thick, well-seasoned stew—warms up a chilly winter evening. If you've never had kale, this dish makes the most of its sweet, earthy flavor.
Sausage, Kale, and Bean Soup
Cajun smoked sausage fires up a simple five-ingredient soup with smoky spice. Serve with crusty bread for a complete meal.
Winter Vegetable Soup
Potatoes, squash, and white beans combine for a substantial main-dish soup that is low in calories and saturated fat.
Dijon Chicken Stew with Potatoes and Kale
This hearty meal features tender pieces of dark and white meat chicken simmered with potatoes, leek, and kale. The Dijon mustard adds just the right amount of tanginess to the robust stew.
Ribollita (Italian Bread Soup)
This Tuscan cuisine is traditionally made by reheating leftover minestrone or vegetable soup from a prior meal and adding bread. Enjoy our take on this famous and flavorful Italian soup made with country bread and a variety of vegetables including kale, broccoli rabe, and red potato.
Cannellini Stew with Sausage and Kale and Cheese Toasts
For a full-flavored, comforting stew, try this dish with various chicken sausages and mild cheeses and serve with toast. | <urn:uuid:c916de4b-0af8-48be-9f60-86f1b504825d> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.cookinglight.com/food/recipe-finder/kale-soup-recipes/view-all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279650.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00436-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927884 | 627 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Retail property developer Hammerson realise the importance of place-making in creating sustainable retail destinations that deliver positive social, environmental and economic impacts. In 2015 Hammerson launched a new set of Positive Places Commitments, each with its own set of targets, to help the organization move forward their sustainability agenda.
As part of this work, Useful Projects were appointed to help develop a working definition of successful place-making which is specific to Hammerson. Good place-making has a profound impact on communities. High quality places can enhance wellbeing, and provide spaces that genuinely respond to the needs of the communities that use them.
Working alongside JLL, we reviewed industry best practice around social sustainability and place-making, and facilitated a workshop with key Hammerson staff to review place-making priorities and perceptions of success.
From this we developed a list of key attributes associated with successful places which Hammerson could address, and a set of metrics against which to measure place-making performance.
Moving forward, UP will help Hammerson develop standards and measures that will be adopted across the Hammerson portfolio. These will be used to measure the impact that Hammerson are having on communities, through investment in place-making, and then to understand how they can use their investment to further enhance social value. | <urn:uuid:d73b4032-3d99-49eb-aaf7-22c918fb2537> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://usefulprojects.co.uk/project/hammerson-social-value-of-place/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882570879.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20220808213349-20220809003349-00478.warc.gz | en | 0.950649 | 258 | 1.898438 | 2 |
The 15 Finest Points To Do In Stuttgart, Germany.
The Zwinger is comprised of 6 magnificent structures and also was initially used to host tournaments and also was likewise the site of various court tasks. Today, the palace is house to several museums, consisting of one that houses a large porcelains collections as well as a depot that is a display of Germany’s weapons. After that there is the wing known as the Semperbau, where site visitors can indulge their eyes on paintings from the Old Masters, consisting of Van Dyck, Rubens as well as Raphael.
Current Dresden Task.
Also known as the Green Vault The Grünes Gewölbe is among the richest prize chambers in Europe. More than 3 million site visitors have actually visited it and appreciated the prizes it holds within two separate irreversible exhibit areas. Once the jewel of baroque Germany, Dresden’s Old Town was nearly completely destroyed during the The second world war battles, but after years of painstaking restoration job, the city’s architectural highlights are once more spectacular. Evocatively nicknamed the “Florence of the North,” the Saxon capital is a charming view, with its previously UNESCO-listed beachfront lined with elegant vacation homes, regal churches and grand palaces. The Dresden Frauenkirche, or Church of Our Lady, is a lovely historic Lutheran church in Dresden, initially constructed in its current Baroque-style building state in the 18th century. Though it was damaged throughout the battle of Dresden in World War II, it was rebuilt start in 1994 following the reunification of German and finished in 2004. Today it is thought about to be among one of the most gorgeous examples of Protestant sacred design in Europe, understood for its amazing dome.
Churches & Cathedrals.
Though it is usually referred to as a basilica, it does not function as the seat for a bishop for the church. Because its resuming in 2005, it has actually served as a significant visitor destination in the Saxony area, residence to an exhibition on the building’s history as well as reconstruction. Two religious services are held every day at the church, in addition to 2 liturgies offered each Sunday. The beautiful 1.8-kilometer park is recognized for its charming symmetrical pathways and major tourist attractions such as the Dresden Zoo as well as Dresden Arboretum. In the facility of the park, visitors can check out the beautiful Sommerpalais, which showcases Renaissance-style architecture. 1,5000 yard sculptures are showcased throughout the park, in landscaped sections such as a pheasant yard. Other attractions consist of Volkswagen’s Transparent Manufacturing facility as well as the mini Parkeisenbahn, which operates from April through October.
Arts, Society And Nobility: 10 Ideal Things To Do In Dresden, Germany.
Dresden Porcelain Collection.
Read more about here. From the leading site visitors can take pleasure in magnificent views of Dresden and the Elbe river. This excellent facility of structures, which was developed in between the years 1710 as well as 1732, lies throughout the road from Dresden Castle.
Investing some time strolling and absorbing the opulence of this facility is an outright must-do when checking out Dresden. Dresden Transportation Museum isn’t one of the city’s most visited, yet it’s house to an unique and also remarkable collection of background’s first lorries. Spanning greater than 50,000 square feet, the collection consist of heavy steam engines, motorbikes, ships, as well as a lot more. While the museum hosts short-lived exhibits across numerous topics, the irreversible exhibition covers the background of road traveling throughout 200 years. Although 80 percent of Dresden’s historical facility was damaged in The second world war, important spots have actually been reconstructed to their former elegance.
Points To Do In Altstad (old Town) Dresden.
Constructed with protection in mind with minimal gateways and also large walls, site visitors can check out vintages, artwork and other special things in addition to the two yards connected to the royal residence. The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister becomes part of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden that are among the most popular museums on the planet. Bring in greater than 500,000 art fans from around the world, the framework was originally constructed in 1855 following Gottfried Semper’s plans as well as was one of one of the most vital museum jobs in 19th-century Germany. The high quality of the works below and the magnificent building features of the building continue to intrigue site visitors to today.
Palais Grosser Gartens.
That being said, Dresden is truly worth a go to throughout the year. There are numerous museums and other indoor activities to guarantee a fun time even on a stormy day. Read more about here. A boat all set to leave for a scenic tour of the Elbe valleyYou would certainly have to be blind and deaf to miss the distinct steamboats plodding the river Elbe. The valley bordering Dresden is a former Globe Heritage Site, but the condition got withdrawed after a new and quite debatable bridge was ended up a couple of years back. It is still attractive as well as you should absolutely do a little trip on one of the popular boats. There are also a couple of excursion available, though much shorter trips of an hour are additionally an option.Here’s a link to the main internet site. Germany is big as well as has numerous highlights, yet few cities can compare with Saxony’s resources.
One of Zwinger’s most well-known as well as photographed functions is the Crown Entrance. This gateway is a baroque work of art, as is Zwinger’s attractive Nymphaeum water fountain. The catholic hofkirche was constructed by Saxon ruler Augustus III in the 18th century as a weight for the protestant Frauenkirche. The Baroque church is among one of the most stunning structures in Dresden. The original Dresden Sanctuary was left in ruins throughout the Allied battle of the city in WWII. Today, site visitors can once again take pleasure in the impressive charm of this basilica, which has actually been repainted in pastel tones and cut in gold. Throughout the repair, items of the initial structure were incorporated right into the building of the brand-new building.
The 15 Finest Things To Do In Weimar, Germany.
I currently stated that December is a great time, yet the city will certainly also be really crowded during that time. Over 2,5 million individuals see the Christmas market, so I guess you can find out the rest on your own. The city is normally similarly as crowded during the summer vacation months, indicating July as well as August. The ancient gothic church in MeissenThe interiors are superior as is the stunning church. The water castle MoritzburgNo matter exactly how brief your stay in Dresden is, you ought to absolutely go to Moritzburg. | <urn:uuid:a465385f-88e3-4b3b-b55c-a6897c0e23c8> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://123gite.com/anonymous/leading-10-points-to-do-in-dresden/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571090.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20220809215803-20220810005803-00074.warc.gz | en | 0.969709 | 1,484 | 1.539063 | 2 |
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