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been put together with the Mid-Atlantic region as its focus, but there is lots of good information that will be of use to gardeners in other parts of the country. |
Few things spark up a dull winter landscape like the glowing red-orange stems of coral bark willow. This hardy, fast-growing plant grows naturally as a large tree, but it can easily be turned into a multi-stemmed shrub by annual coppicing (cutting stems back nearly to the ground). The brightest stem color occurs only o... |
to the best bark display. Coral bark willow has narrow, medium green leaves that turn yellow in the fall. It can be grown singly or, for real punch, in groups or as hedges. Common name: Coral bark willow Botanical name: Salix alba subsp. vitellina ‘Britzensis’ (syn. S. alba ‘Britzensis’) Plant type: Deciduous tree Zone... |
10 feet if grown as a coppiced shrub) • Sun: Full sun • Soil: Adaptable to most soil types • Moisture: Average to moist • Mulch: 2 to 3 inches of wood chips or other organic mulch • Pruning: To grow as a shrub, cut all stems back to within a few inches from the ground in early spring each year. For tree form, |
just prune lightly to improve form and remove any damaged branches. • Fertilizer: None, or apply compost or balanced fertilizer as needed Pests and diseases • Susceptible to some insects (willow leaf beetle, stem borer, aphids) and diseases (cankers, leaf blights) • As with most willows, coral bark willow prefers moist... |
look great in winter arrangements outdoors or indoors. All in the family • Coral bark willow is a member of the willow family (Salicaceae), which also includes poplars and aspens (Populus spp.). • There are about 400 species of willow (Salix) ranging from trees 80+ feet tall to creeping alpine plants less than 6 inches... |
Tombs of the sacrificers? A few tombs share the characteristic of containing a few very specific objects : full warrior equipment including a sword in its sheath, spear, shield and also a knife or cleaver (butcher's blade) and an axe with an eye handle, together with one or more small buckets, a bronze pan, a toolbox, ... |
One or other of these objects may be missing, depending on the chronology, but the assembly is still remarkable . The trilogy of weapon(s)-small bucket(s)-axe/cleaver is always found and the general destruction of the weapons is reminiscent of the Gauls' sacred sites. One of the axes fits perfectly into the wound in th... |
the settlement and this similarity, together with the specific sets of metal objects, could indicate the tombs of sacrificers . The replacement of the axe with the butcher's cleaver, at a time when hundreds of ewes were ritually slaughtered at the settlement, is another argument for viewing these remains as those of me... |
14 October 2005 GSA Release No. 05-37 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Mars' Climate in Flux: Mid-Latitude Glaciers New high-resolution images of mid-latitude Mars are revealing glacier-formed landscapes far from the Martian |
poles, says a leading Mars researcher. Conspicuous trains of debris in valleys, arcs of debris on steep slopes and other features far from the polar ice caps bear striking similarities |
to glacial landscapes of Earth, says Brown University's James Head III. When combined with the latest climate models and orbital calculation for Mars, the geological features make a compelling case |
for Mars having ongoing climate shifts that allow ice to leave the poles and accumulate at lower latitudes. "The exciting thing is a real convergence of these things," said Head, |
who will present the latest Mars climate discoveries on Sunday, 16 October, at the Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Salt Lake City (specific time and location |
provided below). "For decades people have been saying that deposits at mid and equatorial latitudes look like they are ice-created," said Head. But without better images, elevation data and some |
way of explaining it, ice outside of Mars' polar regions was a hard sell. Now high-resolution images from the Mars Odyssey spacecraft's Thermal Emission Imaging System combined with images from |
the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft's Mars Orbiter Camera and Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter can be compared directly with glacier features in mountain and polar regions of Earth. The likenesses are |
hard to ignore. For instance, consider what Head calls "lineated valley fill." These are lines of debris on valley floors that run downhill and parallel to the valley walls, as |
if they mark some sort of past flow. The same sorts of lines of debris are seen in aerial images of Earth glaciers. The difference is that on Mars the |
water ice sublimes away (goes directly from solid ice to gas, without any liquid phase between) and leaves the debris lines intact. On Earth the lines of debris are usually |
washed away as a glacier melts. The lines of debris on Mars continue down valleys and converges with other lines of debris - again, just like what's seen on Earth |
where glaciers converge. "There's so much topography and the debris is so thick (on Mars) that it's possible some of the ice might still be there," said Head. The evidence |
for present day ice includes unusually degraded recent impact craters in these areas - just what you'd expect to see if a lot of the material ejected from the impact |
was ice that quickly sublimed away. Another peculiarly glacier-like feature seen in Martian mid-latitudes are concentric arcs of debris breaking away from steep mountain alcoves - just as they do |
at the heads of glaciers on Earth. As for how ice could reach Mars lower latitudes, orbital calculations indicate that Mars may slowly wobble on its spin axis far more |
than Earth does (the Moon minimizes Earth's wobble). This means that as Mars' axis tilted to the extremes - up to 60 degrees from the plane of Mars' orbit - |
the Martian poles get a whole lot more sunshine in the summertime than they do now. That extra sun would likely sublime water from the polar ice caps, explains Head. |
"When you do that you are mobilizing a lot of ice and redistributing it to the equator," Head said. "The climate models are saying it's possible." It's pure chance that |
we happen to be exploring Mars when its axis is at a lesser, more Earth-like tilt. This has led to the false impression of Mars being a place that's geologically |
and climatically dead. In fact, says Head, Mars is turning out to be a place that is constantly changing. WHEN AND WHERE Lineated Valley Fill at the Dichotomy Boundary on |
Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, 16-19 October, contact Ann Cairns at the GSA Newsroom, Salt Palace Convention Center, for assistance and to arrange for interviews: +1-801-534-4770. - After the |
The clock Command The clock command has facilities for getting the current time, formatting time values, and scanning printed time strings to get an integer time value. The clock command was added in Tcl 7.5. Table 13-1 summarizes the clock |
The clock format command formats an integer value into a date string. It takes an optional argument that controls the format. The format strings contains % keywords that are replaced with the year, month, day, date, hours, minutes, and seconds, |
measure the relative time of different performance tuning trials. The following command counts the clicks per second over 10 seconds, which will vary from system to system: Example 13-1 Calculating clicks per second. set t1 [clock clicks] after 10000 ;# |
off the year, the current year is assumed. Year 2000 Compliance Tcl implements the standard interpretation of two-digit year values, which is that 70?9 are 1970?999, 00?9 are 2000?069. Versions of Tcl before 8.0 did not properly deal with two-digit |
years in all cases. Note, however, that Tcl is limited by your system's time epoch and the number of bits in an integer. On Windows, Macintosh, and most UNIX systems, the clock epoch is January 1, 1970. A 32-bit integer |
can count enough seconds to reach forward into the year 2037, and backward to the year 1903. If you try to clock scan a date outside that range, Tcl will raise an error because the seconds counter will overflow or |
underflow. In this case, Tcl is just reflecting limitations of the underlying system. If you leave out a date, clock scan assumes the current date. You can also use the -base option to specify a date. The following example uses |
the current time as the base, which is redundant: clock scan "10:30:44 PM" -base [clock seconds] The date parser allows these modifiers: year, month, fortnight (two weeks), week, day, hour, minute, second. You can put a positive or negative number |
use tomorrow, yesterday, today, now, last, this, next, and ago, as modifiers. clock format [clock scan "3 years ago"] => Wed Nov 24 17:06:46 1993 Both clock format and clock scan take a -gmt option that uses Greenwich Mean Time. |
The data on species level is structured in four areas (see picture below): 1. At the top in light yellow, the species' name is shown together with, when applicable, its IUCN code (click on the code and you will be redirected to IUCN's webpage with detailed information about this threatened species) and, if you have tic... |
2. In the rich yellow field you also have the species name and a scroll function up (left) or down (right) the sequence of the chosen checklist (click on Filter if you want to change the active checklist). 3. Below the yellow field, the taxonomic tree down to the chosen level is shown (click on any higher level to get ... |
xeno-canto's website to hear voice recordings of the species * Wikipedia - click on the icon and you will be redirected to Wikipedia's website * Google images - click on the icon and you will be redirected to Google's website |
A recursive function typically contains a conditional expression which has three parts: Recursive functions can be much simpler than any other kind of function. Indeed, when people first start to use them, they often look so mysteriously simple as to |
be incomprehensible. Like riding a bicycle, reading a recursive function definition takes a certain knack which is hard at first but then seems simple. There are several different common recursive patterns. A very simple pattern looks like this: (defun name-of-recursive-function |
(argument-list) "documentation..." (if do-again-test body... (name-of-recursive-function next-step-expression))) Each time a recursive function is evaluated, a new instance of it is created and told what to do. The arguments tell the instance what to do. An argument is bound to the |
value of the next-step-expression. Each instance runs with a different value of the next-step-expression. The value in the next-step-expression is used in the do-again-test. The value returned by the next-step-expression is passed to the new instance of the function, which |
evaluates it (or some transmogrification of it) to determine whether to continue or stop. The next-step-expression is designed so that the do-again-test returns false when the function should no longer be repeated. The do-again-test is sometimes called the stop condition, |
Scientists at the UCL Institute of Child Health (ICH) have developed a new gene therapy that could have the potential to save the lives of children with a life threatening tumour called neuroblastoma. The technique, which uses novel tumour-homing nanoparticles has proved to be effective in a first stage trial in which ... |
the study are published online today in the international journal Biomaterials. Stephen Hart, reader in molecular genetics at the ICH, explains: “It has long been a major technical challenge for medical researchers to use gene therapy to target this type of tumour, particularly when the cancer has spread. Now with the ... |
the genes to where they are needed, via an intravenous injection.” Neuroblastoma is one of the most aggressive malignancies, affecting around 100 children each year in Britain. New treatments are urgently needed to tackle the disease, which is often fatal. Two thirds of children have widespread disease at diagnosis, ma... |
demonstrated that the nanoparticles can home in on tumours after injection into the blood stream, avoiding the liver, lung and spleen, organs that might otherwise remove the particles from the circulation. We have then used the nanoparticles to deliver a cargo of anti-tumour genes, which in turn stimulated the mouse’s ... |
slowed significantly and in a third of mice, tumours were eradicated completely, surviving long-term.” “These nanoparticles are composed of peptides (small pieces of protein) and liposomes (fatty globules), as well as the therapeutic genes. Although similar to artificial viruses, the nanoparticles are safe and non-infe... |
promise for improving clinical care of children and adolescents suffering from a very aggressive disease. I look forward to seeing results of early phase clinical trials.” Dr Hart continues, “We now need to study the efficacy, safety and side-effects of the nanoparticles and hope that in the future our findings will tr... |
With predictions of polar bears being extinct in 50 years, On Thin Ice follows bears as they emerge from their dens and navigate their rapidly changing environment. On Thin Ice shows how the frozen expanses of the Arctic are shrinking at an unprecedented rate, with the very survival of the polar bear literally on thin ... |
mounted a series of expeditions across the Arctic to document the plight of the polar bear. * Researcher Nick Lunn tranquillises polar bears from his helicopter, cataloguing the diminishing health of the Western Hudson Bay bear population and finding the remains of a bear thought to have died from starvation. * Close a... |
they chase bears out of the township of Churchill, built in the middle of the bears’ migration route. Follow one family of bears that have to be darted after they attempt to break into a building food for food, while another bold bear becomes trapped inside a garbage truck. * Hungry bears and husky dogs fighting one an... |
of Norway. * Polar bears in the wild as they capture seals and devour whale carcasses. There is no more iconic symbol of strength and adaptation to survival than the polar bear.... an animal so superbly suited to its environment that it thrives in the most hostile corners of the planet – until now. On Thin Ice - A movi... |
I refuse to believe that rainbows are the result of light refracting through air-borne water droplets. Is this the thread where be refuse to believe facts just because? Somebody Else's Problem wrote: Well no, I'm not a geneticist. And I don't think there'll be adequate DNA evidence from 40,000 years ago to make such a ... |
Alvin Flummux wrote: Harry Bizzle wrote: I've read that lactose tolerance developed within the last 10,000 years or so. Interesting, I'd like to know more about this. Unsurprising, considering the Neolithic Revolution occurred around 10,000 years ago. Up until that point, lactase production stopped once individuals sur... |
humans to continue to drink milk without having to suck on their mothers teats their entire lives. So lactase (the enzyme that breaks lactose into glucose and galactose) production continued into adulthood. Lactose intolerance by population of people correlates with the access to domesticated mammals that neolithic hum... |
"They tell me that isn't right," Harding said. Judy Ellinghausen, archivist at The History Museum in Great Falls, agreed, calling such an account "unlikely." In all the reading she has done on the 1908 flood, she has seen no references to serious flooding in the center of town. Great Falls was not the only community af... |
June 1908. Lewis and Clark County commissioners estimated the Helena area lost $100,000 worth of its roads and bridges, while the Tribune quoted a Fort Benton resident as saying the water had never been as high in that historic town along the Missouri as it was in 1908. Great Falls still sports one clear public referen... |
1908 — a plaque located on a railroad overpass pier next to 6th Street North between Park Drive and River Drive North. The plaque on the east pier shows the peak water level of the June 1908 flood. Based on that high-water mark, floodwaters would have intruded only a short distance into the Lower North Side residential... |
West Side was inundated with water in 1908, just as it was in 1964, another disastrous flood year for west Great Falls. Harding said the worst recorded flooding on the Sun River, which runs through the West Side and connects to the Missouri River near the Meadow Lark Country Club area, occurred in 1964. "The 1908 (floo... |
granddaddy of them all until '64," Harding said. Along the Sun River, water levels were higher in 1964 "by about a foot and a half," than they were in 1908, he added. Other notable floods in Great Falls occurred in 1953 and 1975, which gave rise to a theory that big floods took place in Great Falls every 11 years. |
Saving energy: California clamps down on ‘vampire’ chargers Wasteful battery chargers for smartphones, tablet computers, laptops, etc., will be subject to new, stricter rules in the US state of California. |
‘Vampire’ battery chargers can waste up to 60% of the energy they take from electrical outlets. California is the first US state to confront this problem, with the California Energy |
Commission voting unanimously to improve efficiency standards, which will cover some 170 million chargers. The manufacturers of consumer appliances of course strongly objected to the new regulations, despite projections that |
the improved energy standards would save $306 million per year on commercial and residential electricity bills. From the Los Angeles Times: This means that we can have the devices that |
we like in our lives and that make our lives easier. But by taking a few relatively simple steps to improve battery chargers, we can save so much electricity, take |
care of the environment and save ratepayers money. –Commissioner Karen Douglas, California Energy Commissioner California’s energy plan has a tradition of placing a priority on energy efficiency, above the development |
of renewable power, starting with air conditioner regulations back in 1977. This strategy has helped keep the state’s per capita energy consumption the same over the past 30 years, as |
opposed to the US as a whole, which saw consumption increase by 50% over the same period. The chargers are called vampires because they continue to suck energy from the |
Saturdays: Feburary 2, 9, 16 and 23, 2013 Family Resource Library, 1st floor Children's Medical Center $30 per child 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. This course is developed for teenagers to learn site signs in American Sign Language. Students will learn the alphabet in ASL and the production of numbers used in sign language.... |
between the ages of thirteen (13) and seventeen (17) years old. It will consist of four (4) consecutive classes for one (1) hour each week. The students will receive weekly handouts and will have opportunities to practice their skills. The instructor will provide activities and games to support the concepts taught. To ... |
High selection pressure on domestic cattle has led to an undesirable increase in inbreeding, as well as to the deterioration of some functional traits which are indirectly selected. Semen stored |
in a cryobank may be a useful way to redirect selection or limit the loss of genetic diversity in a selected breed. The purpose of this study was to analyse |
the efficiency of current cryobank sampling methods, by investigating the benefits of using cryopreserved semen in a selection scheme several generations after the semen was collected. The theoretical impact of |
using cryopreserved semen in a selection scheme of a dairy cattle breed was investigated by simulating various scenarios involving two negatively correlated traits and a change in genetic variability of |
the breed. Our results indicate that using cryopreserved semen to redirect selection will have an impact on negatively selected traits only if it is combined with major changes in selection |
objectives or practices. If the purpose is to increase genetic diversity in the breed, it can be a viable option. Using cryopreserved semen to redirect selection or to improve genetic |
diversity should be carried out with caution, by considering the pros and cons of prospective changes in genetic diversity and the value of the selected traits. However, the use of |
genomic information should lead to more interesting perspectives to choose which animals to store in a cryobank and to increase the value of cryobank collections for selected breeds. Within the |
context of farm animal biotechnologies, cryopreservation is one of the most useful tools for selection improvement, dissemination of genetic progress and ex situ conservation. In its Global Plan of Action, |
the FAO recommended the implementation of ex situ programmes to complement in situ conservation of animal genetic resources. It was also suggested that cryopreserved bio-specimens could be used as a |
backup material to redirect the selection scheme of a given breed, if needed [2,3]. Consequently, several gene banks have been created with different strategies and policies that vary with the |
breed, species, and country concerned [4,5] and methods have been proposed to use ex situ genetic resources to optimise the management of genetic diversity in endangered breeds . Breeds with |
large populations are subject to high selection pressures and have rates of inbreeding greater than the desired values . In these cases, the use of stored semen from male ancestors |
has seldom been investigated, although breeding organisations could be interested in doing so. For instance, in the dairy cattle breed Abondance (a local selected breed in the French Northern Alps), |
the semen of a bull born in 1977 (called Naif), which was rarely used in the 1980's, was used from 2004 to 2007, to produce 20 young bulls in order |
to reintroduce some genetic variability in the breed. Depending on the country, different strategies have been implemented to sample individuals for national collections. In the Netherlands, most of the tested |
bulls are sampled for preservation in the gene bank , while in the USA, the selection of animals for cryopreservation is aimed at optimizing genetic diversity within the collection, by |
sampling animals from clusters determined through computed genealogical relationships . In France, based on the idea that individuals sampled for a cryobank should be as diverse as possible and carry |
special genotypes , regulations have been implemented to conserve frozen sperm from three main origins: (I) animals from endangered breeds, (II) original animals from non-endangered breeds (with either extreme positive |
or negative Estimated Breeding Values (EBV), carrying rare alleles or representing rare pedigree lines), and (III) representative animals from non-endangered breeds . The purpose of this study was to analyse |
the efficiency of current cryobank sampling methods by investigating the benefits of using cryopreserved semen in a selection scheme several generations after the semen was collected. Based on simulations, we |
examined two situations in which cryopreserved sperm was used (1) to redirect the selection goal, by including a trait which, in the past, had shown a negative correlated selection response |
(e.g. fertility in dairy cattle), and (2) to limit the loss of genetic diversity in the breed. The impact of using cryopreserved sperm was measured by estimating the evolution of |
two negatively correlated traits and the evolution of the breed's genetic diversity, assessed through pedigree information. A simplified cattle breed was simulated with 13 discrete generations, each consisting of 100 |
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