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assistance to struggling people both here at home and abroad? Activities for Advocates: Write an article for your local Jewish newspaper, explaining why our continued dedication to the Torah and |
its ideals makes Simchat Torah a perfect time to increase our focus on global social justice. Sit down with your family and make a list of your social justice priorities |
for the upcoming year. Set ambitious – but realistic – goals, discussing specific strategies you can employ – and actions you can take – to help reduce poverty, disease and |
Raccoons are smart. If you’ve ever had to deal with them then you’ll probably agree that they are some of the smartest creatures on Earth. In 2011, PBS did a one-hour documentary on raccoons and their nocturnal behavior. The raccoons were tagged with GPS collars and studied for three months. The information gleaned from the researchers begged the question, “Are humans making raccoons smarter?” |
It seem as though every attempt to keep them out of our trash bins present them with a new and interesting puzzle to solve which in turn creates smarter raccoons that survive and pass on their genes. It sounds like a ridiculous theory but take look at the documentary before you make any judgments. The library owns one copy at the main branch. |
The name “cottonmouth” is from the whitish lining of its mouth. When alarmed, it opens its mouth widely, showing the cotton-white lining. The body is black with little or no pattern or dark brown with darker bands on the back. Belly is dark brown or black. Young cottonmouths are patterned something like a copperhead and usually have a yellowish-green tail. |
Brickyard Hill Loess Mound Points of Interest: - See plants and animals characteristic of the Great Plains of central Nebraska and Kansas without having to leave Missouri. - Enjoy commanding views of the Missouri River floodplain and peer into the state of Nebraska to the west. - At the margins |
of the prairie openings see ancient bur oaks, some of which predate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Natural Features Description: The unique short-grass prairie community found on these steep, west facing bluffs occurs here due to a combination of physical factors. These bluffs are formed of loess, which |
is predominantly silt (with some sand and clay) that was deposited here during the Pleistocene time period. Loess consists of particles that were carried by glacial meltwaters and deposited on vast mud flats thousands of years ago to the north and west of Missouri. Strong winds blew these particles into |
Missouri (think the Dust Bowl storms of the 1930s) where they accumulated in deposits of varying depth. In northwest Missouri the loess deposits are very thick, up to 70 feet deep in places. Loess is a very cohesive type of soil that can erode into steep angles like the bluffs |
here. These steep loess soils are excessively well drained and their south and west aspect make them receive a maximal amount of solar radiation during the day. To make matters drier, northwest Missouri has the driest climate in the state with an annual precipitation of around 36 inches. Add to |
these factors the strong westerly winds that buffet these slopes and you have a microclimate that is similar to the Great Plains 100 miles west of here. Because of this Great Plains microclimate plants and animals occur here at the eastern edge of their native range, such as nine-anthered prairie |
clover, skeleton plant and Packard’s grasshopper. Yet despite the harsh growing conditions even these loess hills receive enough rainfall to support the growth of shrubs and trees. In the absence of fire, these rare hill prairies eventually become taken over by invading eastern red cedar, rough-leaved dogwood and other woody |
species. Based on evidence preserved in tree rings of old-growth bur oaks found here scientists have determined that in the early 19th century fires burned these hills every 6-7 years keeping them more open than today. These fires were likely started by both Native Americans and occasional lightning strikes. This |
natural area is within Brickyard Hill Conservation Area. Take Exit 116 off Interstate 29. Head east for just a tenth of a mile and turn right on to Highway RA (heading south). Continue southeast on Highway RA which then turns into the county gravel road, 165th Street. Stay on 165th |
Street for about 1.6 miles and then turn right (southeast) on to G Avenue. Follow the gravel road called G Avenue for about a mile. Here turn right (west) back into the conservation area and proceed to the last parking lot where the public road ends. Park here and walk |
west on the access trail (field road) towards the natural area. A map and compass are recommended to explore the area. Hunting is permitted. Get more information from the MDC Atlas. View Larger Map |
Homonymous Hemianopsia:Partial or complete loss of vision in one half of the visual field(s) of one or both eyes. Subtypes include altitudinal hemianopsia, characterized by a visual defect above or below the horizontal meridian of the visual field. Homonymous hemianopsia refers to a visual defect that affects both eyes equally, |
and occurs either to the left or right of the midline of the visual field. Binasal hemianopsia consists of loss of vision in the nasal hemifields of both eyes. Bitemporal hemianopsia is the bilateral loss of vision in the temporal fields. Quadrantanopsia refers to loss of vision in one quarter |
Feelings of depression and binge eating go hand in hand in teen girlsDecember 13th, 2011 in Health Teenage girls who feel depressed are twice as likely to start binge eating |
as other girls are, according to a new nationwide study. The reverse is also true: Girls who engage in regular binge eating have double the normal risk of symptoms of |
depression. The findings suggest that young women who display signs of either depression or binge eating should undergo screening for both disorders. Binge eating prevention initiatives should consider the role |
of depressive symptoms and incorporate suggestions for dealing with negative emotions, reports the article, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. This study could provide |
important new opportunities to address the nations obesity epidemic, according to senior author Alison Field, Sc.D., an epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. The |
new study is the largest to look at the relationship between binge eating and depression during adolescence, when most eating disorders surface. The study authors defined binge eating as eating |
a large amount of food in a short amount of time and feeling a lack of control over eating during the episode. The study labeled girls who ate large amounts |
of food but did not feel out of control overeaters. The findings rely on surveys conducted as part of the nationwide Growing Up Today Study. The authors focused on girls |
because eating disorders and depression are more common in females than in males. The researchers analyzed data from nearly 5,000 girls aged 12 to 18 who answered questions in 1999, |
with follow-up surveys in 2001 and 2003. Teens and young women who reported in the first survey that they always or usually felt down in the dumps or depressed were |
about twice as likely as others were to start overeating or binge eating during the following two years. The most common approach to obesity has been to focus on eating |
better and exercising more, but many pathways can lead to being overweight, said Marian Tanofsky-Kraff, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland. |
There is a group of people where it may be more psychologically driven. Targeting some of these psychological factors might help prevent obesity. Binge eaters or overeaters can be very |
secretive, so parents may be unaware that theres a problem. Thats a really important message for clinicians, adds Field. If they have patients who are depressed, they need to ask |
about disordered eating patterns and vice versa. The authors note that survey respondents include few youths belonging to ethnic minorities or lower socioeconomic groups, so the study findings might not |
apply to all populations. In addition, the surveys did not include information on use of medications, such as antidepressants, which might affect outcomes. More information: Skinner, H., et al. (2011). |
A Prospective Study of Overeating, Binge Eating, and Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescent and Young Adult Women. Journal of Adolescent Health. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2011.10.002 Provided by Health Behavior News Service "Feelings of |
The pressure exerted by a column of water when confined. The force of the water available in a water supply system. pressure which water exerts as measured in pounds per square inch, kilograms per square centimeter, head feet, or head |
meter. The downward force of water upon itself and other materials; caused by the pull of gravity. A term that refers to the pressure of water related to the limitations of a water softener. Too low pressures may require a |
separate pump to be installed. force per unit area exerted by the weight of water, each 33 feet of sea water exerts a pressure equivalent to one atmosphere, or 14.7 psi. The force of water that exists in a piping |
system; measured in pounds per square inch (PS). The rate, measured in terms of pounds per square inch (psi), with which water flows into a house. Normal pressure is between 50 psi and 60 psi, and should not drop below |
Darkfield Digital Image Gallery In the division Chlorophyta (green protists), Volvox is a colonial form made up of 500 to 60,000 biflagellated cells embedded in a gelatinous wall. The largest colonies exceed one millimeter in diameter and are easily visible to the naked eye. View a medium magnification image of a volvox. View a high magnification image of a volvox. |
Assuming a semi-transparent hollow spherical shape, the colonies (coenobia) are about the size of a pinhead. To some systematists, this colonial organism has a somewhat dual nature, placed by zoologists into the order Volvocida and classified by botanists as green algae, Chlorophyta. Globally, twenty species of Volvox are known to exist with most species occurring in tropical and subtropical areas. |
Volvox colonies are either sexual or asexual. In addition to biflagellated somatic cells, asexual colonies have specialized reproductive cells (gonidia) that produce small daughter (and sometimes granddaughter) colonies within the parent colony. Before release, the daughter colonies undergo inversion, turning inside out and then form flagella. In contrast, sexual colonies feature the replacement of the gonidia by eggs or spermatozoa. |
After the eggs are fertilized, zygotes encyst and are released after death of the parent colony. Thick-walled zygotes formed late in the summer often serve as winter resting stages, emerging the following spring to form new spherical colonies. From the point of view of geneticists, the somatic cells are seen as mortal while the germ cells as immortal. Although it |
is comprised of individual protists, Volvox colonies can locomote through freshwater habitats, as they spin smoothly with all the flagella beating in unison. Blooms of the chlorophyte occur in "enriched" water bodies or those that are polluted with excess levels of dissolved nitrates and phosphates, and act as an indicator organism. As primary producers, Volvox colonies produce dissolved oxygen, and |
as major dietary staples for many aquatic organisms, help support the aquatic food pyramid. Many types of rotifers thrive by grazing on this green colonial alga as do other members of the freshwater zooplankton community. Cynthia D. Kelly, Thomas J. Fellers and Michael W. Davidson - National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Dr., The Florida State University, |
Tallahassee, Florida, 32310. Questions or comments? Send us an email. © 1995-2013 by Michael W. Davidson and The Florida State University. All Rights Reserved. No images, graphics, software, scripts, or applets may be reproduced or used in any manner without permission from the copyright holders. Use of this website means you agree to all of the Legal Terms and Conditions |
Battle of Hampton Roads - Conflict & Dates: The Battle of Hampton Roads was fought March 8-9, 1862, and was part of the American Civil War. Fleets & Commanders: - Flag Officer Louis M. Goldsborough - Lieutenant John L. Worden - 1 ironclad, 2 screw frigates, 2 frigates, 1 sloop of war - Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan - 1 ironclad, |
3 gunboats, 2 tenders Battle of Hampton Roads - Background: Following the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1860, Confederate forces seized the Norfolk Navy Yard from the US Navy. Prior to evacuating, the Navy burned several ships in the yard including the relatively new steam frigate USS Merrimack. Commissioned in 1856, Merrimack only burned to the waterline and |
most of its machinery remained intact. With the Union blockade of the Confederacy tightening, Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory began searching for ways in which his small force could challenge the enemy. Battle of Hampton Roads - Ironclads: One avenue that Mallory elected to follow was the development of ironclad, armored warships. The first of these, the French |
La Gloire and British HMS Warrior, had appeared in the last year. Consulting John M. Brooke, John L. Porter, and William P. Williamson, Mallory began pushing the ironclad program forward but found that the South lacked the industrial capacity to build the needed steam engines in a timely manner. Upon learning this, Williamson suggested using the engines and remains of |
the former Merrimack. Porter soon submitted revised plans to Mallory that based the new ship around Merrimack's powerplant. Approved on July 11, 1861, work soon began at Norfolk on the casemate ironclad CSS Virginia. The interest in ironclad technology was also shared by the Union Navy which placed orders for three experimental ironclads in mid-1861. Key among these was inventor |
John Ericsson's USS Monitor which mounted two guns in a revolving turret. Launched January 30, 1862, Monitor was commissioned in late February with Lieutenant John L. Worden in command. Aware of Confederate ironclad efforts at Norfolk, the new ship departed New York Navy Yard on March 6. Battle of Hampton Roads - CSS Virginia Strikes: At Norfolk, work on Virginia |
continued and the ship was commissioned on February 17, 1862, with Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan in command. Armed with ten heavy guns, Virginia also featured a heavy iron ram on its bow. This was incorporated due to the designer's belief that ironclads would be unable to harm each other with gunfire. A distinguished veteran of the US Navy, Buchanan was |
eager to test the ship and sailed on March 8 to attack Union warships in Hampton Roads despite the fact that workmen were still on board. The tenders CSS Raleigh and Beaufort accompanied Buchanan. Steaming down the Elizabeth River, Virginia found five warships of Flag Officer Louis Goldsborough's North Atlantic Blockading Squadron anchored in Hampton Roads near the protective guns |
of Fortress Monroe. Joined by three gunboats from the James River Squadron, Buchanan singled out the sloop of war USS Cumberland (24 guns) and charged forward. Though initially unsure what to make of the strange new ship, Union sailors aboard the frigate USS Congress (44) opened fire as Virginia passed. Returning fire, Buchanan's guns inflicted significant damage on Congress. Engaging |
Cumberland, Virginia pounded the wooden ship as the Union shells bounced off its armor. After crossing Cumberland's bow and raking it with fire, Buchanan rammed it in an effort to save gunpowder. Piercing the Union ship's side, part of Virginia's ram detached as it was withdrawn. Sinking, Cumberland's crew gallantly fought the ship until the end. Next, Virginia turned its |
attention to Congress which had grounded in an attempt to close with the Confederate ironclad. Joined by his gunboats, Buchanan engaged the frigate from a distance and compelled it to strike its colors after an hour of fighting. Ordering his tenders forward to receive the ship's surrender, Buchanan was angered when Union troops ashore, not understanding the situation, opened fire. |
Returning fire from Virginia's deck with a carbine, he was wounded in the thigh by a Union bullet. In retaliation, Buchanan ordered Congress be shelled with incendiary hot shot. Catching on fire, Congress burned throughout the rest of the day exploded that night. Pressing his attack, Buchanan attempted to move against the steam frigate USS Minnesota (50), but was unable |
to inflict any damage as the Union ship fled into shallow water and ran aground. Withdrawing due to darkness, Virginia had won a stunning victory, but had taken damage amounting to two guns disabled, its ram lost, several armored plates damaged, and its smoke stack riddled. As temporary repairs were made during the night, command devolved to Lieutenant Catesby ap |
Roger Jones. In Hampton Roads, the situation of the Union fleet improved dramatically that night with the arrival of Monitor from New York. Taking a defensive position to protect Minnesota and the frigate USS St. Lawrence (44), the ironclad awaited Virginia's return. Battle of Hampton Roads - Clash of the Ironclads Returning to Hampton Roads in the morning, Jones anticipated |
an easy victory and initially ignored the strange-looking Monitor. Moving to engage, the two ships soon opened the first battle between ironclad warships. Pounding each other for over four hours, neither was able to inflict significant damage on the other. Though Monitor's heavier guns were able to crack Virginia's armor, the Confederates scored a hit on their adversary's pilot house |
temporarily blinding Worden. Taking command, Lieutenant Samuel D. Greene drew the ship away, leading Jones to believe that he had won. Unable to reach Minnesota, and with his ship damaged, Jones began moving towards Norfolk. At this time, Monitor returned to the fight. Seeing Virginia retreating and with orders to protect Minnesota, Greene elected not to pursue. Aftermath of the |
Battle of Hampton Roads The fighting at Hampton Roads cost the Union navy the loss of USS Cumberland and Congress, as well as 261 killed and 108 wounded. Confederate casualties were 7 killed and 17 wounded. Despite the heavier losses, Hampton Roads proved a strategic victory for the Union as the blockade remained intact. The battle itself signaled the demise |
of wooden warships and the rise of armored vessels built of iron and steel. Over the next several weeks a standoff ensued as Virginia attempted to engage Monitor on several occasions but was refused as Monitor was under presidential orders to avoid battle unless absolutely required. This was due to President Abraham Lincoln's fear that the ship would be lost |
allowing Virginia to take control of the Chesapeake Bay. On May 11, after Union troops captured Norfolk, the Confederates burned Virginia to prevent its capture. Monitor was lost in a storm off Cape Hatteras on December 31, 1862. |
Pipestone: A spiritual placeby Mark Steil, Minnesota Public Radio Pipestone, Minn. — In the southwest corner of Minnesota, thousands of visitors each year take in the Pipestone National Monument's untouched prairie and its famous red rock. The Pipestone National Monument is a compact park, about 300 acres, loaded with history. |
Bordering the city of Pipestone, it's mostly open prairie that looks much like it did before European settlers arrived. For centuries, Native Americans have placed great religious significance on the pipestone found here. They've quarried and carved the stone into pipes and other objects, and the practice continues today. Scattered |
across the park's grassland are its famous pipestone quarries -- more than 50 of them. Travis Erickson, who was born and raised in Pipestone, works in one of them. "I've been carving pipes for about 30 years, hand-quarrying the stone for 35 years," he said. Erickson's quarry is one of |
the largest at the Pipestone National Monument, 17 feet deep and more than 50 feet wide. Other nearby quarries are much smaller, some just a few feet across. Only American Indians can quarry here, and they need to apply for a permit to do so. Erickson is a member of |
the Sisseton-Wahpeton tribe, and his annual permit allows him to mine as much pipestone as he wants. But it's slow, hard work. Crouching at the bottom of the quarry, Erickson points to a layer of pinkish red rock. "This is what I'm after. Pipestone rock, in this section where we're |
at, runs between 14 to 16 inches thick," said Erickson. The red stone is trapped underneath a rock known as quartzite. As his ancestors did for centuries before him, Erickson works to remove that quartzite. He sweeps stone fragments and dirt off the rock until he locates a crack in |
the quartzite. In ancient times, Indians might simply have dropped large rocks on this sort of fissure, hoping to crack it open. Erickson has better tools. He hammers a steel wedge into the opening, but the stone refuses to budge. Erickson keeps at it, breaking loose quartzite until he can |
free the slab of pipestone. It looks like simple physical work, but Erickson says there's a spiritual component as well. "It's very spiritual. Your own personal connection to the earth mother, to the quartzite, to the pipestone rock," said Erickson. "The benefit of it all is you get a sense |
of oneness with everything here." That sense of Indian spirituality is at the heart of the Pipestone National Monument. Native Americans believe the red pipestone is the blood of their ancestors. Pipes carved from the rock are used in religious ceremonies, and the smoke carries prayers up to the Great |
Spirit. Herbert Hoover, a history professor emeritus at the University of South Dakota, says it was the Sioux Indians of the upper Midwest who consecrated the location. "I think that it's easy to reason, and I've heard many medicine men say this -- that that is the most important sacred |
site in historic Sioux country," said Hoover. Hoover has a direct link to Indian spirituality -- his father was a member of the Ioway tribe. Hoover has visited Pipestone many times, but he says the most important trip was in the early 1970s. At that time, there was a resurgence |
in American Indian spirituality taking place. Federal suppression of Indian religious practices was loosening. Native Americans were revisiting their traditional ways. It was in this climate of change that Hoover drove to Pipestone in 1971 with several Indian spiritual leaders. Hoover recalls the group had a specific goal as they |
approached the historic location. "It was, in fact, to build a sweat lodge," said Hoover, "and to reconstruct what had happened, early in the century. Before they mined the sacred stone, they would have to build a sweat lodge and pray before they mined it. But that had all fizzled |
out and stopped." Hoover says reconnecting the act of quarrying with spiritual rituals was an important step, something that continues today at the monument. He says Pipestone offers to Indians what people of other faiths feel when they visit an important religious monument. "When we went to Pipestone, that was |
like going to Calvary," said Hoover. "It was like going back to where Jesus came from, because this is the sacred pipe, the channel that we have to God." Sitting in a booth at the Pipestone National Monument's visitors center, Travis Erickson is carving a pipe bowl out of a |
piece of red rock he's quarried. "I carve the eagle head pipes, I carve a man wrapped in a bear hide. You can see part of the man's face underneath the bear's nose there," said Erickson. "I carve a lot of different things because I enjoy that." Besides the spiritual, |
there's also a commercial side to pipestone. Erickson and other quarriers often sell the pipes and other items they make to the public. This business side of quarrying has caused divisions, because some Indians believe selling pipestone is wrong. Erickson says it's traditional. He says researchers have found centuries-old items |
made from Minnesota pipestone all over the continent. "Pipestone rock from this area, as far as we know, was traded throughout the United States, Canada and even down into Mexico," said Erickson. But some traditional Indian spiritual leaders oppose selling the stone. Arvol Looking Horse is one of them. He |
lives on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota, where he's the keeper of his people's sacred pipe. Looking Horse says the pipestone found in other parts of the U.S. was given, not sold, to those tribes. He says selling pipestone corrupts traditional Indian spirituality. "Somebody who makes a pipe |
and sells it for money is doing more damage than good," said Looking Horse. "Once money is on your mind, the spirit doesn't come back to help that person." The National Park Service has refused to wade into the issue. It says the quarries are open to all U.S. tribes, |
each of which follow their own beliefs on the issue of selling pipestone. Glen Livermont, the monument's current superintendent, says more Native Americans than ever are applying for a quarrying permit. "Right now there's 100-plus names on the waiting list for that permit," said Livermont. "And that alone means someone |
may have the wait of 10-plus years." Livermont says besides quarrying, Indians use the park land for other traditional practices, including religious ceremonies. Each year at Pipestone there are at least two Sundance ceremonies, one of the year's most important spiritual events for traditional indians. Sweat lodge ceremonies are held, |
as well as fasting observances. The general public also makes good use of the park. On a late summer day, several groups of grade school students are at the monument. The school kids walk down a path bursting with history. They pause where artist George Catlin stood in 1836, when |
he first sketched the quarries and popularized them in the western world. They pass through a natural prairie area, brightly colored with more than 100 species of plants. And then they walk past a rock formation known as The Oracle. The stones form a face. Legend says if you're very |
Numerous studies in the last three years have investigated the link between dietary calcium and obesity, with some demonstrating an inverse relationship - the higher an individual's calcium intake, the lower the weight. Most recently researchers at the University of |
Tennessee showed that high-calcium, and especially high-dairy diets, could significantly enhance weight and fat loss in obese people already following a low-calorie regime. But while the growing body of research suggests that calcium could be a valuable tool against the |
rapidly rising cases of obesity, scientists have not yet uncovered the mechanism behind this effect. "There are still numerous gaps in our knowledge, such as how the mineral effects body weight and whether it is quantitatively important," Arne Astrup, head |
of the institute of human nutrition at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Denmark, told NutraIngredients.com. One hypothesis for the mechanism, from Michael Zemel, a nutritionist at the University of Tennessee, suggests that it has to do with the |
actions of vitamin D. Data appear to show that the active form of vitamin D, called calcitriol, causes fat cells to create more fat. Calcitriol levels are raised with lower intake of calcium. Therefore, fat cells produce more fat on |
low calcium diets. By contrast, high-calcium diets suppress calcitriol and, as a consequence, promote the burning of fat. Astrup also has a theory about the mechanism, which will be further investigated in a new, three-year phd programme at the Danish |
university. The researchers will also look at why calcium supplements do not appear to have any effect on weight loss. "This may be because of the way they are taken once a day, rather than as part of a regular |
meal." However dairy foods are already recommended as a good source of calcium to protect bone health and regular intake of low-fat dairy could be an easier intervention against obesity than supplements. But Astrup cautioned: "For this to be included |
in dietary guidelines, we need very solid evidence but we are only just beginning to get there. It is certainly premature to tell people that they can slim on a dairy-rich diet." He added that "calcium is the headline rather |
(UDP), and reliable connection oriented–byte streams (TCP). In addition, a raw socket is optionally supported. Raw sockets allow an application to communicate through protocols other than TCP and UDP such as ICMP. Raw sockets are supported on the AF_INET and AF_INET6 address families with some limitations. This section covers extensions |
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