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holdings is just being started or, in the case of those museums that adopted computers early on, their programs are now antiquated and need updating. Paper records, like the excellent ledgers of the Iraq Museum, serve very well if they are kept up-to-date, but computer backups using several modern technologies, such as CDs and DVDs, USB flash drives, and external |
hard drives, are much easier to transport and can be copied for transfer to multiple safe locations. At a minimum, paper records should be photocopied or scanned, and these duplicates should be deposited outside the country. There should be one or more internationally recognized depositories for duplicates of museum catalogues, photographs, general records, and database storage. Museums need to photograph |
and otherwise document every item in their collections; otherwise, no law-enforcement agency will be able to recover them.4 UNESCO should inaugurate a program to help museums in particularly vulnerable areas, such as the Middle East, and especially in areas currently under threat, such as Syria and Iran, to document their collections digitally. This help should be expressed in funding for |
hiring and training local staff, in the supply of adequate and appropriate equipment, and in furnishing expertise. Such help should be made available to any museum in need, either through an international effort or through national programs. In the United States, a governmental agency, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, gives grants for museum improvement. Usually, however, these grants |
are sufficient to begin programs but not to sustain them. In areas of special vulnerability, such as the Middle East, database management needs to be considered an emergency situation, so that resources may be applied to create museum inventories rapidly. Beyond museums, standing monuments and archaeological sites are part of every country's landscape, and UNESCO should play a role in |
documenting them. Only strongly committed governments can guard sites effectively, and Iraq, until 1991, had one of the finest records for doing so. Even in the best situations, however, looting can still occur, as is clear from the many cultural heritage thefts in Italy, a country that acts aggressively to prevent and to investigate them. With standing monuments, there is |
a need for a comprehensive, well-documented database, complete with scale drawings, photographs, and other records. Affixing blue shield markings on the roofs of museums and cultural heritage buildings, so that these buildings will be avoided in air strikes, is essential, and all armies should be trained to recognize and respect such markings. For sites, especially the hundreds of thousands of |
archaeological mounds in the Near East, which can easily be mistaken for natural hills, the documentation of their precise location is essential, and now with geographic information system (GIS) techniques, it is possible to achieve that precision. In the past three years, Iraq's State Board of Antiquities has had the cooperation of international bodies to train its staff in GIS |
techniques, including satellite imaging. The SBAH, working with the World Monuments Fund and the Getty Conservation Institute, is establishing a database for the 10,000 or so sites in Iraq that are officially recognized as archaeological sites. But this program has not and cannot safeguard these and the thousands of other sites, which are still being looted on an unprecedented scale |
in Iraq.5 It does, however, help monitor the pace of destruction by means of new images. Imaging will also allow documentation of the spread of looting over time. Such records will be essential in the future when the State Board of Antiquities begins an assessment of the damage done to Iraq's cultural heritage. In the months before the 2003 Iraq |
War, a few academics in the United States and Europe furnished lists of sites to the U.S. and the British militaries, and these sites, along with more than 100 standing monuments, were put on the no-strike list. Insofar as we can tell, none of these sites was hit deliberately. The military had also compiled a list of more than 80 |
buildings to secure in Baghdad, of which the Iraq Museum was number two, but this did not prevent their looting by Iraqis after the fall of Baghdad. Were a country's officials to make such locations known to potential invaders, it would become a political issue; but in the future, it may be essential for countries both to list sites in |
an international registry and to mark their heritage sites, which might prevent inadvertent bombing and facilitate securing them from looting. The Iraq Museum was reopened in February 2009, albeit with some objections from Iraqi, American, and European scholars because they all believed that it was not the right time to open the museum on account of the security situation in |
Baghdad. Nonetheless, reopening has been a positive step forward made by the staffs of the SBAH and the museum. Although the museum is still closed to the general public, eight galleries out of 22 have "opened," though most of the original collection remains in hidden locations; the only objects on display are large items fixed to the floor and the |
walls and some of the materials that were repatriated after looting. The museum is able to send a number of its staff members for training courses abroad, especially to museums and antiquities institutions in the United States. The current visitors are only VIPs and journalists, but the museum's staff still does its daily work, though not in a healthy political |
environment, and this is better than nothing. * I would like to thank McGuire Gibson, from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, and Museum Review Editor Beth Cohen for their help in the preparation of this review. Damerji, M.S.B. . Gräber assyrischer Königinnen aus Nimrud / Qubūr al-malikāt al-ashūriy. Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentral-museums. Emberling, G., and K. |
Changing The Planet At the recent climate change summit in Doha Qatar, little was accomplished. Sadly, this barely qualifies as news. With temperatures rising (scientists now say that a 3.6 |
degree rise is nearly inevitable) and extreme weather inflicting worse and worse damage, some have begun to advocate for geo-engineering. Geo-engineering refers to attempts to alter the Earth’s atmosphere. Many |
decry these plans as crazy and dangerous. Kim Stanley Robinson says not so fast: Objections to geoengineering appeared immediately. Many people have expressed doubt that the proposals would work, or |
believe that a string of negative unintended consequences could follow. Merely discussing these ideas, it has been said, risks giving us the false hope of a “silver bullet” solution to |
climate change in the near future—thus reducing the pressure to stem carbon emissions here and now. These are valid concerns, but the fact remains: Our current technologies are already geoengineering |
the planet—albeit accidentally and negatively. Consider that significant percentages of the world’s wetlands have been drained, and large swaths of its forests cut down. Ecosystems have been devastated by overdevelopment. |
We’ve raised atmospheric CO2 levels by about 100 parts per million, and average global temperatures have gone up accordingly. Our oceans have soaked up so much of the carbon we’ve |
dumped into the atmosphere that the seas have measurably acidified. On land, hundreds of species have gone extinct. And far worse damage is sure to follow if this inadvertent geoengineering |
campaign of ours is allowed to continue. I worry about plans like taking CO2 from the atmosphere and putting it underground or shooting things into the sky to absorb carbon. |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia Old Style and New Style dates In Britain and countries of the British Empire, Old Style or O.S. after a date means that the date is |
in the Julian calendar, in use in those countries until 1752; New Style or N.S. means that the date is in the Gregorian calendar, adopted on 14 September 1752 (New |
Style). For example, William Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 (Old Style). It is sometimes said that he died in the same day as Miguel de Cervantes, but the latter |
died ten days earlier, on 23 April 1616 (New Style). A further complication is that for a long time the year in England began on 25 March (Lady Day), so |
for example Elizabeth I of England was recorded as having died on 24 March 1602 (Old Style); this would be written 24 March 1603 in the modern system of numbering |
years, which corresponds to 3 April 1603 (New Style). For complete avoidance of ambiguity, historians write dates in the ambiguous part of the year in slashed format, for example "24 |
March/3 April 1602/1603". Catholic countries such as Italy, Poland, Spain, and Portugal were first to change to the Gregorian calendar. Thursday, 1582 October 4 was followed by Friday, 1582 October |
15, with ten days "missing". Countries that did not change until the 1700s observed an additional leap year, necessitating 11 "missing days". Some countries did not change until the 1800s |
or 1900s, necessitating one or two more "missing days". France changed from Julian to Gregorian Calendar on 9 December 1582 JU where the next day was 20 December 1582 GR. |
France had a special calendar in the period from 22 September 1792 GR to 31 December 1805 GR, the so-called French Republican Calendar. In Russia, the terms "Old Style" and |
"New Style" have exactly the same meaning, the only difference being that Gregorian calendar have been introduced there much later — on February 14, 1918 (New Style). Hence the October |
11 June 2011. Two places in the brain support the regular rise of new neurons. In the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, neurogenesis is thought to support learning and memory (reviewed in Deng et al., 2010), and in the olfactory |
bulb, it may allow animals to learn new smells throughout life. To examine the latter firsthand, Yoav Adam spent nine months peering, through glass windows in the skull, into the olfactory bulbs of mice. Adam, a graduate student with Adi |
Mizrahi at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, confirmed what others had proposed: The interneurons of the olfactory bulb undergo regular turnover with consistent adult neurogenesis. As the animals age, there come to be more dopaminergic interneurons in the olfactory |
bulb, the authors report in the June 1 Journal of Neuroscience. A team of researchers from the University of Illinois examined the same process in primate hippocampus and found neurogenesis there proceeds at a much slower rate. First author Shawn |
Kohler and senior author William Greenough report in the June 6 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA online that the process lasts for six months or longer in Rhesus and crab-eating macaques. Because new maturing neurons are thought |
to be more plastic than established ones, the study “has many implications,” according to Gerd Kempermann, Center for Regenerative Therapies, Dresden, Germany (see full comment below), including for therapeutics. Kempermann was not involved in the study. Window on the Olfactory |
Bulb Adam wanted to directly image cells developing into neurons in vivo. In both the olfactory bulb and cortex, neurons reside right on the edge of the mouse brain, making them amenable to live imaging. Researchers frequently implant glass windows |
in the skull around the cortex (see ARF related news story on Hefendehl et al., 2011), but the olfactory bulb is tricky that way: It is capped with a 2 x 3.5 millimeter area of bone, smaller than that over |
the cortex. It also lies near major blood vessels, so scientists must take exquisite care during surgery. Previously, researchers have used small, open craniotomies, or thinned the bone for imaging. Adam designed his surgery to make a true window and |
at glue a glass cover slip over an opening in the skull. “This is a technical feat,” said Martin Wojtowicz of the University of Toronto in Ontario, Canada, who was not involved in the study. “It is good to see |
with your own eyes that neurons actually appear and disappear.” Adam saw not only turnover, but also steady growth in the number of new neurons over time. By the end of the nine months, the animals boasted 13 percent more |
dopaminergic neurons in the olfactory bulb than when the experiment began. Wojtowicz noted the dopaminergic neurons are a small subset of the entire olfactory nerve population. Next, Adam plans to peer through cranial windows to examine brain function with calcium |
imaging of neural signals. This technique offers the option to examine aging or ailing tissue, wrote David Scadden of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who was not involved in the study, in an e-mail to ARF. “Rather than just looking |
at the final outcome, perhaps seeing how the outcome evolves can teach us where to direct our efforts to improve how things turn out.” It Just Takes a Little Time Adam was able to observe neurogenesis over and over in |
his mice, since the process only takes a month in rodents. But the Illinois researchers found that a month was not nearly enough to complete neuron maturation in macaques. They injected animals with the cell division marker BrdU and followed |
them for up to seven months, looking for molecular and morphological markers of mature neurons. The process was significantly slower than in rodents: At six weeks, only 16 percent of new cells had reached maturity. By 28 weeks, one-third of |
new cells were finished developing. In macaques, the period of time it took to attain peak expression of the neuronal marker doublecortin and to produce the mature neuron marker NeuN was more than six times longer than in the rats |
and mice, according to previous studies (Snyder et al., 2009; Brown et al., 2003; Kempermann et al., 2003; McDonald et al., 2005). Thus, the researchers conclude that the full maturation process for one neuron takes at least six months. “It |
was a big surprise for the field,” said study coauthor Judy Cameron of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, because most researchers assumed the neurogenesis process would take about the same amount of time across species. There is thought to |
be a window during maturation when neurons have a particularly low threshold for long-term potentiation, wrote Kempermann in an e-mail to ARF. Thus, he inferred, “primates might have plastic new neurons for a longer time than rodents.” The work has |
implications for drug therapy. Some researchers have suggested that antidepressants, which can take a few weeks to kick in, work by stimulating the growth of new neurons (Santarelli et al., 2003). That idea has been controversial. If neurogenesis takes months, |
newly matured neurons cannot account for the roughly three-week lag period for antidepressants. The study also implies that potential future treatments to promote neural growth, perhaps eventually for people with a neurodegenerative disease, might take months to produce noticeable effects. |
“The overall developmental process is very similar between primates and rodents,” Adam noted. “It is just the time scale which is different.” He suggested that briefer rodent experiments will be able to elucidate much about adult neurogenesis, as long as |
researchers cross-check their results in primates.—Amber Dance. Adam Y, Mizrahi A, Long-term imaging reveals dynamic changes in the neuronal composition of the glomerular layer. J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 1;31(22):7967-73. Abstract Kohler SJ, Williams NI, Stanton GB, Cameron JL, Greenough WT. |
The Kremlin Museums is hosting a new exhibition, being held in the One-Pillar Chamber of the Patriarch's Palace, which covers the time under the Grand Prince of Moscow Ivan III (1462-1505). His reign was marked by the overthrow of the dominance of the Golden Horde over the Rus and the |
gathering of Russian lands around Moscow as a political centre, which laid the foundations of the Russian state. However, the personality of Ivan III and his contribution to the development of Russia was not fully appreciated by his descendants. Through presenting historical masterpieces, including icons and archival documents, the exhibition |
is intended to reveal the search for an ideology of the emerging Moscow state and show how the new images and symbols reflected the most significant deeds of the Grand Prince and Sovereign, who had turned the Moscow Principality into a Tsardom and Moscow - into a new capital, that |
had taken over the glory of the fallen Constantinople. The exposition is based mostly on the artifacts, which are closely related to the Kremlin as the Grand Prince’s residence. Artworks, lent by the leading museums of Russia, serve as a vivid illustration of the new tendencies and intentions of the |
epoch, which have been spread all over the territories, subordinated to Moscow, and demonstrate the influence of the new capital. The exhibit covers a remarkable period within the history of Russia, introducing the figure of Ivan III to visitors and reveals his contribution to the development of the Russian state |
Depression is a scary sort of illness. It can strike anyone at anytime. Experts estimate that at least 10% of the United States’ adult population is depressed at any given |
time. Of course, this number could be much higher. However, it’s important for people not to be afraid of the illness. If they have it, they must learn to manage |
it. Arming ones’ self with knowledge is a great defense against the most bitter symptoms of depression. Oone of the most important things to realize about depression is that, although |
anyone can become depressed, certain individuals are more likely to develop depression due to certain risk factors they possess. The most common risk factors for depression include, but are not |
limited to: * A strong family history of the disease, especially in the family * Family members who have attempted to or actually committed suicide * Stressful life events, such |
as the death of a loved one, divorce, rape and so forth. * Having a depressed mood as a youngster * Childhood traumas like abuse and incest * Illness, such |
as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's or HIV/AIDS * Long-term use of certain medications, such as some drugs used to control high blood pressure, sleeping pills or, occasionally, birth control pills |
* Having a certain type of personality. Those who are depressed often suffer from low self-esteem and are overly dependent, self-critical or pessimistic * Alcohol, nicotine and drug abuse * |
Radio Receptor C1709-P UHF Television Converter (1950s) Have you ever bought a TV or radio that was truly "new in the box" (NIB)? I was delighted to find this Radio Receptor UHF television converter complete in its original box. It clearly had never been used. There wasn't a single fingerprint anywhere, not to mention any marks of day-to-day wear. The |
original power cord was still pliable, whereas many of that vintage would be brittle and cracked. All the controls worked smoothly, and when I carefully powered it up, it worked exactly like a brand-new unit. Who Needs a UHF Converter? Soon after World War II, the United States settled on a set of VHF (very high frequency) television channels, numbered |
2-13. These channels are still used all over the United States. The earlier channel 1 was discarded, although some early TVs, such as my 1946 RCA 630TS and 1948 Hallicrafters 505, were designed to receive this By the late 1940s, however, those channels became insufficient for crowded population areas. In 1949, the Federal Communications Commission proposed to add dozens of |
new UHF (ultra high frequency) channels, which would supplement the existing VHF frequencies and permit additional TV channels within a given broadcast area. The new UHF scheme was finalized in 1952, and on September 18, 1952, station KPTV in Portland, Oregon became the first commercial TV station to broadcast in the new UHF band. Other stations slowly followed suit, but |
UHF broadcasting remained spotty until 1964, when the FCC mandated that all US televisions must receive UHF as well as VHF broadcasts. This chronology defines the 12-year window (1952-1964) during which UHF converters such as the Radio Receptor found a market niche. For a fraction of the price of a new television, you could hook one of these up to |
your old VHF-only TV and receive the new UHF broadcasts. How Does it Work? On the front of the converter are two knobs, as the first photo shows. The left knob lets you turn on the converter and switch between VHF and UHF reception. The right knob tunes in UHF channels. Connecting the converter is very simple. On the back |
of the converter, you connect separate VHF and UHF antennas. Using ordinary antenna wire, you connect the converter's output to the antenna terminals of your VHF TV. When you choose VHF, the converter simply passes the signal through to the TV, so you tune the TV normally, choosing VHF channels 2-13. To receive UHF broadcasts, you switch your TV's VHF |
tuner to channel 5 or channel 6 (whichever one is unused in your area) and use the right knob of the converter to tune in UHF channels 14-83. The model number on my converter is C1709-P. The Radio Receptor company, which was based in Brooklyn, New York, supplied the same unit to several different retailers, including Silvertone, DeWald, Co-Ax, and |
Truetone, who relabeled the cabinet but changed nothing inside. The next photo shows the chassis removed from its cabinet. As you can see, the internals are shielded inside metal cages. This converter uses three miniature glass tubes: a 6X4 rectifier, a 6AF4 oscillator, and a 6BK7 IF amplifier. After purchasing this converter, I hooked it up between an antenna and |
my Philco Predicta television, then slowly powered it up using a variac. It worked nicely, tuning in clear signals over the entire UHF band. I subsequently tried it out on my restored RCA 630TS and it performed just as well. Here is a snapshot of the Radio Receptor in action. (Note that in real life, the TV screen is not |
as washed out as it appears in this photo. My digital camera automatically adjusts for the background lighting, making the picture appear much too bright.) Following those initial flight tests, I retired the Radio Receptor to a shelf in my office, where it will remain unused until I decide whether to replace its original capacitors or simply leave it untouched. |
There's something appealing about leaving an unsullied original completely as found. If you're curious about early television converters and boosters, don't miss Mark Nelson's TV Boxes website. It's the best, and as far as I know, the only, Internet resource for these interesting little devices. 2011 Update: Now that the United States has switched from analog to digital TV broadcasts, |
the utility of analog UHF converters has almost vanished. However, there are a handful of low-power UHF stations still broadcasting analog signals in North America. You can use the AntennaWeb website to find TV stations (both digital and analog) in your area. |
Double Drain - Single Vortex Imagine water going down a sink or bathtub drain. Vortices form when the cylindrical volume of the water begins to gain angular momentum over the drain. The goal of this investigation was to visualize the formation of two separate vortices. To create the double vortices, two holes were drilled in the bottom of a bucket. |
The bucket was filled with water and allowed to drain out the bottom. To better see what was happening, the water was seeded with three different colored dyes (red, yellow, and blue). Unexpectedly, the dyed water clearly showed that in these circumstances, while water was draining from both holes, only one vortex formed. Most of the water (red, yellow, and |
the resulting green) swirled down one drain hole while some of the water below that vortex (dark blue) drained into the second hole without a single swirl or swoosh. Further research should show whether changes in the drain sizes and proximity can create two vortices. This high-speed photograph was taken without a flash using a digital camera a little less |
than a meter from the bucket. Image credit: Jonathan Varkovitzky, Chris Svedman, Peter Mitrano; University of Colorado - Boulder The Bathtub Vortex image was taken as part of Jean Hertzberg's "Flow Visualization: The Physics and Art of Fluid Flow" mechanical engineering class at the University of Colorado - Boulder, and was shown at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the APS |
Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD), November 2010, in San Antonio, Texas. "Bathtub Vortex Image," Jonathan Varkovitzky (2010) Water Droplet Experiencing Leidenfrost Effect (also from the flow visualization mechanical engineering class) Flow Visualization Class Image Galleries |
Compendium of Nut Crop Diseases in Temperate Zones covers diseases and disorders of almond, hazelnut, pecan, pistachio, and English walnut crops. Learn to identify and control major and minor diseases of nut crops. Practical and easy to use, disease identification |
is strengthened with 189 color photographs and complete pathogen descriptions.In addition to complete coverage of symptoms, pathogen description, epidemiology, and control recommendations, this book also provides a fundamental explanation of environmental and cultural practices that affect disease development.This practical guide |
is essential for anyone working with nut crops, including: horticulturalists, nursery personnel, extension agents, county agents, regulatory personnel, growers, crop advisors, entomologists, plant pathologists, students and teachers. "This is a book useful to anyone working with nut crops." -- Nematolgia |
Meditterana ORDER ONLINE OR TOLL-FREE 1.800.328.7560 If for any reason you are unsatisfied with your purchase, return it within 30 days with a copy of your receipt for a full refund. |
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia - 1920 - Roaring Twenties On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the last of 36 states needed to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women the right to vote. Equality at the polls marked |
a pivotal moment in the women's rights movement. - July 10, 1925 - Scopes Trial: In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of |
a Tennessee state law. Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Tennessee" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on original research by |
The most common asbestos cancers and diseases are malignant mesothelioma, asbestos-related cancers such as lung cancer, and pulmonary asbestosis. A very important characteristic of asbestos-related cancers and diseases is the long delay, or latency period, between the asbestos exposure and the onset of disease. It is usually at least 15 |
years, and sometimes as long as 40 or 50 years, after the person’s first exposure to asbestos before an asbestos-related condition develops in the exposed person. Because of this latency period, people in North Carolina exposed to asbestos many years ago are still at risk, now and in the future, |
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