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Women And Children Most At Risk In Mississippi
Fifty years after President Lyndon B. Johnson declared an “unconditional war on poverty,” Mississippi remains the poorest state in the nation.
Most advocates and economists say Johnson’s social programs such as Head Start and child care subsidies have made huge differences in the state and across the country, yet they’re not reaching most in need.
Interview Highlights: Carol Burnett
On the demographics of Mississippi’s impoverished residents
“Mississippi’s poor children are concentrated in single-mother households; 76 percent of Mississippi’s poor children live with a single mom. And those are moms that are working. … Even though they have the same graduation rates or better graduation rates as men, they’re still earning less than men in every professional level, in every job sector, and they’re concentrated in low-wage work. Eight out of 10 low-wage earners in Mississippi are women.”
On the impact of the ‘War on Poverty’
“The War on Poverty made a hugely positive difference on the state of Mississippi. When you remember what life was like in the state in 1965, there’s no question that we’ve moved forward, that we’ve made progress on issues of race, we’ve made progress in anti-poverty programs. There are some new anti-poverty programs that Mississippi has benefited from that weren’t part of the War on Poverty. But we still have a very long way to go.”
On creating effective anti-poverty programs
“With the poverty programs, too many times we have policies that are created based on myths. One big example of that is the myth that the poor are not working. In fact, we’ve seen – I’ve seen in my work – that low income parents are working. It’s just their work isn’t paying enough to help them meet their family’s basic needs and create opportunities that allow them to climb out of poverty.”
“Education is important. All of the research shows that the higher level of education you have, the less likely it will be that you will be in poverty. And that is a very important strategy also for moving families out of poverty. It’s important that women who are these single moms have access to education. It’s important that they have access to job training — that’s going to move them into jobs that pay higher wages. What we need to do is remember that for these anti-poverty programs, they can’t only be some punitive, work-only approach, they have to also allow for education.”
- Carol Burnett, executive director of the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative.
JEREMY HOBSON, HOST:
It's HERE AND NOW.
50 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson used his State of the Union address to put an end - or vow to put an end - to poverty and unemployment.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED ADDRESS)
PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON: And this administration, today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in America.
HOBSON: To that end, the government established many social programs to give low-income Americans a helping hand. Well, today, more than 46 million Americans still live below the poverty line, with the poorest states almost entirely in the South. Mississippi was the poorest state back in 1964 just as it is today. So we decided to check in with Carol Burnett, executive director of the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative, who joins me now from Jackson, Mississippi. Carol, welcome to HERE AND NOW.
CAROL BURNETT: Thank you.
HOBSON: Well, why is that? Why is Mississippi, both then and now, the poorest state in the country?
BURNETT: I can give you a review that extremely disproportionate and harmful. Racial inequity is in the poverty statistics. And you look at what I believe to be true, which is that we know how to reduce poverty, but we refused to do so. I think that you have to conclude that racism is at the root of that explanation.
HOBSON: Racism. And that - you that based on your work with people who are in poverty, do you think that's the main reason in Mississippi?
BURNETT: Well, I think that in my work, I've been working on anti-poverty issues in Mississippi with women and children for 30 years. And I think I would have to say that the one program that I think has been most effective in reducing poverty is the Child Care Subsidy Program that helps low-income women pay the cost of child care so that the mom can go to work.
HOBSON: Because in your state, women are the head of the household for many of the families that are in poverty, right? It's not a two-parent household. It's a single mom.
BURNETT: Yes, that's right. In fact, Mississippi's poor children are concentrated in single-mother households. Seventy-six percent of Mississippi's poor children live with a single mom, and those are moms who are working. Those moms are working in jobs even though they have the same graduation rates or better graduation rates as men. They're still earning less than men at every professional level, in every job sector, and they're concentrated in low-wage work. Eight out of the 10 minimum-wage earners in Mississippi are women.
So these are the moms who are raising children and who need child care. And the Child Care Subsidy Program is a hugely beneficial assistance so that it reduces their child-care cost dramatically. If you're a minimum-wage single mom and you have a child, even if you're working full time, your wage still leave you below poverty.
HOBSON: Yeah. We should say the minimum wage in Mississippi is $7.25 an hour, which means that if you are working full time, you're only going to make $15,000 a year.
BURNETT: That's right. And that is below the federally set poverty level for a family of two. And that wage is the wage that a mom has to use to pay the cost of her family basic needs. And so when you get a child care subsidy - I mean, just for that mom. Let's take her as an example. In Mississippi, if she had to buy it by herself, she'd have to pay about $4,000 a year for child care. But if she gets child care assistance through the subsidy program, that cost reduces to about $700 a year. So you see, it makes an enormous difference. It's a huge work support for low-wage earning workers.
HOBSON: Well, what do you think the impact has been of the war on poverty and the safety net that was set up there? Because if you look at the numbers, there are two different sets of numbers that people are looking at. One says, nationally, that the poverty rate has fallen from 19 percent in 1964 to 15 percent in 2012. That's from the Census Bureau. But then some researchers at Columbia said, well, in fact, it has been better than that. That in 1967, it was 26 percent poverty rate down to 16 percent in 2012. But what's your thought on what the war on poverty has done in Mississippi?
BURNETT: I mean, the war on poverty made a hugely positive difference on the state of Mississippi. When you remember what life was like in the state in 1965, there's no question that we've moved forward, that we've made progress on issues of race. We've made progress in anti-poverty programs. There are some new anti-poverty programs that Mississippi benefits from that weren't part of the war on poverty. But we still have a very long way to go.
HOBSON: Well, what are the big obstacles? What would you like to see done now that's not being done that would help, in your view, reduce the poverty rate?
BURNETT: I think that with the poverty programs, you know, too many times, we have policies that are created based on myths. One big example of that is the myth that the poor are not working. In fact, we've seen - I've seen in my work that low-income parents are working. It's just that their work isn't paying enough to help them meet their family's basic needs and create opportunities that allow them to climb out of poverty.
I mean, we have one example of a mom who got the child care subsidy, was working, had children and was going to college, which is an incredibly ambitious set of things to be doing all at one time. She graduated from college and opened her own business. I mean, that's a story that could be replicated many times over of the examples of how a program like the Child Care Subsidy Program is a huge success for families, and yet we have not invested adequately so that enough people who need it can take advantage.
HOBSON: Well - but also, a lot of people look more specifically at education, and that that is the number one way to get people out of poverty. You haven't mentioned that specifically here today, and I wonder why.
BURNETT: Well, education is important. All of the research shows that the higher level of education you have, the less likely it is that you'll be in poverty. And that is a very important strategy also for moving families out of poverty. I just remember, for example, back when we got our 1996 welfare reform program, we forced welfare recipients into work. My organization was offering an adult literacy program at that point. Those adults were forced out of basic literacy classes into the workforce by that welfare reform change.
And at that time, our governor here said that he thought the only thing welfare recipients needed to learn was how to set an alarm clock. So that kind of attitude that's so punitive and based in the myths about who poor people are and what needs to happen to force them to go to work, that is how you get outcomes that don't take you to a strategy that's really effective, and one that's going to address the needs that people really have.
HOBSON: Carol Burnett is executive director of the Mississippi Low-Income Child Care Initiative. Carol, thanks so much for joining us today.
BURNETT: Thanks for having me.
HOBSON: And, listeners, you can weigh in, as well. Just go to hereandnow.org and let us know what you think the war on poverty has accomplished 50 years later. This is HERE AND NOW. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:cae5a73a-e31a-4dbc-b9b1-9e6e9dacc641> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://kcur.org/post/women-and-children-most-risk-mississippi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719041.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00362-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976719 | 2,259 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Krill Oil: Better Than Fish Oil?
Fish oil is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, but is Krill oil even better? Several studies say "yes."
Krill are tiny shrimp-like crustaceans that live on the bottom of the ocean. They're the primary food source for many species of whale, manta and shark. Krill are chock full of beneficial oils, including Omega-3 fatty acids, which are proven to be good for improving heart health, lowering cholesterol, reducing inflammation and reducing heart disease. They're also used for treatment of arthritis, hypertension, and even depression.
Some physicians say omega-3 supplements are important for anyone who doesn't get a lot of fish in their diet. Fish oil capsules are the most widely recommended Omega-3 supplement, but new research suggests that krill oil may be even better.
When scientists researched krill oil, they specifically studied samples from the Antarctic Ocean, called Neptune krill oil. The results have been startling.
- One study looked at the effects of krill oil on the C-reactive protein levels in patients with chronic inflammation and the effectiveness of krill oil on arthritis symptoms. Researchers found clear indication that a daily dose of 300 mg of Neptune krill oil significantly reduced inflammation and arthritis symptoms within seven to 14 days.
- Another study found that one to three grams of krill oil per day reduced LDL ("bad") cholesterol by 34 percent and boosted HDL ("good") cholesterol by 43.5 percent compared to placebo.
- Other research identified that krill oil works better than fish oil for treating symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.
Why is krill oil better than fish oil?
It appears that krill oil works in the same ways as fish oil, but at a lower dose and with a couple of key advantages. Many people complain about taking fish oil supplements because of the fishy aftertaste and "fish-burps" associated with them. Some people are concerned about mercury in commercial fish supplies finding its way into supplements. Krill oil doesn't appear to have the same after-effects or mercury concerns. Krill oil, however, may not be as sustainable as fish oil since some studies say krill is diminishing in the Antarctic Ocean due to climate change.
Does eating fish have the same effect?
It is possible to get Omega-3's from consuming healthy fish like tuna, salmon, cod, and sardines. Shop at stores that stock sustainable, low-mercury content fish. Eating fish several times per week might provide all the Omega-3 fatty acids you need, but ask your doctor or a nutritionist whether krill-oil supplements are a good idea for you.
Lipids. 2011 Jan;46(1):37-46. Epub 2010 Nov 2. Metabolic effects of krill oil are essentially similar to those of fish oil but at lower dose of EPA and DHA, in healthy volunteers. Ulven SM, Kirkhus B, Lamglait A, Basu S, Elind E, Haider T, Berge K, Vik H, Pedersen JI.
Altern Med Rev. 2003 May;8(2):171-9. Evaluation of the effects of Neptune Krill Oil on the management of premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea. Sampalis F, Bunea R, Pelland MF, Kowalski O, Duguet N, Dupuis S.
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The material on the QualityHealth Web site is for informational purposes only, and is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment provided by a physician or other qualified health provider. See additional information. | <urn:uuid:b2a35fe4-b26c-480a-a4dd-448ce8bc26ed> | CC-MAIN-2014-15 | http://www.qualityhealth.com/eating-nutrition-articles/krill-oil-better-than-fish-oil?rf=32471 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-15/segments/1397609535095.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20140416005215-00272-ip-10-147-4-33.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893237 | 1,178 | 2.546875 | 3 |
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Published on: November 7, 2012
by Science Blog:
Researchers at Dalhousie University have discovered a new technique using “computer-aided” drug design that may lead to an entirely new approach in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
“Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease for which no truly disease-modifying drugs are available. Our approach is completely novel. We explore how the human body attempts to protect itself from Alzheimer’s, and then we exploit this to develop an entirely new approach to therapeutics,” explained Dr. Weaver, a professor at Dalhousie University, clinical neurologist at Capital Health and IWK Health Centre, Canada Research Chair in Clinical Neuroscience, and the DMRF Irene MacDonald Sobey Chair in Curative Approaches to Alzheimer’s Disease. “We are extremely excited about the results presented in this paper and believe that this may represent a new approach to the treatment of AD.”
Weaver says that he and his fellow researchers have successfully identified molecules that are able to prevent the disease-producing aggregation of both beta-amyloid and tau – the two proteins whose misfolding is implicated in the causation of Alzheimer’s.
“Using ‘in silico’ (i.e. computer-aided) drug design, we have discovered new lead molecules that may aid in the future development of disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer’s disease,” said Dr. Autumn Meek whose research into Alzheimer’s has been funded by the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation’s “Gunn Family Graduate Studentship in Alzheimer’s Disease”. She works with co-authors Dr. Weaver and Mr. Gordon Simms in the Department of Chemistry at Dalhousie.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society publication “Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society”, Alzheimer’s disease is an ever-growing concern in Canadian society, and as the population trends toward the aged it will place an increased strain on healthcare and families alike. It is believed that within a generation, the numbers of Canadians with Alzheimer’s disease will more than double, and the cost of caring for individuals afflicted with dementia will increase from $15 billion annually to $153 billion annually.
It is a devastating omission that may have undercut years of work by brilliant researchers from around the world. Millions of dollars and countless hours have been spent investigating dementia. But in the view of...
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The material presented through the Think Tank feature on this website is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner. WBHI strongly advises all questioners and viewers using this feature with health problems to consult a qualified physician, especially before starting any treatment. The materials provided on this website cannot and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment. The materials are not exhaustive and cannot always respect all the most recent research in all areas of medicine. | <urn:uuid:4fb8955e-84d9-44e7-8f1a-bbb647fab45d> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | https://womensbrainhealth.org/wishful-thinking/new-computer-aided-drug-design-may-lead-to-new-alzheimers-treatment | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267866926.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20180624083011-20180624103011-00596.warc.gz | en | 0.93279 | 761 | 2.90625 | 3 |
It was also used as a lingua franca in the region that extends from present-day Egypt to present-day Pakistan between 600 BCE and 600 AD (Murad 1974, Abdu 1997, Bae 2004). One of the Aramaic dialects is Syriac, the Christian version of Western Aramaic.
Like Arabic and Hebrew, Syriac is a Semitic language that has a consonantal writing system in which consonants are represented but vowels are frequently omitted. Like its Arabic counterpart, Syriac writing is cursive and is written from right to left; however, unlike the Arabic letters, which can have up to three different shapes depending on their positions (initial, medium, final), the Syriac letters, like the Hebrew letters, can have at most two different shapes depending on whether the letter is in final position or not. Like Hebrew, Syriac has 22 consonants; in addition, there are five vowel diacritics which are placed above the consonants and which are divided into two groups, short and long, as can be seen in Table 1 below:
Syriac literature, which was highly affected by Greek influence, burgeoned between the third and eighth centuries AD. In fact, it was through Syriac that Greek learning and thought were passed on to the Islamic world; it was Syriac scholars who translated the late Hellenistic science texts from Syriac into Arabic.
Nevertheless, following the Arab invasion of the Levant in the 7th century AD, Syriac began to decline (Barbi 2000, Wright 2001, Clocksin and Fernando 2003, Sandy 2008). Today Syriac is still spoken in some villages in Syria and Turkey and among some members of the Aramean Syriac Orthodox community in Jerusalem, the Aramean Maronites of Cyprus ( Kur maketis area),Sweden Aramean Syriac community and in other parts of the world. Despite its decline, Aramaic Syriac has been maintained as the sacred language of some Christian communities, such as Aramean Syriac Catholics, Aramean Syriac Orthodox, and Aramean Syriac Maronites
Besides being the sacred language of Maronites and Syriac Orthodox, Aramaic Syriac is also the ancestral language of both communities. This is what makes it more
important to their identity than is, e.g. Greek to Arabic-speaking Greek (Sandy 2008).
Orthodox or Latin to Arabic-speaking non-Uniate Catholics, as the ancestors of these peoples spoke Syriac rather than Greek or Latin.
Aramaic Syriac is still spoken until today in some villages where our Aramean Maronites, Catholics, and Orthodox nation live but we believe that this is not enough and it should be taught to all our children worldwide in all communities in Lebanon, Israel, and the Diaspora such as USA, France, Brazil, etc... This will make our nation alive again and be known to the whole nations. | <urn:uuid:5a546408-8fde-474b-be30-12337229e33c> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | http://aramaic-center.com/aramaic.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936463444.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074103-00204-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960907 | 605 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Writing is a nightmare for most of the students. Lack of proper knowledge and time leads them to think writing as complex task for them. There are different kinds of writings such as essay writing, dissertation writing, thesis writing and research paper writing etc. each paper has its own writing style and structure. If we follow the correct format for writing, we can get quality paper as an output.
A critical review is the summarization and analyzing of the thoughts and information in an article. It is not a simple summary but a critical review is little bit more than a simple summary. It is an examination and analyzing of an article, book or other written work. It includes writer’s opinion based on what you know on the particular subject and what you learn from that. To write a best critical review, we should understand the material properly and evaluate those using suitable criteria. Before start writing critical review paper, you should study the work properly under discussion. After that make notes on importance of the work. Analyze and understand of main points that are expressed in the work properly. Start writing critical review paper based on this research and analysis.
As other academic paper, critical review paper has three important parts as introduction, body and a conclusion part. In introduction we should specify the general overview of the topic and include evaluation of the qualities of the content. Introduction part should specify whether the arguments in that content are accurate or not .actually it is a summary or description of the given text. Conclusion is not important for critical review paper. If we feel that the conclusion is required, then you should sum up your statement on whole paper.
From all these we can understand that, critical review writing is not a simple task. We need to face lots of step before write my paper. These entire problems make difficult to write my essay paper. We can use the availability of best essay writing service here. Best paper writing services have experienced writers who help to write best college essay. With the availability of best custom essay writing services we can solve the entire problem related to write my college essay paper. | <urn:uuid:ac6db78c-bf8f-4173-bde1-7e03bddad478> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | https://www.catchyessays.com/critical_review.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376827992.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20181216191351-20181216213351-00129.warc.gz | en | 0.930577 | 417 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The following press release popped into the Pack News Wire:
Ten Tips for Recognizing and Reporting Animal Abuse
SMITHTOWN, NEW YORK – (February 1, 2013) – Within New York City alone, the ASPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement Department investigates over 5,000 cases of animal cruelty each year; the animals vary from household pets to horses and livestock. However, most cases are never reported and the animal’s suffering goes unrecognized and without the necessary intervention. To assist in the protection of abused animals, the Guardians of Rescue organization steps in.
“It’s easy to overlook the many animals in distress, or to turn away from it,” Robert Misseri, president of Guardians of Rescue, stated. “We don’t do that. We work hard, with the support of those in the public, to help these animals in need, and we feel great doing it.”
The Guardians of Rescue, based in New York, provides a variety of programs to help and support animals in need, including Junior Guardians. Junior Guardians educates young people on how to recognize animal abuse and report it to the proper authorities and how to fight animal abuse. According to the ASPCA, here are ten tips to recognize and report animal abuse:
1. Visible wounds. Abused animals often have visible signs of illness or injury that are not usually being treated. | <urn:uuid:abe5a52c-99ca-4d1f-b911-878e7b01b717> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://tomgradyonline.com/wordpress/2013/02/01/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218190236.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212950-00611-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938175 | 288 | 2.75 | 3 |
Xenomorph or Internecivus raptus is a highly evolved brood species originating on an unknown planet.
standing upright, the Xeno Morph are bipedal in form, though depending on their host species, they will either adopt a more hunched stance, or remain quadrupedal when walking or sprinting. Their overall stance and general behavior is a result of the mixture of the DNA of the embryo and the host. They have a skeletal, biomechanical appearance and are usually colored in muted shades of black, gray, blue or bronze. Their body heat matches the ambient temperature of the environment in which they are found, so they do not radiate heat, making them indistinguishable from their surroundings through thermal imaging. In most of the films, adult Aliens are capable of running and crawling along ceilings and walls.They have great physical strength, having been shown to be capable of breaking through welded steel doors in numbers.
Aliens have segmented, blade-tipped tails.which they wield effectively as a weapon
the Aliens are not sapient “tool-makers” – in other words, they lack a technological civilization of any kind, and are instead primal, predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation and self-preservation of their species, including the elimination of other lifeforms that may pose a threat to their existence. Like wasps or termites, Xenomorphs are eusocial, with a single fertile queen breeding a caste of warriors, workers, or other specialists strains. The Aliens’ biological life cycle involves traumatic implantation of endoparasitoid larvae inside living hosts; these “chestburster” larvae erupt from the host’s body after a short incubation period, rapidly mature from juvenile into adulthood within hours, and seek out more hosts for implantation.
The Xenomorph is known for its highly aggressive nature and ferocious loyalty to their brood. They have shown exceptional problem sovling ability as well as a basic understanding on many technologies.
The physical form of a Xenomorph can vary depending on its life stage, hive, caste, age, and host, as well as varieties which have been genetically engineered by host species or genetically grown. The typical Xenomorph start its life cycle as an egg-like creature which, when detecting the presence of a potential host, opens up to release the second stage: a small quasi-arachnoid life form (Facehugger) which launches itself onto the hosts face and impregnates it with an endoparasitoid larva. This parasite then consumes the host from within and exits the body as a vaguely worm-like organism, before growing very quickly and developing into an adult Xenomorph.
Although numerous varieties exist, adult Xenomorphs all tend to share some common traits: a vertebrate-like body, a protective exoskeleton, a long flexible tail, an elongated domed head, with nearly invisible eyes near the mouth, and a toothed maw hiding a proboscis-like inner mouth. Little is known about their biology, but it is known that they eat with their inner or secondary mouths, not their outer mouths. This mouth is somewhat similar to the pharyngeal jaw of a moray eel. They also bleed an unknown and extremely corrosive Fluoroantimonic acid type of fluid. It is dull yellow in color and often referred to as “blood”, although whether it’s used to transport nutrients through the body and/or just serves simply as a defensive mechanism is not clear.
While the extremely corrosive fluids and tremendous resilience displayed by the creature might suggest an alternative kind of biochemistry, the fact that the Xenomorph not only feed on Humans, but actually develop inside them, strongly suggests that its biology is carbon-based. The ability to inherit traits from its hosts also suggests that it incorporates genetic material from them, implying that the Xenomorph either has DNA, or is able to read and convert DNA into whatever means it uses to store genetic information.
. Xenomorphs appear to possess a roughly similar intelligence to that of a typical primate, but have shown to learn relatively quickly, utilizing the situation around their environment. Although they do not demonstrate Human and Yautja-level intelligence as a species (such as abstract reasoning, introspection and technological advancement), their queen appears to possess considerable acumen in its social behavior and manipulation of human technology, such as cutting the power of the LV-426 colony and operating an elevator.
Xenomorphs have demonstrated little emotion, though they are not completely devoid of fear
The adult Xenomorph is a living weapon,(tail is used as weapon) noted for their ferocity and deadliness in any condition. Once fully matured, they have great physical strength and agility. They are masters of stealth; a favored method of acquiring prey is to wait in a dormant state until an appropriate victim strays near, and then drop down silently from behind or use its tail to impale whoever walks by. The prey is generally blind to the fact that a Xenomorph is present, due to its propensity to camouflage itself within its nest walls or the surrounding artificial environment given their bio-mechanical-like appearance. The Xenomorphs will also use their pitch black carapace to their advantage, lurking in the shadows whilst waiting for prey to stray too close. | <urn:uuid:502880e7-5270-4a83-ac3c-62dc98c0e84a> | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | https://spaceologyshow.com/what-is-a-xenomorph/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570987834649.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20191023150047-20191023173547-00188.warc.gz | en | 0.952894 | 1,099 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Scientific Name: Dromaius novaehollandiae
Description: A tall bird with small, useless wings, emus are mostly brown in colour. They reach heights of 1.9m (6.2ft) and weigh between 30-55kgs (66-121lbs). Females are slightly larger than the males. Emus have long legs with 3 toes on each foot. A pouch in the throat allows the emu to communicate via a deep drumming sound which can be heard for 2km (1.2mi).
Distribution and Habitat: Native to mainland Australia, emus avoid urban areas, dense forests, and deserts. Emu farms are found throughout North America.
• See Map
Diet: Omnivores, the emu diet varies depending on the season. They eat seeds, shoots, leaves, and small insects.
Life Cycle: Usually a solitary bird, emus form breeding pairs in the summer and the female lays a clutch of 5-15 eggs in the fall. Emu eggs are large, weighing up to 650g (1.4lbs), and dark green in colour. Once the eggs are laid the female leaves and the male incubates the eggs for 8 weeks, moving only to turn the eggs. The chicks are ready to leave the nest about 3 days after hatching; they will stay with their father for up to 18 months.
Did you know? The emu is the only bird in the world with calf muscles! These powerful muscles allow them to sprint at up to 48kph (30mph)! . | <urn:uuid:103f7047-e6f2-43d0-bd15-52bef8c91243> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://wildlifepark.novascotia.ca/animals/emu.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370524043.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20200404134723-20200404164723-00091.warc.gz | en | 0.912827 | 324 | 3.640625 | 4 |
1. eBook Edition
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- Fiction, Historical
- Juvenile Fiction, Historical, Canada, Pre-Confederation (To 1867)
- Juvenile Fiction, Religious, Christian, Historical
Underground railway, Black refugees, Sandwich Towne, slavery, fugitive slaves, Canada, freedom
Under The North Star
The Underground Railroad in Olde Sandwich Towne
Ruth Patterson couldn’t remember her parents who, when she was a small child were killed in a raid at Fort Malden in Amherstburg during the War of 1812. Fortunately, her parents had left her with her paternal Uncle Samuel and Aunt Elizabeth for safety. She was raised in a loving, Christian, and abolitionist home. When she married Martin Logan, a stranger from out of town, her Uncle let them farm one of his tracts of land in nearby Sandwich Towne. At that time many refugees from slavery were landing along the Canadian side of the Detroit River in the Amherstburg and Sandwich Towne areas. Martin’s short temper with Uncle Samuel’s reluctance to let him handle other business deals and sign over the property to him, and his own disagreement with the abolitionist movement, as well as the locals enthusiasm for helping the refugees finally prompted him to leave Ruth and their young son Daniel after a heated argument. At the time, Ruth was expecting their second child. Then things really started happening in Olde Sandwich Towne.
Joanna Bullard is a retired single mother. She lives with the youngest of her two adult sons and their dog Thomas. Aside from chasing after Thomas, she loves to spend time with her sons, her daughter-in-law and granddaughters. She spends her free time drawing, knitting and crocheting. Her circle of close friends round out her free time. The inspiration for Under The North Star comes from her love of the rich history surrounding the area of Southwestern Ontario where she has lived all her life.
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Learn how you can self-publish your own book with FriesenPress.Download Publishing Guide | <urn:uuid:e8235319-3319-4a45-80cb-1a29bd52e800> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000014684535/Joanna-Bullard-Under-The-North-Star | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439735939.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20200805094821-20200805124821-00510.warc.gz | en | 0.960768 | 482 | 2.515625 | 3 |
DOES media coverage — frequent and favourable — make a critical difference to winning an election? Is money the pivotal factor to secure victory at the polls? Though it is tempting to answer ‘yes’ to both these questions, it is almost equally tempting to say ‘no’. And to add: ‘not by these factors alone’.
Factors that influence balloting success need not be directly shaped by mass media and big money. Such factors are specific to each candidate and constituency, the quality of campaigns and competition, local as well as national issues, party alignments, party leaders’ appeal to voters, et al.
Yet mainstream media does contribute to framing issues and creating an information environment that determines priorities, moulds perceptions and sets the tone, particularly about parties. Despite the enormous proliferation of FM radio stations and TV news channels since 2002, mass media does not adequately promote individual candidates.
Independent candidates, without the benefit of coverage given to parties, are among the more obviously disadvantaged. But, in several instances, independents continue to defeat candidates of major parties and thereby prove the comparative irrelevance of coverage by mass media. And even when coverage is unfavourable for a candidate or a party, for loyal voters, this is like water off a duck’s back — it makes no difference.
To what extent does coverage determine who wins an election?
In 2018, a candidate for a provincial assembly seat is permitted to spend up to two million rupees, and up to four million rupees for a National Assembly seat. Correct calculations are elusive. Expenses are often borne by supporters through undocumented means, or support is given in kind — through use of vehicles, supply of publicity material, manual efforts, food supplies, operating offices, possibly also contributing to illicit cash-for-votes deals (which are far fewer than generally believed), and miscellaneous needs. None of these can be effectively monitored by the ECP with hundreds of constituencies, thousands of candidates and multiple ways of evasion.
A similar lack of transparency applies to expenses on advertising by political parties in mass media. While the ECP does require parties to report expenditures, including election-related expenditure, newspapers, radio and TV channels do not disclose rates actually charged; whether the same rates are charged to all parties; or if special discounts are given. Such unknowns suggest that the playing field is not level for all.
It was precisely to clear up the darkness of such mysteries that one of several recommendations made by the Media Commission, appointed by the Supreme Court in 2013, was that all placements of advertising by political parties in mass media and payments to such media be made mandatory only through a political advertising cell in the ECP.
The proposed cell could use the existing facilities of press information departments operating under the federal and provincial (caretaker) governments. While ECP did ask parties and media to practise codes of conduct, for unexplained reasons, it did not enforce the proposal to create a political advertising cell or other suggested measures.
Nor has the Supreme Court dealt conclusively with the overall report of the Media Commission, despite the passage of five years since the report’s submission. Over 30 recommendations were made in response to nine terms of reference. Only one, ie TOR (F), dealt with the role of media in elections.
The other eight TORs led to the formulation of over 20 recommendations after extensive consultation with all stakeholders that, if implemented, would shape structural and purposeful improvements in regulatory and operational dimensions of electronic media. Actions are required by the judiciary, parliament, media, advertisers, regulatory bodies and citizens.
In notable contrast to the hyper-activism of the Supreme Court in other public interest issues, the apex court has not rendered a summative opinion on the Media Commission’s findings. Fortunately, on the court’s directive, the federal caretaker government has implemented one of the commission’s recommendations — to revert to the original composition of Pemra members, by which the majority are non-governmental individuals. A recommended forensic audit to unearth placement of government advertising in bogus print media or at bloated rates was also undertaken earlier.
Given the abundant proliferation of parties and candidates, mainstream media and social media, the ECP cannot accurately monitor campaign and media-related expenses without innovative new monitoring approaches. Thus, unequivocal responses to the two questions posed at the start of this comment remain tantalisingly unanswerable.
Media and money do matter. But, fortunately, several other factors will also probably make the winning difference on July 25, 2018.
The writer was a member of the Media Commission, and a former federal minister and senator.
Published in Dawn, June 21st, 2018 | <urn:uuid:639fc898-62e4-4de5-be84-9039b6219c7e> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://www.dawn.com/news/1415166/media-and-polls | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487622234.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20210616063154-20210616093154-00245.warc.gz | en | 0.95646 | 957 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Maintaining ethical standards are necessary in every business entity that intends to survive successfully in the market and improve total organizational competencies and efficiencies.
Developing total efficiencies of the employees is essential for leading a business entity in the direction of success continuously. This necessitates training and guiding the employees in such a way as to build their efficiencies in all the aspects of business while stressing on maintaining ethical standards effectively at all times. Understanding and upholding business ethics is essential for overall business activities. So it goes with the accounting profession as well.
Ethics is synonymous with morality, honesty and integrity. Ethics means the basic concepts and fundamental principles of right human conduct, which involves differentiating between good and bad, right and wrong, so that an accounting professional follows what is principally right for him to do.
Since the accounting profession involves various functions of accounting, such as, recording of all business events that are of financial character, classifying and summarizing them and present them in the form of profit and loss statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, the way these activities are performed is very important and it has a lot do with maintaining accounting ethics of accountants.
One of the most important things that shows ethical behavior of an accountant is that he needs to remain impartial and loyal to the business organization while performing the related activities sincerely and in all honesty. Since the accounting information drawn from the financial statements is of great value and significance to be relied upon and upon which the success or failure of a business immensely depends, an accountant should not manipulate the accounting figures in order to hide any information.
In terms of balance sheets, the information concerning, cash, receivables, inventory, prepaid expense, long term receivables etc must be presented accurately.
Similarly, the activities pertinent to the components of income statements, such as, revenues and expense are to be carried out efficiently. An accountant should not change the accounting figures to make profits look better on income statement. In this way, accounting professionals are supposed to provide the accurate information to the top management without changing the figures showing less expenses or greater revenues.
Hence, the accounting ethics should be applied to each and every activity of the process of accounting, so that the complete, accurate and reliable information can be presented to the desired users of financial statements in a business organization.
Health insurance is an essential plan to be adopted these days. But a large population is not aware of the benefits of health insurance.
GoGetFunding is a website that helpd in raising money from various causes and events. It has helped people from all over the world in raising millions of money online.
Long-term care insurance is a type of insurance that offers protection to an individual on the expenses that arise when he/she needs long term assistance or care due to the inability to perform basic daily activities. This article brings to life everything you need to know about long term care insurance.. | <urn:uuid:b38df5a6-2a7f-42cc-938a-a8437bed6253> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://businessandfinance.expertscolumn.com/accounting-ethics-importance-accounting-ethics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506480.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20230923062631-20230923092631-00356.warc.gz | en | 0.950639 | 590 | 2.796875 | 3 |
This is a post by Free Homeschool Deals contributor, Beth Gorden at 123 Homeschool 4 Me.
Save some money while adding a fun learning tool to your walls with these free printable Disney Princess Alphabet Penannts. These are such a great tool for helping Toddler, Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st graders practice learning and writing their letters
Princess Alphabet Pennants
Directions: Print on cardstock or use a laminator (for durability), cut apart, and hang on wall.
These are a time tested tool for helping younger children visually learn their alphabet letters. Plus as your Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st grade child begins writing letters, these are an excellent tool to help them form their letters correction.
Hint: I also have Princess Alphabet Pennants – Color Me version where you child can actually color the pennant wall cards in to improve fine motor skills too.
More Princess Printables for Kids
- Princess Worksheets for Kids (Toddler-2nd grade)
- Princess Sight Word Readers (Toddler – 2nd grade)
- Frozen Worksheets for Kids (Toddler – 2nd grade)
- Princess Spelling Tests
- Princess Reading Logs
- Princess Addition Flashcards
Download Princess Alphabet Pennants
Before you download your free pack you agree to the following:
- This set is for personal and classroom use only.
- This printable set may not be sold, hosted, reproduced, or stored on any other website or electronic retrieval system.
- Graphics Purchased and used with permission from Disney Princess
- All downloadable material provided on this blog is copyright protected.
CLICK HERE for more free instant downloads! | <urn:uuid:c7c0d0a8-12c7-40aa-88b2-fa3db7fca1b1> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | https://www.freehomeschooldeals.com/free-princess-alphabet-pennants-instant-download/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583512015.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20181018214747-20181019000247-00475.warc.gz | en | 0.890061 | 355 | 2.59375 | 3 |
© Copyright by
Roshaunda D. Cade
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Roxy asks Tom,
‘Ain’t you my chile? En does you know anything dat a mother won’t do for her chile? Dey ain’t nothin’ a white mother won’t do for her chile. Who made ‘em so? De Lord done it. En who made de niggers? De Lord made ’em. In de inside, mothers is all de same.’ (Twain 100)
Like Harriet Beecher Stowe, Twain appeals to all mothers noting that on the inside all mothers are the same. Although Stowe’s character Eliza had to become a white man and Roxy had to emerge as a white man in blackface, they both exhibit the same concern for their children as Roxana Beecher. Their differences in circumstance determine their varying modes of action, but in light of the enormity of the task of raising future citizens, the disparities in their individual statuses as citizens seems small. Katherine Ellison argues that motherhood introduces power into women lives, and she further argues that once accustomed to the domestic power of motherhood, women extend this power into the public realm and become more inclined to buck repressive social systems (106, 112, 113). Motherhood motivates much of Pudd’nhead Wilson, and these byproducts of motherhood impel Roxy to action.
Although readers meet Roxy after she gives birth, we can reasonably imagine that Roxy, a socially powerless slave before motherhood, discovers the generative power of carrying a baby to term, unleashes previously untapped power during childbirth, and experiences the domestic power of creating and ordering a world for her son. Becoming a mother forces Roxy to examine her slave status and the slave status inherited by her son. Her priorities shift from pleasing her master to freeing her son, because she sees freedom as his only means of survival. In other words, motherhood gives Roxy a type of power previously unknown. With this increased power and resourcefulness, Roxy devises a plan to free her son. By conceiving and executing the plan to switch babies, Roxy challenges the restrictive social strictures of white supremacy. Roxy turns her black slave son into a free white male citizen. Providing freedom for her son eventually induces Roxy to fight for her own freedom, which, in turn, introduces her into the public realm and yields more power to rail against social fetters. She later, albeit temporarily, endows herself with free citizen status as she performs a blackface minstrel act.
The troubles and anxieties in Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson stem from notions and misconceptions of racial identity. In order to appreciate how race impacts privilege and freedom, it becomes necessary to understand white supremacy, racial passing, and blackface minstrelsy. Theories of white supremacy establish the US as a country that only allows full humanity, freedom, and citizenship to its white inhabitants. Racial passing, then, becomes a way for non-whites to use deception in order to enter into this system and to achieve and maintain the rights denied them by white supremacy. And blackface minstrelsy locates the height of American privilege in the ability to accommodate blackness temporarily. Blackface minstrelsy places white males at the site of racial crossover. This theory denies white women opportunities temporarily to put on blackness, and this male-domination further removes black women from participating in mainstream American cultures. In other words, blackface minstrelsy allows access to US privilege to white men alone.
Twain, although ultimately upholding American social norms, uses and upends both passing and blackface minstrelsy to allow Roxy to attain some benefits of white American citizenship. He subverts minstrelsy and passing by using them as feminist tools to create agency. Through Roxy, Twain challenges prevailing notions of blackface minstrelsy and gender, and by exploding those notions gains her access, rather than denial, to the privileges of antebellum American citizenship. Twain evokes the “experience of freedom through images of divided selves,” with Roxy standing as an example (Horn 2). In Pudd’nhead Wilson, Roxy exists as mulatta and mama, female and male, black and white, slave and free. Her travels between these dualities introduce her to American citizenship and the liberties inherent in that citizenship. Using motherhood as a catalyst and Harriet Beecher Stowe as a backdrop, Mark Twain dismantles white supremacy, racial passing, and blackface minstrelsy through the lens of Roxy, a seemingly “contained and constrained” mulatta slave mother. | <urn:uuid:18ac8640-0aa8-423c-870a-018a0c87aa1c> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://roshaundacade.com/2017/05/30/dissertation-chapter-5-mulatta-mama-in-mark-twains-puddnhead-wilson-7-of-7/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578551739.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20190422095521-20190422121521-00151.warc.gz | en | 0.925846 | 992 | 3.359375 | 3 |
A year after Japan’s largest earthquake and most destructive tsunami led to the Fukushima nuclear accident, experts say the industry has moved beyond any claims of absolute safety. As happened after the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, experts now recognize that any technology—whether it’s deepwater drilling or nuclear fission—can and will fail, and operators must prepare for the worst.
“Fukushima Daiichi … was not just due to an inadequately sized seawall—that is the wrong way to look at it,” says Edward Blandford, a professor of nuclear security at the University of New Mexico and a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. “The events at Fukushima Daiichi were due to a series of failures, including failures in plant defensive actions, mitigation efforts, and emergency response. If backup equipment had been stored in waterproof vaults or higher elevations, the accident would have most likely been avoided.”
Nuclear operators and regulators say they embrace the need to anticipate the worst. Nuclear utilities in the U.S. launched a program this winter to stock portable reactor-cooling equipment at regional depots, and last week, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved new mandates requiring operators to prepare for events worse than what a reactor is designed to handle—or “beyond design-basis events,” in industry lingo.
Reactors and radioactive materials at Fukushima Daiichi were destabilized by back-to-back beyond design-basis events. First was the magnitude 9.0 earthquake that felled the plant’s power lines, triggering diesel generators to maintain cooling of its reactor cores and spent fuel rods. Less than an hour later, the generators along with some of the plant’s last-resort battery power backup were gone, knocked out by a 14-meter tsunami wave that crested the plant’s seawall.
Human error and design limitations quickly compounded the impact of the loss of power. Operators mistakenly shut down battery-driven cooling on one reactor for three hours, for example. Within 24 hours of the tsunami, nuclear fuel in three reactors was melting down, and superheated fuel was generating hydrogen gas, whose ignition would blow open three reactor buildings in the days ahead, impeding response efforts and exposing elevated pools holding spent nuclear fuel.
While no deaths have yet been attributed to Fukushima’s triple meltdowns, the radioactivity they released prompted a mass evacuation and contaminated an area spanning over 8,000 square miles.
Nuclear experts say the key to controlling future incidents and thus restoring faith in nuclear energy is a “defense in depth” approach to reactor design and emergency preparedness—precisely what was missing at Fukushima. Locating backup air-cooled diesel generators in basements, for example, was a sign that Fukushima wasn’t fully prepared for a tsunami, says Tony Irwin, a lecturer in nuclear technology at the Australian National University who participated in a post-Chernobyl review of operating practices at Russian reactors. “Even if the seawall was not high enough, a proper risk assessment would have identified the need for waterproof rooms, backup pumps on higher ground, etc.,” says Irwin.
The newest generation of reactors features more backup defenses, notes Irwin. Last month, the NRC approved permits for construction of two reactors at Southern Company’s Vogtle, Georgia, nuclear station using the Westinghouse AP1000 design, which has a passive cooling capacity: an elevated reservoir that can be gravity-fed to keep its reactor cool for three days with no electricity. “This 72 hours would have helped greatly [at Fukushima], allowing operators to direct much-needed personnel resources to restoring backup onsite power,” says Blandford.
AP1000’s passive cooling could, of course, fail to operate after a hurricane, tornado, or other calamity greater than the engineers at Westinghouse and the NRC have anticipated. In that event, an AP1000 would have to fall back on conventional power-driven pumps, says Edwin Lyman, a nuclear safety and security expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists. The problem, says Lyman, is that such backup equipment has been winnowed to reduce costs. “If you have a seismic event, for example, that backup may not be available when you need it,” suggests Lyman.
Other experts say the industry’s new voluntary emergency response program will fill such gaps by placing equipment such as portable pumps in regional depots, hopefully beyond the reach of the events that strike a nuclear reactor. “We don’t know what the next rare phenomenon will be, but we’ll be prepared to provide water to the core,” says Andrew Kadak, a professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT.
But Lyman says NRC audits of voluntary safety upgrades made by the nuclear industry after the September 11 attacks revealed that much of the added equipment was commercial grade, as opposed to higher-grade equipment certified for use in a nuclear plant. “We question whether it would be effective in the heat of an event like Fukushima,” says Lyman. Without greater oversight from the NRC, he says, the industry’s regional depots could similarly fall short of their promise.
In Japan, where nuclear power has, until recently, underpinned the nation’s energy strategy, the inadequate disaster preparation laid bare last year has fueled an antinuclear backlash. If the result is a nuclear phase out, the nuclear industry will have its own propaganda to blame, according to a report on the Fukushima accident’s causes issued last week by an independent commission chaired by Koichi Kitazawa, an expert in materials science and superconductivity and former president of Japan’s Science and Technology Agency.
As the commission’s summary notes, Tepco’s nuclear energy division understood as early as 2006 that some tsunami researchers believed that a tsunami in 869 A.D. would have crested well above Fukushima Daiichi’s seawalls. But the industry judged that raising seawalls and other such high-profile safety upgrades would call its myth of “absolute safety” into question. As the report puts it: “Power companies found themselves caught in their own trap.” | <urn:uuid:c67b4ca7-8086-440b-a5e7-81b28d5df4c0> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://www.technologyreview.com/2012/03/07/187222/what-we-learned-about-nuclear-safety-from-fukushima/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703519843.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20210119232006-20210120022006-00705.warc.gz | en | 0.953053 | 1,317 | 3.171875 | 3 |
This is a friendlier version of an earlier post that was marked for economists.
Q: Everyone keeps saying that the government cannot boost the economy by increasing its spending because we need to reduce the amount of government debt. Now I know we have talked a lot about why this view is mistaken, but what is stopping the government paying for additional spending by just printing money?
A: Do you know the technical name for that idea?
Q: Money financed fiscal expansion rather than bond financed fiscal expansion? And didn’t Friedman have this idea involving a helicopter?
A: Good. And what is meant by Quantitative Easing, or QE for short?
Q: The central bank buying government debt by creating bank reserves?
A: That will do. And what does the term ‘monetary base’ or ‘high powered money’ mean?
Q: That is the amount of money created directly by the central bank, which is either cash held by the public, or reserves held by banks.
A: So if we have a policy that involves both bond financed fiscal expansion, and QE, what does that amount to?
Q: Ah! Is it the same as money financed fiscal expansion?
A: It looks that way. But to properly answer that question, we need consider another. Now what happens if a government spends like there is no tomorrow, and finances it all by printing money?
Q: We get inflation of course. But that is only because the government would be increasing demand even when we have got to full employment. Today when there is deficient demand and high unemployment, adding to demand should not cause an inflation problem.
A: I agree. But suppose money financed fiscal expansion, or bond financed expansion plus QE, works, and we get back to what you call full employment. What happens to all that money the central bank has created?
Q: Well now there would be too much money chasing too few goods, so the central bank would have to put QE into reverse. Otherwise we would get inflation.
A: OK. Would the world look any different after QE had been reversed, compared to a policy that had just involved bond financed fiscal expansion in the first place?
Q: So what you are saying is that bond financed fiscal expansion with or without QE looks just the same in the long run, as long as QE is reversed.
A: Well you have just said it, having gone down the path I have subtly led you down. Now what have I always told you about the time frame involved with issues involving government debt?
Q: I know I asked the first question, but now I’m doing all the answers. You really should be using different letters from Q and A, like maybe S and T.
A: Ah, the famous dialogs between Socrates and Theaetetus. How nice it is to teach Students in Tutorials who also study philosophy. But what is the answer to my question.
Q: That issues involving government debt are long term, not short term. So if using money to finance extra government spending just involves a temporary increase in money, and no permanent reduction in debt, what is the point?
A: Indeed. Now there might be some point if the government or central bank wanted to signal with QE that it did intend to raise inflation above the target level for some time, which is the same as saying that it would not reverse all of the QE.
Q: But haven’t both the Bank of England and Federal Reserve said they remain totally committed to their inflation targets?
A: Effectively yes, and recently they seem to be content to see inflation below target, so it would be very odd if they were using QE to signal the opposite.
Q: So does that make QE a complete waste of time? And why do you say there would be some point in having higher inflation in the future?
A: I think this is an excellent point at which to end things with some reading for next week. I suggest this paper that Michael Woodford has just written. After that have a look at these blogs (Bruegel, Kimball and DeLong, Serlin, Hamilton, Gagnon) on the effectiveness of QE, and this on nominal GDP targets and fiscal policy. (Try and keep the issues involving instruments, mechanisms and targets separate if you can.)
Q: Not another paper by Woodford! The last time you made us read one of his papers it went into maths just when it was getting interesting.
A: I’m tempted to say that without maths there can be no true knowledge, and this is just the exception that proves that rule. | <urn:uuid:0ce8ffa4-d8da-4ac0-8f04-744567fb8100> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | https://mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2012/09/why-not-finance-fiscal-stimulus-by.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084890514.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20180121100252-20180121120252-00406.warc.gz | en | 0.973355 | 969 | 2.875 | 3 |
For the last half-century, the world's leading universities have taught microeconomics through the lens of the Arrow-Debreu model of general competitive equilibrium. The model, formalizing a central insight of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," embodies the beauty, simplicity and lack of realism of the two fundamental theorems of competitive equilibrium, in contrast to the messiness and complexity of modifications made by economists in an effort to capture better the way the world actually functions. In other words, while researchers attempt to grasp complex, real-world situations, students are pondering unrealistic hypotheticals.
This educational approach stems largely from the sensible idea that a framework for thinking about economic problems is more useful to students than a ragbag of models. But it has become burdened with another, more pernicious notion. As departures from the Arrow-Debreu model become more realistic, and thus more complex, they become less suitable for the classroom. In other words, "real" microeconomic thinking should be left to the experts.
Undergraduate-level courses in microeconomics should empower students and give them insights into real-life situations.
To be sure, basic models — such as theories of monopoly and simple oligopoly, the theory of public goods or simple asymmetric-information theory — have some educational value. But few researchers actually work with them. The bread-and-butter theories for microeconomics research — for example, incomplete contracts, two-sided markets, risk analysis, market signaling or financial-market microstructure — are far more complicated and require exceptional finesse to avoid inelegance. Given this, they are largely excluded from textbooks.
In fact, microeconomics textbooks have remained practically unchanged for at least two decades. As a result, undergraduate students struggle to understand even the abstracts of papers on the complex representations of microeconomic reality that fill research journals. And, in many areas — such as antitrust analysis, auction design, taxation, environmental policy, and industrial and financial regulation — policy applications have come to be considered the domain of specialists.
This does not have to be the case. While it is true that realistic microeconomic models are more complex than their idealized textbook counterparts, grasping them does not necessarily require years of research experience.
A case in point is the economics of two-sided markets, which involve competition between platforms whose principal "product" consists in connecting two categories of users, who then offer each other network benefits. When markets are two-sided, many of the standard assumptions of antitrust analysis no longer hold. Market entry can be bad for consumers, exclusive contracts can increase the number of firms in a market, and pricing below cost may not be predatory.
But every behavioral divergence between two-sided and traditional markets can be understood using simple tools of elementary microeconomics, such as the distinction between substitute and complementary products. When producers of substitutes collude, they usually raise prices; producers of complements, by contrast, collaborate to lower them.
So if two platforms that appear to be performing similar services are complementary — for example, because one platform connects consumers with a set of users that helps them to value another set of users more highly — market entry can be bad for consumers. In fact, two platforms can even be complementary for one set of users and substitutes for another.
Moreover, exclusive dealing can increase competition by allowing two platforms to occupy distinct market niches, with the alternative being that one drives out the other. In short, with a solid understanding of the difference between complements and substitutes, one can do almost everything the fancy models do without hiring a single expensive expert.
Undergraduate-level microeconomics should empower students, not alienate them. While the Arrow-Debreu model has its value — namely, it explains why an unplanned economy can produce order — it is discouraging for students to find that what they are deemed capable of comprehending offers little insight into real-life situations.
Restructuring the microeconomics syllabus would send a far more inspiring, and accurate, message: Even complex ideas developed by experts can be understood and applied by educated laypeople. | <urn:uuid:281a5b00-bb6c-41ff-91f1-dd8d715aafb6> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2013/12/09/economics-for-all-students-a30319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046154432.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20210803061431-20210803091431-00518.warc.gz | en | 0.941741 | 846 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Most drivers realize that a rear-end collision is frequently considered the fault of the driver following the one hit.
Why? Because one of the basic safety rules of the road is to always leave sufficient space between your car and the vehicle in front of you to prevent crashes.
The space drivers leave needs to take into account road conditions, time of day and other safety factors, as it takes vehicles longer to stop if roads are wet or icy, and noticing the actions of another car may take a bit longer if it is dark.
The rule exists to ensure maximum safety on the roadways. The driver in front may need to stop suddenly to avoid a pedestrian, cyclist, another car, or an obstacle. The car may malfunction and come to an abrupt stop. If this or any other reason makes the car ahead stop abruptly, a motorist following the safety rule of leaving sufficient space to stop will be safe.
Comparative Negligence and Negligence
But there are situations where the following driver may not be at fault or may share blame with the other driver.
Fault is determined by an assessment of negligence. Negligence means that a party didn’t exercise reasonable due care in an action. Following at a safe distance, for example, is reasonable due care.
If other drivers are found negligent in a car accident, the insurance company or court can find them at fault. They may then have to pay compensation for any damages caused by the accident.
New Jersey also has a comparative negligence law. Comparative negligence means that insurance companies and courts may determine that both parties are at fault, and assign a percentage of the total to each. If an accident caused $20,000 in damage, for example, and the following driver was only 50% at fault, the insurance company will pay only 50% of $20,000, or $10,000.
When the Driver in Front May be At Fault
When may the driver in front be at fault for a rear-end collision, or partly at fault?
If the car has no brake light
Motorists are also required to keep the safety features of their vehicles in good working order. Normally, brake lights signal to other motorists that a car is slowing down to make a stop. If brake lights are not functioning on a vehicle, the motorist behind is not given sufficient warning to an intent to stop.
If the car backs up
Not all “rear-end” collisions are rear-end collisions! At times, when cars are stopped in a line at a traffic light or stop sign, a car may try to back up, perhaps to attempt to change to another lane or simply to put more space in front.
But if they aren’t careful, they can hit the car behind them. In this case, it may be that the driver behind did nothing but stay stationary, and was hit by someone driving backward.
If the turn signals aren’t working or used
Turn signals provide notice that a car is intending to turn, and will likely slow down. If a motorist hasn’t maintained the car well enough to have working turn signals, or doesn’t use turn signals, the driver may bear a degree of responsibility for being rear-ended.
If the car stops without warning
At times, cars may need to stop suddenly to avoid a crash. But if the car stops suddenly for no reason, the driver in front may be at fault.
Seasoned Car Accident Lawyers in Bergen County
If you or a loved one has been injured in a vehicle accident, whether due to a rear-end collision or any other reason, the attorneys at Kantrowitz, Goldhamer & Graifman are here to protect your best interests.
Our legal team has more than 40 years of experience litigating complex injury claims in New Jersey. Call us at (800) 711-5258 to schedule a free case review with a car accident attorney Bergen County trusts.
Additional Car Accident Resources:
- Maintain a Safe Following Distance (The 3-Second Rule). SmartMotorist.com. http://www.smartmotorist.com/traffic-and-safety-guideline/maintain-a-safe-following-distance-the-3-second-rule.html
- State of New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Auto Comparative Negligence Settlement – Frequently Asked Questions. http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/ins_ombudsman/ombuds_acnsfaq.html | <urn:uuid:4ac9ce19-3d8a-4da7-8998-37b349b0d03f> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.kgglaw.com/auto-accident/is-a-rear-end-collision-always-the-following-drivers-fault/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514573988.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20190920092800-20190920114800-00126.warc.gz | en | 0.949475 | 942 | 2.53125 | 3 |
On average, we spend 25 hours each week on our electronics, staring directly into a screen with blue light. In other words, you spend an entire day with your eyes fixed on a screen without sleeping, and the blue light emitted has been proven to do serious damage to our visual systems. Most of us face minor headaches, eyestrain or exhaustion, yet, from recent studies, blue light exposure increases the risk to worse conditions like macular degeneration. For those whose family history includes macular degeneration, are at an increased risk due to large pupils that allow blue light to penetrate directly into the eye. White eye conditions from blue light are affected over a period of time, holding electronics closer to the face lead can cause symptoms to appear quicker.
Still, in our privileged age of technological achievement, our electronics are necessary to interact and thrive with others, and avoiding the negative side effects like blue light are vital. Blue light, also known as high energy visible light, is emitted by many of these electronics, and is a serious threat to eye health which was previously unknown and irrelevant in generations past. Fortunately, cutting edge technological solutions to this growing epidemic exist.
Certain lenses are being developed to filter out blue light, enhance visual comfort, and reduce symptoms like eyestrain. BluTech Lenses, for example, boast a special state-of-the-art filtering agent within the lens material itself that duplicates elements in the eye, called ocular lens pigment and melanin, which the body naturally produces on its own, and which help filter out just the right amount of blue light entering the eye to protect against unfettered blue light penetration, while allowing proper visual contrast.
Recharge is another cutting edge option to help cut down on the harmful effects of blue light. HOYA is the advanced eye care company that produces these lenses, which reflect up to 30% of harmful blue light away from the eye.
Through the advances brought by BluTech lenses and the reflective properties of the Recharge coating, a large percentage of otherwise very harmful blue light never reaches the eye. Staying informed with the latest in eye technologies is a key element for quality eye health.
Patients who spend hours on electronic devices are at increased risk of eyestrain and glare, macular degeneration or problems falling asleep at night. For more information about blue light and how to protect yourself, contact your eye doctor today. | <urn:uuid:e3587206-1e5a-4fe8-a992-326fa933f47f> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://www.city-optometry.com/2015/06/05/why-is-blue-light-dangerous/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046153531.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20210728060744-20210728090744-00719.warc.gz | en | 0.929594 | 489 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Thinking back to my days in Geometry (and even before) it was always a struggle for me. There were so many concepts to connect together in such a short amount of time and it truly overwhelmed me. I never had a chance to investigate things with manipulatives longer than maybe a 20 minutes time span and never in high school when I truly needed it. Geometry quickly became my least favorite topic and even stayed that way once I became a teacher simply because of my past experiences.
When Geometiles contacted me and asked if I would like to take some time to play and learn with their 96 piece set, I jumped on the chance because I knew that while geometry was struggle for me and my students, that many of you also had this same struggle.
When I first got the box I was excited to open it and check out all that it included as they were brand new to me. Once I opened the box I started getting all kinds of ideas on what I could then build with the different shapes that are included. With the way that the tiles click together they can easily create two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional objects. With these concepts just scratching the surface, Geometiles has also created an online resource library on lessons to use the tiles with learning about angles, ratios, teaching FRACTIONS (yes, fractions), and then also exploring Platonic and Archimedean solids.
While starting to play with these I simply just played in the beginning. I allowed myself to create objects of various shapes and sizes to get experience with how the tiles worked together. Once I had my grasp I decided to download the Shape Challenge Workbook for Fourth Grade and up. When I first started looking at it I was quickly reminded of the Lego books that come with all the various sets.
The challenges provided in this workbook are each open-ended and would be GREAT for a STEM Bin for your classroom. The questions grow in complexity and begin as simple as “Make a square in four different sizes.” and then it builds up to asking, “Make a quadrilateral that has no lines of symmetry and none of whose sides are parallel to each other.” Both of these require knowledge of geometric vocabulary and thinking beyond just drawing with a pencil.
If you are looking for something to add to your classroom manipulatives, or even maybe in your own home, I would definitely check out the different packages available of Geometiles as they are a component I recommend for all grades!
Join the SCC Newsletter Today!
Join the VIP List today to get immediate access to the FREE Resource Library exclusively for VIPs just like you! | <urn:uuid:41fba636-f8e6-4b61-9531-1f21cf5f0232> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | https://smithcurriculumconsulting.com/making-geometry-click-geometiles/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794866870.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20180524205512-20180524225512-00221.warc.gz | en | 0.982296 | 542 | 3.015625 | 3 |
How Do You Grow Crystal On Charcoal Science Experiment Project?
Also known as a Crystal Garden, this simple (and old) chemistry experiment/project continues to awe both young and not so young. Technically, this is how it works: The blue ion particles in the laundry bluing and the salt get carried up into the charcoal. The salt then crystallizes around the blue particles. These crystals are porous and the liquid below continues to move into the openings and evaporate, leaving layers of crystals. If you are working with children allow them to do as many steps as possible on their own. This facilitates their learning, independence and confidence. Place the charcoal briquettes in the shallow pan. In the bowl or can stir together a mixture of salt, laundry bluing and water. For special effects add several drops of various shades of food coloring. Pour the liquid over the charcoal. Let the garden rest undisturbed for a day or two. Take a peek at it periodically. Crystals will begin to form. Add more solution occasionally to nourish the “garden” and keep | <urn:uuid:ece278c7-2af4-43ce-ae93-05bb57aa8914> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | http://www.experts123.com/q/how-do-you-grow-crystal-on-charcoal-science-experiment-project.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128320174.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20170623202724-20170623222724-00590.warc.gz | en | 0.926749 | 221 | 3.0625 | 3 |
National Electrical Code Top Ten Tips: Article 660 -- X-ray Equipment
While they have proven enormously beneficial, medical diagnostic machines
that use X-rays also present many hazards. For example, prolonged or repeated
exposure even at low levels will result in progressive tissue damage. Risk of
cancer is increased with exposure to X-ray.
The manufacturers have addressed this danger in many ways, including
equipment design, recommended usage procedure, and user training. And the same
is true of nonmedical and nondental equipment, such as industrial X-ray
equipment. One big advance in radiation safety is the emergence of digital X-rays. The amount of energy required is far less. Digital dental X-rays, for example, require only a fraction of the X-ray energy formerly required to make an image on film. Veterninarians are even moving to digital, for this and other reasons.
X-ray safety isn't the issue it used to be. But the machines still have high-voltage supplies so they are still electrically dangerous. For this type of equipment, the NEC addresses the issues involved in
making this equipment electrically safe. It does that in Article 660.
NEC tips for nonmedical and nondental X-ray equipment:
- Article 660 addresses safety from an electrical standpoint, only. It
does not address direct or stray radiation [660.1].
- A long-term rating is based on an operating interval of 5 minutes or
longer. A momentary rating is based on an operating interval of 5 seconds or
less [660.2]. What about the time in between? The NEC is silent about that;
if perchance you end up using equipment that's in the 'tween area, consult
the manufacturer. And remember to err on the side of caution if you can't
get resolution any other way.
- Portable and transportable are not the same thing. The former means you
can carry it by hand [660.2]; the latter means it can be transported in a
vehicle (if readily disassembled or not in need of disassembly).
- For stationary equipment not over 30A, you can supply power via a plug
cap and hard service cable or cord [660.4].
- For portable equipment over 60A, the supply must be an individual branch
- The disconnect must be of adequate capacity for at least 50% of the
rating of momentary rated equipment, and 100% of the rating of long-time
rated equipment [660.5].
- The branch circuit conductors must have an ampacity for at least 50% of
the rating of momentary rated equipment, and 100% of the rating of long-time
rated equipment [660.6(A)].
- The feeder circuit conductors (supplying more than one branch circuit)
must have an ampacity for at least 100% of the rating of momentary rated
equipment (based on the two largest X-ray apparatus plus 20% of the
momentary ratings of the other X-ray apparatus combined) [6606.(B)].
- The transformers and capacitors that are part of an X-ray equipment
don't have to comply with Articles 450 and 460 [660.35]. This, however, does
not imply anything whatsoever about the transformers and capacitors that are
part of your service/feeder/branch power supply.
- Part IV of Article 660.47 talks about grounding. This is an erroneous
use of the word "ground" so do not ground anything.
See the Article 100 definitions of grounding and bonding. Where Part IV
talks about grounding, it means bonding. You can see that from those
definitions, for one thing. You can also see this when you follow the
instructions of 660.48 to "ground" non-current carrying metal parts in the
manner specified in Article 250. Look in Part V of Article 250. It requires
that you create a metallic path, which is bonding.
If you ground where you should bond, you will leave hazardous differences of
potential that will probably get somebody killed. The NEC still has not
fixed this persistent language deficiency, but now that you know what it
really means you can provide a safe installation. | <urn:uuid:a370ad39-46b9-4ed5-b03e-e546a053475d> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | http://codebookcity.com/codearticles/nec/necarticle660.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320300658.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20220118002226-20220118032226-00059.warc.gz | en | 0.932572 | 906 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Botanical name: Sorbus hupehensis Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)
Hupeh Rowan is a small deciduous tree growing to 5–10 m tall, with grey-brown to purplish-brown bark. The branches and shoots are slender. Leaves are green above, paler beneath, 10-15 cm long, pinnate with 7-17 narrow oval leaflets 3-5 cm long and 1-1.8 cm broad, with a pointed tip, and toothed margins. They change to orange or red in autumn. The flowers are 5-7 mm diameter, with five white petals and 20 yellowish-white stamens. They are produced in corymbs 6-10 cm diameter in late spring to early summer. The fruit is a pome 5-8 mm diameter, bright pink with persistent sepals, maturing in late autumn.
Identification credit: Tanay Bose, Gurcharan Singh
The flower labeled Hupeh Rowan is ... | <urn:uuid:61867741-0364-4033-962c-1554ce5b52b3> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | http://flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Hupeh%20Rowan.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195526506.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20190720091347-20190720113347-00431.warc.gz | en | 0.877757 | 211 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Ukrainian Republican Party
|This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
The Ukrainian Republican Party (Ukrainian: Українська Республіканська партія; Ukrajinska Respublikanska Partija) was the first registered political party in Ukraine created on November 5, 1990 by the Ministry of Justice of UkrSSR. URP was founded earlier that year in place of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group in April 1990. In April 2002 the party merged with the Ukrainian People's Party "Sobor" as the Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor".
November 1976 - Ukrainian community groups was established to promote the implementation of the Helsinki agreements. Almost all members of this Ukrainian Helsinki Group where subsequently repressed, four of them (V. Stus, Yu. Lytvyn, O. Tykhyi, V. Marchenko) died in Soviet camps.
March 1988 - Ukrainian Helsinki Union (UKhS) was formed. Since 1989, UKhS has moved to open propaganda activity of promoting the independence of Ukraine.
April 29–30, 1990 - Ukrainian Republican Party (URP) was established in the place of the UKhS. The party was registered on November 5, 1990 by the Ministry of Justice of the Ukrainian SSR as the first political party in Ukraine.
In the 1994 parliamentary elections the URP core party obtained nine seats initially adding three more by the end of the year.
During the Ukrainian parliamentary election, 1998 the party was part (together with Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists & Ukrainian Conservative Republican Party) of the Election Bloc "National Front" (Ukrainian: Виборчий блок партій «Національний фронт») which won 2,71% of the national votes and 6 (single-mandate constituency) seats. In January 2001 the "National Front" parliamentary faction had grown to 17 deputies.
After being part of the National Salvation Committee the party became part of the Yulia Tymoshenko Electoral Bloc alliance during the Ukrainian 2002 parliamentary elections. On April 21, 2002 the party merged with the Ukrainian People's Party "Sobor" as the Ukrainian Republican Party "Sobor".
In May 2006 Levko Lukyanenko tried to reestablish URP after URP Sobor switched to Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc from the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc; the new party became to be known as the URP of Lukyanenko and registered in 2006.
- (in Ukrainian) Українська республіканська партія „Собор“, Database DATA
- List of registered parties in Ukraine (in Ukrainian)
- (in Ukrainian) Злилися УРП і "Собор": Матвієнко - голова партії, Лук'яненко - голова ради старійшин, Ukrayinska Pravda (April 21, 2002)
- Virtual Politics - Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet World, Andrew Wilson, Yale University Press, 2005, ISBN 0-300-09545-7 (page 31)
- State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia by Verena Fritz, Central European University Press, 2008, ISBN 9637326995 (page 353)
- (in Ukrainian) Results in consistencies, Central Election Commission of Ukraine (1998)
- About Tymoshenko, Official website of Yulia Tymoshenko
- Europa World Year Book 2, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 978-1-85743-255-8, page 4295
- (in Ukrainian) Виборчий блок політичних партій "Виборчий блок Юлії Тимошенко", Central Election Commission of Ukraine (December 22, 2001)
- (in Ukrainian) Вони – Блок Юлії Тимошенко, Ukrayinska Pravda (January 25, 2002)
- Lukyanenko was elected leader of Ukrainian Republican Party, Kyiv Post (November 25, 2010)
- (in Ukrainian) Левко Лук'яненко знову очолив партію, Ukrayinska Pravda (November 25, 2010)
- (in Ukrainian) Українська республіканська партія, Database DATA | <urn:uuid:ad3d8fc6-ff20-41ae-abe8-5f6984ed1bce> | CC-MAIN-2017-26 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Republican_Party | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-26/segments/1498128323864.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20170629033356-20170629053356-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.782057 | 1,179 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Intel announced on Monday that it will be presenting a paper at Siggraph 2008 about its "many-core" Larrabee architecture, which will be the basis of future Intel graphics processors.
The paper itself, however, has already been published, and I was able to get a copy of it. (Unfortunately, as you'll see at that link, the paper is normally available only to members of the Association for Computing Machinery.)
The paper is a pretty thorough summary of Intel's motives for developing Larrabee and the major features of the new architecture. Basically, Larrabee is about using many simple x86 cores--more than you'd see in the central processor (CPU) of the system--to implement a graphics processor (GPU). This concept has received a lot of attention since Intel first started talking about it last year.
The paper also answers perhaps the biggest unanswered question about Larrabee--what are the cores, and how can Intel put "many" of them on a chip when desktop CPUs are still moving from two to four cores?
Intel describes the Larrabee cores as "derived from the Pentium processor," but I think perhaps this is an oversimplification. The design shown in the paper is only vaguely Pentium-like, with one execution unit for scalar (single-operation) instructions and one primarily for vector (multiple-operation) instructions.
That's the basic answer: Larrabee cores just have less going on. A quad-core desktop processor might have six or more execution units, and a lot of special logic to let it reorder instructions and execute code past conditional branches just in case it can guess the direction of the branch correctly. This complexity is necessary to maximize performance in a lot of desktop software, but it's not needed for linear, predictable code--which is what we usually find in 3D-rendering software.
But the vector unit in Larrabee is much more powerful than anything in older Intel processors--or even in the current Core 2 chips--because 3D rendering needs to do a lot of vector processing. The vector unit can perform 16 single-precision floating-point operations in parallel from a single instruction, which works out to 512 bits wide--great for graphics, though it would be overkill for a general-purpose processor, which is why the vector units in mainstream CPUs are 128 or 256 bits wide at most.
The new vector unit also supports three-operand instructions, probably including the classic "A * B + C" operation that is so common in many applications, including graphics. With three operands and two calculations per instruction, the peak throughput of a single Larrabee core should be 32 operations per cycle, and that's just what the paper claims.
I say "probably" because the Siggraph paper doesn't describe exactly what operations will be implemented in the vector unit, but I suspect this part of the Larrabee design is related to Intel's Advanced Vector Extensions, announced last April. The first implementations of AVX for desktop CPUs will apparently begin with a 256-bit design, another indication of how unusual it is for Larrabee to have a 512-bit vector unit.
The multithreading factor
Intel also built four-way multithreading into the Larrabee cores. Each Larrabee core can save all the register data from four separate threads in hardware, so that most thread-switch operations can be performed almost instantly rather than having to save one set of registers to main memory and load another. This approach is a reasonable compromise for reducing thread-switching overhead, although it probably consumes a significant amount of silicon.
Note that this kind of multithreading in Larrabee is very different from the Hyper-Threading technology Intel uses on Pentium 4, Atom, and future Nehalem processors. Hyper-Threading (aka simultaneous multi-threading) allows multiple threads to execute simultaneously on a single core, but this only makes sense when there are many execution units in the core. Larrabee's two execution units are not enough to share this way.
All of these differences prove rather conclusively that Larrabee's cores are not the same as the cores in Intel's Atom processors (also known as Silverthorne). That surprised me; the Atom core seemed fairly appropriate for the Larrabee project. All that really should have been necessary was to graft a wider vector unit onto the Atom design. But now I suppose the Atom and Larrabee projects have been completely independent from one another all along.
Intel won't say how many cores are in the first chip. The paper describes an on-chip ring network that connects the cores. The network is 512 bits wide. Interestingly, the paper mentions that there are two different ring designs--one for Larrabee chips with up to 16 cores, and one for larger chips. That suggests Intel has chips planned with relatively small numbers of cores, possibly as few as four or eight. Such small implementations might be appropriate for Intel's future integrated-graphics chip sets, but as such they will be very slow by comparison with contemporary discrete GPUs, just as Intel's current products are.
Larrabee provides some graphics-specific logic in addition to the CPU cores, but not much. The paper says that many tasks traditionally performed by fixed-function circuits, such as rasterization and blending, are performed in software on Larrabee. This is likely to be a disadvantage for Larrabee, since a software solution will inevitably consume more power than optimized logic--and consume computing resources that could have been used for other purposes. I suspect this was a time-to-market decision: tape out first, write software later.
The paper says Larrabee does provide fixed-function logic for texture filtering because filtering requires steps that don't fit as well into a CPU core. I presume there's other fixed-function logic in Larrabee, but the paper doesn't say.
Larrabee's rendering code uses binning, a technique that has been used in many software and hardware 3D solutions over the years, sometimes under names such as "tiling" and "chunking." Binning divides the screen into regions and identifies which polygons will appear in each region, then renders each region separately. It's a sensible choice for Larrabee, since each region can be assigned to a separate core.
Binning also reduces memory bandwidth, since it's easier for each core to keep track of the lower number of polygons assigned to it. The cores are less likely to need to go out to main memory for additional information.
The numbers crunch
The paper gives some performance numbers, but they're hard to interpret. For example, game benchmarks were constructed by running a scene through a game, then taking only widely separated frames for testing on the Intel design. In the F.E.A.R. game, for example, only every 100th frame was used in the tests. This creates an unusually difficult situation for Larrabee; there's likely to be much less reuse of information from one frame to the next.
But given that limitation of the test procedure, the results don't look very good. To render F.E.A.R. at 60 frames per second--a common definition of good-enough gaming performance--required from 7 to 25 cores, assuming each was running at 1GHz. Although there's a range here depending on the complexity of each frame, good gameplay requires maintaining a high frame rate--so it's possible that F.E.A.R. would, in practice, require at least a 16-core Larrabee processor.
In other words, unless Intel is prepared to make big, hot Larrabee chips, I don't think it's going to be competitive with today's best graphics chips on games.
Intel can certainly do that-- no other semiconductor company on Earth can afford to make big chips the way Intel can-- but that would ruin Intel's gross margins, which are how Wall Street judges the company. Also, Intel's newest processor fabs are optimized for high-performance logic, like that used in Core 2 processors. Larrabee runs more slowly, suggesting it could be economically manufactured on ASIC product lines... but Intel's ASIC lines are all relatively old, refitted CPU lines.
Nvidia, by comparison, gets around this problem by designing its chips from the beginning to be made in modern ASIC factories, chiefly those run by TSMC. Although these factories are a generation behind Intel's in process technology, they're much less expensive to operate. So this may be a situation where Intel's process edge doesn't mean as much as it does in the CPU business.
The Larrabee programming model also supports nongraphics applications. Since it's fundamentally just a multicore x86 processor, it can do anything a regular CPU can do. Intel's paper even uses Sun Microsystems' term, Throughput Computing, for multicore processing.
The Larrabee cores aren't nearly as powerful as ordinary notebook or desktop processors for most applications. Real Larrabee chips will likely be faster than the 1GHz reference frequency used in the paper, but they still don't have as many execution units for the scalar operations that make up the bulk of operating-system and office software. That means a single Larrabee core could feel slow even when compared with a Pentium III processor at the same frequency, never mind a Core 2 Duo.
But with such a strong vector unit, a Larrabee core could be very good at video encoding and other tasks, especially those that use floating-point math. At 1GHz, a single Larrabee core hits a theoretical 32 GFLOPS (32 billion floating-point operations per second). A 32-core Larrabee chip could exceed a teraflop--roughly the performance of Nvidia's latest GPU, the, which has 240 (very simple) cores.
But I don't expect to see that kind of performance from the first Larrabee chips. The power consumption of a 32-core design with all the extra overhead required by x86 processing would be very high. Even with Intel's advantages in process technology, such a large Larrabee chip would probably be commercially impractical. Smaller Larrabee designs may find some niche applications, however, acting as number-crunching coprocessors much as IBM's Cell chips do in some systems.
And although a Larrabee chip could, in principle, be exposed to Windows or Mac OS X to act as a collection of additional CPU cores, that wouldn't work very well in the real world and Intel has no intention of using it that way. Instead, Larrabee will be used like a coprocessor. In that application, Larrabee's x86 compatibility isn't worth very much.
The bottom line
So...what's Larrabee good for, and why did Intel bother with it?
I think maybe this was a science project that got out of hand. It came along just as AMD was buying ATI and so positioning itself as a leader in CPU-GPU integration. Intel had (and still has) no competitive GPU technology, but perhaps it saw Larrabee as a way to blur the line distinguishing CPUs from GPUs, allowing Intel to leverage its expertise in CPU design into the GPU space as well.
Intel may have paid too much attention to some of its own researchers, who have been touting ray tracing as a potential alternative to traditional polygon-order ray tracing. I wrote about this in some depth back in June (""). But ray tracing merits just one paragraph and one figure in this paper, which establish merely that Larrabee is more efficient at ray tracing than an ordinary Xeon server processor. It falls well short of establishing that ray tracing is a viable option on Larrabee, however.
Future members of the Larrabee family may be good GPUs, but from what I can see in this paper, the first Larrabee products will be too slow, too expensive, and too hot to be commercially competitive. It may be several more years beyond the expected 2009/2010 debut of the first Larrabee parts before we find out just how much of Intel's CPU know-how is transferable to the GPU market.
I'll be at Siggraph again this year, and I'll have more to say after I've read this paper through a few more times and had a chance to speak with some of the folks I know at AMD, Nvidia, and other companies in the graphics market. | <urn:uuid:581509fe-bb6c-44d8-806a-651f168ea2a0> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.cnet.com/news/intels-larrabee-more-and-less-than-meets-the-eye/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657135930.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011215-00182-ip-10-234-18-248.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962355 | 2,574 | 2.78125 | 3 |
When visitors come to San Antonio to see the Alamo, the most common reaction is surprise. “It looks so small!” the tourists say. The reason, of course, is that San Antonio has grown up around the Alamo. City streets and an abandoned post office encroach on the ancient mission’s boundaries. The Alamo is a shrine to heroes, but it has lost its heroic dimensions.
Fortunately, you can discover the sense of space and history just a few miles to the south, at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. The park consists of four secluded eighteenth-century missions, at intervals of about two miles, that still represent the vastness and grandeur of the Texas frontier at the height of the Spanish empire. The churches stand in spacious fields, most of them surrounded by stone walls. The two northern missions, Concepción and San José, are larger and more ornate than their southern counterparts, San Juan Capistrano and San Francisco de la Espada. The Christmas season is the best time to discover the missions. The churches are decorated with red and green banners, and many of the grounds are lit by luminarias.
The farther south of downtown you go, following the vexing twists and turns of the San Antonio River, the more the feeling of isolation increases and the more you begin to feel lost—in geography as well as in time. San Juan and Espada are bounded on one side by the river and on the other by rambling cemeteries and a pre-World War II airfield. By the time you make your way through the narrow streets and past the dilapidated houses leading up to Espada, you have lost all touch with urban San Antonio and the late twentieth century.
Texas, the predominantly Anglo Texas that we know today, has only existed for 158 years. For 145 years before that, Texas belonged to Spain. What an afternoon’s tour of the four San Antonio missions reveals is the hidden truth of all history, which is simply this: The past is with us yet.
Judged by their original purpose—to train Indians to become citizens of Spain—there is no question that the missions were political failures. By the late eighteenth century only a handful of Indians were left. The rest either had died from measles or smallpox, had been killed in Apache or Comanche raids, or had run for their lives. The Franciscans had abandoned the missions by the mid-1790s, and Spain turned them over to the surviving Indians. If you could look at the missions through the eyes of a Spanish colonial official, you would see the ruins of a failed adventure.
But there are other ways to view the missions. As religious, agricultural, and educational centers, the missions are symbols of triumph. San Antonio today is predominantly Roman Catholic, thanks to the missions. Much of what we think of as native Texas law and lore was actually imported to these old missions by the Franciscans. Our Texas water laws aren’t English; they were derived from Spanish law. Indian vaqueros who worked at the mission compounds were the first cowboys. The mission Indian’s galón was the forerunner to the Texas ten-gallon hat. His chaparreras became chaps.
The four missions are once again active churches. They were taken over by the Archdiocese of San Antonio between 1870 and 1930 and are staffed by priests who say mass every Sunday. Many of their parishioners are descendants of the original Spaniards and Indians who built the missions starting in 1720. In the whispers of the prayers and immutability of the mission stones, New Spain lives on.
The mission was built for wandering bands of Indians, who camped on this spot in the 1720s. After repeated raids by Apaches, who occupied the hill country northwest of San Antonio, they pleaded with the Spanish for protection. The cornerstone for Concepción was laid on March 5, 1731. The church took 24 years to build, 14 years behind the king of Spain’s schedule. Other tribes moved into the compound, also to escape the Apaches, and were put to work building the church you now see.
The odds were good that if the Apaches didn’t kill the mission Indians, diseases like measles and smallpox would. From 1731 to 1762, 792 Indians were baptized at Concepción, but 588 were buried. Considering those gloomy statistics, the work done by the Indians and their Spanish supervisors was understandably slow.
What you see now is the same church that existed in the mid-eighteenth century, but without the brilliant red and blue crosses and yellow and orange squares that originally brightened its exterior. (The faded paintings are still visible.) To a rider approaching by horseback on the dusty frontier, the colorful church on the banks of the San Antonio River must have looked like a technicolor oasis.
What to see: The church itself was built in the shape of a cross with Moorish dome above the altar and two towers at the base of the cross. Concepción is the only San Antonio mission built with two towers, which some say symbolize that it was dedicated to a female saint—Mary, the mother of Jesus. The towers have belfries, and the bells still work. During the mission period the bells were used to teach the concept of linear time to the Indians, who ordered their days by the moon and the sun. The bells rang at predawn, calling the Indians to mass. Then, following a breakfast of gruel and stone-ground bread, the bells signaled the beginning of the workday, either in the fields, on various construction sites, or in any of the mission shops. The bells rang to signal lunch and midday rest period; to summon the Indians back to work; and again at sunset to mark the end of the workday.
The missionaries’ attention to detail and the Indians’ talent for making art out of stoenting the five wounds of Jesus’ crucifixion.
Among the Christian symbols, however, is a tiny Indian idol delicately carved into the lower part of the archway. The Indians believed in two gods: the new one that the Spanish priests had introduced to them, who provided clothing, hatchets, and above-ground beds, as well as their old god who gave them corn, acorns, and other crops. This carving is a bow to their old god, and an enduring cry of rebellion.
The inside of the church has clean, simple lines and the finest acoustics of any of the missions. Even a mediocre choir sounds like a chorus of angels during Sunday morning mass. Notice that the prayer candles have electric wicks to prevent soot damage to the old walls. I suppose this is a sign of progress, although it’s a pity not to hear the hissing of tallow candles in a nave as fine as this one.
As you tour the church, don’t look for a federal park ranger to explain what you are seeing. The laws that established the missions as a park called for the gounds to be maintained by the National Park Service and the churches to be maintained by the Roman Catholic archdiocese. The line between church and state is drawn at the front door of the church.
Be sure to see two paintings that have survived the centuries. One is the painting of the Crucifixion in the baptistery. The other—my favorite thing to see at Concepción—can be found in the library, located downstairs from a room that is identified as the infirmary but was probably an office for the two priests who served the church. The center of the library’s vaulted ceiling is dominated by a painting of a man’s face imprinted on the sun. Until 1987, this painting was covered with soot, and only a single eye was visible. Since this is San Antonio, where all events are interpreted through the lens of religion, the eye was known for years as the Eye of God. Yet when the painting was cleaned up, the image that emerged was not a divine one but a man with an Indian face and a Spanish moustache. The painting represents the face of the original San Antonian: part Indian, part Spanish, the reality of New Spain.
Mission Concepción is located at 807 Mission Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78210. Click here to plan a visit.
Mission San José
San José was founded in 1720 by Father Antonio Margil de Jesus, a Franciscan who was to New Spain what Stephen F. Austin was to Texas: the patriarch. Margil also founded four missions in East Texas, which did not endure. To keep his vow of humility, he walked barefoot everywhere he went, including from present-day Nicaragua to Texas. His nickname for himself was God’s Donkey, because he could walk faster than a mule. He died in 1726 and was beatified by the Vatican in 1836. Currently he is under consideration for canonization as the apostle of Texas. In San Antonio Father Margil is already regarded as the patron saint of Texas. Some old-timers believe that the staff he used as a walking stick sprouted miraculous vines, a sign that he was preaching the true word of God. By 1768 San José was booming. The compound was the size you see now: a huge open plaza surrounded by four walls approximately six hundred feet long, which enclosed a frontier empire of stone houses, barracks, a granary, shops, and, looming above it all, the church. There were 281 Indians living in barracks-style housing (which you see restored along the eastern wall of the compound). While the big church was being built, mass was said in another small church that was then on the grounds. Thirty miles to the south, the Indians worked the mission ranch, which had 1,000 head of branded cattle, 3,276 head of sheep, 103 horses for the vaqueros, 30 yoke of oxen, as well as farming equipment and fields of crops.
As you look around the complex today, it’s tempting to view history through a romantic haze. The graceful lines of the buildings conjure up a feeling of peace and harmony. But the diaries kept by Franciscan missionaries show that the life here was contentious and strictly segregated. San José had separate swimming pools in the river for the Indians and the Spanish soldiers. Indians and Spaniards slept and ate in different quarters. One priest wrote in his diary: “It is common knowledge that the Pajalaches [one of the many bands of Indians at San José] are perverse, set in their ways, and greatly lacking in docility.
What to see: Before visiting the church and its rose window, spend some time at the stone granary. Its vaulted roof gives it the feeling of a sacred place. The spectacular flying buttresses were not part of the original building; they were added later to support the exterior walls against the weight of grain.
The sculpture above the window on the facade is of Saint Joseph, for whom the mission is named. (Since he was a male, the mission has only one tower.) Below that image is an elaborate sculpture of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The female figure to the right is Saint Anne, holding her infant daughter, Mary, and to the left is Saint Joachim, Mary’s father.
The interior is as simple as the exterior is ornate. The white plaster walls contrast with the dark ceiling beams. In the sacristy, where the priests dressed, the stone around a large window has been carved in the shape of a fluted seashell. Two tall steps lead to the rose window and its commanding view of the grounds. During the mission period, the priests would often stand here and give daily orders to the Indians assembled on the grounds.
The memorable view of the rose window is from the outside, where Pedro Huizar, San José’s carpenter, carved flowers into the stone around the window in the 1780s. Next to the Alamo, the rose window is the single most photographed object in San Antonio. Few people realize that the flowers aren’t roses at all but flowering pomegranates; the rose window should really be called the pomegranate window.
The window was named not for its design but for its legend. According to tradition, Huizar carved the window for his Spanish fiancée, Rose, who was lost at sea. Another version of the story is that Huizar fell in love with a rich woman, Rose, whose family forbade her to marry him because he was only a poor artisan. According to this version, he created this window as a way to mend his broken heart. The real story is that Huizar was born in Mexico, not Spain, and was married to a woman named Maria, not Rosa, who lived at San José. Nor was he poor. Huizar was not just an artisan but also a surveyor, who enjoyed prosperity and prestige. He married at least one more time, and apparently the pomegranate magic worked for him, for he had several children. In the current San Antonio telephone book there are 44 listings under “Huizar,” some of whom are descendents of the artist and still go to church at San José.
Take time to peek into the tower of the church. Each of those ancient steps, still used by the parish choir every Sunday, is made of a single piece of solid hewn oak. When the mission fell into disuse and disrepair in the nineteenth century, almost all the stairs disappeared; apparently people took them home as souvenirs. However, when a local newpaper appealed for their return in the twenties, every step was returned, one by one, and the stairway was reassembled.
At 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, the lantern will be lit over the gate at San José, signaling the beginning of the annual outdoor performance of Los Pastores, a medieval play about good and evil that has survived since the days of Spanish Texas. The storyline is suitable to the season: Seven devils try to keep the shepherds from making the journey to see the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. To go to Los Pastores on a clear winter night is to be reminded that the influence of New Spain did not end when the Spanish left in 1821, or when Sam Houston avenged the Alamo in 1836.
Mission San José is located at 6701 San José Drive, San Antonio, Texas, 78214. Click here to plan a visit.
Mission San Juan Capistrano
The mission was founded in 1731, but the church took more than twenty years to build because of its location in the river bottoms and trouble with the Apaches. Compared with Concepción and San José, San Juan looks simple, like something a child would make out of clay. It is shaped like a shoebox, except that the roof rises at one end to form a belfry. If you’ve ever visited the Yucatán, chances are that you’ve seen churces reminiscent of this one. Historians believe that the master masons who worked for the Franciscans traveled throughout New Spain, providing architectural continuity.
San Juan proved to be particularly vulnerable to hostile attack. One Franciscan father complained in his diary that the Indians inside the compound were so afraid of Apaches that they dreaded venturing outside the wall, even to tend the ranch cattle. In the fall of 1736 an Apache chief nicknamed Cabellos Colorados (“Red Hair”) attacked the mission and killed two resident Indian women. That same year two Spanish soldiers were murdered and their bodies mutilated. By the next year the Indian population had dwindled from about 200 to only 23. Not until the 1750s did the Franciscans coax enough Indians back into the compound to resume work on the church.
The ruins you see across the plaza are what remains of a church that was started in 1760 but never finished. In July 1794 Spain sold the land to nearby ranchers, and most of the missionaries left. Only twelve Indians remained. The main appeal of San Juan is that it looks very much the same today as it did to those surviving twelve Indians.
What to see: Before entering the compound, take the mile-long nature trail that begins just outside the front gate. It’s an easy walk, accessible to wheelchairs, and is shaded year-round by cottonwood, walnut, ash, elm, and mulberry trees. Near the start of the trail, notice the shrublike tree with black fruit on it: That’s a Texas persimmon. During the mission period, Indians ate the fruit and used the wood to make tile work, and pillars of red and orange blocks.” Today those paintings are gone, but members of the local parish have trimmed the interior with a red, yellow, and orange border.
The images on the altar are original. The ones of Jesus and the Virgin Mary look ancient for a reason: They are made of aromatic cedar and are extremely old. The comical-looking figure in the suit of armor is Saint John of Capistrano, for whom the mission is named. Only seven miles from the Alamo, San Juan is about as foreign a place as you can visit without taking your passport—with the exception of the final mission on your tour.
Mission San Juan is located at 9101 Graf Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78214. Click here to plan a visit.
Mission San Francisco de la Espada
Like the other San Antonio missions, the chapel here was originally built of stone. This one was started in 1731, as was San Juan, and wasn’t finished until 1756. By the time of the Texas Revolution, it was abandoned. In 1835 Stephen F. Austin camped there and waited for news from James Bowie, who was fighting a battle closer to town. The wooden roof collapsed in 1858, and the chapel fell in around it. The church you see here was rebuilt beginning in that year.
The meaning of “espada” in English is “sword.” How the church got its name is a mystery. Some sources say it was derived from the shape of the chapel’s bell tower. Others say it refers to a vision that Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order, had of a sword in the sky. That vision is at odds with the conventional image of Saint Francis—a meek, gentle man who was happiest when talking to birds. However, it is consistent with the ferocious-looking statue on Espada’s altar, a likeness of Saint Francis with a globe in one hand and a cross in the other. Perhaps the people who lived here needed the strength and stamina that this statue evoked.
What to see: Many of the residents of the area still rely on the acequia (“aqueduct”), a stone irrigation system built in the 1740s, to water their yards. The San Antonio River was so deep that the missionaries had to devise an irrigation system. This aqueduct, which transports river water to Mission Espada, still flows continuously and is the oldest stone system in the United States. The best place to see how the aqueduct works is behind the Mission Trail Grocery Store, where you can grab a soda from an old wooden refrigerator. Unfortunately, you will often see gang graffiti on or near the aqueduct.
While some elderly residents have left the area because of gangs, the mission compound is staffed by park rangers and is safe to visit. In fact, any tour of the San Antonio missions that excludes Espada is incomplete. Of all the missions, this is the most pristine. Standing inside the compound, you get a strong sense of the two purposes the mission served: The four walls provided security in which the Indi46;s a good place to remember that when the Spanish used the word misionar (“mission”), they used it as a verb, not a noun. A priest or soldier did not go to a mission; he went on a mission.
This is the end of your tour. At Espada you have truly come to the end of the road, the place in San Antonio that is the furthest removed from modern-day Texas. For 23 years—más o menos—I have come to Espada to get lost, seeking out its remoteness. It is a sanctuary from the modern impulse to put our past behind us, to revere the new above the old. By stopping to enjoy the coolness of the old stones and the chiming of the bells, we can get a sense of what Texas was like before it was Texas.
Mission Espada is located at 10040 Espada Road, San Antonio, Texas, 78214. Click here to plan a visit. | <urn:uuid:45f9da54-e92e-4315-9b53-59021048342d> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/missions-accomplished/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487635724.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20210618043356-20210618073356-00408.warc.gz | en | 0.974655 | 4,348 | 3.15625 | 3 |
The Conflict Mindset acts as a protective armor for our psyche which helps us handle stressful and upsetting situations. But when we seek to end the conflict, it can hinder and obstruct our attempts to reach reconciliation.
The current unrest in the West Bank caused by the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners is a good example of a biased media coverage of an escalation between Israelis and Palestinians, leading to the formation of a limited point of view on both sides.
Instead of viewing conflict as a negative phenomenon that only causes friction and disruption, an approach of conflict as an opportunity to change the relationship between the disputing sides can give hope for a successful resolution of conflict.
A comparative study of media coverage of both sides - Israeli and Palestinian. This week will deal with the attitudes towards the issue of Jerusalem, as seen in the coverage of Israeli building plans in Jerusalem.
Most people are aware that in order to maintain a well functioning society we need to pay attention to each other's needs. In order to avoid conflict and resolve existing conflicts, we need to take the same idea to the next level.
Israeli filmmaker Shelley Hermon chronicles the unbelievable story of a Palestinian and an Israeli who were able to reconcile in her film Within the Eye of the Storm. But, she asks, will it make a difference? | <urn:uuid:93d0ecc8-a19d-4c72-b48a-2f6c3137becf> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.arikpeace.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500825010.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021345-00256-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953569 | 260 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Information Gathering Activity
An activity that quickly gathers evidence of knowledge of and use of a service
*You will need sticky dots and a big grid drawn up with a list of services, behaviours and actions that can help reduce carbon footprints.
Example of how to use it:
If the aim of your project is to reduce the carbon foot print of you community then you might use this performance measure.
Performance measure - Community members are aware of more ways to reduce their environmental impact and use more of them.
Time: 10 minutes
Why do we like it?
It is speedy and straight forward, it anonymises responses but you can track gender, age or other characteristics if you want to.
How does it work?
Create you grid. Compile a list of services, behaviours and actions that can help reduce carbon footprints that are available in your area, this might include energy efficient appliances, home insulation, solar panels, using public transport, local food initiatives.
Write this list on one side, create two columns one headed ‘I know about this’ the other ‘I do this / have this’.
Give your group sticky dots, if you want to analyse based on gender, age, or any other characteristic you can give different people different colour dots for example under 18 yellow dots, 18 to 30 blue dots, 30 to 50 green dots and 50+ red dots.
Ask them to put their dots in the appropriate square to indicate which services etc they know about and which they use.
Count the dots, this works really well if you want to measure a change it is a very simple activity to do before and after an initiative.
How to adapt it?
You can ask any questions you want and list any factors you want. You could add the option ‘I don’t know about this but would like to find out more’
Why it works
Participants can chose the level of their participation, there is no stigma attached to options as you have to look pretty closely to spot where someone puts there dot. | <urn:uuid:ef5c7d47-2c16-41e1-a768-82c77dfe6c8d> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | http://outcomestoolkit.com/measuring/part-5-tools-for-involving-people-in-measuring-outcomes/dot-voting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794867254.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20180525235049-20180526015049-00617.warc.gz | en | 0.932223 | 420 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Learn To Swim
Swimming Lessons Save Lives™
Learning to swim is the foundation for staying safe in, on and around the water. If your child has not already participated in formal swim lessons, consider signing today. There are many organizations and facilities that offer swimming instruction. The following list of national organizations can provide you with the information you need to get started. Many of these organizations offer important water safety tips, as well as search functions that allow you to locate a swim lesson provider in your local area.
Add Your Organization
If you would like your national organization to be added to this list, please contact Bernadine Buda | <urn:uuid:18294da6-6ea4-4e72-95bc-762c8a8db894> | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | https://www.wlsl.org/WLSL/Swim_Lessons.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986672431.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20191016235542-20191017023042-00055.warc.gz | en | 0.964706 | 128 | 2.546875 | 3 |
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Pitman has given us a key to unlock, at once, all the mysteries of our most inconsistent and anomalous orthography. And to establish this claim, Dr. Stone exhibited the “ phonetic children” as marvellous spellers. He challenged for them the hardest words, with a structure as remote as possible from the laws of phonography, and would have had it understood by us, that from the working of a system of perfect symmetry there came forth, as a result, a knowledge of such grotesque, chaotic formations, as the words phthisic, and physic, pneumatic and rendezvous.
Phonetics, he would have us understand, taught those bright little prodigies that the word intelligent must be spelled with two l's, and diligent with only one.
Now, we think, that those rare spellers must have become such (whether consciously to themselves, or to their teachers or not, we will not say) in the same way substantially, that all learners become good English orthographists; that is, by close attention to the aphonetic elements of the languageand we will not say that in thus observing all the anomalous facts and forms of our common mode of spelling, they did not derive incidental aid from phonetics. We will go further and admit, that a clear, vivid view of the general phonetic structure of our language would serve to render the exceptions to general laws, equally clear and vivid, and thus assist the memory to retain those exceptions. But the same admission must be made in favor of the common mode of teaching English orthography. The common mode is amply sufficient to produce the same helps, if it be well taught. Every teacher knows that it is essential to success in spelling, that the pupil be established in his knowledge of the nature and powers of the elements of speech, and that if thus grounded he will readily notice the anomalies of the language, and that the greater the anomaly the easier it is for such a pupil to remember it. And therefore, it is, that such words as rendezvous and phthisic, and the like, are not so hard as the words valleys, fiery, intelligent, diligent, fc.
But it is said that the 66 Phonetic children” of Boston have won great distinction over the pupils of the other city schools who have competed with them. If the primary schools of Boston or New Bedford could be taught by a teacher in the common mode of spelling, as earnest in his calling as Dr. Stone seems to be, and if select pupils could be trained with the ex. pectation of being tested in the presence of Governors and Counsellors, and especially in the presence of so grave a body as the Massachusetts Teachers' Association—if they could be drilled beforehand in the spelling of all the hard words carefully culled and tabulated, what might we not still anticipate as the fruits of the old system? And if so humble an institution as an old-fashioned spelling school, could be established in all the school districts of the Commonwealth, and such stimulants were brought to bear as the Boston phonetic children have been favored with, then we are sure that editors and proof-readers would find that the 66 schoolmaster was abroad," and hard at work.
But not to dwell longer on the claims set up for the defence of the phonetic system, we will now refer to some of the positive difficulties and objections, which bear against any attempt to make it a branch of elementary instruction. Its advocates have aimed at nothing less than an entire reconstruction of English Orthography, and they would try to secure the aid of teachers to secure this result.
Against this attempt there are the following objections : 1. It cannot be done.
2. If changes in orthography, to a greater or less degree, are possible, it is not the province of any teacher of the English language to make these changes.
3. The reconstruction proposed ought not to be made, even if it were possible, and we had it in our power to effect it.
We say, first, that the proposed change of the alphabetic forms of the language is a work too difficult to be attempted. Among all the works of man nothing is so enduring as the forms of written language. The alphabet of a mature language used by a noble people, is as imperishable as the literature of that people. Hence we find no monuments of human art or wisdom so ancient as the symbols of thought and speech. We know not the elemental sounds which the Greek or Roman alphabet once represented. They have vanished away, being as frail and as unsubstantial as the lips or the breath that gave them utterance. But the thoughts embalmed in their written 'symbols of speech have been preserved, and they will never die. Their structures of marble and granite have crumbled to the dust, but the “ all-devouring tooth of time" cannot destroy their alphabets. Well, then, might Ovid exult in the confidence of an immortal memory, when he said,
Ore legar populi, perque omnia saecula fama,
Si quid habent veri vatum praesagia, vivam! And the reason of this can be stated in a word, that the highest ends and uses of a written language would be lost, if its forms were mutable or subject to decay. It is comparatively of little account whether they be perfect in theory ; but it is of the utmost importance that they be permanent in fact. When will Homer's Iliad, or the Hebrew Bible be printed phonetically because beginners at first can but
ly oferims were made tages of woman be stated i
“ Just make out to spell ?"
But it may be said that our language does not resemble those just mentioned, because its orthography is not fixed, like the historic languages.
Our language is indeed youthful, though its alphabet is very ancient. It is true that in the course of 100 years many changes have taken place. The Roman alphabet has within that time been adopted. But the reason of these changes is obvious, having their origin in the circumstances which gave rise to our noble language. The elements of our present English speech, made up by the contributions of different climes and ages, and conAlicting races, were long in the process of assimilation. The battle of Hastings made William of Normandy the conqueror of England, and, in part, of the Anglo-Saxon tongue. But King James's translation of the Bible laid the basis of a settled orthog raphy. From that time the forms of the language have been always approximating to a fixed condition, not to one of instability and revolution. And the wider it has been diffused around the world, and the more its readers have been multiplied in all lands, the greater has been the tendency to a uniform orthography.
But, it will be said, changes do after all take place. Johnson made many improvements. Our own great Lexicographer has attempted some excellent innovations, and in part succeeded. All this is admitted. But then the changes have in no case been radical. They have been slowly made, and in spite of great resistance. A life-time is needed to obtain the general consent to spell the word phonetic without the k appended. And what a bearing on this point has the battle of the two dictionaries, Worcester against Webster, with the Boston schools, phonetic and all, arrayed against the great innovator? We verily believe many of the advocates of the phonetic system would give it up sooner than they would abandon Worcester.
But, in the second place, if changes can be made, who shall make them ? Not the Lexicographers, except to a limited extent. Shall teachers and professors attempt this work? That is not their vocation. Their duty is to teach what is written. 6. What is written is written," is the law not less for the University professor of rhetoric, than for the teacher of a common school. Who, then, may change the forms of written language, if they be changed at all? We reply, the masters of thought and speech-the great poets and orators who write what all the world will read. And the great masters of thought and style, have the right to choose their own forms of expression-and no man may lawfully change those forms thus chosen. Chaucer or Shakspeare will not be printed to accommodate a modern spelling school. The Scotch dialect of Burns will not be altered according to the latest edition of Walker's dictionary. To such as are unwilling to learn his dialect, his deathless words will be and ought to be without meaning. We do not believe that the
and all, armas e advocates abandon Wores can be compte
works of Daniel Webster will ever be printed in the phonetic character for general circulation.
Our final remark is, that the phonetic alphabet and orthography ought not to be introduced into the place of the common one, even if it were possible for us, of our own selves, to do it. “ The gains of such an introduction,” says Mr. Trench, " would be insignificantly small, while the losses would be enormously great." The ends of the fixed forms of a language are other and higher than to teach children how to spell it—be the process ever so easy or ever so hard. The fact that our present orthog. raphy abounds with strange and unreasonable anomalies, is no argument against the use of those anomalies for the interchange of human thought and the perpetuation of that thought. It is enough that those anomalies have the sanction of universal usage, and they will be retained. Do the advocates for their removal, really suppose that they found their way into our language, for the purpose of making our orthography hard for children to learn -even to the shedding of tears ?
These anomalies may be unreasonable in form, but they have a most rational use, derived as they are from the very circumstances which gave birth to our noble language, without which it would never have had existence. It is not then really a fault or dishonor that it contains them. Indeed, it is not even a misfortune, but rather the opposite of all these. For it is a recent language, mixed, not aboriginal. In its vocubulary it has representatives from most modern tongues, and rich contributions from the Latin and Greek. And in its written forms, the scholar's eye at once perceives the paternity of almost all its words. It may be difficult for foreigners to master such a language as ours, and be none the less worthy of their earnest pains-taking on that account, for it contains the garnered treasures of strength and beauty that have belonged to the dialects of all the noblest nations of the world's history. And therefore old Camden has justly, though quaintly said :
“ Whereas our tongue is mixed, it is no disgrace. The Italian is pleasant, but without sinews, as a still fleeting water ; the French delicate, but ever nice as a woman, scarce daring to open her lippes for fear of marring her countenance; the Spanish majesticall, but fulsome, running too much on the o, terrible, like the Divill in the play; the Dutch manlike, but withall very harsh, as one ready at every word to picke a quarrell. Now wee, in borrowing from them, doe give the strength of consonants to the Italian, the full sound of words to the French, the variety of terminations to the Spanish, and the mollyfying of more vowels to the Dutch; and so like bees we gather honey of their good properties, and leave the dregs to themselves. And thus, when substantialnesse combineth with delightfulnesse, fulnesse with finenesse, seemlinesse with portlinesse, and currantnesse with
the balance perceives foreigners to f their earnesves of strength staydnesse, how can the language which consisteth in all these sound other than full of all sweetnesse ?”.
Since, then, our language is derivative, almost all its words must have a history expressed in their written forms ; while with these forms there are associated and blended shades of meaning and force which very often can be determined in no way but by the written form. It would then be an evil, in very truth, to blot out of being at a stroke, all the history of almost the entire language, which is now most happily inwrought into its elementary structure, and which is a repository of truth of surpassing value to the scholar, and of the highest reason also to those "in whom are found knowledge and understanding, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts."
Do not the very names by which we designate the phonetic system give us an illustration of the value of the historic forms of words? They are taken from the common thesaurus of technical terms, bearing the changeless meaning and the imperishable form of the Greek words, which repel from themselves the application of the principles of that very system they are employed to define ; thus in its very title and superscription, showing the whole scheme, in any other light than as an unapplied theory, to be absurd and contradictory.
The facts, then, or the fixed forms of English orthography, however stubborn, or grotesque, or unaccountable, or even unreasonable, they may appear to the uneducated, cannot be forced from the language. There they must remain, and the child has nothing to do with them but to learn them if he can, and learn them well, reserving his obstinate questionings of sense and outward things” for the studies and judgments of his maturer years.
“I can conceive,” says Mr. Trench, 6 of no method so effectively defacing and barbarizing our English tongue, no scheme that would go so far to empty it, practically at least, and for us, of all the hoarded wit, wisdom, imagination, and history which it contains, to cut the vital nerve which connects its present with the past, as the scheme of Phonetic Spelling,' which some have been lately zealously advocating among us — the principle of which is, that all words should be spelled as they are sounded, that the writing should be in every case subordinated to the speaking.
“ The tacit assumption that it ought so to be, is the pervading error of the whole system. But there is no necessity that it should ; every word, on the contrary, has two existences, as a spoken word and a written one for the ear, the other for the eye, and you have no right to sacrifice one of these, or even to subordinate it wholly to the other.
“ A word exists as truly for the eye as for the ear, and in a highly advanced state of society, where reading is almost as uni | <urn:uuid:ddaba51a-b37b-4f16-acc7-d0139b03bf1d> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://books.google.co.in/books?id=dGcVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA44&vq=knowledge&dq=editions:UOM39015064575429&lr=&output=html_text&source=gbs_search_r&cad=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178385984.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20210309030723-20210309060723-00374.warc.gz | en | 0.970896 | 3,091 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Did you know that the habits formed during childhood actually determine your children’s success in life? So aside from enrolling your children at a Montessori school in Spring, Texas, it also helps to teach them some healthy habits at home. Here are the useful ones to get started with:
- Encourage them to get involved in physical activities.
Remember that a sedentary lifestyle could lead to a lot of diseases. For your kids to maintain a fit body even until adulthood, encourage them to participate in sports. With regularly physical activities, children can develop their physique and strengthen their immune system.
- Limit their screen time.
Extended exposure to gadgets could also affect their eyesight. At worst, children who’ve become gadget slaves are more prone to illnesses, considering the sedentary lifestyle they’ve developed. Make sure your children move around and maintain social interaction by availing of child care programs in Texas that focuses on their social and physical development.
- Develop their love for healthy foods.
Research shows that a lot of degenerative diseases are actually due to malnutrition. Be sure to teach children to love healthy foods, such as veggies, fruits, lean meats, and seafood. These are rich in essential nutrients the body needs to stay healthy.
- Teach them to develop a positive attitude and perspective.
With a positive perspective and attitude, your children will also have what it takes to survive in their chosen profession and in life in general. The good news is that there are Montessori schools that offer enrichment programs focusing on the mindset and attitude formation of children.
- Set schedules for sleeping.
Training children to love learning and having a regular sleep-wake cycle can also help them manage their stress and avoid a lot of lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, insomnia, and diabetes.
You can inculcate these healthy habits in children when they’re at home. But if you like to ensure they’re also learning a lot of positive things at school, you can rely on Cypresswood Montessori School to give them holistic training. | <urn:uuid:310f4c9a-a272-4bda-b1b5-74e8f37837ea> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | http://www.cypresswoodmontessori.com/healthy-habits-children-need-to-learn-early-in-life | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347414057.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20200601040052-20200601070052-00541.warc.gz | en | 0.966608 | 425 | 3.25 | 3 |
In this video the instructor shows how to change views in Microsoft word 2007 and navigate around the documents. In Microsoft word 2007 in the ribbon there is a view tab to the extreme right. Open the tab. Now in that bar the default layout selected is the Print Layout which is 'What you see is what you get' layout. Next to it the full screen reading option and clicking on it, the documents opens up as a two page book with all the other tool bars hidden. The next is web layout which is ideal for organizing websites. The outline mode is used to give an over view of the document. There are also options to add rulers, grid lines, thumbnail and document map in the document. This video shows how to change views in word 2007 and various other features associated with the views. | <urn:uuid:b9669c6a-e74f-4c22-a1c5-881141db0cda> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://ms-office.wonderhowto.com/how-to/change-views-navigate-documents-ms-word-2007-314478/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676592001.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20180720232914-20180721012914-00489.warc.gz | en | 0.923006 | 160 | 2.515625 | 3 |
What Is Tokenomics And Factors that Relate To Crypto’s Future Value?
The definition of a crypto token is the first step toward understanding tokenomics. Crypto tokens run on blockchains. They offer many incentives to holders, allowing them to exchange or swap tokens with another blockchain. Tokenomics refers to all of a crypto token’s features that make it desirable to investors. Furthermore, Blockchain is associated with cryptocurrency, and for a blockchain to work, it needs to be used by people. So likewise, if no one uses cryptocurrency or tokens related to Blockchain, its value will be zero.The widespread adoption of cryptocurrency has led to many different currencies. This process will remain balanced if the crypto has its actual use case: payment and storage. The more services it has, its demand and value will increase to keep tokenomics in a state of balance. In this blog, I divided this into two parts, Tokenomics, and future crypto value.
What is Tokenomics?
A tokenomics is a process to determine the value of a token. Research involves tokens (or coins), cryptocurrencies, and their respective blockchains. However, tokenomics is not limited to this scope. Tokenomics also refers to the structure and characteristics of a crypto project’s token. Tokenomics is the term used to describe the functionalities associated with a token and how it incentivises its holders, creates value, and increases demand. Projects can use tokenomics to develop a robust micro-economy.
Basics of tokenomics
Each blockchain project has its tokenomics rules. These rules can promote or discourage certain user behaviors. Likewise, a central bank prints money implements monetary policies, and encourages or prevents spending, lending, saving, and money movement. Notably, tokens and coins are considered “tokens” in the context of Blockchain. Therefore, Tokenomics’ rules are transparent, predictable, and challenging to change, unlike fiat currencies.For example, The Bitcoin network is pre-programmed to produce a total of 31 million bitcoins, which is half the number of coins users can mine.Miners receive bitcoins as a reward when they mine a block, also known as the block subsidy.
Agenda of these rules:
It helps ensure that Bitcoin remains scarce and valuable. Concomitantly, it protects against inflation because the number of blocks on the Bitcoin network is fixed (the number cannot change). If there were no limit on how many bitcoins could mine in any given period, then there would be no incentive to spend them because they would lose value over time due to inflation. Consequently, it is easier to calculate the number of bitcoins that users will mine annually. It is, therefore, possible to estimate the number of bitcoins users will mine each year.
Factors that Relate To Crypto’s Future Value
Distribution of tokens:
There are two primary methods of generating crypto tokens.
According to this model, all investors and communities interested in the project will receive equal treatment. From the very beginning, the coin/token must be decentralized and owned, managed, and earned by the community. Participation is open to everyone. There is no early access, pre-mining, or allocation of tokens—for example, Bitcoin.
On the other hand, pre-mining involves creating and distributing crypto tokens before going public (primarily to project developers or other team members).
Several cryptocurrency projects have minted their tokens before going live this year. There is nothing to worry about a project that minted some tokens before launching it. It’sIt’s also possible to assume that the project is legitimate if it distributes its tokens to as many people as possible. For your project to become sustainable, BloxBytes’ groundbreaking tokenomics consulting process (INTERNAL LINK) will help create a sustainable economy.
Token-based economic models are vastly superior to government-controlled ones because they’re built with mathematical rules and governed by a community. Compare this with the monetary decisions of central banks, which remove input from currency holders and create money without restriction. However, no economic model is perfect, especially a brand-new one.
Token economic models come in various flavors. Take a look at the most common token models, how they benefit cryptocurrencies, and where they might fall short.
A deflationary token model ensures that there will never be more than 21 million coins. This model creates a situation where demand may increase while supply remains limited, resulting in rising prices over time.
There is no end to the production of inflationary tokens. A cap does not limit tokens, and there is no maximum supply.
A dual token model includes both utility and security tokens. As part of the fundraising process, some companies sell tokens that provide access to the digital platform they are building. A dual token model includes both security and utility tokens.
For example, Axie Infinity has a dual-token model.
Supply of a Token:
The supply of tokens is one of the most crucial elements in tokenomics. There are three types of supply of a token:
Circulating supply represents the number of tokens currently available on the market.
No burned or lost tokens are in the total token supply.
Max supply cap of a token is the maximum number of tokens that can ever exist.
For some tokens like Bitcoin, there’s no predetermined supply cap; their issuance is limited only by how many people are willing to mine or buy them. As a result, the number of tokens can give investors an indication of whether that token is likely to rise or dip in value. In extreme cases, oversupply can lead to a drop in the value of tokens.
An organization’s market cap or capitalization is the sum of all coins they have launched by developing it and multiplying it by the number of coins in circulation.
When a project’s entire supply of tokens is available for trading, it is called a fully diluted market cap, and it gives you an idea of the value that investors are placing on these projects. The smaller the supply of tokens and the greater their demand, the more valuable they can potentially be.
Crypto’s future value:
An essential part of any blockchain project is considering the tokenomics model includes factors such as exchange rate, leveraging tokens on volatility, pegging to fiat currencies, or issuing utility tokens. Creating a well-devised tokenomics plan can take your project far in ensuring success!
You now understand that Tokenomics involves designing and disseminating valuable digital tokens. Therefore, every industry can benefit from tokenomics (entrepreneurs, developers, and creators).NFTs are unique. They have been trending lately and have sparked a lot of interest in tokenomics, especially among NFT bids and auctions. Tokenization of property, art, collectibles, and assets is a new way of digital ownership that also showcases the potential in this area. NFTs will dominate tokenomics in the future. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, NFT tokens create digital scarcity; each token is unique and valued accordingly. Whether planning an ICO or thinking of a crypto-related business move, it’s essential to understand the basics of tokenomics.BloxBytes has a comprehensive understanding of tokenomics, which we use to develop lucrative blockchain projects and deliver blockchain consulting services to clients. Furthermore, we support you in adding significance to your business model by designing smart, scalable token solutions that are ready for the future of Blockchain.
After analyzing all the above factors, we can say that researching a token’s economics will help you understand how the token can solve a problem and why it could be worth investing in its future growth. The more potential, it is for a crypto’s token to increase in value, the more it’s worth putting your money into it. Although Tokenomics is a complex subject, every project is unique and has its approach to its token. To perform a valuation, you must consider the above factors, including utilization, security, and future use.
Follow BloxBytes Journal for more insights! | <urn:uuid:b7fe0d17-6b0c-4c79-914b-804f0d00190c> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://bloxbytes.com/what-is-tokenomics-and-factors-that-relate-to-cryptos-future-value/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100762.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20231208144732-20231208174732-00165.warc.gz | en | 0.927298 | 1,646 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Plant and Animal Domestication
The domestication of plants and animals by humans is, without a doubt, the longest and most important science experiment of all time. Humans simply would not have enjoyed such evolutionary success without the help of our non-human friends, which we've gradually tamed from the wild. Our species started selective breeding of crops, livestock, and companion animals at least 20,000 years ago, a development which single-handedly led to large-scale civilization. So remember to thank your dog, your veggies, and your livestock: the other science projects on this list would simply not have been possible without them. | <urn:uuid:d5f2bb98-dbb4-4805-ba51-bc0cdd23f543> | CC-MAIN-2016-18 | http://www.sparknotes.com/mindhut/2013/02/26/the-top-10-largest-scale-science-projects-of-all-time/slide/10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-18/segments/1461860126502.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160428161526-00066-ip-10-239-7-51.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940499 | 127 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Modern Birmingham calls itself the "Magic City," but this young city, which was founded after the Civil War, has seen its days of adversity. Early in its history it suffered from epidemics, crime, and violence. It failed badly in two depressions and saw, in its darkest days, violent racial confrontations. After years of hard work on race relations, Birmingham gradually moved to such a state of racial equality that it was designated an "All America City" for its progress. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, located near the downtown statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., works to educate about the community and beyond in lessons on race relations. In other ways, Birmingham has done much to distance itself from the past and move forward. One of Birmingham's darkest chapters came to a close in 2002 when jurors delivered a guilty verdict in the case of the 1963 church bombing that killed four African American girls. Once dubbed the "Pittsburgh of the South," the city now employs the majority of its workers in service jobs. The arts continue to flourish, the city's medical research and treatment facilities are world class, and Birmingham is the second largest financial and banking area in the Southeast. Residents attend plays, concerts, and sports events in one of the finest facilities in the country, and they shop, eat, and relax in one of the Southeast's largest enclosed malls, the sparkling Riverchase Galleria. At the heart of the new Birmingham stands the city's symbol, a statue of Vulcan, Roman god of fire and the forge. To many, Birmingham seems to have been magically forged anew.
Discuss this city on our active forum. | <urn:uuid:d6ecd5a5-b914-4383-af20-44ca486177ab> | CC-MAIN-2015-18 | http://www.city-data.com/us-cities/The-South/Birmingham-Introduction.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-18/segments/1429246656965.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20150417045736-00300-ip-10-235-10-82.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967623 | 329 | 3.15625 | 3 |
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A deciduous tree up to 40 or 50 ft high in a wild state, with a trunk 12 to 18 in. in diameter and a round-topped habit; branchlets hairy. Leaves composed of three leaflets on a stout, very hairy main-stalk; terminal leaflet short-stalked, oval, 3 to 5 in. long, 11⁄2 to 21⁄2 in. wide; the side ones obliquely ovate, stalkless, and somewhat smaller; all are either entire at the margins or shallowly and sparsely toothed, and more or less hairy beneath. Flowers yellow, 1⁄2 in. diameter, produced usually three together on drooping hairy stalks 3⁄4 in. long. Fruit with thick, brown-felted nutlets; keys 11⁄2 to 2 in. long; wings 3⁄4 in. broad, rounded, nearly parallel to each other, or diverging to 60° (in cultivation often not so large). Bot. Mag., n.s., t. 387.
Native of Japan, where, according to Sargent, it is widely distributed, but not common; also of Central China. Introduced by Messrs Veitch in 1881, in whose nursery at Coombe Wood, Kingston-on-Thames, was one of the first trees raised from Maries’ seeds, ultimately 30 ft high. Compared with many maples this is not a quick grower, which in small gardens may be counted an advantage, especially as the tree has a most interesting and distinct appearance at all times, and is very beautiful in autumn when the leaves turn rich red or yellow. The winter buds are long and pyramid-shaped, with overlapping scales. In wild specimens collected by Henry in Central China the leaflets are 7 in. long and 3 in. wide.
In cultivation, A. nikoense makes a small bushy tree or vase-shaped shrub. There are a number of examples at Westonbirt, of which the largest are: Mitchell Drive, 43 × 23⁄4 ft; Victory Glade, 42 × 31⁄4 and 40 × 3 ft (1966-7). Others recorded recently are: Hergest Croft, Heref., 35 × 5 ft at 2 ft (1960); East Bergholt Place, Suffolk, 30 × 21⁄4 ft (1966); Sheffield Park, Sussex, 30 × 21⁄2 ft (1960).
The above synonym is important, since it seems inescapable that it must supplant the established name A. nikoense Maxim. There has never been the slightest doubt about the identity of the maple described by Maximowicz, in considerable detail. Unfortunately, he cited as a synonym ?Negundo nikoense Miq., and the plant so named by Miquel is in fact either Acer cissifolium or possibly not a maple at all but a species of Parthenocissus (de Jong, Sex Expression in Acer, p. 147). Despite this, the herbarium specimen named Negundo nikoense by Miquel has to be regarded as the type of the name A. nikoense Maxim. Subsequently Miquel himself remarked that his Negundo nikoense was not the species described by Maximowicz and proposed for the latter the name A. maximowiczianum, which means that the genus will have one species under this name and another called A. maximowiczii. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature permits this.
specimens: Nymans, Sussex, 40 × 41⁄4 ft at 1 ft (1983); Sheffield Park, Sussex, 40 × 33⁄4 ft and 50 × 41⁄4 ft (1979); Exbury, Hants, 52 × 31⁄4 ft (1978); Westonbirt, Glos., Mitchell Drive, 48 × 33⁄4 ft (1980), Victory Glade, 46 × 33⁄4 ft (1975), Main Avenue, 46 × 33⁄4 ft (1974); Hergest Croft, Heref., 40 × 51⁄4 ft at 2 ft (1971); East Bergholt Place, Suffolk, 46 × 41⁄2 ft (1973); Killerton, Devon, 42 × 4 ft (1985); Caerhays, Cornwall, 46 × 31⁄2 ft and 46 × 31⁄4 ft (1984); Trewithen, Cornwall, 44 × 41⁄4 ft (1985). | <urn:uuid:e02d6af9-2470-4ea2-b971-c49f5ee57e18> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/acer/acer-nikoense/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496670135.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20191119093744-20191119121744-00336.warc.gz | en | 0.924358 | 943 | 3.015625 | 3 |
What's worse than an upset stomach?
You've probably had an upset stomach. Most likely it was due to something you ate. But imagine bleeding from your stomach. That's a little different than your stomach just being upset. Stomach ulcers can be very serious.
Diseases of the Digestive System
Many diseases can affect the digestive system. Three of the most common diseases that affect the digestive system are food allergies, ulcers, and heartburn.
- Food allergies occur when the immune system reacts to substances in food as though they were harmful “foreign invaders.” Foods that are most likely to cause allergies are pictured in Figure below . Symptoms of food allergies often include vomiting and diarrhea.
These foods are the most common causes of food allergies.
are sores in the lining of the stomach or duodenum that are usually caused by bacterial infections. They may also be caused by the acidic environment of the stomach. Stomach acids may damage the lining of the stomach. Symptoms typically include abdominal pain and bleeding. You can see how stomach ulcers develop at this link:
- Heartburn is a painful burning sensation in the chest caused by stomach acid backing up into the esophagus. The stomach acid may eventually cause serious damage to the esophagus unless the problem is corrected.
- Digestive system diseases include food allergies, ulcers, and heartburn.
Use this resource to answer the questions that follow.
- National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse at http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/a-z.aspx .
Describe the following digestive diseases:
- Crohn's Disease
1. Describe two diseases of the digestive system. | <urn:uuid:90bd4d1e-0132-405c-940f-cdcd39cb0d63> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.ck12.org/biology/Digestive-System-Diseases/lesson/Digestive-System-Diseases/r35/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1412037663743.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20140930004103-00364-ip-10-234-18-248.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932206 | 355 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Understanding species-specific flight behaviours is essential in developing methods of guiding fish spatially, and requires knowledge on how groups of fish respond to aversive stimuli. By harnessing their natural behaviours, the use of physical manipulation or other potentially harmful procedures can be minimised. We examined the reactions of sea-caged groups of 50 salmon (1331±364 g) to short-term exposure to visual or acoustic stimuli. In light experiments, fish were exposed to one of three intensities of blue LED light (high, medium and low) or no light (control). Sound experiments included exposure to infrasound (12 Hz), a surface disturbance event, the combination of infrasound and surface disturbance, or no stimuli. Groups that experienced light, infrasound, and the combination of infrasound and surface disturbance treatments, elicited a marked change in vertical distribution, where fish dived to the bottom of the sea-cage for the duration of the stimulus. Light treatments, but not sound, also reduced the total echo-signal strength (indicative of swim bladder volume) after exposure to light, compared to pre-stimulus levels. Groups in infrasound and combination treatments showed increased swimming activity during stimulus application, with swimming speeds tripled compared to that of controls. In all light and sound treatments, fish returned to their pre-stimulus swimming depths and speeds once exposure had ceased. This work establishes consistent, short-term avoidance responses to these stimuli, and provides a basis for methods to guide fish for aquaculture applications, or create avoidance barriers for conservation purposes. In doing so, we can achieve the manipulation of group position with minimal welfare impacts, to create more sustainable practices.
Citation: Bui S, Oppedal F, Korsøen ØJ, Sonny D, Dempster T (2013) Group Behavioural Responses of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) to Light, Infrasound and Sound Stimuli. PLoS ONE 8(5): e63696. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0063696
Editor: Josep V. Planas, Universitat de Barcelona, Spain
Received: November 13, 2012; Accepted: April 5, 2013; Published: May 17, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 Bui et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: Funding was provided by the Norwegian Research Council through the Centre for Research-Based Innovation in Aquaculture Technology (Trondheim). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors declare that the co-author Dr. Damien Sonny is employed by ProFish Technology; however, this does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. This relationship is completely transparent and does not interfere with any aspect of the publication creation or process.
Mapping the flight and avoidance responses of animals to aversive stimuli has led to conceptual advances in behavioural sciences, including understanding predator-response behaviours and the evolutionary development of variable flight behaviour . Theoretical studies investigate the ecological implications of flight behaviour performance and predator-prey interactions , and determine the types of cues that induce such behaviours . Applied studies of flight behaviour pursue a means of influencing the movement and position of the fish by harnessing the natural behaviours of groups of fish. Various external stimuli have been used to manipulate fish behaviour, such as stroboscopic light , , infrasound , , bubble curtains , and other physical cues (, see for review).
How information from the environment is received and processed by an individual depends on their sensory capabilities, and hence, responses to extrinsic signals are species-specific . Insight into the anatomical, physiological, and neural sensitivities of a species assists in understanding their perception of signals, and thus the mechanisms that elicit responses . We can use this knowledge to construct methods to guide fish behaviour that can be useful for conservation management or finfish aquaculture. For instance, it would benefit the development of fish deterrent systems to minimise mortality or entrainment in hazardous areas , or for novel methods of influencing the distribution of fish in aquaculture (e.g. ), where manipulating the vertical position of thousands of individuals without harm remains a challenge.
The environment is saturated with visual indicators, and teleost fish are highly adapted to detect changes in the visual environment . The intensity, spectral composition, and polarisation of light are factors that influence salmonid vision . Salmonids detect polarised light and are sensitive to light of varying spectral composition including ultraviolet, blue, green, yellow, and red (range of 346 nm to 690 nm; ). They have a strong behavioural response to acute changes in the light environment; four species of salmonids dived immediately to the bottom of tanks and swam with elevated activity after a transition from light-to-dark or dark-to-light environments . Abrupt exposure to artificial light also elicits strong avoidance responses across taxa, including rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax; ), zebrafish (Danio rerio; ), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; , ).
Sound has been explored as a potential behavioural modifier, and has been suggested as a better candidate than light . Salmonids do not have special adaptations for hearing however Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) are sensitive to acoustic particle motion, particularly at frequencies below 200 Hz and even more so for sounds well below 50 Hz , . Salmon avoid infrasound frequencies in freshwater environments (5–10 Hz; , , ); the use of infrasound to elicit avoidance responses was trialled with success in juvenile chinook salmon and rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss; ), cyprinids , and European eels (Anguilla anguilla; ). The mechanisms driving these responses are unclear, however the use of low frequency signals in the sound environment is common in communication , , and may be analogous to the frequency produced by their predators , . Fish may also be acutely sensitive to particle displacement generated by breaking the surface of the water , due to anticipation of predator activity, such as from birds or seals , .
A species will often have a pronounced response upon exposure to a novel, high intensity, or aversive stimulus; this response will always be within its normal behavioural repertoire, and a common reaction to a potentially harmful signal is to escape and gain distance away from the source (e.g. ). In fish, the flight response is often fleeing to deeper waters , . Flight behaviours are characterised by fast-start swimming: a high-energy burst and rapid acceleration in swimming speed , , usually in the direction away from the disturbance . The duration of stress responses are a trade-off between the potential risk represented by the signal and the cost of avoidance , and thus how long a stimuli elicits an effect is indicative of the magnitude of stress induced.
Fundamental behavioural experiments are commonly conducted in tanks and aquaria in the laboratory, on individuals and small groups of fish. However, their relevance requires investigation with large groups of fish in field settings, with carefully monitored environmental conditions. Here, we investigated the avoidance behaviours of groups of Atlantic salmon held in a marine environment, by characterising immediate behavioural responses and short-term effects to aversive stimuli. Fish were acutely exposed to light of different intensities, to infrasound, and to surface disturbance. The depth at which the group were swimming in the water column was monitored over time, as well as level of acoustic backscatter from the group. Behavioural responses measured included surface activity and swimming speed.
Materials and Methods
The work was conducted in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Norwegian Regulation on Animal Experimentation 1996. The protocol was approved by the Norwegian Animal Research Authority (Ethics permit number: 3619; local responsible: Tom Hansen, IMR).
Location and Experimental Set-up
The experiments were conducted at the Cage Environment Laboratory at the Institute of Marine Research, in Masfjorden, western Norway (60° N). Light experiments ran from August 7 to August 27, while sound experiments ran from August 22 to September 3, 2011 (hereafter referred to as the experimental periods). Two experimental cages (5 m×5 m×5 m;≈125 m3 volume) were used for light experiments with a tarpaulin suspended underwater between experimental cages to avoid light contamination. A single cage of the same dimensions was used in sound trials.
A submersible light-emitting diode (LED) lamp (prototype provided by AKVA Group, Bryne, Norway) was suspended in the centre of the cage at a depth of 1.5 m, emitting a blue light (peak at 460 nm; colour temperature of 20,000 K) with a power rating of 400 W. Lamps currently used in farmed settings utilise metal halide bulbs (150–1000 W) which emit light that gradually increases in intensity when turned on, however LED lamps can provide immediate, brilliant illumination. Light intensities were measured using an underwater spherical quantum sensor LI-193SA connected to a LI-1400 data logger (Li-Cor, Lincoln, NE, USA). The three intensities used as treatments were defined as low (0.8 µmol·m−2·s−1), medium (26.8 µmol·m−2·s−1) and high (35.4 µmol·m−2·s−1) intensity (Fig. 1). The registered photosynthetic photon flux fluence rates for each intensity were measured 0.5 m from the lamp. The lamp remained in the water throughout the experimental period, including acclimatisation periods, to minimise confounding effects. The sampling period was run once there was complete darkness (when the contrast between the stimulus and ambient illumination would be the greatest), and thus began between the hours of 0∶00 and 0∶30.
Measurements of intensity (µmol·m−2·s−1) were determined using an underwater spherical quantum sensor at 2 m depth in the sea-cage, and were log(X+1) transformed. Coordinates (0, 0) indicate the centre of the cage.
For a more detailed light environment description, intensities were also measured during the night at 1 m intervals on the horizontal and vertical planes (horizontal plane at 2 m depth only shown in Fig. 1). The intensities and the wavelength of the light emitted in the treatments are within the range of visual sensitivities for Atlantic salmon .
The sound trials used an industrial infrasound source (ProFish Technology, Belgium; described in ), which was designed as an integrated system that emits a low frequency sound to deter fish from hazardous areas (such as cooling water intakes at nuclear power stations). The infrasound device was suspended in the centre of the cage and submerged at 2 m depth, remaining there for the entire experimental period. The machine was set to a frequency of 12.5 Hz and calibrated before each trial. The sound source was controlled from a separate module located out of the water, 15 m away from the cage, ensuring that the treatment would begin with no visual indicator to the fish. To imitate a surface disturbance event, we used a disc (Ø = 30 cm) suspended with ropes 1 m above the surface of the water, near the centre of the cage. During this treatment, the disc was dropped flat against the water, creating a ‘slapping’ effect. It was then pulled up, and this procedure was repeated every 10 s. Sampling periods began between 10∶00 and 15∶00.
In both light and sound experiments, all treatments were replicated 3 times. Treatment replicates were interspersed across the 2 experimental cages in the light experiment, and throughout the experimental periods in light and sound experiments, to avoid possible confounding due to environmental variability.
To test the responses of the fish to acute exposures of intense light, we conducted experiments where groups of fish were subjected to different intensities of light. The design included a control (LC), where the lamp was present but no light was emitted, and exposure to either high (LH), medium (LM) or low (LL) intensity light. We measured the behaviours of salmon in four experimental periods; ‘Before’ (B) the 10 minutes before the treatment was applied; ‘During’ (D) when the light cues were applied for 10 min; and two ‘After’ periods, 0–10 min and 10–20 min after the cues had ceased (A1 and A2, respectively). In D, the LED light was turned on and maintained at the relevant intensity for 10 min.
To investigate how fish respond to a variety of sound components, the sound trials included a control (SC); the use of the infrasound source (SI); the effect of surface disturbance using the disc (SS); and both the infrasound and surface disturbance (SB) occurring simultaneously. As in the light experiment, we measured the behaviours of salmon in four experimental 10 min periods (B, D, A1, and A2). In D, infrasound was applied for 1 min, followed by 1 min when it was off, and repeated in this manner throughout the 10 min period. Similarly, surface disturbance treatments were conducted with 1 min of the disc being dropped continuously (every 10 s), followed by 1 min with no action, for 10 min.
Fish were sourced from a full-scale production cage (∼ 2000 m3), located 5–15 m away from the experimental cages. Before each replicate, a group of fish was crowded in the production cage using a 5 m×5 m×5 m cast net to capture a large sample group and bring them to the surface, where 50–53 fish were then randomly caught using a dip net and transferred to the experimental cage. The fish were allowed to recover for a minimum of 24 h, and were not fed during their time in the experimental cage. Upon completion of the treatment, 10 fish were randomly netted out, anaesthetised with Benzoak VET (dose: 0.2 ml L−1 of seawater), then measured for total length and weight.
A total of 1219 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) were used in the two experiments (50–53 fish per replicate×3 replicates×4 treatments×2 experiments). The fish weighed on average 1232±359 g (range: 110 to 2360 g) and 1431±372 g (range: 680 to 2185 g), with a total length of 51.2±4.2 cm (range: 36 to 61 cm) and 53.0±3.9 cm (range: 43 to 61 cm), for the light and sound experiments, respectively. There was no difference between mean weights or lengths among treatments, in both light (one-way ANOVAs; F[3,115] = 2.05 and 1.70; P = 0.11 and 0.17, respectively) and sound experiments (one-way ANOVAs; F[3,115] = 0.02 and 0.27; P = 1.0 and 0.86, respectively).
Group Swimming Depths and Acoustic Backscatter
The swimming depth of the group was continuously recorded using a PC–based echo integration system (Lindem Data Acquisition, Oslo, Norway; described by ) connected to transducers positioned below the cage, approximately 7 m deep, facing upwards with a 42° acoustic beam. This gave measures of echo intensity, which is directly related to fish density, at depth intervals of 0.5 m. Outputs of echo strength were given as the mean value of echo intensity per minute, and each cell (in depth and time) was calculated as a proportion of the total acoustic backscatter (sum of echo intensities) received at that time point, across all depths.
An increase in activity of the fish causes changes in tilt angle and distance from the echosounder, thereby decreasing the horizontal projection and consequently total acoustic backscatter. Thus whilst the stimulus is being applied, acoustic backscatter will be highly variable if fish exhibit greater swimming activity. This is expected also of the following period, and so acoustic backscatter values from A2 with more recovered fish are of most interest. Furthermore, the structure and volume of the swim bladder contributes a large proportion of the acoustic backscattering , and hence changes in total acoustic backscatter values from A2 will describe any change in the swim bladder volume from its original form in B. The percentage change in total acoustic backscatter was calculated by comparing levels in A2 with initial levels before the treatment began.
When the light was turned off at the beginning of period A1, the number of splashes heard was counted in the first minute, and then averaged across two observers. Splashes represented surface activities exhibited in the group, indicating the magnitude of an aversion response to the abrupt change in light.
Swimming Speeds and Behaviours
Swimming speeds and behaviours were monitored for all four periods of the sound experiment, via an underwater camera (360° pan/tilt Orbit Subsea camera, Norway, www.orbitgmt.com) submerged to the depth of the group. The camera was controlled by winches and recorded video clips throughout the sampling period. Instantaneous swimming speeds were calculated from the video recordings, in body lengths per second (BL·s−1) by measuring the time taken for the snout and tail of a fish to pass a vertical reference line in the cage . Each experimental period was divided into three parts, and 10 fish for each third were haphazardly chosen and used for analysis, totalling 30 measurements per period and 120 in the replicate.
Temperature was recorded from 0 to 9 m depth using an online probe (YSI model 30–50 ft, YSI, OH, USA) and a Secchi disc (∅ = 30 cm) was used to quantify water turbidity during the light experimental period only. Recordings were taken every day throughout the experimental periods, at a standard time of day and reference point near the experimental cages. Dissolved oxygen was monitored via the camera positioned at the group’s swimming depth.
Differences among treatments in temperature, visibility, number of jumps in the light experiment, and total acoustic backscatter values (log-transformed to reduce variances and correct a skewed distribution; ) at A2 compared to its starting level at B, were tested for with a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Significant results from ANOVAs were further analysed using Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) tests to determine differences in group means. Temperature was averaged across depth bands (0–2 m, 3–5 m, and 6–8 m) for analysis. Total acoustic backscatter values were low-pass filtered, where zero values and those outside of the mean ±2 standard deviations were removed, in order to reflect possible total acoustic backscatter values realistically.
The depth at which the maximum echo intensity occurred (depthmax) at a time point was used, and the average of all depthmax points in the period was calculated. These values were used for analyses of vertical distributions across the four experimental periods. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to compare differences in depthmax and instantaneous swimming speeds, with period as the repeated measure. Significant results from these were further analysed for within-subject factors using pairwise comparisons, applying a Bonferroni adjustment when p-values were small . Planned comparisons (one-way ANOVAs) were conducted comparing the difference among treatments for depthmax and swimming speed data, only within the period when stimuli were applied. SNK tests were conducted if significant results arose.
All analyses were only conducted after parametric test assumptions (normality and homogeneity of variances) were evaluated using residual plots, and statistical significance was determined at α = 0.05.
Group swimming depths and acoustic backscatter.
Upon exposure to the LM and LH treatments, salmon began swimming fast and erratically in multiple directions, with some individuals making contact with the side of the cage and other individuals. However, when exposed to the LL treatment, this behaviour did not occur – the fish did not show a marked increase in swimming behaviour but instead descended slowly away from the light source.
In all three treatments, fish dived to the bottom of the sea-cage when the light was turned on. Results from the repeated measures ANOVA revealed that treatments affected swimming depths over the treatment periods (Table 1), and post-hoc pairwise comparisons show that the deeper position of the group in D was different from the other periods (Fig. 2a). Planned comparisons in this period revealed a difference between treatment means at this time (F, = 96.95, p<0.001), with post-hoc SNK tests confirming that the swimming depths during the three light intensities were deeper than Control groups (Fig. 2a). When the light was turned off, the group returned to their surface position in all light treatments (Fig. 2a).
Echo intensity (EI) was received through an echosounder. Shown are the average for each treatment (n = 3) for (A) light and (B) sound trials. The fish are exposed to the stimulus at the beginning of the During period.
From observations of the vertical distribution (Fig. 2) and swimming behaviour of the group, the fish have returned to their pre-stimulus state by A2, thus standardising the comparisons of acoustic backscatter between B and A2. There was a decline in average total acoustic backscatter levels for LL (29%) and LH (25%), whereas LC and LM groups increased (67 and 13%, respectively) in acoustic backscatter compared to levels before the stimulus began (F, = 4.58, p = 0.038; Fig. 3a). This was verified as SNK tests separated the change in total acoustic backscatter in Low and High treatment groups from Control and Medium groups.
The total signal strength from the pre-stimulus period was used as a baseline. Shown are the changes for each treatment in the (A) light and (B) sound trials. Letters (a,b) indicate differences among treatments at p<0.05 (as determined by SNK tests).
Groups exposed to the LH and LM intensities of light jumped on average 18 times more than LL and LC treatments (F, = 26.30, p<0.001; Fig. 4), with SNK tests confirming these discrete groups. Surface behaviours were erratic at the two higher intensities, however activities ceased soon after the 1 min observation period.
Group swimming depths and acoustic backscatter.
When the infrasound stimulus was applied, salmon swam erratically at their original depth then dived as a group to the bottom of the cage, whereas surface treatment groups responded to the disturbance by actively avoiding the surface and slowly descended to depths of 1.5–2 m (Fig. 2b). When both stimuli were applied together, diving responses were consistent for the first two replicates, but not the last which showed no response (see Figure S1). Nevertheless, when depthmax is averaged across replicates, this treatment elicited greater vertical activity in the fish when exposed to the stimuli (Fig. 2b). Analyses showed that treatment influenced swimming depth over the treatment periods (Table 2) and post-hoc tests confirmed that for all treatments, after the disturbance had ceased the group returned to the pre-stimulus swimming depth in A1 and A2 (Fig. 2b). However, swimming depths between treatments, within the D period, were not different from each other (p = 0.086). Even so, differences were evident as control groups swam on average at 0.9 m depth, whereas the other groups swam between 2–3 m deep (Fig. 2b).
The percentage change of total acoustic backscatter in sound experiments was negligible for all treatments, and although there was a small decline in SI and SB groups, the group means were not different among treatments (p = 0.675; Fig. 3b). The higher variability may indicate greater vertical spread of individuals within the group (Fig. 2b).
Swimming speeds and behaviours.
Infrasound, alone and when combined with surface disturbance, elicited a marked increase in swimming activity in groups of salmon. Treatments modified swimming speeds over the treatment period (Table 3), with swimming speed during the application of stimuli being different from the other three periods when stimuli was not present, confirming that in all treatments the fish had returned to their original swimming speed in A1 and A2 (Fig. 5). Before the treatment period, salmon swam at approximately 0.5–0.6 BL·sec−1 in all treatment groups. The application of SI and SB elicited swimming speeds three times greater than that of control groups (Fig. 5), and SS also significantly doubled swimming speeds in this period. During application of the stimulus, the one-way ANOVA test showed differences in swimming speeds (F, = 9.55, p = 0.005). Subsequent SNK tests separated SI, SB and SS groups from SC, and SS from SC (Fig. 5), with the former groups exhibiting faster swimming speeds.
Each point represents the mean (± SE) swimming speed, in body lengths per second (BL·s−1), of 3 replicates, with the instantaneous swimming speed measured for 30 fish per replicate. Treatments are represented by: ▴, control; •, infrasound; ⧫, surface disturbance; ▪, infrasound and surface disturbance combined. Letters (a, b, c) indicate differences between treatment groups in the period when exposed to stimuli (During), at p<0.05 (as determined by a one-way analysis of variance and post-hoc SNK tests).
Temperature between 0 and 9 m depth did not confound either experiment as it did not differ throughout the experimental period for both the light (p>0.05) and sound (p>0.05) trials. Temperatures were very similar throughout the depths, with averages of 13.1–14.2°C in light experiments and 14.1–15.5°C in sound experiments. Visibility during the light trial was also consistent over the treatments (p>0.05), averaging at 9 m over the trial period (range: 6–12 m). Dissolved oxygen was continuously above 89% for the duration of both experimental periods.
The application of light and sound stimuli can influence the vertical position of fish in the ocean. The use of light as a stimulus consistently resulted in a diving response in the fish, where they avoided the light source and swam at a lower depth than their preferred position in the cage. Blue/green light has the highest penetration energy through sea water, and the eyes of salmon can detect light at a minimum intensity of 0.037 µmol·m−2·s−1 over a wide spectral range ; this means that the brilliance of light emitted in the LH power output was in the order of 100 times greater than the lower limit of the salmon eye sensitivity. Thus, the high intensities these fish were exposed to in LM and LH treatments may have been temporarily blinding, as observed through their erratic swimming behaviour and collisions with the net cage. Further, jumping behaviours following the higher intensity light treatments indicated greater aversion to the experience. This was not observed upon exposure to the low intensity light, which suggests the brilliance at the lowest power output was not detrimental to the eye. Nevertheless, the transition from dark to light elicited a pronounced reaction in the fish where the group quickly dived to the bottom of the cage. Our results provide field-based evidence that support previous tank-based experiments, producing dramatic changes in activity and vertical distribution of salmon when lights were turned on , and immediate flight away to darker areas upon exposure to bright light , .
From the aversive responses observed, we would discourage the use of such abrupt changes to the visual environment using high light intensities due to welfare concerns. However, low intensities elicit relatively mild responses and therefore could prove useful in applications requiring short-term behavioural manipulations. With short application of low light stimuli, the behaviour of salmon returns to the pre-stimulus state within 20 min after exposure, indicating the short-term impact of the treatment. Further work is required to investigate the long-term effects of this experience in terms of growth, appetite, body condition, and other welfare parameters.
Infrasound had a similar effect to light, however surface disturbance and combination treatments did not. The behavioural responses were consistent in all trials except for variation in one replicate of the combined treatment (Fig. S1), possibly due to a fault in the infrasound device more so than variable behaviour. Similar to the light experiment, our results reinforce previous tank-based and freshwater experiments on the aversive effect of low frequency sounds to fish, where swimming depth and speeds are influenced by exposure to the sound (e.g. ). Knudsen and colleagues determined that infrasound levels (5–10 Hz) were most effective in causing avoidance reactions in Atlantic salmon individuals in a freshwater pool. Previous investigations into the use of infrasound established that fish would produce sudden horizontal flight away from the sound source in rivers and in tanks , however fish in aquaculture are restricted in the horizontal plane by the sea-cage and would therefore have to escape downwards, as we have observed. Acoustic cues that could represent threats elicit consistent escape responses in individuals , , and schools (, for summary see ). This work represents a positive outcome in that similar to wild cod exposed to acoustic stimuli ; the application of infrasound and a surface disturbance event had a short-term effect on salmon behaviours, with fish returning to pre-stimulus states shortly after the cues had ceased. However its effect on flight behaviour may lessen over time as for any stimulus, repeated or extensive exposure can lead to habituation (e.g. , ), particularly with repeated exposure to infrasound without a visual cue. As such, this approach will be most effective with punctuated, infrequent use.
Disturbance on the surface waters did not produce the flight responses and elevated swimming speeds seen in the other light and sound treatments, only avoidance of the surface. Salmon in aquaculture are constantly exposed to anthropogenic disturbance when farmers conduct maintenance procedures. Therefore, they may be initially frightened by husbandry activities above water (e.g. adjusting the bird net, observing feeding), but become quickly accustomed to it as there is no negative sensations associated with the activity . Flight responses are costly to elicit in terms of energy consumption , thus individuals that can distinguish sound components associated with real danger, and reduce responses to false risks, have increased benefits in growth and fitness. If farmed fish are constantly exposed to husbandry events interpreted as predation risk, the welfare of the individual will decline along with appetite and growth .
The knowledge established from these experiments can be used to develop techniques for fish guidance by eliciting a predictable, natural response through exposure to light or infrasound. Few studies have been conducted on the responses of large groups of fish to infrasound in marine environments, and our results are largely analogous to those that have been done in small tank-based and freshwater experiments. Our results support the assertion that these stimuli can be used in both ocean and freshwater environments to deter fish from infrastructures that represent potential mortalities . Creating behavioural barriers can increase survival of fish populations near hazardous areas, such as turbine inlets for cooling water intakes . Infrasound is an attractive solution in that it is not detectable by humans or fish with restricted sensitivities to sound, reducing its impacts on non-target organisms .
In aquaculture or other closed settings, the ability to influence the position of the fish without mechanical manipulation could improve the welfare of farmed fish during farming procedures. One example stems from the salmon aquaculture industry. With the predictable response of salmon to light, new methods can be developed and utilised for numerous farming activities that require the manipulation of the school’s position in the cage. Salmon have a swim bladder that is connected and regulated via the oesophagus , requiring them to ‘swallow’ air at the surface to replenish air in the swim bladder, with a behaviour described as jumping or rolling at the surface , , . A flight response or fast-start swimming may induce the release of air from the swim bladder to facilitate escape or deflect predators , . Our findings from the light experiments provide some support for this theory, as exposure to light as an aversive stimulus caused flight into deeper waters. Similarly, the decline in acoustic backscatter for all light intensities, but not in sound experiments, further suggest that there is loss of air from the swim bladder, which reduces the volume for detection by the echosounder , . The effect of light stimuli on the change in swim bladder volume has not been investigated previously, and opens new avenues for research on the impact of flight responses on buoyancy in fishes. For instance, this provides a foundation for developing new techniques to treat sea lice in salmon aquaculture, by creating a motivation to break the surface more frequently in order to re-fill the swim bladder and combining this with a layer of floating chemical therapeutant . The application of light stimuli could increase the frequency and intensity of re-filling behaviours, ensuring efficient removal of sea lice.
Fish in sea-cages are rarely in the same depths at the same time, due to spatial preferences determined by environmental conditions and stocking density , however our findings could change this premise. Viable applications of this technique will require developing our understanding on how factors such as age, physical condition, motivation, group size and environmental conditions will affect the behaviour of fishes. Nonetheless, the information gained from this work augments our current understanding of the flight responses of groups of fish to short-term aversive stimuli in a marine environment, and provides a foundation for the use of light and of infrasound to guide fish distributions. This is valuable knowledge for the development of fish guidance methods, and could be further adapted for a wider range of applications in aquaculture or conservation management.
Observed fish densities of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the sea-cage over the experimental period. Echo intensity (EI) was received through an echosounder. Shown are the individual replicates from the combination treatment in sound trials, exhibiting the variation between replicates 1 and 2, and replicate 3.
The authors thank Jan Olav Fosse, Kristian Dale, Tone Vågseth and Jan-Erik Fosseidengen for their technical support.
Conceived and designed the experiments: SB FO OK DS TD. Performed the experiments: SB FO OK DS TD. Analyzed the data: SB FO OK TD. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SB FO OK DS TD. Wrote the paper: SB FO OK DS TD.
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- 33. Sand O (1984) Lateral-line systems. In Bolis L, Keynes RD, Maddrell SHP (eds). Comparative Physiology of Sensory Systems. London: Cambridge University Press. 3–32.
- 34. Huntingford F, Coyle S, Hunter W (2012) Avoiding Predators. In: Huntingford F, Jobling M, Kadri S (eds). Aquaculture and Behavior. London: Wiley-Blackwell. 220–247.
- 35. Millot S, Bégout ML, Chatain B (2009) Exploration behaviour and flight response toward a stimulus in three sea bass strains (Dicentrarchus labrax L.). Appl Anim Behav Sci 119: 108–114.
- 36. Domenici P, Blake RW (1997) The kinematics and performance of fish fast-start swimming. J Exp Biol 200: 1165–1178.
- 37. Blaxter JHS, Gray JAB, Denton EJ (1981) Sound and startle responses in herring shoals. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 61: 851–869.
- 38. Domenici P, Blagburn JM, Bacon JP (2011) Animal escapology II: escape trajectory case studies. J Exp Biol 214: 2474–2494.
- 39. Bjordal Å, Juell J-E, Lindem T, Fernö A (1993) Hydroacoustic monitoring and feeding control in cage rearing of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). In: Reinertsen H, Dahle LA, Jørgensen L, Tvinnereim K (eds). Fish Farming Technology. Trondheim: Balkema. 203–208.
- 40. Ona E (1990) Physiological factors causing natural variations in acoustic target strength of fish. J Mar Biol Ass UK 70: 107–127.
- 41. Dempster T, Juell J-E, Fosseidengen JE, Fredheim A, Lader P (2008) Behaviour and growth of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) subjected to short-term submergence in commercial scale sea-cages. Aquaculture 276: 103–111.
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- 44. Stien LH, Bratland S, Austevoll I, Oppedal F, Kristiansen TS (2007) A video analysis procedure for assessing vertical fish distribution in aquaculture tanks. Aquacult Eng 37: 115–124.
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- 46. Domencini P, Blake RW (1993) Escape trajectories in angelfish (Pterophyllum eimekei). J Exp Biol 177: 253–272.
- 47. Domenici P, Batty RS (1997) Escape behaviour of solitary herring (Clupea harengus) and comparisons with schooling individuals. Mar Biol 128: 29–38.
- 48. Meager JJ, Rodewald P, Domenici P, Fernö A, Järvi T, et al. (2011) Behavioural responses of hatchery-reared and wild cod Gadus morhua to mechano-acoustic predator signals. J Fish Biol 78: 1437–1450.
- 49. Folkedal O, Torgersen T, Nilsson J, Oppedal F (2010) Habituation rate and capacity of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) parr to sudden transitions from darkness to light. Aquaculture 307: 170–172.
- 50. Fänge R (1953) The mechanism of gas transport in the euphysoclist swimbladder. Acta Physiol Scand 23: 1–133.
- 51. Furevik DM, Bjordal Å, Huse I, Fernö A (1993) Surface activity of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in net pens. Aquaculture 110: 119–128.
- 52. Korsøen ØJ, Fosseidengen JK, Kristiansen TS, Oppedal F, Bui S, et al. (2012) Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in a submerged sea-cage adapt rapidly to re-fill their swim bladders in an underwater air filled dome. Aquacult Eng 51: 1–6.
- 53. Nøttestad L (1998) Extensive gas bubble release in Norwegian spring-spawning herring (Clupea harengus) during predator avoidance. ICES J Mar Sci 55: 1133–1140.
- 54. Dempster T, Korsøen Ø, Folkedal O, Juell J-E, Oppedal F (2009) Submergence of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in commercial scale sea-cages: a potential short-term solution to poor surface conditions. Aquaculture 288: 254–263.
- 55. Korsøen ØJ, Dempster T, Fjelldal PG, Oppedal F, Kristiansen TS (2009) Long-term culture of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) in submerged cages during winter affects behaviour, growth and condition. Aquaculture 296: 373–381.
- 56. Oppedal F, Dempster T, Stein LH (2011) Environmental drivers of Atlantic salmon behaviour in sea-cages: A review. Aquaculture 311: 1–18.
- 57. Oppedal F, Vågseth T, Dempster T, Juell J-E, Johansson D (2011) Stocking density affects seasonal variation in observed swimming density of caged Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) measured by echo sounders. Aquaculture 315: 361–368. | <urn:uuid:16cb3648-17c2-4334-87e2-972177637b77> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0063696 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578806528.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20190426133444-20190426155444-00146.warc.gz | en | 0.914122 | 10,340 | 2.96875 | 3 |
As much as you might like your little ones to immediately recognize the grandeur of a Monet, the famous French Impressionist’s brilliance will probably be lost on most kids. When introducing this important subject to a student anywhere, you’re going to see a lot more success if you speak their language, and these days, that means plugging something in. Here’s how to get going with art lessons for your kids, in a way they’ll find interesting and engaging, and you’ll approve of.
Mixing Colours Without Making a Mess
Little kids love to discover the results of mixing blue and yellow or black and white. While you do want to offer them the opportunity to do so with real paint and their own two hands, let them learn more online before introducing the finger paint. Find games and programs that vividly demonstrate how to mix and make new colours, but make sure it includes the names of colours as well. This way, a child of almost any age will be introduced to letters, reading and making associations, all while having loads of fun.
Teaching Techniques and Tapping Talent With Technology
Every child needs exposure to art, no matter if they’re learning in public, private or home school. Discovering exceptional talent in your child means you’re going to have to find an exceptional way to cultivate it, though. Beyond crayons, stick figures and basic crafts, open new doors to your gifted art student with kids’ art lessons online. You can try any number of them until you find the perfect match for your up-and-coming master, by looking for special tools that demonstrate techniques and act as an extension of the human hands.
Visit Vincent van Gogh on a Virtual Trip
No artistic education is complete without an introduction to the famous masters. Begin by teaching the movements, like Abstract Expressionism from the 1940s, Art Nouveau of the 1890s and going all the way back to the Baroque 17th century and earlier. Once the textbook learning is complete, sit down in front of the small screen and virtually tour the great museums featuring the actual works. You can take your child to see Van Gogh’s “Blooming Chestnut Branches” in Zurich, or Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous “Mona Lisa” at the Louvre in Paris without ever leaving the house. Zoom in so your child doesn’t miss a single stroke of genius, and understands how a magnificent painting is created from pallet to canvas. Younger children might appreciate the fabulous splashing and dripping techniques of Jackson Pollock, a pioneer in the Abstract Expressionism movement, so visit videos depicting his passionate process as well.
Art can easily be your kid’s favourite and most fun subject, if you present it to them in an appealing and engaging way. Don’t miss that opportunity by simply flipping through the pages of a textbook. Bring art to life in their own language, with the gizmos and gadgets they already love. | <urn:uuid:5dbe5cc5-e51a-4491-b984-03b83c8dc20b> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://www.kidsfreeware.com/teaching-kids-passion-for-art-in-their-own-language/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400221980.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20200925021647-20200925051647-00343.warc.gz | en | 0.936745 | 627 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Bracken is found throughout Ireland on a range of habitats. It survives on highly acidic soils, deep loams and sandy soils and is tolerant of a wide range of climates. Bracken is very invasive and can damage many priority habitats by smothering and blocking light and moisture from species in these habitats.
That’s according to Graeme D Campbell, Agri-Environment Training Advisor, CAFRE. “If not controlled, bracken spreads very rapidly throughout the countryside using a network of thick, fleshy underground stems. Fronds grow from the stems and become visible from mid May onwards growing up to 1.5m in height. Bracken produces spores which may be carcinogenic and it can be poisonous to livestock when ingested, although livestock normally tend to avoid consuming bracken.”
Land with bracken cover is not eligible for Single Farm Payment (SFP). The area of bracken must be deducted from the total field area even where bracken is present in only part of a field for 2-3 months of the year. The SFP rules state that land must be eligible for the full calendar year.
Campbell said: “Bracken can be difficult to eradicate completely but it can be controlled by using chemicals and also by non chemical methods.”
Over the years products containing the active ingredient Asulam, such as Asulox, have commonly been used to control bracken. However, from 31st December 2012 it became illegal to sell, transfer, promote or use Asulam products. It is hoped that the re-registration of Asulam Products can be completed by 2016. In the meantime, an Emergency Authorisation for Asulam products has been granted and will allow the application of the product Asulox to control bracken in the UK during the specified period in 2014. This will be reviewed yearly.
The following are the important dates to remember:
19 May 2014: Start Date for Emergency Authorisation.
1 July 2014: Application of Asulam products can start.
15 September 2014: First expiry date for sale and distribution of stocks. Application can continue.
31 October 2014: Final expiry date for disposal, storage and use of Asulam. It will be illegal to apply or store Asulam products after this date.
Bracken can be controlled by the application of Asulam products using either manual knapsack sprayer or tractor/quad boom sprayer. Follow up treatment in subsequent years is essential for full control.
Non Chemical Control
Bracken can also be controlled by cutting and rolling. Research has shown that cutting where possible is most effective when it is repeated twice in the same growing season. Cutting must also be repeated yearly until bracken disappears.
Rolling is another alternative method of bracken control. It damages the stems reducing food energy supply for bud development during the following year, but must be carried out yearly to help eradicate the bracken.
It is important to remember that bracken is often found on steep areas of land. Please take extreme care when operating machinery on sloping land to ensure your health and safety. If the area is too steep always consider your options and if unsure it may be best to leave alone. | <urn:uuid:cd8c7635-078f-444f-b628-734a8d13d3b3> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/bracken-becoming-problem-farm/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446710765.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20221130160457-20221130190457-00580.warc.gz | en | 0.943227 | 683 | 3 | 3 |
In IPv4, the IP header contained a Protocol field to identify the next header; usually UDP or TCP. All IPv4 options were contained in the IP header itself. IPv6 has replaced this with a scheme for allowing an arbitrary chain of supplemental IPv6 headers. The IPv6 Next Header field can indicate that the following header is UDP or TCP, but can also indicate one of several IPv6 options. These optional, or extension, headers include:
- Hop-by-Hop options header
- Destination options header
- Routing header
- Fragment header
- Authentication header
- Mobility header
- Encapsulated Security Payload header
These extension headers must be processed in order; the recommended order for inclusion is as above. Most of them are intended for processing only at the destination host; the hop-by-hop and routing headers are exceptions.
8.5.1 Hop-by-Hop Options Header
This consists of a set of ⟨type,value⟩ pairs which are intended to be processed by each router on the path. A tag in the type field indicates what a router should do if it does not understand the option: drop the packet, or continue processing the rest of the options. The only Hop-by-Hop options provided by RFC 2460 were for padding, so as to set the alignment of later headers.
RFC 2675 later defined a Hop-by-Hop option to support IPv6 jumbograms: datagrams larger than 65,535 bytes. The need for such large packets remains unclear, in light of 5.3 Packet Size. IPv6 jumbograms are not meant to be used if the underlying LAN does not have an MTU larger than 65,535 bytes; the LAN world is not currently moving in this direction.
Because Hop-by-Hop Options headers must be processed by each router encountered, they have the potential to overburden the Internet routing system. As a result, RFC 6564 strongly discourages new Hop-by-Hop Option headers, unless examination at every hop is essential.
8.5.2 Destination Options Header
This is very similar to the Hop-by-Hop Options header. It again consists of a set of ⟨type,value⟩ pairs, and the original RFC 2460 specification only defined options for padding. The Destination header is intended to be processed at the destination, before turning over the packet to the transport layer.
Since RFC 2460, a few more Destination Options header types have been defined, though none is in common use. RFC 2473 defined a Destination Options header to limit the nesting of tunnels, called the Tunnel Encapsulation Limit. RFC 6275 defines a Destination Options header for use in Mobile IPv6. RFC 6553, on the Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks, or RPL, has defined a Destination (and Hop-by-Hop) Options type for carrying RPL data.
8.5.3 Routing Header
The original, or Type 0, Routing header contained a list of IPv6 addresses through which the packet should be routed. These did not have to be contiguous. If the list to be visited en route to destination D was ⟨R1,R2,…,Rn⟩, then this option header contained ⟨R2,R3,…,Rn,D⟩ with R1 as the initial destination address; R1 then would update this header to ⟨R1,R3,…,Rn,D⟩ (that is, the old destination R1 and the current next-router R2 were swapped), and would send the packet on to R2. This was to continue on until Rn addressed the packet to the final destination D. The header contained a Segments Left pointer indicating the next address to be processed, incremented at each Ri. When the packet arrived at D the Routing Header would contain the routing list ⟨R1,R3,…,Rn⟩. This is, in general principle, very much like IPv4 Loose Source routing. Note, however, that routers between the listed routers R1…Rn did not need to examine this header; they processed the packet based only on its current destination address.
This form of routing header was deprecated by RFC 5095, due to concerns about a traffic-amplification attack. An attacker could send off a packet with a routing header containing an alternating list of just two routers ⟨R1,R2,R1,R2,…,R1,R2,D⟩; this would generate substantial traffic on the R1–R2 link. RFC 6275 and RFC 6554 define more limited routing headers. RFC 6275 defines a quite limited routing header to be used for IPv6 mobility (and also defines the IPv6 Mobility header). The RFC 6554 routing header used for RPL, mentioned above, has the same basic form as the Type 0 header described above, but its use is limited to specific low-power routing domains.
8.5.4 IPv6 Fragment Header
IPv6 supports limited IPv4-style fragmentation via the Fragment Header. This header contains a 13-bit Fragment Offset field, which contains – as in IPv4 – the 13 high-order bits of the actual 16-bit offset of the fragment. This header also contains a 32-bit Identification field; all fragments of the same packet must carry the same value in this field.
IPv6 fragmentation is done only by the original sender; routers along the way are not allowed to fragment or re-fragment a packet. Sender fragmentation would occur if, for example, the sender had an 8 kB IPv6 packet to send via UDP, and needed to fragment it to accommodate the 1500-byte Ethernet MTU.
If a packet needs to be fragmented, the sender first identifies the unfragmentable part, consisting of the IPv6 fixed header and any extension headers that must accompany each fragment (these would include Hop-by-Hop and Routing headers). These unfragmentable headers are then attached to each fragment.
IPv6 also requires that every link on the Internet have an MTU of at least 1280 bytes beyond the LAN header; link-layer fragmentation and reassembly can be used to meet this MTU requirement (which is what ATM links (3.5 Asynchronous Transfer Mode: ATM) carrying IP traffic do).
Generally speaking, fragmentation should be avoided at the application layer when possible. UDP-based applications that attempt to transmit filesystem-sized (usually 8 kB) blocks of data remain persistent users of fragmentation.
8.5.5 General Extension-Header Issues
In the IPv4 world, many middleboxes (7.7.2 Middleboxes) examine not just the destination address but also the TCP port numbers; firewalls, for example, do this routinely to block all traffic except to a designated list of ports. In the IPv6 world, a middlebox may have difficulty finding the TCP header, as it must traverse a possibly lengthy list of extension headers. Worse, some of these extension headers may be newer than the middlebox, and thus unrecognized. Some middleboxes would simply drop packets with unrecognized extension headers, making the introduction of new such headers problematic.
RFC 6564 addresses this by requiring that all future extension headers use a common “type-length-value” format: the first byte indicates the extension-header’s type and the second byte indicates its length. This facilitiates rapid traversal of the extension-header chain. A few older extension headers – for example the Encapsulating Security Payload header of RFC 4303 – do not follow this rule; middleboxes must treat these as special cases.
RFC 2460 states
With one exception [that is, Hop-by-Hop headers], extension headers are not examined or processed by any node along a packet’s delivery path, until the packet reaches the node (or each of the set of nodes, in the case of multicast) identified in the Destination Address field of the IPv6 header.
Nonetheless, sometimes intermediate nodes do attempt to add extension headers. This can break Path MTU Discovery (12.13 Path MTU Discovery), as the sender no longer controls the total packet size.
RFC 7045 attempts to promulgate some general rules for the real-world handling of extension headers. For example, it states that, while routers are allowed to drop packets with certain extension headers, they may not do this simply because those headers are unrecognized. Also, routers may ignore Hop-by-Hop Option headers, or else process packets with such headers via a slower queue. | <urn:uuid:836222ec-aaba-4ffe-a773-c9377a4ca0da> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Computer_Science/Networks/Book%3A_An_Introduction_to_Computer_Networks_(Dordal)/08%3A_IP_version_6/8.06%3A_IPv6_Extension_Headers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500255.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20230205130241-20230205160241-00512.warc.gz | en | 0.886916 | 1,808 | 2.75 | 3 |
By John Lockwood & Charles Lockwood
In the months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and inauguration as President of the United States seven states seceded from the Union: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas. On April 17, 1861, two days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, Virginia was next to leave the Union, and in the weeks ahead she would be followed by Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Though Maryland had not seceded there were many radical elements within it that supported secession from the Union. With Virginia bordering the nation’s capital to the southwest and Maryland on the remaining three sides, the city of Washington found itself surrounded by those hostile to it.
Upon the surrender of Fort Sumter Lincoln issued an emergency proclamation, calling for 75,000 volunteer soldiers to suppress the rebellion of the Southern States. It took twelve days for regiments from Massachusetts, New York and Philadelphia to reach Washington, and as each day passed the city, more and more, became a city under siege. Washington, more than any other time during the Civil War, was vulnerable to an attack by the newly formed Confederate States of America.
John and Charles Lockwood, in their book, “The Siege of Washington: the Untold Story of the Twelve Days that Shook the Union,” have written an account of those anxious days when the destiny of the capital city was “suspended by a hair.”
Beginning with the firing on Fort Sumter the authors give their readers a day by day guide to the events within, and to a lesser extent without, the borders of the nation’s capital city.
The most expedient route to move troops from the North to Washington was by railroad, and the railroads, and roads converged in Baltimore before heading south. Within a few days of the President’s proclamation, the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers is the first body of troops arrive in the capital city; they are unarmed. Secessionists in Baltimore were greatly angered by the passage of Northern troops through their city. When the men of the 6th Massachusetts became the next body of troops to move through the city, a riot broke out, resulting in the deaths of four soldiers and twelve civilians.
The authors cover in great detail the efforts of the citizens of Baltimore and Maryland to first negotiate with the Federal Government by demanding that Northern troops not be sent through Baltimore, and failing that, secondly to sabotage the railroad and telegraph lines and thereby cutting off Washington’s communication with, and the flow of troops from the Northern states.
Relying largely on diaries, (including those of John Nicolay & John Hay, the President’s private secretaries) the authors take you into the besieged city, and the anxieties of its citizens. As each day passes, tensions and anxieties grow, leading President Lincoln to wonder out loud “Why don’t they come? Why don’t they come?”
The Lockwood’s narrative also covers in great detail the efforts of General Benjamin F. Butler & Colonel Marshall Lefferts, of the 8th Massachusetts and 7th New York regiments, respectively, to circumnavigate around Baltimore, to open a route to Washington.
“The Siege of Washington” is very well researched, and easily read. It contains great end notes, but book is lacks a bibliography. Its authors have done an admirable job bringing this often overlooked period of Civil War out of the historical shadows and placing a spotlight on it.
ISBN 978-0199759897, Oxford University Press, USA, © 2011, Hardcover, 298 pages, Photographs, Maps, Endnotes & Index. $27.95 | <urn:uuid:bc558bb1-381d-4511-8321-3a2477f32159> | CC-MAIN-2015-06 | http://civilwarnotebook.blogspot.com/2011/05/review-siege-of-washignton.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-06/segments/1422121983086.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20150124175303-00051-ip-10-180-212-252.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953758 | 769 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Myofascial Pain…Muscle related pain
Some of the most common symptoms of TMD are muscle pain and jaw dysfunction.
The most common causes of muscular related pain are:
- For many patients bruxism is mild and requires little treatment. Cases that involve severe grinding and clenching can lead to long term TMD problems such as damage to teeth and gums, breakdown of bones, inflammation and muscular dysfunction. Treatment can include biofeedback, stress management, medication, and the use of a night guard.
- Sitting for extended periods of time without moving, or working at a computer can lead to tightening of neck muscles and developing sore points in the back of the neck and shoulders. These are commonly called trigger points and can lead to referred pain to other areas of the jaw and face. Forward head posture may lead to shortening of the back and neck muscles. Treatment may include trigger point massage, physical therapy and learning ergonomics (how to avoid work habits which create excessive amounts of static work and how to reduce the amount of unnecessary muscular force they are applying to their bodies).
- Muscle pain occurs when there is a direct trauma or over-exertion to the muscle that may result in tears in the muscle fibers. TMD muscle pain in the jaw can be the result of clenching, grinding which in turn can cause the muscles that are used to support the joint to go into spasms. Treatment is usually focused on getting the muscles to relax.
Orofacial Pain (Nerve Pain)
Trigeminal Neuralgia (T.N.)
- The pain from T.N. affects lifestyle as it can be triggered by common activities such as eating, talking, shaving and brushing teeth. Wind, high pitched sounds, loud noises such as concerts or crowds can aggravate the condition in many patients. The attacks are said by those affected to feel like stabbing electric shock, burning, pressing, crushing, exploding or shooting pain. These episodes of intense facial pain may last from a few seconds to several minutes or hours. The trigeminal nerve has 3 branches. One branch supplies nerves to the eye area, one to the cheekbones and upper teeth, and the third to the lower teeth and jaw. There is not a general consensus on what causes T.N. The first line of treatment is generally medication for pain as well as antidepressants and anticonvulsants.
- This type of nerve pain is generally triggered by a dental injury to the root canal of the teeth or the gums. It may progress to chronic persistent pain. Dental treatments generally do not help even when the tooth is removed the pain may persist and also may move to an adjacent tooth.It is important to note that these types of pain do not respond to dental procedures and should be avoided until a complete history and exam is done of the muscles and nerve functions of the head, neck and face. CT Scans, MRI’s or simple x-rays will help in deciding what treatment is indicated.
Stress Related Orofacial Pain
- It is not uncommon for muscle tension to increase at times when stress levels are high. With TMJ Disorder the tension may trigger clenching and grinding which in turn results in jaw pain. It can be a very vicious cycle. If initial treatment of TMD is not successful anxiety may increase. Anxiety turns into depression, and depression increases the pain by lowering defenses to fight against it. Generally the initial pain is targeted, and reducing anxiety and depression is addressed. Anti-anxiety medications may be prescribed.
Joint Related Pain
- A degenerative condition of the temporomandibular joint. A slow process that generally has no pain associated with it in the early stages. There may be grating sounds in the joint during movement. CT scans are used to verify changes withing the joint.
- The joint can be affected by trauma or infection. You may feel tenderness when pressing on the joint and/or pain on opening. Inflammation can also be the result of arthritis. Treatment may include heat, ice, anti-inflammatory medications and antibiotics.
Healthcare professionals and patients alike often call ALL facial pain “TMJ disorder,” when in fact, there are many causes of this type of pain that may not even be jaw related.
As you can see from reading this list, facial pain comes in many types and can have many causes. If you’re suffering from pain, it is important that you get a definitive diagnosis so that you’re able to move forward with the type of treatment that is best for your particular type of pain. | <urn:uuid:d8a892b8-755a-4bcf-9961-de2c3e9ef7a3> | CC-MAIN-2014-35 | http://www.tmjhope.org/a-guide-to-the-most-common-types-of-facial-pain/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-35/segments/1408500824970.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20140820021344-00461-ip-10-180-136-8.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946569 | 944 | 3.03125 | 3 |
While CTIA and the U.S. wireless industry are not familiar with the details from the British voice mail hacking beyond the news stories, Americans should know that there are several laws in the U.S. and measures taken by wireless carriers that protect consumers’ privacy.
Based on media reports, it appears the British voice mail hacking was done through pretexting, which is a federal crime in the U.S.. Pretexting occurs when someone pretends to be the customer and contacts the carrier’s customer service representative to obtain or reset the customer’s voice mail password. This allows the fictitious customer access to the voice mails. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has specific regulations that require carriers to report their efforts to secure Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI). As a result, carriers will not reset passwords or send billing records to anyone other than the customer and this information can only be sent to their device or to their billing or e-mail address.
Many forms of spoofing are also against the law in the U.S. Spoofing occurs which is when an individual deliberately manipulates the caller name and phone number that is transmitted via the network and appears on caller ID screens. When we originally wrote a blog post educating consumers about spoofing, the practice was legal but there were bills in Congress and FCC regulations that CTIA advocated to ban these practices. On December 22, 2010, the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009 was signed into law, which made “manipulation of caller identification information” illegal when it was done to deceit, cause harm or wrongfully obtain information of value.
Our carrier members are dedicated to keeping their customer’s information protected because, quite simply, they want to keep them happy. Since customers in the U.S. have a number of options throughout the wireless ecosystem, including carriers, a happy customer is vital to their businesses.
In addition to complying with all laws, carriers share best practices and augment their systems to address new and evolving threats. These practices include limiting the number of people that have access to customer records, voice mail systems and call records. Accounts that have access to this information are also routinely subjected to technical audits for signs they have been compromised or misuse by an employee.
Carriers continue to actively protect their customers’ privacy. Even though pretexting and spoofing are illegal in the U.S., CTIA recommends consumers take these simple precautionary measures:
- Keep your wireless device with you at all times. Use the lock feature, so that if someone takes your phone, s/he cannot use it to access your voice mail.
- Don’t give your device to a person you don’t know. If you lose your device, contact your carrier immediately so they can turn off service and prevent others from accessing your voice mails (or other personal information).
- Create a voice mail password and change it periodically, using passwords that are hard to guess.
- Limit the number of messages allowed in your voice mail and delete once you’ve listened to them.
- If you are prone to losing things like your phone, consider purchasing one that allows you to remotely wipe the data clean from your device.
If you are a victim of pretexting or caller ID spoofing, contact the FCC to register a complaint. | <urn:uuid:cef75fff-a775-41ff-9c56-d2a4f113fffd> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://blog.ctia.org/2011/07/20/protect-voicemail-hacked/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982938776.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823200858-00176-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957341 | 687 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Hydraulic and chemical transport properties are needed for accurate prediction of water and chemical movement through the vadose zone. Field methods used to estimate such properties are often hampered by extensive labor and time constraints. One of the objectives of this study was to develop an experimental setup and a procedure for a point-source method that facilitates rapid and simultaneous measurements of soil hydraulic and chemical transport properties at multiple locations. Another objective was to evaluate the point-source method by comparing the parameters with those produced by ponded and tension infiltrometers. The experimental setup consisted of three dripper lines equipped with pressure-compensating drippers. The setup was evaluated on a greenhouse soil pit. Determined hydraulic properties were the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and the macroscopic capillary length (λc). Hydraulic properties (from the point-source method) were determined by applying four consecutive discharge rates on the soil surface and measuring their corresponding steady-state saturated areas. Determined chemical transport parameters were the immobile water fraction (θim/θ) and the mass exchange coefficient (α). They were determined by applying a sequence of conservative fluorobenzoate tracers. The point-source method gave consistent and reliable estimates for both sets of properties. Except for α, there was no significant difference between the two procedures (point source vs. infiltrometers) in determining both sets of properties. The study showed that the point-source setup could be utilized for rapid and simultaneous estimation of soil hydraulic and chemical transport properties at multiple locations with minimum labor requirements.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Soil Science | <urn:uuid:46ae1301-7612-458d-bf50-282d76df89dd> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://squ.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/a-point-source-method-for-rapid-simultaneous-estimation-of-soil-h | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320301264.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20220119064554-20220119094554-00130.warc.gz | en | 0.947188 | 331 | 2.578125 | 3 |
text který se navhází v glogu
Captain John Smith was tough, and he looked mean. Samuel was his servant, but grew to like smith over time. Smith saved Samuel's life a couple of times.
Nanontack is an indian who came to live in Jamestown, who used to be a servant to the "great" Powhatan himself, the leader of the clan. He came because the English sent a servant boy to the Powhatan leader. Nanontack also helped Samuel gain the Powhatan language, Alongquain.
The main character of this novel is an English 12 year old boy named Samuel who lived in the time when Jamestown was formed, 1607. Samuel is a "loner" as you would say. He didn't have any parents, they both had died. He was living in he streets of London when he was suddenly whisked away to go help form Jamestown.
Another character, James, came from an orphanage. He went to Jamestown with Samuel and Richard. He is a sad aspect of the book because he doesn't last very long.
Richard and Samuel did not get along very well in the beginning. They were constantly fighting with eachother and Richard kept calling Samuel a "Jail Rat". | <urn:uuid:3a549c73-2cdc-4d96-aaf2-170b19345b20> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://smzbekn.edu.glogster.com/review-apon-blood-on-the-river/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738661326.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173741-00296-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985869 | 273 | 3.359375 | 3 |
A stroke is a serious neurological disorder in which blood flow stops to a part of the brain. In the United States, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The halt in blood flow can result from a blood clot (an ischemic stroke) or a bursting blood vessel causing bleeding in the brain (a hemorrhagic stroke).
When the blood supply to the brain is stopped, some of the brain cells in the affected area die immediately, while others are at risk for death, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Immediate treatment can save those cells.
The cause of the stroke will dictate the intervention given.
If the stroke was caused by a blood clot, the patient will receive thrombolytics (clot-busting drugs). However, those medications would exacerbate a hemorrhagic stroke, so in such a case they would not be used.
Several factors can increase an individual’s risk of having a stroke. Some of these risk factors are unmodifiable, such as increasing age, gender, family risk and race.
While a stroke can occur at any age, the risk for stroke doubles for each decade after age 55, noted the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
But other risk factors for stroke can be modified, such as certain health conditions. These include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, atrial fibrillation (irregular beating of the left atrium of the heart) and diabetes.
For example, individuals who have diabetes have a stroke risk three times higher than individuals without diabetes, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Lifestyle choices can also increase an individual’s risk of having a stroke.
For example, cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor, doubling the risk for an ischemic stroke and raising the risk for a hemorrhagic stroke by up to 3.5 percent, stated the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Heavy drinking, consuming too much salt or fat, and using drugs are other risk factors. | <urn:uuid:a82bb130-5bcd-455d-96a4-f16592fbe96d> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://www.empowher.com/stroke/content/psychosocial-distress-how-does-it-affect-your-stroke-risk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802768397.103/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075248-00001-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92172 | 429 | 3.640625 | 4 |
The posters of the Paris 1968 uprising comprise some of the most brilliant graphic works ever to have been associated with a social movement. The use of pop-derived graphics in the iconic posters of the Atelier Populaire were used to protest American-style capitalism and imperialism in the events of May 1968 in France. In 1960s France, American pop art was largely perceived to be an infantile neo-dada provocation, an attack on painterly technique via mass media images and the ideological agent of a foreign consumer society.
In the Paris of 68, pent-up frustration over poverty, unemployment, the conservative government of Charles de Gaulle, and opposition to the Vietnam war, gave rise to a mass movement for social change. In the month of May, workers and students took to the streets in an unprecedented wave of strikes, walkouts and demonstrations.
During those days of turmoil the Atelier Populare (Popular Workshop) was formed. The faculty and student body of Paris’ main art school, the Ecole des Beaux Arts, were on strike, and a number of the students met spontaneously in the printmaking department to produce the very first street posters of the revolt. | <urn:uuid:0a289cc4-70ad-437b-92c5-0de3d20177df> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://letitiamorris.com/french-political-may-68-original-vintage-posters/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764500074.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20230203185547-20230203215547-00474.warc.gz | en | 0.948218 | 242 | 3.0625 | 3 |
In the fairly near future, Earth will have nine billion mouths to feed. To solve this dilemma, Rob Aukerman, president of U.S. operations at Elanco Animal Health, has been a vocal advocate of “proven technologies” to assist farmers in delivering more food using fewer resources. Citing Elanco’s acquisition of ChemGen—a private food specialization company—Aukerman promoted food enzymes earlier this year as “natural digestives”.
His concerns regarding food delivery are well shared. A 2010 symposium hosted by the Global Harvest Initiative in Washington, DC, promoted a need for continuous innovation to meet global food demand, with Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund arguing that in order to do so, “the footprint of food” must be frozen.
“Holding crop area fixed and assuming only historical yield growth, food production will fall far short of the needs by 2050,” Clay’s colleague, IHS global insight managing director of agricultural services John Kruse, agreed. “Meeting those needs with the same land area would require global crop yields to increase nearly 25% faster than historically.”
As the global community faces a food crisis, biotechnology—genetic manipulation of food DNA to meet consumer desire—has frequently been cited as the cause, as well as the solution, of the problem. Timothy Wise recently cited biofuel production as a “demand shock” that consumes crop production and yields price increases. The Guardian’s Larry Elliott argues that as demand for protein-heavy diets in developing nations increases, supply constraints mean that a 50% increase in food demand will exist by 2030. And Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe also cited rising production of bio-fuel—and the high subsidies it receives—as the direct cause of rising food prices.
“The only difference is that with the food market you need 2,500 calories per person per day, whereas in the energy market you need 50,000 calories per person,” Brabeck-Letmathe told BBC News in July. “It takes about 4,600 litres of water to produce one litre of pure ethanol if it comes from sugar, and it takes 1,900 litres of water if it comes from palm oil.”
Advances in bioechnology have helped us push food production to its limit. But with the exit of cheap food a strong reality, it is worth assessing how technology has allowed it to be produced in mass amounts, what the potential consequences of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are, and what the global public’s role is in their use or disuse.
The move towards biotechnology
Prior to 8,000 BC, nomadic hunter gathering was the norm. Populations thrived on the harvesting and processing techniques that allowed agricultural production to keep pace with human population growth. This growth extended agricultural practice to more vast, diverse lands, and by 1,000 BC, many of the practices that define agriculture today, such as using manure for fertilizer, were already in use.
The 19th century paved the way for technology developments; 1800 saw the first simple threshing machine, hoes, and seed drill come into use, with steam power replacing horse power in the 1890s. John Deere’s introduction of the steel plow in the 1830s gave way to tractor use in 1905, leading the way for production of nitrogen fertilizers in 1920 and pesticide use in the 1940s.
The world population reached one billion in 1825, and the population of industrialized nations grew from 500 to 800 million between 1850 and 1900. As agricultural science gained prominence, consumption of animal proteins, cereal and calories per capita also skyrocketed. The world population of three billion that had arrived by 1960 gave way to the industrialized agriculture that defines food production today. Chemical inputs, mechanized farming methods, and the start of the animal agriculture business all saw dramatic increase in yields, and the use of technology to produce GMOs was born.
GMOs: What they are and why they’re used
According to the WHO, GMOs “can be defined as organisms in which the genetic material (DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally…it allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species.”
Simply put, genetic modification involves manipulating the genetic makeup of food to create or enhance characteristics that are desired by humans. As scientific advancements throughout the 1980s discovered that DNA could be transferred in pieces from one organism to another, genetically modified products including cotton and tobacco plants were produced.
The success of the first tested genetically engineered cotton in 1990 led biotech company Monsanto to introduce herbicide-immune soybeans—aka, “Round-Up Ready”—in 1995, and the 2000 discovery that modification can enrich foods using nutrients and vitamins has made biotechnology a global giant in the world of food production.
Arguably the most interesting aspect of biotechnology is its role in creating or enhancing “characteristics that are desired by another species.” Food production has historically evolved alongside consumer demand, utilized to meet each population’s needs and desires. It is therefore worth considering how a population’s conception and consumption of food impacts the global debate surrounding GM use.
As consumer confidence in food supply safety has decreased in Europe following scares throughout the late 90s, discussion extended to consumption of GM foods. General disapproval throughout Europe has led to extensive legislation of GM marketing tactics since biotechnology became prominent. The need for agreement between EU Member States and the European Commission means that no authorizations for GMO release into the environment have been granted since October 1998.
But with 12 authorization applications pending, debate within Europe regarding the effect of GMs continues. Eight out of nine ongoing cases have been examined by the Scientific Committee on Plants. In all cases, the committee declared that the information submitted by Member States did not justify their bans. The WHO declares that all GM products on the global market have passed risk assessments put in place by national authorities, which evaluate health risks to the environment and public.
The problem is not limited to these potential risks. As Brabeck-Letmathe discussed, it is not only biofuels themselves, but the subsidies they receive—and the amount of land being used to produce them—that has some in the development sector seriously worried.
“It’s an extremely serious issue and it’s only getting worse,” Stephen Brown, UK Campaigns Manager at The Global Poverty Project, told The Next Web. “An area the size of London is being grabbed every 6 days to create biofuels, crops that could be used for food.”
“Next year the UK will host the G8 in London,” Brown added. “I hope G8 governments will put these issues high on the agenda”.
The validity debate
Earlier this week, a study led by scientists from Caen University and published in the Food and Chemical Toxicology Journal claimed that the adverse health effects of Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize caused treated groups of female rats, studied over their two-year lifespan, to die younger than the spared control group.
The research claims that maize that had been modified for resistance to the Roundup herbicide yielded evidence for “a raft of health problems”—implicit concern that such herbicides could cause similar health problems in humans:
“The rodents experienced hormone imbalances and more and bigger breast tumours, earlier in life, than rats fed a non-GM diet,” the researchers claim. The GM- or pesticide-fed rats also died earlier.
This kind of GM maize accounts for more than half the US crop, yet the French team says this is the first time it has been tested for toxicity throughout a rat’s lifespan (Food and Chemical Toxicology, DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2012.08.005).”
The research’s publication has received swift critique from journalists and academics. Forbes contributor Tim Worstall strongly dismissed the research, calling it more closely aligned with political bias than concrete science. U.S. citizens, he says, have consumed GM corn for years now; Europeans have not. With no noticeable differences in disease prevalence, he concludes that blaming GM technology on health and environmental problems is poor science.
Dr. Wendy Harwood, senior scientist, John Innes Centre, called GM a neutral technology in itself that cannot be linked to inherent health or environmental risks. Nevertheless, she argued the results of the study “do indicate possible concerns over long-term exposure to Roundup that require further study.”
Tech shortcomings in the global food market
The catch-22 is that while biotechnology has been linked to health concerns, lack of technology can also have negative effects. A 2011 study conducted for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations found that causes of food loss and waste in low-income countries related, in part, to harvesting techniques limited by fewer tech resources.
The study concluded that farmers in such nations needed “to organize and to diversify and upscale their production and marketing.” Analysis of food practices within developed and developing countries found that roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally—1.3 billion tons per year.
“The fact remains that we produce enough food in the world already but structural problems like access to markets and storage means that it is not reaching everyone,” Oxfam spokesperson Lucy Brinicombe told The Next Web. “With almost one billion people going to bed hungry every night, it is crucial that we tackle the problem.”
Lack of technological resources isn’t limited to the developing world. Short of the machines necessary to create cheap food at high volumes, some U.S. companies compensate by producing “formulated” versions of various foods.
Earlier this year, Chobani Greek Yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya allowed All Things Considered correspondent Dan Charles to tour the factory in upstate New York that churns out one million pounds of Greek yogurt per year—but refused allowance to photograph the machines that make it. Seeing the market appeal for Greek yogurt, other brands have tried to compensate for their lack of Ulukaya’s machinery by adding “milk thickeners,” such as milk protein concentrate, to their own versions.
“That ruins the expectation in the consumer’s mind of how pure and simple this product is,” Ulukaya told Charles. He added that yogurt companies’ allowance of starch or concentrated milk, as well as a lack of legal definition for Greek yogurt, contributes to the problem, allowing manufacturers to artificially modify food to compensate for lack of technology.
The role of consumer choice
In the U.S., a country that has historically endorsed GM use—a 2011 ISAAA report found that the U.S remained the leading global producer of biotech crops—documentaries like 2008’s Food, Inc. have questioned corporate control of the food industry, making the case that executive involvement in food regulations—or lack thereof—allows GM use to enable mass food production at the cost of public health. As health problems continue to soar and additional medical spending for obesity has reached $190 billion, many have blamed GMOs as the culprit.
Bonnie Brûlée is not so sure. The UK food blogger and founder of Miso Tasty argues that the concept of technology offering cheap food in huge quantities is misguided. Technology, she insists, does not enable cheap food itself, but rather production volume. It is retailers, not manufacturers, who must be confronted for price evaluations.
“Technology itself is not responsible for cheapening food per se—the production of anything at volume is always going to make it less expensive,” Brûlée told The Next Web. “This is not technology’s fault, but the retailer’s fault for pushing hard on the producer to produce a cheaper product and attract the customer who is price-sensitive.”
“It is also important to note that technology has enabled us to make food affordable for the masses…and also allows us to consume all sorts of foods safely, especially if you live in a remote place or you do not have necessary refrigeration. Mass producing can [also] enable us to afford certain food-preserving processes such as vacuuming and sterilising that need volume to pay for itself.”
As suggestions for how to combat the food shortage continue, acknowledging use of biotechnology and the role of machines in mass food production is inevitable. Likewise, the genetic modification of food will remain under fire. In this regard, it is worth acknowledging that while consumer choice and knowledge remain crucial aspects of this debate, the inherency of biotechnology—to genetically modify food based on consumer demand—means that as long as desire exists for mass amounts of cheap food, its production remains inevitable.
Home grown initiative
The good news is that as long as consumer demand dictates food market behavior, there are alternatives to biofuels and the high subsidies that sustain them. The Technology Strategy Board has supported collaborative competitions for investments in projects focusing on initiatives including sustainable protein production. In light of a predicted domestic vegetable protein production shortage in the UK, the organization will partner with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to invest over 75 million pounds in innovative technological research and development in areas such as crop productivity, sustainable livestock production, and greenhouse gas reduction.
“We fully support a future where sustainable agriculture plays a part and are looking at ways in which innovation can support a more sustainable agricultural industry that will aim to lower the negative impact of [environmental, public health, and social inequality consequences],” TSB spokesperson Laura Quinn told The Next Web.
Other initiatives are also at work. Last year, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew launched the UK Native Seed Hub at the Millennium Seed Bank to draw on the Bank’s collection of native UK seeds. A member of the UK’s Sustainable Restaurant Association, Richard Bell, owner of London pub The Three Stags, sells only seasonal food, including free-range meat and vegetables, to his customers. And Brinicombe says that while technological advancements would help, it is often unconsidered alternatives that could really make a difference.
While some technological advances might have a role to play, simpler measures like investing in small holder agriculture would be far more effective and sustainable,” Brinicombe suggests. “At the moment, there are 500 million small holder farmers feeding almost two billion people worldwide. They remain a relatively untapped and unacknowledged solution that could make a big difference in global food security if better investment were forthcoming.” | <urn:uuid:38d62125-43e8-4abf-ba8d-c4cc6f4353c0> | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/09/23/how-technology-gave-us-cheap-food-huge-quantities-stop/urbanfarming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398450581.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205410-00028-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947693 | 3,074 | 2.921875 | 3 |
A double attack by the SARS virus on host cell protein synthesis is shown in a study published online this week in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. An understanding of such host targeting mechanisms may ultimately lead to therapeutic approaches to treat SARS.
Translation is the decoding of messenger RNAs to yield a protein, carried out by the ribosome. Many viruses interfere with the host cell's normal translation system, often requisitioning the host's own machinery for viral protein production. The SARS coronavirus protein nsp1 is known to be able to utilize such mechanisms to suppress production of host cell proteins.
Shinji Makino and colleagues now show that nsp1 modifies both host messages intended for translation and also the ribosome itself. This indicates that SARS uses a two-pronged approach to attack host translation. | <urn:uuid:e063457a-954d-419e-9eb8-8dd2cc499cbc> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | http://www.natureasia.com/en/research/highlight/929 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084886739.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20180116204303-20180116224303-00468.warc.gz | en | 0.923792 | 170 | 2.6875 | 3 |
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford researchers are the first in the Bay Area to test an ingestible, pill-sized camera that detects bleeding in the small intestine. The device, developed by Israel-based Given Imaging, Ltd., provides doctors their only glimpse inside this hard-to-view organ without invasive surgery.
Jacques Van Dam, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine, recently used the miniature camera on his second medical center patient. The first two patients are part of a multi-center clinical trial of the device-called the M2A capsule-in people who need regular transfusions due to bleeding. In a separate trial, Stanford researchers will test the device in anemic patients who do not yet need transfusions.
Doctors suspect internal bleeding when patients have consistently low levels of hemoglobin (the blood-born protein that carries oxygen). "Usually the bleeding is in the stomach or colon," Van Dam said. "But sometimes we can't find the source." Often these patients must get regular transfusions to make up for the lost blood.
To detect bleeding in the throat, stomach or colon, doctors use an endoscope-a camera on the end of a long, flexible rod. But endoscopy may fail to show the source of bleeding, leading doctors to suspect the small intestine. With no device for viewing inside the deepest portions of the small intestine, however, exploratory surgery is the only way to know for sure-no small feat, given the 20-foot length of the organ. "[The M2A capsule] lets us see what's happening in the small intestine for the first time," Van Dam said.
In preparation for the procedure, a patient fasts for eight hours to prevent food in the small intestine from obscuring trouble spots. The patient then swallows the vitamin-sized capsule, which encases four tiny flashing lights, a color camera, a battery and an antenna. The patient has a receiver taped to his or her abdomen to track the capsule's progress, recording two images per second. The capsule transmits images via radio frequencies to a Walkman-sized device worn on a belt along with a battery pack. Stanford's second patient to test the device, Leland McGraw, 77, swallowed the camera without a hitch. "I didn't feel it," he commented after it went down, adding that the receivers and belt were comfortable.
Two hours after swallowing the M2A capsule, patients can drink clear liquids. At four hours, they can eat solid food. Patients go about their daily business during the eight-hour procedure, careful not to dislodge the receivers or interfere with the battery pack and recorder. Eight hours after swallowing, the patient removes the belt and sensors, and simply forgets about the small plastic camera. "Patients don't have to retrieve the camera," said Van Dam. It simply completes its path through the digestive tract and is passed in stool.
The next day, the patient returns the belt, battery pack and recorder to the doctor, who downloads the video images into a computer. Software lets the doctor view the entire video of the camera's travels and save selected images. Snapping two images per second, the camera doesn't miss much. Doctors may be able to spot tumors, ulcers and bleeding. "More often than not, it's bleeding that we find," said Van Dam. Upon identifying the source, a surgeon can then remove the damaged portion of small intestine.
Although the capsule's components are based on existing technology, nobody has sent a camera through the digestive tract. "The fact that it worked is a big breakthrough," Van Dam said. "There's never been anything like this." Not only does it traverse the highly acidic stomach, but the camera successfully peers through the soupy contents of the small intestine and takes pictures as it tumbles along. "It doesn't matter if you're looking where you're going, or where you've been," said Van Dam, explaining that the tumbling motion isn't a problem.
The M2A capsule is as cost effective as endoscopy, said Van Dam, and could prevent expensive and painful surgery. Each capsule costs $450 and the one-time software purchase runs under $30,000. "It saves money if you consider that these people are bleeding and getting multiple endoscopies and transfusions, or more invasive procedures," Van Dam added.
Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For more information, please visit the Web site of the medical center's Office of News and Public Affairs at http://mednews.stanford.edu
The above story is based on materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Cite This Page: | <urn:uuid:3701a468-0a8f-4f37-9c43-f2c6834f4631> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/12/011210072428.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207927388.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113207-00037-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942835 | 999 | 3.09375 | 3 |
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Whaling in Numbers
The Impact of the Moratorium on Whaling
Commercial Whaling (including Scientific Permit Whaling*)
* Japan's Antarctic, so-called 'Scientific', Whaling was deemed commercial whaling in 2014 by the International Court of Justice. * Norway and Iceland have both used Scientific Permits to self-allocate themselves quotas for their commercial whalers.
Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling (ASW)
*it should be noted that the 2013 and 2014 hunt did not receive the support of the IWC and is, therefore, an infraction or pirate whaling
Russian Federation (formally the USSR)
United States of America (USA)
St Vincent and the Grenadines
*Please note that Greenland has been illegally whaling without a quota in 2013 and 2014 and Japan's Antarctic whaling was deemed illegal by the ICJ, but quotas were issued under Article VIII. South Korea has no quota, is not whaling under Article VIII and does not whale under an objection.
As noted above Greenland received no quota from the IWC for 2013 and 2014 therefore its hunts were illegal and should be reported as an IWC infraction. The IWC is still debating how to deal with this infraction, and indeed, some countries have even proposed that, in the future, a failure to obtain a revised quota should result in a lower/earlier quota remaining in place. Other IWC members are concerned that this sets a dangerous precedence for any future commercial whaling quotas and so this issue should be approached with extreme care.
Greenland was given an updated quota for the period 2014-2018 and shall have to apply for a new allocation subject to it addressing the outstanding concerns about the commercialization of its hunt. | <urn:uuid:d6446aa4-79d3-45f6-bf62-f7ea8eeb3e72> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | http://au.whales.org/whaling-facts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886105451.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170819124333-20170819144333-00650.warc.gz | en | 0.959738 | 364 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Just like us, our canine friends need to have regular checkups to keep their teeth and mouths healthy. Signs of gum disease can appear as early as four years old if your dog doesn’t get proper mouth care. Besides a healthy diet, providing your pooch with plenty of toys and chews can help keep their mouth healthy.
National Pet Dental Month
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) posted a Ten Steps to Your Dog’s Dental Health article to help dog owner’s prevent and detect dental issues. We grabbed a few of their tips to help you with your dog’s dental health!
Once a week, check your dogs gums and teeth. Gums shouldn’t be red or white, just pink and they shouldn’t be swollen.
Check your dog’s breath. If their breath is extremely terrible and they seem to be eating less, drinking more water, or other behavioral changes, take them to the vet to get checked out.
Don’t forget to the check out the rest of ASCPA’s article for more information on keeping your dog’s mouth healthy! | <urn:uuid:61b89b91-2e3e-487f-833a-0763e2d9b485> | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | https://blog.dogids.com/did-you-know-that-february-is-national-pet-dental-month/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656103920118.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20220701034437-20220701064437-00189.warc.gz | en | 0.926248 | 246 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Dangers of Having Mosquitoes Around Your Home
The greatest threat posed by mosquitoes is disease. Given that female mosquitoes require protein to produce eggs, they feed on blood from humans and animals. As they bite one source and then another, there is potential to transmit a host of diseases, including West Nile virus, malaria, and most recently reported, the Zika virus.
Mosquito Control with JP Pest Services
Utilizing several control methods simultaneously, our seasonal control program reduces mosquito populations by up to 90% all season. | <urn:uuid:79c9a44c-f3bb-4bdf-bd4c-cbf8796bfe03> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://www.jppestservices.com/mosquito-control | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370506477.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20200401223807-20200402013807-00186.warc.gz | en | 0.945078 | 108 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Last Tuesday was a good day for fans of a hydrogen-fueled future. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced federal funding of $350 million for research projects to establish a hydrogen economya follow-up to Bushs statement in the State of the Union address last year that he would set aside $1.2 billion for hydrogen study, making hydrogen the clean fuel du jour--and California's Gov. Schwarzenegger announced plans to build a "hydrogen highway" of 200 fueling stations in California by 2010.
Both Schwarzenegger and the federal government are preparing for a transition to hydrogen-fueled cars, perhaps within ten years. Schwarzenegger said that by 2010 he also hopes to see at least 500,000 hydrogen-fuel vehicles on California roads:
"These stations will be used by thousands of hydrogen-powered cars and truck and buses. This starts a new era for clean California transportation. These vehicles produce no emission and no smog. They will clear the air and get rid of the smog that is hanging over our cities."
Hydrogen, when split by devices called fuel cells, produces electricity and water vapor, but no pollution. If the cells are stacked by the dozens or hundreds, they can make enough electricity to power, say, a car.
Hydrogen boosters say its wide use will reduce air pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions while lessening the U.S.'s dependence on foreign oil. But there are some real concerns about practical hurdles like storage, infrastructure, and production. Some scientists say a hydrogen economy is a more remote prospect than its advocates acknowledge. A study put out by the National Academy of Sciences in February noted that in the best case scenario, the transition to a hydrogen economy would take many decades, and any reductions in oil imports and carbon dioxide emissions are likely to be minor during the next 25 years.
The Energy Department announced $350 million in grants Tuesday to more than 130 research institutions and companies, including the Big Three automakers, to put hydrogen-fueled cars on the road by 2015. Private companies will almost match that, to the tune of $225 million.
The grants represent nearly one-third of $1.2 billion that President Bush has pledged for hydrogen research, most of it to be distributed over five years.
Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger says he wants to create a network of stations in California, within six years at an estimated cost of $100 million. He did not explain where all the money would come from, but did express hopes for some of the federal funding. California already has 10 stations. Schwarzenegger said:
"Hundreds of hydrogen fueling stations will be built. And these stations will be used by thousands of hydrogen-powered cars and trucks and buses. This starts a new era for clean California transportation."
In many ways, hydrogen is a promising fuel source. The flammable, colorless, odorless gas is the most abundant element on Earth, potentially an endless source of clean energy. When used to power a car, it produces no tailpipe emissions.
According to C. Lowell Miller, a director in the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy, an economy driven by hydrogen may not be that far off. Iceland already has a bus system driven by hydrogen fuel and Europe, he says, is soon to follow.
The most serious argument against hydrogen, though, is that the process for extracting it may cause more pollution than gas-run cars, some experts say. Because hydrogen is bound up in molecules of water or hydrocarbons like natural gas, a great deal of energy must be used to unbind it.
The most common method for "mining" hydrogen involves treating natural gas with steam. But with rising prices and declining domestic reserves, natural gas is not the most ideal candidate. Electricity can separate hydrogen atoms from oxygen atoms in water, but this method is expensive and dirty. Hydrogen may also be extracted from coal.
Notes a press release put out with the NAS report:
Currently, producing hydrogen from coal -- a large domestic resource -- results in emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To reduce these emissions, large-scale production of hydrogen from coal would need to incorporate captured and stored carbon, the report says. The DOE program should accelerate development and early evaluation of carbon capture and storage technologies and further investigate production methods that do not result in emissions, such as wind, the sun, and nuclear heat processes.
Most of the hydrogen fueling stations planned in the next few decades will use fossil fuels as the source for hydrogen. The Sacramento Bee writes about the environmental problems associated with hydrogen:
"Over the long term, environmentalists who support hydrogen research and development rightly insist that government should be looking toward renewable sources of hydrogen, such as waste from dairy cows, other agricultural waste, wood chips and, eventually, the most abundant and obvious source, water."
"But even water is not necessarily a clean energy source. Stripping hydrogen molecules from water requires large amounts of electricity. If the electricity is generated by dirty coal-fired power plants or nuclear power, a strategy the Bush administration seems to be pushing, the environmental benefits would be substantially diminished, if not lost entirely."
Joseph J. Romm, acting assistant secretary of energy during the Clinton administration and the author of "The Hype about Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate," argues that because it will take several decades before technology allows for a way to generate hydrogen cheaply and cleanly, hydrogen won't make sense as a fuel source until at least 2035.
He writes in the Sacramento Bee that "absent multiple major scientific breakthroughs, hydrogen cars will remain inferior to the best clean cars available today, gasoline-electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, in virtually every respect: cost, range, annual fueling bill, convenience and safety."
Romm also mentions that the U.S. Department of Energy will not make a recommendation about whether fuel cell cars can be commercialized until 2015. Referring to Schwarzeneggers desire to build 200 fueling stations, he argues that "California can wait 10 years to see if hydrogen cars aren't a dead end before making major investments."
Romm concludes that the push for hydrogen fuel is unlike any other government effort before. And that might not be a good thing:
"Creating a hydrogen economy is unlike any previous government effort, such as the Apollo program or interstate highway system. As the [National Academy of Sciences panel in March] noted, "In no prior case has the government attempted to promote the replacement of an entire, mature, networked energy infrastructure before market forces did the job. The magnitude of change required ... exceeds by a wide margin that of previous transitions in which the government has intervened." | <urn:uuid:2f59b846-e760-4c79-9987-5d526644be08> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2004/05/hydrogen-hopes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394010824518/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305091344-00029-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946172 | 1,354 | 2.828125 | 3 |
I recently planted a lilac from a root, and it is doing very well except I noticed a white, powdery substance on the leaves. Do you know what causes this?
The white, powdery substance is most likely a mold on the leaves called "powdery mildew" or "downy mildew." Since it is a fungus, you'll need to use a fungicide to kill it. Plants get this when conditions are moist and humid or after several days of rain. Also, being in shade will promote this mildew. When watering plants, aim for the roots and avoid getting the leaves wet. | <urn:uuid:1985cfe4-4dd1-4f8b-816c-8816e017e2bc> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | http://www.countryliving.com/gardening/garden-ideas/q-and-a/a64/lilac-mildew/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824185.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00180-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961463 | 125 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The Pentagon is perpetually working on advanced weapons platforms that appear to be more science fiction than fact. However, the Navy's electromagnetic railgun is a fully-functioning reality.
The electromagnetic railgun needs no gunpowder or chemical propellants, yet is capable of firing a projectile 20 times further than conventional bullets at exceptionally high speeds.
To be sure, projectiles fired from a railgun don't even need an explosive-laded warhead, as the uber-high speeds provides the projectile with sufficient kinetic energy to destroy a target.
While the railgun isn't ready to be placed on a battleship and fielded just yet, the Navy is intent on improving its existing 5600 mph bullet slinging prototypes - by adding GPS capabilities to railgun projectiles. Ultimately, the Navy wants to use such projectiles to down missiles and aircraft threatening American warships.
As such, the Navy has issued a proposal asking defense companies to design a projectile weighing 20-30 pounds that is capable of "potential in-flight retargeting," with a range of up to 200 miles.
The proposal says it "will explore technologies related to extended range guided projectiles for Naval Surface Fire Support and exploit recent advances in miniaturized electronics, guided projectiles and mortars, and warhead technology for small UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] launched munitions." | <urn:uuid:9dfb13d6-2d9e-41d3-a15f-d99dcb749a34> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | http://www.tgdaily.com/security-brief/65137-us-navy-eyes-gps-guided-railgun-projectiles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125946578.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20180424080851-20180424100851-00145.warc.gz | en | 0.928154 | 270 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Push Up Cues
The most common mistake made when performing a push up is not having enough chest/arm strength. To make it easier to perform a proper push up, the body must have some resistance from the ground. This means that if your arms are weak, then your shoulders will naturally fall down and you won’t be able to keep your upper body upright. If you don’t have sufficient shoulder strength, then you cannot maintain the correct position while doing a push up.
In order to achieve a good push up, you need to use your chest and arms as much as possible. You want to move your hands forward so that they touch the floor at the same time with each other. Your fingers should form a “V” shape when touching the floor. This is called a V-push up (or V-pull ups). When you do these correctly, your body will feel like it’s floating above the ground.
If you’re still having trouble, try the following exercises:
1. Push Ups With A Dumbbell In Your Hand – This exercise is very useful because it allows you to build your strength without using any equipment.
You just hold a dumbbell in your hand and start pushing yourself up. Keep holding the weight until you reach the top of the movement and then lower back down to begin again. Try to get all 10 reps before moving onto another exercise!
2. Push Up Holds – This exercise can be used to increase your grip strength along with your chest, arms and shoulder strength.
You just go into a normal push up position and hold it as long as you can. The longer you can hold the push up position, the more your grip and upper body strength will increase. Be sure to start this exercise from a high position (i.e. hands on stairs).
3. Arrow Push Ups – This exercise is used to increase shoulder strength.
Start in a normal push up position with your hands 3-4 feet apart. Then lower your body down until your chest almost touches the ground and push back up to the top position. On the way down, try to move your arms in a straight line away from each other (forming an arrow).
4. Forearm Holds – This exercise is mainly for increasing grip and forearm strength.
Hold on to something sturdy like a staircase or railing (be sure that you have a good grip). Then, simply lower yourself down until your arms are straight, but keep your body in a straight line. Hold yourself in this position for as long as you can. Try to do this at least once every day.
5. Underhand Grip Pull Down – This exercise is mainly for your biceps and is very simple to do.
All you have to do is grab some dumbbells with an underhand grip (palms facing you) and pull the weight down. This exercise can be done by using just your body weight (much like a real push up), or by also using some type of machine.
Push Up Cues
The most common mistake made when performing a push up isn’t having enough chest/arm strength. The main thing that causes this is improper form, so be sure you’re doing your push ups the right way.
Another common mistake is loss of tension in the body. To avoid this, try to keep your body as tense as possible while you do your push ups. This will help to stabilize your body and allow you to do more push ups. Also, try to “push” yourself away from the floor by using quick and powerful bursts of energy.
Push Up Tips
1. Before beginning any push up routine, be sure that you can perform 15 perfect form push ups!
If you can’t yet perform one full push up, please go to the beginner’s page and start off with the prerequisite programs.
2. Try to perform this workout every other day.
The best options are to do it on days after a day of rest or on days after a day of lifting weights. Also, try to always do this routine in the same order. That way, your muscles will get used to the routine and grow more accustomed to the exercises!
3. Don’t rush through this workout!
Take your time in performing each repetition correctly. Not only will you get better results, but you’ll also prevent injury from occurring.
4. Always make sure you’re doing the exercise with proper form!
If at any point you feel pain, stop immediately!
5. You can take a rest in between each set, or you can do what’s called a ” circuits “.
In a circuit, you do 5 sets of push ups, then you rest. After that, you do 5 sets of squats, and so on (you get the idea). The benefit of doing it this is way is that it gives you more time to rest in between each set and lets you get through this grueling workout faster.
Sources & references used in this article:
Does local governments’ budget deficit push up housing prices in China? by GL Wu, Q Feng, P Li – China Economic Review, 2015 – Elsevier
Excitation spectrum of point defects in semiconductors studied by time-dependent density functional theory by A Gali – Journal of Materials Research, 2012 – cambridge.org
Paleoseismology in Venezuela: Objectives, methods, applications, limitations and perspectives by FA Audemard M – Tectonophysics, 2005 – Elsevier
Behavioral economics: Human errors and market corrections by RA Epstein – The University of Chicago Law Review, 2006 – JSTOR
A comparison in university students of the amplitude of accommodation determined subjectively by SD Mathebula, TM Kekana, MM Ledwaba… – African Vision and Eye …, 2016 – journals.co.za
Exercising device by RS Thomas Jr – US Patent 4,768,778, 1988 – Google Patents
Quantitative modeling of the behaviour of microfluidic autoregulatory devices by HJ Chang, W Ye, EP Kartalov – Lab on a Chip, 2012 – pubs.rsc.org
Market and government failures in transportation by KJ Button – Handbook of transport strategy, policy and institutions, 2005 – emerald.com
Perfecting the market’s knowledge of monetary policy by W Poole, RH Rasche – Journal of Financial Services Research, 2000 – Springer | <urn:uuid:286677e8-427d-4225-996a-b636b6e01a0a> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://gymfitworkout.com/perfecting-the-push-up-and-fixing-the-common-faults/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046153739.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20210728154442-20210728184442-00452.warc.gz | en | 0.916368 | 1,342 | 3 | 3 |
|In the Lab|
|In the Field|
|Top Ten Species|
Research in the Albert lab explores the spectacular diversity of fishes in tropical South and Central America. The Neotropical ichthyofauna is among the most diverse aquatic ecosystems on Earth, with more than 6,000 species representing about 10% all living vertebrate species.
Why so many fish species in the Amazon and other large tropical river basins?
Projects involve collecting expeditions to remote field localities, descriptions of species new to science, comparative osteology, and phylogenetic analyses of genetic and morphological data.
Results contribute to the documentation of aquatic biodiversity, the production of predictive taxonomies, and a better understanding the formation of megadiverse tropical aquatic asssemblages. | <urn:uuid:9a2b8f6f-0169-499c-a860-2ac98f4fd05c> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://www.ucs.louisiana.edu/~jxa4003/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802777438.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075257-00138-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.772294 | 159 | 3.171875 | 3 |
All the necessary preparations having been made, three ships full of emigrants set sail for Pennsylvania in the end of 1681. The superintendence of this first detachment was intrusted by Penn to his relative, Colonel Markham, assisted by commissioners. These were instructed to open up a communication with the natives, and to make all possible arrangements for the establishment of a peaceful relation between them and the future colony. With this view they carried a letter, written in Penn's own hand, and addressed to the Indians; of which remarkable document the following is a copy There is a great God and Power which hath made the world and all things therein, to whom you and I, and all people, owe their being and well-being, and to whom you and I must one day give an account for all that we have done in the world. This great God hath written his law in our hearts, by which we are taught and commanded to love, and to help, and to do good to one another. Now this great God hath been pleased to make me concerned in your part of the world; and the king of the country where I live bath given me a great province therein. But I desire to enjoy it with your love and consent, that we may always live together as neighbors and friends; else what would the great God do to us;. who hath made us, not to devour and destroy one another, but to live soberly and kindly together in the world? Now, I would have you well observe that I am very sensible of the unkindness and injustice which have been too much exercised toward you by the people of these parts of the world, who have sought to make great advantages by you, rather than to be examples of goodness and patience unto you. This, I hear, hath been a matter of trouble to you, and caused much grudging and animosities, sometimes to the shedding of blood, which hath made the great God angry. But I am not such a man, as is well known in my own country. I have great love and regard toward you, and desire to win and gain your love and friendship by a kind, just, and peaceable life; and the people I send are of the same mind, and shall in all things behave themselves accordingly; and if in anything any shall offend you or your people, you shall have a full and speedy satisfaction for the same, by an equal number of just men on both sides, that by no means you may have just occasion of being offended against them. I shall shortly come to see you myself, at which time we may more largely and freely confer and discourse of these matters. In the meantime, I have sent my com missioners to treat with you about land, and a firm league of peace. Let me desire you to be kind to them and to the people; and receive the presents and tokens which I have sent you, as a testimony of my good-will to you, and of my resolution to live justly, peaceably, and friendly with you.
I am your loving friend, WILLIAM PENN.'
Penn was busy making preparations to follow the settlers, whom he had already despatched, when he was afflicted by the death of his mother, for whom he had ever manifested the greatest affection. Shortly after this melancholy event, he published in full the constitution to which we have already alluded, under the title, The Frame of Government of the Province of Pennsylvania, in America, together with certain Laws agreed upon in England by the Governor and divers Freemen of the aforesaid Province, to be further explained and confirmed there by the first Provincial Council that shall be held.' After stating in the preface that he does not find a model of government in the world that time, place, and some singular emergencies have not necessarily altered, and that it is not easy to frame a civil government that shall serve all places alike,' he proceeds to detail the arrangements which, after due deliberation and consultation, he concluded to be advisable in the meantime. The following is the summary of these arrangements, given by Penn's biographer, Mr. Clarkson. The government,' he says, was placed in the governor and freemen of the province, out of whom were to be formed two bodies; namely, a Provincial Council, and a General Assembly. These were to be chosen by the freemen; and, though the governor or his deputy was to be perpetual president, he was to have but a treble vote. The provincial council was to consist of seventy-two members. One-third part - that is, twenty-four of them - were to serve for three years; one-third for two; and the other third for only one year. It was the office of this council to prepare and propose bills; to see that the laws were executed; to take care of the peace and safety of the province; to settle the situation of ports, cities, market-towns, roads, and other public places; inspect the public treasury; to erect courts of justice, institute schools, and reward the authors of useful discoveries. Not less than two-thirds of these were necessary to make .a quorum; and the consent of not less than two-thirds of such a quorum was required in all matters of moment. The general assembly was to consist, the first year, of all the freemen; and the next of two hundred. These were to be increased afterwards according to the increase of the population of the province. They were to have no deliberative power; but when bills were brought to them from the governor and provincial council, they were to pass or reject them by a plain " Yes " or " No." They were to present sheriffs and justices of the peace to the governor; of the number presented by them, he was to select half. They were to be elected annually. All elections of members, whether to the provincial council or to the general assembly, were to be by ballot. This charter, or frame of government, was not to be altered, changed, or diminished in any part or clause of it, without the consent of the governor, or his heirs or assigns, and six parts out of seven of the freemen both in the provincial council and general assembly.' | <urn:uuid:f290cb57-baee-4cd7-9e4c-f2ab9222a1e0> | CC-MAIN-2016-22 | http://encyclopaedic.net/american-encyclopedia-biography/william-penn?page=9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-22/segments/1464049278389.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160524002118-00191-ip-10-185-217-139.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985335 | 1,271 | 2.6875 | 3 |
( Originally Published Early 1900's )
As compared with the Iroquoian cosmogony, that of the Algonquian tribes is nebulous and confused: their gods are less anthropomorphic, more prone to animal form; the order of events is not so clearly defined. There is hardly a person-age or event in the Iroquoian story that does not appear in Algonquian myth, and indeed the Algonquians would seem to have been the originators, or at least the earlier possessors, of these stories; yet the same power for organization which is reflected in the Iroquoian Confederacy appears in the Iroquois's more masterful assimilation and depiction of the cosmic story which he seems to have borrowed from his Algonquian neighbours.
The central personage of Algonquian myth is Manabozho, the Great Hare (also known by many other names and variants, as Nanibozho, Manabush, Michabo, Messou, Glooscap), who is the incarnation of vital energy: creator or restorer of the earth, the author of life, giver of animal food, lord of bird and beast. Brinton, by a dubious etymology, would make the original meaning of the name to be "the Great White One," identifying Manabozho with the creative light of day; but if we remember that the Algonquians are, by their own tradition, sons of the frigid North, where the hare is one of the most prolific and staple of all food animals, and if we bear in mind the universal tendency of men whose sustenance is precarious to identify the source of life with their principal source of food, it is no longer plausible to question the identification, which the Indians themselves make, of their great demiurge with the Elder of the Hares, who is also the Elder Brother of Man and of all life.
With Manabozho is intimately associated his grandmother, Nokomis, the Earth, and his younger brother, Chibiabos, who himself is customarily in animal form (e. g., the Micmac know the pair as Glooscap and the Marten; to the Montagnais they were Messou and the Lynx; to the Menominee, Manabush and the Wolf). This younger brother is sometimes represented as a twin; and it is not difficult to see in Nokomis, Manabozho, and Chibiabos the Algonquian prototypes of the Huron Ataentsic, Iouskeha, and Tawiscara.
Various tales are told as to the origin of the Great Hare. The Micmac declare that Glooscap was one of twins, who quarrelled before being born; and that the second twin killed the mother in his birth, in revenge for which Glooscap slew him. The Menominee say: "The daughter of Nokomis, the Earth, is the mother of Manabush, who is also the Fire. The Flint grew up out of Nokomis, and was alone. Then the Flint made a bowl and dipped it into the earth; slowly the bowlful of earth became blood, and it began to change its form. So the blood was changed into Wabus, the Rabbit. The Rabbit grew into human form, and in time became a man, and thus was Manabush formed." According to another version, the daughter of Nokomis gave birth to twins, one of whom died, as did the mother. Nokomis placed a wooden bowl (and we must remember that this is a symbol of the heavens) over the remaining child for its protection; upon removing the bowl, she beheld a white rabbit with quivering ears: "O my dear little Rabbit," she cried, "my Manabush!"
Other tribes tell how the Great Hare came to earth as a gift from the Great Spirit. The Chippewa recognize, high over all, Kitshi Manito, the Great Spirit, and next in rank Dzhe Manito, the Good Spirit, whose servant is Manabozho. The abode of all these is the Upper World. "When Minabozho, the servant of Dzhe Manido, looked down upon the earth he beheld human beings, the Anishinabeg, the ancestors of the Ojibwa. They occupied the four quarters of the earth — the northeast, the southeast, the southwest, and the north-west. He saw how helpless they were, and desiring to give them the means of warding off the diseases with which they were constantly afflicted, and to provide them with animals and plants to serve as food, Minabozho remained thoughtfully hovering over the center of the earth, endeavoring to devise some means of communicating with them." Beneath Minabozho was a lake of waters, wherein he beheld an Otter, which appeared at each of the cardinal points in succession and then approached the centre, where Minabozho descended (upon an island) to meet it and where he instructed it in the mysteries of the Midewiwin, the sacred Medicine Society.
According to the Potawatomi, also, the Great Hare appears as the founder of a sacred mystery and the giver of medicine.
The story is recorded by Father De Smet: "A great manitou came on earth, and chose a wife from among the children of men. He had four sons at a birth; the first-born was called Nanaboojoo, the friend of the human race, the mediator between man and the Great Spirit; the second was named Chipiapoos, the man of the dead, who presides over the country of the souls; the third, Wabasso, as soon as he saw the light, fled toward the north where he was changed into a white rabbit, and under that name is considered there as a great manitou; the fourth was Chakekenapok, the man of flint, or fire-stone. In coming into the world he caused the death of his mother." The tale goes on to tell the deeds of Nanaboojoo. (1) To avenge his mother he pursues Chakekenapok and slays him: "all fragments broken from the body of this man of stone then grew up into large rocks; his entrails were changed into vines of every species, and took deep root in all the forests; the flintstones scattered around the earth indicate where the different combats took place." (2) Chipiapoos, the beloved brother of Nanaboojoo, venturing one day upon the ice, was dragged to the bottom by malignant manitos, where-upon Nanaboojoo hurled multitudes of these beings into the deepest abyss. For six years he mourned Chipiapoos, but at the end of that time four of the oldest and wisest of the manitos, by their medicine, healed him of his grief. "The manitous brought back the lost Chipiapoos, but it was forbidden him to enter the lodge; he received, through a chink, a burning coal, and was ordered to go and preside over the region of souls, and there, for the happiness of his uncles and aunts, that is, for all men and women, who should repair thither, kindle with this coal a fire which should never be extinguished." Nanaboojoo then initiated all his family into the mysteries of the medicine which the manitos had brought. (3) After-ward Nanaboojoo created the animals, put the earth, roots, and herbs in charge of his grandmother, and placed at the four cardinal points the spirits that control the seasons and the heavenly bodies, while in the clouds he set the Thunderbirds, his intermediaries. | <urn:uuid:adedd32a-ad25-419b-8f78-6712cb52d595> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oldandsold.com/articles26/indian-mythology-10.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699238089/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101358-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974696 | 1,640 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Geodetic observations are performed as part of the VERA project observations to derive accurate antenna coordinates. The geodetic VLBI observations for VERA are carried out in the S/X bands and also in the K band. The S/X bands are used in the domestic experiments with the Geographical Survey Institute of Japan and the international experiments called IVS-T2. On the other hand, the K band is used in the VERA internal experiments. We obtain higher accuracy results in the K band compared with the S/X bands. The most up-to-date geodetic parameters are derived through geodetic analyses.
Non-linear post seismic movement of Mizusawa after the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake continues. The position and velocity of Mizusawa is continuously 15 monitored by GPS. The coordinates in the Table 1 are provisional and will be revised with accumulation of geodetic data by GPS and VLBI.
In order to maintain the antenna position accuracy, the VERA project has three kinds of geodetic observations. The first is participation in JADE (JApanese Dynamic Earth observation by VLBI) organized by GSI (Geographical Survey Institute) and IVS-T2 session in order to link the VERA coordinates to the ITRF2008 (International Terrestrial Reference Frame 2008). Basically Mizusawa station participates in JADE nearly every month. Based on the observations for four years, the 3-dimensional positions and velocities of Mizusawa station till 09/Mar/2011 is determined with accuracies of 7-9 mm and about 1 mm/yr in ITRF2008 coordinate system. But the uncertainty of several centimeters exists in the position on and after March 11, 2011. The second kind of geodetic observations is monitoring of baseline vectors between VERA stations by internal geodetic VLBI observations. Geodetic positions of VERA antennas relative to Mizusawa antenna are measured from geodetic VLBI observations every two weeks. From polygonal fitting of the six-year geodetic results, the relative positions and velocities are obtained at the precisions of 1-2 mm and 0.8-1 mm/yr till 10/Mar/2011. The third kind is continuous GPS observations at the VERA sites for interpolating VLBI geodetic positions. Daily positions can be determined from 24 hour GPS data. The GPS observations are also used to estimate tropospheric zenith delay of each VERA site routinely. The time resolution of delay estimates is 5 minutes.
KVN antenna positions are regularly monitored using GPS and geodetic VLBI observations. The K band geodesy VLBI program between KVN and VERA has been started in 2011 (see Table 9). Current KVN antenna positions (see Table 1) are obtained from the KaVA K-band geodesy on January 24, 2014. The typical 1-sigma errors of geodetic solutions are about 0.4 cm in X, Y, and Z directions. Based on 10 epoch KaVA K-band geodetic observations from Sep. 2012 to Nov. 2014, uncertainty of KVN antenna positions are ~1.39cm at Yonsei, ~1.05cm at Ulsan and ~1.03cm at Tamna.
|Obs. Code||Obs. Date||Antenna||Note|
|r11333k||2011 Nov. 29||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||VERA+Yonsei solution was obtained|
|r11361k||2011 Dec. 27||Ky Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||Observation failed|
|r12271k||2012 Sep. 27||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained|
|r13088k||2013 Mar. 29||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained|
|r13140k||2013 May 20||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained|
|r13251k||2013 Sep. 9||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained|
|r13313k||2013 Nov. 9||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||Yonsei solution was failed.|
|r14028k||2014 Jan. 28||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained|
|r14095k||2014 Apr. 5||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained|
|r14159k||2014 Jun. 8||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained.|
|r14246k||2014 Sep. 3||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained.|
|r14305k||2014 Nov. 1||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||All solutions were obtained.|
|r15027k||2015 Jan. 27||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||in progress|
|r15089k||2015 Mar. 30||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||in progress|
|r15151k||2015 May 31||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||in progress|
|r15242k||2015 Aug. 30||Ky Ku Kt Vm Vr Vs Vo||in progress|
|Ky, Ku, and Kt stand for Yonsei, Ulsan, and Tamna antennas in KVN, respectively.|
|Vm, Vr, Vs, and Vo represent Mizusawa, Iriki, Ishigakijima, and Ogasawara antennas in VERA, respectively.| | <urn:uuid:ccf50004-4f4e-4fe9-90d5-74069b81f404> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://radio.kasi.re.kr/kava/status_report16a/node20.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818695113.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20170926070351-20170926090351-00584.warc.gz | en | 0.866264 | 1,226 | 2.953125 | 3 |
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A round bowl of water can act as both a magnifier and a lens.
Fill the flask or fishbowl with water to make a water-sphere lens.
Place the lightbulb or candle more than 1 foot (30 cm) from the water-sphere lens. Hold the white card against the side of the lens opposite the light source. Caution: Do not use the sun as your light source, because the focused sunlight may be hot enough to burn the paper card.
Move the card away from the sphere until you see an image of the filament (or flame) on the card. Notice that the image is inverted. (Click to enlarge diagram below.)
Move the light source up and notice that its image moves down.
Move the light very close to the water sphere, and notice that you cannot find an image on the card at any distance.
Look through the water-sphere lens at a newspaper held close to the other side of the sphere. Notice that the sphere acts as a magnifying glass. Vary the light-to-lens distance and notice how the image-to-lens distance changes. Also notice how the image changes size.
Light rays from the bulb or candle bend when they enter the water-filled sphere and bend again when they leave the sphere, as shown in the diagram below (click to enlarge). The only light rays that don’t bend are the ones that enter the sphere at a straight-on, 90-degree angle—that is, the ones that pass through the center of the bowl.
The sphere acts just like a lens, focusing the light that passes through into an image on the other side. The image must lie on a straight line from the object through the center of the lens.
The image is upside down and reversed right to left. The motion of the image is also reversed: When the object moves up, the image moves down; when the object moves closer to the sphere, the image moves farther away. It might help to picture a seesaw: When one side moves up, the other side moves down.
Every lens has a focal point, which is a spot where light rays from far away converge after passing through the lens. The distance from the center of the lens to the focal point is called the focal length. Measure the focal length of your lens by finding a bright light source that’s more than 30 feet (9 m) away. Using the white card, find the distance from the lens to the image. This is the focal length.
If an object is closer than one focal length to the center of the water sphere lens, the lens can’t bend the light rays from the object enough to bring them back together to form an image. However, when you look through the water-sphere lens at a nearby object, the lens of your eye can complete the bending, forming an image on your retina. The image on your retina made with the help of the water-sphere lens is larger than the largest image you could make with your eye alone. The water-sphere lens is thus a magnifying glass.
The image you see may be fuzzy and distorted, but should be recognizable. It also may show color distortion. The fuzziness is due to spherical aberration—a sphere is not the perfect shape for a lens; the colors are due to chromatic aberration—each different color of light bends by a different amount as it enters or leaves the lens.
Round bottles of water, left in an open window, have been known to start fires by focusing sunlight into an intense “hot spot.” In the 1700s, spherical glass bottles filled with water were used to focus candlelight for fine work such as lace making. In 2008, Joshua Silver, a former physics professor, designed eyeglasses with fluid-filled plastic lenses. The lenses are each connected to a small syringe so the eyeglass wearer can vary the amount of fluid, changing the power of the lens, until the images are as clear as possible. Silver’s invention is benefiting people around the world who do not have access to eye-care professionals.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Attribution: Exploratorium Teacher Institute | <urn:uuid:5f03b1cf-5b6f-424e-b20d-a86d30dfaf1a> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/water-sphere-lens | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296945323.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20230325095252-20230325125252-00115.warc.gz | en | 0.930137 | 926 | 3.609375 | 4 |
How diabetes affects daily life:
Almost half of the individuals with T1D and nearly a third of those with T2D said they were receiving treatment or using drugs for depression. The most significant barrier to better management for persons with T1D was an expense, while the most significant barrier for people with T2D was issued with food and activity.
Where diabetes comes from:
Type 1 diabetes is mostly caused by this. Insulin-producing cells are injured or killed, causing them to stop producing insulin. Insulin is required to transport blood sugar into cells all over the body. As a result of the insulin deficit, there is too much sugar in the blood and not enough energy in the cells.
To overcome the body’s resistance, the pancreas will produce more insulin initially. The cells eventually “wear out.” The body then slows insulin synthesis, resulting in an excess of glucose in the blood.
Diabetes and covid:
The truth is that persons with diabetes are more susceptible to illnesses such as influenza (flu), pneumonia, and now COVID-19.
Because we have a poorer immune response (less protection against disease) when glucose levels fluctuate or are regularly elevated, we risk becoming sicker faster.
Even if glucose levels are within normal ranges, there may be an underlying risk of aggravated illness owing to diabetes.
REGULATES BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS: ARK for diabetes aids in better blood sugar management, the protection of key organs, and the prevention of long-term consequences associated with uncontrolled sugar levels.
DIABETIC IMMUNITY PROTECTOR: It is an excellent immunity booster for diabetics, prediabetics, calorie-conscious, and overweight people. This has antioxidant characteristics that aid to improve the body’s natural defenses and prevent infections and allergies from recurring.
REDUCES FATIGUE AND BOOSTS ENERGY: Herbs like Amla, Ashwagandha, Shatavari, Vidari, and Shilajit in ARK for diabetes Care help maintain muscle mass, increase energy, and stamina so you can combat weakness and fatigue and stay active throughout the day.
IMPROVES RESPIRATORY HEALTH: Helps build immunity and fight respiratory infections like cough, cold, bronchitis, and seasonal allergies. The herbs in this blend help the body’s natural defenses against common respiratory illnesses.
DIGESTION IS PROMOTED: Herbs stimulate hunger, enhance digestion, and aid nutrition absorption. It also aids in the relief of constipation, the cleansing of the digestive tract, and the regulation of bowel motions. | <urn:uuid:7a6f1591-b8f9-4e2a-9a01-9713b3afbd16> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://telechoiceindia.com/diabetes-food-supplement-ark-diabetes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296943555.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20230320175948-20230320205948-00138.warc.gz | en | 0.918234 | 553 | 3.15625 | 3 |
This paradigm is also described as pervasive computing, ambient intelligence, or more recently, everyware. When primarily concerning the objects involved, it is also physical computing, the Internet of Things, haptic computing, and things that think.
Contemporary human-computer interaction models, whether command-line, menu-driven, or GUI-based, are inappropriate and inadequate to the ubiquitous case. This suggests that the "natural" interaction paradigm appropriate to a fully robust ubiquitous computing has yet to emerge - although there is also recognition in the field that in many ways we are already living in an ubicomp world. Contemporary devices that lend some support to this latter idea include mobile phones, digital audio players, radio-frequency identification tags, GPS, and interactive whiteboards.
To develop ubiquitous and pervasive applications, one should identify the most suitable interaction paradigm according to Gaber's classification for Ubiquitous and Pervasive Computing
Recognizing that the extension of processing power into everyday scenarios would necessitate understandings of social, cultural and psychological phenomena beyond its proper ambit, Weiser was influenced by many fields outside computer science, including "philosophy, phenomenology, anthropology, psychology, post-Modernism, sociology of science and feminist criticism." He was explicit about "the humanistic origins of the ‘invisible ideal in post-modernist thought'", referencing as well the ironically dystopian Philip K. Dick novel Ubik.
MIT has also contributed significant research in this field, notably Hiroshi Ishii's Things That Think consortium at the Media Lab and the CSAIL effort known as Project Oxygen. Other major contributors include Georgia Tech's College of Computing, NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program, UCIrvine's Department of Informatics, Microsoft Research, Intel Research and Equator, Ajou-University UCRi & CUS.
More recently, Ambient Devices has produced an "orb", a "dashboard", and a "weather beacon": these decorative devices receive data from a wireless network and report current events, such as stock prices and the weather. Another example is the Datafountain, an internet enabled water fountain used to display money currency rates, created by Koert van Mensvoort.
Notable conferences in the field include:
Academic journals and magazines devoted primarily to pervasive computing:
Mark Weiser's original material dating from his tenure at Xerox PARC:
Findings on Personal and Ubiquitous Computing Reported by Investigators at Seoul National University of Science and Technology
Oct 03, 2013; By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Computer Weekly News -- Data detailed on Personal and Ubiquitous Computing have been... | <urn:uuid:b14a5ce2-1833-4a25-afd9-49bb8fb62b7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.reference.com/browse/ubiquitous+computing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386164023947/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204133343-00091-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916494 | 537 | 2.515625 | 3 |
American white pelicans are found throughout North America. They breed in inland, prairie regions of the United States and Canada and winter in southern and coastal areas. Breeding occurs in suitable habitat from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and southwestern Ontario south through northern California, Nevada, and Colorado. They winter in southern California, coastal and eastern Mexico, the coastal plain of Texas, and throughout the Gulf states, including Florida. Populations that breed mostly east of the continental divide tend to migrate to winter ranges in the Gulf of Mexico, breeding populations west of the continental divide tend to migrate towards Baja California and western Mexico. There are several, small year-round populations along the Gulf of Mexico and in central Durango, Mexico. The winter range is characterized by minimum January temperatures above 4 degrees Celsius. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans winter in coastal areas, such as coastal bays and estuaries. Significant inland wintering areas are the Salton Sea in California and large rivers in areas where water flow prevents freezing. They breed on islands in or near shallow, inland lakes, rivers, and marshes. Islands can be either permanent islands in freshwater water bodies or temporary islands in wetlands. These temporary nesting and roosting habitats can be important in determining breeding and winter distribution. Breeding islands are commonly more than 50 km from areas used for foraging. American white pelicans migrate over inland areas with large lakes and rivers for resting and foraging. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans are large, white pelicans, there are no similar species in North America. Their primary and outer secondary feathers are black, their bill and gular pouch are flesh colored or yellow, and their legs are pale yellow to bright orange. Both males and females develop a flattened protuberance on the upper bill during breeding season, which is shed at the end of breeding. American white pelicans are from 127 to 165 cm in length. The other North American pelican species, brown pelicans, are smaller, with dark plumage. Males are slightly larger than females. Their wingspan is from 244 to 290 and reported masses are from 4.54 to 9 kg. There are no described subspecies or geographic variation. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans form monogamous pairs in breeding season and defend small nesting territories in breeding colonies. Pair bonds form on arrival at the breeding colony through courtship rituals. These courtship displays include a circular courtship flight, parallel strutting walks, head swaying, and bowing. Bonds last through most of the breeding season, but whether pairs reform in subsequent years is unknown. Males guard female mates, although extra-pair copulations seem rare. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
Once the bulk of birds arrive on the breeding grounds, pairs begin to form and breed. Mating occurs from late March through early May. Once a pair has formed, they begin to establish and defend a nest scrape. This process is highly synchronous in colonies, with nests being established over the course of about a week. Nests are simple scrapes with low rims on bare, level ground that are accessible to flying pelicans. Nest sites typically have little vegetation, but may be among low shrubs, weeds, or grass. They have 1 brood each year, laying 2 chalky-white eggs 2 days apart. If an egg is lost, it is not replaced. If both are lost, the nest is deserted. Eggs are incubated continuously under the foot webs of parents for about 30 days and brooded for about 17 days further. Young are fed by regurgitation by parents until the young leaves the colony at fledging, usually at 10 to 11 weeks after hatching. American white pelicans begin breeding at 3 years old. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
Both parents incubate eggs, taking turns every 72 hours. When brooding, parents exchange places about every day. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans typically successfully raise just 1 of the 2 eggs they lay. Only 9.7% of clutches in one colony successfully raised 2 young to fledgling. Average mortality of that offspring through its first year of life is 41%. Average mortality from the 1st to 2nd year is 16%, and average mortality drops after that. The oldest recorded American white pelican in the wild was 26.4 years old. Nestlings and eggs die as a result of rolling out of nests, nest abandonment, starvation, attacks by other pelicans in the nesting colony, exposure, and predation. Adults are killed by severe weather, hitting wires, and diseases such as botulism. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans migrate annually, except for a few resident populations in Mexico and along the Gulf of Mexico. Juveniles migrate to the winter range their first year and don't begin annual migrations until they are 2 years old. American white pelicans arrive on the breeding grounds in the spring over a relatively short period, usually arriving by March or early April. Fall migration is more dispersed. They migrate during the day in formation in large flocks, often over 180 individuals. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans fly gracefully, spreading their wings and sliding onto the water on their feet as they land. Flight is usually in linear formations or forming a "V." They flap and glide and may soar on days when they can take advantage of updrafts. American white pelicans don't dive, as do their relatives, brown pelicans, but they are strong swimmers and have subcutaneous air sacs in the region of their breast that give them buoyancy. They are gregarious birds, always found roosting, nesting, or foraging in groups. Nesting colonies are very large and densely populated, often around 1000 nests. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans defend small nesting territories in breeding colonies, often jabbing at their neighbors, including other species of nesting waterbirds (Phalacrocorax auritus, Larus). Nests may be only 1 m apart. They do not have defined home ranges, instead ranging widely throughout the non-breeding season to forage and roost. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
Adult American white pelicans are relatively silent, only using low grunts when in aggressive or sexual interactions. Young pelicans squawk loudly to beg for food. American white pelicans use a variety of visual displays to communicate aggression, appeasement, and alarm. They will jab at others with their bill or extend their gaped mouth towards them, usually in aggressive interactions around territories or mating. They hold their head upright with the bill extended horizontally and the gular pouch expanded, accompanied by a grunt, as a greeting or mild threat. In flight over colonies they stop flapping briefly and hold the bill down as another mild threat. Crouching or bowing is an appeasement display in young and adults. Courtship includes several visual displays in the air and on the ground, including circular courtship flights above the colony, parallel strutting displays between pairs, bowing, and head swaying between mates at the nest. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans forage in shallow waters for fish, crustaceans, and amphibians. They may also forage in deeper waters where fish occur near the surface. They forage during the day typically, but may forage at night during the breeding season. They forage alone or in cooperative groups, they dip their bills into the water while swimming at the surface and scoop prey into their bill and gular pouch. Cooperative foraging groups may collaborate to drive prey into shallow waters to make it more difficult for them to escape capture. Individuals that forage in groups tend to have greater foraging success. Plunge-diving, as in brown pelicans, has only been rarely observed in these pelicans. They will also take prey from other pelicans or waterbirds, including double-crested cormorants, gulls, and other pelicans. American white pelicans eat mainly small, schooling fish, although they also eat crayfish and amphibians on inland lakes and rivers in the breeding season. Fish recorded in the diet include carp, minnows, tui chub, and occasionally game fish, such as salmon. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
Breeding colonies on isolated islands help to lessen the threat of terrestrial predators on American white pelican young and eggs. Red foxes and coyotes are threats to breeding colonies that are accessible. Gull species prey on eggs and young, including herring gulls, California gulls, and ring-billed gulls. Also, common ravens prey on eggs and great horned owls and bald eagles take young. Adult size may lessen the risk of predation, but coyotes have been known to take adults. Although American white pelicans readily forage and loaf near humans, they are easily disturbed from nests, abandoning their young readily when a threat is perceived. Gulls take advantage of this to attack exposed nestlings. They also attack nestlings that have wandered from the nest or been expelled by an older sibling. Gulls also take food from young if they empty their stomach contents after being disturbed. These pelicans don't leave the nest in response to avian predators, instead jabbing at them with their bills. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
American white pelicans suffer from infestations of biting lice (Piagetiella peralis), especially around their mouth and gular pouch. Nematodes (Contracaecum spiculigerum) and tape worms (tape worms Hymenolepis species, Dibothrium cordiceps, Oilgorchis longivaginatus) have been reported from guts. One individual was infested with subcutaneous mites (Pelecanectes apunctatus).
American white pelicans are lovely, majestic birds that are appreciate by bird enthusiasts. Historically they were also hunted for sport. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
There are no known adverse effects of American white pelicans on humans. They were previously persecuted because of the misperception that they compete with humans for fish prey, but American white pelicans eat mainly small fish with no commercial value. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
There have been documented increases in American white pelican populations in recent years, resulting from conservation efforts. Historically populations declined in response to destruction of breeding and foraging habitats and continued destruction of wetland habitats remains one of the most important influences on current populations. American white pelicans are especially sensitive to human disturbance at nesting sites, where human presence can result in temporary or permanent nest abandonment, increasing the likelihood of mortality associated with exposure and gull predation. Common human disturbances at nesting colonies are low-flying airplanes or motorboats. Pesticide use throughout their range has resulted in egg-shell thinning and poisoning. They are considered least concern by the IUCN because of their large population sizes and broad range. (Knopf and Evans, 2004)
Tanya Dewey (author), Animal Diversity Web.
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
uses sound to communicate
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
areas with salty water, usually in coastal marshes and estuaries.
an animal that mainly eats meat
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
the nearshore aquatic habitats near a coast, or shoreline.
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.
an area where a freshwater river meets the ocean and tidal influences result in fluctuations in salinity.
mainly lives in water that is not salty.
offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).
marshes are wetland areas often dominated by grasses and reeds.
makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds
Having one mate at a time.
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
specialized for swimming
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
an animal that mainly eats fish
mainly lives in oceans, seas, or other bodies of salt water.
breeding is confined to a particular season
remains in the same area
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
associates with others of its species; forms social groups.
uses touch to communicate
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
uses sight to communicate
Knopf, F., R. Evans. 2004. American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). The Birds of North America Online, 57: 1-20. Accessed May 06, 2009 at http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/057. | <urn:uuid:92e55139-f53a-4cb1-96c2-d1119cf600b0> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Pelecanus_erythrorhynchos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571472.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20220811133823-20220811163823-00249.warc.gz | en | 0.947588 | 3,030 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Short sea shipping could very likely become the next best thing among the coast of Latin America. The physical geography of Chile with its extensive coastline offerts the potential to use the seas as a ‘highway’ for domestic cargo. However, freight structure, demand and modal split, and the supply of shipping services over the last decade “have not evolved in the manner that might be expected in Latin America’s physical and economic geography setting”.
According to TRB paper 17-00885 A Chilean Maritime Highway: Is It a Possible Domestic Transport Option? by Mary R. Brooks and Gordon Wilmsmeier, coastal shipping is underdeveloped in Chile, so a maritime superhighway would make perfect sense, considering the country’s exceptional geography.
Social, economic and regulatory context
Chile’s social development in the past decade has led to an increased GDP, which has put a strain on existing infrastructure capacity and regional accessibility. Major export and import commodities include mineral products, chemicals and allied industries, wood and wood products, vegetable products, metals, foodstuffs and others and maritime transport continues to be the leading mode in international trade.
Economic development has come as a result of land infrastructure investment, which has turned the country’s transport system more fossil fuel dependant. Most of the country’s imported goods enter through the central region’s main ports and are transported by land to their various destinations.
Complex regulatory agreements involving cabotage have protected national maritime transportation from international competition. “Considering the elongated coastline of Chile and its many ports, it would make sense to facilitate coastal shipping for long-distance goods movement, which would reduce road congestion and reduce CO2 emissions”, reads the paper.
The paper presents two theoretical markets: a Northern corridor, a Southern corridor, or a combination of the two. However, the first measure for any of these internal maritime highways to become a reality is to strengthen the major port’s capability to tranship cargo between deep-sea and coastal vessels. The Northern corridor would extend from the port of Iquique to Valparaíso/San Antonio, including the ports of Iquique, Antofagasta, Puerto Angamos, Valparaíso and San Antonio. As for the Southern corridor, it would cover the coastline from Valparaíso/San Antonio to Punta Arenas, including the southern ports of San Vicente, Coronel and Puerto Montt.
The election of modal transport by shipppers will be mainly influenced by the advantage in time/money/volume the maritime option has to offer in comparison to the truck alternative. But, as the paper states, “it is difficult to identify how much cargo volume might be shifted from road to sea through regulatory change or economic development incentives; the lack of data on national road cargo flows limits this research.
TOC Asia 2018
Organiza TOC Events Worldwide | <urn:uuid:792044e7-b0ac-4f5e-90cd-8e40022249ce> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | http://www.mundomaritimo.net/noticias/friend/27110 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084886792.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20180117003801-20180117023801-00102.warc.gz | en | 0.939638 | 607 | 3.015625 | 3 |
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Monday, March 27, 2017
- Sea level rise near Papua New Guinea, a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) in the southwest Pacific, is estimated at seven millimetres per year, double the global annual average of 2.8-3.6 mm.
In a bottom-up approach to fighting climate change, the indigenous use of mangroves is now leading local and national plans to stem the destruction of land and communities by coastal flooding and erosion.
As global warming melts ice and glaciers, small island states are the first to be threatened by thermal expansion of the world’s oceans. The Pacific Climate Change Science Programme predicts that, under a high emissions scenario, Papua New Guinea could experience a sea level rise of 4-15 cm by 2030.
The government has identified coastal flooding and malaria as the two climate change hazards expected to cause the greatest damage to land, people and infrastructure. Coastal flooding has affected 8,000 people annually over the past 15 years, and could impact 65,000 people within the next 18 years. Experts say the cost of damage from coastal flooding could increase from 20 million dollars per year to 90-100 million dollars annually by 2030, but implementation of adaptation measures may reduce losses by 65-85 percent.
Climate adaptation is not a new concept to those who have lived along the nation’s coastlines for generations. In Milne Bay and Oro Provinces on the east coast, the Maisin, Are, Doga and Dima people of Collingwood Bay have long possessed knowledge of the importance of mangrove forests to conserve coastal ecosystems.
The waterlogged trunks and roots of mangrove trees, which grow in saltwater inter-tidal areas along rivers and between land and ocean in tropical regions, consolidate sediment, thereby strengthening coastlines and protecting against flooding and erosion.
According to Mama Graun, a local conservation trust fund, 30 of the 42 mangrove species found in Papua New Guinea grow along 159.8 kilometres of Collingwood Bay’s coastline. The tropical tree system is central to the sustainable life of villages. It provides timber for building dwellings, firewood for cooking and traditional medicinal remedies, while mangrove swamps harbour marine foods, such as fish, oysters and crabs.
Scientists are now concerned that degradation and loss of half the world’s mangrove forests over the past 50 years could be contributing to 10 percent of global deforestation emissions and increasing fragility of coastal areas.
Jane Mogina, former deputy dean of the School of Natural and Physical Sciences at the University of Papua New Guinea, is now executive director of Mama Graun, which builds capacity and provides funding and technical advice for climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. She recalled that Cyclone Guba, which swept through the region in 2007, left permanent environmental damage that many communities have still not recovered from.
“In Collingwood Bay, there are significant flat land areas where people make and settle on gardens; a lot of those got flooded and washed away. We estimate that some small mangrove islands literally got knocked over.”
“What the cyclone has done is weakened the (eco)system. So any high tide will continue to wash away an already weak system,” she continued.
In the village of Bogaboga, in South Collingwood Bay, with a population of 500, an increasingly aggressive sea combined with effects of a drought in 1997 has led to coastal erosion, saline contamination of spring water and destruction of crops.
People now face lack of food and an increase in malaria and diarrhoea. In the north of Collingwood Bay, the village of Uiaku, home to 780 people, has high crop diversity, but infrastructure and food gardens have been hit by intensified coastal and inland flooding. The community now has contingent plans to migrate further inland.
Mangrove degradation has contributed to an increasingly vulnerable coastal ecosystem.
“The man-made degradation that is happening is all to do with firewood and construction,” Mogina explained. “The most significant is firewood. With population increase, there are more people with more houses to build and 90 percent of Collingwood Bay houses are built with mangrove wood.”
In 2009, after consultation with communities about how they were employing traditional knowledge to combat climate change, Mama Graun began resource mapping in Collingwood Bay for a mangrove- based climate initiative.
“When we were looking at communities’ use of local resources, mangroves emerged as one of the most important ecosystem services, especially in rural communities that do not receive too much help from the government or from outside, particularly after disasters,” said Mogina.
Other local adaptation strategies include constructing seawalls, drainage systems and houses on higher foundation posts and buffering dwellings with sand and coconut husks.
“Growing and strengthening mangroves doesn’t stop the sea level rise, but it does stop erosion,” Mogina said. “Communities with mangroves as a barrier to the sea are much less impacted by storms and cyclones.”
In 2011, Mama Graun planned the planting and rehabilitation of mangrove forests along 47 kilometres in Collingwood Bay over the next five years, in the first phase of a project that will eventually incorporate 28 villages across 206 km of coastline.
By providing grant incentives to communities in the form of education and tuition fees, the cost of the mangrove project will be kept to an affordable 14,000 kina per hectare, which compares to the average cost of approximately 131,356 kina per hectare. Most importantly, participating villages will hold ownership of the project.
“We provide the funding, so that they can develop a management plan (for the project). The really big lesson is to work with communities to develop adaptation activities that they want and are most appropriate. This is what community conservation is all about, you empower people to take responsibility themselves,” Mogina emphasised.
Today the local NGO shares its knowledge nationwide through the Office of Climate Change and Development (OCCD) and is contributing to a national initiative to plant two million mangroves throughout the country.
According to Luanne Losi, OCCD’s adaptation policy analyst, “OCCD decided to focus on mangroves because it was seen to be a low cost method that would have an impact on a large number of people. The mangrove initiative is being conducted in association with other climate change adaptation actions, such as a coastal early warning system and dry stone wall project.”
OCCD programmes are aligned with Papua New Guinea’s Vision 2050, which outlines the government’s aims to develop mitigation and adaptation capacity in all impacted communities and provide weather and natural disaster monitoring systems in all provinces.
However resourcing and funding remain substantial challenges. Currently the OCCD is working to attract private sector investment and support the local work of NGOs, including Mama Graun, the Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. | <urn:uuid:24a317f5-6909-412d-b58d-3c19bab946da> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/05/mangroves-lead-battle-against-rising-seas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189534.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00221-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946436 | 1,481 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Hepatology is a branch of medicine concerned with the study, prevention, diagnosis and management of diseases that affect the liver, gallbladder, biliary tree and pancreas. The term hepatology is derived from the Greek words “hepatikos” and “logia,” which mean liver and study, respectively.
Liver disorders are the domain of a gastroenterologist and should be managed by a trained gastroenterologist. DrZubin Dev Sharma has a keen interest in management of Hepatocellular Carcinoma or Liver Cancer. He is adept at providing comprehensive care for patients with Liver Disorders.
Hepatitis affects millions of individuals globally and is associated with several poor outcomes including liver transplant and liver cancer. In particular, hepatitis B and hepatitis C are major causes of liver cancer, while alcohol abuse has been linked to conditions such as cirrhosis and other serious complications. The conditions hepatologists deal with most frequently are viral hepatitis and alcohol-related liver disease.
Some of the most common ailments that are assessed, diagnosed and managed by a hepatologist include: | <urn:uuid:b98ada86-e6d6-4c23-a752-3a9192fc255b> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | http://www.drzubindevsharma.com/Liver.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487634616.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20210618013013-20210618043013-00214.warc.gz | en | 0.950457 | 227 | 3.078125 | 3 |
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A toilet that does not need water, a sewage system or external power but instead uses nanotechnology to treat human waste, produce clean water and keep smells at bay is being developed by a British university.
The innovative toilet uses a rotating mechanism to move waste into a holding chamber containing nano elements. The mechanism also blocks odours and keeps waste out of sight.
"Once the waste is in the holding chamber we use membranes that take water out as vapour, which can then be condensed and available for people to use in their homes," Alison Parker, lead researcher on the project, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"The pathogens remain in the waste at the bottom of the holding chamber, so the water is basically pure and clean."
Cranfield University is developing the toilet as part of the global "Reinvent the toilet Challenge" launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nanotechnology is the science of creating and working with materials about one nanometre wide, or one-billionth of a metre. A human hair is about 80,000 nanometres wide.
Parker said that despite "significant" interest from developed countries, the toilet is being designed with those in mind who have no access to adequate toilets.
According to the U.N. children's agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) 2.4 billion people, mostly in rural areas, live without adequate toilets.
Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, the WHO says.
Cranfield University says its toilet is designed for a household of up to 10 people and will cost just $0.05 per day per user.
A replaceable bag containing solid waste coated with a biodegradable nano-polymer which blocks odour will be collected periodically by a local operator, it says.
Initial field testing of the toilet is likely to take place later this year, Parker said.
(Reporting by Magdalena Mis, editing by Tim Pearce. Please credit Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women’s rights, corruption and climate change. Visit www.trust.org) | <urn:uuid:67494d16-4ea1-464e-934f-f6779d1b45a1> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://uk.news.yahoo.com/waterless-toilet-uses-nanotechnology-treat-waste-banish-smells-215218928.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439737645.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20200808110257-20200808140257-00394.warc.gz | en | 0.933745 | 470 | 3.59375 | 4 |
The main types of olive oil used for cooking include regular, extra virgin, virgin, first cold press, and pure olive oil. Generally, the main difference between the various types is the processing level, the accepted level of defects, and the allowed fatty acid content.
The more processed the olive oil is the less flavor and aroma the oil contains. Inexpensive olive oil tends to be more processed (with less flavor), while higher priced olive oil typically is less processed (leading it to have more flavor, color, and aromas).
In this article, you will learn all you need to know about the types of olive oil used for cooking. Below we will discuss:
- Different types of olive oil
- Where in the World is Olive Oil from?
- How is olive oil made?
- What makes olive oil good?
- Does the color of the olive oil matter?
- Delicious olive oil recipes
Different Types of Olive Oil
Olive oil, the liquid fat that is extracted from olive oil, comes in many different varieties. Olive oil is just like wine, chocolate, or coffee. Where the olives are grown and processed into oil affects the taste, color, and scent.
Below are types of olive oil with a brief description that demonstrates how that olive oil differs from the other types.
1) First Cold Press
A traditional way of making olive oil, first cold press olive oil has only been pressed and extracted once. This olive oil is also not heated leading to first cold press olive oil to be the most delicate form of olive oil.
Creating first cold press olive oil also the first step for making extra virgin olive oil. Due to this, first cold press olive oil is high in nutrients (just like extra virgin olive oil). First cold press olive oil contains nutrients unsaturated fats (healthy fats), vitamin E (great for immune system and prevents cell damage), and vitamin K (great for bones).
2) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Is know for it excellent flavor, aroma, and health benefits. Also known as EVOO, extra virgin olive oil be free of defects and have a free fatty acid content that is less than 0.8% (meaning of you have 100g of oil, the free fatty acid content should be no more than 0.8g)
Extra virgin olive oil is full of antioxidants, polyphenols, and vitamin E. This is why EVOO is the healthiest form of olive oil.
3) Virgin Olive Oil
Should have a good flavor and aroma. Virgin olive oil defects should range from 0 to 2.5 and its free fatty acid levels should be less than 2% (meaning of you have 100g of oil, the free fatty acid content should be no more than 2g).
4) Refined Olive Oil
Using Virgin olive oil as a base, refine olive oil is process to remove the taste and flavor from the olive oil. After processing, the free fatty acid content should be less that 0.3% (meaning of you have 100g of oil, the free fatty acid content should be no more than 0.3g).
5) Regular (or Pure) Olive Oil
Usually is a blend of Virgin Olive Oil and Refined Olive Oil. The objective is to create a more inexpensive oil that has many of the same characteristics virgin olive oil, just at a milder level. With regular olive oil, the free fatty acid content should be less than 1% (meaning of you have 100g of oil, the free fatty acid content should be no more than 1g).
Where in the World is Olive Oil from?
In order to make olive oil, you need olives. So it is not surprising that that olive oil could be historically found in Mediterranean countries, such as Spain, Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Portugal, Morocco, France, and Turkey.
Nowadays, olive oil production has spread worldwide to other countries including the United States According to OliveOil.com, California accounts for 5% of the world’s production. However, this number doesn’t even compete with Spain. Spain dominates olive oil product by producing about about 40% of the world supply of olive oil.
According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization database, below at the top 10 olive oil producing countries by volume (as of 2019):
|#||Country||Amount (in Metric Tons)|
|8||Syrian Arab Republic||153,829|
How is olive oil made?
The basics of producing olive oil include:
- Harvest the olives
- Clean the olives
- Crush the olives into smaller pieces
- Grind the olives into a paste
- Squeeze and press the paste to begin the removal of the oil from the paste
- Strain the oil to separate the solids from the oil.
- Package the oil and Store
Admittedly, the above overview is basic. However, the below video provides a more detailed view of how olive oil is commercially made:
What Makes Olive Oil Good?
The quality of olive oil is determined by its overall flavor and the percentage of free fatty acids that it contains. With top quality olive oil, the free free acid profile should be less than 2%.
Does the Color Matter? – Color and Clarity Considerations
The color of olive oil ranges from dark green, pale yellow, to even reddish. The color of olive is driven primarily by the olive type and the time that the olives are picked. Olive oil tends to be darkest/greenest when the olives are young. However, below we have broken down what causes the olive oil to be different colors.
Golden Yellow Olive Oil
Spanish olive oil tends to be golden yellow. Since Spain produces more than 40% of the world’s supply, this golden yellow color is the color that most are familiar with. Spanish olive tends to have fruity and nutty notes.
Light Olive Oil
French and California olive oil tends to be a lighter yellow color. As for flavor notes, French olive oil tends to be lighter in flavor, while Californian olive oil tends to have a slight fruity taste.
Red olive oil
Australian olives produce olive oil that has a rich red color. Australian extra virgin olive oil tends to be high in antioxidants.
However, if your olive oil was previously another color and has turned reddish orange over time, you should NOT consume this olive oil since this oil has been oxidized and is now rancid.
Dark Olive Oil
Dark green olive oil is typically from olives that are grown in Italy and Greece. Olive oil produced in Greece tend to be in highly aromatic and flavorful. While olive oil made in Italy tends to have herbal notes.
Clarity of Olive Oil
All olive oil is cloudy at the beginning of the processing process. However, as the pulp is pressed the cloudiness is reduced as the sediment and solid particles are removed.
When it comes to cooking, some cloudiness is good because that means that the olive oil has retained its original flavor and scent. Because of this, olive oil connoisseurs actually prefer traditional methods of making olive oil (example stone-pressed) since these olive oils tend to retain its cloudiness.
Delicious Olive Oil Recipes
There you have it. Now you understand the various types of olive oil used for cooking. Now go take your knowledge and cook something delicious.
Below are a few recipes that contain olive oil that you should definitely try: | <urn:uuid:b35b08de-53ee-4b32-b68f-e9efbff57ad2> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.dailydiylife.com/types-of-olive-oil-for-cooking/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506481.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20230923130827-20230923160827-00054.warc.gz | en | 0.947897 | 1,636 | 2.65625 | 3 |
In the midst of the second world war Pope Pius XII put the whole world under the special protection of our Savior's Mother by consecrating it to her Immaculate Heart, and in 1944 he decreed that in the future the whole Church should celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is not a new devotion. In the seventeenth century, St. John Eudes preached it together with that of the Sacred Heart; in the nineteenth century, Pius VII and Pius IX allowed several churches to celebrate a feast of the Pure Heart of Mary. Pius XII instituted today's feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the whole Church, so as to obtain by her intercession "peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue" (Decree of May 4, 1944).Historically today is the feast of St. John Francis Regis, who was ordained into the Society of Jesus in 1630. He was gifted with a marvelous talent for missions, he labored for the conversion of the Huguenots, assisted the needy, and aided in the rescue of wayward women. Also the historical feast of St. Benno of Meissen who labored to convert the Slavs, established numerous religious edifices, and is said to have founded the cathedral of Meissen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary
The attention of Christians was early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The Gospel itself invited this attention with exquisite discretion and delicacy. What was first excited was compassion for the Virgin Mother. It was, so to speak, at the foot of the Cross that the Christian heart first made the acquaintance of the Heart of Mary. Simeon's prophecy paved the way and furnished the devotion with one of its favourite formulae and most popular representations: the heart pierced with a sword. But Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the Cross; "she cooperated through charity", as St. Augustine says, "in the work of our redemption".
St. Ambrose perceived in her the model of a virginal soul. St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) was more absorbed in the contemplation of the virginal heart, and it is from him that the Church has borrowed the lessons of the Second Nocturn for the feast of the Heart of Mary. St. Francis de Sales speaks of the perfections of this heart, the model of love for God, and dedicated to it his Theotimus. In the second half of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth, ascetic authors dwelt upon this devotion at greater length. It was, however, reserved to St. Jean Eudes (d. 1681) to propagate the devotion, to make it public, and to have a feast celebrated in honor of the Heart of Mary, first at Autun in 1648 and afterwards in a number of French dioceses. In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity at Florence, granted the Bishop of Palermo the feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for some of the churches in his diocese. In 1805 Pius VII made a new concession, thanks to which the feast was soon widely observed. Such was the existing condition when a twofold movement, started in Paris, gave fresh impetus to the devotion. The two factors of this movement were first of all the revelation of the "miraculous medal" in 1830 and all the prodigies that followed, and then the establishment at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires of the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, which spread rapidly throughout the world and was the source of numberless graces. On 21 July 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the Office and Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary without, however, imposing them upon the Universal Church. Excerpted from Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913 edition. Things to Do: | <urn:uuid:6f6a3286-5105-4e5c-bb6b-ddf2910a6147> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2013-06-08 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400189264.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20200918221856-20200919011856-00055.warc.gz | en | 0.95494 | 830 | 2.59375 | 3 |
I’ve written before on the virtues of leaving your honey bees to over winter on their own honey stores rather than feeding them sugar and now there is mounting scientific evidence to support the view.
Recent studies by a team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenburg, Germany¹ found that nurse bees select different honey according to their health needs. In the hive, honeys from different plant sources are stored in separate cells in the comb. This means that the nurse bees who feed the larvae and new brood can choose which honey to select and the studies have shown that they do show a preference for particular honey when there is a specific problem. Bees infected with the fungus Nosema ceranae (Nosema is related to dysentery) showed a significant preference for sunflower honey compared with black locust, linden and honeydew honeys. Sunflower has the highest antimicrobial effect of the four honeys.
But before we start to think about feeding our bees on specific forage, a study ² carried out at the same university two years later looked at 3 honeys’ action on the bee diseases European foulbrood (EFB) and American foulbrood (AFB), this time in vitro. Sunflower honey was found to be effective against AFB and black locust against EFB. However the most effective honey against both was the polyfloral honey³. The combination proved effective against both pathogens and had double the amount of polyphenol compounds, suggesting the importance of diversity in the bee diet.
Resin collection has also been shown to vary according to the colony’s needs. In 2012 a study by the University of Minnesota showed that there was a significant increase in foraging for resin when bees were infected with the chalk brood fungus. The resin is turned into propolis by the bees which has antimicrobial, antibiotic and antiseptic properties and was shown in the study to decrease the parasite load.
How the bees know what to do is still very much a mystery but seems to fit under the term ‘hive wisdom’. Not only can they adapt (resin) foraging behaviour according to the health of the colony overall but they can administer their own ‘medicine’. We don’t know if they will forage for the nectar from a particular plant when there is a particular health problem but once the nectar is stored as honey they can use the stores as an in-hive pharmacy. This highlights the need for the stores to be well stocked with as diverse a range as possible. Lack of diversity of flowers in the environment and all year round variety could have a negative impact on their well-being therefore. Removing honey stores and replacing them with honey made from sugar syrup will mean that the secondary metabolites that contribute to the specific antimicrobial properties of different honeys are missing.
This research sheds light on the potential drawbacks of traditional beekeeping such as routine feeding of sugar to honey bees. Let’s hope the message filters through to all beekeepers – and rapidly.
³ The melissopalynological analysis of the polyfloral honey showed a mixture of maize (Zea mays), common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), spiny plumeless thistle (Carduus acanthoides), wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum), common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria), common sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia), rapeseed (Brassica napus) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus) pollen, and honeydew elements of about 10% from the total pollen number. | <urn:uuid:6c6fcf8f-8859-4740-92fd-52a92b2136f2> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://www.beeginnerbeekeeper.com/in-hive-pharmacy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187822851.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20171018085500-20171018105500-00558.warc.gz | en | 0.944667 | 782 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Bengaluru: Scrap rubbers such as worn-out vehicle tyres contribute to environmental pollution, and there is an urgent need for safely repurposing them. To address this serious environmental issue, devulcanization could be one of the sustainable solutions. A team of researchers from India and Germany has devised a new process to retrieve almost all different types of rubber from used and discarded vulcanised scrap rubber. The process not only reclaims a high amount of rubber but also is of superior quality which can be repurposed into other products including making new tyres.
It is estimated that nearly one billion scrap tyres are discarded annually. Incinerating them emits potent greenhouse gases, whereas pyrolysing them leaves carbon black and different hydrocarbon oils without rubber residue. The few recycling processes are elaborate and expensive with very little value addition to rubber.
Devulcanization of rubber is a better way of repurposing used rubber. The few conventional methods to devulcanize rubber material are prone to toxic emissions and yield a very low degree of devulcanization in the end.
“Our chemical procedure is very safe with no toxic emissions as it involves what is called the chain capping reaction during devulcanization. Also, the silica reinforcement during devulcanization through coupling reaction exhibits enhanced strength of the material,” explained Dr Debapriya De, lead researcher at MCKV Institute of Engineering, Howrah, while speaking to India Science Wire.
For their study, the team procured commercial shredded waste rubber material and added a specific devulcanizing agent called TESPT to break sulphur bonds of vulcanisation. The resulting material was ground and subjected to mechanical rolling process from which elastomeric sheets of original thermoplastic like rubber were obtained.
The reclaimed material was assessed chemically, morphologically and mechanically. The material exhibited good mechanical properties, tear strength, abrasion resistance, and dynamic mechanical properties with comparable toughness and composition to fresh rubber.
This rubber can be used in making products like automobile floor mats, soft tiles, boots and sheets. Also, by mixing the devulcanized rubber with fresh rubber, compounding agents and silica, it can once again be vulcanised into new tyres, saving precious amounts of raw material and industrial costs.
The team included Debapriya De and Soumyajit Ghorai (MCKV Institute of Engineering, Howrah); Dipankar Mondal (University of Calcutta); Sakrit Hait, Anik Kumar Ghosh, Sven Wiessner and Amit Das (Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V, Dresden, Germany).
The results were published in the journal ACS Omega.
Read the full study here: Devulcanization of Waste Rubber and Generation of Active Sites for Silica Reinforcement | <urn:uuid:0e0d8130-f64f-4a5b-951e-a59011b4715d> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://indusdictum.com/2019/11/14/indo-german-science-team-finds-new-technique-to-recycle-used-tyres/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655890157.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20200706073443-20200706103443-00037.warc.gz | en | 0.923729 | 590 | 3.3125 | 3 |
“Learning as a lifestyle is becoming the new norm,” according to GSV Advisors; it’s “driven by mobile device proliferation, ubiquitous broadband, and advances in content curation and delivery technology.”
A generation ago you went to school until you were 21 and then worked until you were 65; now employability is all about lifelong learning — for the next job, during the next job, and learning to do what you love.
According to Education Department data, Only 29 percent of college students fit the traditional mold of high school students who go straight to a 4-year college. Almost three quarters of college students may be considered nontraditional including delayed entry, having dependents, being employed and financially independent, learning part-time, and/or not having a high school diploma.
Three emerging options include college credits earned in high school, nontraditional college and post-baccalaureate learning.
College in high school. Free (and cheap) college credit opportunities for high school students are becoming widely available including:
- Dual enrollment: almost every state has policies that allow high school students to concurrently enroll in college classes on a college campus, online or taught by a college instructor at a high school;
- AP & IB: passing grades on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate translate into college credit at some institutions; and
- Early college: more than 280 high schools are designed to help every graduate gain 1–2 years of college credit while in high school.
Nontraditional college. Degree seekers with obligations that preclude a campus experience have a growing number of options:
- Online learning is a great option for working adults. It allows flexibility in time, location and pacing. In many cases, the learner experience is highly social. In some cases, learners report more personal attention from instructors than is common in face-to-face courses.
- Community colleges remain a cost-effective option for job-specific programs and for low-cost general education credits.
- Credit for prior knowledge: several organizations offer inexpensive competency-based exams in general education courses.
Post-baccalaureate learning. That first degree may get your foot in the door, but advancement requires learning new skills. Online master’s degrees have been and will remain a valuable option.
Dynamic job clusters like web development and coding will increasingly recognize marketing signaling systems that communicate gained competencies. These badging systems will often be linked to digital portfolios that catalog personal bests. Learning opportunities in these new job categories include open courses and code schools.
A number of professions require continuing education. Fortunately, new personalized learning strategies can make fulfilling these requirements more flexible and useful.
Learning is the currency of the idea economy. Starting college in high school, working and learning, striving and growing — learning is the new lifestyle.
This post was written as part of the University Of Phoenix Versus Program. I’m a compensated contributor, but the thoughts and ideas are my own. | <urn:uuid:90f19188-d71f-4cfe-a729-1cfee53c335d> | CC-MAIN-2020-50 | https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/01/always-learning-college-now-later/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-50/segments/1606141176864.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20201124140942-20201124170942-00594.warc.gz | en | 0.959087 | 618 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Everyone is forgetful now and again, and as we age the occurrences may become even more frequent. Yet most people who have mild forgetfulness do not have Alzheimer’s disease. But when memory loss starts to interfere with daily activities, it may be time to consult with a physician.
Alzheimer’s disease is not a product of the natural aging process. Scientists do not know what causes the disease; however, age is a factor. The disease usually begins after age 60 and the risk goes up with the increase in age. Approximately five million Americans currently suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.
Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease
According to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org), there are ten warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease:
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life: forgetting recently learned information or important dates
- Challenges in planning or solving problems: trouble following familiar recipe or with monthly bills
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks: trouble driving to familiar location or managing a budget
- Confusion with time or place: losing track of dates, seasons and the passage of time
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships: difficulty judging distances and determining color or contrast
- New problems with words or writing: repeating self, trouble following a conversation
- Misplacing things and inability to retrace steps: placing things in unusual places and may accuse others of stealing
- Decreased or poor judgment: problems with money, paying less attention to grooming
- Withdrawal from work or social activities: trouble completing a favorite hobby and shying away from social engagement
- Changes in mood and personality: can become confused, suspicious, fearful, anxious and easily upset
The Stages of Alzheimer’s
Stage 1: No impairment (normal function)
A person in the first stage of Alzheimer’s exhibits no problems with memory, nor is dementia evident in an interview with a physician.
Stage 2: Very mild cognitive decline (may be normal age-related changes or earliest signs of Alzheimer’s disease)
During this stage, there may be a few issues with memory, such as misplacing items or not being able to recall the correct words in conversation. However, there is still no evidence of dementia in a medical interview or to family and friends.
Stage 3: Mild cognitive decline (early-stage Alzheimer’s can be diagnosed in some, but not all, individuals with these symptoms)
Symptoms such as memory lapses and problems with concentration begin to be noticeable to family and friends, as well as in an in-depth medical interview.
Stage 4: Moderate cognitive decline (mild or early-stage Alzheimer’s disease)
In the fourth stage, symptoms such as problems with complex tasks, memory loss related to recent events as well as the person’s own history, inability to perform difficult mental calculations, and moodiness are clearly detected during a medical interview.
Stage 5: Moderately severe cognitive decline (moderate or mid-stage Alzheimer’s disease)
At this point, help is needed with daily activities. Memory loss and thinking issues are noticeable, and the person may become confused about what day it is and where he or she is. Significant details about the person and his or her family are still remembered, however, and the person is able to eat and use the toilet unassisted.
Stage 6: Severe cognitive decline (moderately severe or mid-stage Alzheimer’s disease)
Memory issues become even more severe at this stage, and the person begins to need extensive help with day-to-day activities. Personality changes are evident, and the person may have periods of unawareness of location and recent experiences, as well as personal history and his or her own spouse or caregiver. The person may also be prone to wander and become lost.
Stage 7: Very severe cognitive decline (severe or late-stage Alzheimer’s disease)
In this final stage, the person needs assistance to eat or use the toilet as well as with other aspects of personal care. Conversations can no longer be carried on, although the person may still be able to speak in words or phrases, and movements become uncontrollable. Eventually, the ability to smile and hold the head upright may also be lost. Muscle movements, reflexes and swallowing become impaired.
All Care, top providers of in home care Ashland and the surrounding areas trust, walks hand in hand with families through the progression of their loved one’s disease, offering professional, compassionate in-home care. Contact All Care to learn if your loved ones could be a good fit for our specialized in‑home Alzheimer’s and dementia care services. | <urn:uuid:89370727-d5e4-4c8f-a5fe-830550d2089e> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://allcareonline.com/alzheimers-awareness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370507738.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20200402173940-20200402203940-00314.warc.gz | en | 0.941641 | 964 | 2.953125 | 3 |
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Technology Based Outsourcing K-12 Mathematics and Science Teachingby M.O. Thirunarayanan
The author suggests that the teaching of mathematics and science in K-12 schools be outsourced to teachers in other countries whose students achieve better in mathematics and science. He outlines the advantages of using telecommunications technologies to outsource the teaching of mathematics and science.
American corporations outsource a number of jobs, especially in the information technology (IT) sector, to countries like India. A number of factors make it not only feasible but also attractive to outsource such jobs. The availability of a highly skilled labor force, a labor force with more qualified people seeking jobs with fewer available jobs resulting in high competition for jobs, the fact that average wages are lower in other countries, and the strength of the US dollar vis a vis the currency of the other country, are some of the factors that make outsourcing a viable option for corporations in advanced countries such as the United States. Similar arguments can be made for outsourcing K-12 math and science teaching. Using telecommunications technologies, teachers from other countries whose students score higher on math and science assessments can teach math and science content to K-12 students in the United States.
The Status of Mathematics and Science Education in the United States
Educators can learn from corporations and start outsourcing the teaching of mathematics and science at the K-12 level to teachers in other countries. Although the United States is considered by some to still be the most technologically advanced nation in the world, teachers in its K-12 schools are lagging far behind teachers in K-12 schools in many other countries, including many third world countries, when it comes to teaching science and mathematics to students in elementary, middle, and high schools. In international comparisons of student achievement, students in the United States performed worse in science and math assessments than students in many other countries (Martin, Mullis, Gonzalez & Chrostowski, 2004; Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez & Chrostowski, 2004).
Outsourcing the Teaching of K-12 Mathematics and Science: An Economically Smart Solution
Due to the unequal rate of exchange of the currencies of the United States of America and countries like India or Singapore, and due to the fact that the cost of living and teacher salaries are generally lower in many other countries, teachers from these other countries can be paid wages that are less than the wages that teachers in the United States are likely to command. According to data published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD, the beginning salary for teachers in the country of Hungary in 2004 was equal to US$ 9,956 (OECD, 2006). During the same year, primary level teachers in the United States earned a beginning salary of US$ 28, 713 (OECD, 2006). According to the national "Survey and Analysis of Teacher Salary Trends 2005" (American Federation of Teachers, 2007), the average salary of teachers in the United States of America during Academic Year 2004-2005 was $47, 602, which is much higher that what beginning teachers earn.
Hungary is one of the many countries whose students scored higher in both international math (Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez & Chrostowski, 2004) and science (Martin, Mullis, Gonzalez & Chrostowski, 2004) assessments. Most school districts in the United States can hire nearly three teachers to teach from Hungary for the same amount of money that they pay for one teacher who is a citizen or resident of this country. School districts can also outsource teaching to more experienced teachers from countries such as Hungary at a substantial salary savings and improve student achievement in math and science at the same time. Hungary is just one example. There are many other countries whose teachers earn lower salaries, but whose students learn more math and science than students in the United States.
Advantages of Technology-Based Outsourcing of Teaching of K-12 Mathematics and Science
Since available internet, Web, and videoconferencing technologies can be used to enable teachers from other countries to teach students in the United States, and since the teachers will not have to physically visit the United States, it will not be necessary to obtain visas for the teachers to visit and work in this country. There is also no foreseeable possibility of these virtual teachers becoming immigrants and settling down in this country, a possibility that some anti-immigration groups of citizens in this country might be concerned about. These groups will have little reason to oppose such outsourcing of the teaching of mathematics and science.
Outsourced teaching contracts can be more closely tied to student achievement, and can be renewed or terminated on the basis of student achievement or other criteria determined by school districts, something that is hard to do in this country due to the strong unionization of the K-12 teaching profession.
In addition, if allowed under US laws, school districts that pay these foreign teachers should be able to withhold all applicable US taxes before making any payments to the teachers. This will ensure that the US government does not lose any tax revenues as a result of outsourcing mathematics and science teaching.
The United States will not have to bear any of the cost of training teachers from the other countries since they have already been trained in their own countries. The achievement of their students in math and science has also been well established by research that compares student achievement in math and science in various countries. Another advantage of outsourcing is that teachers in K-12 schools in the United States can also learn more science and math content as they follow up on activities and discussions initiated by their online counterparts in other countries.
The only potential problem is the ability of teachers in other countries to speak English in a way that American students can understand them. This can be achieved in at least two ways. People who originated from the country of interest and who have lived in the United States for a long time and have returned to their home countries can train teachers in that country to speak English similar to the way that Americans speak the language. Alternatively, a small group of American teachers can travel to the countries in which the expert math and science teachers reside, and teach them American English. During such travels, the teachers from the United States can also learn math and science content from teachers in other countries. Competition from other countries will in the long run help strengthen teacher preparation in this country.
Outsourcing math and science education using technology is a win-win situation for students, schools and parents in the United States. It is possible that in the short term, the egos of American teachers will be hurt. However, in the long run, the United States will most certainly benefit from the enhanced math and science knowledge of its students who will use such knowledge to help the country maintain its technological edge in the world.
American Federation of Teachers. (2007). Survey and Analysis of Teacher Salary Trends 2005. Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. Retrieved from the Web on July 27, 2007: http://www.aft.org/salary/2005/download/AFT2005SalarySurvey.pdf.
Martin, Mullis, Gonzalez & Chrostowski. (2004). TIMSS 2003 International Science Report. Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Lynch School of Education, Boston College.
Mullis, Martin, Gonzalez & Chrostowski. (2004). TIMSS 2003 International Mathematics Report. Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts: TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, Lynch School of Education, Boston College.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2006). Education at a glance: OECD indicators. Paris: OECD.
Dr. Thirunarayanan teaches in the College of Education and in the Honors College at Florida International University, in Miami, Florida. His interests include integrating technology in educational settings and studying the impact of technology on society.
Source: Ubiquity Volume 9, Issue 21 (May 27 - June 2, 2008) | <urn:uuid:5bc421bb-d1a2-4df0-9ce4-1714f5c68e93> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=1386857 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100989.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20231209233632-20231210023632-00039.warc.gz | en | 0.945082 | 1,633 | 2.84375 | 3 |
- What role do hormones play in hunger and satiety?
- Why does my appetite keep changing?
- What are 2 signs of moderate hunger?
- How do hormones affect hunger?
- How can I control my hunger hormones?
- What are 3 things that influence appetite?
- Which brain area is most important for controlling hunger and eating?
- What are 6 things that influence appetite?
- What are 2 signs of extreme hunger?
What role do hormones play in hunger and satiety?
The function of various hormones in regulating appetite and satiety is to maintain energy homeostasis.
Various hormones such as ghrelin, leptin, cholecystokinin, and other peptides all relay peripheral signals to the hypothalamus..
Why does my appetite keep changing?
Appetite changes also have to do with your activity level. If you’re super active (maybe you went on a longer than normal hike yesterday) or even if you’re training for a marathon, you might find yourself hungrier than normal. “Depression, stress and anxiety can all lead to appetite changes,” says Patton.
What are 2 signs of moderate hunger?
3- Moderately Hungry: Thoughts about food increase, stomach starts to growl more, need to get something to eat increases. 2- Very Hungry: Stomach growling, stomach may hurt, need to get food now, everything is starting to sound good.
How do hormones affect hunger?
Leptin is a hormone, made by fat cells, that decreases your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, and also plays a role in body weight. Levels of leptin — the appetite suppressor — are lower when you’re thin and higher when you’re fat.
How can I control my hunger hormones?
18 Science-Based Ways to Reduce Hunger and AppetiteEat Enough Protein. Adding more protein to your diet can increase feelings of fullness, make you eat less at your next meal and help you lose fat ( 1 , 2). … Opt for Fiber-Rich Foods. … Pick Solids Over Liquids. … Drink Coffee. … Fill Up on Water. … Eat Mindfully. … Indulge in Dark Chocolate. … Eat Some Ginger.More items…•
What are 3 things that influence appetite?
Share on Pinterest A person’s environment, lifestyle, mental health, and physical health are among the factors that may affect their appetite. Appetite is a person’s general desire to eat food. A person’s appetite might dictate how much food they want to eat, as well as the type of food they feel like eating.
Which brain area is most important for controlling hunger and eating?
lateral hypothalamusThe lateral hypothalamus has been known for more than 50 years to be an important part of the brain for controlling eating.
What are 6 things that influence appetite?
6 Things That Affect Your Appetite For FoodLeptin Production. Leptin is a hormone that acts on the hypothalamus, the brain’s hunger center, to regulate your appetite, essentially making it the hunger off switch. … Climate. … Exercising. … Sickness and Injury. … Medicinal Side-Effects. … Social Factors.
What are 2 signs of extreme hunger?
Excessive hunger is characterized by the need for increased food intake above your usual caloric needs….Other symptoms that may occur along with excessive hungerAnxiety.Depression.Difficulty sleeping.Nervousness.Perspiration.Protruding eyes.Stress.Weight gain.More items… | <urn:uuid:50632302-9e6e-4b30-8108-85df66e0f707> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | https://spotlightonwichita.com/qa/quick-answer-how-do-hormones-affect-hunger-and-influence-eating-behaviour.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323588257.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20211028034828-20211028064828-00582.warc.gz | en | 0.898816 | 749 | 2.609375 | 3 |
From Ancient Dust Rises The Revived Ottoman Empire
Drawn From Notes from Various sources
Notes taken FROM THE JANUARY 2018 TRUMPET PRINT EDITION
The “White Palace” on the outskirts of Ankara is fit for a modern sultan. Boasting 2 million square feet and over 1,000 rooms, and costing $615 million, the lavish building’s Ottoman and Seljuk architecture and sculptured grounds revive the glory of the Ottoman Empire.
Originally the palace was intended to house the prime minister. However, just as it was nearing completion, the government decided it would instead be the president’s residence. Why? Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was nearing the end of his term, so, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, he chose to become president to retain power. And whether he was prime minister or president, the man living in the palace would be Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Today, the White Palace symbolizes not only Erdoğan’s vision for Turkey’s future, but also his own place in history.
It appears to me, and several other Bible Prophecy students that his name was inscribed into future/history before he was a gleam in his mother’s eyes.
The Justice and Development Party (known by its Turkish acronym akp) came to power in 2002. Its leader, the former mayor of Istanbul, became prime minister from 2003 to 2014, then transitioned to the presidency.
Over the past 15 years, Mr. Erdoğan has overseen a radical change in the governance of the state, transforming Turkey from a modern almost Western/European country where secularism and European behavior and clothing style is common, to one where Islam now dominates with a tightening fist.
Turkey is a functioning, though corrupted, democracy and many Turks hoped that Erdoğan and his party would eventually be voted out of office and lose power. However, the past two years have vanquished that hope and have assured Mr. Erdoğan’s place as Turkey’s strongman for the foreseeable future.
On the evening of July 15, 2016, Turkish tanks rolled into Istanbul. Soon the sonic boom of tactical jets and the low thumping of helicopters could be heard flying overhead. A coup d’état was underway.
The military has protected Turkish secularism for more than 50 years. In 1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997, the military had preserved the modern secular democratic state by successfully overthrowing the government. In a day or two, it seemed, the increasingly authoritarian and Islamic strongman of Turkey would no longer have the keys to the White Palace.
But Erdoğan managed to evade the revolutionaries as they descended on the coastal hotel where he had been staying. He then appeared on cnnTurk, calling on his supporters to take to the streets and use all means necessary to stop the insurrection. The people obeyed, defying the military’s imposed curfew. Footage quickly emerged on social media of men in plain clothes trying to hold back battle tanks, some even lying in front of them as they plowed forward. This further motivated Erdoğan’s supporters to come out in droves.
The terminating moment of the coup came the next day. It wasn’t the image the military had hoped for. They wanted Erdoğan in handcuffs. Instead, it was the image of soldiers laying down their weapons in surrender and being marched off the Bosporus Bridge. The military takeover had failed.
Worse than just botching the coup, the futile military action gave the president the rationale he needed to remove dissenters from positions of power throughout the nation. In the year and a half since, Erdoğan has sacked 146,713 state officials, teachers, bureaucrats, academics and military personnel. He has arrested 61,247 individuals, shut down over 3,000 schools, universities and dormitories, and dismissed 4,463 judges and prosecutors. To ensure the purge doesn’t attract too much attention, he has shut down 187 media outlets and arrested 308 journalists.
It would be an under estimate to expect this has disrupted the lives of at least 3,200,000 families, students and other working people.
With the military culled, the media silenced and anti-Erdoğan government technocrats removed, Erdoğan decided to alter the Turkish Constitution.
On April 16, 2017, Turkey held a nationwide referendum on 18 constitutional amendments proposed by Erdoğan’s party. The reforms passed in a close vote. Turkey can now transform from a parliamentary democracy to a presidential republic, and Erdoğan can remain in power until 2029 if he continues to win successive elections, which is likely because strong-arm tactics are effective and vote counts can be altered.
Where to Now
Erdoğan has been tightening his hold on power for years, but never as overtly as in the last two years. Most of his actions have the support of the majority of Turks. It was they who answered the call from the minarets to stop the tanks in their tracks. It was they who reelected him over and over in spite of his authoritarian tactics. It was they who approved his constitutional amendments…. So the argument goes. But can it be believed? Perhaps some are afraid to denounce these changes.
I just mentioned that at least 3,200,000 people have had their lives disrupted due to the massive changes. Turkish population is approximately 81-million and the country’s population growth rate in 1950 was 2.54% and now is 1.45%. This decline indicates to me, Turkish citizens are afraid to make trouble, everyone knows someone whose life has been disrupted over the past 2-years, and many are not wealthy enough and emotionally secure about their future enough to marry and begin raising families of their own. Many are probably finding a way to leave the country and never return!
The military is over 300,000 active personnel. This tells us 3% of the country’s population are paid to produce nothing of value. They cost the country a fortune in taxes maintaining their military forces. Naturally, the more courageous and intelligent young adults would be leaving to work abroad and get away from the declining standard of living.
The West, particularly European nations, have a complicated relationship with Turkey, a pillar member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. They rely on its cooperation in many ways, and have shown themselves remarkably willing to overlook a great deal of unsavory behavior in order to preserve ties. The idea of Turkey becoming a European Union member, as it has long sought to be, is further from becoming reality than ever. Yet biblical prophecy says its ongoing alliance with Europe will play a role in end-time events.
Biblical prophecy does not say whether or not Erdoğan will continue to rule Turkey, but it does indicate that there will be a strong ruler in Turkey capable of navigating powerful alliances, especially with a German-led Europe. It also indicates that Turkey will be part of one of the greatest double crosses in history, against the modern nations of Israel (read more of these prophecies in this free booklet The King of the South).
Given Erdoğan’s self-serving alliance in nato, as well as his openly hostile attitude toward Jews and Israel, he is a probable candidate to lead Turkey to fulfill the final terrible prophecies.
For your own reference concerning Turkish military you can look here:
In short summary Turkey is among the top 5 most powerful military forces in the world capable of putting close to a million men in uniform and there are sufficient weapons to arm all of them. The Turkish president in 2018 boasted he could overcome all of Europe in 3-days and be ready to take on Russian forces soon thereafter.
Special forces and police attend the funeral ceremony of a Turkish soldier killed in cross-border clashes with Kurdish People’s Protection Units.
In a world of rising strongmen, Turkey’s president take more authoritarian power.
from: MAY 29 2018 Trumpet.com
Two divisions of Turkey’s Special Forces will come under the direct command of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Times of London revealed May 24. The order will incorporate tens of thousands of special force officers into Erdoğan’s close protection team. This is the latest of many actions the president has taken to secure his position as Turkey’s strongman.
The special police force (poh) was first established in 1982 under the Department of Public Security. Its function was to protect civilians and prevent terror attacks in rural areas. Recruits are selected from the regular police force and then specially trained for 16 weeks under a private military company called Sadat. The recruits are trained in sniping, reconnaissance, carrying out house raids, and more.
The Gendarmerie (jöh) is the other special force that, until now, was under the control of both the Interior and Defense ministries.
These two Special Forces have played integral roles in Turkish operations against Kurdish militants in Syria and eastern Turkey since 2015. Now they’re both under direct command of the president.
In 2013, the police exposed corruption in then Prime Minister Erdoğan’s party involving fraud, bribery and money laundering. Turkey has for years and years permitted a thriving trafficking of young women from Ukraine and Russia. They end up in brothels and often end their lives poisoned with alcohol, drugs, and sexually transmitted diseases. Prime Minister Erdoğan knew but didn’t care, because like many Muslims, women are considered less important than pack animals.
Rather than reforming his government, he purged the police force, tightened his grip over the judiciary, and subjugated the media.
When Erdoğan became president in 2014, he continued to consolidate more authoritarian powers, pulling Turkey farther from what used to be the model of a successful Muslim democracy.
Suddenly in 2016, parts of Turkey’s military attempted a coup. Four times in Turkey’s modern history the military has risen up successfully to preserve a secular democratic state. But this time the coup failed, and Erdoğan capitalized on the opportunity to garner even more power for himself.
Immediately he began purging dissenters—thousands of military personnel, judges, prosecutors, educators and reporters were fired or imprisoned.
When Erdoğan declared a three-month state of emergency on July 21 that year, it enabled him to vastly expand his power. Twenty-two months later, the state of emergency is still in place. Erdoğan has taken advantage of the situation to issue numerous decrees—the latest being his control over the Special Forces.
As Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker wrote in his article “Exiled Journalist: Beware Turkey’s Authoritarian Shift,” in a late issue of the Trumpet newsmagazine:
This transformation in Turkey is not a rare fluke. It is part of a trend that is affecting other major nations. For nearly two centuries, democratic, free societies—led by the British Empire and the United States—have flourished. But modern, sophisticated, wealthy and well-armed nations are now reverting to authoritarianism in Asia, China most notably and, there are questions raised about Japan.
In Europe, record numbers of voters are electing nationalists: Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Sebastian Kurz in Austria, Andrej Babiš in the Czech Republic. In the Middle East, the flash of optimism during the Arab Spring is over, and the region has emerged even less democratic and free—ruled by autocrats and riven by tribalism and violent turf wars.
By several measures, looked at globally, the power of governments and individual leaders is growing, and the freedoms of citizens are eroding. People are recognizing that the world is getting more aggressive and more dangerous. They are looking for security and protection. And strongmen are promising to provide it.
For nearly two centuries, the world has experienced the spread of democratic, free societies. The 21st century, on the other hand, has seen a vastly different trend: the rise of authoritarian strongmen.
This global trend was actually prophesied in your Bible thousands of years ago. Your Bible speaks of the coming dark days of authoritarian rule in this end time, which will inevitably end in war. Learn more about this here “The New Strongman Age.”
Is Turkey important to our future? Let’s look at a map and Bible Prophecy with the help of my scholar friend Jerry Warrington.
Erdoğan Takes Control of Turkish Special Forces
In a world of rising strongmen, Turkey’s president grabs hold of more authoritarian power.
Daniel 8:1 In the third year of the reign of king Belshazzar a vision appeared to me, even to me, Daniel, after that which appeared to me at the first. 2 I saw in the vision; now it was so, that when I saw, I was in the citadel of Susa, which is in the province of Elam; and I saw in the vision, and I was by the river Ulai. 3 Then I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. 4 I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; and no animals could stand before him, neither was there any who could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will, and magnified himself.
Now look again at the map and see what countries are surrounding Turkey. We think Germany will be involved in all of this when the need is critical but first one can expect Turkey will pick a fight with Syria, Iraq, later Egypt an Iran, perhaps Russia via Ukraine. He would likely conquer Bulgaria and Romania.
5 As I was considering, behold, a male goat came from the west over the surface of the whole earth, and didn’t touch the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. 6 He came to the ram that had the two horns, which I saw standing before the river, and ran on him in the fury of his power. 7 I saw him come close to the ram, and he was moved with anger against him, and struck the ram, and broke his two horns; and there was no power in the ram to stand before him; but he cast him down to the ground, and trampled on him; and there was none who could deliver the ram out of his hand. 8 The male goat magnified himself exceedingly: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and instead of it there came up four notable [horns] toward the four winds of the sky. 9 Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which grew exceeding great, toward the south [from Turkey], and toward the east [from Turkey], and toward the glorious [land] [Israel]. 10 It grew great, even to the army of the sky; and some of the army and of the stars [religious leaders] it cast down to the ground, and trampled on them. 11 Yes, it magnified itself, even to the prince of the army; and it took away from him the continual [burnt offering], and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. 12 The army was given over [to it] together with the continual [=burnt offering] through disobedience; and it cast down truth to the ground, and it did [its pleasure] and prospered. 13 Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who spoke, How long shall be the vision [concerning] the continual [burnt offering], and the disobedience that makes desolate
[the Abomination of (or that causes) Desolation, is likely an Artificial Intelligence image of the world leader who requires a mark of loyalty],
to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trodden under foot? 14 He said to me, To two thousand and three hundred evenings [and] mornings [6.4 years from the mid-point of the Seven Year Covenant until the coming of Jesus at the end of the 3.4 year Great Tribulation Period] (If this expected agreement were to be signed in 2018 add 6.4 years and you land in late 2024 or early 2025.); then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. 15 It happened, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. 16 I heard a man’s voice between [the banks of] the Ulai, (something terrible lies beneath that spot. I can’t cover it now, but it will reveal itself in good time.) which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. 17 So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was frightened, and fell on my face: but he said to me, Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end. 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I fell into a deep sleep with my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upright. 19 He said, Behold, I will make you know what shall be in the latter time of the indignation [the 3.4 year Great Tribulation period following the 7-year Mideast Peace Treaty]; for it belongs to the appointed time of the end[it is the last period (3.4 years) before Christ returns to set up his 1000 year reign on earth]. 20 The ram which you saw, that had the two horns, they are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 The rough male goat is the king of Greece [Alexander The Great d.323 B.C.]: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 As for that which was broken, in the place where four stood up, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not with his power. 23 In the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have come to the full [envision today’s morality], a king of fierce face, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up [I envision Tayyip Erdogan]. 24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper and do [his pleasure]; and he shall destroy the mighty ones and the holy people. 25 Through his policy he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and in [their] security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. 26 The vision of the evenings and mornings which has been told is true: but seal up the vision; for it belongs to many days [to come]. 27 I, Daniel, fainted, and was sick certain days; then I rose up, and did the king’s business: and I wondered at the vision, but none understood it.
Revelation 13:1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns[armies] and seven heads [seven successive world dominant governments]. On his horns [not his head] were ten crowns [his armies are under authority of ten nation confederation [this is the European Union], and on his heads, blasphemous names[Islamic Bismillah headbands]. 2 The beast which I saw was like a leopard [Alexander The Great], and his feet were like those of a bear [Media-Persia], and his mouth like the mouth of a lion [Babylon] [successive characterizations of the Mideast Empires through history. In other words it was an Islamic entity]. The dragon [the EU] gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. 3 One of his heads looked like it had been wounded fatally [the Caliphate — The Reviving Ottoman Empire!]. His fatal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled at the beast. 4 They worshiped the dragon, because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”
[The Beast and the Dragon will be the world dominant power in the last 7 years of this civilization and many Western nation’s will suffer at the hands of this terrible army of lawless men — terrorists living among us. ]
5 The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise its authority for forty-two months. 6 It opened its mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. 7 It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him. 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 If anyone is to go into captivity, he will go into captivity. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, he must be killed.1 This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people.
11 Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. [the Islamic Mahdi] (a demon) .12 It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast,whose fatal wound had been healed. [ This insinuates a link to Turkey, the seas of teh Ottoman Empire Caliphate.]
13 He performs great signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of people. 14 He deceives my own2 people who dwell on the earth (the Jewish People of Daniel’s bloodline) because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast; saying to those who dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who had the sword wound and lived. 15 It was given to him to give breath to it, to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause as many as wouldn’t worship the image of the beast to be killed [convergence].
This “image” is probably a robot /statue with Artificial Intelligence that will scan people passing for their ID number implant. If you have no implant, you’ll be arrested then and there. The technology to do this is working presently.
16 He (the beast) causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, to be given marks on their right hands, or on their foreheads; 17 and that no one would be able to buy or to sell, unless he has that mark, the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. He who has understanding, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is six hundred sixty-six [the Bismillah in Arabic appears as 666].
My impression from reading the chatter at Facebook is that most older Americans are self-assured, perhaps arrogant, and completely unaware of what really is happening around the Middle East and relationships with Turkey, Germany, Russia, England, France and the USA and so on. The very idea that Turkish politics might affect their lives in the slightest seems something between silly and irrelevant.
You are one of the much smarter ones. You’ve reached the end of this piece. Continue reading 2 or 3 more years. We’ll find out if Turkish politics will or will not affect your life.
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By Dale Skran
On October 9th, a Russian Proton lofted Northrup Grumman’s first satellite life-extension vehicle from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) is designed to extend the life of satellites by providing propulsion and attitude control. An MEV is illustrated in the center of the image above.
The 2.3 kg MEV-1 will take 3.5 months to reach geosynchronous orbit using electric propulsion. There it will connect to the Intelsat-901 satellite, which has been in orbit for 18 years, and move it a few hundred miles higher to a test orbit.
After a few months of testing, the combined vehicle will move back to a normal geosynchronous orbit and resume operations. The current plan is to use the MEV-1 to extend the life of Intelsat-901 for five years, but the MEV is designed to last 15 years and can be detached from the initial target satellite to extend the life of additional satellites.
The MEV can clamp onto existing features of a communications satellite such as the exhaust nozzle. This allows for the life of an older satellite that was not designed for on-orbit servicing to be extended. Vehicles designed for on-orbit servicing have special connections to allow for refueling, as well as modules that are easy to replace.
This is the first time that a spacecraft has been used to extend the life of a geosynchronous satellite, and heralds a new age of satellite servicing, with resultant lower costs for space operations. | <urn:uuid:9abfb5a2-5049-463f-ae18-09c5a495cd2b> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://space.nss.org/satellite-life-extension-becomes-a-real-thing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107867463.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20201019232613-20201020022613-00041.warc.gz | en | 0.935392 | 324 | 3.34375 | 3 |
“Culturally responsive and inclusive curriculum” – let’s break that down.
Culture, what is it and what kinds of cultures are there? One definition of culture reads, "Broadly, culture is a collection of information (or meanings) that is (a) nongenetically transmitted between individuals, (b) more or less shared within a population of individuals, and (c) maintained across some generations over a period of time." (1)
So what kinds of cultures might exist within a classroom? Culture is often thought of in terms of ethic or national groups, but we can also look at cultures, within or beyond ethic groups, in terms of race, gender, sexuality, abilities, or class. These are only a few ways to look at culture, there are many more. A person may belong to many cultures and so these ways of looking at culture will naturally intersect. It is important too to examine "invisible" cultures within a classroom. For example, what is the culture of academia? What cultures make "the higher education classroom what it is today? What ethic groups, classes, sexualities, and abilities have been privileged in the creation and maintenance of higher education, and how can we make these assumptions more apparent?
What does it mean to "respond and include culture in our curriculum?" Another way to look at this is how do we become culturally responsive teachers? Geneva Gay states:
“Culturally responsive teaching can be defined as using cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse students to make learning encounters more relevant and effective for them. It teaches to and through the strengths of these students. Culturally responsive teaching is the behavioral expression of knowledge, beliefs, and values that recognize the importance of racial and cultural diversity in learning. It is contingent on a set of racial and cultural competencies amply summarized by Teel and Obidah (2008) (2). They include
Researchers have found that culturally responsive classrooms motivate students to learn. "The essentials of this motivational framework are that it 1), respect diversity; 2) engages the motivation of a abroad range of students; 3) create a safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environment; 4) derives teaching practices form across disciplines and cultures; and 5) promotes equitable learning." (4)
(1) Kashima, Yoshihisa. "Culture." In Encyclopedia of Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, edited by John M. Levine and Michael A. Hogg, 177-181. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2010. doi: 10.4135/9781412972017.n55.
(2) Teel, Karen Manheim., and Obidah, Jennifer E. Building Racial and Cultural Competence in the Classroom : Strategies from Urban Educators. New York, NY: Teachers College Press, 2008.
(3) Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching : Theory, Research, and Practice. 2nd ed. Multicultural Education Series (New York, N.Y.). New York: Teachers College, 2010
(4) Wlodkowski, Raymond J., and Ginsberg, Margery B. Diversity and Motivation : Culturally Responsive Teaching. 1st ed. Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995.
Here's a list of a few sources that are good introductions to culturally responsive and inclusive curriculum and pedagogy. Some have a K-12 focus, but many of the ideas can be adapted for higher education.
Branche, Jerome., Mullennix, John W, and Cohn, Ellen R. Diversity across the Curriculum : A Guide for Faculty in Higher Education. Bolton, Mass.: Anker Pub., 2007
Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching : Theory, Research, and Practice. 2nd ed. Multicultural Education Series (New York, N.Y.). New York: Teachers College, 2010.
Banks, James A. Cultural Diversity and Education : Foundations, Curriculum, and Teaching. Sixth ed. New York, NY ; Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2016.
Quaye, Stephen John, and Harper, Shaun R. Student Engagement in Higher Education : Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Approaches for Diverse Populations. Second ed. New York: Routledge, 2015.
Lee, Amy; Poch, Robert; Shaw, Marta; Evans, Rhiannon. Engaging diversity in undergraduate classrooms a pedagogy for developing intercultural competence. Hoboken, N.J. : Wiley Periodicals, Inc. ; San Francisco, Calif. : Jossey-Bass, 2012.
Thomas, Cornell. Inclusive Teaching Presence in the Classroom. New Directions for Teaching and Learning ; No. 140. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014. ONLINE
Davis, Bonnie M. How to Teach Students Who Don't Look like You : Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press, 2006.
To find more sources use subjects such as: | <urn:uuid:961f6b5f-f43f-4b18-af83-59bfb0a1377e> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://guides.library.pdx.edu/c.php?g=527355&p=3623937 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514574050.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20190920155311-20190920181311-00180.warc.gz | en | 0.892985 | 1,067 | 4.5 | 4 |
Delray Beach, FL (PRWEB) March 26, 2013
Although ketamine may be relatively new to the club drug scene, Delray Recovery Center’s new infographic explains how the drug has been around for decades. Its history dates back to 1962, when it was originally developed as a human and animal anesthetic. By 1969, ketamine was a common psychedelic drug often known as “hippie smack.” New nicknames for the drug came into play with terms like “Special K,” “breakfast cereal” and “bump” by the time it hit the nightclubs as a current popular drug of abuse. The infographic reports ketamine was associated with 49 deaths in the U.S. in 2009.
“We hope knowing the full range of facts behind ketamine may persuade people not to try the drug in the first place,” said Delray Recovery Center Chief Operations Officer Doug Petri. “We also hope those who see the full range of dangers noted in our infographic may be persuaded to seek help to overcome ketamine abuse or addiction.”
The U.S. is not the only place where ketamine poses a major threat. The infographic reports the drug’s abuse is a current health issue in East Asia as well as Germany, England and other European countries. The health issue stems from the dangerous and potentially fatal effects of the drug. These include intense hallucinations, lack of coordination and an exaggerated sense of strength. Short-term use of ketamine can result in impaired attention, memory and learning ability while long-term abuse can lead to memory issues and damage to other brain functions. The drug can induce muscle rigidity, numbness, loss of coordination and can make people feel invulnerable.
University of Maryland’s Center for Substance Abuse Research backs up the hazardous nature of ketamine, noting one of its most dangerous effects is the confused and helpless state it often induces. Not only does this pose a problem with balance, coordination and sensory perception, but it can make a person highly susceptible to date rape and other crimes. Additional effects of ketamine noted by both the center and the infographic include a detachment from reality and death from overdose. The infographic adds a dose as small as 1 gram can be fatal.
Located in Delray Beach, Florida, Delray Recovery Center offers individualized treatment programs for alcohol and drug addiction, eating disorders and co-occurring mental health issues. The center has long been providing a soothing environment while its certified staff designs programs that are comfortable, safe and unique to the individual, elements that can ultimately lead to success and a sustained life of recovery. | <urn:uuid:836ae2ab-87b5-4ebe-a88e-556940a42fb7> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/3/prweb10565870.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416400379063.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20141119123259-00227-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954012 | 544 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Understand Facial Eczema
Updated: Oct 7, 2018
Does Facial Eczema affect your flock? Have your scanning percentages decreased? Do you have issues with flock survivability? Learn what FE is and how you can prevent it.
Facial Eczema (FE) is a metabolic disease caused by the fungus Pithomyces chartarum which produces a toxin called sporidesmin. This fungus requires warm humid conditions to grow vast numbers of toxic spores. Animals ingest the toxin when grazing the pasture, particularly if eating into the base leaf litter.
The primary effect of sporidesmin is liver and bile duct injury which causes sub-clinical (non-visible) and clinical (visible) effects on the animal.
Decreased scanning percentages (fewer multiples & more dry ewes)
Death at lambing
Slow growing lambs
Avoiding direct sunlight
Reddened facial features
Shaking & rubbing of faces against posts and gates
Scabby peeling skin with potential for infections or fly-strike
“If you get, say, 5 per cent clinicals, then at least 50 per cent of the flock has sub-clinical FE. With 20 per cent clinicals, the whole flock will be affected.”
-Former Whatawhata scientist Dr Clive Dalton (from Facing Up to Facial Eczema)
FE is manageable with several options available:
Purchasing proven FE-tolerant rams to breed a tolerant flock
Dosing stock and/or pasture with zinc variants
Applying fungicides to control numbers of spores
Growing a forage crop or alternate pasture species
Shortening stock rotations so the grass sward is not lowered to the leaf litter
Of these options, selecting FE tolerant rams has the best long term effect to the flock's health and farm profitability. There is also a degree of resistance towards mycotoxins such as Lolitrem B (grass staggers) and Ergovaline (heat stress) with FE tolerant sheep.
Zinc is a heavy metal, and whilst effective when administrated at the correct time, it requires intensive stock management with possible weekly drenching. This method is very costly and can create toxic levels in the soil over prolonged periods.
Fungicides are sprayed onto pasture which can be very expensive and need to be reapplied with constant monitoring of spore counts.
Breeding for a FE Tolerant Flock
The most effective and proven way to manage FE is to breed for tolerance. By choosing rams that can withstand high spore counts with no clinical effects you can begin to breed tolerance into your flock. Kirikau Coopworths has been FE Gold rated for 5 years, this means we are dosing minimum 10% of our stud rams to a rate of 0.6 mg sporidesmin/kg liveweight.
Beef&Lamb booklet “Facing up to Facial Eczema”
New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research - Review of genetic studies of susceptibility to facial eczema in sheep and dairy cattle
Vet ENT - Facial Eczema | <urn:uuid:65b34cf2-5b29-48ec-a16b-778670639049> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://www.kirikaucoopworths.com/post/modern-day-meetings | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107893011.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20201027023251-20201027053251-00223.warc.gz | en | 0.89745 | 646 | 2.65625 | 3 |
What is replication?
Pressed discs are created using a glass master, and then the CD is stamped or replicated, injection molding the information on the discs.
This format is able to be read by more readers so is more compatible for listening. They last longer than burned discs but minimum runs start at 250 units.
What is burning?
Burning is the act of burning the information to blank, CD-Rs or DVD-Rs, with a laser to the disc in a CD-R writer or burner. Not as recognized by readers as pressed discs and don’t last as long before skips and glitches appear. But runs start at 100 units. | <urn:uuid:1cc1458b-b659-4055-8b1d-91d8c2b50ff8> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://dmadiscs.com/products/questions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506429.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922234442-20230923024442-00707.warc.gz | en | 0.947218 | 136 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Catholic Schoolhouse Tour I Week 3 – Getting into the school groove
How was week 2? Starting to get in the school-groove? I hope so, and I hope that these ideas are keeping your teaching and learning, fun and interesting! Here’s more for week 3!
Religion/ Math/ Language Arts
Are you almost done with your Saint Kateri Fun Pack? Finish it up this week!
- This week practice your skip counting by 6 by counting legs on insects! Go outside and skip count butterflies, lady bugs or beetles crawling in your yard or garden.
- Did you know Honeycomb Cereal has 7 holes in each cereal piece? Get some Honeycombs for breakfast or snack time today and skip count the holes by 7s.
- Skip counting by 7- Have you ever seen this riddle?
As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man with seven wives,
Each wife had seven sacks,
Each sack had seven cats,
Each cat had seven kits:
Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,
How many were there going to St. Ives?
Share it with your students and see if they can figure out the answer! (Answer is at the bottom of this post!)
- Possessive nouns are the topic this week! Go through your house with your kids, naming the objects you see and their owners using possessive nouns. Examples: “Kristen’s desk, Eva’s toy, Daddy’s chair, Ben’s fishing pole, Sally’s ball etc.” Now go through the house again, but change the owner to God! “God’s desk, God’s toy, God’s chair, God’s fishing pole, God’s ball etc” You can use this week about possessive nouns to discuss how nothing is truly ours, and that all belongs to our maker!
This week mix music and art– Have students listen to some of Bach’s pieces and draw how it makes them feel. If students are having a difficult time sitting still to listen and think, try dimming the lights and have them close their eyes. Listen carefully- How does the music make you feel? What does it make you think of? Does this music remind you of a place you’ve been before?
You can use this simple Music Notebooking page to have your students record their thoughts!
- Find your map from last week with the explorers’ routes mapped and add Father Marquette and Joliet’s exploration of the Mississippi!
- Check out scholastic thanksgiving website. It is a fun way for students to learn about the daily life of the pilgrims and Native Americans, their clothing, what they ate and many more aspects of early colonial life. Best of all, it’s free! Your students will have fun listening to the path the Mayflower took with the little videos on the website.
- Make a Mayflower “Compact”- Your girls may like this better than the boys, but it is still easy and fun to do! Find an old make-up compact or better yet a toy-make up compact, print the Mayflower Compact in a narrow column (or use the printable). Fold back and forth and tape into your compact. Not only will it help them remember the name ‘compact’ but carrying it around in their purse or bag will ensure they read it at least once!
Don’t forget to explain how this just uses the word ‘compact’ in a fun way. Compact is a homonym- in the Mayflower Compact, it means an agreement or promise. In our make-up it just means ‘small.’ In a few weeks we will study homonyms in Language Arts and you can pull these out again!
You may need to be a little creative depending on the compact you use… see if you can take advantage of those funny little compartments by adding the title, year or location for the Mayflower Compact:
- Book Recommendation? Try Father Marquette and the Great Rivers by August Derleth. It’s an easy read about a cool Catholic who explored the Mississippi!
(Using this link to purchase this book helps Catholic Schoolhouse continue it’s mission)
- Check out the Water Geography Blog Post!
- Print a map of the USA and find as many lakes, islands, bays, isthmuses, peninsulas, and straits as you can!
- Do you live near water? Maybe you don’t have easy access to an isthmus or island, but most of us live in driving range of a lake, bay, or peninsula! Take a field trip! Make sure you print an aerial view of the water feature you are visiting to bring with you (try google.com/maps or bing.com/maps using the aerial view). Once you are there, discuss the characteristics of the geographic area. Is it easier to tell what geographic feature it is in person on the ground or from your aerial picture?
- This week students learn about fish! There are more than 30,000 species of fish and so much to learn! Pick a specific fish or even a type of fish (like sharks!) to research. Make a presentation about your fish, their characteristics that are the same as other fish, what makes them different, where they live, what they eat and any other details you can find!
- Take a FIELD TRIP! What better way is there to learn about fish than to go to an aquarium this week!
- Don’t have time or money or a convienent aquarium to visit? Go to a pet store. Some them have entire walls of fish to look at, um I mean consider buying as a pet. Plus you can talk about what the different species of fish eat, and how some are salt water and some fresh water.
- Check out this post about making an Ocean Layers Box. This project was originally slated for the Year 1 Science book, but we decided it may take too long. If your students just love being crafty, consider making your own Ocean Layers Box.
- Don’t forget to add Fish Facts to your Animals Lapbook! Check out the Animals Lapbook Part 3!
Answer to the St. Ives Riddle: Just one- Me! (I met all the rest on my way to St. Ives!) | <urn:uuid:39296a71-7344-4185-812f-656e61a4e15c> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.catholicschoolhouse.com/blog/2014/08/01/catholic-schoolhouse-year-1-week-3/?v=1d20b5ff1ee9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400202418.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20200929154729-20200929184729-00780.warc.gz | en | 0.942205 | 1,360 | 3.140625 | 3 |
We know the dangers of smoking and how it can impair health, but to what extent is it damaging to oral health?
Higher risk of gum disease
Plaque is considered the main cause of periodontal (gum) disease, which is the leading cause of tooth loss, but tobacco use is also one of the major risk factors in the growth and spreading of the disease. It is known that smoking leads to an increased build-up of plaque and tartar on an individual's teeth, but smoking also disturbs the attachment of bone and soft tissue to the teeth, according to WebMD. Tobacco has been known to interfere with the function of gum tissue cells, and the result is that smokers are susceptible to oral infections, which include periodontal disease. This interference also impairs blood flow to the gums, which may affect the healing of wounds.
A cause of leukoplakia
Leukoplakia is a white or grayish patch that appears on the tongue, the inside of the cheek or on the floor of the mouth, according to WebMD. It is the result of prolonged irritation of the mucous membranes of the mouth. Though it is most common in senior adults, it can occur at any age. Smoking tobacco does irritate the mucous membranes and is a cause of leukoplakia.
Though the disease can be painless, the patches are usually sensitive to touch, heat, spicy foods and other irritations. In cases apart from smoking, oral surgery is sometimes required to remove the irritation source. Otherwise, the dentist may advise an affected patient to stop smoking.
A dental implant no-no
Dental implants are the optimal solution to replacing missing teeth. With a root made out of titanium, dentists can attach implants to bones beneath the patient's gums. For those who are interested in dental implants but have no dental insurance or are in financial need, it might benefit them to look into a discount dental plan, which would substantially decrease the fees required to have this multi-visit procedure done.
In addition, smoking slows down the recovery time of dental implants, which usually takes two to six months. During this period, a patient is expected to have normal blood circulation, and the bone itself needs oxygen. Patients with the condition peri-implantitis are predisposed to responding poorly to implants because of the development of a deep mucosal pocket. This pocket, which leads to inflammation around the area of the implant, prevents the bone from accepting the implant, and the whole procedure fails. Though peri-implantitis is something any patient may develop, the chances are higher among smokers compared to nonsmokers.
Smokeless tobacco still a risk factor
Patients, who think they are safe because they get tobacco from a non-smoking source, should think again. According to WebMD, smokeless tobacco products contain dozens of chemicals that have been proven to increase the risks of cancers of the mouth, throat and esophagus. Chewing tobacco - a popular non-smoking tobacco source - contains a higher nicotine content than cigarettes, making it harder for users to quit. Also, one can of snuff, another cigarette alternative, has more nicotine than around 60 cigarettes.
Smokeless tobacco irritates the tissues of the gums, causing recession, which poses a high risk of tooth decay. Having the roots of teeth exposed in such a way also increases the likelihood of tooth loss and can make eating and drinking uncomfortable, due to the fact that exposed roots are more sensitive to hot and cold than those that are not. Smokeless tobacco also contains a high amount of sand and grit, which will naturally wear down teeth.
© 2013 Brafton Inc. | <urn:uuid:c7ec1380-2eb5-45ca-90aa-533afab3c139> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://www.dentalplans.com/dentalhealtharticles/58521/smoking-a-danger-to-your-oral-health.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207928586.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113208-00185-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946524 | 755 | 3.140625 | 3 |
While freedom of speech is the general rule in the U.S. and in the European Union (I), there are nevertheless exceptions to this freedom on both sides of the Atlantic (II). Some of these national exceptions aim at preventing hate speech, defamation, or threats, while others aim at preventing speech which is considered in other countries as the mere expression of an opinion, albeit unsavory, but nevertheless legal. Social media sites allow the rapid spread of all speech, whether protected or not, and such messages spread around the world, and sometimes stir people into action. Social media played an important role in the Arab Spring, the London riots, and the Occupy Wall Street movements. But while the web links us all, each country nevertheless retains its own legal framework, and may or may not view a particular speech, such a blasphemy or lèse majesté, as legal.
What is the purpose of these national exceptions to free speech (III)? Letting negative speech to be published has both positive and negative consequences. However, deciding whether a particular speech is worthy of protection, or not, is a slippery slope. Indeed, not every value is universally recognized, with the possible exceptions of safety and privacy. However, even then the laws balancing these two values with freedom of speech differ greatly in the U.S. and in Europe. Striking a balance between undeterred free speech and censorship to protect values considered worthy of protection is indeed a difficult exercise. Censorship of social media speech may not outweigh the benefit of forbidding a particular speech, but allowing complete free speech on social media may also have negative impacts, such as fostering cyber bullying or hate speech.
Speech is not black or white, bad speech on one side and good speech on the other side. Who has the right to decide which speech must be suppressed on social media sites (IV)? Some states have chosen the radical way of blocking web access entirely as a way to censor speech. Other states have pressured social media sites to monitor and block content deemed unsavory. Users have sometimes taken matters into their own hands, and Twitter has been pressured to give its users the power to block content. In Europe, Article 17 of a new Data Protection Regulation proposes to give users the right to be forgotten, that is, the power to have their personal data erased from the web. The European Court of Justice already ruled in May 2014 that search engines must provide a way for search results to be deleted. Knowing that one’s data may stay online forever and ever gives one pause. More and more people are thinking twice before hitting the publish button, sometimes with the guidance of corporate social media policies or ethics opinions. The rights and the plights of the person who is the topic of the speech must be taken into account. Is the person who is denied the right to be forgotten a victim, as is someone who has been slandered or threatened online?
What are the responsibilities and liabilities of social media sites (V)? The different laws regulating social media speech need to be respected, and corporations must develop programs and corporate policies to be compliant with them. Internet intermediaries may be liable for third party content in the U.S. and in Europe. But even if a corporation complies with the laws of its own country, how should it respond when receiving an international warrant in a free speech case? And how should these Internet intermediaries respond to a request to take down or to censor content? Regardless of their ultimate decisions, how they act upon these issues is watched and commented upon all around the world, on social media. | <urn:uuid:874378c2-f5dc-4705-85d7-dc553f52cb2a> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://law.stanford.edu/projects/regulating-freedom-of-speech-on-social-media-comparing-the-eu-and-the-u-s-approach/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100551.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20231205105136-20231205135136-00378.warc.gz | en | 0.93738 | 725 | 3.359375 | 3 |
New study says great Maya city of Tikal literally dried up
There are many mysteries in the history of this planet. One of them is why some civilizations, including the Maya of Central America, collapsed. If ancient people had no writing system or left no stone tablets or other enduring documents, it can be difficult to understand why highly evolved systems died. A new study sheds new light on what may have caused the decline of the great Maya city of Tikal in Guatemala.
Modern science is shedding light on why the great Maya city of Tikal in northern Guatemala ended in the 9 th century AD. In the past, scientists have speculated that war, unsustainable agriculture, overpopulation and/or drought ended many Mayan cities, including Tikal. It has been estimated that Tikal at its peak during the Classic period, 200 to 850 AD, had 100,000 to 200,000 residents. It was the largest Mayan city of the Classic period.
The Central Acropolis, south of the Great Plaza, holds residential and administrative structures ( Wikimedia Commons )
Extending over 400 hectares and consisting of monumental architecture, including palaces and temples decorated with incredible mural paintings, ball-game courts, and ceremonial platforms, UNESCO says Tikal was home to an “extraordinary bygone civilization” and that the construction of the city bears witness to “highly sophisticated technical, intellectual and artistic achievements that developed from the arrival of the first settlers (800 B.C.) to the last stages of historic occupation around the year 900.”
Tikal consists of great monumental structures like this temple in the Grand Plaza ( Wikimedia Commons )
Surrounding the urban area at Tikal was a wider zone covering over 1,200 hectares, which contained residential areas, water reservoirs, and sites for agriculture production that supported the city’s population.
So what catastrophe was so great that it could end a civilization that transformed the thick surrounding jungle into a great city with a rich culture, architecture and supporting farms, orchards, villages and towns?
A new study says drought possibly intensified by deforestation and paving of Tikal and the surrounding area resulted in the city’s downfall. The study’s authors, David Lentz of the University of Cincinnati and others, conclude: “the construction of extensive pavements combined with forest clearance likely exacerbated the effect of the drying trend, so by the mid-9th century there were inadequate supplies of water and food with little resilience left in the system to adapt to new conditions.”
Birds eye rendering showing an ancient reservoir at Tikal. Credit: Matt Zambelli and Tim Murtha
Popular-Archaeology.com says the report’s authors analyzed mineral deposits from regional caves, “which indicated episodes of persistent and unusually low rainfall during the mid-9th century, coinciding with the archaeological evidence of Tikal’s abandonment during that time period. Moreover, argue the researchers, the drought was likely enhanced by the inhabitants of Tikal itself, ‘as there is a growing body of evidence that indicates forest clearance, even partial forest clearance, will negatively impact the hydrologic cycle.’”
Tikal’s social structure collapsed when there wasn’t enough water to grow food to feed the population, Popular-Archaeology.com reports . The inhabitants abandoned the core of the city, ending construction and burning elite structures, “leaving only a tiny relict population huddled around the few water holes that did not dry up.”
Lentz and his colleagues surveyed the forest, studied satellite images, did excavations, coring and examinations of soil, plant and wood samples collected in and around Tikal from the Maya Late Classic period, from 600 to 850 AD. They studied “agro-forestry and agricultural land use practices of the Maya, as well as the evidence for environmental change, to build what they consider to be a likely scenario for the famous collapse of the great Tikal polity,” Popular-Archaeology.com writes.
The new study surveyed the forest surrounding Tikal. Image Source: Gudmund / Fotolia
“This latest study focused on examining evidence related to the agricultural and environmental factors. Their data and analysis showed that Tikal’s inhabitants practiced intensive forms of agriculture, including irrigation, terracing, and slash-and-burn cultivation, coupled with carefully controlled agro-forestry and water conservation techniques.”
Lentz et. al. speculate similar practices in the Mayan world, which was centered in the Yucatan Peninsula and what is now northern Central America, led to what is known as the Maya collapse around the end of the Classic period, around 800 AD.
Featured image: The central acropolis at Tikal. Image Source: Simon Danhauer / Fotolia
By Mark Miller | <urn:uuid:47bb7a88-56a1-4405-a108-d6860c03f2a6> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/new-study-says-great-maya-city-tikal-literally-dried-002461 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446710685.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20221129031912-20221129061912-00617.warc.gz | en | 0.946202 | 1,002 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Part I – Watershed Moments
World Wars I and II created watershed moments in the lives of Western intellectuals, defined here as those who are guided by their intellect and critical thinking, and those who understand various aspects of the world mainly through ideas and theories which they express through writing, teaching and other forms of public address. Just how were they to respond to the call of patriotic duty that seduced the vast majority of citizens to support acts of mass slaughter? What constituted a proper response is often debated. How most of them did respond is a matter of historical record.
During the world wars most intellectuals on all sides of the conflicts uncritically lent their talents to their government’s war efforts. Some did so as propagandists and others as scientists. Some actually led their nations into the fray, as was the case with Woodrow Wilson. Wilson held a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, had taught at Cornell, Bryn Mawr and Wesleyan, and became president of Princeton University. Eventually he was elected President of the United States and, having taken the nation to war, sanctioned the creation of a massive propaganda machine under the auspices of the “Committee on Public Information.” He also supported the passage of the Sedition Act of 1918 to suppress all anti-war sentiments. Wilson never experienced combat, but another intellectual, the British poet Siegried Sassoon, did so in the trenches of the Western front. After this experience he wrote, “war is hell and those who initiate it are criminals.” No doubt that was his opinion of the intellectual President Woodrow Wilson.
In 1928 the French philosopher and literary critic Julien Benda published an important book, The Betrayal of the Intellectuals. In this work Benda asserted that it is the job of the intellectual to remain independent of his or her community’s ideologies and biases, be they political, religious or ethnic. Only by so doing could he or she defend the universal practices of tolerance and critical thinking that underpin civilization. Not only were they to maintain their independence, but they were also obligated to analyze their community’s actions and, where necessary, call them into question.
However, as the memory of the intellectuals’ complicity in World War I faded, so did the memory of Benda’s standard of behavior. By World War II it held little power against the renewed demands of national governments for citizens to rally around the flag. Thus, in that war, with even greater atrocities being committed, most intellectuals either supported the slaughter or remained silent. Some became fascists, others communists, and all too many once more lent their talents to propaganda machines and war industries in all the fighting states.
As a result the debate over the proper role of the intellectual in relation to power and ideology continues to this day. It is not a question that needs a world war to be relevant. There are any number of ongoing situations where nationalism, ethnicity, or religious views spark intolerance and violence. And with each of them the intellectuals, particularly those whose home states are involved, have to make the same age-old choice. Do they follow Woodrow Wilson’s path or that of Julian Benda?
Part II – The Fate of the Jewish Intellectual
This problem has recently been raised in reference to the seemingly endless Palestinian-Israeli conflict. On 14 April 2014 Eva Illouz, a professor of sociology at Hebrew University, published an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz entitled, “Is It Possible to Be a Jewish Intellectual?” In this piece she sets forth two opposing positions: one is the Zionist/Israeli demand for the primacy of “ahavat Israel,” or the “love of the Jewish nation and people” – the claim that all Jews have a “duty of the heart” to be loyal to the “Jewish nation.” The other position is that of the lone intellectual (here her model is the philosopher Hannah Arendt), whose obligation is to maintain the “disinterested intelligence” necessary to, if you will, speak truth to power.
Illouz explains that Zionists have a “suspicion of critique” and use “the memorialization of the Shoah” (the Holocaust) and “ahavat Israel” to mute it. “The imperative of solidarity brings with it the injunction to not oppose or express publicly disagreement with official Jewish bodies.” It is within this context that she can ask if it is still possible to be a Jewish intellectual, at least as portrayed of by Julien Benda. Illouz’s conclusion is that it has become exceedingly difficult to be so, particularly in the diaspora communities, where the demands for Jewish solidarity are particularly “brutal.”
Illouz is unhappy with this situation. While she feels the allure of “ahavat Israel,” she ultimately supports the position of the independent-mindedness of Benda’s thinker. She insists that the “contemporary Jewish intellectual has an urgent task … to unveil the conditions under which Jewish solidarity should or should not be accepted, debunked or embraced. In the face of the ongoing, unrelenting injustices toward Palestinians and Arabs living in Israel, his/her moral duty is to let go, achingly, of that solidarity.”
Part III – The Primacy of Group Solidarity
While the portrayal of the intellectual as a thinker insisting on and practicing the right of critical thinking about society and its behavior is an ancient one (consider Socrates here), such behavior is not common in practice. This, in turn, calls Benda’s notion of a proper intellectual into question.
Thus the description of an intellectual offered at the beginning of this essay (which is in line with common dictionary definitions) does not reference any particular direction of thought. For instance, in practice there is nothing that requires an intellectual to think about societal or government behaviors, much less take a critical public position on such matters. And, no doubt, there are many very talented minds who, deeply involved in aesthetic matters or certain branches of scientific, linguistic, literary or other pursuits, do not involve themselves with issues of the use or abuse of power.
In addition, one might well be judged an intellectual and be a supporter or even a perpetrator of criminal policies and actions. Woodrow Wilson might fall within this category, as might Henry Kissinger, Condoleezza Rice and many others.
Indeed, from a historical perspective most people of high intellect have sought to serve power and not critique or question it. This is quite in line with the fact that most non-intellectuals accept the word of those in power as authoritative and true. According to Eva Illouz this reflects the primacy of group solidarity over truth. She is correct in this judgment. That, no doubt, is why the independent-minded, outspoken intellectuals demanding moral integrity and responsibility from those in power are so rare, be they Jewish or gentile. | <urn:uuid:dc5fabe3-ba6d-4882-bd32-595a3c8c17d9> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://truthout.org/articles/the-role-of-the-intellectual-an-analysis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337723.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006025949-20221006055949-00445.warc.gz | en | 0.954334 | 1,439 | 3.265625 | 3 |
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, is the supreme law of the country and binds all legislative, executive and judicial organs of State at all levels of Government.
The judicial authority in South Africa is vested in the courts, which are independent and subject only to the Constitution and the law. No person or organ of State may interfere with the functioning of the courts, and an order or decision of a court binds all organs of State and people to whom it applies.
The Constitution provides for the following courts:
- Constitutional Court
- Supreme Court of Appeal
- high courts, including any high court of Appeal that may be established by an Act of Parliament to hear appeals from high courts
- magistrates’ courts
- any other court established or recognised in terms of an Act of Parliament, including any court of a status similar to either high courts or magistrates’ courts.
Other courts include: income tax courts, the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court, the Land Claims Court, the Competition Appeal Court, the Electoral Court, divorce courts, small claims courts, military courts and equality courts.
Decisions of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the high courts are an important source of law. These courts uphold and enforce the Constitution, which has an extensive Bill of Rights binding all State organs and all people.
The courts are also required to declare any law or conduct that is inconsistent with the Constitution to be invalid, and develop Common Law that is consistent with the values of the Constitution, and the spirit and purpose of the Bill of Rights.
In response to the constitutional requirement that everyone has the right to access to a court, the DoJ&CD will continue providing court infrastructure and improving access to courts.
Access to justice will also be enhanced over the medium term by the employment of additional prosecutors. Some 150 aspirant prosecutors, 39 regional court prosecutors and 19 senior public prosecutors will be appointed between 2016/17 and 2018/19.
The greater prosecuting capacity is expected to increase the number of criminal cases finalised, including those finalised through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, by almost 13 000 over the medium term.
The organisation planned to increase the number of civil matters finalised from 53 622 in 2015/16 to 54 431 in 2018/19, and the number of legal matters finalised per year from 446 853 in 2015/16 to 453 590 in 2018/19.
The legal profession is divided into two branches – advocates and attorneys – that are both subject to strict ethical codes.
Advocates are organised into bar associations or societies, one each at the seat of the various divisions of the High Court.
There are voluntary associations of advocates such as the General Council of the Bar and other formations of independent bars. There are four regional societies for attorneys, each made up of a number of provinces. A practising attorney is by the operation of the law a member of at least one of these societies, which promote the interests of the profession. The Law Society of South Africa is a voluntary association established to coordinate the various regional societies.
In terms of the Right of Appearance in Courts Act, 1995 (Act 62 of 1995), advocates can appear in any court, while attorneys may be heard in all of the country’s lower courts and can also acquire the right of appearance in the superior courts. The Attorneys Amendment Act, 1993 (Act 115 of 1993), provides for alternative routes for admission as an attorney.
All attorneys who hold an LLB or equivalent degree, or who have at least three years’ experience, may acquire the right of audience in the High Court.
State law advisers provide legal advice to ministers, government departments, provincial administrations and a number of statutory bodies. In addition, they draft Bills and assist the Minister concerned with the passage of Bills through Parliament. They also assist in criminal and constitutional matters.
The Constitutional Court is the highest court in all constitutional matters. It is the only court that may adjudicate disputes between organs of State in the national or provincial sphere concerning the constitutional status, powers or functions of any of those organs of State, or that may decide on the constitutionality of any amendment to the Constitution or any parliamentary or provincial Bill.
The Constitutional Court makes the final decision on whether an Act of Parliament, a provincial Act or the conduct of the President is constitutional.
It consists of the Chief Justice of South Africa, the Deputy Chief Justice and nine Constitutional Court judges.
Supreme Court of Appeal
The SCA situated in Bloemfontein in the Free State, is the highest court in respect of all matters other than constitutional ones. It consists of the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court of Appeal, and 23 other judges of appeal. The Supreme Court of Appeal has jurisdiction to hear and determine an appeal against any decision of a High Court. Decisions of the Supreme Court of Appeal are binding on all courts of a lower order, and the decisions of high courts are binding on magistrates’ courts within the respective areas of jurisdiction of the divisions.
Justice Mandisa Maya was appointed as President of the Supreme Court of Appeal in May 2017. She is the first woman to hold this position.
A high court has jurisdiction in its own area over all persons residing or present in that area. These courts hear matters that are of such a serious nature that the lower courts would not be competent to make an appropriate judgment or to impose a penalty.
Except where a minimum or maximum sentence is prescribed by law, their penal jurisdiction is unlimited and includes handing down a sentence of life imprisonment in certain specified cases. The DoJ&CD’s legislative mandate provides for a high court in every province:
- the Eastern Cape has four high court located in Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Mthatha and Bhisho
- the Free State High Court in Bloemfontein
- Gauteng has two high courts, one in Pretoria (North Gauteng) and one in Johannesburg (South Gauteng)
- KwaZulu-Natal also has two high courts, in Pietermaritzburg and in Durban
- the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane
- the Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley
- the North West High Court in Mafikeng
- the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town.
- the Mpumalanga High Court.
Specialist high courts
The following specialist high courts exercise national jurisdiction:
- the Labour Court and Labour Appeal Court in Braamfontein, Gauteng adjudicate over labour disputes and hear labour appeals, respectively
- the Land Claims Court, in Randburg, Gauteng hears matters on the restitution of land rights that people lost after 1913 as a result of racially discriminatory land laws
- the Competition Appeal Court in Cape Town deals with appeals from the Competition Tribunal
- the Electoral Court in Bloemfontein sits mainly during elections to deal with associated disputes
- the Tax Court in Pretoria deals with tax-related matters, including non-compliance with tax obligations.
Regional courts, magistrates’ courts and periodical courts are all lower courts. There are 714 lower courts in South Africa.
Circuit local divisions (periodical courts)
These itinerant courts, each presided over by a judge of the provincial division, periodically conduct hearings at remote areas outside the seat of the high court designated by the judge president of the provincial division concerned. This is with a view to enhancing access to justice.
Regional courts are established largely in accordance with provincial boundaries, with a regional court division for each province to hear matters within their jurisdiction. There are nine regional court presidents and 351 regional court magistrates. There are more than 1 886 courtrooms dealing daily with district and regional court cases across the country.
The regional courts adjudicate civil disputes by virtue of the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act, 2008 (Act 31 of 2008).
The divorce courts were subsumed under the regional court divisions. The divorce court rules made under Section 10(4) of the Administration Amendment Act, 1929 (Act 9 of 1929), were repealed in 15 October 2010. Subsequently, regional courts started adjudicating divorce matters. This has addressed the jurisdictional challenges in terms of which litigants have to travel to remote courts to get legal redress.
In the medium to long term, the Jurisdiction of Regional Courts Amendment Act of 2008 will reduce the workload in the high courts. In this way, divorce and other family-law matters and civil disputes of an amount determined from time to time is within the jurisdiction of regional courts. This means that attorneys have the opportunity to represent their clients in matters where they ordinarily need to appoint and brief counsel, thus reducing the cost of litigation and increasing access to justice.
Magistrates’ courts form an important part of the judicial system, as it is where ordinary people come into contact with the justice system daily.
For this reason, that the bulk of the department’s budget and resources are concentrated here. Jointly with the Chief Justice, the department implements programmes aimed at supporting these courts. One such intervention is backlog courts.
This is with a view to widening access to justice, as more people will be able to access the magistrate’s courts where it is cheaper and faster to obtain a legal recourse compared to the high courts.
In terms of the Magistrates’ Act of 1993, all magistrates in South Africa fall outside the ambit of the Public Service. The aim is to strengthen the independence of the judiciary.
Full jurisdiction was conferred to courts in rural areas and former black townships that exercise limited jurisdiction and depend entirely on the main courts in urban areas to deliver essential justice services.
Through the construction of courts, the right of everyone to have any dispute resolved by the application of the law in a fair public hearing before a court is guaranteed.
There are 763 magistrates’ courts countrywide. The magistrates’ courts prioritised for completion over the medium term are: Mamelodi, Port Shepstone, Plettenberg Bay, Dimbaza, Booysens, Richards Bay and Bityi.
Building more courts will be supplemented by rationalising magisterial districts and aligning the jurisdiction of magistrates’ courts with municipal boundaries to ensure that all people can access justice equitably wherever they live.
Small claims courts
Small claims courts were established to adjudicate small civil claims. They were created to eliminate the time-consuming adversary procedures before and during the trial of these claims. The limit of cases involving civil claims in these courts is R15 000.
The vast majority of the new courts and places of sitting are in rural areas and former black group areas. The goal of having a small claims court in every magisterial district is in sight. Gauteng and Mpumalanga have already achieved this.
The number of people enjoying the benefits of access to justice through small claims courts has increased steadily. Establishing these courts depends partly on the number of dedicated women and men who volunteer their services as commissioners or as advisory board members.
The small claims court model is an effective dispute resolution mechanism, which contributes towards the realisation of the DoJ&CD’s mandate to ensure access to justice for all.
Labour courts and labour appeal courts
The labour courts have the same status as high courts. The labour courts adjudicate matters relating to labour disputes between employers and employees. Labour courts are mainly guided by the Labour Relations Act, (Act 66 of 1995), which deals with matters such as unfair labour practices, e.g. dismissing an employee without giving notice.
Labour courts can order an employer or employee or union to stop committing an unfair labour practice. Labour courts are empowered to give jobs back to employees who have lost their jobs unfairly. Labour appeal courts hear appeals against decisions in labour courts and are the highest courts for labour appeals.
The right to equality is protected by law in the Equality Act of 2000 and the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (Act 55 of 1998). The two Acts work in synergy. The Equality Act of 2000 aims to:
- prevent and prohibit unfair discrimination and harassment
- promote equality
- eliminate unfair discrimination
- prevent and prohibit hate speech. The Act also provides for:
- remedies for victims of any of the above
- compliance with international law obligations, including treaty obligations
- measures to educate the public and raise public awareness about equality.
There are traditional courts in traditional community areas in rural villages.
These courts have jurisdiction to hear certain matters at the level of magistrates’ courts. They are designed to deal with customary issues in terms of customary law.
An authorised headman or his deputy may decide cases using indigenous law and custom (for example, disputes over ownership of cattle or lobolo), brought before him by parties within his area of jurisdiction.
These courts were formerly known as chief’s courts. A person with a claim has the right to choose whether to bring it to a chief’s court or in a magistrates’ court. Any person who is not satisfied with the decision in a chief’s or headman’s court can take their matter to the ordinary courts.
The judicial functions of traditional leaders are regulated in terms of the Repeal of the Black Administration Act and Amendment of Certain Laws Act, 2005 (Act 28 of 2005).
Land claims courts
It specialises in dealing with disputes that arise out of laws that underpin South Africa’s land reform initiative.
The Land Claims Court has the same status as the high courts. Any appeal against a decision of the Land Claims Court can be lodged with the Supreme Court of Appeal, and if applicable, the Constitutional Court.
The Land Claims Court can hold hearings in any part of the country if it believes this will make it more accessible and it can conduct its proceedings in an informal manner if this is appropriate, although its main office is in Randburg.
South Africa has established community courts on a pilot basis to provide speedy resolution of certain types of community offences. These courts focus on restorative justice processes, such as diverting young offenders into suitable programmes.
These courts seek to assist the country’s court case backlog. Community courts are normal district magistrates’ courts that assist in dealing with matters in partnership with the local community and businesses.
The business community and other civil-society formations have contributed significantly to the establishment and sustainability of these courts.
Thirteen community courts have been established: Hatfield, Hillbrow and Protea (Lenasia) in Gauteng; Mthatha in the Eastern Cape; Thohoyandou in Limpopo; Kimberley in the Northern Cape; Durban (Point) and KwaMashu in KwaZulu- Natal, Bloemfontein and Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State; and Fezeka (Gugulethu), Mitchells Plain and Cape Town in the Western Cape.
Lessons from the pilot sites will assist in finalising the policy and legislative framework that will institutionalise community courts as a permanent feature of the judicial system.
Courts for income tax offenders
In October 1999, SARS opened a criminal courtroom at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Office, dedicated to the prosecution of tax offenders.
The court deals only with cases concerning failure to submit tax returns or to provide information requested by SARS officials.
It does not deal with bigger cases such as tax fraud. Another SARS court operates twice a week at the Roodepoort Magistrate’s Office.
Criminal jurisdiction of the respective courts
Apart from specific provisions of the Magistrates’ Courts Act of 1944 or any other Act, jurisdiction regarding sentences imposed by district courts is limited to imprisonment of not more than three years or a fine not exceeding R60 000.
A regional court can impose a sentence of not more than 15 years’ imprisonment or a fine not exceeding R300 000.
A magistrate’s court has jurisdiction over all offences except treason murder and rape. A regional court has jurisdiction over all offences except treason. However, the High Court may try all offences.
Depending on the gravity of the offence and the circumstances pertaining to the offender, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions decides in which court a matter will be heard and may even decide on a summary trial in the High Court.
The sentencing of “petty” offenders to do community service as a condition of suspension, correctional supervision or postponement in appropriate circumstances, has become part of an alternative sentence to imprisonment.
Sexual offences courts
Sexual offences courts were reintroduced by the DoJ&CD in August 2013 to provide specialised support services to victims of sexual offences, decrease turnaround times for finalisation of sexual offences cases and improve conviction rates in these cases.
These courts are specially designed for the delicate handling of sexual offences through the use of technology, intermediaries and an appropriate court environment for dealing with sexual offences.
Government had deployed 161 intermediaries spread over all dedicated sexual offences courts and also installed 324 closed circuit TV systems, 49 one-way mirrors and established 222 child testifying rooms.
The courts have been labelled as responsive and effective, as they reduce secondary victimisation, improve the skills of court personnel, speed up the finalisation of cases and contribute to their efficient prosecution and adjudication.
The number of court rooms adapted in line with the model is projected to increase with eight (in addition to the existing 47) in 2016/17 and with 15 in 2019/20.
The rebirth of specialised courts has contributed to the increase of the conviction rate in sexual offences.
By March 2016, the conviction rate in sexual offences had increased slightly from the previous year, from 69% to 70%, with 7 098 sexual offences crime verdict cases with 4 978. A multidisciplinary approach followed by newly established provincial structures with stakeholders from the DoJ&CD, LASA, the SAPS, the Department of Health and the NPA seems to have contributed to the improvements on sexual offences cases.
In June 2017, the High Court in Johannesburg lifted a 20-year “expiry date” on prosecuting sexual offences, declaring it unconstitutional.
In 2016/17, there were 18 magisterial districts providing victim support services in terms of the victims charter. The department aims to increase this number to 36 in 2019/20.
South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI)
The SAJEI Act of 2008 established the institute to provide independent judicial education for judicial officers.
The SAJEI is responsible for the formal training of magistrates and legal practitioners in this legislation and other areas of judicial work.
Its purpose is to promote the independence, impartiality, effectiveness, accessibility and dignity of the courts by providing judicial education for judicial officers. In carrying out this function, the SAJEI is primarily directed and controlled by the judiciary. The institute provides education and training for aspirant and newly appointed judicial officers, as well as ongoing legal education and training for experienced judicial officers.
Office of the Chief Justice
The OCJ and Judicial Administration derives its mandate of providing support to the Chief Justice as the head of the Judiciary from section 165 (6) of the Constitution, read together with the Superior Courts Act, 2013 (Act 10 of 2013). The Office of the Chief Justice also has the following functions supplementary to its mandate: provide and coordinate legal and administrative support to the Chief Justice; provide communication and relationship management services; provide intergovernmental and internal coordination services; develop administration policies for courts; support the development of judicial policy, norms and standards; support the judicial function of the Constitutional Court; and support the Judicial Service Commission and South African Judicial Education Institute in the execution of their mandates.
Legislation and policies
The OCJ derives its mandate from several pieces of legislation which include the following:
- The Public Service Act of 1994, which provides for the organisation and administration of the Public Service.
- The Public Finance Management Act of 1999, which regulates financial management in the national government.
- The Superior Courts Act of 2013, which empowers the Chief Justice to exercise responsibility over the establishment and monitoring of norms and standards for the exercise of judicial functions for all courts. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services has, in terms of this Act, delegated certain powers and functions to the Secretary-General (SG) of the OCJ for the purposes of providing administrative support functions to the Chief Justice and the Judiciary. This Act also regulates the allocation of financial resources of the OCJ and designates the SG as the Accounting Officer.
- The Judges’ Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act of 2001, which deals with the remuneration and conditions of employment of judges.
- The JSC Act of 1994, which deals with the appointment of judges and support to the JSC.
- The SAJEI Act of 2008, which provides for further training of judicial officers.
- The Public Service Act of 1994: In March 2015, the Minister of Public Service and Administration, in terms of this Act, determined the functions relating to the administration of the Superior Courts transferred from the DOJ&CD to the OCJ.
Budget and funding
The OCJ and Judicial Administration supports the Judiciary in contributing to the fight against corruption. In accelerating reforms to ensure that courts are administered efficiently, the department strengthens judicial governance and the rule of law. This is in line with chapter 14 of the National Development
Plan and outcome 3 (all people in South Africa are and feel safe) of government’s 2014 – 2019 medium-term strategic framework. Over the medium term, the Office of the Chief Justice will focus on: broadening access to justice and the services of the superior courts, ensuring an efficient court system and judicial accountability by training judicial officers, reducing inefficiencies in court administration through the use of technology, and supporting the Chief Justice in ensuring judicial accountability.
As each province is expected to have at least one high court by the end of 2019/20, the number of personnel in the department is expected to increase from 2 601 in 2018/19 to 2 611 in 2021/22. As such, spending on compensation of employees increases at an average annual rate of 6.4%, from R1.6 billion in 2018/19 to R2 billion in 2021/22. The High Courts subprogramme in the Superior Court Services programme is the department’s largest driver of costs, accounting for 30.5% (R2.2 billion) of the department’s total budget of R7.4 billion over the MTEF period.
Efficient court system and judicial accountability
Over the MTEF period, the South African Judicial Education Institute plans to provide 246 judicial education courses on case flow management and constitutional imperatives.
The institute also expects to conduct courses on record keeping and general issues in pleadings, debt collections and debt reviews related to the National Credit Act, 2005 (Act 34 of 2005), criminal court skills, child justice skills, new legislation on domestic violence and spousal and child maintenance, immigration and other topics. As such, expenditure in the South African Judicial Education Institute subprogramme is expected to increase from R51.4 million in 2018/19 to R53.8 million in 2021/22, accounting for 61.2% (R205.6 million) of expenditure in the Judicial Education and Support programme.
To respond to the growing need for court services and to stay abreast of technological developments, it is imperative that the department modernises its systems and processes. To improve efficiency, the department has prioritised the implementation of an electronic filing system for superior courts by 2020/21. The system will enable all records linked to a case to be easily managed, secured and shared, and will contribute to cases being finalised more effectively. Implementing the system forms part of the broader implementation of the integrated justice system programme, led by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster. The Office of the Chief Justice has allocated R14.3 million over the medium term for the system in the Administration programme.
Ensuring judicial accountability
The judicial norms and standards were developed and gazetted in February 2014 with the aim of strengthening access to justice for all; affirming the dignity of all users of the court system; and ensuring the effective, efficient and expeditious application and resolution of all disputes through the courts. In implementing these norms and standards, the department supports the Chief Justice in monitoring and reporting on compliance, while the Judiciary reports on court performance. These activities are carried out in the Superior Court Services programme, spending in which accounts for a projected 39.2% (R2.9 billion) of the department’s total budget over the period ahead. Due to the labour-intensive nature of the work in this programme, the bulk of this expenditure is on compensation of employees, which is expected to increase from R575.3 million in 2018/19 to R718.7 million in 2021/22. The department plans to further improve the quality of its performance information by implementing an automated system to monitor court performance, which, in addition to the electronic filing system for superior courts, is expected to simplify the monitoring and evaluation of norms and standards.
The department also ensures judicial accountability by administering a register of judges’ registrable interests, as informed by section 13 of the Judicial Service Commission Act, 1994 (Act 9 of 1994). The budget for this work is within the Judicial Policy, Research and Support subprogramme, which has a budget of R84 million over the MTEF period in the Judicial Education and Support programme.
Broadening access to justice
The NDP asserts that high legal costs present a significant barrier to justice, especially for the poor, which can lead to a failure of the justice system. To increase access to the system, the department expects the high court in Mpumalanga to be fully operational in 2019/20. Funding for the court is expected to increase from R28.1 million in 2019/20 to R33.4 million in 2021/22, in the Superior Court Services programme.
Similarly, allocations for the operations of the Polokwane High Court, which opened in 2016/17, are expected to increase by 13.6%, from R27.2 million in 2019/20 to R30.9 million in
2021/22. Operationalising these courts is expected to lead to an increase in the overall percentage of default judgments finalised by registrars from 89% in 2017/18 to 100% in 2021/22. | <urn:uuid:4a117581-0449-4f29-8a86-01e7f0ab5a88> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://www.gov.za/about-government/judicial-system | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320302706.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20220120220649-20220121010649-00446.warc.gz | en | 0.944159 | 5,519 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Many communities with populations of 10,000 or less face significant challenges in financing the costs of replacing or upgrading aging and obsolete drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. The total estimated cost of such drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in these communities, many of which are considered rural, is estimated by federal agencies to be more than $100 billion in the coming decades. For example, communities may need to upgrade basic wastewater systems, which treat wastes by allowing them to settle out in ponds or lagoons, with more sophisticated equipment that mechanically and biologically removes solids and contaminants. As another example, communities may need to upgrade to more expensive filtration equipment to remove contaminants, such as arsenic or excess nutrients, as regulations become more stringent for drinking water quality and wastewater.
Communities typically pay for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure through the rates charged to users of the drinking water and wastewater systems. In some cases, however, these communities do not have the number of users of drinking water and wastewater systems needed to spread the cost of major infrastructure projects and still maintain affordable user rates. In addition, unlike larger, urban communities that can issue their own public bonds to pay for major water and wastewater infrastructure improvements, rural communities face difficulty independently financing such major improvements. In many cases, rural communities have limited access to financial markets, restricting their ability to issue bonds to raise capital. As a result, these communities depend heavily on federal and state grants and subsidized loan programs to finance their water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversee the three largest federally funded drinking water and wastewater infrastructure assistance programs. EPA provides grant funding to states to administer Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF), which provide annual funding to communities to finance projects for publicly and privately owned drinking water treatment plants, distribution and storage infrastructure, and source projects. EPA also provides grants to states to administer Clean Water State Revolving Funds, which provide funding to communities to finance projects for constructing, replacing, or upgrading publicly owned municipal wastewater treatment plants, as well as managing nonpoint source pollution, watersheds, and estuaries. EPA allocates its funding in the form of capitalization grants to revolving fund programs administered by each state, and state officials in turn distribute loan funding for qualified drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects in local communities. Communities of any size can apply for assistance. Over the long term, the state revolving fund programs are intended to be sustained through communities repayment of loans, creating a continuing source of assistance for priority drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects. In fiscal year 2011, the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Fund programs received $963 million and $1.5 billion in federal appropriations, respectively.
USDAs Rural Utilities Service administers the Water and Waste Disposal program, which provides funding for both drinking water and wastewater projects in low-income rural communities of 10,000 or less. In fiscal year 2011, the program received $516 million in appropriations, which USDA allocated to its offices located in each state, using a formula based on the states rural population, number of households in poverty, and rate of unemployment.
In December 2009, GAO reported that EPA, USDA, and other federal agencies that fund drinking water and wastewater infrastructure for rural communities along the U.S.-Mexico border lacked coordinated policies and processes and did not efficiently coordinate their programs, priorities, or funding. To better address the needs of the region, GAO suggested in December 2009 that Congress consider establishing an interagency mechanism to coordinate programs and funding, such as a task force on water and wastewater infrastructure, in the border region. GAO also identified the need for additional coordination on drinking water and wastewater infrastructure on the U.S.-Mexico border in its March 2011 report on opportunities to reduce duplication in federal programs. GAO updated the status of this work in January 2012 and again in January 2013. While Congress has not created a task force or other means to coordinate in the border region, officials from the federal agencies involved, including EPA and USDA, said they were working to coordinate their efforts to provide drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in the border region within the current statutory authorities that exist.
Following up on this work, GAO conducted a nationwide review of the largest drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding programsEPAs Drinking Water and Clean Water state revolving fund programs and USDAs Rural Utilities Service Water and Waste Disposal programand reported on this review in October 2012.
Funding for rural water and wastewater infrastructure is fragmented across the three federal programs GAO reviewed and reported on in October 2012, leading to program overlap and potential duplication of effort by communities that apply for funding from the programs. The three EPA and USDA water and wastewater infrastructure programs have, in part, an overlapping purpose to fund projects in rural communities with populations of 10,000 or less. For the 54 projects GAO reviewed in Colorado, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota, this overlap did not result in duplicate fundingthat is, funding for the same activities on the same projects. However, GAO identified the potential for communities to complete duplicate funding applications and related documents when applying for funding from both the state SRF programs and the Rural Utilities Services Water and Waste Disposal program. In particular, some communities have to prepare preliminary engineering reports and environmental analyses for each program. Potentially duplicative application requirements may make it more costly and time consuming for communities to complete the application process. GAOs analysis showedand community officials and their consulting engineers confirmedthat these reports usually contain similar information but have different formats and levels of detail. Completing separate engineering reports and environmental analyses is duplicative and can result in increased costs and delays for communities applying to both programs. Engineers GAO interviewed estimated that preparing additional engineering reports could cost from $5,000 to $50,000 and that the cost of a typical environmental analysis could add as little as $500 to a communitys costs or as much as $15,000. Moreover, having to complete separate preliminary engineering reports or environmental analyses may delay a project because of the additional time required to complete and submit these documents.
In October 2012, GAO reported that EPA and USDA have taken some actions to coordinate their programs and funding at the federal and state levels to help meet the water infrastructure needs of rural communities. The report describes examples of coordination between EPA and USDA at the federal level, designed to encourage states to emphasize coordination between their SRF programs and USDAs state-level programs. For example, according to EPA and USDA officials, to inform state officials and communities about the programs and funding opportunities available in their respective states, the federal agencies participate in conferences and workshops, conduct webinars, and sponsor training. In addition, EPA and USDA signed a joint memorandum in 1997 encouraging state-level programs and communities to coordinate in four key areas: program planning documents; policy and regulatory barriers; project funding; and environmental analyses and other common federal requirements. In part to address the last item on common requirements, in February 2012, EPA and USDA formed a working group with representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Indian Health Service, and state programs to draft guidelines for uniform preliminary engineering reports to meet federal and state requirements. At the time GAO issued its report in October 2012, the agencies had not completed the draft guidelines, and EPA and USDA had not yet taken action to help states coordinate on environmental analyses, by for example, developing guidelines for uniform environmental analyses. Without such guidelines, communities face a continuing burden and cost of applying for federal funds to improve rural water and wastewater infrastructure.
GAOs October 2012 report also demonstrated that coordination in the four key areas of the 1997 memorandum varied across the five states GAO visited. For example, state and federal officials in Montana created a drinking water and wastewater working group to coordinate project funding and to resolve regulatory barriers such as different funding cycles between the programs. In addition, state and federal officials in Pennsylvania agreed upon uniform environmental analyses that are accepted by all programs. However, in Colorado and North Carolina, state-level programs did not coordinate well initially about project funding, which resulted in the state-level programs planning to pay for the same projects. The state SRF programs and state-level USDA programs were able to avoid paying for the same projects, but state-level USDA programs had or expected to deobligate almost $20 million committed to these projects and return the funds to USDA. Specifically, two USDA state offices could not fully obligate their available funds to new projects by internal deadline dates and, as a result, had to return the funds to the USDA headquarters pool to be made available for projects in other states. If the state programs had been coordinating on projects and funding, the USDA offices might have had more notice of the need to develop new projects in time to keep the funding in their respective states. Further delays in coordinating programs could hinder the efficient use of federal funds in states with high wastewater and drinking water infrastructure needs by preventing funds from reaching needy communities.
To improve coordination and to reduce the potential for inefficiencies and duplication of effort, GAO recommended in October 2012 that the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of EPA take the following three actions:
Implementation of these recommendations could help make more efficient use of federal funds for rural water and wastewater infrastructure. In particular, it could help avoid the reprogramming of state funds and the delay involved in getting funds to communities for their projects. In addition, implementation of guidance on engineering reports and environmental analyses could help eliminate potential duplication of effort and associated costs by communities when they apply for funds. Because the size of individual water and wastewater infrastructure projects can vary significantly, the additional costs associated with duplicative preliminary engineering report and environmental analysis requirements differ for individual projects. As a result, the costs associated with potentially duplicative efforts are difficult to quantify at the program level without reviewing a representative sample of project applications to multiple programs for the same projects.
The information contained in this analysis is based on findings from the October 2012 report in the related GAO products section. GAO reviewed relevant statutes, regulations, guidance, budgets, and other documents and interviewed officials from EPA and USDA. In addition, GAO selected a nongeneralizeable sample of five statesColorado, Montana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Dakotaby comparing data on funding needs for rural areas, geographic location, and level of coordination between federal programs. In each state selected, we judgmentally selected a nongeneralizeable sample of communities to visit and projects to observe by analyzing lists of water and wastewater infrastructure projects we obtained from state SRF and state-level USDA officials. We reviewed a total of 54 projects in 31 communities across the five states that had applied for or received funding from at least one of the three programs. We conducted site visits to each state to observe selected projects and to meet with representatives from engineering firms, local communities, and relevant nonprofit organizations associated with the projects. To assess the extent of overlap between the programs, GAO compared annual funding data from EPA and USDA and discussed with state and local officials their experiences in disbursing and applying for funding from the EPA and USDA programs. In addition, to determine the extent to which agencies coordinate at the federal and state levels to help meet the water infrastructure needs of rural communities, GAO met with federal and state officials and considered EPAs and USDAs efforts to promote the guidance established in the 1997 joint memorandum. To identify leading practices for coordination, GAO reviewed its prior work on practices that can help enhance and sustain collaboration among federal agencies. Table 11 in appendix IV lists the programs GAO identified that might have similar or overlapping objectives, might provide similar services, or might be fragmented across government missions. Overlap and fragmentation might not necessarily lead to actual duplication, and some degree of overlap and duplication may be justified.
In commenting on the October 2012 report on which this analysis is based, EPA and USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with GAOs recommendations to develop guidelines to help states develop uniform engineering reports and uniform environmental analyses, pointing out that they have continued to coordinate their efforts but have been limited in what they can require states to do. In particular, both agencies emphasized that EPA does not have the authority to require the states to use particular engineering reports or environmental analyses. They committed to meeting and discussing common areas and guidance and said that they would work with states to encourage the use of uniform requirements in application documents. EPA agreed with GAOs recommendation that the agencies reemphasize coordination at the state-level, while USDA did not agree or disagree with it.
GAO provided a draft of this report section to EPA and USDA for review and comment. In an e-mail received on January 24, 2013, EPA reaffirmed its comments on the October 2012 report, and in a separate e-mail on January 25, 2013, USDA stated that it is currently considering the actions it will take on recommendations made in that report. As of January 2013, EPA and USDA have taken action on the first and second recommendations, but more work remains to be done. On the first recommendation, both EPA and USDA officials said the preliminary engineering report working group has drafted an interagency memorandum that includes the purpose of the working group, a general outline of a preliminary engineering report, and a detailed template of each component of the report. As of mid-January 2013, EPA, USDA, and the Indian Health Service have signed the memorandum and 17 states have been involved in developing the memorandum. EPA and USDA can continue, however, to work with participating states and the remaining states to help them successfully adopt the memorandum and template. On the second recommendation, EPA and USDA have begun efforts to coordinate on environmental analyses. The agencies met in mid-January 2013 to discuss uniform environmental analyses, and have formed a new workgroup of federal and state stakeholders, with EPA as chair. The new workgroup will initially focus on collecting information on possible duplicative environmental review processes.
USDA said that the draft did not provide an accurate picture of the coordination that is already occurring between the agencies, and provided additional examples of interagency coordination at the federal level. The October 2012 report described these additional examples, but the purpose of this document is to summarize the key findings of the report. The section in this report has been clarified by adding a reference to the original report. Both agencies also provided technical comments, which were incorporated as appropriate.
For additional information about this area, contact J. Alfredo Gómez at (202) 512-3841 or firstname.lastname@example.org.
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Can Twitter be used effectively for e-learning?
In some ways the most interesting thing about Twitter is also its limitation – you have to fit your content in a very limited number of characters.
This reduces the potential for using Twitter for elearning. However, if your content can fit, Twitter encourages a quick and fast stream of content, but it’s not really geared to encourage learning.
Twitter provides no real way to save or review content later apart from its hashtags. There are some systems/Apps that take Twitter feeds and give you more control, but it’s essentially a delivery-of-data (similar to RSS), and not suited to creating structured courses of learning content.
On the other hand, the enforced character limit makes Twitter a viable option for micro-learning. When combined with the abundance of mobile client apps, it enables you to use Twitter as a delivery mechanism for short bites of content (think flash-cards or “word of the day” type content).
Perhaps a better option is using Twitter as a supplementary tool for your Moodle course. It excels in real-time feedback and discussion, but also as a marketing tool and as a way to announce new courses and content for example.
There are also a number of ways to display Twitter content within your Moodle course, including using an HTML Block, or installing a 3rd party plugin which can present a stream of Tweets.
Twitter is also very popular with the younger generation. If your elearning courses are targeted mainly at them, then it makes Twitter quite attractive for connecting with your potential audience. | <urn:uuid:d9378cea-0966-4b30-afe7-f7cc096949dc> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.elearningworld.org/twitter-for-elearning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446706285.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20221126080725-20221126110725-00781.warc.gz | en | 0.93715 | 328 | 2.578125 | 3 |
|Source: Bored Panda|
In his new “Spring-Autumn” series, Asian photographer Qozop addresses the role of clothing in our society through a clever and playful juxtaposition of two generations. Participating youths and elders (parents and children or grandparents and grandchildren) are photographed in their attire and then asked to swap clothing and pose again. Read more and view other examples of Qozop HERE. Please click on the photos to enlarge them.
|Source: Bored Panda|
Below are some interesting facts about the achievements of several historical people, who have defied the strictures of age in their pursuit of success:
- Mozart was already competent on keyboard and violin; he composed from the age of 5.
- Shirley Temple was 6 when she became a movie star on “Bright Eyes.”
- Anne Frank was 12 when she wrote the diary of Anne Frank.
- Nadia Comăneci was a gymnast from Romania that scored seven perfect 10.0 and won three gold medals at the Olympics at age 14.
- Tenzin Gyatso was formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in November 1950, at the age of 15.
- Pele, a soccer superstar, was 17 years old when he won the world cup in 1958 with Brazil.
- Elvis was a superstar by age 19.
- John Lennon was 20 years and Paul Mcartney was 18 when the Beatles had their first concert in 1961.
- Jesse Owens was 22 when he won 4 gold medals in Berlin 1936.
- Alexander the Great, by age 29, had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world
- J.K. Rowling was 30 years old when she finished the first manuscript of Harry Potter
- Amelia Earhart was 31 years old when she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean
- Oprah was 32 when she started her talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind
- Edmund Hillary was 33 when he became the first man to reach Mount Everest
- Martin Luther King Jr. was 34 when he wrote the speech “I Have a Dream."
- Marie Curie was 35 years old when she got nominated for a Nobel Prize in Physics
- Leonardo Da Vinci was 51 years old when he painted the Mona Lisa.
- Abraham Lincoln was 52 when he became president.
- Dr. Seuss was 54 when he wrote "The Cat in the Hat".
- Colonel Harland Sanders was 61 when he started the KFC Franchise
- J.R.R Tolkien was 62 when the Lord of the Ring books came out
- Nelson Mandela was 76 when he became President”
Let us challenge the stereotypes of youth and old age in our poetry today. | <urn:uuid:3aec7122-3dd2-4c3e-ac0c-e1f0e1a6611c> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | http://withrealtoads.blogspot.ca/2014/11/mid-week-challenge-youth-age.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125944848.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20180420233255-20180421013255-00540.warc.gz | en | 0.980136 | 570 | 2.703125 | 3 |
New York City, NY (PRWEB) March 20, 2014
Ultimate Vocabulary™ software, developed by globally acclaimed e-learning company eReflect, recently used its popular blog to host a guest post by Jennifer Stewart on the correct use of the apostrophe, a punctuation mark that can indicate possession or mark a missing letter.
When it comes to punctuation marks, both native and non-native speakers of English find that proper grammar and usage can be tricky. Jennifer Stewart explains to Ultimate Vocabulary™ blog readers, through an easy-to-follow blog post, how to correctly use the apostrophe to indicate possession. She reveals how nouns that indicate their plural by undergoing internal changes, such as the alteration of "woman" to "women,” have the spelling in the possessive case of, for example, women’s and not womens’ as many often mistakenly write it as.
Blog readers also learn how to use the apostrophe with proper names that end in –s like Charles and Lars. Stewart clarifies that an extra "s" is needed when the name needs to indicate possession. As she explains, the extra "s" appears in the phrases "Charles’s pen" and "Lars’s car" (among other examples).
Stewart also solves a common problem for many learners of English, that of how to clarify whether an "s" indicates possession or letter omission. Her suggested approach is to see if that sentence will make sense when rephrased with the inclusion of the preposition “of”. For example, if a person is not clear whether the phrase “She went to the women’s club” uses a possessive –s all they need to do is see if it’s still grammatically correct by inserting the word “of” which, in this case, results in the phrase "She went to the club of women." This little verification exercise ensures the learner uses the apostrophe correctly and helps avoids any awkward misspellings. Implementing such a simple rule ensures ESL learners avoid this widely common grammar mistake, eReflect confirms.
Striving to increase vocabulary knowledge doesn’t end the work of the student in English. It’s crucial that ESL learners and native speakers alike learn how to create meaningful and grammatically correct sentences. eReflect recommends that equal attention should be given to both vocabulary acquisition and grammar learning for a balanced, proficient use of the English language.
For more information on how you can benefit from Ultimate Vocabulary, please visit its official website, http://www.ultimatevocabulary.com.
About Ultimate Vocabulary™
Ultimate Vocabulary provides a proven and powerful platform, built to improve anyone’s vocabulary.
The interactive self-improvement system provides more learning tools than any other program on the market, as well as more information on words.
The Ultimate Vocabulary software provides each and every user with a personal computer tutor. Providing a step-by-step guide to learning a powerful vocabulary, Ultimate Vocabulary is the learning tool everyone can benefit from.
Of course, the software is also backed by eReflect’s iron-clad money back guarantee. | <urn:uuid:a9a5130d-afa3-44ed-a903-4676874b8804> | CC-MAIN-2015-27 | http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/03/prweb11670148.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-27/segments/1435375098849.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20150627031818-00250-ip-10-179-60-89.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906719 | 666 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Can you describe the architecture of a Big Data system?
A Big Data system typically consists of multiple layers, each responsible for a specific task. Here is a high-level overview of the architecture of a Big Data system:
Data Sources: This layer is responsible for collecting data from various sources, such as social media platforms, sensors, log files, and databases.
Data Ingestion: Once the data is collected, it needs to be ingested into the Big Data system. This layer is responsible for storing the data in a way that it can be easily accessed and analyzed. Data is often stored in a distributed file system like Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) or Amazon S3.
Data Processing: The data needs to be processed to extract useful insights. This layer includes tools and frameworks like Apache Spark, Apache Flink, and Apache Beam for processing and analyzing large volumes of data in parallel.
Data Storage: The processed data needs to be stored for further analysis or use. This layer includes different types of databases, such as NoSQL databases like Cassandra, MongoDB, and HBase, and columnar databases like Apache Kudu.
Data Visualization: Once the data is processed and stored, it needs to be visualized in a way that is easy to understand. This layer includes tools and frameworks like Tableau, QlikView, and PowerBI for visualizing and presenting data in a meaningful way.
Data Security: As Big Data systems often contain sensitive and valuable data, security is an important consideration. This layer includes tools and frameworks like Apache Ranger and Apache Knox for securing the data and managing access to it.
Data Management: As the Big Data system grows, it needs to be managed efficiently. This layer includes tools and frameworks like Apache Ambari and Cloudera Manager for managing the system, including resource allocation, performance monitoring, and troubleshooting.
Overall, a Big Data system is a complex architecture that requires expertise in multiple areas, including data collection, storage, processing, and analysis.
What is the role of Hadoop in Big Data?
Hadoop is a distributed computing framework that is widely used in Big Data systems. It provides a scalable and reliable platform for storing and processing large volumes of data in a distributed environment. The main components of the Hadoop ecosystem are:
Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS): HDFS is a distributed file system that provides high-throughput access to data across multiple machines. It is designed to handle large files and stores them across multiple nodes in a cluster.
MapReduce: MapReduce is a programming model that allows developers to write distributed applications that can process large data sets in parallel across a cluster of machines. It divides the data into smaller chunks and processes them in parallel, which helps to reduce the processing time.
YARN: YARN (Yet Another Resource Negotiator) is a resource management layer that enables multiple processing engines to run on the same Hadoop cluster. It manages the resources of the cluster and schedules jobs to run on specific nodes.
Hadoop Common: Hadoop Common provides the core libraries and utilities required by other Hadoop components.
Hadoop's role in Big Data is to provide a scalable and cost-effective platform for storing and processing large volumes of data. By distributing the data and processing across multiple machines, Hadoop enables parallel processing and provides fault tolerance, which means that the system can continue to operate even if some nodes fail. This makes it ideal for processing large-scale data sets in a distributed environment. Hadoop is used by many organizations to support data-intensive applications such as data warehousing, log processing, data analytics, and machine learning.
How is Big Data being used to drive business insights and decision making?
Big Data is being used to drive business insights and decision making in a variety of ways. Here are some examples:
Customer insights: Companies are using Big Data to gain insights into customer behavior, preferences, and needs. By analyzing customer data, businesses can identify patterns and trends that can help them improve customer experiences, develop new products, and optimize marketing strategies.
Operational efficiency: Big Data can help businesses optimize their operations by providing insights into process efficiency, quality control, and supply chain management. By analyzing data from sensors, machines, and other sources, businesses can identify areas for improvement and optimize their processes for better performance.
Predictive analytics: Big Data can be used for predictive analytics, which helps businesses make better decisions by forecasting future outcomes based on historical data. For example, predictive analytics can be used to forecast demand, identify potential risks, and optimize pricing strategies.
Fraud detection: Big Data can help businesses identify fraudulent activities by analyzing patterns and anomalies in transaction data. By detecting fraud early, businesses can reduce losses and improve security.
Personalization: Big Data can help businesses provide personalized experiences to their customers by analyzing their preferences, behavior, and purchase history. By understanding individual needs and preferences, businesses can tailor their products and services to meet specific customer needs.
Machine learning: Big Data is often used in machine learning applications, which can help businesses automate processes, improve predictions, and reduce costs. By training machine learning models on large data sets, businesses can automate decision making and improve accuracy.
Overall, Big Data can provide valuable insights and help businesses make better decisions. By analyzing large data sets, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their operations, customers, and markets, which can help them drive growth, reduce costs, and improve performance.
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Go through our study material. Your Job is awaiting. | <urn:uuid:d574ded5-9ea7-4837-9b45-52751a0f10fd> | CC-MAIN-2023-14 | https://codewindow.in/big-data-codewindow-in-14/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-14/segments/1679296943750.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20230322051607-20230322081607-00423.warc.gz | en | 0.915926 | 1,183 | 3.484375 | 3 |
(Part One, Part Two, Part Four, Part Five)
Since I was talking about Ruth Beechick’s booklet An Easy Start in Arithmetic, I should have mentioned as well that its last page is “Ways to Use the Hundred Chart,” and there is a small hundred chart on the back cover (in addition to the poster-size one that’s included with the booklets). Hundred charts are a great way to enrich a math program without doing worksheets; in fact, we did a whole year of kindergarten math for Ponytails without any written work at all. There’s something about those ten rows of ten that not only helps with counting, adding and subtracting, but reinforces place value ideas as well, especially when kids learn the trick of adding or subtracting tens (go up or down a row) . When they’ve learned that, then adding fourteen becomes “add ten” (go down a row) and then “four more” (four spaces to the right), without any fuss about “carrying the one.” And the nice thing about hundred charts is that they can be useful in any size: tiny (like the one on the booklet), bigger (a handwritten chart or a page-sized printout from the Web—Donna Young’s site has printable hundred charts), or really big. We have a poster-size hundred chart from the teacher’s store and also one that we made on poster board with detachable (Velcro) number disks.
For many people, Bible is as much a part of a basic curriculum as reading and math. I could assume that most people have a Bible around and that they could make up a simple program of reading Bible stories to their children, as parents have done for hundreds of years. However, since I was trying to stick to the books in the shopping bag, I was limited to a paperback copy of “The Great News: The New Testament, New International Version.” This actually works out fine, although for a third-grader it might have been nice to have slightly larger print. The bonus about this edition of the New Testament is that it comes with a 71-lesson “Reading Plan to Get You Started” in the front, which works out to just about two lessons per week (maybe reading on one day and reviewing or notebooking on the next). This goes beyond the simplest stories; it starts with “Who is Jesus?” and goes on to “What is Christianity All About,” “What is Real Faith,” “How Does God Want His People to Treat Others,” and “What Stories Did Jesus Tell?” I like this approach because it’s a bit of a change from just reading straight through one of the Gospels, and it lends itself to keeping a notebook as well. I might even use this myself next year with Ponytails.
History, Geography and/or Social Studies
The lack of history resources in the bag might make this the weakest part of the curriculum, although that would be pretty easy to fix using online or library books. However—sticking to the bag and the teaching resources—I decided to try something different. Teaching Children includes both a “regular” Social Studies outline and an “alternate” one for grades three through six, written by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. In the alternate outline, third graders spend a lot of the year exploring what’s around them; not in a dumbed-down “Mr. Neighbourhood Policeman” approach, but in an inter-disciplinary program that combines local and comparative geography, local history, natural history, and what you might call cultural anthropology and sociology. In other words, they find out where they live, who lives there, and what’s around them. John Holt once suggested something like this too; someone asked him how he would tutor a boy who lived in an unusual natural environment, and he pointed out that it would be foolish not to take full advantage of every bit of local exploring, beach-digging and museum-lurking that they could squeeze in—that this would benefit the boy in ways that his book lessons never could.
It’s also suggested that the third graders “adopt” a missionary family or project and learn more about the country involved, correspond with the family and so on.
Of course this doesn’t come all ready-packaged for you, and in some ways it may sound like the vaguest part of the curriculum—go out together, do field trips, find out the names of the roads and the trees and the early settlers, and keep a scrapbook. Some of us might think we could cover our entire local area in one or two trips; others of us would immediately worry about how little we ourselves know about local birds, pond life, railroads and so on! As I said, you might not like this idea at all and then you’d have to fill in with other history and geography books. However, I do think it is suitable for children of about third-grade level who aren’t too interested yet in names-and-dates history (plus it would make a great ongoing activity for Friday afternoons). Can I tell you a funny story about this kind of exploring approach to social studies? A long time ago (I think The Apprentice was in the second grade), I read the book Who Killed Canadian History? by Jack Granatstein. Since the book dealt mostly with the weaknesses in secondary- and post-secondary-level education, I e-mailed the author to ask if he had any recommendations for teaching the elementary grades. Mr. Granatstein graciously wrote back and said he didn’t know a lot about teaching second graders but that his recommendation would be “Forts. Visit forts.” So there you have it.
As for the missionary/other countries side of the curriculum: I thought of three possibilities for this. One came out of the Child of China book that is included for literature; I found a unit study of Ancient China, by Judy Wilcox, written for homeschoolers, that’s meant to take twelve weeks and which sounds like a great addition to the last part of the year’s curriculum. Of course you have to buy that first (grin). Or you could buy the e-text A Child’s Geography, Volume Two: Exploring the Holy Land, which covers several Middle Eastern countries.
Or you could just go with whatever resources you know best: missionaries or organizations you know yourself or that your church supports.
How does that sound?
In the next post I'll talk about science and finish off with some extras.
- About Us
- Anne Writes
- A is for Airplane
- Christmas Past, Christmas Present(s)
- Charlotte Mason Education
- Herbartianism Posts
- Why you should read Romola
- CM Volume Three Posts
- CM Volume Four Posts
- CM Volume Five Posts
- CM Volume Six Posts
- A Treasury of Thrift, a Feast of Frugality
- Crocheting Posts
- Project 333, Fall 2016: Ordinary Clothes for Ordinary Life | <urn:uuid:896d0b94-ca61-4abc-b655-0b731722973e> | CC-MAIN-2016-40 | http://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2007/03/math-and-more-part-three.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738661974.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173741-00012-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962039 | 1,522 | 3.21875 | 3 |
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Massive renewable energy projects may have local impacts on the desert, but won’t they save the rest of the world from global warming?
Big Solar and Wind facilities will require so much ecologically intact land that we will ultimately lose many of the places and wildlife we want to protect from global warming, including habitats that sequester greenhouse gases (GHGs). So far, energy companies have submitted applications to develop almost 230,000 acres, or about 360 square miles, of public land in California alone —the vast majority of it undeveloped wild lands—for solar and wind projects. These projects would only supply a fraction of our energy needs, but would needlessly industrialize many of our intact wildlands.
Given the urgency of climate change, isn’t rooftop solar deployment too slow?
Distributed generation (DG) installations increase rapidly with the right policies. Over half of Germany’s 53,000 megawatts (MW) of clean energy are generated by smaller installations owned by individuals, and that number is growing rapidly. Germany installed 3,000 MW of solar in Dec. 2011 alone. In Australia, over 500,000 homes have rooftop solar thanks to a successful feed-in-tariff. The US has been slow to adopt policies proven effective elsewhere, but even so California has installed 1,000 megawatts of rooftop solar. Not a single watt of large-scale industrial solar has come online since solar “fast-tracking” was implemented in 2005. The NREL has identified the potential for 80,000 MW of rooftop solar in California alone, far more than would be needed to reach even the most ambitious RPS/RES goals.
See: Germany solar: http://energyselfreliantstates.org/content/american-and-germany-getting-their-renewable-energy-just-desserts and http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-06/germany-s-solar-surge-leaves-biggest-market-steady-in-2011.html, Australia: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/solar-panel-users-climb-through-roof-20111205-1ofjx.html.
Aren’t deserts too hot, dry and inhospitable to support much life?
While many people believe that deserts are inhospitable places that support very little life, nothing could be further from the truth. According to the Endangered Species Coalition, our diverse North American deserts, home to many thousands of species and hundreds of diverse ecosystems, face a threat from global warming that is second only to that of the Arctic. Even seemingly sterile desert landscapes such as dry lakes teem with living things.
Don't tortoises like the shade solar facilities create?
Federally threatened desert tortoises — and other sensitive species like burrowing owls and kit foxes — use burrows and desert plants for shade. When a site is developed for solar, these animals are relocated or forced out of the area. Diseases may be spread and as many as half the adult tortoises moved from their homes may perish from the rigors of handling and relocation. The vast majority of juveniles and eggs, which can number in the thousands on single sites, may perish undetected. Fences are placed around the entire project site, excluding tortoises and larger animals and interrupting normal migration patterns across large areas. Industrial solar development radically alters 100% of the project site, which can be as large as 10 square miles. Before construction can begin, the entire area is graded flat by heavy equipment — or mown down, with effectively the same impact to the plant and animal life — to place the photovoltaic (PV) panels or mirrors. Destroying desert soils can cause or exacerbate airborne partriculate matter, erosion, and flooding problems.
Won’t the economy of scale with larger installations mean their power will be cheaper?
It’s cheaper per watt of power generated right now to install a small rooftop system in Germany than to install a giant desert installation in the US. Sensible policy can drive down prices much faster and more effectively than corporate giveaways. German Feed in Tariffs (FIT’s) have resulted in a 10% drop in electricity prices as onsite solar reduces the need to buy expensive daytime peak-period power. FITs provide income to people and local economies, whereas when Big Solar cash goes to Chevron, BP, Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley, and is pulled out of the community.
What about preserving valuable agricultural land from industrial solar and wind development?
There’s no need to pave productive agricultural land over with solar panels or giant wind turbines. The Environmental Protection Agency has identified millions of acres of severely degraded and contaminated lands suitable for industrial wind and solar in its Re-Powering America’s Land program and millions more rooftops, parking lots, urban brownfields, highway medians and other developed spaces would benefit from shade and high-value power provided by solar panels.
Don’t we need all scales of renewable energy production in order to combat climate change?
Distributed generation could handily meet our renewable energy needs without pursuing remote, utility-scale development on our irreplaceable wildlands. Unfortunately, in the US, the energy and banking industries work to block common-sense, effective solutions like increasing efficiency and local generation even though these solutions are faster to implement and better for our environment, our economy, our communities and our atmosphere. The poor allocation of limited grid distribution capacity and financial and technical resources to remote, corporate-owned central solar primarily benefits utility investors while depriving individuals, businesses and local communities of the opportunity to develop and benefit from their own renewable resources. See: "Centralized v. Decentralized Clean Energy – We May Have to Choose" by John Farrell.
Don't desert panels produce a lot more power than panels in less-sunny areas?
Photovoltaic and air-cooled concentrating solar plants are less efficient and transmission losses highest when temperatures are high and when the power is needed most. 10 to 14% of the electricity is lost through long-distance transmission, effectively negating marginally higher insolation. PV is modular: there is no increase in power production gained by aggregating panels in a single site. Transmission infrastructure is also inherently vulnerable to weather, natural disasters, cyber hacking/terrorism and human error, while local micro-grids are ideal to accommodate local solar generation at peak times without ever accessing transmission infrastructure.
Wouldn't the large-scale solar projects bring a lot of jobs to the community?
Solar power plants can be controlled remotely and only a few people are needed to manage large plants. Once the 1- or 2-year construction cycle is over, very few permanent jobs remain, depending on the technology. Construction workers are normally hired by contractors who maintain their own skilled labor force, so that local hiring may be minimal. By contrast, the installation of distributed rooftop solar produces up to 3.5 times as many jobs and local economic benefit. Rooftop solar and efficiency upgrades also increase property values and if feed-in-tariffs are in place, improve prosperity for the community.
Why should NIMBY’s (“Not In My Backyard”) get to stall our best chance to combat global warming?
Solar Done Right supports generating renewable energy in our backyards, on our rooftops, and in our neighborhoods. Objecting to corporate dominance over our economy, democracy and environment is not NIMBYism. Local solutions of efficiency upgrades, passive heating/cooling and distributed solar/microwind in the built environment are the most effective, fastest and fairest way to combat global warming. That said, we should all be concerned about our own “backyards”, and get to know them. The principle of "Think Globally, Act Locally" is a sound one. People will conserve and protect the places they know and love, i.e., the wild lands and neighborhoods around them. If every community installed rooftop solar, conserved energy, and cared for their “backyards”, we would achieve much toward reducing GHG emissions and confronting the climate crisis.
What is the difference between Net Metering and Feed-in-Tariffs?
Net metering is when a ratepayer receives a credit against their utility bill for energy they generate from rooftop solar or other onsite renewable energy generation. The credit is generally based on the current retail electricity rate with scant (or no) payment for generation above onsite consumption. If designed well, over time, a FIT will cover the full cost of the installation and provide a small profit to the owner/generator, similar to the profit that a utility would enjoy. In Germany 100% of the power generated on rooftops is purchased by utilities and the ratepayer-generator buys power from the grid in the usual way. The Australian system, in contrast, net meters for energy consumed onsite, and the ratepayer is paid a premium for energy generated above what it uses. FITs are a much more effective incentive for ratepayers to improve energy efficiency and install rooftop solar. A well-designed FIT can be a tremendous boon to community prosperity, as opposed to industrial wind and solar which impose large costs on local counties while diverting profits out of the community.
What is PACE?
A Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bond provides upfront financing to residential and commercial property owners who wish to implement energy efficiency measures and install small (usually up to 1 MW) renewable energy systems. The funds are repaid through an annual assessment (usually 20 years) on their property tax bill, making the loans extremely low-risk to the lender, and are generally paid from the property owner’s financial savings from the improvement. If the property owner later sells, the assessment need not be immediately repaid out of the proceeds but instead stays with the property, making it extremely low-risk to property owners. PACE bonds can be issued by state, county or municipal financing districts or finance companies and the proceeds can be used to retrofit both commercial and residential properties. PACE is not a tax but rather a voluntary program where only those property owners who opt into the program are asked to pay. Learn more about PACE and how to restore this type of financing at: http://pacenow.org/blog/ | <urn:uuid:e8789c7a-2caf-4e5b-87aa-9167ce909223> | CC-MAIN-2015-48 | http://solardoneright.org/index.php/news/post/solar_done_right_frequently_asked_questions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-48/segments/1448398447729.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20151124205407-00274-ip-10-71-132-137.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932992 | 2,162 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Armed conflict in space is unlikely to look like it does in The Mandalorian.
An international project is trying to establish what the rules of engagement of that battle would be.
That project is called the Woomera Manual.
What is the Woomera Manual?
It's a document that clearly lays out what international law says is — and isn't — allowed when it comes to military action in space.
It's not a new law, nor is it a proposal for new laws.
"We are not lawmakers, we are not authorised or able to create international law," Melissa de Zwart, Dean of Law at University of Adelaide and one of the directors of the project, tells RN's Future Tense.
It's not a new idea. There are similar manuals such as the Tallinn Manual (which covers cyber operations), the Harvard Manual (on air and missile warfare) and the San Remo Manual (which relates to conflict at sea).
These manuals tend to be laid out in dot points, and are designed to be as clear and unambiguous as possible.
"The point of these manuals is to give clarity about the application of the law," Professor de Zwart says.
The idea is that if there's a rulebook that countries agree on, then conflict becomes less likely — much like having an agreed set of sporting rules makes it less likely for a fight to break out onfield.
"This will contribute, we hope, to international peace and security by giving a common understanding of what the applicable law is," Professor de Zwart says.
Why is it needed?
The main reason, Professor de Zwart says, is that space law is complicated.
There are five different United Nations treaties on outer space, and then there are various declarations and legal principles to be taken into consideration.
We're already testing the limits of space law. For example, international space treaties don't explicitly cover privately-owned rockets and satellites.
"It was only contemplated by the original treaties that it would be nation-states who would have the money [and] the capacity to launch something into outer space," Professor de Zwart says.
Also, the physics of space means some actions can have far-reaching consequences.
For example, India's anti-satellite weapon test was condemned by NASA because, they said, debris from the explosion put residents of the International Space Station at risk.
Professor de Zwart says the Woomera Manual is "designed for use by non-lawyers". For example, it could be used in military training, or to guide government decisions in the heat of the moment.
Who is involved?
A lot of people. There are team members from the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, Europe and China, and Woomera Manual meetings have been held around the world.
"By its very nature it has to be international," Professor de Zwart says.
"We have tried unsuccessfully to get someone from Russia but we've been open to that."
Those involved work in academia, in government and in the military, although they are acting in a personal capacity rather than as official representatives.
Some are lawyers, while others are experts in a relevant technical field.
There are also people involved from non-government organisations such as the Red Cross and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Is this the only space war manual?
No. There's another very similar manual being developed in Canada called MILAMOS, which is short for Manual on International Law Applicable to Military Uses of Outer Space.
While this could lead to confusion, the Secure World Foundation's Christopher Johnson says he expects the two manuals will be used together.
He expects MILAMOS will be used to understand the rules for peacetime and times of rising tension, with the Woomera Manual stepping in when there's armed conflict.
"They are going to sit on a shelf side-by-side so they can be referred to by practitioners, by interested parties, by states and militaries to have some kind of guidance and commentary as to what the law actually says," Mr Johnson says.
When can I read the final version?
It's expected the final draft of the Woomera Manual will be ready by next year.
Then comes the process of state engagement, where the manual is "road-tested". It'll be presented to representatives of various countries, to see if it reflects those nations' understanding of the rules.
This process will be hosted by the Dutch government at The Hague, home to the International Court of Justice.
"That gives us the greatest exposure that we can to a range of different national government representatives," Professor de Zwart says.
RN in your inbox
Get more stories that go beyond the news cycle with our weekly newsletter. | <urn:uuid:64137541-b5ab-4bae-8591-93118b8fc4df> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-12/woomera-manual-rulebook-to-clarify-space-war-law/12869492 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964363418.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20211207201422-20211207231422-00236.warc.gz | en | 0.95973 | 981 | 3.203125 | 3 |
Like diagonals, curves are more pleasing than ordinary horizontal and vertical lines, and they help to lead the eye into or through the picture.
Curves can be naturally occurring:
And they can be man-made in a natural setting:
Then there are the architectural curves, as in the Portland Head lighthouse:
Just because something, like a lighthouse tower, is round doesn't mean it will photograph as a curve. Seen straight-on, the lines can look straight, so if you're looking for curves in your photo, try taking the picture from an angle.
Spiral staircases make wonderful photos (Snail shells and other spirals look great too.):
Another architectural source of curves is government buildings from the 1950s and early 1960s. This one is in Washington, DC:
Detail shots of old cars have curves too:
Find curves. Photograph them. Try not to get slapped. If you like some of your shots and want to share, post them on your blog and leave a comment here with the link.
Photography 101 - Lesson 1 and Homework
Digital Photography 101 - Quickie Version
Digital Photography 101 - Update
Photography 101 - Lesson 2
Photography 101 - Lesson 3 | <urn:uuid:fad4c54a-83bf-4e6e-9a93-cf3d1e025488> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://skyepuppy.blogspot.com/2009/02/photography-101-lesson-4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698542695.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170902-00097-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93896 | 255 | 2.78125 | 3 |
The cultivation of vanilla in Madagascar provides a good income for small-holder farmers, but without trees and bushes the plantations can lack biodiversity. Agricultural ecologists from the University of Göttingen, in cooperation with colleagues from the University in Antananarivo (Madagascar), have investigated the interaction between prey and their predators in these cultivated areas. To do this, they experimentally released dummy prey in order to determine the activity of the natural enemies. The result: more prey were attacked as the proportion of trees increased. This pest control is advantageous for agricultural cultivation. The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
Vanilla is the most important crop in northwest Madagascar and is sometimes grown together with shade-providing trees in agroforestry systems. The researchers distributed standardized plasticine models of caterpillars in various habitats such as forests, fallow land, vanilla plantations, and rice fields. By analyzing the bite marks, they were able to analyze the predator attention on these dummy "plant-eaters," i.e. how many predators attacked the prey. The team showed that the predator attention was highest both in the rainforest and in forest fragments, but decreased the fewer trees there were in the area. Even when comparing the landscapes, less dense forest areas had lost a large proportion of their predators. Ants and grasshoppers also played a much greater role as predators than birds or other vertebrates, although the community in the forest differed markedly from the community on cultivated areas. This was also the case in vanilla plantations established directly under the canopies of natural forests.
Dominik Schwab, who produced these results as part of his master's thesis, emphasizes: "If rich vegetation with numerous trees is encouraged or restored in the vanilla plantations, it can contribute to nature conservation outside the forests and also promote much better pest control."
Co-author and PhD student Annemarie Wurz adds: "Such measures would not reduce the yield, as studies in coffee and cacao agroforestry showed."
Professor Teja Tscharntke, head of agroecology at the University of Göttingen and co-author of the study, says: "The study does not only focus on diversity, but also on an important ecological function of the species involved. In doing so, it supports the United Nations' line, which calls for a decade of ecosystem restoration from 2021 to 2030."
- This press release was originally published on the University of Göttingen website | <urn:uuid:dabc581c-fc97-401c-a7a1-2f0de7015d3b> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://www.labmanager.com/news/vanilla-cultivation-under-trees-promotes-pest-regulation-24148 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488534413.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20210623042426-20210623072426-00050.warc.gz | en | 0.962296 | 511 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Quince Fruit Facts and Health Benefits 101
The quince fruit is related to the pear and apple and is a member of pome fruit group. It is among the earliest found fruits. The quince fruit tree has grown in the Mediterranean and Asia for more than 4,000 years. These days, quince can also be seen in the Middle East, Latin America, and the US. The quince, as you may know it in the US, is different from that in Western Asia as well as tropical countries, in which the fruit is much softer and juicier. In cooler environments, the fruit features a fine, good-looking shape, a vibrant golden color once ripe, with a robust fragrance.
When raw, the skin is woolly and rough, plus the flesh is rock hard and unpalatable, having an acidulous, astringent taste. In warmer countries, the woolly skin vanishes and the fruit is edible raw. As it is seldom used in raw form in the US, the dry and hard quince fruit flesh becomes pink to purple, getting sweeter and softer as it is cooked. Due to the astringent, tart taste, quinces are usually made into quince jam, jellies and preserves. When made into jelly, it tastes just like a mixture of apple and pear. Occasionally, the quince has the aroma of a tropical fruit.
Health Benefits of Eating Quince Fruit
Benefits and Nutritional Value of Quince
|Nutrition Value of 100 g Quince|
|Vitamin A||40 µg|
|Vitamin B3||0.2 mg|
|Vitamin B6||0.04 g|
|Vitamin B9||8 µg|
|Vitamin C||15.0 mg|
|Dietary fiber||1.9 g|
|Energy||60 kcal (240 kJ)| | <urn:uuid:ef59db7e-fcbf-4375-8411-0c4bc542de85> | CC-MAIN-2015-11 | http://www.101healthyrecipes.com/health-benefits-of-fruit/quince-fruit-facts-health-benefits-101.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-11/segments/1424936460576.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150226074100-00250-ip-10-28-5-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923934 | 392 | 2.75 | 3 |
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