text stringlengths 222 548k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 95 values | url stringlengths 14 7.09k | file_path stringlengths 110 155 | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.65 1 | token_count int64 53 113k | score float64 2.52 5.03 | int_score int64 3 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Note: To protect the privacy of our members, e-mail addresses have been removed from the archived messages. As a result, some links may be broken.
> Can I run this by you?
> I would like to write a simple rule list for my K-8 students to be
> in the front of my class. How does this sound?
> ART RULES
> BE KIND
> BE PATIENT
> BE HELPFUL
> WORK HARD
> Do you think I should add some more stuff? I would love your input on
This will be (perhaps) a little more difficult for your younger students
(but then it will be just as difficult for them to read and understand the
rules you're displaying), but how about this?
I work with juveniles in a judicial halfway house. Ages range from 13-18
and their offenses range from parole violation (p.v.), drug use and dealing,
to burglary and theft. Whenever we begin a new session with new boys, rules
is the first thing that we go over.
BUT WE HAVE THEM DEVELOP THE LIST OF RULES THEMSELVES.
For each rule they propose, or oppose, they need to give the justification
for it. You'd be surprised by how complete their list is! The class is
given the latitude of discussing the merits of each rule, appropriate
"punishment" or consequences for anyone breaking a rule, etc.
Try it; you might be very surprised, even by the young ones. It is not
necessary for them to be able to write or read, only talk and listen, skills
we encourage in any case. Trust them; someday they'll be making laws and
having to run the world. | <urn:uuid:d468bcf3-ae89-4c53-b3be-e3cf126f0326> | CC-MAIN-2013-48 | http://www.getty.edu/education/teacherartexchange/archive/Aug99/0513.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-48/segments/1386163064915/warc/CC-MAIN-20131204131744-00025-ip-10-33-133-15.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932794 | 367 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing is a very important molecular tool for understanding the epidemiology and clonal strain relatedness of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), particularly with the emerging outbreaks of community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) occurring on a worldwide basis. Traditional PCR typing schemes classify SCCmec by targeting and identifying the individual mec and ccr gene complex types, but require the use of many primer sets and multiple individual PCR experiments. We designed and published a simple multiplex PCR assay for quick-screening of major SCCmec types and subtypes I to V, and later updated it as new sequence information became available. This simple assay targets individual SCCmec types in a single reaction, is easy to interpret and has been extensively used worldwide. However, due to the sophisticated nature of the assay and the large number of primers present in the reaction, there is the potential for difficulties while adapting this assay to individual laboratories. To facilitate the process of establishing a MRSA SCCmec assay, here we demonstrate how to set up our multiplex PCR assay, and discuss some of the vital steps and procedural nuances that make it successful.
23 Related JoVE Articles!
DNA Fingerprinting of Mycobacterium leprae Strains Using Variable Number Tandem Repeat (VNTR) - Fragment Length Analysis (FLA)
Institutions: Colorado State University.
The study of the transmission of leprosy is particularly difficult since the causative agent, Mycobacterium leprae
, cannot be cultured in the laboratory. The only sources of the bacteria are leprosy patients, and experimentally infected armadillos and nude mice. Thus, many of the methods used in modern epidemiology are not available for the study of leprosy. Despite an extensive global drug treatment program for leprosy implemented by the WHO1
, leprosy remains endemic in many countries with approximately 250,000 new cases each year.2
The entire M. leprae
genome has been mapped3,4
and many loci have been identified that have repeated segments of 2 or more base pairs (called micro- and minisatellites).5
Clinical strains of M. leprae
may vary in the number of tandem repeated segments (short tandem repeats, STR) at many of these loci.5,6,7
Variable number tandem repeat (VNTR)5
analysis has been used to distinguish different strains of the leprosy bacilli. Some of the loci appear to be more stable than others, showing less variation in repeat numbers, while others seem to change more rapidly, sometimes in the same patient. While the variability of certain VNTRs has brought up questions regarding their suitability for strain typing7,8,9
, the emerging data suggest that analyzing multiple loci, which are diverse in their stability, can be used as a valuable epidemiological tool. Multiple locus VNTR analysis (MLVA)10
has been used to study leprosy evolution and transmission in several countries including China11,12
, the Philippines10,13
, and Brazil14
. MLVA involves multiple steps. First, bacterial DNA is extracted along with host tissue DNA from clinical biopsies or slit skin smears (SSS).10
The desired loci are then amplified from the extracted DNA via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fluorescently-labeled primers for 4-5 different loci are used per reaction, with 18 loci being amplified in a total of four reactions.10
The PCR products may be subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis to verify the presence of the desired DNA segments, and then submitted for fluorescent fragment length analysis (FLA) using capillary electrophoresis. DNA from armadillo passaged bacteria with a known number of repeat copies for each locus is used as a positive control. The FLA chromatograms are then examined using Peak Scanner
software and fragment length is converted to number of VNTR copies (allele). Finally, the VNTR haplotypes are analyzed for patterns, and when combined with patient clinical data can be used to track distribution of strain types.
Immunology, Issue 53, Mycobacterium leprae, leprosy, biopsy, STR, VNTR, PCR, fragment length analysis
Multiplex PCR and Reverse Line Blot Hybridization Assay (mPCR/RLB)
Institutions: University of Sydney.
Multiplex PCR/Reverse Line Blot Hybridization assay allows the detection of up to 43 molecular targets in 43 samples using one multiplex PCR reaction followed by probe hybridization on a nylon membrane, which is re-usable. Probes are 5' amine modified to allow fixation to the membrane. Primers are 5' biotin modified which allows detection of hybridized PCR products using streptavidin-peroxidase and a chemiluminescent substrate via photosensitive film. With low setup and consumable costs, this technique is inexpensive (approximately US$2 per sample), high throughput (multiple membranes can be processed simultaneously) and has a short turnaround time (approximately 10 hours).
The technique can be utilized in a number of ways. Multiple probes can be designed to detect sequence variation within a single amplified product, or multiple products can be amplified
simultaneously, with one (or more) probes used for subsequent detection. A combination of both approaches can also be used within a single assay. The ability to include multiple probes for a single target sequence makes the assay highly specific.
Published applications of mPCR/RLB include detection of antibiotic resistance genes1,2
, typing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus3-5
, molecular serotyping of Streptococcus pneumoniae7,8
, Streptococcus agalactiae9
, identification of Mycobacterium
, detection of genital13-15
and respiratory tract16
pathogens and detection and identification of mollicutes18
. However, the versatility of the technique means the applications are virtually limitless and not restricted to molecular analysis of micro-organisms.
The five steps in mPCR/RLB are a) Primer and Probe design, b) DNA extraction and PCR amplification c) Preparation of the membrane, d) Hybridization and detection, and e) Regeneration of the Membrane.
Molecular Biology, Issue 54, Typing, MRSA, macroarray, molecular epidemiology
An Allelotyping PCR for Identifying Salmonella enterica serovars Enteritidis, Hadar, Heidelberg, and Typhimurium
Institutions: University of Georgia.
Current commercial PCRs tests for identifying Salmonella
target genes unique to this genus. However, there are two species, six subspecies, and over 2,500 different Salmonella
serovars, and not all are equal in their significance to public health. For example, finding S. enterica subspecies
IIIa Arizona on a table egg layer farm is insignificant compared to the isolation of S. enterica
subspecies I serovar Enteritidis, the leading cause of salmonellosis linked to the consumption of table eggs. Serovars are identified based on antigenic differences in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)(O antigen) and flagellin (H1 and H2 antigens). These antigenic differences are the outward appearance of the diversity of genes and gene alleles associated with this phenotype.
We have developed an allelotyping, multiplex PCR that keys on genetic differences between four major S. enterica
subspecies I serovars found in poultry and associated with significant human disease in the US. The PCR primer pairs were targeted to key genes or sequences unique to a specific Salmonella
serovar and designed to produce an amplicon with size specific for that gene or allele. Salmonella
serovar is assigned to an isolate based on the combination of PCR test results for specific LPS and flagellin gene alleles. The multiplex PCRs described in this article are specific for the detection of S. enterica
subspecies I serovars Enteritidis, Hadar, Heidelberg, and Typhimurium.
Here we demonstrate how to use the multiplex PCRs to identify serovar for a Salmonella
Immunology, Issue 53, PCR, Salmonella, multiplex, Serovar
Use of a High-throughput In Vitro Microfluidic System to Develop Oral Multi-species Biofilms
Institutions: The University of Michigan, Newcastle University.
There are few high-throughput in vitro
systems which facilitate the development of multi-species biofilms that contain numerous species commonly detected within in vivo
oral biofilms. Furthermore, a system that uses natural human saliva as the nutrient source, instead of artificial media, is particularly desirable in order to support the expression of cellular and biofilm-specific properties that mimic the in vivo
communities. We describe a method for the development of multi-species oral biofilms that are comparable, with respect to species composition, to supragingival dental plaque, under conditions similar to the human oral cavity. Specifically, this methods article will describe how a commercially available microfluidic system can be adapted to facilitate the development of multi-species oral biofilms derived from and grown within pooled saliva. Furthermore, a description of how the system can be used in conjunction with a confocal laser scanning microscope to generate 3-D biofilm reconstructions for architectural and viability analyses will be presented. Given the broad diversity of microorganisms that grow within biofilms in the microfluidic system (including Streptococcus
, and Porphyromonas
), a protocol will also be presented describing how to harvest the biofilm cells for further subculture or DNA extraction and analysis. The limits of both the microfluidic biofilm system and the current state-of-the-art data analyses will be addressed. Ultimately, it is envisioned that this article will provide a baseline technique that will improve the study of oral biofilms and aid in the development of additional technologies that can be integrated with the microfluidic platform.
Bioengineering, Issue 94, Dental plaque, biofilm, confocal laser scanning microscopy, three-dimensional structure, pyrosequencing, image analysis, image reconstruction, saliva, modeling, COMSTAT, IMARIS, IMAGEJ, multi-species biofilm communities.
Systematic Analysis of In Vitro Cell Rolling Using a Multi-well Plate Microfluidic System
Institutions: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Harvard University, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A major challenge for cell-based therapy is the inability to systemically target a large quantity of viable cells with high efficiency to tissues of interest following intravenous or intraarterial infusion. Consequently, increasing cell homing is currently studied as a strategy to improve cell therapy. Cell rolling on the vascular endothelium is an important step in the process of cell homing and can be probed in-vitro
using a parallel plate flow chamber (PPFC). However, this is an extremely tedious, low throughput assay, with poorly controlled flow conditions. Instead, we used a multi-well plate microfluidic system that enables study of cellular rolling properties in a higher throughput under precisely controlled, physiologically relevant shear flow1,2
. In this paper, we show how the rolling properties of HL-60 (human promyelocytic leukemia) cells on P- and E-selectin-coated surfaces as well as on cell monolayer-coated surfaces can be readily examined. To better simulate inflammatory conditions, the microfluidic channel surface was coated with endothelial cells (ECs), which were then activated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), significantly increasing interactions with HL-60 cells under dynamic conditions. The enhanced throughput and integrated multi-parameter software analysis platform, that permits rapid analysis of parameters such as rolling velocities and rolling path, are important advantages for assessing cell rolling properties in-vitro
. Allowing rapid and accurate analysis of engineering approaches designed to impact cell rolling and homing, this platform may help advance exogenous cell-based therapy.
Bioengineering, Issue 80, Microfluidics, Endothelial Cells, Leukocyte Rolling, HL-60 cells, TNF-α, P-selectin, E-selectin
A Microfluidic-based Electrochemical Biochip for Label-free DNA Hybridization Analysis
Institutions: University of Maryland, University of Maryland.
Miniaturization of analytical benchtop procedures into the micro-scale provides significant advantages in regards to reaction time, cost, and integration of pre-processing steps. Utilizing these devices towards the analysis of DNA hybridization events is important because it offers a technology for real time assessment of biomarkers at the point-of-care for various diseases. However, when the device footprint decreases the dominance of various physical phenomena increases. These phenomena influence the fabrication precision and operation reliability of the device. Therefore, there is a great need to accurately fabricate and operate these devices in a reproducible manner in order to improve the overall performance. Here, we describe the protocols and the methods used for the fabrication and the operation of a microfluidic-based electrochemical biochip for accurate analysis of DNA hybridization events. The biochip is composed of two parts: a microfluidic chip with three parallel micro-channels made of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and a 3 x 3 arrayed electrochemical micro-chip. The DNA hybridization events are detected using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The EIS analysis enables monitoring variations of the properties of the electrochemical system that are dominant at these length scales. With the ability to monitor changes of both charge transfer and diffusional resistance with the biosensor, we demonstrate the selectivity to complementary ssDNA targets, a calculated detection limit of 3.8 nM, and a 13% cross-reactivity with other non-complementary ssDNA following 20 min of incubation. This methodology can improve the performance of miniaturized devices by elucidating on the behavior of diffusion at the micro-scale regime and by enabling the study of DNA hybridization events.
Bioengineering, Issue 91, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, DNA hybridization, biosensor, biochip, microfluidics, label-free detection, restricted diffusion, microfabrication
A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
Institutions: The George Washington University.
Many researchers, across incredibly diverse foci, are applying phylogenetics to their research question(s). However, many researchers are new to this topic and so it presents inherent problems. Here we compile a practical introduction to phylogenetics for nonexperts. We outline in a step-by-step manner, a pipeline for generating reliable phylogenies from gene sequence datasets. We begin with a user-guide for similarity search tools via online interfaces as well as local executables. Next, we explore programs for generating multiple sequence alignments followed by protocols for using software to determine best-fit models of evolution. We then outline protocols for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships via maximum likelihood and Bayesian criteria and finally describe tools for visualizing phylogenetic trees. While this is not by any means an exhaustive description of phylogenetic approaches, it does provide the reader with practical starting information on key software applications commonly utilized by phylogeneticists. The vision for this article would be that it could serve as a practical training tool for researchers embarking on phylogenetic studies and also serve as an educational resource that could be incorporated into a classroom or teaching-lab.
Basic Protocol, Issue 84, phylogenetics, multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetic tree, BLAST executables, basic local alignment search tool, Bayesian models
Demonstrating a Multi-drug Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Amplification Microarray
Institutions: Akonni Biosystems, Inc..
Simplifying microarray workflow is a necessary first step for creating MDR-TB microarray-based diagnostics that can be routinely used in lower-resource environments. An amplification microarray combines asymmetric PCR amplification, target size selection, target labeling, and microarray hybridization within a single solution and into a single microfluidic chamber. A batch processing method is demonstrated with a 9-plex asymmetric master mix and low-density gel element microarray for genotyping multi-drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
(MDR-TB). The protocol described here can be completed in 6 hr and provide correct genotyping with at least 1,000 cell equivalents of genomic DNA. Incorporating on-chip wash steps is feasible, which will result in an entirely closed amplicon method and system. The extent of multiplexing with an amplification microarray is ultimately constrained by the number of primer pairs that can be combined into a single master mix and still achieve desired sensitivity and specificity performance metrics, rather than the number of probes that are immobilized on the array. Likewise, the total analysis time can be shortened or lengthened depending on the specific intended use, research question, and desired limits of detection. Nevertheless, the general approach significantly streamlines microarray workflow for the end user by reducing the number of manually intensive and time-consuming processing steps, and provides a simplified biochemical and microfluidic path for translating microarray-based diagnostics into routine clinical practice.
Immunology, Issue 86, MDR-TB, gel element microarray, closed amplicon, drug resistance, rifampin, isoniazid, streptomycin, ethambutol
Characterization of Complex Systems Using the Design of Experiments Approach: Transient Protein Expression in Tobacco as a Case Study
Institutions: RWTH Aachen University, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft.
Plants provide multiple benefits for the production of biopharmaceuticals including low costs, scalability, and safety. Transient expression offers the additional advantage of short development and production times, but expression levels can vary significantly between batches thus giving rise to regulatory concerns in the context of good manufacturing practice. We used a design of experiments (DoE) approach to determine the impact of major factors such as regulatory elements in the expression construct, plant growth and development parameters, and the incubation conditions during expression, on the variability of expression between batches. We tested plants expressing a model anti-HIV monoclonal antibody (2G12) and a fluorescent marker protein (DsRed). We discuss the rationale for selecting certain properties of the model and identify its potential limitations. The general approach can easily be transferred to other problems because the principles of the model are broadly applicable: knowledge-based parameter selection, complexity reduction by splitting the initial problem into smaller modules, software-guided setup of optimal experiment combinations and step-wise design augmentation. Therefore, the methodology is not only useful for characterizing protein expression in plants but also for the investigation of other complex systems lacking a mechanistic description. The predictive equations describing the interconnectivity between parameters can be used to establish mechanistic models for other complex systems.
Bioengineering, Issue 83, design of experiments (DoE), transient protein expression, plant-derived biopharmaceuticals, promoter, 5'UTR, fluorescent reporter protein, model building, incubation conditions, monoclonal antibody
Mouse Genome Engineering Using Designer Nucleases
Institutions: University of Zurich, University of Minnesota.
Transgenic mice carrying site-specific genome modifications (knockout, knock-in) are of vital importance for dissecting complex biological systems as well as for modeling human diseases and testing therapeutic strategies. Recent advances in the use of designer nucleases such as zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas) 9 system for site-specific genome engineering open the possibility to perform rapid targeted genome modification in virtually any laboratory species without the need to rely on embryonic stem (ES) cell technology. A genome editing experiment typically starts with identification of designer nuclease target sites within a gene of interest followed by construction of custom DNA-binding domains to direct nuclease activity to the investigator-defined genomic locus. Designer nuclease plasmids are in vitro
transcribed to generate mRNA for microinjection of fertilized mouse oocytes. Here, we provide a protocol for achieving targeted genome modification by direct injection of TALEN mRNA into fertilized mouse oocytes.
Genetics, Issue 86, Oocyte microinjection, Designer nucleases, ZFN, TALEN, Genome Engineering
Detection of Rare Genomic Variants from Pooled Sequencing Using SPLINTER
Institutions: Washington University School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine.
As DNA sequencing technology has markedly advanced in recent years2
, it has become increasingly evident that the amount of genetic variation between any two individuals is greater than previously thought3
. In contrast, array-based genotyping has failed to identify a significant contribution of common sequence variants to the phenotypic variability of common disease4,5
. Taken together, these observations have led to the evolution of the Common Disease / Rare Variant hypothesis suggesting that the majority of the "missing heritability" in common and complex phenotypes is instead due to an individual's personal profile of rare or private DNA variants6-8
. However, characterizing how rare variation impacts complex phenotypes requires the analysis of many affected individuals at many genomic loci, and is ideally compared to a similar survey in an unaffected cohort. Despite the sequencing power offered by today's platforms, a population-based survey of many genomic loci and the subsequent computational analysis required remains prohibitive for many investigators.
To address this need, we have developed a pooled sequencing approach1,9
and a novel software package1
for highly accurate rare variant detection from the resulting data. The ability to pool genomes from entire populations of affected individuals and survey the degree of genetic variation at multiple targeted regions in a single sequencing library provides excellent cost and time savings to traditional single-sample sequencing methodology. With a mean sequencing coverage per allele of 25-fold, our custom algorithm, SPLINTER, uses an internal variant calling control strategy to call insertions, deletions and substitutions up to four base pairs in length with high sensitivity and specificity from pools of up to 1 mutant allele in 500 individuals. Here we describe the method for preparing the pooled sequencing library followed by step-by-step instructions on how to use the SPLINTER package for pooled sequencing analysis (http://www.ibridgenetwork.org/wustl/splinter). We show a comparison between pooled sequencing of 947 individuals, all of whom also underwent genome-wide array, at over 20kb of sequencing per person. Concordance between genotyping of tagged and novel variants called in the pooled sample were excellent. This method can be easily scaled up to any number of genomic loci and any number of individuals. By incorporating the internal positive and negative amplicon controls at ratios that mimic the population under study, the algorithm can be calibrated for optimal performance. This strategy can also be modified for use with hybridization capture or individual-specific barcodes and can be applied to the sequencing of naturally heterogeneous samples, such as tumor DNA.
Genetics, Issue 64, Genomics, Cancer Biology, Bioinformatics, Pooled DNA sequencing, SPLINTER, rare genetic variants, genetic screening, phenotype, high throughput, computational analysis, DNA, PCR, primers
Transgenic Rodent Assay for Quantifying Male Germ Cell Mutant Frequency
Institutions: Environmental Health Centre.
mutations arise mostly in the male germline and may contribute to adverse health outcomes in subsequent generations. Traditional methods for assessing the induction of germ cell mutations require the use of large numbers of animals, making them impractical. As such, germ cell mutagenicity is rarely assessed during chemical testing and risk assessment. Herein, we describe an in vivo
male germ cell mutation assay using a transgenic rodent model that is based on a recently approved Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) test guideline. This method uses an in vitro
positive selection assay to measure in vivo
mutations induced in a transgenic λgt10 vector bearing a reporter gene directly in the germ cells of exposed males. We further describe how the detection of mutations in the transgene recovered from germ cells can be used to characterize the stage-specific sensitivity of the various spermatogenic cell types to mutagen exposure by controlling three experimental parameters: the duration of exposure (administration time), the time between exposure and sample collection (sampling time), and the cell population collected for analysis. Because a large number of germ cells can be assayed from a single male, this method has superior sensitivity compared with traditional methods, requires fewer animals and therefore much less time and resources.
Genetics, Issue 90, sperm, spermatogonia, male germ cells, spermatogenesis, de novo mutation, OECD TG 488, transgenic rodent mutation assay, N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, genetic toxicology
Genetic Manipulation in Δku80 Strains for Functional Genomic Analysis of Toxoplasma gondii
Institutions: The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.
Targeted genetic manipulation using homologous recombination is the method of choice for functional genomic analysis to obtain a detailed view of gene function and phenotype(s). The development of mutant strains with targeted gene deletions, targeted mutations, complemented gene function, and/or tagged genes provides powerful strategies to address gene function, particularly if these genetic manipulations can be efficiently targeted to the gene locus of interest using integration mediated by double cross over homologous recombination.
Due to very high rates of nonhomologous recombination, functional genomic analysis of Toxoplasma gondii
has been previously limited by the absence of efficient methods for targeting gene deletions and gene replacements to specific genetic loci. Recently, we abolished the major pathway of nonhomologous recombination in type I and type II strains of T. gondii
by deleting the gene encoding the KU80 protein1,2
. The Δku80
strains behave normally during tachyzoite (acute) and bradyzoite (chronic) stages in vitro
and in vivo
and exhibit essentially a 100% frequency of homologous recombination. The Δku80
strains make functional genomic studies feasible on the single gene as well as on the genome scale1-4
Here, we report methods for using type I and type II Δku80Δhxgprt
strains to advance gene targeting approaches in T. gondii
. We outline efficient methods for generating gene deletions, gene replacements, and tagged genes by targeted insertion or deletion of the hypoxanthine-xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HXGPRT
) selectable marker. The described gene targeting protocol can be used in a variety of ways in Δku80
strains to advance functional analysis of the parasite genome and to develop single strains that carry multiple targeted genetic manipulations. The application of this genetic method and subsequent phenotypic assays will reveal fundamental and unique aspects of the biology of T. gondii
and related significant human pathogens that cause malaria (Plasmodium
sp.) and cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium
Infectious Diseases, Issue 77, Genetics, Microbiology, Infection, Medicine, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Bioengineering, Genomics, Parasitology, Pathology, Apicomplexa, Coccidia, Toxoplasma, Genetic Techniques, Gene Targeting, Eukaryota, Toxoplasma gondii, genetic manipulation, gene targeting, gene deletion, gene replacement, gene tagging, homologous recombination, DNA, sequencing
Protein WISDOM: A Workbench for In silico De novo Design of BioMolecules
Institutions: Princeton University.
The aim of de novo
protein design is to find the amino acid sequences that will fold into a desired 3-dimensional structure with improvements in specific properties, such as binding affinity, agonist or antagonist behavior, or stability, relative to the native sequence. Protein design lies at the center of current advances drug design and discovery. Not only does protein design provide predictions for potentially useful drug targets, but it also enhances our understanding of the protein folding process and protein-protein interactions. Experimental methods such as directed evolution have shown success in protein design. However, such methods are restricted by the limited sequence space that can be searched tractably. In contrast, computational design strategies allow for the screening of a much larger set of sequences covering a wide variety of properties and functionality. We have developed a range of computational de novo
protein design methods capable of tackling several important areas of protein design. These include the design of monomeric proteins for increased stability and complexes for increased binding affinity.
To disseminate these methods for broader use we present Protein WISDOM (http://www.proteinwisdom.org), a tool that provides automated methods for a variety of protein design problems. Structural templates are submitted to initialize the design process. The first stage of design is an optimization sequence selection stage that aims at improving stability through minimization of potential energy in the sequence space. Selected sequences are then run through a fold specificity stage and a binding affinity stage. A rank-ordered list of the sequences for each step of the process, along with relevant designed structures, provides the user with a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the design. Here we provide the details of each design method, as well as several notable experimental successes attained through the use of the methods.
Genetics, Issue 77, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computational Biology, Genomics, Proteomics, Protein, Protein Binding, Computational Biology, Drug Design, optimization (mathematics), Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins, De novo protein and peptide design, Drug design, In silico sequence selection, Optimization, Fold specificity, Binding affinity, sequencing
An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Institutions: University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, Jembi Health Systems, University of Amsterdam, Stanford Medical School.
HIV-1 drug resistance has the potential to seriously compromise the effectiveness and impact of antiretroviral therapy (ART). As ART programs in sub-Saharan Africa continue to expand, individuals on ART should be closely monitored for the emergence of drug resistance. Surveillance of transmitted drug resistance to track transmission of viral strains already resistant to ART is also critical. Unfortunately, drug resistance testing is still not readily accessible in resource limited settings, because genotyping is expensive and requires sophisticated laboratory and data management infrastructure. An open access genotypic drug resistance monitoring method to manage individuals and assess transmitted drug resistance is described. The method uses free open source software for the interpretation of drug resistance patterns and the generation of individual patient reports. The genotyping protocol has an amplification rate of greater than 95% for plasma samples with a viral load >1,000 HIV-1 RNA copies/ml. The sensitivity decreases significantly for viral loads <1,000 HIV-1 RNA copies/ml. The method described here was validated against a method of HIV-1 drug resistance testing approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Viroseq genotyping method. Limitations of the method described here include the fact that it is not automated and that it also failed to amplify the circulating recombinant form CRF02_AG from a validation panel of samples, although it amplified subtypes A and B from the same panel.
Medicine, Issue 85, Biomedical Technology, HIV-1, HIV Infections, Viremia, Nucleic Acids, genetics, antiretroviral therapy, drug resistance, genotyping, affordable
A Restriction Enzyme Based Cloning Method to Assess the In vitro Replication Capacity of HIV-1 Subtype C Gag-MJ4 Chimeric Viruses
Institutions: Emory University, Emory University.
The protective effect of many HLA class I alleles on HIV-1 pathogenesis and disease progression is, in part, attributed to their ability to target conserved portions of the HIV-1 genome that escape with difficulty. Sequence changes attributed to cellular immune pressure arise across the genome during infection, and if found within conserved regions of the genome such as Gag, can affect the ability of the virus to replicate in vitro
. Transmission of HLA-linked polymorphisms in Gag to HLA-mismatched recipients has been associated with reduced set point viral loads. We hypothesized this may be due to a reduced replication capacity of the virus. Here we present a novel method for assessing the in vitro
replication of HIV-1 as influenced by the gag
gene isolated from acute time points from subtype C infected Zambians. This method uses restriction enzyme based cloning to insert the gag
gene into a common subtype C HIV-1 proviral backbone, MJ4. This makes it more appropriate to the study of subtype C sequences than previous recombination based methods that have assessed the in vitro
replication of chronically derived gag-pro
sequences. Nevertheless, the protocol could be readily modified for studies of viruses from other subtypes. Moreover, this protocol details a robust and reproducible method for assessing the replication capacity of the Gag-MJ4 chimeric viruses on a CEM-based T cell line. This method was utilized for the study of Gag-MJ4 chimeric viruses derived from 149 subtype C acutely infected Zambians, and has allowed for the identification of residues in Gag that affect replication. More importantly, the implementation of this technique has facilitated a deeper understanding of how viral replication defines parameters of early HIV-1 pathogenesis such as set point viral load and longitudinal CD4+ T cell decline.
Infectious Diseases, Issue 90, HIV-1, Gag, viral replication, replication capacity, viral fitness, MJ4, CEM, GXR25
Studies of Bacterial Chemotaxis Using Microfluidics - Interview
Institutions: MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Microbiology, issue 4, microbial community, chemotaxis, microfluidics
Rapid Genotyping of Mouse Tissue Using Sigma's Extract-N-Amp Tissue PCR Kit
Institutions: University of California, Irvine (UCI).
Genomic detection of DNA via PCR amplification and detection on an electrophoretic gel is a standard way that the genotype of a tissue sample is determined. Conventional preparation of tissues for PCR-ready DNA often take several hours to days, depending on the tissue sample. The genotype of the sample may thus be delayed for several days, which is not an option for many different types of experiments. Here we demonstrate the complete genotyping of a mouse tail sample, including tissue digestion and PCR readout, in one and a half hours using Sigma's SYBR Green Extract-N-Amp Tissue PCR Kit. First, we demonstrate the fifteen-minute extraction of DNA from the tissue sample. Then, we demonstrate the real time read-out of the PCR amplification of the sample, which allows for the identification of a positive sample as it is being amplified. Together, the rapid extraction and real-time readout allow for a prompt identification of genotype of a variety different types of tissues through the reliable method of PCR.
Basic Protocols, Issue 11, genotyping, PCR, DNA extraction, Mice
Development of New Therapeutic Applications Using Microfluidics
Institutions: MGH - Massachusetts General Hospital.
Cellular Biology, Issue 8, Microfluidics, Translational Research, Diagnostics, Bioengineering
Applying Microfluidics to Electrophysiology
Institutions: University of Illinois, Chicago.
Microfluidics can be integrated with standard electrophysiology techniques to allow new experimental modalities. Specifically, the motivation for the microfluidic brain slice device is discussed including how the device docks to standard perfusion chambers and the technique of passive pumping which is used to deliver boluses of neuromodulators to the brain slice. By simplifying the device design, we are able to achieve a practical solution to the current unmet electrophysiology need of applying multiple neuromodulators across multiple regions of the brain slice. This is achieved by substituting the standard coverglass substrate of the perfusion chamber with a thin microfluidic device bonded to the coverglass substrate. This was then attached to the perfusion chamber and small holes connect the open-well of the perfusion chamber to the microfluidic channels buried within the microfluidic substrate. These microfluidic channels are interfaced with ports drilled into the edge of the perfusion chamber to access and deliver stimulants. This project represents how the field of microfluidics is transitioning away from proof-of concept device demonstrations and into practical solutions for unmet experimental and clinical needs.
Neuroscience, Issue 8, Biomedical Engineering, Microfluidics, Slice Recording, Electrophysiology, Neurotransmitter, Bioengineering
Pyrosequencing: A Simple Method for Accurate Genotyping
Institutions: Washington University in St. Louis.
Pharmacogenetic research benefits first-hand from the abundance of information provided by the completion of the Human Genome Project. With such a tremendous amount of data available comes an explosion of genotyping methods. Pyrosequencing(R) is one of the most thorough yet simple methods to date used to analyze polymorphisms. It also has the ability to identify tri-allelic, indels, short-repeat polymorphisms, along with determining allele percentages for methylation or pooled sample assessment. In addition, there is a standardized control sequence that provides internal quality control. This method has led to rapid and efficient single-nucleotide polymorphism evaluation including many clinically relevant polymorphisms. The technique and methodology of Pyrosequencing is explained.
Cellular Biology, Issue 11, Springer Protocols, Pyrosequencing, genotype, polymorphism, SNP, pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics, PCR
A Rapid Technique for the Visualization of Live Immobilized Yeast Cells
Institutions: Princeton University.
We present here a simple, rapid, and extremely flexible technique for the immobilization and visualization of growing yeast cells by epifluorescence microscopy. The technique is equally suited for visualization of static yeast populations, or time courses experiments up to ten hours in length. My microscopy investigates epigenetic inheritance at the silent mating loci in S. cerevisiae. There are two silent mating loci, HML and HMR, which are normally not expressed as they are packaged in heterochromatin. In the sir1 mutant background silencing is weakened such that each locus can either be in the expressed or silenced epigenetic state, so in the population as a whole there is a mix of cells of different epigenetic states for both HML and HMR. My microscopy demonstrated that there is no relationship between the epigenetic state of HML and HMR in an individual cell. sir1 cells stochastically switch epigenetic states, establishing silencing at a previously expressed locus or expressing a previously silenced locus. My time course microscopy tracked individual sir1 cells and their offspring to score the frequency of each of the four possible epigenetic switches, and thus the stability of each of the epigenetic states in sir1 cells. See also Xu et al., Mol. Cell 2006.
Microbiology, Issue 1, yeast, HML, HMR, epigenetic, loci, silencing, cerevisiae
A Strategy to Identify de Novo Mutations in Common Disorders such as Autism and Schizophrenia
Institutions: Universite de Montreal, Universite de Montreal, Universite de Montreal.
There are several lines of evidence supporting the role of de novo
mutations as a mechanism for common disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia. First, the de novo
mutation rate in humans is relatively high, so new mutations are generated at a high frequency in the population. However, de novo
mutations have not been reported in most common diseases. Mutations in genes leading to severe diseases where there is a strong negative selection against the phenotype, such as lethality in embryonic stages or reduced reproductive fitness, will not be transmitted to multiple family members, and therefore will not be detected by linkage gene mapping or association studies. The observation of very high concordance in monozygotic twins and very low concordance in dizygotic twins also strongly supports the hypothesis that a significant fraction of cases may result from new mutations. Such is the case for diseases such as autism and schizophrenia. Second, despite reduced reproductive fitness1
and extremely variable environmental factors, the incidence of some diseases is maintained worldwide at a relatively high and constant rate. This is the case for autism and schizophrenia, with an incidence of approximately 1% worldwide. Mutational load can be thought of as a balance between selection for or against a deleterious mutation and its production by de novo
mutation. Lower rates of reproduction constitute a negative selection factor that should reduce the number of mutant alleles in the population, ultimately leading to decreased disease prevalence. These selective pressures tend to be of different intensity in different environments. Nonetheless, these severe mental disorders have been maintained at a constant relatively high prevalence in the worldwide population across a wide range of cultures and countries despite a strong negative selection against them2
. This is not what one would predict in diseases with reduced reproductive fitness, unless there was a high new mutation rate. Finally, the effects of paternal age: there is a significantly increased risk of the disease with increasing paternal age, which could result from the age related increase in paternal de novo
mutations. This is the case for autism and schizophrenia3
. The male-to-female ratio of mutation rate is estimated at about 4–6:1, presumably due to a higher number of germ-cell divisions with age in males. Therefore, one would predict that de novo
mutations would more frequently come from males, particularly older males4
. A high rate of new mutations may in part explain why genetic studies have so far failed to identify many genes predisposing to complexes diseases genes, such as autism and schizophrenia, and why diseases have been identified for a mere 3% of genes in the human genome. Identification for de novo
mutations as a cause of a disease requires a targeted molecular approach, which includes studying parents and affected subjects. The process for determining if the genetic basis of a disease may result in part from de novo
mutations and the molecular approach to establish this link will be illustrated, using autism and schizophrenia as examples.
Medicine, Issue 52, de novo mutation, complex diseases, schizophrenia, autism, rare variations, DNA sequencing | <urn:uuid:fb7e9b9b-7a42-4d82-82ec-5a1fd30e7110> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://www.jove.com/visualize/abstract/20485679/rapid-multi-locus-sequence-typing-using-microfluidic-biochips | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988719033.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183839-00074-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.896684 | 9,102 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Two guides travel in two perpendicular grooves. A bar with pivots connects the guides. A point on the bar or its extension traces out an ellipse. This principle can be used to convert circular motion to linear motion or to plot ellipses. Notice that the envelope of the bar's positions is an astroid. | <urn:uuid:d4821e4c-e3af-4691-9dc3-6f72f4c46ae4> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://demonstrations.wolfram.com/EllipsographOrReciprocator/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560282937.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095122-00440-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.807906 | 66 | 2.65625 | 3 |
S&T senior editor Alan MacRobert tells you what you need to know to get ready for Comet ISON.
When amateur astronomers discovered Comet ISON in September 2012, its unusual brightness caused some to hail it as the “Comet of the Century,” on a perilous course to graze the Sun in late 2013. However, the most recent observations indicate ISON (C/2012 S1) is on track to produce a somewhat less spectacular display, hopefully (but not definitely) reaching naked-eye visibility in the night sky in December 2013.
To S&T senior editor Alan MacRobert, that doesn’t make the opportunity to see it any less meaningful. MacRobert explains just why it’s so tricky to predict how bright ISON will be, and previews what you’ll need to know to spot it as it approaches the Sun for its close encounter.
Take a look: | <urn:uuid:af9156f5-8723-47da-8f1b-b8f338ac3a4b> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/comet-ison-preview-video/?pageSize=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802777438.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075257-00063-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92679 | 188 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Brig Amity Replica
The arrival of the Brig Amity in 1826 marks the beginning of European settlement in Western Australia.
In the early 1800's the New South Wales Government saw a need to establish a military outpost on the west coast to counter French ambitions. A settlement party was assembled and the Amity dispatched from Sydney on the 9th November 1826.
After a difficult 6 week journey through rough seas and the sweltering summer sun, the Amity arrived in King George Sound on December 25th, 1826.
On board were Major Edmund Lockyer, 19 soldiers, 23 convict tradesmen, a storekeeper, and the ship's own crew led by Lt. Colson Festing, together with supplies and equipment for 6 months, including sheep and pigs.
On December 26th, the party landed and began the settlement of Frederickstown, named in honour of Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Renamed 'Albany' in 1831, the settlement pre-dates Perth by 2 years.
The Amity continued life as a private vessel around Tasmania until she was wrecked in Bass Strait on an uncharted sandbank in 1845.
In 1972, the idea of an Amity Replica was proposed as the focal point of celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Brig's arrival.
After much discussion, information sourced by historian Les Johnson and funding approved by Federal, State and local government, construction began in 1975.
The replica was built using designs, techniques and materials similar to those used in the early 1800s.
Local boat builder Stan Austin and shipwright Pieter van der Brugge lead the construction with help from a team of local craftsmen.
The replica was built using designs, techniques and materials similar to those used in the early 1800s. Natural bush timbers were sourced for many parts of the ship, with much time spent finding the right materials.
On board, an interactive audio tour helps you explore the fascinating history of WA's first settlement.
Article updated 02/09/2015. | <urn:uuid:909b2627-1410-4a4d-a29c-50fcc2b7ceba> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | https://sensationalsouthcoast.com.au/brig-amity-replica | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195532251.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20190724082321-20190724104321-00368.warc.gz | en | 0.959297 | 419 | 2.734375 | 3 |
February 17, 2011
The Female Disciples of Jesus
Jesus’s disciples were students who followed his teachings. There are variations among the four gospels regarding which women followed Jesus and their exact roles. The disagreement about the extent and the place of women within the gospels has carried into modern times. So who were these women and what do the gospels say about them?
There does seem to be consensus concerning the presence of women at the crucifixion and the resurrection, events which are a major focus of the gospel readings. All four gospels report that Mary Magdalene and some other companions were the first people to find the tomb of Jesus empty. In two gospels Mary Magdalene is the first to see Jesus resurrected. In Mark 15:40-41 and Mark 15:47, their attendance is noted as follows:
In Mark 15:40-41 “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.”
Mark 15:47: “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.”
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses and Salome play an important and integral part of the finding the empty tomb and seeing Christ risen from the dead. Their connection in these critical events seems to me to suggest their importance to the Lord.
The Birth of Christianity by John Dominic Crossan | <urn:uuid:90913f1a-7e98-4375-a0f4-ddd25c3b738b> | CC-MAIN-2015-40 | http://catholicismbeliefs.blogspot.com/2011/02/female-disciples-of-jesus.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-40/segments/1443737896527.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20151001221816-00008-ip-10-137-6-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986008 | 332 | 3.234375 | 3 |
If you are suffering from a new onset of back pain, you may find yourself wondering if your pain is muscular or related to another underlying condition. The human body is home to more than 600 different muscles. The spine is surrounded by more than 20 muscles, each serving a different function in maintaining and stabilizing the spinal column. In the majority of cases, new onset of back pain can be related to muscular irritation, strain or damage, rather than other spinal conditions.
Causes of muscular back pain
The most common cause of muscular back pain is muscle strain. Acute muscle strain is often caused by overuse or activity, and produces painful symptoms almost immediately. This type of muscle strain is generally fleeting, not causing any lasting damage, pain or symptoms. The alternative type of muscular strain is chronic and often develops over prolonged periods of time. This type of muscle strain can be caused by activities or conditions including:
- Improper posture for long periods of time
- Repetitive motions
- Non-ergonomic work space
- Arthritis of the spine
- Physiological stress
- Failed back syndrome
Treatment for muscular back pain
Suffering from muscular pain can be debilitating and have a devastating impact on a patient’s quality of life. The most common form of treating muscular strain is rest and low-impact stretching and exercise. Because the muscles naturally repair themselves, the best approach to treatment is to limit your excessive use and movement of the muscles to allow them to recover from your strenuous activity.
If after allowing time for your muscles to rest and recover you are still experiencing chronic pain, talk to your physician about the other options available. It is also beneficial to be tested for other conditions, which may be causing some of the associated pain you are experiencing. At Laser Spine Institute we treat a number of the most common debilitating conditions. For a review of your most recent MRI or CT scan to see if you may be a candidate for one of our minimally invasive procedures, contact us today. | <urn:uuid:c6bdeb7b-773f-4329-806a-284e7f330db7> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://www.laserspineinstitute.com/beendoctors/section/conditions/28/muscular/232/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207928865.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113208-00071-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92997 | 408 | 2.875 | 3 |
In the coming months, America may plunge more deeply into foreign wars despite Obama’s apparent reluctance to do so before the Presidential elections. In an AntiWar.com article (July 17) entitled “US Won’t Intervene in Syria Until After November Vote,” Middle East commentator Jason Ditz reports, “Pro-Syrian-opposition lobbyists say the Obama Administration has warned Syrian rebel factions as well as other pro-war allies that they will not intervene in a serious way against the Assad regime until after the November US election.” And, then, there are escalating tensions with Iran.
If a war or intervention is declared, then it will be promoted as a noble cause in much the same manner as the occupation of Afghanistan was sold as a way to protect Afghan women from the brutal Taliban. When anti-war critics deny the possibility of a ‘noble war’, the American Revolution is likely to be invoked as proof of its feasibility. This counter-example is commonplace within the libertarian and conservative movements, where the American Revolution tends to be venerated. “War is the health of the state,” libertarians admit, but somehow the American Revolution is slotted into a different category than all other wars. The urge to do so is understandable. How can you not like a struggle inspired by the writings of John Locke, Algernon Sidney and Thomas Paine? How can you not support the spunky rebellion of 13 colonies — 2 1/2 million people — against the arrogant British Empire?
To answer, it is necessary to examine the principles of the Revolution and compare them to the conduct of the Revolution, especially as it progressed from being a rebellion and became instead a war.
What is the difference? A revolution is “an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed.” It is most often a response to the extreme injustice of an authority. A war is “a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.” It often has no connection to rebellion against injustice.
THE IDEALS OF THE REVOLUTION
The nobility ascribed to the American Revolution rests upon the principles enunciated by the Declaration of Independence. The central principle is that “all men are created equal” and “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” including “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Having established its moral basis, the Declaration goes on to explain the specific grievances against British rule which “absolved” the “united colonies” from “all allegiance to the British Crown.”
In short, the Declaration justified a rebellion for the purpose of throwing off an occupying power. What followed was a war not only against Britain but against fellow-colonists who preferred British rule. In short, against fellow-colonists who politically disagreed even if the disagreement was peaceful. Like every war, the War for Independence involved massive violations of individual rights and the rapid growth of the state. Thus, as the Revolution became a war, it violated the core principle of the Declaration that was its justification: namely, the equal and inalienable rights of all men. The War of Independence should be scrutinized with the same critical eye as any other war.
To briefly give a sense of the scope of the war’s ultimate betrayal of the Declaration’s principles, consider merely a few of the massive violations of rights that occurred.
1. As a means of financing its Army, the Continental Congress issuing approximately $226 million in paper money. The states joined in by putting out about $200 million of their own bills of credit. Hyperinflation resulted, with people becoming reluctant to use the new currency. Congress recommended forcing them to use it. Eventually (1780), Congress devalued its currency at the rate of $40 of paper money to $1 of specie. The devaluation did not prevent Congress from cranking up the printing press again. Such machinations gave rise to the saying “not worth a Continental.”
2. The states north of Maryland (and including Maryland) adopted price controls in one form or another. In Rhode Island, for example, anyone who bought an item at an “unapproved” price would forfeit the cost of it — half would go to the state, half would go to the informer.
3. Circa 1765, American merchants were estimated to validly owe English creditors some 24 million pounds sterling. When the Philadelphia physician Benjamin Rush — an early advocate of independence — listed five motives inspiring Whigs (those who supported rebellion), one motivation was, “an expectation that a war with Great Britain would cancel all British debts.” Rush continued, “There were certainly Whigs from the facility with which the tender laws enabled debtors to pay their creditors in depreciated paper money.”
4. If the American Revolution was a war for “no taxation without representation,” then it did not apply that principle with any consistency. Some 400,000 residents of the colonies — approximately 17% of the population — were black slaves. Not only did the War for Independence not free them, it led to the United States Constitution which embedded their slavery into the legal fabric of the new nation. There can be no greater “taxation without representation” than to ‘confiscate’ all that a person has while permitting him no voice. (Note: when the British offered freedom to blacks who served in their army, the rebels followed suit. Nevertheless, both sides routinely disregarded such promises.)
Undoubtedly, many colonials rebelled for no other reason than a sincere desire to determine their own lives. But using violence to say “no” to tyranny almost always leads to implementing other political and social ends through the continued use of violence. The treatment of colonials who were loyalists is an example.
At the time of the American Revolution, an estimated 15 to 20 percent of colonists were Loyalists who preferred British rule, often because they were members of the Church of England. The Loyalists consisted of some 500,000 people. After the war, they were persecuted by state governments even if they had taken no action to aid the British. They were persecuted for politically disagreeing. Every state passed laws to confiscate their property. Approximately 100,000 loyalists fled America because their person and wealth were not safe from former neighbors.
Much more could be written about the inequities of the American Revolution as it became a civil war. But even from a few examples, it should be clear that war cannot be noble. Revolutions can; they can be the collective equivalent of saying “no” to injustice. The longer revolutions take, however, the more likely they are to become wars. And wars, including the War for Independence, are violations both of nobility and of the principles announced in the Declaration of Independence. | <urn:uuid:f6b44a60-525d-4ee7-b933-8d99e75c8e26> | CC-MAIN-2016-36 | http://dailyanarchist.com/2012/07/23/american-revolution-v-declaration-of-independence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-36/segments/1471982958896.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160823200918-00123-ip-10-153-172-175.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970209 | 1,448 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Three quarters of all seeds planted in Tanzania are farm-saved seeds, while only a third are bought from the commercial seed companies. Small farmers prefer the so-called “informal” seed system because the seeds are affordable, available and reliable. Commercial seeds are expensive, only available for mainstream crops like maize and vegetables, and often found to be fake, failing to germinate when planted.
Yet the smallholder farmers are encouraged by extension staff to drop their seed saving practices and buy ‘improved’ seeds from the stockists. Government policy is focused on facilitating the seed companies to take over seed supply to the nation, with new laws and policies that support and protect the seed companies, while marginalizing small farmers’ seed-saving practice.
Tabio is working to support farmers and make their voices heard by the policy makers and donors who drive the commercial seed agenda. The farmers are calling for government to:
- Educate farmers to improve the productivity of local seeds
- Improve the QDS quality declared seed system for seed security
- Recognise that local seeds are a forgotten treasure
- Abolish the distribution of fake seeds
The farmers are calling on their local politicians and decision makers to:
- Use crop cess (local tax) to improve QDS provision
- Stop fake seeds, and compensate farmers
- Improve the farmer-managed seed system to enhance farmers' seed rights and security
- Involve farmers and recognize farmers’ views in the seed law making process
Tabio’s current work includes a comprehensive study of the farmer managed seed sector in Tanzania, organizing meetings to bring together seed savers with government officials, supporting farmers to lobby their local politicians and decision makers, and a documentary film to bring farmers' seed rights to a national audience.
The African Centre for Biodiversity have developed a collection of informative posters on seeds:
Rights of Farmers (Swahili) -Haki za Wakulima: Download here
|Farmers' rights and the seed treaty : Download here||Haki za Wakulima na mkataba wa mbegu: Pakua hapa|
|Farmer-Managed Seed Systems in Africa: Download here||Mifumo ya Mbegu Inayosimamiwa na Wakulima Barani Afrika: Pakua hapa|
|What is Plant Variety Protection (PVP) and Protected Varieties?: Download here||Ulinzi wa Aini za Mmea/ Mbegu na Aina Zinazolindwa ni Nini?: Pakua hapa|
In 2015, the Bureau for Agriculture Consultancy and Advisory Service (BACAS) of the Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) were commissioned by TOAM to study Farmer Managed Seed Systems (FMSS) in Tanzania. The Study can be found here: Download here
TABIO has prepared policy briefs to inform decision makers.
Domestication of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) in Tanzania (ENGLISH): Access here
Agroecology is the application of ecological science to the study, design, and management of sustainable agriculture. It offers a model of agricultural development to meet the challenge of how to feed the world sustainably. Recent research demonstrates that agroecology holds great promise for the roughly 500 million food-insecure households around the world, many of them in Africa. By scaling up the practice of agroecology, we can sustainably improve the livelihoods of the most vulnerable, and thus contribute to feeding a hungry planet.
TABIO is working to Make the Case for Agroecology, by gathering case studies from around Africa showing the many ways that rural communities are benefitting from agroecology in increased food security, nutrition, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, democracy and justice.
The first nine case studies are available online at http://afsafrica.org/case-studies/
Why are we doing this?
The combined effects of climate change, energy scarcity, and water shortage require that we radically rethink our agricultural systems. Countries can and must reorient their agricultural systems toward modes of production that are not only highly productive, but also highly sustainable.
The growing push toward industrial agriculture and globalization—with an emphasis on export crops, GMOs, and the rapid expansion of biofuel crops (sugar cane, maize, soybean, oil palm) is increasingly reshaping the world’s agriculture and food supply, with potentially severe economic, social, and ecological impacts and risks. Such reshaping is occurring in the midst of a changing climate expected to have large and far-reaching effects on crop productivity predominantly in tropical zones of the developing world.
Globally, the Green Revolution, while enhancing crop production, proved to be unsustainable as it damaged the environment, caused dramatic loss of biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge, favored wealthier farmers, and left many poor farmers deeper in debt. The new Green Revolution proposed for Africa via the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) appears destined to repeat the tragic record left by the fertilizer dependent miracle seeds, in Latin America and Asia by increasing dependency on foreign inputs and patent-protected plant varieties which poor farmers cannot afford.
The industrial food system with its dependence on fossil fuel and chemical inputs is increasingly becoming recognized as an unsustainable, inefficient and environmentally destructive way of producing the world’s food. Yet the political and economic might of the global food and agribusiness industry means that the transformation to a sustainable food system will not be easy. It will require not just a shift in technology choice but also a shift in mindset, to a place where people come before corporate profits, and where sustainability trumps corporate share price.
Ecological farming works in harmony with nature, using cultivation techniques and breeding programmes that do not rely on chemical fertilisers, pesticides, or artificial genetic modifications. It builds on traditional agricultural practices using research, technology and existing indigenous knowledge, while at the same time ensuring that it is farmers that are in control of all aspects of food production. Using ecological agriculture, farmers produce abundant, healthy food sustainably.
Principles of Agroecology
- Biodiversity – Agroecology relies on and contributes to biodiversity at a genetic, species, crop and farm level.
- Integration – Crops, animals, fish and farming communities are integrated within the farming systems. This minimizes waste and the need for expensive external inputs.
- Environmental protection – Agroecology benefits the environment and does not contaminate it with toxic chemicals or genetically engineered organisms.
- Resources – Agroecology is based on biological processes and locally-available, renewable resources.
- Farmers’ control – Farmers using agroecology have control of all aspects of production, from seeds to the use of the crops. They decide what they want to grow and what is done with the crops post-harvest.
- Financially sound – Locally and often freely available resources are used in agroecology which means farmers are less dependent on access to capital or credit.
- Knowledge based – Agroecology respects and works with local culture and farmers’ knowledge and uses technology developed with and for farmers, not just technology designed to sell products. Knowledge is generated and shared between farmers, scientists and researchers.
- Equality – Agroecology values the role of women and aims to reward women equally.
- Long term – Agroecology takes a long term view. Instead of prioritizing annual monetary profits, it ensures soil, plants, animals and people benefit from a sustainable system.
TABIO has prepared policy briefs to inform decision makers:
Agroecology and Environmental Conservation (KISWAHILI): Access here
A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a living organism that has had its genetic material artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. This science results in the creation of rather unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacteria and virus genes that do not occur in nature through natural cross-pollination or traditional crossbreeding methods.
TABIO contends that GMOs pose unnecessary risks to human health, destroy biodiversity, lead to increased costs for farmers, increase corporate control of the food chain, and fail to combat global hunger.
TABIO calls for the proposed field trials of Monsanto’s genetically modified maize to be scrapped. See TABIO's objection to the application by COSTECH and Monsanto for the WEMA test: Download here
The multinational seed corporations are promoting GMOs as a panacea to food insecurity and poverty in Africa. TABIO sees that the corporate promotion of GMOs has little to do with ending hunger and poverty in Africa. This is more a means to advance their agenda of enslaving African farmers into a system that will require them to purchase seeds from the corporations every year rather than save and reuse them.
TABIO is working with its members to create awareness on GMOs among farmers, consumers and policy-makers.
A scientific evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops found that GM crops:
- Are laboratory-made, using technology that is totally different from natural breeding methods, and pose different risks from non-GM crops
- Can be toxic, allergenic or less nutritious than their natural counterparts
- Are not adequately regulated to ensure safety
- Do not increase yield potential
- Do not reduce pesticide use but increase it
- Create serious problems for farmers, including herbicide-tolerant “superweeds”
- Have mixed economic effects
- Harm soil quality, disrupt ecosystems, and reduce biodiversity
- Do not offer effective solutions to climate change
- Are as energy-hungry as any other chemically-farmed crops
- Cannot solve the problem of world hunger but distract from its real causes – poverty, lack of access to food and, increasingly, lack of access to land to grow it on.
Based on the evidence presented they conclude there is no need to take risks with GM crops when effective, readily available, and sustainable solutions to the problems that GM technology is claimed to address already exist. Conventional plant breeding, in some cases helped by safe modern technologies like gene mapping and marker assisted selection, continues to outperform GM in producing high-yield, drought-tolerant, and pest- and disease-resistant crops that can meet our present and future food needs. http://earthopensource.org/files/pdfs/GMO_Myths_and_Truths/GMO_Myths_and_Truths_1.3a.pdf
Tanzanian decision-makers are exposed to the loud claims of corporate agribusiness investors / seed companies, yet unable to hear the measured voice of the African Union, the UN, and the World Agriculture Report (IAASTD – 400 scientists, 60 countries incl Tz, 5 years) who are all calling for a shift to agro-ecological approaches. The core message of the final IAASTD report is the urgent need to move away from destructive and chemical-dependent industrial agriculture and to adopt environmental modern farming methods that champion biodiversity and benefit local communities. More and better food can be produced without destroying rural livelihoods or our natural resources. Local, socially and environmentally responsible methods are the solution. The IAASTD also concluded that such techniques as genetic engineering are no solution for soaring food prices, hunger and poverty. http://www.agassessment.org/
TABIO has prepared the policy briefs to inform policy decision makers:
Mtwara Case Study: Access here
Effects of GMOs on Society (KISWAHILI): Access here
Maintaining the Integrity of the National Biosafety Regulations (ENGLISH): Access here | <urn:uuid:8c764c0f-0e37-4e77-b0cc-c6f8e3d4d1de> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | http://tabio.org/campaigns/agroecology/13-campaigns.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376823738.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20181212044022-20181212065522-00570.warc.gz | en | 0.916157 | 2,424 | 2.625 | 3 |
Alabama is home to 6 venomous snakes. All of which, except one, belong to the pit viper family. These snakes posses incredibly dangerous venom but will almost always prefer to avoid humans rather than attack one. It is not recommended that you get close to a snake in order to determine whether or not a snake is venomous. If there is any doubt, please call a pest control expert.
- Pit vipers have thick bodies, angular blocky heads, and distinct necks
- Coral snakes have a bulbous head and a distinct stripe pattern with red touching yellow
- Most snakes will only bite when threatened or cornered
Pit vipers have sharp triangular heads and distinct necks, as well as a pit between the snake’s nostril and eye that is used to locate warm-blooded prey. The other type of venomous snake is the eastern coral snake, with its distinctive and often mimicked black, yellow, and red color pattern. Our effective snake control method will create an invisible barrier that will keep these dangerous pests away from your family. Please call today to learn more.
Common Venomous in Alabama include:
CopperheadRead More ►
Water Moccasin / CottonmouthRead More ►
Eastern Diamondback RattlesnakeRead More ►
Timber RattlesnakeRead More ►
Pigmy RattlesnakeRead More ►
Eastern Coral SnakeRead More ► | <urn:uuid:fabfd516-2f84-4892-ad85-eba33005b92c> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://horizonspestcontrol.com/pests/snakes/venomous/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224652184.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20230605221713-20230606011713-00626.warc.gz | en | 0.917642 | 307 | 3.125 | 3 |
If you are suffering from weight gain, hair loss, exhaustion, depression, mental fog, constipation fibromyalgia and even heart disease, you may have a thyroid condition. Thyroid problems can be hard to diagnose initially, because routine thyroid function blood testing does not always reveal abnormal thyroid hormones until your symptoms are well established. Sometimes, it is not until patients have been suffering from symptoms for years, that their thyroid blood tests show abnormalities. This is a real testament to “listen to the patient in preference to looking at test results.”
Some 20 million Americans suffer from a form of thyroid disease. Why? Two common factors contribute to thyroid disease; gluten sensitivity and iodine deficiency – both of which are extremely common.
Next to iron, iodine deficiency is the second most widespread nutritional deficiency in the world. Living inland, or having a diet that contains little or no fish, can be the cause of iodine deficiency. Adequate levels of iodine are essential for normal thyroid function, so low iodine levels are a key cause of thyroid disease. Iodine is found in fish, seaweeds, iodised salt, eggs, and in some countries, milk and its products. Check to see if the milking equipment in your country is sterilised with an iodine-based product. If it is, then milk in your country will contain some iodine. Japanese cuisine is an excellent source of iodine, especially the dishes that contain seaweed.
Gluten sensitivity – really?
A growing number of studies are showing a strong link between both Hashimoto’s and Graves Disease and gluten, to the point where researchers are suggesting all people who have autoimmune thyroid disease should be tested for sensitivity to gluten.
The reason why gluten is the culprit for causing thyroid disease, is the protein molecule in gluten, closely resembles the structure of thyroid gland cells. When the immune system recognises the presence of similar, but non-thyroid cells, it sets up antibodies to destroy them. The trouble is, the antibodies also destroy thyroid cells.
Discovering gluten sensitivity can be done through your health professional, or you can just try going without gluten for a few weeks. Many people report feeling better within a short period of time after going gluten-free. If you feel the benefit, is important to remain gluten-free for at least six months. Even though you may feel better and think ‘just a little bit won’t matter’, the immune reaction to gluten lasts for up to six months after you have eaten gluten-containing foods.
Lists of gluten-free foods are easily available from a Coeliac disease website. Some people find going gluten-free a real inconvenience, but these days, the awareness of gluten sensitivity has led to a wide range of gluten-free breads, cakes and biscuits being available. Food labels generally indicate if a product is gluten-free, making shopping easier.
If you suspect you have a thyroid condition, it is no time to go it alone – a health professional can order tests and start thyroid-specific supplements which will include iodine and other important thyroid nutrients. In the meantime, you can safely try going gluten-free and adding iodine-rich foods to your diet. | <urn:uuid:a150a21b-d94f-4127-a56c-848913b4179f> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://treatyourselfhealthcare.com/thyroid-disease/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400219221.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20200924132241-20200924162241-00457.warc.gz | en | 0.942599 | 651 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The rise of continuous blood glucose monitor and insulin pump technologies has lessened the intricate task of monitoring and regulating blood glucose levels for people with diabetes, but improvements to these devices could still significantly improve lives.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have been working on two fronts to perfect those technologies: they are developing algorithms to create a closed-loop system that can effectively operate similar to a healthy pancreas, and they are working to make that system more accessible and understandable for users with diabetes.
A new project funded by JDRF, the leading global organization funding Type 1 diabetes research, will support the creation of a smart phone app to help manage these life-saving devices, specifically with the senior citizen population in mind. The research will be led by Wayne Bequette, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer, who is also a member of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.
In the beginning of the project, Bequette said, he and his team will work with focus groups, led by the Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, to determine which types of designs, or interfaces, may be most helpful to this population — understanding that one approach may not work for everyone.
The team will take into account things like visual set-up, font size, how many and what types of alerts will be given, and the user’s experience and comfort with technology. The team will also consider how this information may need to be shared with a caregiver if the patient requires assistance.
“The question is: How are you going to present a device to them that’s very easy to use and will still regulate blood glucose levels,” Bequette said. “One outcome might be that we need flexibility for having a couple of different interfaces.”
The Rensselaer team will build off of previous algorithms it has designed to evaluate the measurements being taken by the blood glucose monitoring device, determine if insulin needs to be administered and how much, and then control delivery of that hormone. The closed-loop system that these algorithms create will need to be adjusted based on the population.
For example, Bequette said, a person with diabetes who is 12 years old may be active in a very different way than someone who is 85 years old. Additionally, the younger the patient, the longer they will need to ward off complications associated with high blood glucose like retina disease, vascular complications, and diabetic wounds. Therefore, keeping their blood sugar as low as possible is the main goal.
The older a patient is, Bequette said, the concerns may shift to making sure blood sugar doesn’t dip too low in order to prevent fainting and falling.
“We have to think about what the objectives are in controlling blood glucose and that’s going to be different for the older population,” he said.
In the second and third years of this project, the Rensselaer researchers will work with teams from Mount Sinai and the Barbara Davis Center on clinical trials to test these algorithms and the application interface. Pairing senior citizens with this type of technology, Bequette said, hasn’t often been done, but could vastly improve quality of life.
“If you try to look for the literature of an older population even wearing the sensors at all, you don’t find many studies,” Bequette said.
Depending on the person’s age and health, this closed-loop technology could enable sustained independence.
“If you can have this self-sustaining, closed-loop technology, then the caregiver is not having to constantly say, ‘Did you check your blood glucose today? Did you change your insulin pump?’” Bequette said. “A large percentage of the population right now is not even on insulin pumps, so therefore, caregivers are having to do quite a bit with the older population.” | <urn:uuid:76011b39-1ebd-4693-b46d-097208441314> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.tunisiesoir.com/health/study-aims-to-make-technologies-for-controlling-blood-sugar-more-accessible-18125-2019/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243992159.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20210517084550-20210517114550-00191.warc.gz | en | 0.950307 | 815 | 3.046875 | 3 |
- 1 English
- 1.1 Pronunciation
- 1.2 Etymology 1
- 1.3 Etymology 2
- 1.4 Etymology 3
- 1.5 Etymology 4
- 1.6 Anagrams
- 2 West Frisian
- Rhymes: -ɔː
- An imitation of laughter, often used to express scorn or disbelief. Often doubled or tripled (haw haw or haw haw haw).
- You think that song was good? Haw!
- An intermission or hesitation of speech, with a sound somewhat like "haw"; the sound so made.
- Hums or haws.
- (an imitation of laughter): In the US, the spelling haw is rare, with ha being more common.
- To stop, in speaking, with a sound like haw; to speak with interruption and hesitation.
Middle English hawe, from Old English haga (“enclosure, hedge”), from Proto-Germanic *hagô (compare West Frisian haach, Dutch haag, German Hag (“hedged farmland”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kaghon (compare Welsh cae (“hedge”), Latin caulae (“sheepfold, enclosure”), cohum (“strap between plowbeam and yoke”), Russian кош (koš, “tent”), коша́ра (košára, “sheepfold”), Sanskrit कक्ष (kakṣa, “curtain wall”)), from *kaghe/o 'to catch, grasp' (compare Welsh cau (“to clasp”), Oscan kahad (“may he seize”), Albanian kam, ke (“to have, hold”)).
haw (plural haws)
- An instruction for a horse or other animal to turn towards the driver, typically left.
- (of an animal) To turn towards the driver, typically to the left.
- This horse won't haw when I tell him to.
- To cause (an animal) to turn left.
- You may have to go to the front of the pack and physically haw the lead dog.
haw (plural haws)
- (anatomy) The third eyelid, or nictitating membrane.
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing. | <urn:uuid:f9083059-a58d-49a8-b2c8-014b399c46f1> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/haw | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560281069.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095121-00362-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.759455 | 584 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Overview Of Shock
Shock takes place when the circulation system doesn’t direct blood to all parts of the body. When a person experiences shock, the blood flow is too small to meet the body’s requirements. Parts of the body are lacking of oxygen. This leads to injury of the heart, brain, limbs, and lungs.
Losing blood as a result of any injury can cause shock.
Symptoms Of Shock
- Feeling faint and shaking.
- Feeling agitated and confused.
- Light or blue-colored fingernails, skin, and lips. Cool and clammy skin.
- Fast, shallow breathing. Weak, but rapid pulse.
- Sickness, nausea and extreme thirst.
- Inflated pupils.
- Loss of memory.
Causes Of Shock
- Experiencing a heart attack.
- Severe or unexpected loss of blood from an injury or severe disease. Bleeding can take place within or outside the body.
- A large decrease in body fluids, such as experiencing a serious burn.
First Aid For Dealing With Shock
- Look for a reaction. Provide CPR or Rescue Breaths as required.
- Place the casualty in a horizontal position, face-up, but do not move him or her if you notice a back, head, or neck injury.
- Elevate the casualty’s feet. You can make use of a box, etc. Do not elevate the feet or shift the legs if any bones appear to be broken. Keep the casualty laying flat.
- If the casualty vomits or has problems breathing, elevate him or her to a semi-sitting position (if no neck, back, or head injury). Or, rotate the casualty on his or her side to avoid choking.
- Release any tight clothing. Keep the casualty warm. Cover the casualty with a jacket, blanket, etc.
- Check for a response again. Redo as required.
- Do not offer any food or fluids. If the casualty wants water, dampen their lips.
- Keep the casualty calm. Make him or her as relaxed as you can. | <urn:uuid:b72c72c6-6f7c-4413-983e-a5e3a44df87e> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://cprhcp.ca/first-aid-procedures-to-manage-shock/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224644574.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20230529010218-20230529040218-00255.warc.gz | en | 0.868921 | 444 | 3.9375 | 4 |
New vaccine could prevent high cholesterol
A new cholesterol-lowering vaccine leads to reductions in ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol in mice and macaques, according to research. The authors of the study, from the University of New Mexico and the National Institutes of health in the United States, say the vaccine has the potential to be a more powerful treatment than statins alone.
The body produces cholesterol to make vitamin D, some hormones and some of the molecules that help us digest food. Cholesterol is also found in foods. LDL cholesterol is a fat-like substance that circulates in the blood; if there is too much cholesterol, the arteries can become blocked, leading to heart disease and stroke.
According to the CDC, 73.5 million adults in the United States have high LDL cholesterol. Diet and exercise are key to keeping cholesterol down, but millions of people worldwide take statins to lower their cholesterol. Statins have some potentially serious side effects, such as muscle pain, an increased risk of diabetes and cognitive loss.
The new vaccine could provide an alternative to statins, by targeting a protein that controls cholesterol levels in the blood. A single vaccine has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels dramatically in mice and macaques, suggesting it could be an effective treatment in humans.
“One of the most exciting things about this new vaccine is it seems to be much more effective than statins alone,” said Dr. Bryce Chackerian, one of the authors of the study from the University of New Mexico.
The new vaccine targets a protein called PCSK9, which regulates the cholesterol in the blood. The protein works by encouraging the body to break down receptors that cholesterol binds to when it’s flushed out of the body. People who have a mutation in the protein often suffer from increased risk of heart disease, and people who do not produce the protein have a decreased risk. By targeting this protein, the vaccine can stop it from functioning, lowering the amount of cholesterol in the blood.
The researchers tested the vaccine in mice, which showed a reduced level of LDL cholesterol. They then tested it in a small group of macaques, along with statins, resulting in a dramatic decrease in cholesterol.
“Statins are still the most commonly prescribed medication for cholesterol. Although they are effective in many people, do have side effects and don’t work for everyone,” said Dr. Alan Remaley, one of the authors of the study from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.
“The results of our vaccine were very striking, and suggest it could be a powerful new treatment for high cholesterol.”
Several drug companies have been developing high cholesterol treatments that target PCSK9 – for example, Alirocumab and Evolocumab, which the FDA recently approved. Results have been positive, but their treatments, which use monoclonal antibodies, are prohibitively expensive; treatment costs upwards of $10,000 per year.
The new vaccine appears to be even more effective than these monoclonal antibody-based treatments, at a fraction of the cost. The researchers now plan to expand their studies in macaques and find commercial partners to move the technology forward.
Crossey, E., Amar, M., Sampson, M., Peabody, J., Schiller, J., Chackerian, B., & Remaley, A. (2015). A cholesterol-lowering VLP vaccine that targets PCSK9 Vaccine, 33 (43), 5747-5755 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.09.044 | <urn:uuid:d8ce2304-f717-40ea-9b45-9b066ddf3600> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://loonylabs.org/2015/11/10/new-vaccine-could-prevent-high-cholesterol/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347391277.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20200526160400-20200526190400-00156.warc.gz | en | 0.941021 | 745 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Ilene Cooper of Booklist wrote, "Although the engineering feats are simply discussed, the books clearly convey their scope and importance. A fresh slant on oft-written-about history." Read the full review here.
The Invention of the Cotton Gin is part of The Child's World Engineering that Made America Series. Other books in this series include:
The National Science Teachers Association recommends Capstone's series, Our World: Next Hundred Years, stating, "Every middle school to early high school science teacher needs to have access to this set of books."
I authored two titles in this series. (Full Reviews can be accessed by clicking the titles.)
The other titles in the series are:
Steve Canipe, Director, NSTA Science, Mathematics & Instructional Design Technology wrote:
The series is well written and illustrated and uses a graphic novel format to draw in both the non–interested reader as well as the lower reading level reader. For these reasons alone, the series would be worthwhile resources for a teacher to have. But beyond this, the science is good and the ideas are valuable for all students, regardless of reading level. Definitely a win–win–win for the teacher, the science, and the student!! Every middle school to early high school teacher of science needs to have access to this set of books. In the classroom is great but in the school library also works. A definite thumbs up for this series as a whole but also each book individually. (9/28/2016)
The Disaster Science series from Cherry Lake Publishing was named a Top 10 Series Nonfiction by Booklist. I authored The Science of a Bridge Collapse as part of this series. The series is written for 3rd through 6th grade readers. Daniel Kraus wrote, "Though admittedly a tad grim, this series remains irrefutably fascinating as it applies scientific principles and methods to a host of post-disaster scenarios ranging from plane crashes and bridge collapses to oil spills and pandemic outbreaks—a sort of large-scale CSI."
The books included in the Disaster Science Series are:
-The Science of a Shipwreck by Lisa Amstutz
-The Science of a Volcanic Eruption by Samantha Bell
-The Science of a Bridge Collapse by Nikole Brooks Bethea
-The Science of a Pandemic by Robin Koontz
-The Science of a Hurricane by Mary Reina
-The Science of an Earthquake by Lois Sepahban
-The Science of a Plane Crash by Carol S. Surges
-The Science of an Oil Spill by Andrea Wang
The other series in this Top 10 list can be found in the Booklist link: http://www.booklistonline.com/Top-10-Series-Nonfiction-2015-Daniel-Kraus/pid=7298024.
J.B. Petty reviewed the Science of a Bridge Collapse in the October 1, 2014 Booklist. The following is an excerpt from the review:
Using color photographs of five collapsed or destroyed bridges and text descriptions of other collapses, Bethea engages the reader’s imagination and curiosity about how engineers design bridges, the scientific principles behind the construction, how engineers and builders determine the causes of a collapse, and how they make repairs. Many books feature the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, but this unique focus offers a fresh view on a familiar architectural topic.
The complete review can be read on the Cherry Lake Publishing's website:
I'd like to thank Sherry Londe for taking the time to interview me and featuring G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet in The Beachcomber (Destin, FL). To see her article, please click here.
The Next Big Thing is a global blog tour, started in Australia, to showcase authors and illustrators and their current work. I was tagged by Alison Davis Lyne, the wonderful illustrator of G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet.
After I post answers to the Q & A, I will pass the blog on to Carrie Clickard, Nancy Raines Day, and Catherine L. Osornio who will pick up the tour on July 4.
1) What is the working title of your next book?
My current book is G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet. It released September 2012.
2) Where did the idea come from for the book? As a
lifelong Southerner, I had been thinking about writing something
southern, possibly something along the lines of an article for Southern Living or Southern Lady magazines. While reviewing some ABC books for a writing course I was taking, the idea just hit me: Why isn't there an ABC book about the South?
3) In what genre does your book fall? Nonfiction Picture Book
4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? Since my book is an ABC concept book, it would be difficult to make a movie about it. However, with all the Southern delights sprinkled throughout the book - such as biscuits, golden fried hushpuppies, upside-down cake, red velvet cake, boiled peanuts, jams, jellies, pecan candies, and grits - I think there would be plenty of Southern recipes for a food show!
For the sake of answering the question - should there ever be a movie rendition of the book, I think Reese Witherspoon (a native Southerner who grew up in Nashville) would be an excellent choice for actress based on her role in Sweet Home Alabama.
5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet highlights the unique grace, lifestyle, foods, and overall charm of the South - one letter at a time.
6) Who is publishing your book? Pelican Publishing Company
7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? I began writing the book by simply creating a chart. I listed all the letters, A to Z, and then started listing southern items that began with each letter. This took about two weeks. Next, I wrote a rhyme for each letter using as many items from the list that would fit into a 4-line stanza. Creating the rhymes took another two weeks.
8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? Sleeping Bear Press published a set of Discover America State by State Alphabet books about 10 years ago. Titles include M is for Magnolia: A Mississippi Alphabet, P is for Pelican: A Louisiana Alphabet, Y is for Yellow Hammer: An Alabama Alphabet, P is for Peach: A Georgia Alphabet, etc.
9) Who or what inspired you to write this book? I have four sons, ranging from 10 years old down to 3 years old - Lee, Chase, Rhett, and Brooks. As I wrote in the dedication inscription inside the book, the boys have allowed me to recapture my childhood memories of growing up in the South. I was the oldest of 4 children and we spent a lot of time outside in the summertime in rural North Florida, especially when my mother worked in our garden.
The event that I drew on to come up with the title, G is for Grits, stemmed from a family vacation to Canada when I was in high school. My sister, 6 1/2 years younger than me, asked for grits and eggs at a restaurant in Canada. They politely told her that they didn't have grits, but they served hash browns if she would like that instead. All true Southerners know that hash browns are NOT equal to a warm bowl of grits smothered with butter and or/cheese!
10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest? When I first saw the illustrations that went along with the text, I was immediately impressed with how Alison had worked very diverse items listed in the stanza into a scene for each page. Of course, I had ideas and pictures in my mind as I wrote the text. It was interesting to see how she interpreted each stanza similarly or differently than I pictured in my mind. I often think it was easier for me to write the text than to come up with a scene incorporating all the items I had listed (if I could even draw, that is). As you read the stanzas, see how you would have created the scene if you had been responsible for doing so.
As an example, the B page is shown below. The "B" text is:
B is for boiled peanuts,
biscuits, and black-eyed peas,
chasing butterflies in summertime,
and running from bumblebees!
See how Alison incorporated all these items AND added in a stick of Butter for the Biscuits!
Capstone Press's new Graphic Science and Engineering in Action STEM series is featured on this week's STEM Friday blog. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Max Axiom is the main character in the four books in this series:
- Engineering an Awesome Recycling Center with Max Axiom, Super Scientist
- Engineering a Totally Rad Skateboard with Max Axiom, Super Scientist
- The Amazing Work of Scientists with Max Axiom, Super Scientist
- The Incredible Work of Engineers with Max Axiom, Super Scientist
Max Axiom is a science superhero, acquiring his powers through a freak accident - being struck by a megacharged lightning bolt during a wilderness hike. In my book in this series, Engineering an Awesome Recycling Center with Max Axiom, Super Scientist, Max uses the engineering process to design and build an awesome recycling center. Max solves the City's garbage problem, reducing the pressure on its bulging landfill.
I was honored to be invited to participate in the University of Florida Harn Museum of Art's inaugural Written Inspiration: A Children's Book Signing Event on November 4, 2012. Over 20 Florida authors and illustrators gathered at the fundraising event benefiting the UF Harn Museum. Each author or illustrator provided a hands-on activity which helped children connect to the author's book.
I signed G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet. Since mine is an ABC book, we made alligators from the letter A.
My four boys attended and really enjoyed viewing the various booths and making the different arts and crafts activities offered by each author.
Our lemons are just getting ripe enough to pick. (We only have a couple lemon trees as we live in North Florida and they are difficult to keep alive during our few cold snaps.) As I was digging through my recipe box, hunting for my son's favorite lemon pie recipe, it crossed my mind that I had used "Lemons" in the "L" verse of my new children's ABC book - G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet. As I flip back through the book, I realize that I actually used several foods to define the South. I guess that is because (and let's face it) much of our Southern culture revolves around food. Family gatherings revolve around food. Church gatherings revolve around food. Even our Saturday football gatherings revolve around food - as much as the football. Food is what makes Southern Culture so "Southern." Fried catfish, hushpuppies, cheese grits, chicken-n-dumplin's, boiled peanuts, fried okra, pecan pralines or divinity, and red velvet cake - these are a few of the foods that make the South proud.
As Southern Hospitality would have it, we'll all need to prepare a favorite dish to take somewhere soon. In honor of the release of G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet, I'd love to hear some of your favorite recipes. Please comment below. I'll start it off with our favorite lemon pie recipe:
Large graham cracker pie crust
1/2 block cream cheese (softened)
1 cup cool whip (defrosted)
2 cans condensed milk (i.e. Eagle Brand)
Juice from 3 squeezed lemons (about 1/2 cup)
*Cream softened cream cheese. Blend in cool whip. Add milk and mix till creamy.
Stir in lemon juice. Pour into pie crust and chill overnight. Y'all enjoy!
(Note: I also like to pour pie into the miniature, individual-size graham pie crusts for a special treat.)
I'm pleased to announce that G is for Grits: A Southern Alphabet is one of the 23 books selected for The University of Florida Harn Museum of Art's Written Inspiration: A Children's Book Signing Event. The event will take place Sunday afternoon, November 4, 2012 from 1:00 till 5:00 (Eastern). The authors will prepare a small craft for children to make related to their books. If you are coming to Gainesville for Saturday's Gators vs. Missouri game, we'd love to see you at the Harn Museum on Sunday afternoon. | <urn:uuid:57088d94-b14c-41e4-a279-25511818d5cd> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.nikolebethea.com/blog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818687766.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20170921115822-20170921135822-00171.warc.gz | en | 0.956107 | 2,692 | 2.53125 | 3 |
This material is in copyright: C Michael Bloch 1967. Requests for permission for any use of this material should be addressed to firstname.lastname@example.org
Information about the life and work of James Lees-Milne may be found at www.jamesleesmilne.com
How long the obelisk had stood on its previous site to the south of the old basilica and on a line due east of the two round chapels of St Petronilla and St Andrew (both destroyed in the Renaissance) is, as I have already said, no longer certain. Until the recent excavations under St Peter's, it was supposed that the obelisk had marked the central point of the divisional wall, or spina of Caligula's Circus in which Nero's horrible massacre of Christians took place in A.D. 67. The discovery of a Roman cemetery under the foundations of Constantine's church now suggest that the circus was further away to the south; and that if the obelisk did once stand in the middle of the spina, it must have been moved at some unknown date to the site beside the basilica which it certainly occupied throughout the Middle Ages. The tremendous task of removing it in 1586, and indeed that of setting it up in A.D. 37 when first brought to Rome, make an intervening removal without any historical record most unlikely. Is it not therefore possible that instead of marking the center of the spina, it stood in the middle of the circus' northern boundary? The elder Pliny in his Natural History refers to the obelisk's transportation from Egypt to Rome by order of the Emperor Gaius (Caligula) as an outstanding event. The barge that carried it had a huge mast of fir wood which four men's arms could not encircle. One hundred and twenty bushels of lentils were needed for ballast. Having fulfilled its purpose, the gigantic vessel was no longer wanted. Therefore, filled with stones and cement, it was sunk to form the foundations of the foremost quay of the new harbour at Ostia.
Pope Sixtus had not been on the throne four months before he erected in the middle of St Peter's Piazza a full-size wooden model in order to judge how the real obelisk would look on this prominent site. Having settled the exact spot, he made it known that a suitable agent was needed to do the removing. From all parts of Europe mathematicians, engineers and doctors of science flocked to consider the possibilities. More than five hundred architects are said to have submitted plans. Some of these were so preposterous as to cause much merriment among members of the Fabbrica. Resorts to magic and calls upon the Mother of God for miraculous intervention were put forward as well as several pseudo-scientific schemes of infantile ingenuity. Bartolomeo Ammannati assured the pope that given one year's reflection he was bound to find a solution, and begged him to wait. Sixtus, with an impatient gesture, merely waved the architect aside. When all the serious and silly proposals had been rejected as impracticable, Domenico Fontana, who was Della Porta's second in command, presented the pope with a little model crane of wood and an obelisk of lead. By gently turning a handle he raised and lowered the obelisk with ease. This simple method, he explained to His Holiness, was all he needed. Instantly convinced, Sixtus without further ado entrusted the undertaking to Fontana and commanded him to proceed at once. The unequivocal appointment aroused bitter opposition among the competitive savants and engineers.
Fontana may, in order to get the commission, have made light of the task. It is known that inwardly he viewed the whole affair with apprehension, which he cleverly disguised under an assumed air of self-confidence. Only to intimate companions did he disclose his belief that the pope was slightly mad. To lift a column more than eighty feet high, all of one piece, and weighing a million pounds, required superhuman effort. Fortunately Fontana's sense of self-importance came to his rescue. After all, he reflected, there was nothing he was incapable of achieving once he put his mind to it. He was a scholarly man, very precise, with a meticulous application to detail. Absurdly dignified, pedantic in speech and manner, he could not be defeated in argument and was maddeningly unruffled. In truth Fontana was unequaled as a technician, but as an artist second-rate. His strict observance of the scientific rules enabled him to carry out feats of engineering, and also to raise grandiose buildings of little grace or elegance. His Lateran Palace, vast, pompous, academic and dull, is a typical specimen of his architecture and the rather joyless generation which he represented.
The 30th April 1586 was the critical day on which Domenico Fontana's qualifications were put to the test. The architect had been careful to take precautions lest the dangerous enterprise should fail. He had a relay of post-horses ready harnessed on which to flee from Sixtus's anger if the worst should happen. The earth, which throughout the centuries had engulfed the obelisk at least half way up the shaft, had already been dug away, revealing the four enormous blocks of the same granite which Pliny had mentioned as forming the base. The needle itself, packed in straw mats and encased in wooden planks, was lashed by strong iron bands. At dawn Fontana led an army of eight hundred labourers to hear Mass in the open, while a hundred and forty carthorses chafed and stamped on the polished cobbles. With him were his brother and inseparable companion Giovanni, and his favourite assistant the thirty-year-old Carlo Maderno, who was never to forget this day. The whole of Rome was assembled to watch. Every window and every roof-top was crammed with spectators. After confessing and receiving the Blessed Sacrament, the army of workmen entered the enclosure set apart for them. Their leader mounted a raised rostrum from which to direct operations, as though he were about to conduct some monstrous orchestra. At two o'clock when all was ready Fontana raised his hand and the trumpets sounded the signal to begin. The enormous wooden machine which was to lift the obelisk with stout ropes was slowly set in motion by thirty-five windlasses, each worked by two horses and ten men. There was a sound of creaks and groans accompanied by the cracking of whips and the neighing of horses. Soon the bystanders noticed a perceptible wrench and quiver. Slowly but surely the great obelisk was lifted off the base on which it had rested for perhaps fifteen hundred years. At the twelfth turn, it had risen a foot or more into the air. The architect had so far triumphed. The obelisk was under his control. The spectators were jubilant. The guns in the Castle of S. Angelo fired a salute, the church bells of the city pealed forth and the workmen carried the self-satisfied little architect shoulder high around the enclosure.
The seemingly impossible had been achieved in that the granite monolith was hoisted. Still there were difficulties and perils ahead. On 17th May the obelisk was lowered horizontally to the ground and conveyed on rollers to its new destination. Then the pope announced that the exacting task of re-erection must wait until the heat of the summer was over. The day chosen was 14th September, a Wednesday, which Sixtus always considered a lucky day, and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. When the date came round, the eight hundred workmen again trooped at dawn to the nearby church of Santo Spirito, where they attended Mass on their knees. Fontana approached the pope and knelt to receive his blessing. A greater crowd than before had gathered to watch the scene. With bated breath in the deadly silence which had been enjoined by Sixtus on pain of instant execution the people stood in the sunshine of this early autumn day. A gallows had been erected as a warning to anyone daring to utter a sound. Again the trumpets blew. A bell was rung by Fontana and this time forty windlasses were turned by one hundred and forty horses. Thereupon 'the wheels', to quote an eyewitness, 'made such a noise that one might have thought the very earth was going to split and the sky above to open'. Fortunately no such thing happened, and the picturesque incident of a sailor from Liguria, who, seeing the ropes about to burn from the heat and friction, risked his life by shouting, 'Water them!' may be apocryphal. Pope Sixtus is said to have pardoned the sailor's disobedience and asked what special favour he would like granted. The answer was the right for his home town to Bordighera to supply palms to Rome every Palm Sunday in perpetuity. Certainly the custom was observed for as long as the papal power lasted. Everything now proceeded smoothly with the lowering of the obelisk and an hour before sunset it was seen to sink happily on to the backs of four little couchant lions. Made of bronze, each of these delicious beasts wears a tiara over a flowing mane and has two bodies, of which the tails are amicably intertwined with its neighbour's and the claws clasped upon the pedestal below. The whole operation had been accomplished with only fifty-two movements of the windlasses.
On this occasion the exultation of the populace was uncontrollable. They sang and danced, drank and feasted, rang bells and let off fireworks until the early hours of the following morning. Meanwhile Fontana presided over a banquet given to the workmen. It consisted of bread, cheese, ham and two bottles of wine each, which do not seem excessive reward for so much labour. The architect was made a papal nobleman, given 70,000 scudi there and then and promised an annual pension of 2,000 scudi. The pope struck commemorative medals and received poems of congratulation in twenty languages. The event was recorded by the publication of a handsome folio with detailed plates showing how the stupendous transportation was carried out.
The re-erection of the obelisk was considered a notable feat for several reasons. It was a triumph of the mind of man over a seemingly insoluble problem of engineering; and, the age being a scientific one, Fontana's machinery was appreciated as novel and ingenious. It marked a further sage in the gradual embellishment of the new basilica and its precincts. Lastly, it celebrated the triumph of the Faith of Christ, St Peter and the apostles over pagan superstition. The proximity of the obelisk to the old basilica had always been resented as something of a provocation, almost as a slight to the Christian religion. It had stood there like a false idol, as it were vaingloriously, on what was believed to be the center of the accursed circus where the early Christians and St Peter had been put to death. Its sides, then as now, were graven with dedications to Augustus and Tiberius. On its summit was a bronze sphere believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar. When taken down, the sphere proved to be solid. Nevertheless, Sixtus had a bronze cross put in its place (in 1740, after repairs, a piece of the True Cross was inserted in one of the arms). Solemnly the pope had the heathen spirit of the obelisk exorcised. 'Impio cultu dicatum' he carved upon the base as a reminder of what the needle once represented, and 'Ecce Crux Domini fugite partes adverase' in proud defiance of Luther and the reformed Churches.
Fontana now became the pope's most privileged architect and was entrusted with the raising of three other obelisks at strategic focal points of the city. After Sixtus's death, however, the tables were turned on him. He was accused of having falsified the basilican building accounts. If not positively dismissed from the post of Assistant Architect to St Peter's, he was advised to retire. Greatly offended he withdrew to Naples where he was received by the Spanish Viceroy with much acclaim. There he worked as regal architect and there, refusing ever to return to Rome, he died. In the Holy City which treated him first as a hero and then as a common peculator, he is chiefly remembered not for his several palaces and monumental buildings, but for the removal and re-erection of the great Egyptian obelisk in front of St Peter's façade. The operation captured the imagination of Christendom and was reflected over the next fifty years in countless town planning ventures in European cities, as well as in painting and literature. Even Shakespeare in his defiant sonnet addressed to Time may have had Fontana's classic achievement in mind when with typical English paradox he exclaimed:
'No, Time, thou shalt not
boast that I do change.
When the great pope, whose unquestioned authority had suppressed all banditry and lawlessness in the Papal Sates and whose slightest frown had filled his subjects with awe, died in 1590 form a surfeit of melon accompanied by too much white wine mixed with snow water, the traditional rioting, pillaging, and looting broke out in the city with enhanced violence. With wonderful consistency, the Romans' proclivity to turn against their benefactors was once more asserted in this posthumous act of revulsion. The people dared not disobey Sixtus in his lifetime; so they snapped their fingers at him the moment the breath was out of his body.
It was the greatest pity that the reign of the zealous builder was so short and that the style of architecture which characterized it was not better. The love of overlaying surfaces with a plethora of polychrome marble and superfluous detail is sadly exemplified by the Cappella Sistina added by this pope to S. Maria Maggiore. The huge chapel, practically the size of a church, was spared neither expense nor loot from the pagan monuments of Rome. Sixtus, like many men of low origin raised to pinnacles of authority, believed good taste to derive from over-ornamentation and the Almighty's commendation to be won by the spoils of his enemies.
Sixtus V lived just long enough to see St Peter's dome completed, but for the lead covering, on 21st May 1590. In the following year the lantern was put in place by Gregory XIV, who reigned for only ten months. He had the grace to inscribe upon the rim of the eye under the lantern the concise Latin phrase, which may be translated: 'To the glory of St Peter and Pope Sixtus V in the fifth year of his pontificate, 1590.' The crowning cross was raised into place by Clement VIII. He had two caskets of lead filled: one with fragments of the True Cross and relics of St Andrew, St James the Great, and Popes St Clement, Callixtus and Sixtus; the other with seven Agnus Dei, which are medallions of the Holy Lamb made of a mixture of was from the paschal candle and dust from the bones of martyrs. These precious objects were solemnly blessed, venerated and censed before being enclosed within the two arms of the cross. Between sunrise and sunset of one day, the cross was then lifted on pulleys from the ground and, amid the pealing of bells, hoisted into the position from which it has never been shifted. In 1594 Clement VIII also had the dome covered with lead and strips of gilt bronze laid along the edges of the sheets.
Clement VIII (1592-1605) was a Florentine of shining piety. He was painstaking, hardworking and far too indulgent of his nephews. Like most members of the Aldobrandini family, he was the friend of learning and piety. He was an intimate of Tasso. He hastened the work begun by Sixtus V on the Vatican Palace and resumed that on St Peter's Basilica. He got Della Porta, who was still official papal architect and much in favour, to build the Cappella Clementina at the south-east angle of Michelangelo's Greek cross plan, as a pendant to the Cappella Gregoriana at the north-east. Luckily Clement reigned for thirteen years, during which time he was able to put the finishing touches to the partially completed projects of his predecessors. He was just the right man for the job. He was not one to originate great ideas of his own, but his tidy, competent mind rejoiced in tying up the ends left undone by others.
Having erected the great cross over the lantern and covered the dome with lead, Clement turned his attention to the decoration of the inner dome. He confirmed Gregory XIV's engagement of the Roman artist Giuseppe Cesari, on whom he heaped honours and whom he made Cavaliere d'Arpino. For the spaces between the sixteen gilded stucco ribs d'Arpino designed cartoons for six rows of variously shaped compartments, which diminish in size as they approach the lantern. The Saviour, Our Lady, the apostles, saints and angels are represented. These adequate but uninspired paintings were translated into mosaics of which the colours are soft and dominated by powder blue and gold; but the significance of the subjects is lost in their great distance. Above them on the soffit of the lantern God the Father emerges from clouds, rather splendid but agonizing to look at from below. Under the drum and around the circular frieze Clement put in gold mosaic letters, four feet eight inches high, Christ's dedicatory words, which were to determine the divine tradition of papal sovereignty: 'Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum.' (Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven) For the great spandrels over each of the crossing piers d'Arpino enlisted two pupils, Cesari Nebbia and Giovanni del Vecchi, to compose cartoons. The four Evangelists are the result. They are gigantic and dull. The only comment any guide book has found to make upon them is that St Luke's pen is seven and a half feet in length.
Construction and decoration of the crossing had now reached a stage when something had to be done about the confession. In Pope Gregory XIII's reign, the pavement of the new basilica had been laid and the crypt below was already taking shape. It was no longer thought suitable to retain the meager old presbytery and to leave exposed the twelfth-century altar of Callixtus II over the Apostle's tomb. Clement at once ordered the demolition of Constantine's apse and the removal of Bramante's protective walls round the old presbytery. Della Porta then made a new altar which enclosed without completely destroying that of Callixtus. For the purpose he used a table of white marble in one piece brought from the Forum of Nerva. This he raised on seven steps. According to an eyewitness a fall of masonry during the construction of the new papal altar caused an unexpected crack to appear in the ground. Della Porta claimed to discern through it an altar older than Callixtus's and, what is more, the very cross of gold laid upon Peter's bronze sarcophagus by St Helena. The pope, who was at once notified, bustled to the site accompanied by three cardinals. By means of a torch held by the architect, the party were sure that they too saw these things. Clement and his companions were so awed by the spectacle that after a confabulation His Holiness forbade the sepulchre to be disturbed further and commanded the aperture to be filled with cement in his presence.
There are excellent reasons for doubting this picturesque story. In the first place, it is most unlikely that St Helena's gold cross and the bronze sarcophagus escaped the Saracen depredations of 846. If they did, and if they were truly seen by Della Porta and Pope Clement VIII, then they must have been rifled and destroyed since. In fact, no untoward events have taken place during the subsequent three and a half centuries up to our own day in which such a disaster could have befallen the sacred treasure of a sanctuary so hidden and well guarded. Futhermore, no mention of the cross and sarcophagus was made by Bernini when in the 1620s he dug the deep foundations for the baldacchino. Nor indeed were there any signs of them when Pope Pius XII's excavators reached the area below Callixtus's altar in the 1940s.
In 1594 Pope Clement VIII was able to celebrate his first Mass at the new high altar. Ever since this date the altar has been reserved for popes officiating in St Peter's on great festivals. Della Porta's next duty was to dig the horse-shoe shaped area below the new pavement level in front of the high altar. The purpose was to form the confession which exists today. From the confession he provided direct access to the niche of the Apostle's shrine. Covered with marble veneer, it is now known as the Niche of the Pallia where the scarf-like vestments (the Pallia) are kept before being sent by the pope to newly-consecrated archbishops. Behind the shrine Della Porta constructed an underground chapel (the Cappella Clementina) approached from the circular corridor of the Grotte Nuove and connected with the Vatican Palace. It enabled the pope to resort to the holy of holies undisturbed for private prayer and meditation.
Della Porta lived long enough to fulfill most of Pope Clement's tidying-up process. He died only two years before his master at the age of sixty-nine. Even so, his death in 1602 was brought about prematurely by a disagreeable, if somewhat ludicrous, incident. Della Porta was a jolly man who liked good living. He had been staying with Cardinal Aldobrandini in the cardinal's sumptuous villa at Frascati. Disregarding the tragic warning in the death of his previous master, Pope Sixtus V, he had drunk too much wine and eaten too much of that fatal fruit, melon. On the homeward journey to Rome in his host's carriage, he was seized with violent intestinal pains. Being a man of much delicacy, he did not like to ask the cardinal to stop the carriage so that he might get out and relieve himself. Instead, he endured great agony. He was corpulent and plethoric and on reaching the Porta Giovanni he died of what the news sheets termed 'suffocation' owing to the jolting of the carriage. He was buried the very same day in the grave of his wife and son in the church of the Aracoeli.
With Della Porta's death came the final severance of the link between the office of St Peter's Chief Architect and Michelangelo. Della Porta had played an important role in that office. Originally a sculptor and maker of stucco reliefs, he had learned architecture under Vignola's tuition at St Peter's. And Vignola had worked with Michelangelo. It fell to Della Porta to put St Peter's dome, more of less in accordance with Michelangelo's design, upon the drum which the great master had left all but complete in 1564. In other respects, he deviated hardly at all from Michelangelo's projects for the basilica, which he helped fulfill by a great deal of decoration and the completion of the huge Gregorian and Clementine chapels. Cautious, scholarly and reflective, he was the last of that band of architects belonging to the short counter-reformation era which preceded the long era of the Baroque. Inevitably, his successors had very different ideas to his. Little did the conservative Pope Clement VIII realize what he was doing when he appointed Carlo Maderno in Della Porta's place.
On Clement VIII's death the curtain finally came down on the Roman High Renaissance. The Michelangelo tradition was expended. The great master had been dead now for forty years. There was no one alive who even remembered him, and henceforth his message could conveniently be misinterpreted. Della Porta, to whom was committed the onerous and not altogether enviable duty of completing the dome, had already left the scene, his mission faithfully accomplished. The conservative Clement, who never so much as contemplated departing an inch from the great master's plan for St Peter's, was followed for a brief interval of less than one month by the last of the Medici popes, Leo XI (1605). This upright and strict pontiff, the intimate friend of St Philip Neri, was a child of the Counter-Reformation. And his reign was far too short to have any bearing upon the architecture of the basilica. His accession and the business of electing yet another pope merely prolonged the pause in building brought about by the death of Della Porta in 1602.
This pause had very important consequences. It gave to the Fabbrica to take stock of the situation of St Peter's. The authority of the Congregazione della Fabbrica di San Pietro, which Clement VII established, had always been somewhat equivocal. Michelangelo, who was in constant disagreement with this body, would appeal to the popes to reverse whichever of its decisions he disliked. The popes, in their awe of the old artist, usually complied by over-ruling the Fabbrica, habitually composed of heterogeneous members drawn from different countries. This international composition was an obvious weakness. It made agreement upon important issues very difficult to achieve. Strong-minded popes like Sixtus V were inclined to brush aside its deliberations with impatience and impose their own decisions. The Roman Curia too had grown to resent the interference of a cosmopolitan committee in charge of what it now regarded as an essentially Roman place of worship. A preponderance of foreigners had been all very well in days when the structure of St Peter's was largely maintained by funds derived from the sale of indulgences overseas. Since this once lucrative source of revenue had dried up and the funds for maintenance were now found in Rome, the case was different. Clement VIII, aware of its shortcomings, reorganized the Fabbrica altogether. He suppressed the international body and constituted a new one under the more fulsome title, La Congregazione della Reverenda Fabbrica di San Pietro. The new Fabbrica was composed of a prefect, who was the Cardinal-Archpriest of St Peter's, several other cardinals, an economist and a few lay officials. In this guise, subject only to a few modifications brought about in the eighteenth century, the Fabbrica functions today. Perhaps the most important result of Clement VIII's reforms was the establishment of the Sampietrini, upon whom the whole physical welfare of the basilica depends.
The Sampietrini are a specialist body of maintenance men constantly on the spot. An illiterate mason called Zabaglia suggested to the Fabbrica in the year 1600 that the repairs of the immense acreage of St Peter's ought no longer to be entrusted to casual labourers. With that body's consent, he trained thirty young workers to be experts in all the building and decorative crafts. Soon he had mustered an efficient force of masons, carpenters, painters, stuccoists, glaziers, gilders and plumbers. The young men married, founded families and brought up their sons in the trade. The Sampietrini have long been a devoted hereditary corps. They are a race apart, a large clan of dedicated men who have developed their own rules and customs. Almost from infancy they are taken in hand and trained in the craft to which they have a natural bent. Their workshops are hidden in the bowels of the basilica, from which they emerge like pigeons from nesting-boxes. St Peter's walls are riddled with cavernous chambers, approached by numerous narrow, twisting stairways, called 'snails', which give secret access to the most vertiginous platforms. The Sampietrini are as lithe and agile as acrobats. They soon learn to climb to any height, to run along cornices and roofs, to balance themselves on precipitous capitals, and to scamper like squirrels over the dome and lantern. They think nothing of lowering themselves into the aisles from vaults a hundred feet above the pavement level. By these means they are able to inspect and repair the most inaccessible parts of the structure, to hand the great rolls of damask down pilasters for ceremonial celebrations, and, when required to light the thousand oil lanterns on the dome up to the cross with incredible speed and precision. On rare occasions - St Peter's feast day is one of them - the Sampietrini are in their element and the spectators in their lasting debt. No other sight is more inspiring than the illuminations during a fine twilight. When the sun has gone down and the first stars begin to prick the violet canopy of the Roman sky, brilliant points of light appear at intervals upon the bulk of the great basilica. Then the points run together into strips until the clear outline is defined by a twinkling constellation of gold.
And this is not the end of the spectacle. Suddenly a magical thing happens. The diffused light from the oil lanterns is intensified by innumerable red plumes of curling fire. By indescribable means the expert Sampietrini - today there are hundreds of them - have lit their torches simultaneously. Crouched on various strategic parts of the colonnade, façade, lantern and even the arms of the cross, they have been waiting ready to strike. The first deep note of St Peter's solemn bell proclaims the night. And then a single snake of flame slithers over the dome and shoots a tongue from the top of the cross. At this signal each Sampietrino in one concerted movement strikes his set of torches. In a matter of seconds St Peter's appears to be a glowing furnace.
The election of Camillo Borghese as Paul V (1605-21) in May 1605 opened a new era in the history of Rome and, because Rome was still the fountain head of the arts in Europe, so too in the history of Western art. If the full maturity of the baroque style, the cradle of which was without question the Holy City, did not become apparent until the reign of Urban VIII, the infancy, to us who may look back upon the extraordinary phenomenon, is distinctly apparent in that of Paul V. This promise of marvels to come is seen less clearly in the architecture and painting of the reign than in the changed attitude of the Church, which was determined by the pontiff himself. Borghese's accomplishments may not have been more distinguished tan those of many a previous renaissance pope. True he was very cultivated and loved learning for its own sake; and next to learning, art. His piety may not have excelled that of several counter-reformation popes, yet his ecclesiastical interests were pre-eminent. He was naturally industrious and rather taciturn. The presence of this tall, handsome man with hard lines round the mouth and strained gaze of intensely myopic eyes was forbidding. It did not suggest the happy hedonism which is so readily, and often mistakenly, associated with the great princely patrons of the baroque age. These qualities were on the other hand conspicuous enough in the Borghese cardinal nephews, of whom the affable sybarite Scipione was, as Bernini's bust of him testifies to perfection, the incarnate exemplar. Yet if nepotism, to the limitless extent of enriching his relations out of the papal exchequer, was Paul V's chief failing, family interference in matters of state was by no means permitted.
The image of the jolly Cardinal Scipione Borghese gives a far truer picture of the change that had come over the Catholic Church than that of the naturally dour pope. The baroque style, remember, was essentially ecclesiastical. The new phases in the Church's fortunes, which the baroque style reflected, admittedly did not allow any relaxation of dogma, or much easy complacency. The enemy still watchful at the gates was no less powerful and menacing than it had been during the reformation and counter-reformation phases of disaster and recovery. Heresy was a hungry and ever-present monster crouching ready to pounce. Anti-papal propaganda was everywhere rampant. The Venetian Republic was a nest of disaffection stirred up the English envoy Sir Henry Wotton, one of the most insidious Protestant instruments that ever operated in a Catholic land. Nonetheless the attitude of the Church had changes. It set out to win, not to repel. Instead of a gloomy, rebarbative front, it assumed a milder, more cheerful aspect. The severe, disciplinary measures adopted by the Council of Trent had long ago done their work. The somewhat preposterous and philistine directives to artists as to what they should and should not create were now overlooked. Christian art no longer needed to exclude pagan connotations, nor to forbid the representation of everyday, commonplace incidents. The homely cat and dog were allowed to creep back into the forefront of paintings of the Annunciation. Dwarfs and buffoons once more played incidental parts in Last Suppers, and humble wild flowers were permitted to grow at the foot of the Cross on Calvary. The exteriors, even of quite unimportant churches, were designed to impress and delight the populace with a grandeur which was often make-believe. The interiors became stage settings in which counterfeit perspectives and ingenious lighting effects were focused upon sculptural scenes of the most exotic, and sometimes erotic (if sublimated) kind. Tremendous emphasis was put upon ceremonial and pageantry. Churches became theatres as well as houses of prayer. They were intended to dazzle as much as to edify the simple.
There was much wisdom in this novel step taken by the Church. In concentrating upon the blessings to be reaped from observing the Christian dogmas, rather than the penalties to be incurred through disregarding them, the Church successfully diverted souls from the stark and narrow paths of Protestantism. Above all, it sought to demonstrate the glory and benefit of the Sacraments in the most attractive manner of which commissioned artists were capable. There is no doubt that opportunity gives birth to talent and genius. The policy, adopted by Paul V and followed by his successors, of re-establishing the divine authority and emphasizing the mystique of the Catholic Faith by means of art caused a trail of the brightest meteors across the baroque sky, in Caravaggio and Cortona, Bernini and Borromini.
Paul V was a great builder more out of political motive than love of architecture or innate taste. In the latter quality he seems to have been conspicuously lacking, to judge by the Borghese Chapel in S. Maria Maggiore, which he embarked upon at the beginning of his reign. It is an over-decorated, highly concentrated medley of polychrome marbles, still in the costive manner of the Roman late cinquecento. The style of the chapel shows no sign of the free rhythm and flow of the architecture soon to emerge. Paul was also a faithful restorer of churches and the creator of several monumental fountains about the city. He recalled that under the Emperor Trajan Rome boasted no less than thirteen hundred fountains fed by eleven aqueducts crossing the Campagna. The Acqua Paola on the Janiculum Hill, with its streams gushing from five triumphal arches, is the grandest and best known of the several living waters which he harnessed from Lake Bracciano and the springs of the distant hills. He took the colossal pine-cone from the domed canopy of the fifth-century cantharus in Constantine's atrium, and placed it on its present platform within the hemicycle of the court of this name. As though in expiation of this action he got Carlo Maderno to construct on the north side of St Peter's Piazza the splendid fountain which later in the century was practically rebuilt by Bernini and duplicated on the south side by Carlo Fontana. A powerful plume of water is made to shoot into the air and descend upon a mushroom ledge, thence into a wider upturned basin of Egyptian granite, and again into a hexagonal pond. Upon the veil of spray from the falling shower the evening sun paints a perennial rainbow. Of the twin fountains the northern is better preserved because more sheltered from the wind. Queen Christina of Sweden on her first entry to Rome was struck dumb by astonishment at its beauty. She supposed it had been specially turned on for her benefit, and begged the pope, after she had glutted her admiration to turn it off in order to prevent a waste of water.
Paul V was barely elected before he confirmed the privileges and constitution of the Fabbrica, adding to the Congregation eight cardinals whom Leo XI just had time to create during his twenty-seven day reign. For two years this august body deliberated how it was to proceed with the building of the basilica and whom it was to employ. At the time, the unfinished new building was still separate from the old by the divisional wall erected in 1538. In front of the medieval church a preposterous jumble of Gothic and Classical appendages, quite unrelated to each other, remained: on the south side of the palace of the archpriest and on the north the three-storeyed benediction loggia continued to deteriorate. In September 1605 during a storm a large block of marble from a cornice crashed to the pavement close to the altar of the Madonna della Colonna where Mass was being said. By a miracle none of the worshippers was injured. But there was panic and the people were seriously alarmed. The incident determined the Fabbrica to demolish every part and appendage of the old basilica still standing. The pope felt obliged to agree. He stipulated, however, that all the relics of the saints must be moved to safety and, whenever possible, the old monuments be preserved in the crypt, or Grotte Vecchie, constructed for the purpose between the pavements of the old and new basilicas. Certain works of art found their way to other churches, like the eighth-century mosaic of the Adoration of the Magi which was set up in S. Maria in Cosmedin, and even to private chapels. The pope also insisted that records should be taken of any monuments that had to be destroyed. Accordingly, two canons were deputed to superintend the openings of tombs and the translation of remains. The work was done with the utmost reverence and solemnity. The archivist of St Peter's, Iacopo Grimaldi, an enthusiastic antiquarian, made an inventory and some invaluable sketches of the monuments as they were being dismantled. For more care was taken now than by Julius II and Bramante a hundred years previously, when the ancient treasures were smashed to pieces without the slightest compunction, and without record. What Paul V salvaged was a fraction of the works of art lost under Julius II.
The decision to complete the demolition was not received with some opposition. The learned Cardinal Baronius, who was Vatican librarian and the Church's greatest living historian, was loud in his condemnation. He bitterly denounced the impiety of sweeping away a building which enshrined the history of thirteen hundred Christian years. Needless to say, his was a voice crying unheeded in the wilderness. The work of demolition was undertaken with feverish haste by night as well as by day as though to forestall possible last minute regret and counter-decision. Indeed, when the turn of the campanile came, the structure was loosened at the base in such a way that the tower was made to collapse in an avalanche of rubble.
Before hands were laid upon the first tile of the old church various ceremonies were performed according to the ritual agreed upon. There was something tragic about the solemnity which attended the dismantling of the doomed basilica. On 28th September 1605 the archpriest transferred the Blessed Sacrament into the Cappella Gregoriana of the new building. All the cathedral canons took part in the procession. Next, the chapels were deprived of their consecration like poor old clergymen divested of their priesthood. Their relics were removed and their altars taken down. The tombs of the saints were opened and the corpses disinterred. With much pomp and ghastly remains, some bursting from decayed coffins and shrouds, saw the first light of day after a whole millennium. St Veronica's handkerchief, St Andrew's head, the holy lance, the fragments of the True Cross were likewise removed from their ancient resting places, and reverently carried away.
On 18th February 1606, Ash Wednesday, the work of demolition of the old church began. A squad of labourers first attacked that part of the roof which adjoined the front. They took down the marble cross which crowned the apex, the venerable cross put in position by Pope Sylvester and Emperor Constantine as the symbol of Christ's absolute triumph over paganism. On the base the workmen read the one word carved in Greek letters: Agrippina. So the base of the statue of the infamous Nero's mother had for centuries been carrying the cross of Christ. Next, the tiles, several of them dating from the reign of Theoderic the Great, a few even from Constantine's, were hurled to the ground. Then the beams of oak, once brought from the Abruzzi forests by order of Gregory the Great were either hacked to pieces by the axes, or, so strong were some of them, re-used in building the Borghese Palace.
On 26th March the picks assaulted the walls, quickly razing them down to the foundations. One by one Constantine's columns of the nave were lowered, the most precious, a couple of black African marble and the largest monoliths of the sort in existence, being kept for re-erection in the new portico entrance. On the capital of one was carved the head of the Emperor Hadrian. It came originally from his mausoleum. In a clumsy attempt at preservation, a workman broke it. On 15th November the last sung Mass took place in Rossellino's choir, the Tribuna di San Piero, in the presence of a vast congregation. Then it too was pulled down. The bronze tomb of Sixtus IV was opened and the body of that pope disclosed. It was found clad in a chasuble of gold brocade and the pallium. The head wore a mitre and the feet sandals embroidered with a cross. From the finger a splendid ring was taken to the Treasury. Likewise the coffin of Sixtus's nephew Julius II, was opened, and the remains, which had been desecrated by the Constable of Bourbon's troops, were reinterred in a new grave beside the bones of his uncle.
Long before the last vestige of the medieval basilica had disappeared, the Fabbrica was engaged in a heated discussion how the new one was to be finished. Indeed, ever since Paul V's election the question had been debated. The pope professed that he wished to abide by Michelangelo's scheme. So too at first did the Architect in Chief, Carlo Maderno, whom Clement VIII had appointed to succeed Giacomo Della Porta in 1602. Maderno, in claiming to keep to the Greek cross plan, nevertheless wanted to break the harmony of Michelangelo's contour by flanking it with numerous projecting chapels - a proposal which received a good deal of criticism. The prevailing opinion in the Congregation of the Fabbrica however was that the space occupied by the old basilica, as well as by those ancillary buildings, baptistery, sacristy, and so forth, not hitherto under one roof, must be entirely covered by the new. It was a conscience-saving view, a way of making amends for sacrificing Constantine's historic basilica. The Fabbrica felt that so long as the whole sacred area was embraced by a new consecrated church, all would be forgiven by the shades of those saints and martyrs who had contributed to the making of the historic building which they were about to sweep away. A secondary, but hardly less cogent reason was the belief, which had gained ground during the Counter-Reformation, that the Greek cross plan was a pagan innovation but the Latin cross plan a tradition of the Christian Church in that it represented the crucified body of the Savior.
Early in 1607 Paul V took it upon himself to summon a concourse of ten eminent architects to advise the Fabbrica how to proceed. Amongst them, Maderno sat as the pope's nominee. The outcome was a recommendation of the Latin cross solution. The overriding argument on this occasion was the necessity of more space to accommodate under cover the multitudes assembled for functions at which the Pope as head of the Church officiates. The recommendation received practically unanimous endorsement by the cardinals. Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, the future Pope Urban VIII, a man of far greater artistic discernment than any other member of the Curia, was the single dissentient. Paul V, impressed by the majority view, gave way. Thereafter, he never swerved from his decision. How far Maderno honestly disapproved cannot be ascertained. He has always been held the chief protagonist of the Latin cross plan, because he carried it out. In fairness to him, a letter which he wrote on 30th May 1613 should be remembered. It bears out that the decision was forced upon him by the pope and cardinals and that he accepted it with reluctance. There is irony in the fact that for three and a half centuries he has borne most of the blame.
Whether reluctant or willing, Maderno was commanded to draw up plans for a prolongation eastwards of Michelangelo's nave. In great haste he complied, and in no less haste his plans were adopted by the Fabbrica.
Carlo Maderno was a nephew of Domenico Fontana. He had been apprenticed in youth to a stuccoist. He arrived in Rome from his native Lake of Lugano about 1580. On the appointment by Sixtus V of his uncle as Architect in Chief to St Peter's, opportunities came to him. He was ten in his early thirties. He helped Domenico in the raising of the various obelisks about the city. When his uncle fell into disgrace in Clement VIII's reign, Maderno continued to work under the brother Giovanni Fontana, who stayed on as architect to the Fabbrica. Giovanni was a specialist in fountains and the nephew copied his style and imbibed his spirit. Giovanni retired in 1607, which happened to be the opportune year for Maderno to spring to the fore. The nephew was already much in favour with Paul V, who had watched with approval the development of his distinctive style.
Maderno had shown originality in treating the façades of churches. At S. Giacomo degli Incurabili, the upper stage, within great scrolls made to embrace two orders and a central loggia under a shell-headed niche, was considered a startling and beautiful innovation. So too was the façade of S. Susanna (1603) with a lower order of columns half embedded in the wall surface, a flimsy pilaster at each corner and a balustrade made to run up and down the pediment. Maderno was deliberately transposing weak and strong elements, and making experiments hitherto untried even by Michelangelo. Such daring solecisms were unconventional, to say the least. They certainly lent his façades a new rhythm, which was revolutionary and baroque. Likewise his additions to the Palazzo Mattei introduced animated surfaces of bas-reliefs, busts within roundels and perspective arches. These features shocked the diehard critics, who accepted the lifeless counter-reformation classicism as the only standard of correct architecture. Pope Paul, on the other hand, was thrilled by them.
On 8th March 1607 work was begun on digging the foundations of the nave of St Peter's in the presence of the Governor of Rome and a gathering of architects. On 7th May the cardinal-archpriest laid the first stone which the pope had previously sanctified. By the summer a wooden model of Maderno's completed scheme was available for inspection. It received Paul V's unstinted approval. By now the building activity was bewildering. Relays of carts were dragging loads of tufa from the quarries near Porta Portense. The carriage of travertine from Tivoli was such that the Santo Spirito road to the Vatican was worn into deep ruts. The wagons were frequently overturned. Whole tree trunks from the hillsides were brought for the scaffolding. Seven hundred labourers were permanently employed. When we realize that in the following year the façade was actually begun to the accompaniment of a pealing of bells, and that in 1612 plaster models of the colossal statues were set on the parapet to test their appearance and scale, the speed of the work seems almost incredible. By December 1614 the stucco vaulting of the nave was completely decorated with roses, and in 1615 the divisional wall in the nave taken down. By Palm Sunday the last vestiges of rubble had been carted away. When revealed, the overall length of the new basilica was 211 ½ metres, or thirteen metres more than the combined length of Constantine's basilica and atrium. Whereas the western apse of the old church had just embraced the site of the present baldacchino, the east entrances stood on an imaginary line drawn between the two existing water stoups of Maderno's nave.
In fact Maderno extended eastwards the single bay of Michelangelo's arm by three more, namely those arches between coupled pilasters which give access to the aisles. In the nave ceiling the break can be seen where Maderno's extension begins. The aisles and the chapels they lead to are also his. The aisles are very satisfactory. Immensely high openings, in the form of giant portals under segmental heads on Cottanello marble columns, separate the three bays. Over each portal head a blind window is tightly jammed in a thoroughly mannerist fashion. The windows are made of boards painted with counterfeit panes. Overhead, each compartment is lit by an oval cupola on a drum divided into separate tabernacles holding statues of angels. The soffit of each dome is decorated with scenes in mosaic. These little cupolas are among the most beautiful of Maderno's architecture. The same cannot be said of the two large rectangular chapels of the Blessed Sacrament and Choir, both approached from the aisles. The first, to which additions were made by Bernini (the lovely gilt bronze ciborium on the altar inspired by Bramante's Tempietto), and Borromini (notably the grilled screen) contains so many individual works of art that we must try and overlook the excess of decoration. The second, devoid of individual works of high merit, was made merely ornate and ugly by the Borghese pope's successor, Gregory XV, and is a medley of mud and mustard. Maderno should not be held responsible for the present appearance of either chapel.
Francesco Milizia writing in 1768 when the baroque style was at the nadir of depreciation was extremely critical of all Maderno's architecture at St Peter's. The nave and aisles come in for some very severe strictures Firstly, Milizia complained that Maderno's extension of the nave was not in a straight line but inclined slightly to the south. This is certainly true, and how many people notice it? 'He appears to have lost', Milizia wrote unfairly, 'whatever knowledge he might have possessed, even that of drawing a straight line.' Maderno indeed made the kink deliberate, and deserves high praise for having done so. He thus rectified a fault of Sixtus V and Domenico Fontana, who had not set the obelisk axially with Michelangelo's east arm of the church. Secondly, Milizia noted that Maderno's three nave bays were slightly narrower than Michelangelo's single bay. This also is an indisputable fact. Again, how many people notice it? Maderno purposely made the disparity in order to distinguish between Michelangelo's Greek cross unit and his own addition. The difference was a drawing-board one, and it can offend nobody. Thirdly, Milizia stated that Maderno's aisles were 'not wider than one of the many altars which are in them', which is just not true. No further exculpation therefore is called for. And fourthly, 'Even the elliptical cupolas', he went on, 'are not exempt from error being placed on four arches, of which two are wider than the others, so as to appear inadequate to support cupolas.' If the pointed ends of the elliptical cupolas had been supported on the wider arches and not, as they are, on the narrower, there might have been some substance in this complaint. As things are it is hard to see to what exactly Milizia took exception. I have recounted these somewhat frivolous complaints made a distinguished architectural critic merely as an example of the total inability of the neo-classical age to detect merit in the baroque choice of evolving forms and tensions in architecture.
Wolfflin, on the other hand, saw in the longitudinal nave of St Peter's the triumph of the baroque conception of 'space directed towards infinity'. The earliest attempt at this effect had been made by Vignola in the Gesu. Maderno consummated it. No longer was the old renaissance aim to achieve fixed spatial proportions acceptable to architects. Now the objective was to create the illusion of infinite distance and to spot-light the holy of holies by means of the dome. Gradations of light, supplied by the unconventional windows in the nave vault, and shadow, where there are no windows, are calculated to draw the pilgrim to the Apostle's shrine further and further down the long vista, barrel-vaulted to suggest the illimitable sky. On either side of the nave unfathomable depths of darkness within aisles and side chapels accentuate the silent mystery of his fearful passage towards the longed-for goal. This scene of drama is indeed experienced within St Peter's if Maderno's intentions are properly understood.
When we consider the actual façade we find it difficult not to be censorious of both Maderno, who was responsible for its design, and the Fabbrica which chose it. Even the most impartial critics are agreed that it is a mistake. Some are of the opinion that it is a disaster. At all events the failure was due to two things, hurry and muddle. Paul V was so desperately anxious to proceed with the building that he chivvied the Fabbrica into accepting a design without careful enough forethought. Of the ten architects who had submitted designs for the façade in 1607 Maderno was chosen because he had, so to speak, inherited the post of Capomaestro of St Peter's from the Fontana brothers, and also because he showed some respect for Michelangelo's existing fabric. In a paradoxical sense he showed too much respect, which led to his design being neither Michelangelo's nor truly his own. Since Maderno's prolonged nave was a basic infringement of Michelangelo's plan for the new basilica, he was obliged to drop the great architect's scheme of a Pantheon-like portico of double columns, because it would have overemphasized the already inordinate length. Instead he allowed his façade to be conditioned by Michelangelo's lateral elevations, but with a difference greatly to its detriment as I shall try to show.
A dispassionate view reveals at once that the façade is too congested, too over-weighted and too broad. Windows, mezzanine openings and balconies are crammed between the columns and endowed with heavy detail. The most objectionable feature is the deep and heavy attic storey. Maderno's self-vindication would doubtless he that it is a continuation of Michelangelo's pre-existing attic. It is true that where Maderno has continued the original attic along the side elevations of the nave he has been successful, because he reproduced Michelangelo's detail exactly. On the façade attic he has made alterations to the openings which go a long way to detract from the design. These alterations are the split pediments of the central openings and the entablatures of the end openings, which he has accordingly thrust into his cornice as though they are supporting it. Maderno would in fact have done better to follow Michelangelo's attic faithfully. In 1923 a young Roman architect, Florestano di Fausto, put forward a serious proposal to slice off the attic altogether, merely leaving the end bays with Valadier's beautiful cresting over the clock faces. Fausto evidently disregarded the fact that the nave would have projected above the pediment, unless it were somehow concealed. His bold suggestion was, needless to say, rejected.
In fairness to Maderno we must remember that the end bays, which project beyond the aisles, were not intended by him to be part of the façade. After the façade was begun the Fabbrica decided in 1612 that bell towers would look well at either end. Maderno had originally meant to build a detached clock tower near the site of the present entrance to the Scala Regia. He left a design which shows a graceful baroque affair with a cupola of scrolled supports to the lantern. The detached clock tower never got further than paper and the 1612 pair of towers no higher than their bases because the difficulty - to say nothing of the expense - encountered in digging the deep foundations required was deliberately shirked. The architect admitted only just in time that the bases already built would not be firm enough to carry more than their own weight. Paul V took fright and positively forbade continuance of the towers. And here Maderno is to blame for not first ascertaining that the muddy soil on this part of the Vatican Hill could not carry high structures without very careful preliminary drainage. The pair of towers was to have flanked the façade, without forming part of it. They would have given the proportion, as well as the verticality, which the composition now lacks. How exactly the shortened façade would have been treated at either end is not known.
The faults of the lumpish façade we now have are so glaring that Milizia dismisses Maderno with the savage remark, 'that [here] he studied to do his worst'. Recent critics of the architect have been more charitable. They rather incline to excuse him from full responsibility for the finished façade because of the numerous problems he had to encounter. These indeed were formidable. Nevertheless, a more imaginative and less heavy-handed architect would have found some happier way of resolving them. A contemporary observed that Maderno was not partial to painting and too partial to stucco work. That there was nothing of the painter in him is apparent in the total want of pictorial quality in his architecture. Like stucco work, on the contrary, it is plastic and rounded; but like that material, when handled by the most proficient master lacking genius, it can be both colourless and rather dull.
Maderno was prouder of the portico, or vestibule of the basilica than any of his constructions. He had its authorship specifically mentioned on his tomb. It is certainly an impressive entrance with its five great doorways to the church, the three central ones framed by pairs of antique pillars, and with it end vistas, through screens of Ionic columns, of Constantine and Charlemagne's equestrian statues, both of course added at later dates. The central bronze door by the fifteenth-century Florentine, Filarete, was saved from the old basilica. The architect was obliged to add strips of bronze to the top and bottom in order to heighten it. Between the doors three venerable inscriptions on marble were likewise saved and re-erected. They are the Jubilee bull of Boniface VIII granting plenary indulgence to the pilgrims of 1300. Charlemagne's funeral inscription for Pope Adrian I, and an act of donation dated 720 of some olive gardens for the upkeep of lamps before the Apostle's shrine.
The great tunnel vault of the portico was stuccoed by G. B. Ricci to Maderno's design, the central panels displaying the Borghese pope's coat of arms and recounting scenes in the life of St Peter. The ribs and arabesque reliefs are dull gold, or rather mustard (I suspect nineteenth-century repaint) upon an exiguous white ground. The plethora of gold detail is easily assimilated into the vault owing to the great height of the portico. In a lunette over the central opening into the portico is Giotto's heavily restored mosaic, the Navicella, or St Peter walking on the Sea of Galilee. This famous but mutilated mosaic, survived the depredations of successive renaissance popes, not on account of its artistic interest, but the affirmation of papal dogma which it represents. The Navicella was re-affixed in its present situation by strict command of Paul V, who had anxiously watched it being dismantled from the Archpriest's Palace adjoining the old forecourt.
Maderno's last work for the basilica was probably the horse-shoe shaped confession under the dome, which Della Porta had begun digging in front of Clement VIII's high altar. The purpose of the confession was to give access to cardinals and privileged persons from the church to St Peter's resting place. The marble balustrade, on which ninety-five oil lamps of gilded bronze with fronded stems are kept perpetually flickering, and the double ramped staircase are Maderno's. The steps were made from parts of the architrave of the old basilica, and doubtless still retain Constantinian molding on the undersides. They descend to the level of the existing crypt where Canova's oversize figure of Pius VI is lined with mosaics by Ricci. Paul V made Maderno lavish upon floor and walls of the confession an inordinate amount of precious marble intarsia, still in the style of the late cinquecento, which the pope mistakenly believed did exceptional honour to the simple fisherman from Galilee.
Maderno did not retire from the post of Chief Architect before his death in 1629 at the age of seventy-three. But long before this date he became incapacitated by illness. He suffered so severely from kidney trouble and stones that he was barely able to work, and was always accompanied by a close stool. He was a patient, good-natured man, and popular with all who had dealings with him. | <urn:uuid:602488a6-a8e7-407d-a979-a3fb4cc7cd25> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://stpetersbasilica.info/Docs/JLM/SaintPeters-9.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647782.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20180322073140-20180322093140-00651.warc.gz | en | 0.978473 | 13,287 | 3.171875 | 3 |
In 1765, a man named Adam Hope arrived in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Not much is known today about Adam Hope’s history or why he came to Hunterdon County. In fact, his parents remain a mystery.
Slightly bit more is known about from where he came. A small grain of evidence suggests he may have come by way of the Easton, Pennsylvania area. Easton is just over 20 miles from historic Clinton House in Hunterdon County. In 1736, Thomas Penn and Benjamin Eastburn, Surveyor General, selected and surveyed land at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers. The survey for the town Easton began in the 1750s at “Lechanwitauk” which translated to “Forks of the Delaware.” City of Easton, General Info A Brief History & Architectural Tour, http://www.easton-pa.com/history.html (lasted visited Dec. 13, 2017); Rev. Henry Martyn Kieffer, D.D., Some of the First Settlers of “The Forks of the Delaware” and Their Descendants, at pp. 1-4 (1902).
In John W. Lequear’s, Traditions of Hunterdon, Traditions of Our Ancestors, (1957), the author recounts a story claiming that Captain Hope came to Hunterdon County “at an early period” from the “Forks of the Delaware.” Furthermore, James P. Snell, in his History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey (1881), is definitive, stating:
Adam Hope was born in 1741. Various sources attribute his actual birth date to either June 12 or August 24. Adam Hope married Sarah Dunham of Hunterdon County, New Jersey in 1765—taking out a license and/or bond for marriage on October 30.
New Jersey, Marriage Records, 1683-1802; New Jersey, Published Archives Series, First Series, at 185.
From the New Jersey State Archives, I obtained Hope’s marriage bond. Adam Hope, together with Samuel Rogers, posted a 500-hundred-pound bond for the marriage, which is consistent with the fact that his family was not native to the Hunterdon area and was not well known. A copy and the text of this bond are below.
Sarah Dunham was born on August 27, 1746, according to the age on her tombstone and to the Isaac Watson Dunham, Dunham Genealogy. English and American Branches of the Dunham Family, at p. 271 (1907) (although fraught with noted errors, I am citing this source cautiously where secondary verification exists).
She was the daughter of Nehemiah Dunham, and likely his first wife (H)ester Ann Dunn. Sarah’s mother died at a young age, possibly in childbirth. We are not exactly sure when, but it was before Nehemiah Dunham married his second wife, Mary Clarkson, in approximately 1750 when Sarah was around 4 years old.
Sarah’s father, Nehemiah, was originally from Piscataway, New Jersey. This is where Sarah was also born. But by the time Sarah was around 14 in 1760, her father had purchased 600 acres in Hunterdon County and moved there with his family. Sarah’s fifth sibling, John Clarkson born in 1761, was born in Hunterdon County. Hunterdon County historian, Snell, regards Nehemiah Dunham as “a famous character in his day.” Dunham is remembered as being a cattle appraiser and dealer and also for supplying the “Federal army with vast quantities of beef.”
Sarah descended from a number of well-regarded and influential colonists. She was the granddaughter of Edmund Dunham and Dinah Fitz Randolph and of Samuel Dunn and (H)ester Martin. The Dunhams, the Fitz Randolphs, the Dunns and the Martins were all among the original settlers of Piscataway, New Jersey. Oliver B. Leonard, Esq., “Outline Sketches of the Pioneer Progenitors of the Piscataway Planters 1666-1716,” included in History of the First Baptist Church of Piscataway, Stelton, New Jersey, at pp. 110-15 (1889).
Adam and Sarah began their family shortly after their 1765 marriage. Adam and Sarah’s first son, Samuel was born the next year on September 23, 1766. Isaac Watson Dunham, Dunham Genealogy at p. 272.
It is likely that Adam Hope was a cabinetmaker by trade. The Hunterdon County, New Jersey Historical Society retains an account book donated by Miss Elizabeth Grandin with an entry that reads “1770, paid to Adam Hope for a mahogany desk, two pounds, ten shillings.” “The Elizabeth Grandin Bequest,” Hunterdon Historical Newsletter, at p. 6. (Spr. and Sum. 1970). Grandin donated a desk to the Hunterdon Historical Society, which is likely the one referred to above. The mahogany desk is now on display at the Hunterdon Historical Society’s 1845 Greek Revival Style Doric House in Flemington. Captain Hope crafted the desk in 1790 for Dr. John Grandin, a navy surgeon, who was also a resident of Hunterdon County. “Research Cataloging Project,” found at http://hunterdonhistory.org/2015-research-cataloging-project/ (lasted visited Dec. 13, 2017); Julie Flynn, ed., “Opportunities to Tour Doric House Expanded to 2nd & 4th Saturdays,” Clinton Township Newsletter at p. 14 (Jun., 2014). A painted image of Captain Hope’s daughter Anna hangs above the desk.
Picture from the public website of the Hunterdon County Historical Society at http://hunterdonhistory.org/2015-research-cataloging-project/.
In the next update to this post, I will discuss Captain Hope’s endeavors for freedom as a member of the New Jersey Militia. | <urn:uuid:21e08a89-24ba-407a-b71d-f1575677b10b> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | https://onthemarks.net/2017/12/13/the-life-of-revolutionary-war-patriot-captain-adam-hope/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267865145.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20180623171526-20180623191526-00270.warc.gz | en | 0.957163 | 1,281 | 2.625 | 3 |
The 1917 constitution provides for a federal republic with powers separated into independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Historically, the executive has been the dominant branch, with power vested in the president, who promulgates and executes the laws of the Congress. The Congress has played an increasingly important role since 1997, when opposition parties first made major gains. The president also legislates by executive decree in certain economic and financial fields, using powers delegated from the Congress. The president is elected by universal adult suffrage for a 6-year term and may not hold office a second time. There is no vice president; in the event of the removal or death of the president, a provisional president is elected by the Congress.
The Congress is composed of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. Consecutive re-election is prohibited. Senators are elected to 6-year terms, and deputies serve 3-year terms. The Senate's 128 seats are filled by a mixture of direct-election and proportional representation. In the lower chamber, 300 deputies are directly elected to represent single-member districts, and 200 are selected by a modified form of proportional representation from five electoral regions. The 200 proportional representation seats were created to help smaller parties gain access to the Chamber.
The judiciary is divided into federal and state court systems, with federal courts having jurisdiction over most civil cases and those involving major felonies. Under the constitution, trial and sentencing must be completed within 12 months of arrest for crimes that would carry at least a 2-year sentence. In practice, the judicial system often does not meet this requirement. Trial is by judge, not jury. Defendants have a right to counsel, and public defenders are available. Other rights include defense against self-incrimination, the right to confront one's accusers, and the right to a public trial. Supreme Court justices are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. | <urn:uuid:38d321a6-5f31-4901-8e57-922aa41b5862> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | http://mexicoinenglish.blogspot.com/2010/03/dzidzantun-mexico-government.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125937113.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20180420022906-20180420042906-00157.warc.gz | en | 0.971727 | 381 | 4.3125 | 4 |
Within an oral culture handed down from ancestral times, it didn’t do to harm the stones. They were, after all, one of few remnants of the country (‘pagan’ from Latin paganus, countryman) tradition which predated Christianity, of which the ancestors spoke.
Parishes of Northeast Scotland in the farflung reaches of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire and Moray followed the instruction of the Reformed Church to the letter – while at the same time managing to guard handed-down veneration of ancestral places. This apparent anomaly has resulted in the survival of around 600 Neolithic recumbent stone circles in the northeast triangle, and though separated by 3500 years, roughly 100 Pictish symbol stones.
In academia Pictish stones are divided into Class I, inscribed; Class II, relief-carved cross-slabs; Class III relief with horsemen, kings, hierarchical designs; and Class IV, cross-stones with no other ornamentation. The earliest Class I and Class II stones are invariably found in association with pre-Christian sacred sites.
Throughout the early years of Christianity in this far-northern corner of the former Pictish kingdom, sacred sites were in no immediate danger. Pope Gregory I in AD596 sent (through Augustine) the instruction:
“By no means destroy the temples
of the idols belonging to the British, but only the idols which are found in them; inasmuch as they are well-constructed, it is necessary that they should be converted from the dowership of demons to the true God.”
A century after Augustine, however, more extreme measures were called for: in Theodore’s Penitential, AD690,
“idolatry, worship of demons, cult of the dead, worship of nature, Pagan calendar customs and festivals, witchcraft and sorcery, augury and divination and astrology”
were banned. Yet the old ways persisted.
Megalithic structures such as the Aberdeenshire recumbent circles survived. In the words of one 18th-century Northeast clergyman:
“superstition spares them though stones are so scarce”
Pictish stones did not fare so well.
Ultimately their portability became their downfall. While superstition had spared them until the onslaught of a Victorian gentlemanly pursuit – antiquarianism – from that point on they were coveted, uprooted, “taken in” and “protected” all over the place. The Church, of course, had first priority because by “taking them in” (installing in graveyards, building into the fabric of hallowed structures, or reusing as family tombs) they were simultaneously being de-paganized and infinitely gently being nudged under the Christian umbrella.
Class I stones
Beautiful examples of these Pictish pre-Christian sacred markers – carved with animal and geometric symbols in a style standardized throughout the Kingdom (image, top) – stand within kirk precincts today at Banffshire churches of Mortlach, Marnoch and Ruthven, in Moray at Advie, Birnie, Inverallan, Inveravon, and Knockando, and in Aberdeenshire at Clatt, Rhynie, Tyrie, Fetterangus, Dyce, Deer, Fyvie, Kinellar, Kintore, Bourtie and Inverurie. They are usually rough-hewn, from boulders or glacial outcrops.
Class II stones,
Local lairds also had their fair share of the spoils. In the rush to comply with post-Reformation instruction to build new churches, often on pagan sites, stones were broken up for building, reused in threshing floors or as millstones, or taken to form a decorative feature at the laird’s house.
National Trust for Scotland‘s Leith Hall and Brodie Castle are custodians of three, open to the public. Others, at Newton House, Arndilly, Keith Hall, Castle Forbes, Park House, Logie House, Mounie Castle, Craigmyle House, Tillypronie Lodge, Knockespock House, Blackhills House, Whitestones House and Whitehills are in private ownership and are not accessible to visit, except by appointment.Five known Class I stones in Aberdeenshire still stand in their original sites:
Ardlair, Kennethmont; Nether Corskie, Dunecht; the Insch Picardy Stone at Whitemyres Farm; Brandsbutt in a housing estate in Inverurie (re-constituted after 19thC blasting) and the Rhynie Craw Stane.
Moray Class I stones thought to be in situ stand at Congash (2) and Upper Manbeen.
The rest, totalling an unknown figure (32 recorded), abound in museums round the Northeast, are in Edinburgh or are considered “lost”.
Upwards of 30 carved sacred water-bull stones were, in oral tradition, said to form a ‘spirit’-guarded wall or protective precinct round the Pictish port-stronghold of Burghead (Latin. Tarvedunum, dun, fort of the bulls) which juts out from the mainland into the Moray Firth between Forres and Elgin.
All but six of these sacred bulls were destroyed or thrown into the harbour in early 19th-century reconstruction of the town.
Ironically Burghead is one of the most ardent communities in keeping Pictish tradition, celebrating the sun’s return after winter solstice by “Burning the Clavie” – a man-size torch carried sun-wise round the town on the shoulders of the clavie king and his crew on January 11th each year.
Sueno’s Stone, Forres (Class III with cross but no Pictish symbols – instead panels depicting a saga of the Scots’ victory over the Picts) was re-erected, possibly the wrong way around after being found buried deep in sandy Moray soil. It now stands in a glass-covered protective shield.
Clusters of Pictish symbol stones found embedded in mediaeval mounds at Kintore, Tyrie and Drumblade, buried face-down at river confluences (Donaldstonehaugh, River Isla) or close to Pictish villages (Aikey Brae and Rhynie Barflat) have disappeared.
A Class I stone carved with horseshoe on an earlier stone circle stone was rescued from oblivion in the 19th-century erection of a memorial to the Duke of Lennox and returned to Huntly Market Square, to share honour with the Marquis.Another, carved on a circle stone near Dunecht, was only discovered after a horse with “mange” rubbed himself on the stone and the farmer, fearing spread of the affliction, wiped the stone with lime, revealing long-lost symbols.
As late as 1978 and 1983 symbol stones from Barflat (Rhynie “Man”) and Insch (Wantonwells) were removed from their original location as archaeological prizes: Wantonwells went to Aberdeen’s Marischal Museum where it is climate-controlled, but Rhynie Man stands in the vestibule of Woodhill House, local government office headquarters and a prize possession as blatant as any claimed by19th century “gentleman-archaeologists”.
Into this climate of haphazard care, the Maiden Stone interjects herself. One of only four Class II stones in Aberdeenshire, she might have been carried off as a prize, but, perhaps because of her legendary character, she has survived. Earliest remnant of a pre-Christian myth is a wonderfully-confused tale that she was the maid of Drumdurno, turned to stone by the spirit of the mountain (Jock of Bennachie, Sc.Gael. diadhachd pron.Jahck = a god) when she prayed to be rescued from pursuit by the ‘devil’ who had bargained with her that he could build a causeway up Bennachie (prehistoric Maiden causeway) before she could finish baking her firlot of bannocks (scones).
Another story, more likely to be based on fact, is that she was the daughter of the laird of Balquhain who was killed by accident after eloping with the son of a rival laird.
Third, that she was one of several maiden conquests of a Leslie laird who dragged his prey to the “fort” (Iron Age enclosure on Mither Tap) of Bennachie where he had his way with them! Fate saw to it that he died at the battle of Harlaw, 1411.
All four surfaces, broad East and West faces and narrow sides, are decorated. The pagan side, facing east, depicts four panels each featuring symbols used in earlier Class I stones, but with typically late carving in relief. Gouged out of coarse-grained pink Bennachie granite, this was no mean feat, but the technique allows animal and geometric forms to stand out clearly in low raking sunlight, even after 1100 years. The west face is dominated by an interlaced wheel cross, underpinned by a circular spiral-filled design with key pattern and knotwork, while overhead are mounted two ketos or fish, gently cradling a clerical figure. This “Christian” face is badly weathered.
The Maiden stone is virtually unique: it has a combination of sacred Pictish symbols covering one whole side, while also dominating part of the invading Christian side. If its dating is correct to post-AD843, after the Scots finally obliterated the kingdom of the Picts in this Northeast corner, the inner sanctum of a vanquished race, it was perhaps politic to share religions.
Sueno’s Stone at Forres, closer to Burghead, the last Pictish stronghold to hold out against the enemy, is more warlike in proclaiming its Christian message of ‘Right is Might’, and it, too, shows a central figure supported by two curving (fish?)shapes on the Christian side, below the cross.
On all other known Class II cross-slabs in Northeast Scotland, In fact, where sacred symbols of the two faiths share space (Monymusk, Fordoun, Migvie, Mortlach, Dyce) the cross occurs on the same face as Pictish animal and geometric symbols.
Invading Scots perhaps had the presence of mind never to carve in the Northeast free-standing crosses such as those other blatant examples of their dominion: the High Crosses of Iona and western Scotland.
The closest to a western motif found in the East is the Loch Kinord cross-slab at Cromar, but even its curly-terminal cross is trapped within the oval of the stone, in the northern Pictish tradition. Farther south within Angus/Forfar and Perthshire/Fife a clear dominance by warlike Scots results in a multitude of “Class III” stones, sometimes so-called because they feature crosses and horsemen, but few Pictish symbols. It is an historic fact that central Scotland succumbed to Scots rule long before the Men of Moray who held out culturally until Macbeth (died 1057).
So it may be that the Scots who influenced the carving of the late Pictish Maiden Stone had to bow to the strength of a prevailing worship of nature spirits in order to get their message across.It is now generally accepted that the Picts had their own water cult and that the salmon, dolphin and other great fish (Gk. ketos) were central to that worship. Roman historians were aghast when discovering that Picts ate no salmon, though their rivers were teeming with them. Flesh of the goose, too, (Roseisle Class I stone in Edinburgh) was never eaten, though they roamed wild in profusion. The dolphin (or Pictish “beast” carved on 24 Class I stones in east Scotland) was believed to be sacred because it could live both in air and water and shared knowledge of the world beyond the sunset. The salmon was sacred; it also lived in two media – saltwater and fresh – sharing its knowledge of the seven springs of wisdom. References to sacred salmon kept in wells occur as late as the 16th century, usually by the priest or the minister, who by then was supposed to be as learned as they.
‘A well . . . at which are the hazels of inspiration and wisdom, the hazels of the science of poetry and, in the
same hour their fruit and their blossom and their foliage break forth, and these fall on the well in the same shower, which raises on the water a royal surge of purple. Then the sacred salmon chew the fruit and the juice of the nuts shows on their red bellies. And seven streams of wisdom spring forth.’
Stokes translation 1887, Old Celtic Legend.
All Pictish Class I stones in Northeast Scotland whose original location is known were placed within a mile of water.
Would it not then be wise to enlist the support of this great spirit of the water when proclaiming a new faith to a Pictish audience?
The fish on top of the cross on the Maiden stone may not only be supporting the little cleric, new at his job, but whispering their knowledge in his ear. On the eastern (‘pagan’) side, it is probably significant that the four panels depict the highest order of Pictish symbolism, even if adapted in late relief form: at the top a panel shows animals of the forest, but one has the ability to shape-shift to part-human.Shape-shifting was legendary among the Picts and incoming clerics made use of this belief to convert, even using shape-shifting themselves (according to tradition) to show the potency of the new faith. Columba was known to encourage belief in his ability to shape-shift, raise and still storms and produce wine from water in order to convince his new flock. Panel two shows the great Z-rod and fire altar used in the four annual fire festivals at the doorway to the seasons – Samhain, Oimelc, Beltane and Lughnasadh. Interestingly, Burghead’s fire-altar the “Doorie”, into which the flaming mass of burning creosote, tar and oak staves is thrust as a final gesture in Burning the Clavie, is similar in shape. The Z-rod, thought to symbolise the magic of lightning or a celestial wand, occurs in tandem with fire-altars, serpents, double-sun symbols in a majority of Northeast symbol stones. Panel three holds the sacred dolphin, carved without companions or embellishment – alone in his supreme position as carrier of great knowledge. Panel four bears the female symbols of mirror and comb, probably the oldest symbolism of all, of the goddess, the earth herself, but by early Scots times diminished into a lower order. The Picts had a matrilineal system of succession, but this and all it signified was forceably suppressed in the Scots order of male rule. Though Macbeth claimed the throne by tanistry (the Pictish right by blood through the female line which enabled brothers to succeed brothers or uncles, but not sons to succeed fathers) he was last to lose to the Scots system which prevailed.
Etymology plays a part in the jigsaw of piecing together the Maiden’s meaning. Gael. Maoid-hean means prayer, entreaty, supplication. If it was used as a place of prayer, as records show many Pictish stones were, it was a habit capitalised on by early clerics in their conversions. Stones around Aberdeenshire named for saints include Marnan’s chair, a megalith in St Marnoch’s churchyard, and Brandan Stanes recumbent circle, both Banffshire; three symbol stones ogham-inscribed to indicate “Eddernan” or St. Ethernan preached at each; and Clochmaloo or the stone of Moluag, patron saint of inland Aberdeenshire, a glacial erratic perched on a slope of Tap o’ Noth topped by a huge five-acre vitrified fort. Also Mâg (plain, pron. mai)-dun means a fort commanding an open plain.
The astronomers may have the last word: Scots-Gaelic Madiunn means morning; the morning sun rises to shine on on the pagan eastern face of the stone until precisely midday, when it casts no shadow on either face.
Meadhon means mid or centre, either denoting the centre of a powerful area, which the fertile Garioch plain most certainly was, its nickname ‘Girnal” (grainstore) of Aberdeenshire handed down for generations; or it could mean mid in a time sense. As noon approaches on any clear day, but spring and autumn give better angular light, the sun which has shone directly at the symbols all morning begins to pick out the gentle curves and cast the tiniest of shadows along the bodies of pagan beast and mystic wand. Shadows lengthen until at noon they completely fill the space of the recessed background from which the symbols spring in relief – almost as if filling a pool.
At noon, the sun casts no shadow either on pagan or Christian side – just a brief gnomon-like shade in the short grass. Then as the minutes tick by after noon, shadows appear to fill the spaces on the Christian side and form pools in the four sockets of the wheel cross gradually shortening over the bodies of the giant fish, until around 12:10 p.m. when shadows are once again imperceptible. As a noon sundial, the Maiden is unbeatable.
Local support for leaving the Maiden Stone untouched was strong, though if the decision had gone the other way, few would have stood up and caused a revolution. It is because the decision has been made in favour of her native setting, hovering over the Water of Crowmallie, that future generations may be able to share the Maiden’s knowledge which was originally shouted in a loud voice from the slopes of Bennachie. Only we, her children, have forgotten the meaning of the words. It is up to us now to remember the ways of the natural world, and to take into ourselves the messages left by a culture which may have much to teach us.
©1996-2009 Marian Youngblood | <urn:uuid:c077846d-f01d-4997-bb72-7f9d4eefd7ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-18 | https://derileas11dream.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/maiden-stone-of-bennachie/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-18/segments/1461861718132.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160428164158-00119-ip-10-239-7-51.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956987 | 3,899 | 3.03125 | 3 |
How to use this module
Execution of the mock trial is the capstone of the learning modules which comprise this website. The instructor needs to function as a true sideline coach, both in the efforts leading to the trial as well as when the trial is executed. Knowing how the end goal, the trial, should flow the instructor should be effectively leading participants to prepare for the trial. Corp. includes understanding of the role of the character they are training, becoming proficient in the profession of the character and being able to communicate the characters opinion clearly in a court of law using whatever exhibits that best tell the story. The mock trial will execute more effectively if they trial attorney or actual court judge can serve the role of the mock trial judge. These persons experience will be invaluable to the trial's authenticity and effectiveness of the learning effort. If someone from the legal profession serves as a judge, it would help the overall effort for the instructor and a person to coordinate continually during the pretrial activities.
Module design perspective
The mock trial is intended to provide a public forum for students to interact and communicate. By assigning character roles, students can't appreciate how one person can influence the outcome of the process. Execution of the mock trial should be the most memorable part of this learning exercise, providing students with an experience they can relate to it and appreciate the difficulty conveying science in a lay setting.
Mock Trial Activity Page
Student Assignment Mock Trial Assignment | <urn:uuid:b1b7be65-9dbc-4b1b-8e32-0591c099453a> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://serc.carleton.edu/woburn/instructor/mocktrial/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416931008289.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20141125155648-00023-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950095 | 289 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Image: courtesy the Telegraph Museum
Porthcurno is a small coastal village in south west Cornwall and the point at which many submarine telegraph cables – both transatlantic and inter-continental – came ashore. The Telegraph Museum opened in May 1998, housed in the former telegraph facility.
The museum was started by former employees of Cable and Wireless who were based at the company’s Holborn headquarters in London. It has displays showing the history of submarine cable-laying ships and telegraphy, and samples of cable designs used throughout the cable company’s long history. The museum also has a collection of telegraphy equipment that remains functional – it continued to be a training college for the communications industry until 1993.
There are now around fifteen staff at the museum, welcoming visitors and managing research enquiries from academics and historians. In the summer of 2014, the museum reopened after an extensive redevelopment of the Grade II listed buildings to accommodate larger exhibition spaces and improved visitor facilities. A new space is being created to accommodate contemporary work that relates to the museum’s subject matter.
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum, Eastern House, Old Cable Lane, Porthcurno TR19 6JX | <urn:uuid:434f84e9-0834-4214-a4f9-c09136e75645> | CC-MAIN-2018-17 | http://groundwork.art/locations/telegraph-museum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-17/segments/1524125948125.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20180426090041-20180426110041-00178.warc.gz | en | 0.959527 | 248 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Reducing Deforestation and Sustainable Development through Judicial Training in Indonesia
Indonesian ecosystems harbor about 12% of total mammal species, 7.3% of reptile species and 17% of bird species. Indonesia ranks fifth in the planet regarding plant diversity with more than 38,000 species. Forests in Indonesia cover an area of about 119 million hectares, representing approximately 4% of the world’s most ecologically undisturbed forests. However, the expanding population and economic activity are leading to significant environmental problems including deforestation from illegal logging, conversion to palm oil plantations, vanishing biodiversity, and endangered species.
The legal framework in place has not been effective in halting environmental degradation and biodiversity loss in the country, even though the country has implemented regulations for environmental protection. The Environmental Law Institute will seek to preserve biodiversity and counter climate change by promoting the application of the environmental legislation. | <urn:uuid:a5292bde-4571-44aa-8367-f184b265ccf8> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://postkodstiftelsen.se/en/blog/projekt/starka-indonesiens-miljoskydd-att-bevara-den-biologiska-mangfalden/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400188049.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20200918155203-20200918185203-00186.warc.gz | en | 0.924496 | 176 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Child Discipline Tips - Why Time Out in Naughty Corner is Wrong
While putting a child in the 'naughty corner' and giving kids some 'time out' by themselves has long been promoted as the best child disciplining strategy, the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health has strongly advised against it.
There is growing evidence it may not be good for the child, and may not teach them anything about good and bad behavior, especially for young children under the age of about 3 years.
The fundamental problem with the technique is that the skill of being able to control emotions is something that a child has to learn.
They cannot do this by themselves, and it is part of a child’s development that is learnt from parents and carers.
Punishing a child when they struggle to learn this emotional skill achieves very little as it is clearly the role of the parents and carers to teach them how to control their emotions and what behavior is acceptable or not. It can be a lazy response from the parent and care giver.
This article reviews the various tips for disciplining children that parents and carers should try as alternatives to this strategy.
What is Time-Out
The Australian Association for Infant Mental Health Inc (AAIMHI) published a position paper on the technique in 2009, strongly advising against the strategy particularly for children under 3 years old, and also warned against the technique for older children.
The reasons given were:
- It does not teach constructive and proactive ways to deal with problems.Teaching separation as a way to deal with problems is negative approach and is a punishment.
- It fails because parents and carersare unaware young children are incapable of self-regulation of emotions by themselves.They can only learn to control their emotions with the active support of a parent or carer.
The message associated with the 'time out' is that it’s 'naughty' when a child gets overwhelmed by emotion and to loses control.
Children are sent to the naughty corner until they can behave themselves properly and to apologise.
Because children lack the ability to control their emotions, this response is equivalent to punishing a child with a time out because they cannot ride a bike.
Controlling emotions is a learned skill, just like riding a bike. It is a part of a child’s development and it is the parent's responsibility and role to teach them.
Many parenting support websites and organisations, still promote the use of 'time out' as a way of controlling behaviour and teaching them to cope with emotional outburst.
This is done not as a punishment or as a way to humiliate a children, but as a cooling-off strategy to calm everyone down by separating people from where the incident occurred.
The timeout only occurs for 1-2 minutes and the child always remains in sight of their carer.
For older children (4-6 years old) there is research to suggest that not setting a fixed time works best.
It is left to the child to decide when they have calmed down and have thought about how to solve the problem, and perhaps apologise.
The reported benefits of time out in the naughty are:
- It stops disruptive behaviour when the child is in a group
- It creates a physical separation between the child and the problem
- It gives everyone including the parent and carer a chance to calm down and to start afresh.
What is Wrong with the Time-Out Strategy?
The research that supports using time outs, especially for older children, generally does not consider the emotional impact on the child. Children under three years or age and many older childrenare incapable of self regulating emotionally. They need the support of the parent of caregiver to help them with this, not separation from them and time alone. Consequently the time out may increase a child’s insecurity and distress.
The most effective response to out of control behaviour is for parents and caregivers to understand how the child is feeling and what triggers the response. The parent or carer can then anticipate when problems could occur, plan to prevent them and know how to respond to them. The child needs assurance that the parent or carer is in control and that strong feelings and emotions can be understood and managed. The key way to provide an effective response is that the parent or carer understands the cause behind the behaviour and the emotional response.
Alternatives to Time Out - The 'Time in Parenting' Approach
The method dubbed "time in parenting" was devised by Otto Weininger, a Canadian psychologist in a book of the same name.See: He suggests the exact opposite from a time -out. When a child is upset and haslost control of their emotions and become rude or angry is just the time whenthey need the support and comfort of a safe and accepting adult who is calm, in control of themselves and the situation and is not focused on punishing the child.They need to be with someone who is calm and understands that anyone can get upset and lose control at various times. They also need the support of someone who will recognise these strong feelings and can deal with them appropriately. Young children need to learn how to control and regulate their emotions with the active support of the parent or carer. It is not something they can learn alone.
Some Practical Tips and Suggestions
- Your message about the expected behavior is clear, simple and to the point. Too much information may cause confusion.
- Make sure you child understand the rules and gives you feedback to confirm this.
- Make sure you get the timing right and that the child is engaged when you are talking with them.
- Be realistic and understand your child's capabilities at very ages and stage in their development.
- Undertaking calming routines before difficult situations are a good strategy to help your child remain in a calm and controlled state or mind, for example: a simple, quiet game, a walk outside, a warm bath, or reading a story to them
- Don't ask or expect the child to perform tasks that are too difficult such as reflecting on their emotional outburst and changing their ways. They may be incapable of doing this.
- Make sure the child's environment provides support for the emotional context with a partnership between the parent and child for development and learning, not an environment of control and punishment
- It should be clear that the parent is the one in charge (in a guiding and kind way). Children respond better to a confident, kind and understanding caregiver.
- Watch a child's activities, their interaction with other children and their emotional state. Look out for early warning signs of difficulty or distress and act early on to avoid the situation worsening. This can involve diversions, attention to needs, giving the child a hug, changes to the activity or to the group dynamics.
- Be aware of and respond to the contributing factors and circumstances such the child's level of excitement, tiredness or frustration
- Present young children with choices and alternatives wherever possible and within their capability.
- Anticipate and were possible avoid difficult situations.
- Think about the event or situation from the child's perspective as this will help you predict what might happen.
- If you see your child becoming emotional make them aware of it and identify it with a name that they understand. Such as "I can see that you are getting cross now - do you think it would be best to". This identifies the problem and offers a way to avoid it getting worse.
- If none of the tips above seems to be working take the child away from the situation but accompany them (this is called ‘time in’). Try to remain as calm as you can. Acknowledge the child's feeling and situation and that you are aware of them. Offer to connect with the child by giving them a hug or help. Try to find a solution and outcome that will calm them down. Tell them that the stress will be over soon and everything will be fine again.
- Importantly, parents who get frustrated, angry or upset themselves need to take a break, as long as the child is not left alone. Sometimes a parent who is not coping can trigger the emotional outburst in the child.
© 2012 Dr. John Anderson
More by this Author
Learn how to control and prevent the roller coaster of mood swings from ruining you life. Find the cause, and take positive, affirmative actions
Is Lying Eyes a Myth or do the eye movement patterns provide a tell tale sign that someone is lying? What are the other signs? Discover more here.
This article discusses shoulder pain and describes a set of exercises that may help alleviate the symptoms and relieve the pain. Read more here! | <urn:uuid:a60c80a4-aa73-4d68-9bd5-0b61871a11b4> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://hubpages.com/education/Child-Disciplining-Tips-Why-Time-Out-in-Naughty-Corner-is-Wrong | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698541529.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170901-00230-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959747 | 1,771 | 2.875 | 3 |
The map shows that in Canada 9108 deaths have been attributed to Covid19, meaning people who died having tested positive for SARS CV2 virus. This number accumulated over a period of 210 days starting January 31. The daily death rate reached a peak of 177 on May 6, 2020, and is down to 6 as of yesterday. More details on this below, but first the summary picture. (Note: 2019 is the latest demographic report)
|Canada Pop||Ann Deaths||Daily Deaths||Risk per
Over the epidemic months, the average Covid daily death rate amounted to 5% of the All Causes death rate. During this time a Canadian had an average risk of 1 in 5000 of dying with SARS CV2 versus a 1 in 114 chance of dying regardless of that infection. As shown later below the risk varied greatly with age, much lower for younger, healthier people.
Background Updated from Previous Post
In reporting on Covid19 pandemic, governments have provided information intended to frighten the public into compliance with orders constraining freedom of movement and activity. For example, the above map of the Canadian experience is all cumulative, and the curve will continue upward as long as cases can be found and deaths attributed. As shown below, we can work around this myopia by calculating the daily differentials, and then averaging newly reported cases and deaths by seven days to smooth out lumps in the data processing by institutions.
A second major deficiency is lack of reporting of recoveries, including people infected and not requiring hospitalization or, in many cases, without professional diagnosis or treatment. The only recoveries presently to be found are limited statistics on patients released from hospital. The only way to get at the scale of recoveries is to subtract deaths from cases, considering survivors to be in recovery or cured. Comparing such numbers involves the delay between infection, symptoms and death. Herein lies another issue of terminology: a positive test for the SARS CV2 virus is reported as a case of the disease COVID19. In fact, an unknown number of people have been infected without symptoms, and many with very mild discomfort.
August 7 in the UK it was reported (here) that around 10% of coronavirus deaths recorded in England – almost 4,200 – could be wiped from official records due to an error in counting. Last month, Health Secretary Matt Hancock ordered a review into the way the daily death count was calculated in England citing a possible ‘statistical flaw’. Academics found that Public Health England’s statistics included everyone who had died after testing positive – even if the death occurred naturally or in a freak accident, and after the person had recovered from the virus. Numbers will now be reconfigured, counting deaths if a person died within 28 days of testing positive much like Scotland and Northern Ireland…
Professor Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, who first noticed the error, told the Sun:
‘It is a sensible decision. There is no point attributing deaths to Covid-19 28 days after infection…
For this discussion let’s assume that anyone reported as dying from COVD19 tested positive for the virus at some point prior. From the reasoning above let us assume that 28 days after testing positive for the virus, survivors can be considered recoveries.
Recoveries are calculated as cases minus deaths with a lag of 28 days. Daily cases and deaths are averages of the seven days ending on the stated date. Recoveries are # of cases from 28 days earlier minus # of daily deaths on the stated date. Since both testing and reports of Covid deaths were sketchy in the beginning, this graph begins with daily deaths as of April 24, 2020 compared to cases reported on March 27, 2020.
The line shows the Positivity metric for Canada starting at nearly 8% for new cases April 24, 2020. That is, for the 7 day period ending April 24, there were a daily average of 21,772 tests and 1715 new cases reported. Since then the rate of new cases has dropped down, now holding steady at ~1% since mid-June. Yesterday, the daily average number of tests was 45,897 with 427 new cases. So despite more than doubling the testing, the positivity rate is not climbing. Another view of the data is shown below.
The scale of testing has increased and now averages over 45,000 a day, while positive tests (cases) are hovering at 1% positivity. The shape of the recovery curve resembles the case curve lagged by 28 days, since death rates are a small portion of cases. The recovery rate has grown from 83% to 99% steady over the last 2 weeks, so that recoveries exceed new positives. This approximation surely understates the number of those infected with SAR CV2 who are healthy afterwards, since antibody studies show infection rates multiples higher than confirmed positive tests (8 times higher in Canada). In absolute terms, cases are now down to 427 a day and deaths 6 a day, while estimates of recoveries are 437 a day.
The key numbers:
99% of those tested are not infected with SARS CV2.
99% of those who are infected recover without dying.
Summary of Canada Covid Epidemic
It took a lot of work, but I was able to produce something akin to the Dutch advice to their citizens.
The media and governmental reports focus on total accumulated numbers which are big enough to scare people to do as they are told. In the absence of contextual comparisons, citizens have difficulty answering the main (perhaps only) question on their minds: What are my chances of catching Covid19 and dying from it?
A previous post reported that the Netherlands parliament was provided with the type of guidance everyone wants to see.
For canadians, the most similar analysis is this one from the Daily Epidemiology Update: :
The table presents only those cases with a full clinical documentation, which included some 2194 deaths compared to the 5842 total reported. The numbers show that under 60 years old, few adults and almost no children have anything to fear.
Update May 20, 2020
It is really quite difficult to find cases and deaths broken down by age groups. For Canadian national statistics, I resorted to a report from Ontario to get the age distributions, since that province provides 69% of the cases outside of Quebec and 87% of the deaths. Applying those proportions across Canada results in this table. For Canada as a whole nation:
|Age||Risk of Test +||Risk of Death||Population
per 1 CV death
In the worst case, if you are a Canadian aged more than 80 years, you have a 1 in 400 chance of dying from Covid19. If you are 60 to 80 years old, your odds are 1 in 5000. Younger than that, it’s only slightly higher than winning (or in this case, losing the lottery).
As noted above Quebec provides the bulk of cases and deaths in Canada, and also reports age distribution more precisely, The numbers in the table below show risks for Quebecers.
|Age||Risk of Test +||Risk of Death||Population
per 1 CV death
While some of the risk factors are higher in the viral hotspot of Quebec, it is still the case that under 80 years of age, your chances of dying from Covid 19 are better than 1 in 1000, and much better the younger you are.
via Science Matters
August 29, 2020 at 10:56AM | <urn:uuid:59c9810f-2649-4460-bc82-1cada01dac5b> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://iowaclimate.org/2020/08/29/covid-burnout-in-canada-august-28/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400221382.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20200924230319-20200925020319-00588.warc.gz | en | 0.950925 | 1,550 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Summer ends with an explosion of colour in the forests. This is the season known as ‘ruska’, when the autumnal reds, browns and yellows are especially beautiful on the fells of Lapland. September is also a popular time for trekking in northern Finland.
autumn in figures
+2°C – +15°C
80 – 90 days
September – November
it’s time for ‘ruska’
While Finns are going back to work, recalling the summer and planning for the next one, others are still finding their way here, to spend a different kind of holiday. Autumn is a time of silence. A time to step back and calm down. It is a time for hiking in clean, crisp air and colorful surroundings. Waiting for the winter to arrive.
Autumn leaf colour, or “ruska” to locals, is a spectacular natural phenomenon that paints northern landscapes in deep and soft tones. Covered in forests and wildernesses, Finland is a prime destination for some serious leaf peeping.
berries and mushrooms from forest
The woods are dotted with wild edible mushrooms, such as yellow chanterelles and brown porcini. Autumn is a heavenly time for people who like to gather their own food.
The pièce de résistance regarding Finnish food products is the surprising fact that they are often completely free of charge and have grown in the wild. Everyman’s right in the country’s forests guarantees that you are allowed to pick almost anything your heart and mouth desires.
season of change
Autumn is the time when Finns are taking their boats out of the water, putting their bicycles in the garage, and preparing to get out their skates and skis. It is the time between the two main seasons – summer and winter – but no less important.
Autumn leaf colour acts as a messenger of sorts; it bids a melancholic but sweet farewell to long summer days and serves as a reminder of the dark and cold winter days looming around the corner.
northern lights season begins
Even though many people associate the Northern Lights with cold and snowy winter scenery, the most active seasons are actually autumn and spring when the earth’s orientation towards the sun maximises the probability of solar flares interacting with the planet’s magnetic field to generate this phenomenon. | <urn:uuid:86d235c1-6d56-4518-a4d6-c50da1061b71> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://static1.visitfinland.com/autumn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251783000.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20200128184745-20200128214745-00356.warc.gz | en | 0.945257 | 490 | 2.59375 | 3 |
In August 2009 we were very excited about the archaeological excavations being undertaken on the former Palais Royale site in Newcastle West.
We are proud to report that the first of two Reports have been released covering the Aboriginal history of the site. Over 5,534 Aboriginal artefacts were recovered, representing three Aboriginal occupation periods dating from 6,716-6,502 years BP (before present) and identified as a site of ‘high to exceptional cultural and scientific significance’.
We wish to thank everyone involved with this Project for the production of this wonderful report. We hope it will assist the wider community to fully comprehend the depth of history that lies beneath our feet, and the importance for that history to be understood, respected and safeguarded for future generations.
‘Community is poorer for burying its history’
by Gionni Di Gravio
Newcastle Herald 24 May 2011 p.11
A couple of years ago I was very excited to visit the archaeological dig at at the former Palais.
Back in 1825 this was the place (the then ‘Government Farm’) where the Rev. Lancelot Threlkeld spent his first year in Newcastle. Within days of his arrival on 8th May 1825, Threlkeld and his young family had been robbed three times, and fearful of being robbed every night.
So you can imagine his relief when on the Wednesday evening of the 11 May 1825, he was eventually given a civilised welcome as the natives assembled around his house to cook up a kangaroo. After they had eaten, the Threlkelds were invited to see their dance. Threlkeld noted that when “they had concluded they thanked us for our visit and wished us good night.”
It was here that he heard the local dreaming stories, would witness healing rituals and a burial, and document numerous atrocities perpetrated against the local Aboriginal people.
It was here that he, and one of those natives, Biraban (or McGill), began a collaborative study into the local language, the first methodical study of an Aboriginal language anywhere in this country.
So it was thrilling to see a scientific report released this month 186 years after these events.
One small rectangular sample trench yielded over 5,500 artefacts, representing three waves of Aboriginal occupations dating from 6,700 years. The archaeologists stopped digging 2 metres down, concluding the deeper they went, the more they would find that dated even further back deep into time. The upper strata of the dig represented the last 1,933 years of Aboriginal occupation that unfortunately had been obliterated by 200 years of European occupation.
So why get excited over a pile of stone tools?
Firstly we are nothing without history. It documents our achievements and our failures, and enables us to understand who we are, so we can avoid mistakes in future. It is impossible to write history without documentary records, and equally important that it is verified and corroborated by surviving physical evidence.
Without documentary and physical evidence you don’t have a case in a court of law, and neither do you have a case for a culture, without evidence all you have are tall stories.
As it stands, with regards to developments there is no publically funded archaeological research. Historians and archaeologists are in the direct employ of the developers who pay for them. They investigate, document archaeological finds, create reports that remain the property of the developer.
Is it right that our history has been privatised? These reports should be made public, so we can learn more about our history.
Without history, our community suffers, and like a patient with dementia we are confused and fearful. There is unfinished business here, and the sooner re-examine our shared memory, the healthier we will be.
This Land and its Aboriginal people did not suddenly come into being when a European ‘discovered’ it 1770, and neither did they both become someone else’s possession once pen hit paper on a map and acquired it for the Crown.
Threlkeld and his family were welcomed here with a barbeque and a dance, and the tradition would continue right up until the last days of Palais Royale where many people met and later married after dancing at that very spot.
We need to ask ourselves how different would we feel if these ‘rocks’ had instead been WW1 relics?
It was very fortunate for us, that on the 10 June 2008 such a discovery of rising sun collar badges was made in one of the burial pits during the excavation at Fromelles, in France.
The landowner, Madame Marie Paule Demassiet, not only allowed the archaeological dig on her private property, she gifted the land for an ongoing memorial.
It was a wonderful gesture to see good-hearted people hold our heritage is such high regard.
It would be great if we could extend the same respect to Aboriginal people.
Afternoons with Carol Duncan – ABC Radio 1233 – Artefacts found under chicken shop
Contains interview with Julie Baird from the Newcastle Regional Museum and Gionni Di Gravio from the University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party who discuss the historical significance of the find, and what should happen to the artifacts recovered.
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association – Archivist Gionni DiGravio speaks on CAAMA Radio (1 June 2011)
An Archaeological report which reveals one of Australia’s largest take-away restaurants was built on a significant Aboriginal site highlights a lack of respect for Aboriginal heritage, according to a university-based historical record-keeper.
David Shoebridge – MLC Greens Member Upper House NSW Parliament
- Press Release “Kentucky Fried Chicken destroys Aboriginal Heritage Site“
- Hansard – ‘Heritage and Development Control‘ 1 June 2011 | <urn:uuid:4e270a81-b170-45cd-a87a-66b75d7d9f8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coalriver.wordpress.com/tag/kfc-newcastle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704590423/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114310-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964377 | 1,198 | 2.546875 | 3 |
AND HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS
Fifth Edition, 2014
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. THE BASICS OF NUTRITIONAL BALANCING
1. Introduction and the New Healing Paradigm 1
2. The Healing Lifestyle 13
3. Diet for Fast and Slow Oxidizers 27
4. Nutrient Supplementation 41
5. Detoxification 53
6. Mental and Spiritual Development 65
II. THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR NUTRITIONAL BALANCING SCIENCE
7. A Very Brief History of Nutritional Balancing Science 69
8. The Scientific Basis for Nutritional Balancing 77
9. Other Basic Principles of Nutritional Balancing Science 89
10. More Advanced Nutritional Balancing Principles 97
11. Stress, the Stress Response and the Autonomic Nervous System 107
12. The Oxidation Types and Theoretical Considerations 119
13. Specifics of Balanced, Flexible, Fast, Slow, Sub-oxidation and Mixed Oxidation 135
III. INTRODUCTION TO THE MINERALS
14. The Macrominerals – Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Phosphorus and Sulfur 145
15. The Twins – Zinc and Copper 165
16. The Amigos or Friends – Iron, Manganese, Chromium and Selenium 185
17. Other Trace Minerals – Iodine, Lithium, Boron and Molybdenum 195
18. Toxic Metals – Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Aluminum, Cadmium, Arsenic & Radioactive Metals 203
IV. HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS
19. Hair Mineral Analysis Overview 215
20. Hair Analysis Interpretation Principles 227
21. The Components of Hair Analysis Readings 235
22. Macromineral Levels, Ratios and Patterns on a Hair Mineral Analysis 243
23. Interpreting the Trace Minerals and Toxic Metals, and Core Issues 275
24. Hair Analysis Retesting 285
V. PHYSICAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AND NUTRITIONAL BALANCING
25. Adaptive Energy or Vitality 297
26. Digestive and Eating Disorders 305
27. General Endocrine and Adrenal Glandular Assessment 319
28. Thyroid Glandular Assessment and Disorders 327
29. Diabetes, Hypoglycemia, and Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X 335
30. Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Allergies and Anemias 345
31. Reproductive and Kidney Disorders, the Immune Response, Seizures and Headaches 357
32. Dental, Arthritis, Osteoporosis, Athletics, Trauma and Neuromuscular Diseases 369
33. Sensory Organs, Skin, Hair and Nail conditions, Pain and Inflammation 377
34. Nutritional Balancing Through the Life Cycle 383
35. Cancer 393
VI. MENTAL, EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF NUTRITIONAL BALANCING SCIENCE
36. Introduction to Mental Health And Nutritional Balancing 399
37. Level One Disorders –Dementias, Learning Disorders, Dyslexia, Autism, ADD, ADHD, Developmental Delays and Suicide 411
38. Level Two Disorders – Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Disorders of Affect, Violence, Drug Use, Addiction, Alcoholism and Grief 419
39. Level Three – Tuning Disorders - Narcissism, Psychism, Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, Multiple Personality Disorder, Borderline Personality, Psychopathology and Schizophrenias 433
40. Breakthrough and Combination Disorders – Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, Phobias, Hypoglycemic Attacks, Nervous Breakdowns and Combination Disorders - Brain Fog, Malaise, Young Women’s Syndrome, Iron Disorder, Cadmium Toxicity, Insomnia, Narcolepsy, and Brain Enhancement 441
41. Sexual Aspects of Nutritional Balancing 453
42. Personality and Individual Minerals 463
43. Personality and the Oxidation Types, the Major Ratios and other Patterns, Including
Personality Types as Revealed on Hair Mineral Analyses 475
VII. BASIC THERAPEUTICS AND OTHER PRACTICE ASPECTS
44. Therapy Concepts, Computer-Generated Reports, Enemas, Saunas and Meditation 495
45. Retracing 519
46. Building a Nutritional Balancing Practice 533
47. Legal Aspects of Nutritional Balancing Science 549
48. Healing the Health Care system 569
49. Conclusions, Learning Nutritional Balancing and Further Resources 577
I. Glossary of Nutritional Balancing Terminology 587
II. The Mineral Reference Guide 594
The Trace Minerals 604
The Toxic Metals 620
III. Important Movement Patterns on a Hair Mineral Analysis 630
IV. Determination of Oxidation Type by means of Hair Analysis, J Ortho Med., 1;2, 1986 631
V. Effects of Washing on Hair Mineral Levels, J Ortho Med., 1:2, 1986 637
VI. Other Healing Techniques 644
- Uses for a single reddish infrared ‘heat lamp’.
- Baths: partial, hydrogen peroxide, Epsom salts, salt and soda, hot, genital.
- Liver-gallbladder flush.
- Other detoxification methods: salt water gargle and flush, castor oil packs, hot tubs.
- The Coca pulse test for food reactions.
- Applied kinesiology or muscle testing.
VII. Book Review: The China Study 651
VIII. Suggested Reading and References 653
About the Author 684
INTRODUCTION - THE NEW HEALING PARADIGM
Joseph, age 22, is a college student who was exhausted, had trouble sleeping, muscle tension, and often felt depressed, anxious and irritable. Other important symptoms included anger, brain fog, heart palpitations, mood swings, candida infection and a tendency for obsessive and compulsive behavior.
Joseph’s first hair analysis revealed an unusually serious combination of mineral patterns. He was “burned out” with a four lows pattern. In addition, he had low potassium, indicating he was pushing himself to “fit in with the crowd” or perhaps was prone to excessive worrying. His calcium/magnesium ratio was elevated, indicating he overate on starches and sugars. The test also revealed elevated levels of mercury and aluminum. These may easily contribute to many mental and emotional symptoms such as anxiety and memory loss.
After three months on a nutritional balancing program, Joseph reported feeling generally better, with an improved energy level. The goal of the program is always to increase a person’s vitality. His first retest hair analysis showed he was no longer in a four lows pattern, nor was he pushing himself as hard. In addition, he was beginning to eliminate more mercury, aluminum, lead and nickel. In addition to the basic program, he uses a near infrared light sauna almost every day. He also started to meditate to help him remain calm and centered.
Six months later, Joseph reports feeling even better, “making steady progress”. He said he passed through a “spiritual crisis” where he saw how angry and resentful he could be toward his other family members. He said the worst is over and he is a much happier young man.
THE BIG PICTURE
I like to see the big picture whenever I study and learn anything. In regards to the science of nutritional balancing and healing in general, I have realized that:
Š The principles involved in healing most health conditions, even of longstanding, chronic and “dreaded” ones, are quite simple. Implementation may take some years and quite a bit of effort, but the basic concepts, which are presented in this book, are quite straight forward. The medical and even the holistic professions often complicate the picture with myriads of tests, remedies and procedures. Many have some value, but I find most are not needed if one balances the body correctly and continuously over and over, allowing it to slowly rebuild and restore its vitality level and its enzyme systems.
Š Nutritional balancing requires that one strictly follow certain rules and principles for the deepest healing to occur quickly and safely.
Š It also requires more self-discipline than some people have, although once a person adopts the diet and lifestyle, it is not a difficult routine.
Š The disease process basically involves: 1) slowing of the oxidation rate, 2) reduced oxygenation and hydration of the tissues, 3) clogging of the system with toxins of all kinds, and 4) ‘rusting’, or the buildup of oxides in the body. Oxides cause oxidant damage.
Š Healing consists of reversing the above process – removing the oxides, infections and other toxins, restoring the body’s oxidation reactions, restoring oxygenation and hydration, and balancing the oxidation rate. The latter is often slow and difficult because it requires restoring the activity of millions of enzymes throughout the body.
Š Dr. Paul Eck discovered basic ways to do whole system healing, which is the only way to heal the body at the deepest levels. This was his genius. Healing just the digestive part of the body, or the cardiovascular part generally misses the mark. This is the problem with conventional post-modern medical care and much of holistic care as well.
Š I have added a few other procedures such as near infrared sauna therapy and coffee enemas that enhance the process tremendously. In fact, they are needed in most cases because the bodies are even more deranged and exhausted today than when Dr. Eck was alive.
Š In human beings, one must also heal the mind, emotions and even a person’s spiritual outlook for the deepest healing and for mental and spiritual development to occur properly. This is also time-consuming, but quite simple if one will follow the instructions presented in Chapters 2 and 6 of this book. The problem in this area is that our unconscious traumas keep us from thinking clearly in many cases. For this reason, following the program ‘blindly’, as it were, is helpful for many people. This will slowly undo the traumas and allow more clear thinking to take place. Otherwise, the conscious mind tends to think it knows what is best, not realizing how conditioned and traumatized it really is. The depth of programming that starts at birth or before, is much deeper than most people recognize.
Š The healing process at the deepest levels involves a fascinating process called retracing. Chapter 45 discusses this in depth. In my experience, any healing system that does not cause a lot of retracing is not at the same level and will not provide the same type of deep changes.
Š A new type of life on earth. Most people run themselves down over time. The principles in this book provide a way that a person literally becomes more developed and healthier as time moves on. This is a reversal of the basic path that most people’s lives take today. This opens up many possibilities concerning life extension and anti-aging.
WHAT IS NUTRITIONAL BALANCING SCIENCE?
Nutritional balancing is mainly the research of Dr. Paul C. Eck. He was a physician and an avid researcher who lived in Chicago, Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona. Dr. Eck began researching nutrition and health at a very young age. However, his main discoveries were the result of experimenting with a newer assessment tool, the hair mineral analysis or hair biopsy. Where others saw it mainly as a way to detect toxic metals, Dr. Eck applied all of his knowledge of the stress theory of disease, metabolic typing, mineral bioavailability and much more. He slowly evolved a new science of healing based upon simple, yet elegant principles and techniques that he found effective to balance the ratios and patterns on a hair mineral test.
Nutritional balancing is a total healing system, which means it makes use of all of Western medical science, plus many principles of Eastern healing sciences as well. It also makes use of modern physics principles, and modern engineering principles such as general systems theory. To approach it more easily, let us compare the new and the old paradigms of healing.
THE NEW PARADIGM OF HEALING
1. WHOLE SYSTEM THINKING
The current medical paradigm often views our bodies as a collection of somewhat unrelated parts. Medical specialties are mainly organized around body parts such as lungs or kidneys. This focus is needed for specialized surgery. However, in most other areas of health it misses the many subtle connections that occur in any complex system. This causes unintended consequences, especially with drugs, that increase costs and reduce effectiveness and safety.
The new paradigm always views the body as one complex, self-regulating, whole system. Principles of general systems theory play a prominent role in nutritional balancing, though they were originally developed outside of medicine completely. Switching to a whole systems approach is the most difficult aspect of the new paradigm to understand and put into practice for medically trained and even holistically trained physicians and nutritionists.
2. A STRONG FOCUS ON THE NEWER CAUSES OF DISEASE
The present medical system is a holdover from the 20th century. It works best for surgical cases and some infections. However, the old allopathic or diagnose-and-treat system of care either ignores or often worsens the major health challenges of this century. These include:
Š A mineral-deficient and, at times, extremely toxic food supply. According to the US Department of Agriculture, most food today contains one-fourth to one-tenth the levels of many nutrients as the same food item grown 100 years ago. This is due to the use of hybrid crops, superphosphate fertilizers, pesticides and other modern farming practices.
Š Diets of refined and often chemical-laden foods. Most Westernized people eat mainly refined foods. These include bleached white flour, white sugar, canned and prepared items.
Š Unhealthful lifestyles and eating habits. Many Westerners live very unhealthful lifestyles. They stay up late, do not rest enough, do not balance activity and rest, and often have horrendous eating habits as well.
Š Levels of toxic metals and toxic chemicals in the air and water that are up to 1000 times higher than ever before in recorded history. This is not discussed often on television, but has been well-documented by Dr. Henry Schroeder, MD and others.
Š Dozens of serious viral and other infections that respond poorly to medical drugs.
Levels of ionizing
radiation never before seen in recorded history. This silent problem is extremely
detrimental for our health. A
major source in some areas is radon gas from the earth. However, the entire planet today is
polluted due to atom-bomb tests, nuclear accidents, mining of uranium and other
metals, medical and dental x-rays and scans, and the low-level, subtle
emissions from nuclear power plants around the world.
Nutritional balancing science is one of the only methods I am aware of that helps with radiation poisoning by 1) restoring vital mineral levels to reduce the absorption of radioactive ones, 2) reducing metals in the body such as uranium, and 3) killing off mutated cells, especially if one uses a near infrared sauna daily for several years continuously.
Š Electromagnetic pollution. The use of cell phones, computers and other electrical devices may cause some health conditions. Reducing air travel and using care to sit as far away as possible from computers, cell phones and portable phones can help minimize this problem.
Š An extremely yin population. In Chinese medical terminology, this means cool, feminine and expanded. The opposite is yang, which is hard, masculine, hot and contracted. This imbalance is very important today, though it is subtle and not part of the current medical paradigm. The causes for the situation include all of the items listed above.
Š Bioterrorism, which I believe is real, even if it receives little publicity.
The current drug medical system also creates much more disease for two reasons:
Š Polypharmacy. This is the indiscriminate prescribing of thousands of prescription and over-the-counter drugs that weaken the body and mind. The trend is driven by relentless and often completely phony drug advertising in all the major media. In 2007, 3.8 billion drug prescriptions were written in America at a cost of $286.5 billion. This is an increase of 72% just in the past decade.
Š Vaccinations. Current multiple vaccine protocols are nothing short of insane. Statistics are manipulated to hide the fact that autism, ADD, delayed development and many other problems are directly related to the increase in vaccines over the past 40 years or so.
3. WELLNESS-BASED RATHER THAN DISEASE-BASED
The current allopathic model believes that health is the absence of diagnosable disease. To assess health, tests are run to find diseases. If none are found, a person is generally pronounced healthy. However, this model has some serious flaws because people who are supposedly healthy often suddenly develop cancer, heart disease, strokes and other maladies.
The wellness model of health care states that health is not the absence of a diagnosed illness. Instead, it is an entirely different state of being, with its own qualities and even its own symptoms. For example, a very healthy person might react quite vigorously to someone spraying toxic pesticides next door. Those who are somewhat ill and have much lower vitality often do not have the ability to react as vigorously to such a toxic event.
Wellness may be considered a state of high resistance to all disease. This is observed, for example, in wild animals in their natural habits, provided they have enough to eat and are free from too many predators. Dr. Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) was a French surgeon and one of the foremost medical doctors of all time. He won a Nobel Prize for demonstrating that a chicken heart could be kept alive indefinitely by simply removing the waste products from the culture medium, while providing the heart with proper nourishment. In his book, Man, The Unknown, Dr. Carrel carefully explained the difference between the old and new health care paradigms. He called the difference natural health versus artificial health.
Natural health is identical to wellness. In contrast, artificial health, he said, is the condition of most “healthy” human beings. People may look well. However, they require the constant assistance of medical exams, tests, procedures, remedies and surgeries because they are prone to hundreds of medical problems. Their “health”, in other words, is false in a way because it depends on the services of an army of doctors. No one, he said, really likes this kind of health. However, it is the only kind most people know and it is all that conventional medicine offers.
Nutritional balancing science easily moves most people from a state of artificial health or outright disease toward a state of high resistance to most all diseases. It does this by focusing heavily on the basic factors of health - diet, the proper drinking water, rest and sleep, other lifestyle factors, nutritional supplements and other simple elements that build health.
4. A THOROUGHLY PREVENTIVE AND PREDICTIVE FOCUS
The present medical system is not primarily interested in prevention or wellness and will never be so. The focus is instead on diagnosis. A diagnosis depends on finding a disease entity. If a disease is not developed enough that it shows up on medical tests, little is done for the patient. In addition, most medical prevention is secondary, meaning early detection of disease entities. Primary prevention is the complete avoidance of disease entities. With the cost and severity of degenerative diseases such as heart disease, cancer, strokes, diabetes and others, early detection is just not a good enough solution, though it is better than nothing.
The new paradigm emphasizes primary prevention and starts with a different premise. Instead of focusing on diagnoses, one looks for telltale signs of stress. This is much more like preventive maintenance of a bridge, an automobile or an aircraft. To locate the stress at the deepest levels, one must read it in the cellular structure of the body. This is similar to taking samples from the inside of an aircraft engine or inspecting its structure with a microscope, as is done commonly with aircraft, in order to detect subtle problems before they become major ones.
The old paradigm mainly uses blood tests and x-rays for detection of disease. However, subtle stress is not usually apparent in the blood because the blood is buffered. This means that chemical imbalances are moderated and altered in the blood. Dr. Paul Eck used to say that blood is maintained at the expense of the tissues. This means that blood is kept in balance, while the tissues suffer. By the time imbalances are found in the blood, often it is late in the development of a disease process. A properly interpreted hair analysis can identify the beginnings of disease often many years in advance of other methods. The imbalances can then be corrected, completely preventing the development of the disease. Until this model of health care is adopted, I fear that our health costs are going to continue to increase greatly.
5. FIRST DO NO HARM
Even the Journal of the American Medical Association published findings recently confirming that post-modern medical care is not only unsafe. It is the third or fourth leading cause of death in America. Other research indicates the situation is even worse. A 93-page review of many studies of the safety of medical care by Gary Null, PhD, Martin Feldman, MD, Debora Rasio, MD, Dorothy Smith, PhD and Carolyn Dean, MD, ND indicates that traditional medicine is the first or second leading cause of disability and death in America. The title of this review is Death By Medicine, published in 2009 by the Life Extension Foundation.
This does not in any way diminish the wonderful responses that can occur with drugs. However, it is important to know that drug medical care is quite dangerous. Nutritional balancing is about the safest method of healing I have seen. Reasons for this are:
Š Focusing on diet, a healthful lifestyle and balancing the body is an extremely safe approach.
Š The products used are very safe.
Š The ability to predict and prevent major illnesses adds greatly to safety.
Š Balancing the mind and emotions adds another layer of safety.
Š Removing toxic metals to much lower levels than are possible with chelation adds safety.
Š Toxic metal removal in the body’s own order and timing is much safer than the use of drugs or even natural metal chelating agents.
Š Removing hundreds of toxic chemicals adds more safety.
Š Nutrients are never forced into the body intravenously and rarely used in megadoses.
Š Monitoring with regular hair analysis retests add another layer of safety.
Š Trends or tendencies for 50 or so conditions can be detected and monitored easily, inexpensively and without the need for any invasive procedures.
Š Nutritional balancing does not require the use of less safe methods including most drugs, most surgeries, most herbs, ionic footbaths, alkaline water, drinking salt water, chelators of all kinds, and most hormone replacement therapy.
6. AN ABILITY TO CORRECT MANY LATENT OR SUB-CLINICAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AT DEEP LEVELS
Illness develops slowly and insidiously. Often, symptoms only occur in the last stages of diabetes, cancer or heart disease, for example. This is because the body compensates and adapts as it becomes ill. Most symptoms only occur when the body can no longer continue to adapt to its nutritional imbalances, fatigue, and growing toxicity, for example.
The old allopathic paradigm of medical care cannot correct latent or sub-clinical stages of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, headaches and most other conditions. Instead, they must usually wait until the patient has symptoms, which is often very late. Nutritional balancing will correct most latent and sub-clinical health conditions, including even emotional imbalances. This is a wonderful benefit, and one that can save billions of dollars as well.
7. LOW COST
Drug-based medical care is insanely expensive. Reasons for this include:
Š A sick population, in large part because the medical system does not really heal people at deep levels.
Š Toxicity of the drugs, radiation therapy and surgery cause more sickness and disability.
Š Dangerous methods cause very high legal costs including malpractice and the use of “defensive medicine”. This is not medical care at all, but rather the use of tests and procedures just to satisfy lawyers.
Š A cartel, or small group of organizations, runs the system. Cartels and other monopolies always lead to higher costs and worse outcomes.
Š Lack of true primary prevention and prediction of illness causes millions of unnecessary cancers, heart attacks and much more.
Š Government involvement, partly as a result of the failures of the medical system, adds billions to the cost in lobbying fees for government officials at all levels of government. It also breeds corruption, waste and fraud, especially in socialized medical programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
The new paradigm uses less costly methods of assessment, much less costly natural products instead of most drugs, removes causes at deep levels, focuses on primary prevention and is generally much safer. This all adds up to much lower costs.
8. AN INTEGRATION OF MIND AND BODY, RATHER THAN SEPARATING THEM
The old paradigm separates disease entities of the mind from those of the body. A different set of professionals specialize in each of them.
The new paradigm recognizes that all nutritional imbalances affect the body and the brain as well. All toxic metals are neurotoxic as well as physically toxic. All infections can affect the brain as well as the body. In addition, the brain is a biochemical organ. Therefore, a reduced level of adaptive energy, high or low blood sugar, and most other stressors affect the brain as much or more than they affect the body.
This new way of thinking about mental illness results in exciting new ways to correct devastating ailments such as autism, ADD, ADHD, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and others, often permanently, without drugs and at a very low cost. Chapters 36 to 43 discuss this very large and exciting area of research.
9. BALANCE AND VITALITY-ORIENTED RATHER THAN FOCUSED ON SYMPTOM REMOVAL
Balancing the body and increasing its vitality are not spoken of much within the current
medical paradigm, and are rarely taught in medical schools. Many holistic practitioners ignore these concepts as well. In addition, the current medical system lacks the tools to measure vitality and balance at deep levels, and they do not have the means to correct them, either.
Dr. Eck spoke often of increasing a person’s adaptive energy or vitality. Indeed, he considered nutrition to be the science of human energy. He meant by this that nutrition is perhaps the most basic and powerful way to increase enzyme activity or enzyme strength in the body. This, in turn, often furthers healing more than any other single factor. Other sciences use the word vital force to describe the life force that does all of the healing.
One of the most ancient and excellent ways to measure vitality is to assess the balance of the body chemistry. While the concept becomes complex, it is somewhat like the tune or adjustment of a combustion engine. For example, if an auto engine is out of tune, the engine does not produce much horsepower or force. This will happen even if all the parts are in working order.
Assessing the balance of the minerals in the cells is the basis for nutritional balancing science. To my knowledge, it cannot be done nearly as well, if at all, in the blood or urine. These are too subject to fluctuations due to the last meal one had, or how much water one just drank. The hair mineral biopsy, in contrast, gives practitioners a much more definitive view. It works excellently to guide the rebalancing of the body chemistry. When this is done, a person’s vitality improves dramatically, and with this, healing begins in earnest.
The concept of balance is so critical, in fact, that it is the basis for many religions and philosophies. The Taoists chose the symbol of yin and yang to represent balance. The Hebrews chose two equilateral triangles to symbolize balance. Early Christians adopted the symbol of the two crossed sticks, which also represents balance.
Clarifying balance. Balance is not a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Stated differently, it is not moderation in all things. Balance in the new paradigm means moderation in all that is adaptive or helpful for life, and total avoidance of that which is not beneficial or adaptive. Thus, balance is first about wisdom and knowledge. Then, and only then, is it about moderation, timing and other qualities.
For example, the US Food and Drug Administration tells us that some toxic chemicals in our food products are okay as long as there are not too many. This is not really “balanced”. It is often just a compromise arrangement with the food refining industry that wishes to save money on their products by using toxic ingredients. They may not kill us outright, but it is not a healthful approach to food regulation. All toxic chemicals in the food supply harm the body and degrade the food.
Another important example is that many parents and teachers tell young people that a little drinking, a little junk food and a little lying are fine as long as these are “balanced” by fairly responsible behavior. The new paradigm is not supportive of this idea. Alcohol is toxic, as are refined sugars, for example. There is no reason to include them in one’s diet at all. Lying ruins many relationships and has no place in the life of a person of high integrity, except perhaps to mislead an attacker, for example, in order to save a life.
10. A FOCUS ON MENTAL ENHANCEMENT OR DEVELOPMENT, NOT ON JUST PHYSICAL AND MENTAL/EMOTIONAL HEALING
In the current medical paradigm, care ends when a person’s disease entity or symptoms
go away, or when nothing more can be done for the patient. The new paradigm allows for healing and care to proceed further. For example:
Š Dr. Eck found that his work would improve aspects of a person’s awareness and personality.
Š Criminals who followed his method for an illness would, in some cases, return to being law-abiding citizens, even though that was not the goal of the program.
Š Children’s grades would improve from Cs to As on his program, even though the child was only following the program for the correction of perhaps allergies or an infection.
This has to do with personality integration or perhaps Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization. It also has to do with development, a topic discussed in more detail in Chapters 10, 13 and 40. Nutritional balancing science, especially with the use of a near infrared sauna and coffee enemas on a daily basis, promotes the opening of the vital energy centers of the body, also called the chakras in Sanskrit and Eastern literature. In fact, the process occurs quite naturally using these methods. This is a great hidden benefit, as the process of opening these centers also promotes health and long life. The chakras are small, funnel-shaped vortices of energy that help maintain life and health in the body. Nutritional balancing can help them to grow into large, beautiful centers of high frequency energy that greatly enhance human functioning in many ways. This is the fullest development of a human being and something that is rare on this planet.
Another way that nutritional balancing can assist people is to help them release certain burdens or obligations that involve impaired health. In some circles, these are called karmic burdens because they have to do with old agreements that must be fulfilled. I have observed that as healing occurs at deep levels, some clients appear to be freed from such conditions or burdens.
Development happens automatically today. I have observed with many people that the development of which I speak is not difficult and, in fact, occurs automatically. All that is needed is to use the methods described in this text. These include a simple diet of mainly cooked and selected vegetables eaten in simple combinations, loads of rest and sleep, and either spring water or steam distilled water to drink. Nutritional supplements are needed for a number of years, with most people, but not forever, by any means. The use of a near infrared light sauna daily for at least a few years, daily coffee enemas, if possible, and practicing the Roy Masters meditation daily for a number of years are also most helpful. This is a simple regimen, in terms of both cost and convenience.
THE PARADIGM SHIFT
The New Paradigm of Healing
Conventional Medicine & Much Of Holistic Medical Care As Well
Whole systems behaviors and characteristics are most important.
The focus is most often on individual body organs and systems, rather than the whole human system.
Designed specifically for the illnesses and challenges of the twenty-first century.
The diagnose-and-cure model is designed for 18th and 19th century problems of mainly acute infections and the need for surgery.
Wellness-based. The focus is on the qualities and symptoms of health, rather than upon diagnosing and removing disease entities.
Disease-oriented. Health is often assumed to be the absence of a diagnosable disease entity.
Primary prevention and prediction are most important. This is a principle of “preventive maintenance” used with all complex machinery such as ships, aircraft or automobiles.
Lip service is given to prevention, but it is never the focus. Also, some of the methods used are dangerous, such as vaccination and water fluoridation.
Able to correct latent or sub-clinical conditions at deep levels, often long before they manifest. This is true primary prevention.
Does not correct most sub-clinical and latent conditions. This causes nasty surprises and adds greatly to the cost of medical care.
Very low cost due to an intense focus on primary prevention, use of safe remedies, very low legal costs and low-cost assessment methods.
Costs growing fast because the population is becoming sicker, the remedies are often toxic, high legal costs, high hospital costs and lack of a focus on primary prevention.
The body and mind are always considered together as parts of the whole human system.
The body and mind are almost always treated separately by a different set of doctors. This leads to fragmentation of care and much worse outcomes.
Increasing vitality or adaptive energy is a key to healing. Balancing the body is one way this is done, as in ancient healing systems.
Vitality and adaptive energy are not mentioned and are not assessed. Balancing the body chemistry is only done on a limited basis such as balancing blood sugar.
Full human development or self-actualization is the highest priority after saving one’s life.
The system is mainly disease-oriented. Care usually ends when symptoms improve.
Nutritional balancing science combines many therapeutic principles borrowed from both ancient and modern scientific, physiological and philosophical approaches from around the world. They are all discussed in Chapters 7-14. A few of the most critical ones are:
Š Improving vitality. As vitality improves, the body can better heal ALL types of imbalances.
Š Balancing the body. This ancient principle greatly improves the body’s vitality by reducing stress on the body in very subtle ways.
Š Seeking to work with the teleology or healing intent of the body. This has to do with avoiding toxins, stimulants and other methods of healing that in any way interfere with the body’s own wisdom. It can be a rather subtle therapeutic principle.
Š Replacing less preferred minerals with more preferred minerals in millions of enzyme binding sites. This is a very precise, gentle and, at times, slower process to restore enzyme strength and vitality in the body. It is quite different from ‘chelating out’ toxic metals, for example, or just feeding a person certain foods and nutrient formulas.
Š Combination therapy. All nutritional balancing programs involve a combination of therapies such as a diet, a healthy lifestyle, nutritional supplements and more.
Š A holistic approach. Nutritional balancing always addresses all levels of a person’s being, such as the physical, biochemical, emotional and spiritual. This is not the case with post-modern medical care, which is often quite fragmented.
Š Non-toxic therapy. No drugs or bio-identical hormones are used, unless needed temporarily to maintain life in an emergency.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MODALITIES OF NUTRITIONAL BALANCING
The next five chapters discuss the major therapeutic modalities used in nutritional balancing. They include:
Š Lifestyle. Correction of basic living habits is the single most important recommendation in nutritional balancing for most people. This includes improving one’s eating and sleeping habits. Others have to do with exercise and activity. Still others concern avoiding toxic exposures, emotional control, and one’s attitudes, beliefs, thinking habits and behavior.
Diet. A diet suitable for one’s oxidation type is a primary healing
modality and lifestyle aspect. The
diet is fairly strict. Some people
object to this, but increasingly people realize how serious the problems are in
their diets, and just how powerful a healthful diet can be.
Most food today, for instance, is simply not worth eating at all, even on rare occasions. Most is hybridized, genetically altered, processed, stripped of its few remaining nutrients and laced with hundreds of questionable flavor enhancers, preservatives and other additives. Deep healing requires a much better overall diet in most cases.
Š Nutrient supplementation. A number of simple, targeted nutritional supplements are another important component of nutritional balancing programs. Supplements are recommended in a very precise and specific way based on hair analysis readings and rarely based on symptoms or signs such as high blood pressure. However, when used symptomatically, supplements are always recommended in a way that balances the oxidation rate and the major mineral ratios. This is a most important difference between this science and most other nutritional approaches. It makes nutritional balancing safer and more effective, as well.
Š Detoxification. I have added other detoxification procedures to nutritional balancing science since Dr. Eck’s death in 1996. In 2002, I became aware of the benefits of the daily use of a near infrared light sauna. I believe Dr. Eck would be thrilled with it. Infrared saunas are very safe, powerful, cost effective and quite comfortable when used properly. With daily use, they quickly begin to reduce the load of metals, chemicals and infections that everyone carries today. Several years of daily sauna use is needed in most adults to remove the bulk of their toxic metals and toxic chemicals. Sauna therapy also relaxes the autonomic nervous system, assists cardiovascular health, improves circulation, oxygenation and hydration, and helps to restore the skin and support the kidneys and liver.
Colon therapy or
coffee enemas. Dr.
Eck was aware of the value of colon cleansing, though it was not a formal part
of his work. Numerous clients have
reported that coffee enemas “saved
my life”. In most adults, coffee
enemas for a few years are extremely helpful to speed progress.
I am aware of the objections to these procedures, particularly coffee enemas, but I have not seen these in my practice of almost 30 years when people do them as recommended.
Š Meditation using the Roy Masters exercise. Dr. Eck knew about Mr. Roy Masters and his excellent work. His meditation is simple, non-denominational, grounding, and helps to calm the mind. It also helps to center and focus one’s energy, and gently assists healing at deep levels. In addition, it is very safe because it is a whole system type of meditation exercise, unlike many others offered today, and can be done as much as one wishes. Just any meditation won’t do. In fact, 99% of those that are offered today are much less helpful. Chapter 44 discusses this exercise in detail.
HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED
Seven sections discuss the important areas of nutritional balancing science, including:
I. Introduction and the basic modalities in nutritional balancing science.
II. The theory of nutritional balancing science. A large set of ancient and modern medical and scientific principles are the basis for this science.
III. An introduction to the minerals. This covers the sources, functions, detection and assessment of the major minerals in the body.
IV. An introduction to hair mineral analysis and its interpretation by the method of Dr. Paul Eck. Dr. Eck used hair analysis to develop and continuously refine nutritional balancing science. Understanding how to read a hair mineral analysis using his method is essential for success with it. I have added to his knowledge in a few minor areas. To keep his work pure, I have indicated whenever an idea or a mineral pattern was not, to my knowledge, a part of his original work.
V. Physical health conditions and their assessment and correction with nutritional balancing science.
VI. Mental and emotional health conditions and their correction with nutritional balancing science.
VII. Therapeutics, retracing, business, legal and other aspects of nutritional balancing science. This text is not a therapy manual, as that would require a much larger book. However, this section introduces important therapy concepts in nutritional balancing science.
Appendices include a glossary of important terms, a Mineral Reference Guide, two journal articles about nutritional balancing science, information about other healing techniques, over 500 references and suggested reading. This book also has a large index.
TO ORDER NUTRITIONAL BALANCING AND HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS:
Call Analytical Research Laboratories at 1 (800) 528-4067 or 1 (602) 995-1580
For wholesale pricing on orders of six or more copies of this book, call:
1 (928) 445-7690. | <urn:uuid:72cbc43d-dcd8-46ce-9819-6091d60b49aa> | CC-MAIN-2018-47 | http://drlwilson.com/Books/balancing.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039745800.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20181119150816-20181119172816-00272.warc.gz | en | 0.941615 | 8,898 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Naturopathic medicine is a unique system of medicine which focuses on the individual rather than the disease. Natural treatments are used to help stimulate the healing potential of the body, maintain health and overcome illness. The symptoms of disease are seen as evidence of improper functioning within the body and are the practitioner’s guide in choosing the best course of treatment. Naturopathic medicine is distinguished by the principles which underlie its practice.
Principles of Naturopathic Medicine
- First, do no harm. The use of minimally invasive treatments and the gentlest possible assessment methods.
- Treat the cause of disease. Identifying and removing the underlying cause of illness rather than suppressing or masking symptoms.
- Doctor as teacher. Working collaboratively with patients, sharing knowledge and encouraging self-responsibility for health.
- To heal the whole person through individualized treatment. The patient’s physical, mental, emotional and social factors are taken into account during the course of assessment and treatment.
- To emphasize prevention. Emphasis is placed on the prevention of disease through the assessment of risk factors, heredity and susceptibility.
- The healing power of nature. Naturopathic medicine recognizes an ordered and intelligent self-healing process that is inherent to every individual.
Assessment & Treatment
Naturopathic doctors are rigorously trained in modern and traditional methods of assessment, diagnosis and treatment. A complete history, thorough physical exam and appropriate laboratory tests are all tools used to fully understand the individual’s state of health.
The treatments employed by a naturopathic doctor will vary depending on the individual’s state of health but may include clinical nutrition, lifestyle counseling, herbal medicine, acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, homeopathy, injection therapies and intravenous therapies. The diagnostic and therapeutic methods of naturopathic medicine are taken from a variety of sources and systems and will continue to evolve with the progress of knowledge and science. | <urn:uuid:9b1bbe72-98fb-4f77-88f6-6d2a22bc8726> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://drcolinmacleod.com/what-is-naturopathic-medicine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189884.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00521-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919511 | 393 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Common name: Cascara
Scientific name: Rhamnus purshiana
Native American name:Chinook Tribe of Southwest Washington called it Chittam or Chitticum
Plant family: Rhamnaceae
Rhamnus purshiana is a deciduous tree.
Its leaves are alternate, egg shaped, fine toothed and strongly pinnate. Its flowers are small, green to yellow colored with five petals. The berries are dark blue to dark purple and are edible.
Habitat and Range
Cascara is found in dry or moist shaded woodlands as well as along stream and river banks. It is also commonly found in wetlands, in mixed forests with conifers as well as red alder and the vine maple. Cascara is native to the western part of North America, southern British Colombia, but can be found all along the PNW from central California up to southern BC and as far east as Montana.
Historical and Contemporary Uses
Rhamnus purshiana has been used for many centuriesor many centuries by many Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, such as the Nuxalk, Coastal Salish, Quileute, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka’wakw and many others as a healing plant.
The main documented use for cascara is as a laxative. The bark can be stripped from the shrub and then made into a tea or as syrup, by boiling it. The bark is said to be too strong to be used fresh, so it must be dried for a year before it can be used as a laxative. Otherwise, the effect is too strong and it can cause severe nausea or diarrhea.
The Salish tribe would collect the bark in strips in the spring or summer and allow it to dry until the next summer. Once it was properly dried, they would then pound it into a pulp and afterwards, they would steep the pulp in cold water. Once it was steeped in the cold water, the water could then be boiled into a tea for drinking.
Wikipedia. Rhamnus pushiana. 4 October 2011. 14 October 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhamnus_purshiana
MacKinnon, Andy and Jim Pojar. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Vancouver: Lone Pine Publishing, 1994.
BC, E-Flora. Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia . 2010. 16 October. 2011 http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Rhamnus+purshiana>.
Drawings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Koeh-121.jpg and Elizabeth Sanner | <urn:uuid:cc7df507-af57-4228-bf3e-b24b092ff444> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | http://www.mountpisgaharboretum.com/habitats-and-ecology/plant-list-at-mount-pisgah-arboretum/rhamnus-purshiana-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917120881.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031200-00069-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941606 | 581 | 3.25 | 3 |
Octave Analysis Explored
By Kurt Veggeberg, National Instruments, August 2008
Sound-level measurements offer a conventional way to measure sound but do not contain frequency information, making it difficult to compare different sounds or vibration. Octave analysis filters the signal and measures the energy at the output to provide useful frequency information. Although there are other measures such as loudness for the subjective human perception of sound, octave analysis remains a common choice for steady-state signals.
Like most human sense organs, the ear exhibits a response based on a logarithmic scale for both level and frequency. To produce results related to this human perception, sound levels are expressed in decibels (dB), and frequency content is measured with a logarithmic scale. Sound-level measurements and instrumentation systems feature three components: sensors, data acquisition, and analysis.
The most common sensor used for acoustic measurements is the microphone with accelerometers preferred for vibration. Measurement-grade microphones are different from typical recording-studio microphones because they offer a flat frequency response and can provide a detailed calibration for their response and sensitivity.
A dynamic range of 130 dB(A) is common. The dynamic range of the human ear is from the threshold of hearing or a sound pressure level of 0 dB(A) to the threshold of pain around 130 dB(A).
Microphones come in various classes. Type 0 and Type 1, preferred for accurate and repeatable measurements, have the best tolerances for frequency range and decibel variation comparable to the ear. The most effective microphones provide a tolerance of no more than 1 dB from 2 kHz to 4 kHz, which doesn't sound like much but, in linear units, this is about 12%. The human ear in normal circumstances can perceive a difference of 3 dB.
Modern data acquisition instruments for acoustic measurements use 24-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with anti-aliasing filters, which are required for conformance with octave-band and fractional-octave-band analog and digital filter standards. Anti-aliasing filters minimize the interference between an input signal and the sampling process that creates aliased frequency components of the input signal. Data acquisition hardware based on 24-bit ADCs offers a dynamic range from 100 to 120 dB(A), which means that the ear, microphone, and instrumentation are matched.
Various averaging and weighting techniques are used to correlate this basic measurement with the subjective evaluation of sound by the human ear. The human sense of hearing responds differently to different frequencies and does not perceive sound equally.
A-weighting is the most commonly used of a family of curves defined by ANSI and IEC standards for sound-level measurement (Figure 1). This value is designated as dB(A). In the A-weighting scale, the sound pressure levels for the lower-frequency bands and high-frequency bands are reduced by certain amounts before they are combined to give one single sound pressure level value.
Figure 1. A-Weighting Scale
A-weighting, thought to mimic human hearing responses to acoustical signals, is based on historical equal-loudness contours. While it is no longer considered the ideal frequency weighting, it is the most common legally required standard for almost all such measurements.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that A-weighting gives a better estimation of the threat to human hearing than other weighting filters. This is why it is widely used in describing occupational and environmental noise. In addition, hearing protection devices are rated by their overall attenuation and specific attenuation in one-third octave bands up to 8 kHz.
Averaging successive measurements tends to improve measurement accuracy. Sound-level meters and octave analyzers most commonly use exponential averaging with a time constant of integration. These are designed to handle a wide variety of signals and have settings for slow (1 s), fast (125 ms), and impulse (35 ms) to reflect the types of sound being measured (Figure 2). This is especially useful in making adjustments in real-time displays to match the signal of interest and reduce fluctuations.
Figure 2. Time Weighting Settings
Some claim the impulse time weighting approximates the loudness response of the human ear to impulsive sounds. Others feel that 35 milliseconds are not long enough to be perceived by the human auditory system and that it is not the most appropriate way to measure impulsive sounds.
Octave Analysis in Practice
The range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz is called the audible frequency range and used in octave analysis although it reflects the actual capability of only a small percentage of the population. The entire audible frequency range can be divided into eight or 24 frequency bands known as octave bands or one-third octave bands, respectively, for analysis.
With fractional-octave analysis, you can select a frequency resolution that is well adapted to the signal of interest. Typical fractional bands are one-third octave with three filters per octave and one-twelfth octave with 12 filters per octave.
Specifications regarding these octave and fractional-octave filters are defined by ANSI S1.11-2004, IEC 61260, and JIS C 1514:2002. Although some acoustics engineers argue that the ear is better, most believe the one-third octave spectrum paints a picture closest to human-ear perception. One-third octave analysis is widely accepted in many industries, such as the automotive industry, because of its repeatability and not necessarily its suitability.
Octave analysis is a valuable tool for visual inspection and comparison. For example, the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) uses octave analysis as a component in its real-time control system for testing satellites that go into its high-intensity acoustic chamber. It produces acoustic levels up to 152 dB over a range of 25 Hz to 10 kHz, depending on the spectrum of the launch vehicle for which the satellite is being tested.
To generate the high-intensity sound in a chamber comparable to the sound experienced in a launch, KARI uses acoustic modulators with a gaseous nitrogen supply. The valves in acoustic modulators generate acoustic energy by modulating gas streams passing through them. The system continuously monitors the chamber itself and feeds the information back to the acoustic control program in real time.
The acoustic control system display in the high-intensity acoustic chamber at KARI shows the sound pressure level (SPL) at each one-third octave band of the eight channels being monitored. The light blue lines are the alarm levels for the upper and lower limits of the SPL within the frequency bands (Figure 3). You can control the system automatically or manually aided by visual inspection.
Figure 3. Acoustic Control System Display in the High-Intensity Acoustic Chamber, Space Test Department, KARI
Octave analysis is performed with a bank of parallel bandpass filters. The output of each filter then is averaged to compute the power in each band and displayed as a bar graph. Octave band filters can be either passive or active analog filters that operate on continuous-time signals or analog and digital filters that operate on discrete-time signals. Traditional octave analyzers typically used analog filters, but computer host-based octave analyzers most often use digital filters.
Due to the computational load of one-third octave analysis, analyzers often synthesized one-third octave bands from FFT data by assigning the energy from appropriate bins to a particular proportional band filter. This method has drawbacks due to leakage.
Lower center frequencies and narrower bandwidths take longer to settle. The settling time of a 1,000-Hz one-third octave band is about 22 milliseconds; the settling time of a 1-Hz one-third octave band can take 22 seconds. Some low-frequency environmental vibration measurements are made using one-third octaves between 1 Hz to 80 Hz with 20 bands so you need to know there will be a long settling time before the filter will begin providing meaningful output.
The most basic computer now can handle multichannel real-time octave analysis with a range of additional functionality. My first computer capable of host-based, real-time one-third octave analysis and display of four channels had an Intel Pentium III 400-MHz Processor that replaced my DSP-based analyzer. Recently, I performed benchmarks with a PC featuring a 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Processor using a multicore technique to share processing across the four cores and was able to maintain real-time one-third octave analysis of 72 channels from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.
In aero-acoustic measurements of scale models in a wind tunnel, it may be useful to perform one-third octave analysis outside the 20-Hz to 20-kHz range. With a host-based processing system, you can specify the frequency range that your instrumentation is capable of so that the frequencies of interest are increased by the ratio of full size to model size.
Digital octave filters are designed in several ways. You can develop a set of bandpass filters directly from the time domain at different center frequencies and bandwidths. ANSI S1.11 uses Butterworth filters to define the order and attenuation of the octave filters.
One octave band corresponds to the frequency range between two frequencies with a ratio of 2:1. A typical example of this is a piano keyboard. Consecutive A tones are separated exactly by an octave.
Octave band filters do not have infinitely steep skirts. As a result, an isolated tone may produce a reading in adjacent octave bands. Also, a tone at the nominal boundary between two bands produces an equal reading in both. For example, a 60-dB(A) tone at 707.1 Hz gives readings of 57 dB each in the 500-Hz and 1,000-Hz octave bands. In the audio domain, the reference center frequency has been chosen at 1 kHz. Other center frequencies are at 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 2 kHz, 4 kHz, and so on. The actual filter band center frequencies typically are developed as a series of powers of 21/3 x 1,000 Hz and may not correspond precisely to the nominal band center frequencies (Table 1).
Table 1. Octave and One-Third Octave Center Frequencies
The Future of Octave Analysis
Octave analysis is a useful technique for representing subjective perception of sound by the very complex human ear. There are other frequency analysis techniques, such as FFT, joint time-frequency analysis, wavelets, and model-based methods, that may be closer and yield more detail on the frequency content of sound. The long history and popularity of octave analysis guarantee the continued use of this technique to obtain important frequency information about steady-state sound and vibration levels.
For More Information
• ANSI S1.4-1983: Specification for Sound Level Meters (R2006), American National Standards Institute.
• ANSI S1.11-2004: Specification for Octave-Band and Fractional Octave-Band Analog and Digital Filters, American National Standards Institute.
• IEC 61260, 1st ed. 1995-07: Octave-Band and Fractional Octave-Band Filters, International Electrotechnical Commission.
• Y.K. Kim et al., A High Intensity Acoustic Chamber for Spacecraft Environmental Tests, Seogwipo, Korea, Inter-noise 2003.
About the Author
Kurt Veggeberg works as a business development manager for sound and vibration at National Instruments. He has been with the company since 1985 and in this position for eight years. National Instruments, 11500 N. Mopac Expwy., Austin, TX 78759, 512-683-5461, e-mail: | <urn:uuid:53d7cda4-0c5f-4d2c-a45e-42a8446fab73> | CC-MAIN-2016-18 | http://www.evaluationengineering.com/articles/200808/octave-analysis-explored.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-18/segments/1461860121737.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160428161521-00165-ip-10-239-7-51.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913399 | 2,442 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Definition of puncture-proof in English:
Resistant to being punctured by sharp objects: discarded needles must be placed in a puncture-proof container puncture-proof tyres
More example sentences
- All needles, syringes, and lancets will be accepted if they have been placed in a sealed, puncture-proof plastic or metal container.
- Community-based organisations were funded to distribute sterile injecting equipment, puncture-proof disposable containers, condoms and safe sex information.
- Contractors who normally operate at sites covered with rubble, rebar, nails, and the like are astonished at how much they will save just by switching to our puncture-proof segmented tires.
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
Most popular in the US
Most popular in the UK
Most popular in Canada
Most popular in Australia
Most popular in Malaysia
Most popular in Pakistan | <urn:uuid:555cd50f-5548-476c-9c88-a879a0f43bdc> | CC-MAIN-2014-52 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/puncture-proof | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-52/segments/1418802772757.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20141217075252-00132-ip-10-231-17-201.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910599 | 205 | 2.75 | 3 |
Presentation on theme: "Understanding Sampling Non Probability Sampling Lecture 13 th."— Presentation transcript:
Understanding Sampling Non Probability Sampling Lecture 13 th
Non probability samples The probability of each case being selected from the total population is not known. It is impossible to answer research questions or to address research objectives that require you to make statistical inferences about the characteristics of the population. You may still be able to generalize from non probability samples about the population, but not on statistical grounds.
Non- probability sampling Key considerations Deciding on a suitable sample size Selecting the appropriate technique
Non Probability Sampling: Techniques Quota sampling (larger populations) Purposive sampling Snowball sampling Self-selection sampling Convenience sampling
Quota sampling It is entirely non random and it is normally used for interview surveys. It is based on the premise that your sample will represent the population as the variability in your sample for various quota variables is the same as that in population. Quota sampling is therefore a type of stratified sample in which selection of cases within strata is entirely non- random.
Quota sampling Divide the population into specific groups. Calculate a quota for each group based on relevant and available data. Give each interviewer an ‘assignment', which states the number of cases in each quota from which they must collect data. Combine the data collected by interviewers to provide the full sample.
Quota sampling Quota sampling has a number of advantages over the probabilistic techniques. In particular, it is less costly and can be set up very quickly. If, as with television audience research surveys, your data collection needs to be undertaken very quickly then quota sampling frame and, therefore may be the only technique you can use if one is not available.
Purposive sampling Purposive or judgmental sampling enables you to use your judgment to select cases that will best enable you to answer your research question(s) and to meet your objectives. This form of sample is often used when working with very small samples such as in case research and when you wish to select cases that are particularly informative.
Purposive Sampling Purposive sampling can also be used by researchers adopting the grounded theory strategy. For such research, findings from data collected from your initial sample inform the way you extend your sample into subsequent cases. Such samples, however can not be considered to be statistically representative of the total population.
Extreme case or deviant sampling Focuses on unusual or special cases on the basis that the data collected about these unusual or extreme outcomes will enable you to learn the most ; To answer your research question(s) and To meet your objects more effectively. This is often based on the premise that findings from extreme cases will be relevant in understanding or explaining more typical cases (patton 2002).
Heterogeneous or maximum variation sampling Enables you to collect data to explain and describe the key themes that can be observed. Although this might appear as contradiction, as a small sample may contain cases that are completely different, Patton (2002) argues that this is in fact a strength. Any patterns that do emerge are likely to be of particular interest and value and represent the key themes. In addition, the data collected should enable you to document uniqueness.
Heterogenous Sampling To ensure maximum variation within a sample Patton (2002) suggests you identify your diverse characteristics(sample selection criteria)prior to selecting your sample.
Homogenous sampling In direct contrast to heterogeneous sampling, homogenous sampling focuses on one particular sub-group in which all the sample members are similar. This enables you to to study the group in great depth.
Critical case Critical case sampling selects critical cases on the bases that they can make a point dramatically or because they are important. The focus of data collections to understand what is happening in each critical case so that logical generalizations can be made.
Critical Case Sampling Patton (2002) outlines a number of clues that suggest critical cases these can be summarized by the questions such as: If it happens there, will it happen everywhere? If they are having problems, can you be sure that everyone will have problems? If they cannot understand the process, is it likely that no one will be able to understand the process?
Typical case sampling In contrast of critical case sampling, typical case sampling is usually used as a part of a research project to provide an illustrative profile using a representative case. Such a sample enables you to provide an illustration of what is ‘typical’ to those who will be reading your research report and may be unfamiliar with the subject matter. It is not intended to be definative.
Snowball sampling Is commonly used when it is difficult to identify members of desired population. For example people who are working while claiming unemployment benefit you therefore, need to: 1.Make contact with one or two cases in the population. 2.Ask these cases to identify further cases. 3.Ask theses new cases to identify further new cases (and so on) 4.Stop when either no new cases are given or the sample is as large as manageable
Self selecting sampling It occurs when you allow each case usually individuals, to identify their desire to take part in the research you therefore 1.Publicize your need for cases, either by advertising through appropriate media or by asking them to take part. 2.Collect data from those who respond
Self-selection sampling Publicity for convenience samples can take many forms. These include articles and advertisement in magazines that the population are likely to read, postings on appropriate Internet newsgroups and discussion groups, hyperlinks from other websites as well as letters or emails of invitation to colleagues and friends. Cases that self-select objectives. In some instances,as in research question(s) or stated on the management of the survivors of downsizing (Thornhill et al.1997), this is exactly what the researcher wants. In this research a letter in the personnel trade press generated a list of self-selected organisations that were interested in the research topic, considered it important and were willing to devote time to being interviewed.
Convenience sampling Convenience sampling (or haphazard sampling) involves selecting haphazardly those cases that are easiest to obtain for your sample, such as the person interviewed at random in a shopping centre for a television programme or the book about entrepreneurship you find at the airport. The sample selection process is continued until your required sample size has been reached. Although this technique of sampling is used widely, it is prone to bias and influences that are beyond your control, as the cases appear in the sample only because of the ease of obtaining them.
Convenience sampling Often the sample is intended to represent the total population, for example managers taking an MBA course as a surrogate for all managers! In such instances the selection of individual cases is likely to have introduced bias to the sample,meaning that subsequent generalizations are likely to be at best flawed. These problems are less important where there is little variation in the population, and such samples often serve as pilots to studies using more instructed samples. | <urn:uuid:751233ec-0cda-4b6a-8f60-98e95d20f21f> | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | http://slideplayer.com/slide/5676758/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986684226.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20191018154409-20191018181909-00046.warc.gz | en | 0.939996 | 1,442 | 3.140625 | 3 |
As the World Ocean Summit winds down in Half Moon Bay, California, this evening, much discussion among the hundreds of gathered delegates has turned to overfishing. There were perhaps as many thoughts on the subject as members in attendance from the fishing industry, academia, conservation organizations, and the media. But, several solutions emerged that received widespread support.
There was little doubt that overfishing is a problem around much of the world. Many fish have declined by significant amounts and most fisheries are already at their maximum production capacity, despite rising demand, said Miguel Angel Jorge, the Managing Director of the new nonprofit 50-in-10, which hopes to move 50 percent of the world’s fisheries to sustainability in 10 years.
Andy Sharpless, the CEO of the advocacy group Oceana, said that at a high level, stopping overfishing is actually “relatively straightforward.” It takes reducing the amount of fish wasted as unwanted bycatch, setting science-based catch quotas and enforcing them, and protecting ocean habitat that allows fish to breed.
“If we do those three things it is understood [that overfishing will stop],” said Sharpless. “Compared to many of the world’s problems this is not so complicated.”
Sharpless pointed to the example of Chile, which is the world’s seventh largest producer of seafood. Chile recently revised its fishery rules to implement quotas based on scientific surveys, said Sharpless. The country also banned bottom trawling around 118 seamounts, to protect the biodiverse habitats from damage.
It also isn’t too difficult to switch to gear that reduces bycatch, if there is support for some upfront costs, said Sharpless.
In a video message to the summit, the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, pointed out that his country recently banned commercial fishing of sharks in its waters. “We also banned the infamous practice of finning and returning them to the sea,” said Santos.
Santos added that his government is working to strengthen protected marine areas on both its Pacific and Caribbean coasts. He said he is working with Ecuador and Costa Rica to fight illegal fishing in their region.
Sharpless added that he would like to see more work on traceability of seafood, so consumers can know exactly what they are buying, who caught it, where it was caught, and what gear was used. That would make it harder for illegal fishers to skirt quotas and laws and pass fish off as something it isn’t, he said.
The U.S. imports about 91 percent of its seafood, Sharpless said, so it could make a big impact on the global market if the federal government started enforcing traceabiity of all imports. The European Union imports roughly two-thirds of its fish, and Japan imports a significant amount.
“So if those three [governments] could project traceability onto fisheries that would make it harder for illegal fishing,” said Sharpless. “And it would not require the [United Nations] to do anything. It would require those nations to do something in their self interest, to provide information their customers would want. It’s not even really regulatory, it’s providing labeling information.”
Sharpless added that the approach of working with national governments to address fish imports or fishing in their territories makes a lot of sense, because more than 90 percent of the world’s fish catch is caught from the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of individual nations, not in international waters. Further, about two-thirds of the world’s fish by weight comes from just 10 countries. About 90 percent comes from just 30 countries.
“Blue Bonds” and Subsidies
Oceana is now working with the nonprofit Rare, Echo Financial Products, and Bloomberg Philanthropies to help more countries make their sectors more sustainable, said Sharpless. In an innovative model, Echo is working on bringing in private capital to pay big fishing boats for lost income in the short term, while new fishing quotas limit catch so stocks can recover. In return, Echo gets a share of the longer-term benefits that arise from greater fishing opportunities in subsequent years, after the stocks recover.
“Some people had the idea before, it’s called blue bonds, but what will be new is having a real blue bond,” said Sharpless. “It’s like grease for policies that rebuild stocks.”
Tackling what some consider the elephant in the room, subsidies that many governments pay to their fishing industry, Sharpless said, “People are paid with tax dollars to overfish…to empty the ocean.”
Subsidies represent 25 to 30 percent of the total value of the world’s fisheries, said Sharpless. He added that the European Union has recently cut its fishing subsidies by 30 percent, but that there are still many programs in place.
Barry Gold of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation said, “Let’s not do away with subsidies, let’s tell countries ‘you are already making the investment, but let’s move it from a bad investment into a productive investment.’ Then you are meeting the political issue.”
Still, Gold said that the reason advocates haven’t seen as many results as they’d like with reducing overfishing is “because we haven’t taken a holistic approach.” Gold added, “We have to really work together. It can’t just be NGOs, it also has to be fishermen, industry, investors.”
Gold said the solution “won’t be one tool or one industry, it will be using a suite of tools.”
The Metro Example
Some of those tools are being innovated by Metro Group, the biggest fish seller in Europe. The Germany-based company sells 200,000 tons of fish a year, from 170 species, to a broad base of consumers and businesses.
“We want to assure our business for the next decades, and that means we have to do something on the topic of fish,” said Hans-Jurgen Matern, Metro’s vice president for corporate sustainability and regulatory affairs. He explained that the company made a decision to stop selling shark fins and bluefin tuna, out of concern for overfishing of those products.
Metro also requires that all fish it buys be logged through a cloud-based tracking system called ftrace, which includes information about who caught it, when, where, etc. It is an important step to making its products transparent and traceable, said Matern.
“We have to ensure that stocks that are endangered are not ending up on our shelf,” he said. Many of those products also carry certification from the Marine Stewardship Council.
Still, contamination of large fish through build-up of toxins like mercury and lead remains a problem, said Matern, who noted that his company rejects one in three big fish after testing.
Don’t miss our live Hangout with National Geographic Explorer-In-Residence Enric Sala, marine biologist Tierney Thys, and submarine pilot and diesel engineer Erika Bergman on February 28 at 5:30 p.m. EST. Click here on Friday to watch: http://bit.ly/1j4hPqB #
Brian Clark Howard covers the environment for National Geographic. He previously served as an editor for TheDailyGreen.com and E/The Environmental Magazine, and has written for Popular Science, TheAtlantic.com, FastCompany.com, PopularMechanics.com, Yahoo!, MSN, and elsewhere. He is the co-author of six books, including Geothermal HVAC, Green Lighting, Build Your Own Small Wind Power System, and Rock Your Ugly Christmas Sweater. | <urn:uuid:8c7db647-06b3-43ae-a785-764d201f59ba> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/02/26/tackling-overfishing-on-many-fronts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1406510267865.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20140728011747-00017-ip-10-146-231-18.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962828 | 1,641 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Thinking Slow About Thinking Fast – Part IIby Nisha Cooch, PhD | August 11, 2014
The idea that we are irrational stems from several observations where our decisions are inconsistent with those that would maximize gains. In other words, we often choose options that appear less beneficial than alternative options.
Though irrationality implies lack of logic or order, the behaviors we deem irrational actually have order and follow reliable patterns. Many animal species too display the same type of “irrational” behaviors that humans do, suggesting that the nature of our decision making may have evolutionary roots.
Daniel Kahneman recently described our decision making processes in his book Thinking Fast and Slow. Though many choices can rely on fast thinking, occurring almost automatically and requiring little attention, other decisions require slow, deliberative thinking. For example, when moving to a new house in an unfamiliar neighborhood, we have to pay attention to how to get to the house. We’ll likely follow directions or use a map, which requires focus.
Different parts of the brain mediate choices resulting from focused attention and those that are habitual. Slow thinking engages the prefrontal areas, which are evolutionarily newer parts of the brain and involved in executive functions, whereas fast thinking relies on deeper, more primitive brain structures.
With repetition, choices that once required slow thinking can come to rely on fast thinking. For instance, though learning the directions to our new house will require mental effort in the beginning, eventually we’ll be able to navigate to and from our home while conversing with others, singing along to music, or planning our day. As our drive home becomes automatic, or habitual, the deeper parts of our brains that mediate fast thinking will take over, freeing up the frontal areas to focus elsewhere.
Efficiency is therefore a significant benefit of habits. The downside to habits is their lack of flexibility. Once we’ve driven home from work hundreds of times, we may find ourselves on our normal route on a day when we were supposed to do a favor for a friend on the other side of town. Strong habits do not allow much incorporation of new information, and so our reliance on them does not always result in optimal outcomes.
Our behavior is a balance of slow thinking, which improves the likelihood of making optimal decisions, and fast thinking, which enhances our decision making efficiency. When we use our slow brain to analyze our choices, we identify behaviors that appear irrational because they are not the choices a purely slow brain would make. But given the benefit of efficiency, these choices are not particularly surprising.
As we go through a number of examples of our so-called irrational behavior, it should become apparent that our behavior is a reasonable product of a system balancing the goal of accuracy with the goal of practicality. That our choices are often “predictably irrational” suggests to me that, by some measure, these choices are the most valuable choices. This notion becomes more intuitive when we consider time and energy as innately valuable.
Child Development – Fostering Self-Actualization at a Young Age
Mind Over Matter? Mindfulness Meditation For Pain Management
Neurological Basis of Altruism
Fulfilling Our Unique Humanity
Exercise and Brain Aging
This Sunday February 14th (9 p.m. ET), the Emmy-nominated Brain Games tv-show is back! Wonder junkie Jason Silva returns to our screens, teaming up with... READ MORE →
Do not miss out ever again. Subscribe to get our newsletter delivered to your inbox a few times a month.
Like what you read? Give to Brain Blogger sponsored by GNIF with a tax-deductible donation.Make A Donation | <urn:uuid:cbdf75d6-4cee-425e-85b0-a042d44c2aba> | CC-MAIN-2016-18 | http://brainblogger.com/2014/08/11/thinking-slow-about-thinking-fast-part-ii-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-18/segments/1461860121561.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160428161521-00144-ip-10-239-7-51.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93508 | 755 | 3.25 | 3 |
A while ago, a friend of mine argued that, for him, changing to a meat-free diet wouldn't make a big difference for global warming. When some humans replace animal protein sources with plant protein sources humans, they'd start farting much more thus offsetting the benefits of reduced greenhouse gas emissions by life stock.
I had no clue whether there was any merit to that argument, but finally, I made a rough calculation. Even under the most generous settings, this argument falls flat because the numbers for greenhouse gas emissions are vastly different for humans and cows. For the sake of simplicity, I only looked at methane as it is much more important in this context compared to carbon dioxide.
It appears that on a fiber-rich diet, humans produce about 10 mg of methane per day (http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gut.32.6.665), while grass-fed cows produce about 250 g (http://www.fao.org/3/a0701e/a0701e00.htm, https://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2019/01/09/scientists-breathalyze-cows-to...). A cow produces 25 thousand times more methane than a human. Even if we assume, that a meat-eater does not produce any methane and that he eats only the equivalent of a single cow in his lifetime the argument falls short by the factor of almost 1000 (cow's lifetime: 2 years, human's lifetime: 80 years).
However, the assumption that a meat-eater eats only the equivalent of one cow during his lifetime is very generous. In reality, this is highly unlikely as there are only e.g. 5 sirloin steaks in one cow but 85 pounds of ground beef.
A cow weighs about 450 kg when slaughtered, out of which barely 200 kg is usable meat. If that is used to fulfill the meat hunger of the average person (80 years of 70 kg meat consumption/year, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_meat_consumption) this translates into 30 cows during the lifetime if all the meat comes from cows. Therefore, the assumption of needing one cow over one lifetime is overly optimistic even for people with minimal meat consumption.
Another interesting fact that I did not know was that freely grazing cows produce 3 times the amount of methane compared to cows in meat factories that are fed with maize/corn. So much for "organic meat". | <urn:uuid:143dc6f6-b8b9-4034-b9e0-a3efaa0f1f6d> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://jeltsch.org/farts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224645089.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20230530032334-20230530062334-00738.warc.gz | en | 0.948622 | 518 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Side effects of Aspirin
Aspirin is a medication which is used to treat pain. It is a NSAID or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. In addition to being used for the treatment of pain Aspirin is also frequently used as a preventative medication for those at risk for heart attacks or strokes. Aspirin achieves the majority of its effects through its inhibition of prostaglandins and and thromboxane. Prostaglandins are responsible for transmitting feelings of pain to the brain. The reduction of prostaglandins by aspirin results in less pain being felt. Thromboxane on the other hand is a key agent in blood clotting. With the concentrations of thromboxane reduced in the blood by aspirin the blood becomes thinner and thereby less likely to form a clot. Though aspirin is helpful to a large number of people there are some side effects those who plan on taking aspirin should be aware of.
One of the most severe side effects of aspirin is known as Reyes syndrome. Reye's syndrome is a rare disease which only effects children and adolescents. There have been only a small percentage of documented cases of Reye's syndrome but it is still not advisable to give aspirin to children. Reyes syndrome cause brain damage and fatty liver. Often these effects are irreversible and will lead to death. There is no known cure and the best that doctors can do is try to treat the symptoms caused by Reyes syndrome. Reye's syndrome typically occurs when aspirin is given for the treatment of a fever. The FDA has recommended that aspirin should not be given to anyone under 12 years of age.
The most common side effect of aspirin is gastrointestinal discomfort. Taking aspirin can lead to an increase in the likelihood of ulcers and stomach bleeding. Taking other NSAID medications along with aspirin will also increase the chances of a gastrointestinal condition developing. Those with ulcers or other known stomach problems should avoid taking aspirin as it may aggravate those conditions. It is also recommended to take aspirin with a meal or a small snack to minimize the chances of gastrointestinal discomfort. Aspirin may cause diarrhea in some patients as well. If blood is found in the vomit or stools after taking aspirin treatment should be stopped immediately and professional medical attention should be sought. Some research has also concluded that taking aspirin with vitamin C reduces the risk of gastrointestinal discomfort developing.
Other Common Side Effects
A small number of the population may be allergic to aspirin. This is not technically an allergy but rather an inability of the body to metabolize aspirin resulting in an overdose. This results in the development of a rash as well as hives. Aspirin can also cause swelling of the skin. This is called angioedema. Typically, angioedema takes six hours to appear and only appears when aspirin is taken along side another NSAID medications. Aspirin can also cause complications if taken prior to an operation. This is due to its blood thinning properties. Because of this those about to undergo surgery should avoid aspirin and aspirin containing products.
No comments yet
Leave a Reply | Cancel ReplySubmit comment | <urn:uuid:fd92e6b0-ece5-45a3-a2b4-9d145cabc89d> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | http://www.safetymedical.net/aspirin-side-effects | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224644309.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20230528150639-20230528180639-00758.warc.gz | en | 0.952051 | 642 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Rogue wave Current Affairs, GK & News
Tourists were forced to run for their lives after a giant wave headed their way. As the wave approached with water rolling at terrifying heights a group pf 9 ro 10 people began to run over the ice in all directions. The tourists were on a visit to the Vatnajokul National Park which can be ..
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has announced that a wave which was recorded by an automated buoy in the North Atlantic ocean between Iceland and the UK in February 2013 to be the “the highest significant wave height measured by a buoy”. This epic wave has overtaken the previous record-holder from December 2007, which also occurred ..
Topics: Atmospheric dynamics • Buoy • Oceanography • Physical geography • Physical oceanography • Physical sciences • Rogue wave • Significant wave height • Trough • Water waves • Weather hazards • Wind wave | <urn:uuid:66d43ff5-4ca6-4352-89e4-fe055aa265ff> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | https://www.gktoday.in/topics/rogue-wave/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323585671.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20211023095849-20211023125849-00282.warc.gz | en | 0.965069 | 186 | 2.84375 | 3 |
A recent newsflash just confirmed 500 families lose their homes due to a fire outbreak. With the heat of summer kicking off here in the Philippines, fire incidents are expected to rise. Do yourself a favor and keep yourself and your loved ones safe by following these simple safety tips:
Install Smoke Alarms in Key Strategic Locations
National Fire Protection Association mentioned that roughly half of home fire deaths result from fires reported between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., when most people are asleep. In addition to this, Red Cross stated that 60 percent of house fire deaths occurs in home with no working smoke alarm.
Make sure you have smoke alarms on every level of your floor, including basements and attics, in every bedrooms (especially if you sleep with the door partially closed or completely shut), in the hall near every sleeping area, at the top of the first-to-second floor stairway and at the bottom of the basement stairway.
If you are having a tight budget, don’t risk the life of your love ones by not installing an smoke alarm, there are economy class smoke alarms available in the market, in fact there is one that only costs P300.00
Test Your Smoke Alarm
It is true that smoke alarms save lives, but only if it is working
It only takes one click to know that your smoke alarm is working. Test them regularly or at least every month, you lose more by becoming lazy only to die in a fire incident while sleeping just because the smoke alarm didn’t work.
Proper Cigar Disposal
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service states that since 2009, 50% of deaths in an accidental house fire were caused by smoking materials
Smoking is not only bad for your health, it is also a major cause of fire outbreaks. Be sure that cigars, cigarettes and pipe ashes are completely extinguished before disposing them. Make sure no cigarettes are still burning when you go to bed. NEVER EVER SMOKE IN BED!!!
Plan Your Escape Route
In the event that a fire can’t be prevented, survival becomes the priority.
Teach your children what smoke alarm sound like and what they should do when they hear one. Ensure all family members knows two ways to escape from every room of your home and make sure everyone knows where to meet. Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year. Teach household member to STOP, DROP and ROLL if their clothes should catch on fire.
Never Leave Your Cooking Unattended
Cooking fires are the most common cause of fire at home
Stay in the kitchen when cooking. Stay at home when baking. Keep anything that catches fire – towel, paper, clothes – away from the stove. And if you have pets, keep them of surfaces or countertops to prevent them from knocking things onto the burner.
Don’t Overload Electrical Sockets and Replace or Repair Damaged Electrical Cords
Don’t plug too many things into an electrical outlet unless you’re asking for a fire
When using extension cords, avoid running it across carpets or doorways. If outlets or switches feels warm or if you face frequent problem with blowing fuses or tripping circuits, or flickering or dimming lights, then it’s probably time to call the technician. This may be a sign that you have an underlying electrical issue. | <urn:uuid:9e290fb8-1980-4164-99c5-aeed288949d5> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | https://pinoysmarthome.goalteam.net/2016/04/08/dont-leave-your-house-on-fire/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794864461.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20180521161639-20180521181639-00557.warc.gz | en | 0.943525 | 692 | 2.546875 | 3 |
The Hypergrid model for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems builds a graph topology that enforces low graph diameter and fixed node degree. The Hypergrid graph grows as a simple k-ary tree with nodes on the leaf level of the tree having their k-1 free edges randomly connected to other nodes on the same level in the tree with degree less than k.
Initially graph consists of a single node with no edges. For a new node N to join the graph, it looks for a parent node in the graph which has free edges. A horizontal edge between the parent node and another node, on the same level as that of parent node, is removed. The new node then connects to this parent node and also to k-1 other nodes on the same level in the graph. A typical hypergrid network layout is given above.
Pros & Cons
Applicable to network graphs only. Hypergrid model imposes minimal network growth policies. It focuses on growing a network with the desirable low diameter of small world systems using only local information. It strives for complete decentralization of network growth and is topologically more robust. But the search cost on Hypergrid network models is very high.
These algorithms can be used to generate unstructured P2P graphs based on Hypergrid topology. These graphs can then be visualized and analyzed using Pajek or any other network visualization program.
1. Identify the innermost member maintaining “horizontal” connections. 2. Request one of these links to be terminated and reallocated (becoming
“vertical” in the process)
3. Attempt to initiate k 1 horizontal links with other nodes belonging
to the same layer and advertising a spare connection.
In the IVC Software Framework, simply select Modeling > P2P > Unstructured > Hypergrid to generate a network. Recommended degree = 2log M + c, where M is the network size and c is a constant (c < 6). Use any search algorithms via the Analysis > Search menu to analyze the network.
This package was developed by George Fletcher and Hardik Sheth. Hardik Sheth integrated the code into the IVC Software Framework
- Saffre, Fabrice and Robert Ghanea-Hercock. Beyond Anarchy: Self-Organized Topology for Peer-to-Peer Networks. Complexity, 9(2):49:53, 2003. | <urn:uuid:d6e0111d-6bc6-4214-bde7-884f577a46d0> | CC-MAIN-2019-30 | https://wiki.cns.iu.edu/display/CISHELL/Hypergrid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-30/segments/1563195529664.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20190723193455-20190723215455-00537.warc.gz | en | 0.875812 | 501 | 2.625 | 3 |
When reading the meter, start reading from left to right and only read the black numbers or dials.
To read the meter shown in diagram A:
Simply read from left to right. This meter has used 005619 units (kilowatt hours). Ignore the figure on the far right which is marked underneath as either 0.01, 0.1 or 1/10.
On many meters this figure is red in colour – but not in all cases.
To read the meter shown in diagram B:
As the meter scrolls through its display sequence, look for screens that feature kWh. Read the numbers from left to right, up to the decimal point, and note any description displayed on the screen. In this example, the kWh readings are 94967 for NITE and 00076 for DAY. Information displays for digital meters can vary. If the meter does not scroll to a kWh screen automatically, please contact Trustpower for assistance.
To read the meter shown in diagram C:
The two top dials 1/100 and 1/10 are for testing purposes only, so you can ignore them. Read the black dials from left to right starting with the dial with the highest number under it. Eg. 10,000 as shown.
When the hand is between two numbers always read the lowest number (even if it is not the closest to the hand). For example, if the hand is between 5 and 6, write down the number 5. When the hand looks like it is exactly on a number, look at the hand of the clock to the right.
If the hand on that clock is between 9 and 0 then write down the lower number from the previous clock. If the hand is between 0 and 1 then write down the higher number from the previous clock.
The meter reading in this example is 05619. | <urn:uuid:7695b7f8-b181-4c75-abbb-e15e796d5916> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://trustpower.co.nz/your-account-and-support/your-account/reading-your-meter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280266.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00001-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905238 | 375 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Jewish emigration involved people from a very heterogeneous population group. They often had little in common except the fact of their Jewish identity as asserted, or rather, alleged by the Nazi regime. The racial policies of the Nazis assigned numerous people the label of “Jewish” who themselves did not identify with Judaism in the least. This caused a conflict of identity for many assimilated Jews who considered Germany to be their homeland.
Precise information regarding the number of Jewish emigrants is not available because neither German nor Jewish authorities or organisations recorded comprehensive data for this purpose. According to estimates, in the period from 1933 to 1945, between 250,000 and 300,000 Jews and those persecuted as Jews left Germany. The largest wave of emigration was triggered by the pogroms of November 1938: between 33,000 and 40,000 people emigrated from Germany in 1938. In 1939 the number of Jewish emigrants was between 75,000 and 80,000.
As of 23 October 1941 there was a ban on emigration. In September 1941 there were only 75,816 Jews within the limits of the “Old Reich”. The systematic mass deportation of German Jews to the East began from October 15, 1941. Extermination camps with gas chambers were put into operation from March 1942. Jews and those persecuted as Jews were murdered immediately after their arrival there.
With regard to Jewish emigration from Germany, the Nazi state pursued contradictory policies. On the one hand the Nazi regime forced emigration until the early years of the war. Laws that aimed to drive out of Jews from cultural, scientific and economic life were supposed to encourage the Jewish population to emigrate. The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service of 7 April 1933 sharply curtailed the career opportunities for Jews.
The Nuremberg laws, which were passed on 15 September 1935, formed the basis for the anti-Jewish policies and took away civil rights from Jewish people. Works by Jewish artists were often slandered as “degenerate”. Their art was removed from museums and public collections and performing artists were banned from performing. At the same time numerous taxes and export regulations prevented emigration and left most people almost penniless at the time of their departure. The main destinations of Jewish emigration were Palestine, Britain and the United States.
Krohn, Claus-Dieter (Hg.): Jüdische Emigration. Zwischen Assimilation und Verfolgung, Akkulturation und Jüdischer Identität. München: Edition text + kritik 2001
Krohn, Claus-Dieter (Hg.): Das Jüdische Exil und andere Themen. München: Edition text + kritik 1986
Rosenstock, Werner: Exodus 1933-1939. A Survey of Jewish Emigration from Germany. In Leo Baeck Journal, 1956, S. 373-390 | <urn:uuid:531694da-fee7-41ab-beee-2029d5628fae> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://kuenste-im-exil.de/KIE/Content/EN/Topics/juedische-emigration-en.html?single=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257647530.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20180320185657-20180320205657-00345.warc.gz | en | 0.957386 | 603 | 4.0625 | 4 |
Piney Woods Journal Correspondent
After the Civil War, some men in Winn Parish banded together to form what was to be a home guard, serving as “regulators” to control the behavior of recently freed slaves and oppose the Republican government of “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags.” Before long, some elements of the group turned to banditry and murder, terrorizing north central Louisiana for years before falling at the hands of vigilantes.
The bandits, known at the Kimbrel-West gang, or the Nightriders, robbed and killed along the east-west thoroughfare crossing Winn Parish from Natchez, Mississippi to Nacogdoches, Texas and points west. Cross-country travelers were easy marks since their disappearance might not be noticed for months. Even when locals were victimized, the disarray of the disputed Reconstruction government and the power of the gang precluded any significant law enforcement action against the culprits.
The Kimbrels moved to Wheeling in Winn Parish sometime after 1850. The family patriarch, Dilson “Uncle Dan” Kimbrel, was born November 19, 1803, in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. He married Mary L. “Polly” Williams in 1833, a month short of her fifteenth birthday. After a time in Mississippi, they pushed on to Louisiana, settling in Wheeling on what was often called the Harrisonburg Road, the connection between the Natchez Trace and the El Camino Real which wound its way southwest to Mexico.
The Kimbrels operated a store and post office at Wheeling and rented rooms to travelers. In 1860 Dilson owned 22 slaves, many more than the average Winn Parish farm. With $2,300 worth of real estate and personal property valued at $20,000, Dilson was well off compared to most of his neighbors. The Kimbrels were respected, church-going people, at least for a time.
According to one Kimbrel family account, in 1869 Dilson Kimbrel spotted some campers near his home. Recognizing one as a horse trader, Kimbrel shot and robbed the man and others. Weeks later, Kimbrel saw more campers at the location. As Kimbrel approached, a young man the son of the murdered horse trader shot him. Gravely wounded in the abdomen, Kimbrel struggled to return home. Masked Kimbrel sons kidnapped a doctor and carried him to their father’s bedside. Dilson Kimbrel died June 16, 1869, and was buried with Masonic honors at the family homestead. Due to the Kimbrel’s standing in the community, no one appeared to suspect any nefarious behavior by the family.
At some point after the Civil War, a Confederate veteran, John R. West, took up residence in Atlanta in Winn Parish and became a rather wealthy landowner himself. West and the Kimbrels became allies and led the outlaw element within the regulators.
Jackson Lawson “Laws” Kimbrel, the eldest living son of Dilson and Polly, served in the 12th Louisiana Infantry Regiment with a friend named Dan Deen. Deen and West quarreled and Deen left Winn Parish for a year. On Saturday night, April 23, 1870, John West found Deen back at home. After an apparently cordial conversation, West attempted to cut Deen’s throat. Deen fired a shot at West but missed. The two backed off to continue the fight later.
West then kidnapped Deen’s family to draw his adversary out into the open. Deen had exposed the Nightriders’ secrets and disassociated himself from its bloody deeds. A group of vigilantes cornered the gang in Atlanta on April 24, rescuing the Deen family and killing the gang. John R. West, David Frame, A. J. Ingram. Oz Collins, and Grow Thompson were riddled with gunfire. West’s head was severed from his body by a shotgun blast.
For many years, West’s skull was displayed atop a fence post in Atlanta, perhaps as a warning to others of his breed. Laws Kimbrel was only grazed by a shot and fled when no one was looking. A few days later, the vigilantes killed George Frame near St. Maurice because of his alleged involvement in the some of the gang’s murders.
Some Winn Parish citizens published a justification of the vigilante action in the Natchitoches Times, enumerating many of the clan’s crimes. The statement was reprinted in other Louisiana newspapers:
* * * “We, the people of Winn parish, Louisiana, feel it our duty to inform the public of the facts concerning the affair which occurred near Atlanta, on the twenty-fourth day of April, 1870. The following is a true and correct statement, which is established by unmistakable evidence.
“Immediately after the surrender, John R. West, J. L. Kimbrel and others, organized a company for the purpose of keeping the country regulated, and specially the colored people. But it appears in this, as in other similar cases, that they soon needed regulating themselves; for they soon became a terror to the surrounding country, first by taking government property, and afterward stealing generally and committing murders on the highway.
“It appears that they broke the ice by stealing thirty or forty bales of cotton near Wheeling. After this they committed another crime by robbing some Federal soldiers at Nantacha bridge, near old man Kimbrel’s, taking all their money and four fine government mules.
“Various crimes of theft have been committed in different parts of the country, and it is generally believed that this clan was either directly or indirectly concerned in most all of them.
“We will not, however, attempt to enumerate all the depredations that we know to have been committed by this clan, but passing over these smaller crimes, will proceed to relate others of greater concern, which we think will more clearly illustrate the character of these men.
“Lieutenant Colonel Butts, of the United States army, on his way from St. Maurice to Vernon, was arrested by the clan, and murdered near Drake’s Mills. A man by the name of Jones, returning home in Natchitoches parish, was arrested and killed at Nantacha bridge. He begged them to spare his life, but to no purpose; he was led to an old well by J. L. Kimbrel and his father, the latter of whom said, send him to hell, boys, for he went to the Yankees during the war, and, therefore, he ought to die. Billy Kimbrel, standing behind Jones, shot him through the head, and they forced him head foremost down into the well.
“A short time after this, they killed a negro boy because he was not willing to remain with Kimbrel, his former master.
“Sometime later they made an attempt to assassinate lawyer Safford, while on his way from Natchitoches to Winnfield, on professional business for his client; but fortunately they did not succeed.
“The grand jury, being then in session, at Winnfield, succeeded in finding true bills against John R. West, J. L. Kimbrel, and others, for said attempt. To evade trial and conviction, they set fire to the courthouse and destroyed all the books and papers belonging to the pariah. Conscious of being successful in their wicked designs, they began to commit crimes in daylight on the public highway. Two of the clan in daylight, went to Hal Frazier’s saw mill, killed him and another colored man named Jesse Robertson, both of whom were considered good citizens.
“Upon another occasion, two freedmen, who were travelling, were directed by the Kimbrels to John R. West’s, to stay all night. Next morning, shortly after leaving West’s, they were attacked by some of the clan, and robbed of two fine mules, and sixty dollars in greenbacks, also ordered to leave the country immediately, or death would be their portion. Not satisfied with their sweeps in making money, they removed the goods and burned their own storehouse, for the purpose of obtaining the insurance.
“Several members of the clan have repeatedly been indicted, since the Court house was burned, but they succeeded in stealing the indictments, and thus escaped with impunity.
Every attempt to have them tried and committed by civil law proved ineffectual.” * * *
The locals refused to bury the dead outlaws in the Atlanta cemetery among its good citizens.
Instead, the dead were interred in a gully just outside the graveyard. Sometime later, a marker was placed for West inside the cemetery, but over 150 feet from the other graves of that period.
The marker incorrectly gives 1872 at the date of death rather than 1870. Grow Thompson, who was buried by his family at the St. Maurice cemetery, recently had his grave marked with a tombstone.
Laws Kimbrel made his escape to Texas where he apparently continued his wicked ways. On July 22, 1871, he was part of a group from Wise County that camped on the outskirts of Austin.
The overseers of the group, Hiram and Martin Cardell, went to a concert while their cook and wagon driver, Joseph Philpot, remained at the camp. Late into the night the Cardells returned to find Philpot dead under the wagon, shot through the chest. A large amount of cash had been stolen from a trunk in the wagon.
News reports revealed Kimbrel and another man, George Barnes, fingered a Texan named John Deel as the murderer. The sheriff arrested Deel but many fellow Confederate veterans came to his defense, citing his heroics in battle, including saving the life of General John Bell Hood when he shot down a Yankee who was trying to kill the Confederate officer.
Apparently the charges against Deel were dismissed at some point. Details of the investigation are scant, but Kimbrel and Barnes were tracked down and arrested for Philpot’s murder. They were convicted in 1873 and sentenced to hang. On April 14, they were led to the gallows. Kimbrel danced as he ascended the scaffold, as if he had not a care in the world. When the trapdoor opened, the men dropped but Kimbrel’s rope broke and he hit the ground. He was carried back up and hanged again and this time to rope held. The last of the Nightrider clan was dead.
Clan leader John R. West has a marker in the Atlanta Cemetery but he was buried outside the fence with other outlaws killed by vigilantes.
Nightrider member Grow Thompson’s grave in the St. Maurice Cemetery was recently marked for the first time.
Wesley Harris is a native of Ruston who writes extensively on Reconstruction era crime. His books include Greetings From Ruston: A Post Card History of Ruston, Louisiana and Neither Fear nor Favor: Deputy United States Marshal John Tom Sisemore, available from amazon.com. He can be contacted at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Check out his Louisiana history blog at http://diggingthepast.blogspot.com | <urn:uuid:57de964d-e5e7-4f4c-ad84-89dbd0646247> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://shilohtocanaan.com/2019/02/14/end-of-the-nightriders-winn-parish-destroys-outlaws/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046153899.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20210729234313-20210730024313-00505.warc.gz | en | 0.981743 | 2,378 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Crugers, NY, a Historical Hamlet, and Village
Located in the Hudson River about halfway between Staten Island and Manhattan, Jones Point is a little island on the west side of New York City. It is only a few miles long and one-third of a mile wide, and is home to the Jones Settlement, a town that has been called "a true American gem." On Jones Point, the name of the island is Jones Point and the town of Jones Point is called Jonesville. It's important to know this history because it will help you understand what Jones Point has to offer - and why many people consider it to be one of the best places to live in the world. Jones Point was created in 1793 as part of a plan by James Joyce, who was famous for his novel Ulysses. Joyce intended it to be an idyllic little community, with lots of beautiful nature, plenty of jobs, and a relatively small population of people who were not native English speakers. More can be found here.
Joyce lived on the Jones Settlement for many years and worked hard to make it as comfortable as possible for his residents, even when it was a difficult situation in which everyone agreed to work together for the common good. Eventually, he decided that he wanted to move the town further north to reach Niagara Falls. He then had the town built upon a peninsula, and in doing so, he made sure that his community would be protected from natural disasters such as hurricanes. The peninsula today contains many different types of homes, businesses, parks, and recreational areas. There are also many historical sites and museums, including one of the best museums in the city: the American Antiquarian Society. Learn more about Crugers, NY, a Historical Hamlet, and Village.
Jones Point is a quaint place where families can get away from it all and enjoy all that New York City has to offer. This area is perfect for people who like the peace that comes with a large expanse of ocean. There are also plenty of beaches, so it makes it easy for anyone who lives in this area to get out and have fun. If you want to be close to the city, there are plenty of subway stops in and around the area. If you're looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of your life, you'll find plenty of vacation rental homes in the area as well. Whether you want to spend the restful vacations at a luxury hotel or are a self-catering house, you'll find plenty of options if you live in Jones Point New York. | <urn:uuid:4ca19e64-d9ba-47d7-b98f-8696f26acedb> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://www.fredcook.com/getting-the-most-out-of-your-trip | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610704821381.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20210127090152-20210127120152-00587.warc.gz | en | 0.982038 | 525 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Johns Hopkins researchers during a study on mice, found that a group of immature cells which persist in the adult brain and spinal cord undergo dramatic changes in Lou Gehrig's disease.
Their study shows that these cells, called NG2, grow and expand rapidly during early life, eventually morphing into mature nervous system cells called oligodendrocytes. These "oligos" help speed the transmission of electrical impulses by providing insulation around nerve cells. This insulation, known as myelin, is disrupted in nervous system diseases such as multiple sclerosis.
The team tracked the fate of NG2 cells in both normal mice and mice with a mutant form of the SOD1 gene that causes ALS. Using a stringent system that let them color-tag only NG2 cells and then accurately locate these cells at various times in their development, the researchers found that NG2 cells normally keep up a quiet program of dividing in adult tissues, sometimes replacing themselves and other times forming new oligos.
A slow and steady turnover of oligodendrocytes may be required throughout life to maintain myelin, says Dwight Bergles, associate professor in The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. However, the normal developmental program of NG2 cells goes awry in the spinal cords of ALS mice.
"In the model ALS mice we studied, it's as though NG2 cells step onto a high-speed treadmill," Bergles said.
"They undergo explosive division, morph more readily into abnormal-looking oligodendrocytes and then, uncharacteristically, those differentiated cells quickly die. The brakes that normally hold these cells in check appear to be gone in ALS."
Of special note are provocative data showing this cell type as the most proliferating cell population in the spinal cords of ALS mice, churning out even more oligodendrocytes than in normal mice, says Shin Kang, a research associate in The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience.
"This suggests there is significant oligodendrocyte death even before anything else degenerates," he explained, "which identifies a new and important player in the progression of this disease."
All this frenetic oligodendrocyte-generating activity takes place in the central nervous system's gray matter where other cells - the motor neurons - are dying. A body of research shows that after acute trauma to the central nervous system, a short-term upswing in NG2 activity takes place that may help reduce the extent of damage. Whether this change in behavior of NG2+ cells is protective, or accelerates the death of motor neurons in ALS, is not yet known.
The research has been published online in Neuron. | <urn:uuid:18501219-23c4-47d2-8bfe-a180e4673927> | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | http://www.medindia.net/news/Significant-Role-Played-by-Mysterious-Cells-in-Lou-Gehrigs-Disease-77048-1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948589177.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20171216201436-20171216223436-00664.warc.gz | en | 0.937503 | 554 | 2.984375 | 3 |
With their house ("totem") poles, great canoes and elaborate carved boxes and masks, the peoples of the northwest coast of North America have inspired generations of museum-goers. Their complex social and economic life has also inspired a long history of scholarship, and they are a standard feature on undergraduate anthropology courses as "complex hunter-gatherers". For members of the public, students or anthropology instructors, Peoples of the Northwest Coast will be a most useful and interesting resource - indeed, it is intended primarily for these audiences.
This is a densely detailed summary of archaeological research on these peoples, which is a major achievement. The authors have synthesised information from a broad range of published and unpublished site reports to produce the cultural descriptions and histories that comprise much of this book. Given the size of the geographical region they are covering - not to mention the difficulty of extracting unpublished reports from busy field archaeologists - this is a major undertaking. They have also done much to translate archaeological jargon into recognisable (although still rather technical) English.
Kenneth Ames and Herbert Maschner have taken the interesting approach of dividing the book thematically rather than strictly chronologically, so that in addition to descriptions of the cultural sequences on the coast as revealed in the archaeological record, chapters focus on the pre-contact coastal environment and its resources, subsistence practices, household and social organisation, ritual and status, warfare, and art. There are profuse and quite wonderful illustrations ranging from detailed maps to drawings of fishing hooks, and intriguing discussions of archaeological evidence showing the development of northwest coast lifeways, social stratification and artistic styles. The level of detail included is useful but not overwhelming for the non-specialist.
There is an interesting tension in this work over the issue of history and the construction of knowledge about the past. The authors state emphatically that their main theme "is that hunter-gatherers have long and rich histories", and their detailed archaeological reconstructions certainly support this. The work, however, is presented as a rather distanced, academic history of these peoples. It is introduced by a reference to Captain James Cook's arrival on the northwest coast in 1777 and continues for several pages with a list of European contacts and early historic sources for the area. From the beginning, it is set up as an outsider's, onlooker's view of the past. The perspectives of First-Nations people themselves on the past or their participation in the shaping of knowledge about their past(s) is only hinted at throughout the text: occasionally by a photograph of an excavation showing First-Nation onlookers or participants, for instance. There are few connections between the archaeological pasts so carefully excavated and inferred in this text and the pasts so treasured by First-Nation peoples today.
The authors might reply that this is a work about the "archaeology and prehistory" of the northwest coast, as their title suggests. Indeed, the few false notes in the text occur when they stray out of archaeological evidence and into historic materials: 18th and 19th-century sketches, paintings and photographs are used for their ethnographic details, for instance, without comment on the artists' intended exoticism or saleability of the images; beaded designs on ceremonial regalia shown in a remarkable photo of a Tlingit group are captioned as having floral designs from central Canada, when all the pieces show a distinct coastal or interior British Columbia style only very indirectly derived from Algonquian floral imagery. A bit more ethnohistorical research would have shored up these elements considerably.
While the archaeological material and sequences are absolutely solid and beneficial, the book would have been greatly enlivened by the incorporation of perspectives derived from recent collaborative research with First-Nation peoples, such as those being done for the Sto:lo First Nation, or by Aldona Jonaitis or Julie Cruikshank. True, there are enormous gaps in knowledge between the present and the distant past, but the generalist reader is presumably interested in the living as well as the dead. One wonders, at the end of the book, what the peoples of the northwest coast think about their histories, and about such presentations of it as Ames and Maschner's.
Used in connection with historical and contemporary materials, however, this would be an excellent book for a course on hunter-gatherers. Such broad syntheses as this are rare, and there is especially little material for complex areas such as the northwest coast. It will be a significant and most useful addition to archaeological and anthropological libraries.
Laura Peers is lecturer in social anthropology, University of Oxford.
Peoples of the Northwest Coast: Their Archaeology and Prehistory
Author - Kenneth M. Ames
ISBN - 0 500 05091 0
Publisher - Thames and Hudson
Price - £24.95
Pages - 288 | <urn:uuid:3a5877d2-3797-4320-a5d7-c712e3988ca4> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | https://www.timeshighereducation.com/books/the-first-nations-first-sites/156249.article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794867220.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20180525215613-20180525235613-00334.warc.gz | en | 0.953467 | 985 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Here is how the PDA Contact Group explain the condition.
'Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome is a pervasive developmental disorder related to, but significantly different from, autism and Asperger syndrome. First identified as a separate syndrome at the University of Nottingham, research has continued at the Elizabeth Newson Centre. Children with PDA would previously have been diagnosed as having 'non-typical autism/Asperger' or 'pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified'; but it is important to diagnose them separately since they do not respond well to the educational and treatment methods that are helpful with autistic and Asperger children, and since appropriate guidelines for education and handling have been produced by the Elizabeth Newson Centre specifically for children with PDA.'
If you would like more information about PDA, follow the hyperlinks or click on the picture to visit the PDA Contact Group website.
I am building up quite a collection of quality online resources, to support mainstream teachers develop inclusive practices. You will find them in the blue, professional readings section in right margin of the blog.
In my role as an Autism Teaching and learning Coach, I find myself working with teachers at all stages of the 'inclusive education' journey. Some teachers come on board quickly, while others require a lot more encouragement. Many are coping well, while others find it an emotional and physically exhausting journey - the inspiration for yesterday's post.
Thankfully now that we are in Term 3, all of the teachers agree that the effort to modify curriculum and teaching practices is worth it.
This morning I was sorting through some photographs, taken while visiting schools, and this one caught my eye. Neither of the children in this picture have an autism spectrum disorder or any kind of learning disability. Their teacher uses BoardMaker, to support the learning of all of the children in her class, as an inclusive strategy.
In this picture, the BoardMaker cards are acting as role cards. One child is listening and the other is reading, according to the visual prompt they have in front of them. When they have finished they will swap roles.
There is a student with autism in the classroom . He is able to independently read with his typically developing classmates every day because he understands the process. It is the same for everyone.
Love your work, Jenny ; - )
Saturday, July 24, 2010
I am important.....
"...I am the decisive element in the classroom. My personal approach creates the climate. My daily mood makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child's life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt, or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or de-humanized."
Friday, July 2, 2010
Here is my first go at making a video using the Microsoft Movie Maker program. It was good to remember what it feels like to be working outside of my comfort zone. As parents and teachers, we ask children to do that all the time without giving it a second thought.
If you would like a copy of any of the templates I used, send me an email and I will be happy to forward them on to you. You will find my email address in the right margin of the blog.
I have been busy adding lots of free visual downloads sites to the links area in the right margin too!Check them out while you are here.
: - )
Thursday, July 1, 2010
I have just visited the Communication Therapy blog and read a terrific post about the function of repetitive questions. Why don't you check it out for yourself. The site is a treasure trove of practical information and advice for teachers and parents. | <urn:uuid:11954cfc-ce87-4ea9-a969-5aa7b32b1743> | CC-MAIN-2018-09 | http://room13teachersspace.blogspot.com/2010/07/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-09/segments/1518891807825.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20180217204928-20180217224928-00359.warc.gz | en | 0.953233 | 787 | 2.546875 | 3 |
POWERSET - Natural Language and the Semantic Web
published: Nov. 15, 2007, recorded: November 2007, views: 24033
Report a problem or upload filesIf you have found a problem with this lecture or would like to send us extra material, articles, exercises, etc., please use our ticket system to describe your request and upload the data.
Enter your e-mail into the 'Cc' field, and we will keep you updated with your request's status.
The Semantic Web promises to revolutionize access to information by adding machine-readable semantic information to content which is normally interpretable only by people. In addition, it will also revolutionize access to services by adding semantic information to create machine-readable service descriptions. This ambitious vision has been slow to take off because of a chicken and egg problem. Markup is required before people will build applications, applications are required before it is worth the hard work of doing markup. Natural language processing (NLP) has advanced to the point where it can break the impasse and open up the possibilities of the Semantic Web. First, NLP systems can now automatically create annotations from unstructured text. This provides the data that semantic web applications require. Second, NLP systems are themselves consumers of semantic web information and thus provide economic motivation for people to create and maintain such information. For example, a new generation of natural language search systems, as illustrated by Powerset, can take advantage of semantic web markup and ontologies to augment their interpretation of underlying textual content. They can also expose semantic web services directly in response to natural language queries.
Link this pageWould you like to put a link to this lecture on your homepage?
Go ahead! Copy the HTML snippet ! | <urn:uuid:e256b691-22c5-4b71-a54d-816cd1727427> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | http://videolectures.net/iswc07_pell_nlpsw/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703500028.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20210116044418-20210116074418-00706.warc.gz | en | 0.895535 | 356 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The madness of Ophelia has been a topic of fascination for critics and directors alike. The fascination for directors was about creativity. Madness can be quite theatrical. A young woman gone mad, speaking in vague sentences, obsessed with flowers. It's visual and dramatic. Madness can indeed be quite theatrical.
Critics discussed everything from the role of this sub-plot in the play, the psychology of the character, the symbolism of the flowers, the social criticism in the graveyard scenes. Madness, at least as depicted in drama, fascinates us.
Would we still find her so fascinating if she were never mad at all?
In Act 4, Scene 5, Laertes says of Ophelia words:"This nothing's more than matter."
This phrase reminds me of a similar phrase said of another character who seemed to be mad. In Act 2, Scene 2, Polonius says of Hamlet:"Though this be madness, there is method in't." The second half of this is the origin for "there is method in his madness." Of course, in that scene, we, the audience, know that Hamlet is faking it. Are there any similarities between Hamlet's story and Ophelia's story that may suggest that she might have been doing the same thing?
Hamlet faked his madness so he could investigate his father's death. Ophelia's father was killed by Hamlet in Act 3, Scene 4, in humiliating circumstances. We, the audience have seen that. However, within the context of the story, it is unlikely that it would be common knowledge that the "mad" prince killed the King's adviser in a fit of rage. In fact, when Laertes returns, he knows of his father's death, but it is the King who tells him that Hamlet was the killer. Thus, we can safely assume that the circumstances of Polonius's death would not have been common knowledge.
Both Hamlet and Ophelia had a father who dies a suspicious death (as far as they knew). Both acted mad afterwards. Different characters said of both that their words mean more than they appear to mean.
It would not be unreasonable to conclude that Ophelia was never mad at all. She did the same thing Hamlet did. Pretended to be mad, allowing her to say things she otherwise couldn't. Picking up bits of conversation, when people might let their guard down around her. At some moment she may have asked herself the same question Hamlet did – to be or not be? – and while Hamlet chose to go one way, she chose the other. One can only speculate as for her reasons – she may have found out what really happened. It may be the difference between a rational and emotional decision, conforming to the perception of the period that women in plays must be emotional, while only men could be rational. It is a ripe field for discussion and speculation.
One could see Laertes picking up the looking-glass plot where she left it off, playing out the rest of it, the revenge.
The Tragedy of Ophelia is an unwritten story, yet to be explored. | <urn:uuid:530a0834-6f92-4d3d-a737-8c5a7b78cf8d> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | https://bruck.translation.org.il/the-method-in-her-madness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232256546.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20190521182616-20190521204616-00172.warc.gz | en | 0.978955 | 648 | 3.375 | 3 |
Introduction: The Concept of a Balanced Garden Ecosystem
A garden is more than just a collection of plants and flowers. It’s a living, breathing ecosystem filled with various organisms that interact with each other. Maintaining a balance in this ecosystem ensures that your garden thrives and looks its best. An effective way to promote this balance is through the addition of water features, particularly bird baths with solar fountains.
The Role of Water Features in Garden Ecosystems
Water features, especially those that incorporate movement like fountains, serve as focal points in gardens. But beyond aesthetics, they play a vital role in enhancing the garden’s ecosystem. They provide hydration for plants and wildlife, promote aeration in the water, and create microenvironments that attract various beneficial organisms.
Benefits of Moving Water for Attracting Wildlife
The sound and sight of flowing water are universally appealing, not just to humans but to wildlife as well.
Inviting a Diverse Range of Birds: Birds are always on the lookout for reliable water sources. A moving fountain ensures that the water stays fresh, attracting a myriad of bird species to your garden, from songbirds to hummingbirds. Over time, as word spreads in the avian community, you’ll see a larger diversity of birds visiting your garden.
Benefiting Beneficial Insects: Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies are just a few of the beneficial insects that are drawn to water features. These insects play crucial roles in pollination and controlling pests, promoting a healthier garden ecosystem.
The Solar Advantage: Clean and Green Energy
Solar-powered bird baths harness the power of the sun, converting it into energy to keep the fountain running. This green energy source means there are no wires, no added electricity costs, and no environmental impact. Moreover, solar fountains are often easier to install and move around, providing flexibility in garden design.
Reducing Mosquito Proliferation
Stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The continuous movement of water in a solar fountain disrupts the mosquito’s breeding cycle, reducing their proliferation. This means fewer pests in your garden and a reduced risk of mosquito-borne diseases.
Enhancing Plant Growth and Health
While the primary beneficiaries of bird baths are birds, the surrounding plants also gain from this feature. As birds bathe and splash, the nearby plants receive a gentle watering. Additionally, the regular visitors drop seeds, leading to spontaneous growth of new plants. The water from the fountain also adds humidity to the air, benefiting plants that thrive in such conditions.
Conclusion: An Ecosystem Boost with Solar Fountains
Integrating a solar bird bath fountain into your garden is more than just an aesthetic choice. It’s a step towards creating a balanced, thriving ecosystem that benefits every organism within it. From inviting diverse wildlife to promoting plant health and using sustainable energy, the advantages are clear. As gardens evolve with time, incorporating eco-friendly and beneficial features like these will ensure they remain vibrant and lively sanctuaries for all to enjoy.
Discover the power of solar energy with ADT Solar. ADT Solar offers a range of services including solar installation, battery backup options, federal tax credits, certified Tesla Powerwall installation, roof replacement, and free energy efficiency home upgrades.
To learn more about going solar with ADT Solar, click here.
If you’re passionate about sustainable living and green technologies, don’t miss the chance to expand your knowledge and contribute to a greener future. Explore our diverse range of books on renewable energy and environmental conservation. Click here to start your journey towards sustainable knowledge today!
Learn more about going solar by clicking the following links: | <urn:uuid:46ee0c86-29c8-4f9e-8876-7ec7f6c1cf7c> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.reneenergy.com/post/how-bird-baths-with-solar-fountains-can-improve-your-garden-s-ecosystem | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474697.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20240228044414-20240228074414-00293.warc.gz | en | 0.926149 | 761 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Most parents are overjoyed when they hear their baby slowly pronounce his or her first word. There is an indescribable feeling of awe and excitement when your babbling baby, who just a few months ago was just learning to smile and crawl, can begin to enunciate the word “mama”, “dada”, or “toy.”
It really is amazing to observe the speech development of infants and toddlers and to notice how all of a sudden, nonsense baby talk (at least it sounds nonsensical to adults) starts to morph into sounds that resemble real words. Eventually, it becomes even more exciting when your baby slowly starts stringing together newly-learned words to form elementary sentences. And this is just the start of many years of speech and language development.
Parents’ Involvement in Speech Development
As a caring parent, you have more influence on your child’s learning and speech development than you may think. Since humans are adaptable beings, early-life coaching, concentrated learning, and structured play can be tremendously helpful for your child’s cognitive progress. Most likely, you spend the longest durations of time with your developing child (especially during the earlier months and years), so you are most apt to assess their progress and to tenderly incite a love for learning from a young age.
However, since new parents rarely take a class on developmental learning for children before they’re given their parenting roles, a short list of what to expect at each age can be really helpful. Most parents would be surprised to find out that there are actually more than a few things they can do to stimulate learning in their young children.
Five Ways to Help Your Child Develop Speech Abilities
According to the National Institutes of Health, “The most intensive period of speech and language development for humans is during the first three years of life, a period when the brain is developing and maturing. These skills appear to develop best in a world that is rich with sounds, sights, and consistent exposure to the speech and language of others.” Here are just five things you can purposefully do as a parent to maximize your child’s speech and learning progress:
- Positive Reinforcement: It is no secret that human beings (and other living creatures) learn best when they receive encouraging feedback. Your child can benefit abundantly from positive visual and verbal reinforcement. For example, when your child attempts to repeat a difficult word that you just said, make sure to smile, nod, and verbally praise their attempt by saying something such as “Yes!”, “Wow” or “Good job!”.
- Listen and Respond: The best way to assess your child’s progress is to be cognizant of your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Listen attentively to your child and try to glean as much information about his or her needs, likes and dislikes, and overall perception of the world around him/her. The importance of listening cannot be understated; when a mother listens attentively to her child, she can respond effectively. Children will appreciate the personalized attention and their learning will naturally advance. Remember to respond in a natural voice and keep your responses simple but informative.
- Learning by Imitation: Repetition is very important when you’re trying to teach your child new words or phrases. Coupled with positive reinforcement when a milestone is reached (no matter how ‘small’), repetition guarantees that your child is properly exposed to enough material that can enhance his or her learning. Make sure to repeat any new word and enunciate clearly so your child can gain a better grasp on the way it’s pronounced and in which contexts the word is usually used.
- Regular Reading: Reading to your child may seem like basic advice to any parent, but one cannot overemphasize the importance of such an activity, especially since it has been shown to dramatically improve toddlers’ speech. Read age-appropriate material in a friendly, clear voice. Make sure to read slowly and with an expressive tone. Be especially sensitive to the way your child is reacting to the material and ask simple questions to encourage interaction.
- Learning is Fun: This is another point that may seem obvious at first, but is vital to keep in mind when teaching your child any skill. Keep the process lighthearted and fun, as well as choose carefully the learning material to reflect his or her budding interests. In other words, make sure the learning materials incorporate enough visual stimulation in the form of pictures or other multimedia that is entertaining for your child. To incite an enthusiastic response, consider adding songs and other interactive puzzles that make the experience fun!
The most important things to do as a parent are to monitor your child’s learning development and be aware of any incongruities between your child’s speech and reading level and the level anticipated for children of that age group. If you are not sure where to start, need quality resources, or believe that your child can benefit from a consultation with a trained pediatric speech therapist, do not hesitate to contact a respected speech therapy clinic in your area.
Chicago Speech Therapy Can Help
If you are concerned with your child’s speech or language development, please contact Chicago Speech Therapy by calling 312-399-0370 or by clicking on the “Contact Karen” button on the upper right section of this page.
Karen George is a Chicago speech-language pathologist. The practice she founded, Chicago Speech Therapy, LLC, provides in-home pediatric speech therapy in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Karen and her team of Chicago speech therapists have a reputation for ultra-effective speech therapy and work with a variety of speech disorders. Karen is the author of several books such as A Parent’s Guide to Speech and Language Milestones, A Parent’s Guide to Articulation, A Parent’s Guide to Speech Delay, A Parent’s Guide to Stuttering Therapy, and A Parent’s Guide to Pediatric Feeding Therapy. She is often asked to speak and has addressed audiences at top Children’s Hospitals and Northwestern University. Karen is highly referred by many Chicago-area Pediatricians and elite schools. | <urn:uuid:cccd8f15-64a1-47e0-8ec7-657de819460a> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://www.chicagospeechtherapy.com/5-ways-to-stimulate-speech-development-and-learning-in-your-toddler/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934804125.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20171118002717-20171118022717-00206.warc.gz | en | 0.95547 | 1,282 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Best buys for Africa: Reduced adolescence pregnancy through education
Adolescent pregnancy is major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries. The younger the age of the mother the higher the chance of developing pregnancy and childbearing complications including maternal and infant death. A cost-benefit analysis of providing structured school-based sexual and reproductive health education (SRHE) was conducted among a cohort of 1 million girls attending grade 4 to 8 in rural schools in Ethiopia. SRHE was delivered for one hour weekly for ten months in a year. Provision of SRHE cost 11 million USD with investment returns of 112 million USD, giving a Benefit-Cost ratio of 10.2. The estimated costs cover salary, educational materials and training. The benefits accumulate from reduced rates of maternal and infant mortalities, cost-savings from reduced incidence of pregnancy and birth-related complications and the value of time saved. The analysis did not include educational costs associated with increased school retention rates and benefits associated with increased future earnings due to more education and reduced rates of stillbirths and years lived with disability (YLD), which may underestimate the investment returns. Therefore, delaying pregnancy to a more appropriate age through SRHE has the potential to prevent undesirable and costly health, social and economic outcomes to the mother and the baby. However, despite the demonstrated good return to investment, there are controversies and disagreements among stakeholders including parents about the contents of the SRHE curriculum, which could negatively affect scale-up plans in different countries. | <urn:uuid:33678476-59c2-4071-afeb-c595579bf52b> | CC-MAIN-2023-50 | https://copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/best-buys-africa-reduced-adolescence-pregnancy-through-education | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679100304.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20231201183432-20231201213432-00570.warc.gz | en | 0.963639 | 299 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Most babies are born healthy. But a small number have serious medical conditions that can only be detected by a blood test. So state-required screening of newborns is done to test for serious health problems. All the conditions require treatment before the baby would ever show any symptoms.
Dr. Alex Kemper of Duke Children's Primary Care explains that the testing began in the 1950s to screen for phenylketonuria or PKU. Now babies are screened for more than 29 conditions, including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease and, more recently, hearing impairment.
Newborns are routinely screened in North Carolina. It doesn't depend on your ability to pay. You won't need to do anything to ensure the tests are done in the hospital, though it's always good to make sure your baby was tested before you go home.
You'll learn the results of the hearing test before you leave the hospital. It will take about a week for the blood test results to be ready. Your pediatrician should receive the results of the test.
If your infant tests positive for a condition, it doesn't necessarily mean there's a problem. It does mean that more testing is required.
For more information about newborn screening, go to dukehealth.org. | <urn:uuid:c67522bb-c664-41f9-80bf-7060864f3b79> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/goaskmom/blogpost/7282472/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698542695.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170902-00208-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960364 | 258 | 3.09375 | 3 |
SALT LAKE CITY – Brain scans from nearly 200 adolescent boys provide evidence that the brains of compulsive video game players are wired differently. Chronic video game play is associated with hyperconnectivity between several pairs of brain networks. Some of the changes are predicted to help game players respond to new information. Other changes are associated with distractibility and poor impulse control. The research, a collaboration between the University of Utah School of Medicine, and Chung-Ang University in South Korea, was published online in Addiction Biology on Dec. 21, 2015.
“Most of the differences we see could be considered beneficial. However the good changes could be inseparable from problems that come with them,” says senior author Jeffrey Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neuroradiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Those with Internet gaming disorder are obsessed with video games, often to the extent that they give up eating and sleeping to play. This study reports that in adolescent boys with the disorder, certain brain networks that process vision or hearing are more likely to have enhanced coordination to the so-called salience network. The job of the salience network is to focus attention on important events, poising that person to take action. In a video game, the enhanced coordination could help a gamer to react more quickly to the rush of an oncoming fighter. And in life, to a ball darting in front of a car, or an unfamiliar voice in a crowded room.
“Hyperconnectivity between these brain networks could lead to a more robust ability to direct attention toward targets, and to recognize novel information in the environment,” says Anderson. “The changes could essentially help someone to think more efficiently.” Follow up studies will be needed to directly determine whether the boys with these brain differences do better on performance tests.
A more troublesome finding is a coordination between two brain regions, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction, that is more strong than in individuals who are not compulsive video game players. “Having these networks be too connected may increase distractibility,” says Anderson. The same change is seen in patients with neuropsychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, Down’s syndrome, and autism, and in people with poor impulse control. At this point it’s not known whether persistent video gaming causes rewiring of the brain, or whether people who are wired differently are drawn to video games.
This work is the largest, most comprehensive investigation of differences in the brains of compulsive video game players to date, says first author Doug Hyun Han, M.D., Ph.D., professor at Chung-Ang University School of Medicine and adjunct associate professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Study participants were screened in South Korea, where video game playing is a major social activity, much more than in the United States. The Korean government supports his research with the goal of finding ways to identify and treat addicts.
In this study, researchers performed magnetic resonance imaging on 106 boys between the ages of 10 to 19 who were seeking treatment for Internet gaming disorder, a psychological condition that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) says warrants further research. The brain scans were compared to those from 80 boys without the disorder, and analyzed for regions that were activated simultaneously when participants were at rest. The more frequently two brain regions light up at the same time, the stronger the functional connectivity.
The team analyzed activity in 25 pairs of brain regions, 300 combinations in all. Specifically, boys with Internet gaming disorder had statistically significant, functional connections between the following pairs of brain regions:
- Auditory cortex (hearing) – motor cortex (movement)
- Auditory cortex (hearing) – supplementary motor cortices (movement)
- Auditory cortex (hearing) – anterior cingulate (salience network)
- Frontal eye field (vision) – anterior cingulate (salience network)
- Frontal eye field (vision) – anterior insula (salience network)
- Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex – temporoparietal junction | <urn:uuid:c076e49a-37ac-425e-8be0-6bbcff4354ea> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.lukor.net/2016/01/10/wired-for-gaming-brain-differences-in-compulsive-video-game-players/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243989012.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20210509183309-20210509213309-00382.warc.gz | en | 0.946504 | 851 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Normally I do a spotlight on a specific variety of a plant, but today’s spotlight is on a species of flowering plant that has been grown in gardens for centuries: Calendula officianalis. The cheery orange or yellow blossoms of Calendula are a familiar sight in many gardens, including ours here at Happy Acres. The plants typically grow to about 18-24 inches (45-60 cm) tall. Both the gray-green foliage and the flowers have a sticky feel to them due to the resin content, which is an important part of this plants’ legendary healing properties.
Native to the Mediterranean area, Calendula is an easy to grow plant that is not fussy about soil type or growing conditions. It can be grown in part shade to full sun, and is well suited to container culture – hence the common name “pot marigold.” Though Calendula is not a true marigold (most of which are various Tagetes species), they are both members of the large Asteraceae family, which includes other garden favorites like Coneflowers, Zinnias, Dahlias and Chrysanthemums. The Latin name Calendula refers to the fact that in mild climates it blooms every month of the year, while officianalis means that it is used in the practice of medicine. The flowers are also edible, and attract beneficial insects to your garden.
Calendula is an annual plant that is easily grown from seed. You can sow the seeds in spring directly in the garden or container after the last frost. Or, do like I do and start the seed indoors a couple of weeks before the last frost and set out seedlings when the weather has settled. Gardeners in areas with mild winters can also sow seed in fall. The seed should be sown about 1/4-1/2″ (1 cm) deep, since seeds germinate better without light. If flowers are left to form seeds, the plant will also self-sow quite readily, with volunteers appearing when conditions are favorable for germination.
In our garden the Calendula blooms almost non-stop during the summer and fall. Like many folks, we grow Calendula for its healing and soothing properties. The flower heads have anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects that make it an invaluable plant for your personal medicine chest. Calendula also has high amounts of flavenoids, which are anti-oxidants that protect cells from free radicals. The dried petals of Calendula are used in tinctures, salves and washes to treat burns, rashes, cuts and other skin conditions.
The flowers should be harvested often, as letting them go to seed can slow down flower production. Ideally they should be harvested in the morning, after any dew has dried but before the heat of the sun drives out the volatile components. But in reality, any time you can harvest is a good time! Pinching the plants back will encourage bushier growth and more flowers, but our plants seem to produce plenty of flowers without much fuss or pampering on our part. The flowers in the below photo came from our seven plants, and we can count on harvesting that amount every three or four days.
For tinctures, the flowers can be used fresh. Mother Earth Living has an article that discusses how to do that. The flowers can also be soaked in water to make a soothing skin wash for burns or irritated skin. But for infusing in oil, which is our favorite use for them, the flowers need to be thoroughly dried.
We use a dehydrator set at a low temperature to dry ours, but they can also be air-dried. Either way, they need to be dried until they are crisp and no hint of moisture remains. We dry the whole flower heads, though you can also pluck the petals out and dry only them.
Describing how to infuse the flowers in oil warrants a post of its own, so I will be back in a few days and talk about different ways to do that. Until then, I hope you’ve enjoyed this spotlight on a plant that is both lovely to look at and so very useful as well!
To see my other Saturday Spotlights, visit the Variety Spotlights page. | <urn:uuid:e96c8b82-ecac-4f3a-8a11-ca30ecc6452a> | CC-MAIN-2020-34 | https://happyacres.blog/2013/10/05/saturday-spotlight-calendula/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-34/segments/1596439739177.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20200814040920-20200814070920-00227.warc.gz | en | 0.949133 | 885 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Why do apple trees lose their leaves in the winter?
Apple trees, like many other deciduous trees, lose their leaves in the winter due to the cold and lack of sunlight. In the absence of sunlight and heat, photosynthesis is not possible and leaves prepare to shed to conserve energy. In the spring, when the weather begins to warm and sunlight returns, the apple tree will prepare to produce new leaves as part of its normal growth cycle.
What is short cycling and why does it matter?
Short cycling is an issue that’s encountered with heating and cooling systems, such as furnaces and air conditioners, in which the equipment will turn on and off in short, frequent cycles. This not only decreases the efficiency of the unit, but it increases the wear and tear on the equipment, which can lead to premature failure. It also wastes energy, adding to the higher energy costs.
What is Spring Boot port?
By default, Spring Boot applications use port 8080 for HTTP and 8443 for HTTPS. However, these ports can be easily changed by specifying different port numbers in application properties or command line arguments.
How do you know when a rose bush is full grown?
The size of a mature shrub rose will depend on the variety, but in general, a shrub rose will reach a height of 4-5 feet and a width of 3-4 feet. A shrub rose is typically considered to be full-grown when it reaches its maximum height and width.
How to clean an USB flash drive?
1. Disconnect the USB flash drive from your computer, then turn it off.
2. Use an antistatic cloth to wipe any dust or debris from the USB drive.
3. If possible, use a soft brush to remove any particles stuck in between the USB contacts.
4. To sanitize, use an alcohol-based wipe, or a cloth dipped in isopropyl alcohol and carefully clean the USB drive. Avoid getting any liquid inside the drive.
5. Use a clean, dry cloth to wipe any remaining alcohol from the USB drive.
6. Reconnect the USB flash drive to your computer.
What is an underground storage tank fee?
An underground storage tank fee is a fee imposed by the government on a business that owns or operates an underground storage tank (UST). This fee is used to cover the cost of regulating, inspecting, cleaning up, and maintaining USTs and to cover any potential damage to the environment caused by leaking fuel from a UST. | <urn:uuid:3fd82b32-9728-4989-8d1f-3ab477ee5dd4> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://www.computersmadeinusa.com/question/IMMvC0s5ai.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499710.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20230129080341-20230129110341-00752.warc.gz | en | 0.939642 | 519 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Boeing calls it the SPUD test. It stands for "Synthetic Personnel Using Dielectric Substitution" - a fancy way of saying, we used potatoes to stand in for people in radio testing.
Last summer, inside a retired DC-10 parked in the Arizona desert, Boeing engineers loaded sacks of potatoes in the shape of people sitting in 150 seats.
"One of our team members proposed the use of potatoes, due to the fact that potatoes have a very similar dielectric constant to humans," said Dennis Lewis, a Boeing associate technical fellow in the area of microwave and antenna metrology for the company's Test and Evaluation organization.
Lewis measures and calibrates electric equipment very precisely. And pound for pound, he says the potatoes affect radio waves like people do. For a long running experiment, actual people weren't going to sit still for that long.
Please tell us about any errors you find in our stories. Copy the page address above before clicking on this link to fill out the form. To simply comment on a story you've seen, email firstname.lastname@example.org.More >>
We take all of the elements of our stories seriously. Please tell us about any errors you find. Copy the page address above before clicking on this link to fill out the form. If you're looking to comment on a story you've seen or read, email that to email@example.com.More >>
3719 Central Avenue Fort Myers, FL 33901
Main Phone: (239) 939-2020 Newsroom Phone: (239) 939-6223 | <urn:uuid:674f2e9b-95da-4dc3-ad83-ea249b16aa34> | CC-MAIN-2014-23 | http://www.abc-7.com/story/20429521/spuds-in-flight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-23/segments/1405997894865.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20140722025814-00000-ip-10-33-131-23.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905797 | 330 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Annual property losses from hurricanes and other coastal storms of $35 billion; a decline in crop yields of 14 percent, costing corn and wheat farmers tens of billions of dollars; heat wave-driven demand for electricity costing utility customers up to $12 billion per year.
These are among the economic costs that climate change is expected to exact in the United States over the next 25 years, according to a bipartisan report released on Tuesday. And that's just for starters: The price tag could soar to hundreds of billions by 2100.
Commissioned by a group chaired by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Secretary of the Treasury and Goldman Sachs alum Henry Paulson, and environmentalist and financier Tom Steyer, the analysis "is the most detailed ever of the potential economic effects of climate change on the U.S.," said climatologist Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton University.
The report lands three weeks after President Barack Obama ordered U.S. regulators to take their strongest steps ever to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including requiring power plants to cut carbon dioxide emissions to 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Called "Risky Business," the report projects climate impacts at scales as small as individual counties. Its conclusions about crop losses and other consequences are based not on computer projections, which climate-change skeptics routinely attack, but on data from past heat waves.
It paints a grim picture of economic loss. "Our economy is vulnerable to an overwhelming number of risks from climate change," Paulson said in a statement, including from sea-level rise and from heat waves that will cause deaths, reduce labor productivity and strain power grids.
By mid-century, $66 billion to $106 billion worth of coastal property will likely be below sea level. There is a 5 percent chance that by 2100 the losses will reach $700 billion, with average annual losses from rising oceans of $42 billion to $108 billion along the Eastern Seaboard and Gulf of Mexico.
Extreme heat, especially in the Southwest, Southeast and upper Midwest, will slash labor productivity as people are unable to work outdoors at construction and other jobs for sustained periods. The analysis goes further than previous work, said Princeton's Oppenheimer, by identifying places that will be "unsuited for outdoor activity."
Demand for electricity will surge as people need air conditioning just to survive, straining generation and transmission capacity. That will likely require the construction of up to 95 gigawatts of generation capacity over the next 5 to 25 years, or roughly 200 average-size coal or natural gas power plants.
As utilities add the construction costs to customers' bills, people and businesses will pay $8.5 billion to $30 billion more every year by the middle of the century.
The report does not make policy prescriptions, concluding only that "it is time for all American business leaders and investors to get in the game and rise to the challenge of addressing climate change." | <urn:uuid:10d63929-bafd-488e-b3d8-66c9f2297451> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | http://health-insurance-plans.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/06/24/Vast-Out-Control-Costs-Climate-Change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376825916.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20181214140721-20181214162221-00609.warc.gz | en | 0.949208 | 594 | 2.765625 | 3 |
to sell goods abroad
to buy goods from foreign markets
farm crop raised to be sold for money
farming in which only enough food to feed ones family is produced
a trade route that exchanged goods between the West Indies, the American colonies, and West Africa
a part of the Triangular trade when enslaved Africans were shipped to the West Indies,also the most inhuman part of the triangle trade
excess; amount left over after necessary expenses are paid
a region of flat, low-lying plains along the seacoast,also where most of the large southern plantations were located
a region of hills and forests west of the Tidewater
person who supervises a large operation or its workers
laws passed in the Southern states that controlled and restricted enslaved people
colony established by a group of settlers who had been given a formal document allowing them to settle
colony run by individuals or groups to whom land was granted
colony run by a governor and a council appointed by the king or queen
Please allow access to your computer’s microphone to use Voice Recording.
We can’t access your microphone!
Click the icon above to update your browser permissions above and try again
Reload the page to try again!
Press Cmd-0 to reset your zoom
Press Ctrl-0 to reset your zoom
It looks like your browser might be zoomed in or out. Your browser needs to be zoomed to a normal size to record audio.
Your microphone is muted
For help fixing this issue, see this FAQ. | <urn:uuid:4e17a4d8-84cd-4eba-ad40-fb49e65a629d> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | https://quizlet.com/29963550/chapter-4-word-list-1-14-flash-cards/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257823802.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071023-00212-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927908 | 316 | 3.125 | 3 |
Every day around the world, a vast amount of energy is used to power heating and cooling systems in industry and your home. Sustainable solutions are required to ensure that this energy is renewable. Microporous aluminophosphates are a promising solution because they can use solar energy or waste heat for adsorption-driven heat transformation.
In Advanced Energy Materials, Professor Mali and Professor Logar from the National Institute of Chemistry and University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia, and co-workers, have investigated one potential candidate in this class of materials: aluminophosphate with Linde Type A (LTA) topology (ALPO-LTA).
When the porous aluminophosphate-LTA framework is dried using energy from renewable sources, its structure becomes activated. The material can be stored in the obtained state for a very long time without thermal losses. At a later stage, when water is returned to aluminophosphate-LTA in a controlled fashion, upon the adsorption of water molecules into its pores the stored energy is released as sensible heat.
X-ray diffraction and proton and Al-27 NMR spectroscopy showed that hydration of aluminophosphate-LTA follows a one-step mechanism of pore-to-pore hydration as opposed to gradual filling of multiple pores observed in many other microporous materials. DFT calculations performed for the related aluminophosphate-34 revealed that the sudden uptake of water is driven by framework deformation, whereby coordination of water molecules to Al atoms leads to a localized change in Al coordination from four to six, making the material more hydrophilic and triggering a sudden uptake of water molecules and formation of water clusters inside the pores.
Aluminophosphate-LTA exhibits superior energy-storage capability compared to the most promising porous materials in this field, including aluminophosphate-34 and metal-organic framework materials. It has the largest cooling power, along with a remarkable thermal stability up to 900 °C. It also retains structural integrity in the calcined framework after repeated dehydration/rehydration cycling, and has the largest known water uptake in a narrow pressure range. Importantly, it attains 90% capacity at only 60 °C, making it suitable for long-term solar-heat storage—even in regions without extended periods of intense solar irradiation.
To find out more, please visit the Advanced Energy Materials homepage. | <urn:uuid:a2a7982f-9138-4cf9-8aec-47cef497cf27> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/microporous-aluminophosphate-solar-energy-storage/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707948223038.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20240305060427-20240305090427-00244.warc.gz | en | 0.919666 | 502 | 3.25 | 3 |
Access to information online often leads patients to diagnose themselves, making the job of healthcare professionals more difficult, doctors say.
"People type in their symptoms into Google and the results cause them to go into a panic," said Dr Aamerah Shah, of the American Hospital Dubai. "Symptoms can lead to either a simple or very serious diagnosis. But for some reason they don't pick up the minor things, only the major or fatal ones."
Pre-appointment research is common among younger, tech-savvy patients, doctors said.
Nearly a quarter of Dr Shah's patients research before they visit her, with cancer a common concern.
"Patients read 'cancer' online and they start to worry," she said. "They want to be fully investigated and they want every kind of scan. Then you have to sit with the patient and convince them that they don't need certain procedures done."
Dr Ihab Ramadan, a specialist in internal medicine at Medcare Hospital, said research had its uses.
"I would like it if a diabetic patient went online and researched the kinds of food he should eat and how to monitor his blood-sugar levels."
Dr Shah said it was also important that patients know where to look for the information.
"It should be from a credible source - usually websites that are validated by a known medical body," she said. | <urn:uuid:74922e11-66fa-4e84-a366-96056f117cb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/health/dont-believe-all-you-read-on-net | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705958528/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120558-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979161 | 280 | 2.515625 | 3 |
March is Women’s History Month, so it’s a perfect time of the year to look back and see how far women in cybersecurity have come. From pioneering tech to achieving a gender-equal future in today’s world, it’s a story of invention, strength and achievement.
A Brief History of Women in Cybersecurity
If you asked someone in the 1800s or earlier, few would have guessed we would have a world where women and men are allies in each and every field. Today, we see women making major tech advances and men extending full support wherever required.
The stepping stones for women in cybersecurity date back to the 1940s, when the computer industry was still in its nascent stage. Brave women called code girls cracked German and Japanese codes to help win World War II. It all started when letters appeared in the mailboxes of a select group of young women attending the Seven Sisters colleges. Chosen for their aptitude in subjects as math, English, history and foreign languages, these students were invited from various fields and offered to join the secretive wartime government project.
Code breaker Virginia D. Aderholt became the first American to learn that World War II had formally ended in 1945. She was one of 10,000 women who were the foremothers of who we now call women in cybersecurity. They worked behind the scenes of wartime intelligence.
Many women were among the first programmers who worked on the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer program at the University of Pennsylvania, calculating weapons trajectories in the 1940s. These women have led us all with their courage and grit and cleared the path for all of us. Since then, we have continued to conquer.
Women in Cybersecurity Today
We have overcome obstacles and achieved amazing successes today. When people see us succeed, they only see the glorious achievement and recognition that today’s women have. But what people fail to see is the hard work, persistence, sacrifice, failure and loss overcome throughout history.
Today, women comprise 24% of the cybersecurity workforce. They act as leaders in all fields, being role models and setting great examples in the workplace. All of this would not have been possible without the support and open doors that today’s women have received from their male counterparts.
Groups and Missions
That said, there is still a long way to go. An estimated $100 billion is lost every year in the U.S. alone, and roughly 508,000 jobs in the U.S. are lost every year due to cyber crime. With a global economic impact of $600 billion, cybersecurity is in dire need of more workers. On top of that, an increase in working from home has boosted the demand for protection for personal devices. The increase in the demand for flexible and agile online working spaces has opened a door to new potential security threats.
A number of groups and projects are already in place for boosting cyber awareness, gender diversity and equality. Women in Security Excelling, Women in Cybersecurity, Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu, InfosecGirls, Women in Technology, AnitaB.org and OWASP Women in AppSec are leading the field. These organizations have been working hard and passionately so that women in cybersecurity can freely share their wisdom with the world. They have provided much-needed impetus for women in cybersecurity to outperform and exceed in the mission of making a secure world. Programs are held globally to increase awareness among the younger generations — CyberDay4Girls program, CyberWeekforFamilies and WICYS Student Chapter, to name a few.
Why Having More Diversity Matters
Our industry is still in need of a large and diverse workforce. We need experts more than ever to educate people. After all, that knowledge is the key to making our world secure.
But no matter how secure a system is built, there is always one weak link: humans. We’re easy prey for threat actors. It takes only one mistake to cause a breach that could be disastrous.
The answer to safer computing is having a diverse workforce. Diversity brings different perspectives and fresh outlooks to the table, which can change the status quo. It’s time to train and educate a diverse workforce that is gender-neutral and promises equal chances for all.
Women in cybersecurity need to support each other — sharing our thoughts, personalizing our brands, championing ourselves, connecting to colleagues, having wider reach and encouraging fellow women in cybersecurity to aim for bigger targets. From there, we can help keep the whole field safer. | <urn:uuid:1dce7bae-e288-4c2f-a333-52a8829d8a3f> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://securityintelligence.com/posts/women-in-cybersecurity-diversity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662578939.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20220525023952-20220525053952-00634.warc.gz | en | 0.9636 | 932 | 3.4375 | 3 |
If you’ve been to a wedding in the past few years, there’s a good chance the couple who tied the knot came from different racial backgrounds. Or at least, given the increasing diversity of the United States and more open hearts and minds, interracial marriage is more likely than it used to be.
Indeed, a 2015 analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Pew Research Center found that “17% of all U.S. newlyweds had a spouse of a different race or ethnicity.”
That’s up from 3% in 1967, the year interracial marriage became fully legal in the United States. That year the United States Supreme Court ruled in the famous Loving v. Virginia case, which declared that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. Until this ruling, interracial marriages were still against the law in 16 states, and interracial couples faced harassment and imprisonment.
But, given that humanity’s oneness is one of the core principles, the Baha'i Faith champions and encourages interracial marriage in its holy writings. Abdu’l-Baha, one of the central figures of the Baha’i Faith, wrote more than 50 years earlier:
If it be possible, gather together these two races, black and white, into one assembly and put such love into their hearts that they shall not only unite but even intermarry. Be sure that the result of this will abolish differences and disputes between black and white. Moreover by the will of God, may it be so. This is a great service to the world of humanity.
With spiritual guidance and support like this from Abdu'l-Baha, many interracial Baha'i couples had the inspiration they needed not to let hateful anti-miscegenation laws stop them from marrying the loves of their lives. Farnazeh and Jack Guillebeaux, an Iranian woman and a Black man, were one of these couples. In this video interview for The Race Unity Project, they tell the touching story of their pre-Loving Decision wedding.
“We were aware that interracial marriages were forbidden in North Carolina, so we knew that, in order to get married, we had to leave the state,” Farnazeh says in the clip. “And since we had to leave the state, although that wasn’t the closest place possible, we decided we had to go to the Baha’i Temple in Chicago and got married there.”
The temple Farzaneh refers to is the Baha’i House of Worship in suburban Wilmette, Illinois. It’s one of eight continental Baha’i temples and is the only one located in North America. Abdu’l-Baha himself laid the cornerstone for the structure during his visit to the United States in 1912, and people of all faith backgrounds — or no faith at all — are welcome there. Farzaneh says they were so excited to visit this special holy place for the first time that they “just ran around watching the temple from all sides.”
After they got married, they went back to Asheville, North Carolina to have their wedding reception at the local YWCA, which Farzaneh says was “probably one of the only places that you could have an interracial meeting” at the time.
She recalls that “As we were dancing on the dance floor, I pointed to some people, and I was saying, ‘Jack, are those your friends or people you invited?’ He said, ‘No, I thought you knew them.’ So, we discovered that a lot of townspeople had just shown up to see if this really was going to happen or not.”
“Some people wanted to experience this,” Jack says. He explains that it was the first time anything like that had happened in Asheville or in North Carolina that anybody knew of. And some hateful people were angry that the YWCA was hosting an interracial wedding ceremony, because several years later, Jack’s mother informed him that there had been a bomb scare that night.
Spotlighting personal and inspiring interracial stories like these is the goal of The Race Unity Project, an initiative produced by Journalism for Change, Inc, a nonprofit media organization founded by filmmaker and human rights activist Maziar Bahari. Through interviews with Baha’is from around the country, the project tells “the century-long story of the American Baha’i community and its efforts — as well as its tests and challenges — in promoting race unity.”
Videos from “The Race Unity Project” include a variety of candid interviews about race — including stories of how the Baha'i gospel choir fosters friendships with people from all over the world and reflections on how the Baha'i Faith affirms and empowers Black people.
Watch as Farnazeh and Jack Guillebeaux share more about how the Asheville community’s attitude toward interracial marriage changed and the warm response they received when they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.
Radiance Talley is the community and content manager at BahaiTeachings.org. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in communication, a College Park Scholars Arts Citation, and a cognate in journalism. In addition to her writing, drawing, presentation, and public speaking experience, Radiance...READ MORE | <urn:uuid:68322f93-c98b-4aae-ba39-5e46e0c76cd8> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://bahaiteachings.org/how-interracial-couple-helped-changed-minds-hearts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506479.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20230923030601-20230923060601-00255.warc.gz | en | 0.974343 | 1,138 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Health and inclusion in the classroom
When nurturing talent is your main focus
Does your indoor environment help or hinder? A recent study on the effects of traffic pollution on school children in Barcelona shows that students who spend their school day in clean air have a 50% greater cognitive development than children who experience higher levels of pollution.
This is disturbing, but there is something that can be done about it.
LightAir offers a proven path to the equal-opportunity classroom with a supportive learning environment. This enables you to achieve greater success through improved health at your school.
Inclusion and equality in the classroom?
Improve wellbeing and reduce sick days at your school
Indoor air quality is extremely important for any educational activity.
Poor indoor air leads to impaired cognitive ability, poorer concentration, tiredness, headaches, and respiratory tract irritation. This adversely impacts quality of life, but also the energy and performance levels for students as well as staff.
We’re here to help! Let’s discuss proven and efficient solutions for the highest possible quality in indoor air, with industry-leading noise level and energy consumption.
Provides double protection, through active and passive air purification
A comprehensive solution that protects you from airborne viruses, as well as effectively addressing the smallest and most harmful particles. Enabling you to focus on what is important – providing full inclusion while nurturing and developing talents.
- Airborne viruses, while they’re still in the air
EFFECTIVELY FILTERS OUT:
- Ultra-fine dust
- Mold spores
- Traffic pollution
- Printer particles
- Animal allergens
Tom is five years old. He is energetic, beautiful, and charming.
However, he has got some extra challenges and battles to be fought. He has cystic fibrosis which makes him extremely sensitive to virus and bacterial infections. To provide a safer environment a LightAir Health+ solution has been installed at his school.
According to tests, the solution lowered the level of harmful particles in Tom’s classroom with 86% after only 30 minutes usage. It has also decreased the spread of infections among all the children and teachers, reducing the number of sick days with 20%.
Certify your classrooms
When you equip your school with the dual action of air purification and virus inhibition of the LightAir Health+ solution, the change will be instantly noticeable.
Accompanying certificates will also demonstrate to your faculty, staff, and students that you’ve taken action to provide clean and healthy air.
- purification efficiency and noise levels
Get in touch with us
Curious on how to provide your school with clean and virus free air? Easy to opt in and easy to opt out – just use the form below and you have started your journey to a better indoor air climate. | <urn:uuid:a7599a8f-f8da-48d7-a44f-2e54857808cd> | CC-MAIN-2021-49 | https://lightair.com/professional-solutions/business-areas/education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-49/segments/1637964363290.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20211206072825-20211206102825-00634.warc.gz | en | 0.942256 | 621 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Stephen P. Morse , San Francisco
1. Did New York have its own census, independent of the federal census?
The federal census was taken every ten years starting in 1790. New York State took its own census every ten years from 1825 to 1875, then again in 1892. They took three more in 1905, 1915, and 1925 and those were the last ones taken. Those last three are the most useful because of the specific questions they asked and because this was the time of a large influx of immigrants. This One-Step page focuses on those last three New York State censuses.
The censuses from 1825 to 1845 were more concerned with agriculture than with people. The only names listed were the heads of households. Many of those records have been lost. The 1855 to 1875 censuses listed every person in the household and their place of birth including state if born in the US and county if born in NY. There was no NY census in 1885 due to a fight between the governor and the legislature. The 1892 census is less useful than the preceding ones because it does not delimit families, does not show addresses, and asks only for the country of birth. The censuses from 1905 to 1925 once again delimited families but still asked only for the country of birth. There were no censuses taken after 1925 due to the high cost during the depression as well as the criminal mishandling of funds for the 1925 census.
For more details see the following sites:
2. What are AD and ED?
For the federal census, each county in each state is divided into enumeration districts (ED); an enumeration district is defined by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) as a "basic geographic area of a size that could be covered by a single census taker (enumerator) within one census period."
For election purposes New York is divided into assembly districts (AD) and each assembly district is divided into election districts (ED). Rather than defining new districts for the census, New York decided to use the existing AD/ED partitions and assign one election district to each enumerator (census taker). So a state AD/ED pair is equivalent to a federal ED. In the 1892 NY census, Wards were used instead of ADs, so substitute Ward for AD in the following discussion when applying it to 1892.
Do not confuse the federal term ED with the state term ED -- the former
is an acronym for enumeration district and the latter for election district.
3. Why do I need to know about AD/EDs?
In the 1890 Police Census and the 1905/15/25 New York State Censuses,
the information is arranged by AD/ED in the actual census microfilms.
(For 1892 it's Ward/ED as already mentioned). In order to locate a person,
you need to know the AD/ED in which that person's address was located at the
time the census was taken (i.e., the AD/ED of that address in the most recent
general election prior to the census date). So you need some means
for converting the person's address into an AD/ED pair. That's where
the information on this site may be helpful.
4. What can I do once I know the AD and ED?
At this point you are ready to access the actual census microfilm rolls and view the census page. The information you obtain from this website will tell you which microfilm roll you need.
All the censuses covered here except for the 1890 Police Census are available
online at the familysearch website. When you have obtained the AD/ED
of your address from this One-Step website, a "Display Image" button will
appear. Clicking that button will get you to the first page of that
AD/ED. From their you can navigate to the other pages in the AD/ED.
The 1890 Police Census is not online but can be viewed at many libraries.
One such library is the main branch of the New York Public Library at 42nd
Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. They can also be ordered by any
branch of the Family History Library of the Mormon Church.
5. How do I use this website?
The first step is the same for all years and boroughs.
1. Check the radio button corresponding to the census year you are interested in and the borough in which your address is located.The remaining instruction differ slightly depending on which year and borough you selected.
For 1915 Brooklyn and 1915 Manhattan:
2. Enter your address consisting of housenumber and street. Leave off the housenumber if you want to see the data for the entire street.For all other year/borough combination:
3. Press the submit button and you will see the AD/ED corresponding to that address.
2. Select the street you are interested in. A list of AD/EDs that this street passes through will be displayed.For all:
3. Select additional cross streets until the set of AD/EDs common to all is reduced to a single entry. If the two cross streets do not reduce the set to a single entry, add additional streets to complete the city block on which the address is located. Note that to do this, you need to pay careful attention as to which side of the street the address is located.
4. If you don't know the cross streets for your address, enter the housenumber in the present-day map section and press the Yahoo or Mapquest button. Of course the street name and/or the house numbers might have changed over the years. See question 12. Also for changed house numbers in Manhattan, see this online Atlas for the City of New York.
At this point the One-Step site will show you the AD/ED in which your address is located, and also the FHL microfilm roll number that contains that AD/ED. In some cases it might even tell you the page number within that AD/ED. A "Display Image" button will appear, and clicking on it will get you to the first frame of the specified AD/ED. If the page number was specified, scroll to that page, otherwise go page by page looking for the address you want. (For 1892 it's a bit more difficult since the addresses are not listed on the census pages.)
6. Does this website cover the entire state of New York?
Although the census was taken in the entire state, this website focuses
on New York City only. The city is divided into five boroughs -- namely
Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island.
7. Are the boroughs of New York City the same as counties?
Each borough is a county although the county names are not always the same
as the borough names. The boroughs of Bronx and Queens are indeed Bronx
County and Queens County. But Brooklyn is Kings County, Manhattan is
New York County, and Staten Island is Richmond County. For a history
of the boroughs and counties, see the paper entitled "Location, Location, Location in New York City."
8. Can I search for a person by name instead of by address?
There are two tools on the One-Step site that allow you to search the 1905/1915/1925 Census by name. The first tool is Searching the New York Census in One Step (familysearch.org) and the other is Searching the New York Census in One Step (ancestry.com). As the names imply, one ties in with the name index at familysearch.org (and is free to use) whereas the other ties in with the name index on ancestry.com (and requires a subscription to their site).
A One-Step project was started at one time to generate a name index for 1925 Brooklyn, but only a small portion of those records had been transcribed. That project was never completed. To see what was transcribed, go to the tool named Searching the Brooklyn 1925 Census in One Step.
9. What do I do if I do not have the address of the person I want to find?
There exist city directories for various years and various boroughs of New York City. A city directory is like a telephone book but without phone numbers. You can try accessing the directory closest to the year you are interested in. These directories can be accessed at many libraries, including the main branch of the New York Public Library (42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan) and at the Family History Libraries of the Mormon Church.
The following relevant city directories exist. For specific details, click on the borough name.
Manhattan and Bronx: yearly (occasionally biannually) from 1860 to 1922, 1925, 1931, 1933/34Some of the city directories are online at the New York Public Library website.
Brooklyn: yearly from 1822 to 1910, 1912, 1913, 1933/34
Queens1, Queens2, Queens3, Queens4: 1898, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1904, 1906/7, 1908/9, 1909/10, 1912, 1925, 1933/34
Staten Island: 1933/34
Other potential sources for a person's address are Social Security applications, old letters and envelopes, telephone directories, death certificates, birth certificates, naturalization papers, ship manifests, wedding certificates, school records, religious records, voter registration, and the U.S. Census records.
Another potential source for addresses is the Military Census of 1917 for New York State which is indexed by the first letter of the last name. That census is available for Manhattan at the New York County Clerk's Office (Division of Old Records) and for Brooklyn at the Kings County Clerk's Office. Also check the WWI draft registration cards which can be found at the National Archives and also on ancestry.com.
For Queens it may be possible to narrow down your AD/ED choices simply by knowing the community they lived in. Click on the following to see lists of communities and their corresponding AD/EDs.
Queen (1915 and 1925)
10. How was the data for this site obtained?
Suzanne Danet obtained the data for 1925 Brooklyn and 1925 Bronx
by transcribing tables found in books by Merton Sarvay. Joel Weintraub
augmented those files from FHL (Family History Library) fiches of 1925
NYC census maps. Joel also generated tables for 1925 Manhattan and
1925 Queens from the FHL fiches, and Bobby Furst did the same
for 1925 Staten Island. The information for 1915 Brooklyn and 1915
Manhattan came from files given to us by C. Marie Taylor that formed
the basis of an FHL publication for those boroughs. Elise Friedman
obtained the data for 1915 Queens from FHL films showing address to AD/ED
notations. The 1915 Staten Island and Bronx files were produced by
Joel from 1914 AD/ED maps provided by the New York Public Library, and additional
maps of the Bronx from the New York City Hall Library and the Bronx County
Clerk's Office. The 1905 Manhattan table was produced by plotting ED
boundaries from the New York Times of 1904 on a 1916 map, and transcribing
streets from within those EDs. Joel also transcribed Brooklyn 1905
by using boundary definitions from the Brooklyn Eagle for 1905.
See question 24 for a discussion on how the data was obtained for the 1892 census.
Numerous volunteers assisted in this project -- they are
Arlene FruchterWe are grateful that the Roswell Family History Center in Georgia and its director Karen Opp graciously donated the use of their digital scanner for this project.
We would also like to thank the Map Division of the New York Public Library
for providing us with maps of the Election Districts and with the 1893 map
11. What do I do if my borough/year is not fully covered on this website?
This question is no longer applicable. As of August 2006, all borough/year
combinations for which the 1905/1915/1925 censuses exists are fully covered
by this website.
12. What do I do if I can't find my street name on a current map.
Since you are searching for addresses that may be 100 years old, there's a good chance that the street name you are looking for has changed. This is particular true for Queens (for which many streets were renamed during the 1920s) and Staten Island. The One-Step website provides a good resource for finding a list of street-name changes for many urban areas. It is at
http://stevemorse.org/census/changes.htmlYou might also have to look at an old city directory (see question 9) if your address has also been renumbered. City directories often give the cross streets for the house numbers in existence as of the time the directory was printed.
13a. Why can't I get down to a single AD/ED for my 1925 address?
There are two ways to find the AD/ED depending on the specific year and borough (see question 5). One is to find it from the street address and the other from a set of cross streets. The problem occurs with the cross-street method. Let me explain why.
Assume that we have an AD/ED that consists of just one city block. And it is bounded on the top by North Street, on the bottom by South Street, on the left by West Street., and on the right by East Street. When you enter those four street names, the website searches for all AD/EDs that contain all four of the streets and finds the single AD/ED that satisfies the condition. That AD/ED value is displayed.
That part is simple. But now consider that we have the same city
block but it is cut diagonally into two AD/EDs. Each of those two AD/EDs
is a triangle that consists of exactly one half a city block. This
situation is not uncommon in the 1925 census. Let us assume that ED
1 is the upper left triangle and ED 2 is the lower right. So ED 1 consists
of North and West Streets only and ED 2 consists of South and East Streets
only. If those streets were all that we put into our tables, you would
get no AD/EDs when you entered the complete city block of North, East, South,
and West Streets. On the other hand, if we entered all four streets
for both EDs, you would get both AD/EDs. We decided that it was better
to give an extra AD/ED (which simply means that you'll have to look through
both) than to give none at all.
13b. Why can't I find my street/address within the shown AD/ED?
Unlike the federal Enumeration Districts that were produced for a specific federal census (taken every 10 years), New York State used existing Assembly District/Election District boundaries (which were intended for election purposes) for census purposes. Assembly District boundaries change when the state legislature reapportions its seats. That usually occurs after a census is taken (every 10 years). On the other hand, Election District boundaries are more fluid and can (and often do) change between elections (both local and statewide). If you can't find your address within the AD/ED we show, it might be because the AD/ED map we used when generating our tables wasn't the exact AD/ED map that was used for that specific census -- instead we might have unknowingly used an AD/ED map from a different (but close) time period. In this case, the utility should still get you to the right Assembly District, so look at the other EDs on your census film in that AD to see if you can locate the missing address. Please let us know if you do encounter problems of this sort.
See also question 19
14. Why were the streets in Queens changed so radically, and how do I handle that?
Queens originated as a number of small communities, each with their own street names, even if the same thoroughfare went through several of these cities. A street could change its name every few blocks!!! Over time, but especially in the 1910s and 1920s, the alphabetically-named streets were changed to numerical ones so that the street could have one name as it traversed the borough. This also led to a renumbering of the houses. This renaming and renumbering poses special problems for finding AD/EDs of addresses in 1915 and 1925. (Recall that the 1905 Queens census no longer exists.)
To simplify matters, the One Step ED finder for Queens lists both the old and new street names where possible. To distinguish them, the old name is followed by a pair of asterisks (**). For technical reasons, this was done for 1925 only and not for 1915 -- the streets listed for 1915 are always the old name.
Now suppose you have an address for Queens that you would like to look up. This might be the modern street name and house number, or it might be the old name and number. Furthermore, you might not know which it is. But you'll find out soon enough. Consider the following cases:
1915: You attempt to select your street name but don't find it in the list. That means you probably have the new street nameIf you encounter any of the above problems, here are some things you can do
1925: You find and select your street name and see a pair of asterisks after the name. Furthermore, your street name without the asterisks does not exist in the list. The means you have the old street name. (If your street name appears in the list both with and without the asterisks, and you don't know whether you have an old or new street name, you have a problem.)
1915 & 1925: You find and select your street name, but when you use the mapping program to find cross streets, it tells you that no such street exists. That means you probably have the old street name.
1915 & 1925: You find your street and housenumber using the mapping program but it is in a different part of Queens than you expected. That means you probably have an old house number.
If you can't find your street name in the One Step street list because you have the new name, check the One Step Queens Street Name-Change tables to find the old name.Well nobody said that Queens was going to be easy.
If you find the street in the One Step street list but can't find any of the cross streets, you will be presented with all the AD/EDs that the street passes through.You could look through each of these districts on the census sheets to find your house number.
You can reduce the number of AD/EDs that you need to look through by consulting our Queens AD/ED by Community table that shows which AD/EDs are in which section of Queens. You probably know the name of the section because people in Queens today still use the section name rather than Queens as part of their address (for example, Bayside NY instead of Queens NY).
You can reduce the number of AD/EDs even more if you knew the cross streets. For 1915 you'll need the old names of the cross streets, and you would ge that from the One Step Queens Street Name-Change tables. For 1925 it would be better if you had the new names for the street and cross streets because that portion of our street list is the most complete, but you might be able to search on the old street names as well.
15. Will I encounter any special problems with street renaming in Staten Island?
Yes. Like Queens, Staten Island is basically a collection of small communities that underwent street renumbering and renaming programs in the early 20th Century. This makes it difficult to find AD/EDs for old addresses when consulting new street maps. Here are some resources to use to make the search easier.
Click here for lists of street name changes for Staten Island (Richmond County).
If you have difficulty with a 1915 Staten Island address, then try to look
up the address on the One-Step Federal ED Finder,
making sure to choose 1910 at the top. Once you get the 1910 ED, use
table to find the conversion between the 1910 Federal ED number (Enumeration
District) and the 1915 State ED number (Election District). Note there
was only one AD (Assembly District) in Staten Island in 1915. There
probably isn't a perfect one to one correlation between the two, but the
table should get you to the right section of Staten Island.
16. Can this utility be used to help find voter registration records?
Like the census records, the voter registration records are also accessed by AD and ED. So the same AD/ED obtained from this utility can be used for voter registration look-ups -- at least for years close to 1905, 1915, and 1925.
Voter registration records will contain such information as naturalization, birth date, height, eye color, how long a resident of the area, and party affiliation. Don't expect women in the early years since they didn't have the right to vote in New York until 1919.
Although the records are inconsistent as to their availability, information
on voter registration during 1905 through 1925 can be found at the New York
Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Municipal Reference Library
at Chambers Street, and Registers of Voters of Queens and Richmond.
17. Why are there missing street names for the Bronx in 1915?
This question is no longer applicable. As of August 2006, all street
names for Bronx 1915 have been included.
18. Why do I sometimes get no AD/EDs after I have correctly entered the bounding streets for my city block?
Our search system is based on knowing all the street names within each AD/ED. If for some reason we are missing a street name from a particular AD/ED, and you enter that street name for the block you are searching, you will get no common AD/EDs.
There are several cases in which we might be missing a street name for a particular AD/ED. One case occurs when there has been a name change for the street since the year of the census. In that case we might include only the old (or the new) name in that AD/ED, and you have entered the name we do not show. Another case occurs when our tables were transcribed off of the census sheets themselves, and a street passing through an AD/ED has no population in that AD/ED. In that case the street will not appear on the census sheet although that street is a boundary street for a particular block in the AD/ED. Another reason might be that we simply made a mistake when transcribing the tables or the tables we obtained were incomplete.
If you encounter a situation in which you obtain no AD/EDs after entering
all the boundary streets for your block, please send us the specific example.
We'll examine it and if we determine that it is occurring because we are missing
a street in a particular AD/ED, we will add it. In the meantime, as
a work-around you can try eliminating one or more of the streets until you
do obtain AD/EDs. By experimenting you'll be able to narrow it down
to a small number of AD/EDs. Although that's not as good as having
a single AD/ED, it's better than having none. You can then look at
the street names within each of those AD/EDs (by clicking on the AD/ED button)
to determine which is the most likely to contain your address.
19. Why can't I find my street address in the AD/ED that you indicate?
Here are several possible reasons for this problem.
A renumbering of the streets may have occurred since the census date.
The census taker might have skipped that address, perhaps because nobody was home. However, at the end of the AD/ED sheets, the census taker usually went back, found missing people, and added them to the end of the section. Always check the end of the AD/ED for missing addresses.
The mapping programs we link to may give incorrect positional information on where the address is. That is why we provide links to more than one mapping program. If you have trouble finding an address within an AD/ED, check the other mapping program to verify that you have the correct streets bounding your city block. You should suspect this problem if you find, for example, only odd addresses for a street in the AD/ED when you expect an even number -- in which case the mapping program put you on the wrong side of the street, therefore in the wrong block, and as a consequence you arrived in the wrong AD/ED.
The geometry of your neighborhood might be such that it confuses the AD/ED
finder. We already discussed the problems with diagonal boundaries in
question 13a. Another example is when a cross street ends at the street
we are interested in and does not intersect the side of the street that our
number is on. To illustrate this, suppose we are interested in 123
Main Street and Main Street is a boundary street with the even numbers being
in one AD/ED and the odd ones being in another. And suppose that Little
Street ends at Main Street on the even side, right across the street from
number 123. In that case Little Street will be in the AD/ED that
contains the even numbers on Main Street, but will not be in the AD/ED that
contains the odd numbers. Therefore, if you enter Little Street in
the AD/ED finder, you will eliminate the AD/ED that contains the odd numbers
on Main Street.
20. What was the 1890 Police Census?
[The following answer is extracted from Howard Jensen's book on the 1890 Census and lightly edited.]
It was an every name census of New York City taken by the Police department.
The New York City Authorities did not feel the 1890 Federal Census gave
an accurate count of the city population. This meant the city did not
get a correct representation in Congress or get the proper State and Federal
The census was taken starting Monday September 29, 1890 and was about two
thirds done the first week and the original 947 books were completed October
14. Very few of the census books are dated or the page numbered.
There were 24 Assembly Districts (AD) and each AD had from 22 to 81 Election
Districts (ED). The enumeration for each of the 947 EDs was recorded
in a separate book. A policeman was assigned one ED and give an book
that had 20 lines to the page with columns for: Street, Number, Name,
Sex, Age Adult and Age Minor.
New York City and New York County in 1890 consisted of the island of Manhattan
and the West Bronx area and this was the area covered by this census.
The 1890 Federal Census had a count of 1,513,501 people in New York county.
As soon as each book was completed it was rushed to city hall where it was
checked against the Federal census. Additional names were found but
it was also noted that the police had missed some people, so they were sent
back with 61 new books to find those missed. The total number of books
were 1008 and the total count was 1,710,715; this amounted to a 13 percent
increase over the original 1890 federal census.
Of the 1008 books, 114 are missing. The remainder of the books have
been microfilmed and can be searched in New York City Archives, New York
City libraries and at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Library
in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Church has Family History Centers [FHC]
around the world and for a small fee you can order any of the 59 rolls of
film to search at one of these FHC.
Peculiarities (Applies to Howard Jensen's original book that used house numbers)
Some street names had rear or rear house added to the number. Some had 1/2 added to the number. Others had more than one number as 42 & 44, or 42/44, or 42-44 & 46. Howard Jensen recorded these as 42, 42 rear, 42 1/2, 42-44, 42-44-46.
Some addresses recorded were not within the boundaries of the Enumeration District. When a building number is repeated in another book it is underlined in the text of Jensen's book.
Some street names Howard could not find on any maps. In those cases he used the spelling as found in the census.
A street address could appear in two or more places within a book. Always check the entire book.
Some addresses had only one person listed and others had over 200 people
listed. Some had no address recorded, only the street was recorded,
or the address was illegible.
21. How do you search the 1890 Police Census?
[The following answer is extracted from Howard Jensen's book on the 1890 Census and lightly edited.]
As there is no name index (except for some 25,000 on Ancestry.com), searches are done by street address. From a city directory or a document (birth, marriage, death certificate, etc) determine the ancestor's address. Check the street name in this index and then look for the building number under that street name. [The preceding sentence applies to using Jensen's book directly -- when using this site you need to enter the street and any cross-streets. You can obtain the cross streets from the housenumber and the mapping buttons at the bottom of the page.] If found note the book number. Then check the conversion list to obtain the FHC number of the microfilm and the item number on that film. You will only have to check through one item on the film to find that street address. If you do not find your ancestor at the address, check the remainder of the book as very often the policeman had to return later to find someone home and not all of one street address are together. Also check the index to see if that address is in two or more books.
Another reason for not finding someone at an address is that in 1890 people moved very often. Landlords offered a free months rent to a new tenant, or they would paint an empty apartment to attract new tenants. Most of them did not move very far so look up the block, across the street or around the corner. Apartment numbers in multi-family buildings are not shown, so more than one family is shown for each address. Some addresses had over 200 people listed.
Book numbers 948 through 1008 were used to re-canvass an Election District so your address may appear in these books also. An underlined street address in Jensen's book indicates it appeared in more than one book.
Some Election Districts consisted of only one side of one block on a street and one side of one block on the adjacent avenue (thus only two street names defined the location). Other election districts consisted of many blocks and many avenues.
22. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the 1892 Census?
The 1892 New York State Census asked for limited information: Name, Age, Sex, Color, Nationality, Occupation and Citizenship. But since the 1890 federal census did not survive the effects of water during the fighting of a fire in 1921 at the Commerce Building in Washington, any resources that fill in this gap in time usually provide some important information. Unfortunately, there was a major fire in the NY State Library in 1911 that destroyed most of the original NY census forms, and only those copies that Counties kept provide the material for the early censuses we see online. For the present five boroughs of the city of New York, only Queens County (which included Nassau County in 1892) and Kings County were preserved.
23. What are the limitations of using this tool for 1892 Brooklyn?
Kings County in 1892 was comprised of the large city of Brooklyn (4th largest city in the U.S. in 1890!!) and the towns of Flatbush, Flatlands, Gravesend, and New Utrecht. In 1896 these towns would be annexed to Brooklyn, making Brooklyn coterminous with Kings County. For 1892, this tool is for the City of Brooklyn only and not for the four towns.. If we ever find descriptions of the boundaries of the election districts for the four towns from Nov. 1891, we will add them to this tool. In 1898 the City of New York was formed out of the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens (see the paper on the history of the geography of New York City)
24. How was the data obtained for 1892 Brooklyn?
There are 26 wards in the 1892 City of Brooklyn, each with a number of election districts. The towns of Gravesend, Flatbush, Flatlands, and New Utrecht had six, eight, three, and six election districts respectively. In order for us to extend this tool to cover 1892 Brooklyn, we needed to generate a list of every street that is within each election district.
Before we produced our street list, Joseph M. Silinonte self-published
a street index in 2001 that showed house numbers, street names, and Wards/Election
Districts for the City of Brooklyn for the 1892 census. He based his
work on the 1891 Brooklyn list of enrolled voters which showed that information.
Thus if a street or address did not have any enrolled voters, they were missing
in his index (although there were ways to extrapolate the information for
other addresses). Such missing streets in a district would break the
algorithm used by our tool.
So rather than use Silinone's index, we chose to use the boundary descriptions
of the Wards/Election Districts from the Brooklyn Eagle of Nov 1891 (which
were used for the 1892 census) and an 1893 Colton's Map of Brooklyn that
we scanned at the New York Public Library. We drew the district boundaries
on the scans, and record all the streets that made up each of the Ward/Election
Districts. We also added about 16 smaller Courts and Places that Silinonte
had on his index that were not seen on our 1893 map.
Thus genealogists have two resources (this tool and Silinonte's book), based on different assumptions, for finding the right Ward/ED. Silinonte's book is non-circulating at the New York Public Library and about a half a dozen large genealogical libraries throughout the United States. Our tool is online and available at any time. Silinonte was selling copies of his work, but died in 2004, so it's unclear how researchers can get their own copy without going to one of the libraries lucky enough to retain a copy of the work.
25. Why is there a question mark in your table for Queens in 1892?
Queens County in 1892 included what is now Queens County/Borough and also Nassau County. The images for the 1892 census are online. If someone could find the boundary descriptions of the election districts from the general election of Nov 1891, we could produce a similar finder aid as we did for the City of Brooklyn 1892.
-- Steve Morse | <urn:uuid:73ea667a-ab81-48a9-aad0-d14dd911486b> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | http://stevenmorse.org/nyc/faq.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917118707.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031158-00495-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953846 | 7,383 | 2.875 | 3 |
SLAC public Lecture Series
Saving the Mary Rose: Synchrotrons and the Preservation of a Tudor Warship
The Mary Rose, built in 1511, was the flagship of King Henry VIII. She sank in 1545 while en route to confront the French fleet in battle. The ship lay undersea for 440 years before being raised in 1985. The restored Mary Rose is being constantly treated to preserve the wood structure, but in 2002 a new problem arose that began rapidly destroying the ship. Studies of the relevant sulphur chemistry using X-rays from SLAC's SSRL synchrotron diagnosed the problem and suggested methods for its solution. One of these, tested by experiments at SSRL, involves specially made nanoparticles that attack the causes of the acid production. This lecture will present the amazing story of archeology, chemistry, and physics that preserves this precious artifact and gives us a glimpse back into Tudor times. | <urn:uuid:a7c2e9ef-f3ac-42d1-b12d-31d8d43477b4> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/community/past-lectures/saving-mary-rose-synchrotrons-and-preservation-tudor-warship | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886104172.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20170817225858-20170818005858-00083.warc.gz | en | 0.936123 | 190 | 2.859375 | 3 |
This sample paper on Poems About Social Issues offers a framework of relevant facts based on recent research in the field. Read the introductory part, body, and conclusion of the paper below.
All four poems depict different social issues. Belfast Confetti is about the riots that broke out in Northern Ireland and whether the country should be protestant or catholic. London is a poem about social inequality and the poverty in London at the time. The church controlled the country at the time this poem was written. Falling leaves is the women’s point of view on war. Ruined Maid is also the women’s point of view on life in London in the Victorian Era. All these poems depict suffering in some way or another due to social circumstances.
Belfast Confetti uses many languages devices to grab the audience’s attention. One of the main devices he uses is punctuation. This ironic use of punctuation says that the crafts of creating a poem are mirrored in the events of the story. He also uses leader dots to force the reader to think about social unrest. This is a clear way to involve the reader. He writes the poem in first person to make the poem more personal and have more impact. Enjambment is put to use as well “What is my name?” This shows that he has no clue of what is happening. It is also a reference to the type of question the police might ask the rioters. These rhetorical questions emphasises the panic and confusion in his thoughts. He uses words such as “fullisade” to represent the rioters.
Poems On Social Issues
Extended metaphors can be found in Belfast Confetti and Falling leaves. The use of imagery can be seen as an extended metaphor as it uses punctuation to create a story throughout the poem.
He has structured the poem very skilfully. He uses a fragmented style to show the reader the state of mind he was in. This long and short line contrast also reflects the confusion and frustration Carson must have been feeling. He used present continuous verbs to represent the situation right before our eyes.
Belfast Confetti and Falling leaves are very similar in the way that both poems are a person’s view on war. Falling leaves in the women’s point of war and Belfast Confetti is an innocent man’s view on war. Both speakers are kept in the dark of the situation at hand. The panic and confusion is causing them great discomfort. Falling leaves shows us how a writer can use nature to symbolise war. This simplistic but heart-felt poem can be seen as an allegory. The first stanza is very literal and is about leaves and snowflakes but then the mood changes as we go to the second stanza she uses more powerful and harsh words for instance “beauty strewed” and “withering” both of these words have dark connotations of death or carelessness of life. This shows the social unrest that the writer is going through.
In Belfast Confetti the mood is complex with fear, frustration, and anger and panic. He tries to give the reader an image of what it felt like to be caught up in the riots. Conversely, in London the tone conveys to the reader more despair and helplessness than Belfast Confetti. He uses situations such as “Harlot’s curse” to show the social problems that the population was facing.
The tone and mood of the London and Belfast Confetti are very similar as the topic is around the same issue. Both Blake and Carson are angry about how the situation is being dealt with. They want some constructive action to be taken about the situation at hand. The 4th quatrain of London projects the anger very well. He uses powerful words such as “blasts” and “marriage hearse”. The mood not as complex as Belfast Confetti however not as simple as Falling Leaves.
Margaret Postgate Cole uses this allegorical device to show her opinion on war. She thought that war was unnecessary and nit needed. She described the men being “strewed like snowflakes”. She is trying to use this cannon fodder to show us how they throw away soldiers and leave them there to die and waste away. The snowflakes symbolises e the men falling in battle and how they just fade away and are lost and forgotten about once they had died and fallen to the ground they would lie there and waste away.
Blake uses London to criticise the social problems faced by the citizens of London. He uses repetition and satire to condemn the church. Ironically, the poem is very well structured. This is an immense contrast to the context of the poem. The criticism starts from the very beginning when he says “I wander through this chartered streets.” Immediately get an image of London owned by everyone. He uses repetition the make more of an impact on the reader. “Every” is repeated five times in the second quatrain. This emphasises the suffering of the poor. He uses experiences of his own like in Belfast Confetti to show the social unrest in the country.
This device is also used in The Ruined Maid at the end of each quatrain the word “ruined” is woven and this gives the poem an overall negative connotation. Again structure is used ironically in this poem to show the contrast between the innocent farm girl and the former farm girl who has now been “ruined”. Both writers use plosives and biblical harsh sounds. In London he uses the onomatopoeia “blasts and blights” and in The Ruined Maid Hardy uses “blue and bleak” to describe the ruined woman’s cheeks. Both of the poems relate to the social issue of prostitution.
Social classes and status is mentioned in London and the ruined maid as well. In London William Blake is talking about the lower class which consists of poor people. People in those days were very judgemental and didn’t mix with other classes people knew their place and stuck to it. This topic of social discrimination is again brought up by the Hardy who illustrates the life of a ruined woman very well. She has no reputation as she is ruined and we can see this by the way she starts “O didn’t you know I’d been ruined”.
Overall, we can see that Belfast Confetti and London are about experiences that have happened to the poet. They both were about the same issues in life and both were trying to persuade the audience that this was not the way life should be.
Falling Leaves and The Ruined Maid show us the women’s view and place in life in the Victorian era. They wanted the reader to lead a better life by reading their experiences and make the world a better place to live in. They wanted freedom and for people to live harmoniously together not to be fighting like in Belfast Confetti or social discriminating people because of their wealth and place in society as a whole like in London and Ruined Maid.
In my opinion I think these poems present us with great social unrest. They are very symbolic poems and illustrate great meanings. | <urn:uuid:94bb4a81-5158-4f52-a862-75254661d844> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://paperap.com/paper-on-compare-the-ways-that-a-range-of-poems-explore-social-issues/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400202418.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20200929154729-20200929184729-00205.warc.gz | en | 0.970855 | 1,488 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Ramadan is one of the most significant periods for every Muslim devotee. It is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar and is dedicated to prayer, fasting, reflection, and charity. The time of fasting is followed by all Muslims, except the elderly, pregnant or breastfeeding women, menstruating women, and sick people.
In most Muslim families, children too take part in the fast, although it is not mandatory. The whole idea of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan is to practice sacrifice, self-discipline, and self-control. It is also a time to empathize with the less fortunate. It is important for children to know the reason behind why the holy month of Ramadan is observed, but you don’t have to stop there. You can also make this time interesting for your kids by including these fun activities:
1. Bring Out The Chef In Them
Enjoy some time with your kids in the kitchen. You can involve your kids in the preparation of the iftar meals during Ramadan. The month of Ramadan is a solemn and meaningful time for Muslims all around the world. Iftar is perhaps one of the most precious parts of Ramadan. Also known as iftoor, it’s that time of the day when your daily Ramadan fast comes to an end, and it’s time to break your evening fast. The fast is broken after the call for the evening prayer is done, and you can expect a full meal to be served at this time.
There are several dishes that you can prepare along with your child. You can prepare the entire course or involve the children with the preparation of snacks. Some of the most popular snacks include samosas, pakodas, bread rolls, cutlets, garlic bread, puffs, and kebabs, to name a few. If you want to add a cool drink to your iftar, you can teach your child to make lemonade. Easy to make and pretty much everyone’s favorite, this makes the perfect addition to your iftar preparation.
2. Decorate Your Home
What better time of the year to decorate your house than Ramadan? Children love art and craft, and you might be surprised by their creativity. Go ahead and spend time decorating your home with your kids. From lanterns, candles, and fairy lights to handmade posters and drawings, the options are endless. You can also rearrange the place to change the look and feel of your home.
3. Charity In A Box
To most Muslims worldwide, Ramadan resonates very strongly with the act of sadaqat or charity. A fun way of instilling the idea of charity in your child is by introducing them to the concept of a sadaqat box. Make your charity box from items you can find around the house. You can use a tissue box or a shoebox and decorate it with paint or stickers. Keep in mind the various elements of this month while decorating it, such as the crescent moon and stars. Get your creative juices flowing!
Once the box is ready, you can tell your child the idea behind it. Choose a worthy cause that’s close to your heart and ask your child to put aside some money regularly into the sadaqat box. By the end of Ramadan, you can donate it to that worthy cause.
4. Teach Them the Phases Of The Moon
The moon is one of the central elements of Islam. The Islamic calendar, also known as the Hijri or lunar calendar, very strongly follows the moon phases. The month of Ramadan is the best time to teach your children the different stages of the moon. You can be sure that your children will be fascinated by the moon and will love observing how it changes each day!
5. Read Together
Reading isn’t just a fun activity; it is also an essential one. You can buy a few books about Islam and read to your child, or pick a book for yourself and your child and read together. Go ahead and get your child a book on the history of Islam or one that highlights the concept of Ramadan. Spend some time each day reading a few pages, and you’ll be surprised just how much you and your child can learn by reading!
Get your child involved with the rest of the family during Ramadan, so they feel like an important part of it. When they look back at their childhood memories, these could be the ones that stand out, bringing a smile to their faces! Do you have a special activity in mind for your child during this holy month of Ramadan? Let us know in the comments below! | <urn:uuid:b283b7d0-066b-4d46-a8b8-423133fcf3de> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://www.momjunction.com/magazine/children-ramadan-fun-activities_00732823/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320306335.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20220128182552-20220128212552-00126.warc.gz | en | 0.95822 | 947 | 2.5625 | 3 |
“The process of turning big cities into clones of Atlanta or Hong Kong can create more than freakish cityscapes. They create long-term problems. One is environmental. Sky-piercing buildings covered in glass windows that can’t be opened require huge amounts of energy all year round for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Energy prices may be falling, but at some point they will reverse course. Many old buildings in Europe simply rely on thick walls to repel the heat in the summer and retain the heat in the winter. Their windows can be opened to create a breeze, and ceiling fans do the rest.
Another big problem with modern high-rises is that they are single-purpose structures. Bank towers with enormous open trading floors wired to the fastest communications networks cannot be easily remade into housing, factories or shops. For the most part, they will have to be torn down when they have outlived their usefulness. In Europe, strong old buildings keep getting reinvented, century after century. An 18th-century monastery can be converted into a hospital, a church into condos, and a warehouse into an office.
But the main shortcoming of the skyscraper craze is the loss of urban identity…” | <urn:uuid:d8547419-caa6-4781-8c59-75b97280f7df> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | https://stephenhand2012.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/why-skyscrapers-are-killing-great-cities-the-globe-and-mail/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187821088.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20171017110249-20171017130249-00061.warc.gz | en | 0.93876 | 251 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Within orthodontia and especially pediatric orthodontics, tooth infections are some of the most common issues. Children are at a greater risk of infection than adults due to immune systems that haven’t fully developed yet, and they’re an important factor to combat in young teeth.
Here at Redwood Orthodontics, we’re here to help with dental infections – both treating them and preventing them. Here are a few common warning signs of a dental infection that can signal you need an immediate visit to our office.
Pain and Sensitivity
Severe gnawing, throbbing or shooting pain is one of the most common signs of a tooth infection. Pus collects in the affected area, making it sensitive to touch and often extremely painful. This pain is aggravated during chewing.
There may be times where a toothache goes away, but know that this doesn’t always mean the infection is gone. It could be the result of pulp in the tooth dying, which may reduce pain but will allow the infection to continue spreading.
An infected tooth will often turn a darker color than teeth around it, another sign that can be easy to spot.
It’s common for swelling to take place in the neck, jaw and within the gums. If your child’s gums are red or swollen in the area around one of their teeth, this could be caused by infection. You may also see basic skin swelling in the neck and jaw as the infection spreads.
Taste and Breath
If your child complains of a bad taste in their mouth, or if they have bad breath accompanying a toothache, this could be a sign of infection – especially if the bad breath is a persistent issue, and not just a one-time thing.
Sickness and Appetite
Certain severe infections might lead to fever or other sickness, including nausea, vomiting, chills and diarrhea. You may also notice a loss of appetite and weight loss in children, especially infants and toddlers. These children can’t communicate their feelings, and may not be able to tell you their tooth hurts, so you need to be diligent in searching for the cause.
To learn more about dental infections and how to prevent them, or to find out about any of our other orthodontist services, call us at Redwood Orthodontics today. | <urn:uuid:9c0ea58a-af7e-4558-896a-9e4bdb5ed552> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | http://redwoodorthodontics.com/signs-dental-infection-children/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676590866.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20180719105750-20180719125750-00337.warc.gz | en | 0.950126 | 486 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Groups of albino guinea pigs were exposed to high concentrations of oxygen at several pressures and the eyes of the animals examined for histological changes both immediately and several months following the exposures. Normal animals as well as animals exposed to conditions of anoxia and hyperbaria were also examined. Ocular changes were observed only in the animals exposed to 100% oxygen at 3 and 5 atmospheres absolute. The primary alterations, which were found to be irreversible over the time of observation, included thinning of the corneal endothelium with darkening and condensation of the cytoplasm and pyknosis of the nuclei, and pyknosis and loss of nuclei from the epithelium of the lens.
Nichols CW, Yanoff M, Hall DA, Lambertsen CJ. Histologic Alterations Produced in the Eye by Oxygen at High Pressure. Arch Ophthalmol. 1972;87(4):417-421. doi:10.1001/archopht.1972.01000020419011 | <urn:uuid:ff113c2b-112d-46bd-b27d-a369b11365e3> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/article-abstract/630537 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549425737.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20170726002333-20170726022333-00006.warc.gz | en | 0.952525 | 214 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The fashion industry has also decided to make changes in its processes to create more ecological and sustainable pieces. Among its changes, is the Vegan Leather.
We know that the problem of the leather industry is not limited to the raw material. The chemicals used in the treatment of animal skins are extremely polluting, and the impact is aggravated in developing producing countries, where there is less regulation and control regarding the elimination of waste.
Converting leather to leather requires a lot of energy and a toxic mix of chemicals, including mineral salts, coal tar derivatives, formaldehyde, oils, dyes, and finishes, some of them cyanide-based. Tannery waste contains water polluting salt, lime sludge, sulphides, acids and other pollutants. Vegan leather is often made from polyurethane, a polymer that is made from innovative and sustainable materials, such as pineapple leaves, cork, apple peels, other fruit waste, and recycled plastic; which can be used to create products to replace animal skins.
Today, more than a billion cows, pigs, goats, sheep, alligators, ostriches, kangaroos, and even dogs and cats are cruelly slaughtered for their fur each year. However, vegan leather offers a perfect option - you can find vegan leather shoes, boots, bags, wallets and the best, cruelty-free. | <urn:uuid:f219cb0d-9314-4c86-9f7e-5aa4dbf5fee6> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://www.kiralifeofficial.com/en/blogs/moda/cuero-vegano-una-nueva-alternativa-en-la-moda | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038088471.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20210416012946-20210416042946-00025.warc.gz | en | 0.953831 | 276 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Internet Explorer is not a fully supported browser. For the best experience, please use Chrome or Firefox.
Discover Timothy Symons's classroom activities to inspire and engage your students
Creating tasks previously inconceivable without digital technology.
Antonine College Melbourne, Melbourne VIC AU
Design Your OWN Seesaw Activity!
How To Solve A Rubik's Cube - Lesson 1: The Daisy
Functional Grammar #2
Butterfly Foundation - High Five
Functional Grammar #1
Making A Circuit!
Following Directions on a Map
Fractions of a Pizza!
Translate, Rotate, Reflect
Comparing Decimals Colouring Sheet
Statistics Using a Coin
Perimeter and Area in our Environment
Inspire your students to do their best
Explore thousands of teacher-tested classroom activities to engage your students and save you time.
Sign Up Free
Browse Classroom Activities
Get the App | <urn:uuid:e3b5d107-6628-4da4-a3a9-d9316e63739d> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://app.seesaw.me/activities/profile/1jp8e4/timothy-symons | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585370496669.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20200330054217-20200330084217-00415.warc.gz | en | 0.71174 | 192 | 3 | 3 |
Here is the meeting summary for Saturday 15, 2011.
This week in the meeting room we talked about taking charge of your environment.
Does this sound familiar:
Betty has had a long day. At work she faced a deadline, so she skipped lunch. Now she's home, she's starving, and it's time to make dinner. So she decides to have a snack. She checks the fridge, but it's empty. The pantry is also bare. But in the cupboard she finds an unopened bag of potato chips. She rips it open and digs in.
We have all been there! The best way to handle these types of temptations is to reevaluate your environment. We must learn how to adopt healthy habits.
Keep healthy opportunities close. It helps your efforts when you fill your spaces—your house, your office, your car—with foods that make it easier for you to stay on track.
Managing Your Environment means...
Really looking at your environment: your car, kitchen or desk and remembering the three R's:
• Recognizing the foods that will help you—and the ones that won't.
• Removing the items that you are sure will get in the way of your weight-loss efforts.
• Replacing the foods you've removed with healthy ones like fruit and vegetables.
Considering what changes you can make in your exercise environment that will help, such as tuning up your bike or simply getting out your exercise gear.
Make it easier on yourself: Manage Your Environment
"Don't agonize. Organize." -Florence Kennedy.
We all have our "trigger" foods or places—the snacks and sweets which can destroy our willpower and make us forget all about those weight-loss plans.
But some of us do what we can to minimize our exposure to triggers; managing our environments so we're not always around foods that tempt us. And that makes sense: When the spaces that surround us—our fridge, pantry or car—are crammed with tempting foods, we'll be tempted by them. When it's right there, we'll eat it.
When we stock up on healthy alternatives, though, we'll make healthier choices. And suddenly, our environment is working for us.
Managing Your Environment is a helpful habit because:
• When you take charge of the foods that fill up the spaces that surround you, they'll stop having control over you. Fewer tempting foods = less temptation.
• Looking through those spaces and being able to recognize trigger foods is a great exercise: It means facing and naming your weaknesses, which can only make you stronger.
• Filling your environment with healthy foods is like studying hard for an exam: you're laying the groundwork for your future success.
Bonnie, Baltimore, MD, lost 28.6 pounds and says, "If I don't make changes to the food that's around me, I'm still going to eat what's there—even if its unhealthy."
If you discover you need to Manage Your Environment...
Get on the Message Boards and ask other WeightWatchers.com users what changes they have made to their environments. Some may have "managed" places in ways that may be relevant to you.
Taken from “Habit Guide: Manage Your Environment” Article By: Weight Watchers | <urn:uuid:0659b74f-956d-408b-bfff-173d7fafb74f> | CC-MAIN-2016-44 | http://livingachangedlife.blogspot.com/2011/10/take-charge-of-your-environment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-44/segments/1476988722951.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20161020183842-00200-ip-10-171-6-4.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961105 | 691 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Eta Cassiopeiae (Achird) 2
|Home | Stars | Orbits | Habitability | Life ||
Also called Achird, Eta Cassiopeiae (Eta Cas) is located about 19.4 light-years (ly) from our Sun, Sol. It can be found in the central part (00:49:06.29+57:48:54.67, ICRS 2000.0) of Constellation Cassiopeia, the Lady of the Chair -- northeast of Schedar (Alpha Cassiopeiae) and southwest of Mu Cassiopeiae. This well known binary star system was discovered in 1779 by Sir William Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel (1738-1822, portrait), who subsequently discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 -- which led to his appointment in 1782 as private astronomer to the King of England.
Due to Eta Cassiopeiae's relative proximity and similarity of spectral type to Sol, the star has been an object of intense interest among astronomers. Eta Cassiopeiae became one of the top 100 target stars for NASA's proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF), but the project has been postponed indefinitely. It was also selected as a "Tier 1" target star for NASA's optical Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) to detect a planet as small as three Earth-masses within two AUs of its host star (and so some summary system information and images of Eta Cassiopeiae A and B may still be available from the SIM Teams), but the SIM project manager announced on November 8, 2010 that the mission was indefinitely postponed due to withdrawal of NASA funding.
Astronomers have identified Eta Cas A
as a prime target for the Terrestrial Planet
Finder (TPF), and the Space Interferometry
Mission (SIM), now both indefinitely postponed.
AB Binary Star System
According to a 1969 article by Kaj Aage Gunnar Strand (1907-2000; obit), Star A and B are separated by an "average" distance of 71 times the Earth-Sun distance (AU) (of a semi-major axis). They move in an eccentric orbit (e= 0.497) of about 480 years, so that the two stars get as close as 36 AUs and as far away as 107 AUs. Their orbit is inclined by almost 35 degrees from Earth's line of sight. Based on chromospheric activity and rotational period alone, both stars may be around 2.9 and 5.8 billion years old (Mamajek et al, 2008, Table 13). Star A, however, is no longer thought to have a spectroscopic binary companion with a nine-day orbital period (Morbey and Griffin, 1987; and Helmut Abt, 1987).
|AB Mass Center||0.0||...||...||...||...||...||...||...||...|
|Inner H.Z. Edge A?||0.90||0.81||0||34.76||...||...||...||...||...|
|Outer H.Z. Edge A?||1.80||2.29||0||34.76||...||...||...||...||...|
|Inner H.Z. Edge B?||0.59||0.59||0||34.76||...||...||...||...||...|
|Outer H.Z. Edge B?||1.18||1.65||0||34.76||...||...||...||...||...|
The main sequence yellow-orange primary (G3 V) may have about 90 to 111 percent of Sol's mass (RECONS; Allende Prieto and Lambert, 1999; and Daniel M. Popper, 1980), almost the same diameter -- 98 to 101 percent (Johnson and Wright, 1983, page 647; and Daniel M. Popper, 1980; or Petr Harmanec, 1988), and 1.2 times its luminosity. It is about 63 to 68 percent as enriched as Sol in elements heavier than hydrogen (metallicity), based on its abundance of iron (Cayrel de Strobel et al, 1991, page 5). Some useful catalogue numbers for this star are: Eta Cas, 24 Cas, HR 219, Gl 34 A, Hip 3821, HD 4614, BD+57 150, SAO 21732, LHS 123, LTT 10287, LFT 74, Wolf 24, Struve 60, and ADS 671 A.
Estimates provided by the NASA Star and Exoplanet Database indicate that the inner edge of Eta Cassiopeiae's habitable zone could be located around 0.90 AU from the star, while the outer edge edge lies around 1.80 AUs. The distance from Star A where an Earth-type planet could have liquid water on its surface is centered around 1.35 AU -- between Earth's and somewhat short of Mars' orbital distance of 1.5 AUs in the Solar System. At that distance from Star A and assuming that it has 1.1 Solar-mass, such a planet would have an orbital period of just under 1.5 years.
This cooler and dimmer, main sequence orange-red dwarf star (K7 V) may have 56 to 60 percent) of Sol's mass (RECONS; and Daniel M. Popper, 1980), 66 percent of its diameter (Johnson and Wright, 1983, page 647), and only around three percent of its luminosity. Radial velocity variations have been detected (Andrei A. Tokovinin, 1992). Useful catalogue numbers for this star include: Gl 34 B, LHS 122, and ADS 671 B.
With a spectral type of K7, 41 Arae B can be used as a rough proxy for Eta Cass B (K1). According to calculations performed for the NASA Star and Exoplanet Database, the distance from 41 Arae B where an Earth-type rocky planet may have liquid water on its surface has been estimated to be between 0.593 and 1.176 AU -- between the orbital distances of Mercury and Earth in the Solar System. In that distance range from the star, such a planet would have an orbital period shorter an Earth year. For an Earth-type planet, the orbital distance where it would have liquid water zone on its surface would be around 0.884 AU, where the orbital period would be 392 days (1.073 years) if the star actually does have around 60 percent of a Solar-mass.
An attempt to find large planets from December 1986 to February 1987 failed to detect large periodic variations in radial velocities (McMillan and Smith, 1987; more discussion at Hatzes et al, 2004). A subsequent search ruled out close-orbiting giant planets and similar objects at least as large as 0.878 Jupiter-mass in circular orbits within three AUs of Star A (Wittenmyer et al, 2006, Table 5).
The following star systems are located within 10 ly of Eta Cassiopeiae 2.
|Star System||Spectra &|
|BD+56 2966||K3 V||4.9|
|Mu Cassiopeiae 2||G5 IV-VIp|
|EV Lacertae||M3.5 Ve||7.8|
|Kruger 60 AB||M3 V |
|Groombridge 34 Aab,B||M3.3 V |
|Stein 2051 AB||M4 V |
Up-to-date technical summaries on this star can be found at: the Astronomiches Rechen-Institut at Heidelberg's ARICNS for Star A and Star B, the NASA Star and Exoplanet Database, and the Research Consortium on Nearby Stars (RECONS) list of the 100 Nearest Star Systems. Additional information may be available at Roger Wilcox's Internet Stellar Database.
With its stars shaped in a "W," this northern constellation was named by the Ancient Greeks for the mother of Andromeda who claimed to be more beautiful than the daughters of Nereus, a god of the sea. Cassiopeia's vanity so angered the sea god Poseidon that he had Andromeda chained to a rock of the coast as a sacrifice for Cetus (the monstrous whale) until Perseus rescued her. For more information on stars and other objects in this Constellation and a photograph, go to Christine Kronberg's Cassiopeia. For an illustration, see David Haworth's Cassiopeia.
For more information about stars including spectral and luminosity class codes, go to ChView's webpage on The Stars of the Milky Way.
© 1998-2011 Sol Company. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:2dd88f1a-d849-4c4b-bc79-4246bd9b69b7> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | http://www.solstation.com/stars/eta-cass.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560279379.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095119-00190-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876842 | 1,832 | 3.265625 | 3 |
George Washington Carver School of Arts and Science
Teenagers are alive with questions about the world and their place in it. As they grow away from childhood, their questions shift and change. Carver High School’s mission is to help teenagers become in the deepest sense, the people they are meant to be. This is an education that prepares students for college, and more. It is not simply an education geared to the requirements of national tests.
At Carver, the curriculum is rigorous; academic classes emphasize the development of independent investigation, critical thinking, and applied academic and creative skills that Carver students will later use to contribute to their community.
To achieve this vision, Carver engages all students in developing 21st Century Skills–critical thinking and creative problem solving skills–in an integrated and rigorous college-preparatory curriculum that integrates the arts and environmental stewardship. Ultimately, through the course of four years at Carver, each student will find his/her own unique path towards becoming intelligent, self-confident, and socially responsible individuals. | <urn:uuid:d0fd6431-0503-41c2-bf8f-2cb763e55f96> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | https://www.scusd.edu/school/george-washington-carver-school-arts-and-science | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583514708.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20181022050544-20181022072044-00126.warc.gz | en | 0.953691 | 214 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Acupuncture aims to treat the root of a condition, not just the symptoms by restoring proper functioning of the body at the deepest levels. As well as healing and helping manage specific health problems it can help with stress and promote general well being and calm.
Acupuncture is an important element of traditional Chinese medicine dealing with the flow of qi. It probably began to be used more than 2500 years ago, and its theory was already well developed at a very early time, as is shown in the Chinese classics Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow emperors inner classic ~200 BC) and Nan Jing (Classic of Difficulties~100-200 CE).
Chinese herbal medicine combines a selection of herbs into a formula specific to the problems of the person which restore the body to balance and health. This is in keeping with modern ideas about metabolic and genetic typing to target drug therapy. It has enormous healing potential and is the subject of much research for new medicines as well as being possibly the longest established healing tradition in the world.
Tui na massage is traditional Chinese massage, the name means ‘pushing, grasping’ and describes 2 of the techniques. Tui na works the body using the same channel and acupoint theory as acupuncture does. It has similarities to the better known Shiatsu, but also has some unique methods. | <urn:uuid:814689af-10f1-41f3-8dea-e7276d06bd0a> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://www.acubody.net/treatment-and-exercise/acupuncture-chinese-medicine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652663035797.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20220529011010-20220529041010-00751.warc.gz | en | 0.967769 | 269 | 2.984375 | 3 |
This article does not cite any sources. (January 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Emeici (峨嵋刺; variously translated as "Emei Daggers", "Emei Piercers") are a traditional Chinese martial arts weapon. They are a pair of metal rods with sharp ends used for stabbing; they are typically mounted on a detachable ring worn on the middle finger, allowing them to spin and be elaborately manipulated.
These weapons originated at Mount Emei (hence the name). They are a piece of equipment used in wushu to this day.
These weapons are used for 'open palm' techniques, and are similar to 'judge's pens'.
The general idea of this weapon is to confuse the attacker by spinning the blades, thereby providing a distraction while trying to get close enough to stab. Also, emeici can be concealed easily for surprise attacks.
|This article related to the martial arts is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:64b9e3b9-3604-40d3-9256-f0b6ecdd8443> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emeici | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610703521987.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20210120182259-20210120212259-00122.warc.gz | en | 0.927729 | 219 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Get Help With Homework paper: Discuss the powers that mayors have in city politics.
Give some examples of how some citizens can become involved. Have you ever volunteered for anything in the community? Discuss.
2. What is meant by old-style machine politics? Discuss the Daleys of Chicago.
3. Discuss the powers that mayors have in city politics.
4.Discuss Benjamin Barber’s central point about cities and the world. Do you agree with him that mayors should rule the world? | <urn:uuid:3d2e10cc-8a7c-49c9-ab8a-d3ee530766f0> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | https://www.precisionessays.com/get-help-with-homework-paper-discuss-the-powers-that-mayors-have-in-city-politics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232256997.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20190523003453-20190523025453-00260.warc.gz | en | 0.946869 | 103 | 3.296875 | 3 |
The Algerian flag has a wide meaning including hope, religion, the blood of martyrs, etc.. This is summarized as follow:
It contains two bands, the green represents prosperity, land and the colour of heaven viewed by Islam, and the white represents purity and peace. Still referring to Islam, the bent and pointed crescent, represents the path that the fellow good Muslim should follow in his life to deserve the Paradise of God; the star, however, represents the five pillars of Islam, and finally the colour red represents the blood of martyrs shed during the battles and wars on the Algerian soil of today and of yesterday. According to the official meaning: designed in April 1945 following a combination Ottoman Empire’s flag, of Emir Abdelkader which was taken from the Al-Andalus and the crest of l Étoile nord-africaine (ENA), adopted April 3, 1962 by the Provisional Government of the Algerian Republic (GPRA) and formalized by the Act of April 25, 1963.
Size: 90 x 57 cm
Prices are tax included | <urn:uuid:e6bc3e79-a6a7-43c4-a741-84feb9a33a15> | CC-MAIN-2016-22 | http://berberosaharan.com/en/other-products/943-medium-algerian-flag-its-meaning.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-22/segments/1464049274994.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160524002114-00115-ip-10-185-217-139.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963295 | 223 | 2.75 | 3 |
Obama’s College Rating System: Will it Fix Our Higher Education Problems?
Higher education is the most important aspect to economic prosperity. Colleges and universities prepare future leaders who will drive national and global economies. As globalization is not a new phenomenon, but an established process, education ties together countries via investments, banking systems, technology, and travel. As a result, the quality of education is on the agenda in many countries across the globe.
President Obama’s college rating system is a highly debated topic across the country, with policymakers and educators casting concerns over its shortcomings and dangers. The current administration has already introduced reform programs in health care and immigration, which were controversial at best; its plan to reform education is no different. It’s an all-encompassing reform that can play out either way. Read on to learn more about the benefits, shortcomings, and possible consequences of Obama’s college rating system.
Do other governments rank colleges?
Colleges and universities across the globe have long been rated by their governments in the hope of establishing the best educational value. Originally, independent agencies or non-profit organizations played the leading role in this task. Later, governments began to regulate and assess higher education. The United States is not the first country to take steps to ensure quality control in education. For example:
- Finland created the Higher Education Evaluation Council.
- Australia came out with the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
- The European Union has its U-Map.
- Britain assembled an online tool to showcase university statistics and measure college performance.
Some initiatives are more successful than others, but all reflect the need to provide meaningful tools for students and governments to compare educational value. Following the global trend, Obama’s college rating system is an attempt to ensure quality of learning and accountability on the part of educational institutions in the United States.
Why would Obama want to rank colleges?
There are generally three main reasons why the current administration feels the need to address the educational sector, and, specifically, to establish the college rating system: rising student debt, inequality, and falling graduation rates. The picture is rather bleak. The majority of the prospective student body cannot afford college without taking out loans. In addition, there are few jobs available, especially for recent graduates. As a result, some default on their debt, while others struggle for decades to pay back their loans. Unfortunately, not only do colleges charge a lot of money for education, the quality of learning is deteriorating as well.
Rising Student Debt
As more students continue to borrow money from the government to pay for their higher education, the number of those who fail to find a job after graduation and to pay back their loans has increased dramatically over the last decade. According to a recent study, 60 percent of four-year college students graduate with an average $26,500 in debt. In addition, tuition increases every year, prompting concerns over the affordability of higher education. The same study estimates a 231 percent public college tuition increase and a 153 percent private college increase over the last 30 years.
Watch the short documentary below for more information on the increasing costs of tuition and deteriorating value of education in America.
Inequality in education is a direct consequence of high tuition. Students whose families cannot afford to pay tuition for their higher education generally have two choices. They can either take out loans from the government, which often lead to decades-long debt, or they can start working low-paying jobs right after high school. Those are two extremes, of course, as some students receive scholarships or combine loans and jobs; however, even if a student qualifies for scholarships based on merit, he won’t necessarily be able to pay the full remaining tuition. Not only does this scenario exclude bright-but-poor students from receiving high-quality education, but it prompts many of them to take out multiple loans that they may not be able to repay.
Watch the shocking video below to understand the realities behind wealth inequality in the United States.
Low Graduation Rates
The number of students who fail to complete their studies has increased throughout the last decade. As of 2013, the United States ranks 13 out of 34 countries measured for college attainment. The Chronicle of Higher Education provides in-depth data and analysis on graduation rates across the country, which vary greatly by the type of the higher educational establishment and its location. Click here to read its most recent overview.
Low graduation rates prompt concerns that the overall quality of learning is deteriorating, even though the quality of learning cannot be measured by graduation rates alone. Students drop out of college for many reasons: financial difficulties, family issues, transfers, or simply because they are taking a break. The current administration, however, believes that colleges need to make sure their students are making progress toward a degree, especially those who receive financial aid.
So, how will rating colleges fix these problems?
Using the college rating system, the Obama Administration hopes to reduce student debt, provide more access and opportunities to low-income students, and improve higher educational standards. The president’s plan is to use these ratings as a mechanism of accountability and transparency. Before taking out a loan, students will have access to information on loan default rates, employment outcomes, and anticipated monthly payments after graduation. If students can make informed decisions, it should help to reduce loan debt. Also, the government will provide more federal funds for those colleges that keep their prices low and improve quality. It should help to quell inequality of access to higher education and raise the value of learning.
What does the college rating system look like?
The Postsecondary Institution Ratings System (PIRS) is a part of the Obama Administration’s effort to provide more transparency and accountability in higher education. The government is planning to fully implement PIRS by the 2015-2016 academic year.
PIRS is essentially folded into one tool, the College Scorecard, already available online through the College Affordability and Transparency Center. It’s very easy to use, and requires only basic computer skills and internet access. The College Scorecard is still in the process of development; for now it provides information on costs, graduation rates, loan default rates, and median borrowing. The Department of Education is still working on obtaining data on the average income of former undergraduate students. The College Scorecard also provides information on changes in an institution’s cost, making it possible to see if tuition has gone up or down over a certain period of time. In addition, students and their families can search by area of interest, college location, and type of college.
Watch the video below for a detailed guide on how to navigate the College Scorecard.
What does it measure?
PIRS measures three main factors: access, affordability, and outcome. All three can be matched to inequality, debt concerns, and learning quality as the above-cited reasons for establishing such a system in the first place.
- Access comes from the percentage of students who receive Pell Grants, in an effort to obtain some knowledge on how equal or unequal higher educational institutions are.
- Affordability looks at average tuition, available scholarships, and student loan default information, thus looking at debt concerns.
- Outcome measures how many people graduate, how many pursue advanced degrees, and the average income of students after graduation.
In addition to being an information hub for prospective students, the president is planning to seek legislation to allocate financial aid to those institutions that obtain high ratings on PIRS. The current administration emphasizes that before the government designates its funds according to this mechanism, the college rating system should be well established, taking into consideration all of the concerns from university administrators across the country.
In order to receive more financial aid via grants and loans, higher education institutions will have to provide the best value and improve on their performance, hence helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
What is the Obama Administration hoping to achieve?
The Obama Administration hopes to achieve greater accountability and transparency in higher education, especially with regard to the quality of educational institutions, student debt, and income after graduation. The system is meant to empower students and their families to make informed decisions when choosing a college or university to attend.
The president also plans to use the college rating system to aid policymakers who are allocating financial aid to higher educational institutions. It’s believed that such financial incentives will prompt colleges to improve their overall performance. The goal is to keep colleges accountable and transparent, rewarding those who will keep prices down and improve educational value.
The overall goal of the current administration is to decrease student debt and to increase access to higher education for low income students, improving quality of learning along the way.
What do critics say?
Obama’s college rating system is not without its critics who continue to debate its shortcomings and possible negative outcomes. Educational administrators, researchers, and policymakers across the country are troubled with what they see as a rather simplistic approach to rating schools, as well as reliability and validity of the data used, and predicting negative consequences for higher education.
Data and Measurement Problems
To assemble the College Scorecard System, the government obtained data from its own Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). It’s a self-reported data collection mechanism that provides information on first-time and full-time students who seek undergraduate or certificate degrees. It is evident that only a limited population group is measured, completely excluding part-time and transfer students. One of the main concerns here is that PIRS counts transfer students as “drop outs,” which essentially can produce faulty graduation rates.
In addition, as IPEDS is a self-reported tool, there is a danger of missing data elements that can be unevenly distributed depending on data collection practices and the diligence of college officials. The data on loan default rates is also concerning, as it can double-count those students who take out multiple loans.
Some experts and researchers believe that PIRS is based on faulty assumptions. The lack of validity and reliability of the data used can misguide students and their families when they are choosing which college to enroll at. The measurements are also not comprehensive, which can lead to misuse of data and produce inaccuracies in college ratings.
PIRS has also been blamed for being rather simplistic in determining the value of colleges and universities across the country. The critique is centered on the notion that some colleges cannot keep their price tags down as they depend on state funding. One study draws parallels between community colleges in California and Florida on one side and New Hampshire and Vermont on the other. The first two are generously supported by state funds, while the latter two have much lower funding from the state. It’s clear that California and Florida community colleges are able to keep their tuition low, and New Hampshire and Vermont are forced to raise theirs.
Healthcare prices and other external factors can greatly influence tuition rates.. The danger is that those colleges that cannot keep their prices low, even if it’s not their call, will suffer the consequences. They can be punished by receiving no or significantly less funds from the federal government via grants and loans. As a result, with already low state funding and an inability to receive aid from the federal budget, they will be forced to raise their prices even more.
The college rating system also doesn’t provide a distinction between program-specific and institution-wide performance. PIRS measures only the aggregated performance of colleges, failing to recognize successes of specific departments. For example, the criminal justice department at Rutgers University is considered to have one of the most comprehensive curriculums for students who want to work in this field. At the same time, other departments at Rutgers are considered less strong. Because PIRS uses an aggregated performance mechanism, there is a possibility that Rutgers University will receive a low rating on its scorecard. As a result, fewer prospective students will enroll in the criminal justice program, which, in reality, is very strong.
As was mentioned earlier, the College Scorecard will contain information on post-graduation employment. This data will be released from the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration and forwarded to the Department of Education for further analysis. The main concern here is the disproportionality of wages across professions. For example, business executives and doctors earn higher wages compared to teachers and social workers. Colleges that specialize in liberal arts and the social sciences can be at a disadvantage compared to science and technology-centered schools. Thus, certain higher education institutions can receive low ratings just because of the occupations of their graduates.
Both data problems and the simplicity of the rating system lead to concerns about the future of the higher education sector. Will it produce the desired results or lead to negative consequences?Obama’s college rating system can improve the performance of teachers and learning practices for students; it can decrease student loan defaults and tuition prices; and it can even become an all-encompassing tool of accountability and financial aid disbursement. At the same time, it can further stratify the educational system, widening the gap between exclusive private and second-rate public colleges and universities and hurt liberal arts schools or those with already low state funding. Despite its limitations, PIRS is a starting point on a long journey in developing higher standards, reducing costs, and fostering accountability in colleges and universities across the country. | <urn:uuid:adc86b41-10c9-451c-9b8a-294830005bf2> | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | https://lawstreetmedia.com/issues/education/obamas-college-rating-system-will-fix-higher-education-problems/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948587496.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20171216084601-20171216110601-00570.warc.gz | en | 0.955495 | 2,729 | 2.703125 | 3 |
In the fifth lesson of this series, students will read extracts from academic papers about film adaptations of Shakespeare’s Henry V, learn about using direct quotes and cautious language in academic writing, explore summarizing and paraphrasing, and practise writing an academic paper.
DownloadsClick link to download and view these files
- PDF, Size 0.15 mb
EAP Shakespeare: Introducing Shakespeare
- Currently reading
EAP Shakespeare: Academic writing | <urn:uuid:b198b1a1-9509-44e0-8fdd-9e5944763613> | CC-MAIN-2021-43 | https://www.onestopenglish.com/esp-lesson-plans/eap-shakespeare-academic-writing/555259.article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-43/segments/1634323587794.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20211026011138-20211026041138-00364.warc.gz | en | 0.857603 | 93 | 3.015625 | 3 |
The Schefflera (Schefflera arboricola and actinophylla), or "octopus tree," is an attractive, long-living and popular houseplant that grows into a large tree in tropical climates. The name "octopus tree" comes from its very large flower cluster, which is red with eight "arms" that resemble an octopus. It's not likely to bloom for you indoors, but its foliage is good looking and its care is simple. As one of the 70 genera of the large Araliaceae plant family of tropical shrubs and trees, the Schefflera genus contains about 900 species and is native to Southeast Asia, some Pacific islands and Central and South America.
Remove your Schefflera from its nursery pot and transplant it into a large clay or ceramic pot with a drainage hole. Use a good quality potting soil.
Provide warm temperatures for your plant---it favors temperatures above 50 degrees F, even in winter.
Give your Schefflera water only when the soil dries out---from spring through summer you might need to water it only every 10 days. Spray the leaves often with a fine mist of water, especially in summer. Water it less in winter and be sure never to allow it to sit in a puddle of water in its plant saucer.
Apply a balanced plant food once each year, in early spring, to encourage maximum health and growth during its rapid summer growing season.
Prune your Schefflera during winter to keep it a manageable size. It is hardy and springs back quickly from pruning, so you can prune it to your heart's content.
Spray insects, such as spider mites, with insecticidal soap or simply soapy water. If you wipe the undersides of the leaves with a soap solution frequently, you will prevent this destructive insect from gaining a foothold. | <urn:uuid:0e0c9e7d-4798-4418-8ccf-dd2aac545135> | CC-MAIN-2016-50 | http://www.gardenguides.com/79800-care-schefflera-plants.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-50/segments/1480698541529.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20161202170901-00310-ip-10-31-129-80.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95104 | 388 | 3.4375 | 3 |
The provision of air under pressure by a mechanical respirator, a machine designed to improve the exchange of air between the lungs and the atmosphere. The device is basically designed for administering artificial respiration, especially for a prolonged period, in the event of inadequate spontaneous ventilation or respiratory paralysis.
The mechanical ventilator was invented in 1927 by Philip Drinker and Louis Agassiz Shaw. It consisted of an iron box (and so was called an iron lung) plus a bed and two vacuum cleaners. The next model was made by Warren Collins and was inaugurated on October 12, 1928 at the Children’s Hospital in Boston to help a girl with polio breath.
- Positive, false
A result that indicates that a given condition is present when it is not. An example of a false positive would be if a particular test designed to detect cancer returns a positive result but the person does not have ‘cancer.
- Positron emission tomography
Unlike CT or MRI, which look at anatomy or body form, PET studies metabolic activity or body function. As a result, PET can detect tumors in lymph nodes, for example, even before they enlarge and are detectable with MRI or CT. In PET imaging, the patient receives a small intravenous injection of a radio-active medication […]
Short for postmortem examination (an autopsy).
- Post-exposure prophylaxis
A treatment administered following exposure to a harmful agent which attempts to block or reduce injury or infection. Prophylaxis means a defense or protection. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), for example, might concern the treatment of a health care worker exposed by a needle stick to HIV with a drug such as AZT to protect them from […]
- Post-nasal drip
Mucous accumulation in the back of the nose and throat leading to or giving the sensation of mucus dripping downward from the back of the nose. | <urn:uuid:25f62bbd-db26-4644-ba83-8cd3f827e1a9> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://definithing.com/define-medical/positive-pressure-ventilation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487633444.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20210617192319-20210617222319-00185.warc.gz | en | 0.931355 | 392 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Definition of Family Court
Family court is the court which handles all issues related to the family including the dissolution of marriage, spousal support and equitable distribution of assets, child custody, child support and visitation, paternity cases, adoption cases, domestic violence cases, child abuse cases and termination of parental rights cases. The practice of one family, one court and one judge allows many family issues to be consolidated and heard by one court, thus reducing stress for the family.
Because family court hears legal proceedings, a family may decide to hire a family law attorney to represent them in family court, or they may represent themselves without legal counsel. The court may be open to the public, but the judge has the authority to protect the interest of the parties of the court and close the courtroom if necessary.
If you have a case scheduled to be heard in family court it is important to discuss your case with a family lawyer. Make sure you understand how to dress, when to arrive and whether or not the court offers child care facilities. If the judge rules against you in family court you also have the legal right to appeal to a higher court. All family courts are administered according to a state's specific laws and regulations.
« Back to Glossary | <urn:uuid:c9596dbd-df23-4012-8abe-f6abc552482a> | CC-MAIN-2019-26 | https://www.divorceattorneyhome.com/glossary/family-court | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627999620.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20190624171058-20190624193058-00179.warc.gz | en | 0.955074 | 249 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Königsberg 1724 -
The eminent philospher Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724 in Königsberg, Prussia. In 1732 Kant attended the "Friedrichskollegium" and received there an intense education. He began studying theology at the University in Königsberg in 1740.
His interests turned quickly to the natural sciences, and, with the help of his professors, he worked through the teachings of Leibnitz and Newton. In 1748 Kant temporarily broke off his studies, because his dissertation "Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces " ("Gedanken von der wahren Schätzung der lebendigen Kräfte") was not accepted.
He returned to Königsberg in 1754 to continue his studies. In 1755 Kant's work, "General History of Nature and Theory of the Heavens" ("Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des Himmels") was published. At this time Immanuel Kant became assistent professor in Königsberg, teaching logic, metaphyics, anthropology, moral philosophy, natural theology, mathematics, physics, mechanics, geography, pedagogy, and natural justice. His lectures were attended with great interest. Kant declined the offer to assume the chair of Poetry in 1762.
In his 1762 treatise "The Only Possible Argument in Support of a Demonstration of the Existence of God" ("Der einzige mögliche Beweisgrund zu einer Demonstration des Daseins Gottes"), Kant attempted to prove that all previous proofs of the existence of God were unsatisfactory. "De mundi sensibilis atque intelligibilis forma et principiis" ("On the Form and Principles of the Sensible and Intelligible World") appeared in 1770.
Also in that year, Immanuel Kant was given the postion of Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Königsberg.
When he published "Critique of Pure Reason" ("Kritik der reinen Vernunft") in 1781, Kant's philosophy had fundamentally changed. His "Prolegomena," published in 1783, was to be a generally understandable introduction to critical philosophy. Kant completed his ethical system, which was only hinted at in the last chapters of "Critique of Pure Reason," in 1785 in "Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals" ("Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten"). In the years 1786 and 1788, Immanuel Kant occupied the office of Rector at the University of Königsberg.
In 1787, Kant was inducted into the Academy of Sciences in Berlin. Kant spent much time constantly battling the censors, until 1796, when Kant was only allowed to continue teaching with the understanding that he keep his religious writings to himself, because they spread deistic and socianistic ideas which were not compatible with the Bible.
Immanuel Kant died in Königsberg on February 2, 1804. | <urn:uuid:9de8fd2f-804f-4ac8-8a4f-181886a880db> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | http://www.immanuel-kant-philosopher.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579250598800.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20200120135447-20200120164447-00425.warc.gz | en | 0.934249 | 652 | 3.390625 | 3 |
In 2016, a team led by UCLA’s Martin Monti reported that a 25-year-old man recovering from a coma had made remarkable progress following a treatment to jump-start his brain using ultrasound.
Wired UK described the news one of the best things that happened in 2016. At the time, Monti acknowledged that although he was encouraged by the outcome, it was possible the scientists had gotten a little lucky.
Now, Monti and colleagues report that two more patients with severe brain injuries – both had been in what scientists call a long-term ‘minimally conscious state’ – have made impressive progress thanks to the same technique. The results are published online in the journal Brain Stimulation.
‘I consider this new result much more significant because these chronic patients were much less likely to recover spontaneously than the acute patient we treated in 2016; and any recovery typically occurs slowly over several months and more typically years, not over days and weeks, as we show,’ said Monti, a UCLA professor of professor of psychology and neurosurgery and co-senior author of the new paper. ‘It’s very unlikely that our findings are simply due to spontaneous recovery.’
The paper notes that, of three people who received the treatment, one (a 58-year-old man who had been in a car accident five-and-a-half years prior to treatment and was minimally conscious) did not benefit. However, the other two did.
The other is a 56-year-old man who had suffered a stroke and had been in a minimally conscious state, unable to communicate, for more than 14 months. After the first of two treatments, he demonstrated, for the first time, the ability to consistently respond to two distinct commands: the ability to drop or grasp a ball, and the ability to look toward separate photographs of two of his relatives when their names were mentioned.
He also could nod or shake his head to indicate ‘yes’ or ‘no’ when asked questions such as ‘Is X your name?’ and ‘Is Y your wife’s name?’
Small but significant improvement
In the days following the second treatment, he also demonstrated, for the first time since the stroke, the ability to use a pen on paper and to raise a bottle to his mouth, as well as to communicate and answer questions.
‘Importantly,’ Monti said, ‘these behaviours are diagnostic markers of emergence from a disorder of consciousness.’
The other patient who improved is a 50-year-old woman who had been in even less of a conscious state for more than two-and-a-half years following cardiac arrest. In the days after the first treatment, she was able, for the first time in years, according to her family, to recognise a pencil, a comb, and other objects.
Both patients showed the ability to understand speech.
‘What is remarkable is that both exhibited meaningful responses within just a few days of the intervention,’ Monti said. ‘This is what we hoped for, but it is stunning to see it with your own eyes. Seeing two of our three patients who had been in a chronic condition improve very significantly within days of the treatment is an extremely promising result.’
The changes the researchers saw are small, but Monti said even the smallest form of communication means a way to reconnect. One powerful moment during the study was when the wife of the 56-year-old man showed him photos and asked whether he recognised who he saw.
‘She said to us: “This is the first conversation I had with him since the accident,”‘Monti said. ‘For these patients, the smallest step can be very meaningful; for them and their families. To them it means the world.’
Using acoustic energy
The scientists used a technique called low-intensity focused ultrasound, which uses sonic stimulation to excite the neurons in the thalamus, an egg-shaped structure that serves as the brain’s central hub for processing. After a coma, thalamus function is typically weakened, Monti said.
Doctors use a device about the size of a saucer creates a small sphere of acoustic energy they can aim at different brain regions to excite brain tissue. The researchers placed the device by the side of each patient’s head and activated it 10 times for 30 seconds each in a 10-minute period. Each patient underwent two sessions, one week apart.
Monti hopes to eventually translate the technology into an inexpensive, portable device so the treatment could be delivered not only at state-of-the-art medical centers, but also at patients’ homes, to help ‘wake up’ patients from a minimally conscious or vegetative state.
The treatment appears to be well tolerated; the researchers saw no changes to the patients’ blood pressure, heart rate or blood oxygen levels, and no other adverse events. Monti said the device is safe because it emits only a small amount of energy, less than a conventional Doppler ultrasound.
While the scientists are excited by the results, they emphasise that the technique is still experimental and likely will not be available to the public for at least a few years. For now, there is little that can be done to help patients recover from a severe brain injury that results in either a chronic vegetative state or a minimally conscious state, Monti said.
Monti said his team is planning additional studies to learn exactly how thalamic ultrasound modifies brain function; he hopes to start those clinical trials once the researchers and patients are assured of being safe from COVID-19.
The study’s lead author is Josh Cain, a UCLA graduate student in psychology, and a co-senior author is Caroline Schnakers, a former UCLA researcher who is now assistant director of research at Casa Colina Hospital and Centers for Healthcare in Pomona, California. The work was funded by the Tiny Blue Dot Foundation and the Dana Foundation.
Understanding the terminology
People in a coma appear as if they are under general anesthesia; their eyes are closed, and they do not wake up even if someone tries to rouse them. Some people do eventually recover from a coma and regain significant cognitive function. Others move into a puzzling condition called a vegetative state in which they are awake; that is, their eyes open and close as if they are waking up and falling asleep — but they show no signs of consciousness.
A minimally conscious state is a condition in which people are awake (they wake up and fall asleep periodically) but show subtle signs that they are conscious; for example, the ability to blink their eyes in response to a command.
The articles we publish on Psychreg are here to educate and inform. They’re not meant to take the place of expert advice. So if you’re looking for professional help, don’t delay or ignore it because of what you’ve read here. Check our full disclaimer. | <urn:uuid:3a10a490-defb-4c0e-a1b9-f6b961cf9b4d> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.psychreg.org/brains-after-coma/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506528.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20230923162848-20230923192848-00415.warc.gz | en | 0.973488 | 1,464 | 2.5625 | 3 |
HAVE YOUR SAY.
Join us in The Bullpen, where the members of the Scientific Inquirer community get to shape the site’s editorial decision making. We’ll be discussing people and companies to profile on the site. On Wednesday, October 12 at 5:30pm EST, join us on Discord and let’s build the best Scientific Inquirer possible.
Two of NASA’s Great Observatories, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope, have captured views of a unique NASA experiment designed to intentionally smash a spacecraft into a small asteroid in the world’s first-ever in-space test for planetary defense. These observations of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impact mark the first time that Webb and Hubble simultaneously observed the same celestial target.
On Sept. 26, 2022, at 7:14 pm EDT, DART intentionally crashed into Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet in the double-asteroid system of Didymos. It was the world’s first test of the kinetic impact mitigation technique, using a spacecraft to deflect an asteroid that poses no threat to Earth, and modifying the object’s orbit. DART is a test for defending Earth against potential asteroid or comet hazards.
The coordinated Hubble and Webb observations are more than just an operational milestone for each telescope – there are also key science questions relating to the makeup and history of our solar system that researchers can explore when combining the capabilities of these observatories.
“Webb and Hubble show what we’ve always known to be true at NASA: We learn more when we work together,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “For the first time, Webb and Hubble have simultaneously captured imagery from the same target in the cosmos: an asteroid that was impacted by a spacecraft after a seven-million-mile journey. All of humanity eagerly awaits the discoveries to come from Webb, Hubble, and our ground-based telescopes – about the DART mission and beyond.”
Observations from Webb and Hubble together will allow scientists to gain knowledge about the nature of the surface of Dimorphos, how much material was ejected by the collision, and how fast it was ejected. Additionally, Webb and Hubble captured the impact in different wavelengths of light – Webb in infrared and Hubble in visible. Observing the impact across a wide array of wavelengths will reveal the distribution of particle sizes in the expanding dust cloud, helping to determine whether it threw off lots of big chunks or mostly fine dust. Combining this information, along with ground-based telescope observations, will help scientists to understand how effectively a kinetic impact can modify an asteroid’s orbit.
Webb Captures Impact Site Before and After Collision
Webb took one observation of the impact location before the collision took place, then several observations over the next few hours. Images from Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) show a tight, compact core, with plumes of material appearing as wisps streaming away from the center of where the impact took place.
Observing the impact with Webb presented the flight operations, planning, and science teams with unique challenges, because of the asteroid’s speed of travel across the sky. As DART approached its target, the teams performed additional work in the weeks leading up to the impact to enable and test a method of tracking asteroids moving over three times faster than the original speed limit set for Webb.
“I have nothing but tremendous admiration for the Webb Mission Operations folks that made this a reality,” said principal investigator Cristina Thomas of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. “We have been planning these observations for years, then in detail for weeks, and I’m tremendously happy this has come to fruition.”
Scientists also plan to observe the asteroid system in the coming months using Webb’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Spectroscopic data will provide researchers with insight into the asteroid’s chemical composition.
Webb observed the impact over five hours total and captured 10 images. The data was collected as part of Webb’s Cycle 1 Guaranteed Time Observation Program 1245 led by Heidi Hammel of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).
Hubble Images Show Movement of Ejecta After Impact
Hubble also captured observations of the binary system ahead of the impact, then again 15 minutes after DART hit the surface of Dimorphos. Images from Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 show the impact in visible light. Ejecta from the impact appear as rays stretching out from the body of the asteroid. The bolder, fanned-out spike of ejecta to the left of the asteroid is in the general direction from which DART approached.
Some of the rays appear to be curved slightly, but astronomers need to take a closer look to determine what this could mean. In the Hubble images, astronomers estimate that the brightness of the system increased by three times after impact, and saw that brightness hold steady, even eight hours after impact.
Hubble plans to monitor the Didymos-Dimorphos system 10 more times over the next three weeks. These regular, relatively long-term observations as the ejecta cloud expands and fades over time will paint a more complete picture of the cloud’s expansion from the ejection to its disappearance.
“When I saw the data, I was literally speechless, stunned by the amazing detail of the ejecta that Hubble captured,” said Jian-Yang Li of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, who led the Hubble observations. “I feel lucky to witness this moment and be part of the team that made this happen.”
Hubble captured 45 images in the time immediately before and following DART’s impact with Dimorphos. The Hubble data was collected as part of Cycle 29 General Observers Program 16674.
“This is an unprecedented view of an unprecedented event,” summarized Andy Rivkin, DART investigation team lead of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
IMAGE CREDIT: Science: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jian-Yang Li (PSI), Cristina Thomas (Northern Arizona University), Ian Wong (NASA-GSFC); image processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Alyssa Pagan (STScI) Download full-resolution, uncompressed versions and supporting visuals from the Space Telescope Science Institute | <urn:uuid:3b9f11ec-88e8-493e-b5c6-0d58ef38feab> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://scientificinquirer.com/2022/10/04/webb-hubble-capture-detailed-views-of-dart-impact/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233508977.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20230925115505-20230925145505-00080.warc.gz | en | 0.909023 | 1,362 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Electricity Crisis In Pakistan Economics Essay
Intensity of electricity crisis: The Electricity crisis in Pakistan has made it unbearable for people to live in Pakistan. As they have to suffer from sleepless nights due to load shedding. The energy crisis is one of the most troublesome crisis that has been faced by Pakistan. Though it has been a couple of years that the country is suffering from this crisis, but till now no proper steps have been take, neither any proper planning has come into existence by the government or the private sector. This crisis may become more serious or acute as no proper understanding or correct implementations are being taken into consideration.
This energy crisis has not only left people to bear load shedding driven sleepless nights but has also made it difficult to live for the youth of Pakistan. It has resulted in low productivity of the youth as due to shortage of electricity it is very difficult for the students to concentrate on their health, education and other important factors of life. The area of education is being affected vastly by this electricity crisis as due to this electricity shortage there is no possible way to access personal computers (PC), internet, WLAN and other electronic devices. Moreover, at night it is impossible for the student to study without electricity.
Causes of Electricity Crisis:
The Electricity Crisis of Pakistan is due to the reason that there is a lack of management and lack of foresight by the government of Pakistan. It is also due to the reason that there is a lack of responsibility and awareness among the citizens of the country.
All the resources that are available to Pakistan are way too out of reach as they are simply too expensive or already acquired by some other country which has planned their electricity consumption. Pakistan has failed to find sufficient amount of energy resources as it had delayed in making better decisions and planning the electricity consumption of the country.
Some of the causes of this crisis are discussed below:
One of the most common practices in Pakistan is leaving the lights switched on, even when they are not needed. Not only the lights but also the home appliances are left switched on without realizing that the electricity that is being consumed by the appliances is just being wasted. Similarly, many businesses like shops dealing is clothes and garments, home appliances, electronics, grocery, cosmetics and jewellery are extravagantly lit. Hence, it is observed that shops which can meet their desired level of exposure with two to four tube lights are using as many as 15 to 20 tube lights to meet their desired level. This practice does not only increase power consumption but it also generates heat energy which makes the environment uncomfortable and also makes a negative effect on the ozone layer.
The energy crisis in Pakistan would not have been this difficult to handle but it was made a big problem by following defective policies. Circular dept is one of the causes of the crisis. The question that comes to mind immediately is that what circular dept really is? Circular dept means that the private electricity generation company keeps generating the electricity but they do not get the payment from the government for the power they have provided. Thus, the electricity generating company stops the supply of power after a limited period of time and after that when outstanding amount to be paid by the government crosses the limit; these companies stop the production till they get paid back by the government. This have been happening a lot recently, currently what government is doing is that they let the circular dept build up and while companies stop producing till they are paid back after many months and mean while that close down brings in more shortage and more electricity load shedding afterwards.
Another trigger to the electricity crises was the dry December in 2007 that resulted in the decrease of water levels in the dams of Pakistan. That had affected the electricity production as water is the source of hydroelectric power. The decreasing rate of rain fall has also reduced the total power output of all major hydroelectric dams. Restrictions have also been placed on the release of water as Pakistan is an agricultural country and it needs water for irrigation as well.
The increase in the cost of fuel has made generation of electricity from thermal units very expensive. It is therefore costing exorbitant price. When WAPDA and KESC purchase electricity at higher cost they are not eager to keep on selling the electricity on loss. Therefore, they do not take in notice the complains of load shedding thyat are increasing day by day. They continue with the continuous load shedding without any concern of how the country will survive without electricity. Prices of fuel have a huge effect on electricity crises because 60% of the electricity produced is through furnace oil.
Power theft is also a very big problem in Pakistan as the most popular Kunda system is being used to steal electricity. If the government takes certain steps to completely remove the transmission of electricity through wrong methods it would be able to save at least 25% of its electric power.
Effects of Electricity Crisis on the Economy and on the People of Pakistan:
Pakistan is facing a lot of serious issues due to the electricity crisis. As the economy of Pakistan is suffering from crisis too due to the electricity crisis, the value of Rupee is falling. Pakistan’s small manufacturing markets are being affected severely by the rise in energy prices. Manufacturing industries utilize 33% of production cost in terms of energy prices. An increase in the rise of energy prices will cause a result in the increase of cost of production and thus resulting in the decrease of cost of labour. The cottage industry of Pakistan is taking its last breaths and the textile industry which is one the most important industry of Pakistan is in trouble.
The sector that has the highest rate of consumption is the household sector. The household sector consumes around 44.2% of the total electricity produced. The electricity crisis has literally paralyzes the cities and villages of Pakistan and has made the life of the citizens a living hell. The unscheduled daily load shedding also had negative effects on the life of the people. Some problems faced by the people due to load shedding are that the children weep in the night due to high temperature and mosquito bites, students cannot study at night, industries are being shut down, machinery cannot function properly, surgeons cannot carry out their surgeries, fertilizers and pesticides cannot be manufactured etc. These problems clearly indicate that use of water for the generation of electricity is thousand times better than wastage of water on land or in see is not feudal, because water is wasted in land or sea is nor recoverable but water used for generation of energy can be further used for agriculture and industry. And thus, there will be no shortage of water.
Investment for MNEs in Pakistan:
Pakistan has been known internationally for war on terror as it strategically plays a key part in this war but its performance heavily depends upon its economic conditions, which are very volatile. However, it still invites the international markets to invest in it and increase business activity because it provides: cheap land tax, free zones for industry and does not put obligation off transferring percentage of profit to other land. The banking system of Pakistan is sufficiently effective to provide bank drafts and L/C to any MNE and to give easy loans or provide transactional modes within a country and internationally . The Government of Pakistan with assistance of State bank of Pakistan has drafted all easy policies to attract foreign companies toward the unexplored market of Pakistan. Better economic conditions of Pakistan will help it to fight terrorism but it has also a far good implication for global economy. When investment will come, MNEs will also introduce setups, such as an implant setup, which includes plants, factories and other outlets. Therefore, the investments will come either from local markets, by an increase in employment in Pakistan or by the import of machinery. Manufacturing demands and orders will be made, as a result economic activity will be generated and people will have a demand for basic things. They are willing to pay despite of inflation rising to almost 15 to 16%. In Pakistan, we must understand that the investment should be in dollars and it shouldn’t be evaluated in terms of Rupees. The major concern is whether rupee will sustain a value, for only then, repayment could be possible. This will increase the burden of the people as well as the time for repayment will be squeezed, and exchange rates will alter drastically. However, in recent analyses in Pakistan hard currency reserves are stable and no drastic changes in exchange rates are available so it is a good time to invest.
Now the question that rises is that which particular sector should the MNE’s invest in and why? For this it is necessary for the MNE’s to know where there is problem in Pakistan and where it needs investment. After thorough research it has been concluded that the most recent crisis that is being faced by Pakistan is power shortage which means that Pakistan does not have enough resources to increase its electricity generation to meet the demand of two target markets. One of them is the household sector and the other is the industry, both are suffering badly. To keep the industry running the household sector suffers electric load shedding (an average of 10 hrs of load shedding daily).
What the government of Pakistan is planning is to start developing projects which would include dams and hydral power plants. But the problem that occurs is that it needs expertise and big investments as the shortfall that Pakistan is facing is in range between 3000 MGW to 7000 MGW and the demand is increasing by 9% to 11% per year. The present supply of power that Pakistan can produce easily is 20800 MW which is very less than then what the demand actually is. The actual combined demand from home and industry is approximately between 27000 to 30000 to run country’s economy without disruption. The government has predicted that the demand will increase to 40000 to 50000 MW. Hence, shortfall if conditions remain same will increase to 13000 MW to 18000 MW. This huge deficit is the reason that Pakistan has invited MNE’s to come in Pakistan and invest. The biggest suppliers of electricity in Pakistan are WAPDA and KESC. KESC has to control electricity demand in the industry while WAPDA mainly has the domestic control. Now we must know that what the cost of development is of “HYDRAL POWERPLANT”. Things that must be evaluated initially are investment cost, operational cost and expected cash flow in first year. All by which net present value can be known. Now by our research we can conclude that some basic initial investment and requirement of Pakistan is to build small dams which should have reservoir capacity of 1000 cm3 to 50000 cm3 of water. These dams would cost in between 460 million USD to round 700 million USD. This is the initial estimated infrastructural cost of these plants. The operating cost estimated per year of a small plant is approximately 100 million USD which can exceed on several points. Such as:
spill way debris cleaning
risk management and compliance procedure
Insurance cost ,
The point that should be considered now is the cash flow or profit that the MNEs would get and what will be the annual gross profit for their investment that they would make to cover the shortfall of electricity. Pakistan has short fall of 7000 MW, and the recent price of the rental power plant project proposed by the Turk companies charged 6 rupees per unit as there are 100 units in 1W, the selling price to WAPDA was 600 rupees. Here we must know there are 1 million watts in 1 MW so if MNE sells 1000 MW which is required by a medium sized dam it makes a total profit of 7 million USD on monthly basis. This profit made is just sufficient enough to carry out all the operations for the generation of electricity. Another way to supply electricity instead of selling it to retailer like WAPDA is a direct connection that can be given to domestic range and industry; this would result in higher profit as it is observed that per year the demand is growing by 9 %. Direct connection also allows the MNEs to charge more and also benefits them more as it’s a tax free zone and it’s just pure profit. Generally the time set for the completion of a project is 10 years and according to the calculation of profit the investment by the MNE is cashed within 2 years. Therefore, the remaining 8 years is pure profit. Hence, the investment is sufficient as ensured by the Government of Pakistan.
In order to meet the needs of electricity in Pakistan the government has come up with a program named “Vision 2020 Program”. In this program they have planned to increase around 20,000 MW into the system. The investment for this program is estimated to be $3.2 billion (USD). Another investment is done by the South Korean Lotte Group. They are installing a $45 million (USD) power plant which will generate 40 MW of electricity. Although this power plant is being installed to reach the energy requirement of the Lotte Pakistan PTA LTD (which is a textile manufacturing company). But they also intend to sell electricity in order to earn profit. According to the research, Access International has also proposed to invest in the power sector of Pakistan in the next five years. This investment would be of around $1.2 billion and would generate approximately 1000 MW of electricity.
These investments would not only help generate electricity and decrease the energy crisis of Pakistan but will also help in increasing the employment rate of Pakistan. Unemployment is also a very big economic problem in Pakistan as the rate of unemployment is very high. When the MNEs will invest in the power sector it will automatically increase employment and thus decrease the rate of unemployment in Pakistan.
If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have the essay published on the UK Essays website then please click on the link below to request removal: | <urn:uuid:3a8d6743-002a-49b4-a6c6-8cf6efd48cb4> | CC-MAIN-2014-49 | http://www.ukessays.com/essays/economics/electricity-crisis-in-pakistan-economics-essay.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-49/segments/1416931014329.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20141125155654-00092-ip-10-235-23-156.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970018 | 2,785 | 2.625 | 3 |
I believe that teaching is an interactive experience involving a sharing of beliefs, evidence, and ideas. While some answers may be more correct than others, simply telling students what to think does not help them evaluate or reconcile what has been suggested. Therefore, my college classroom will include many collaborative and individual in-class activities to help the learner better negotiate the course material. In smaller classes, I will regularly use peer-sharing and class presentations—larger classes may require online discussions and simpler in-class activities. As an educator I feel responsible to do whatever I can to help the students learn the material required for the class, as well as other concepts that may interest them if they inquire outside of class.
As a tutor focusing on math and language skills, I found that it is essential to allow students the opportunity to figure out problems on their own. That does not mean I will not guide them in the right direction, but I have learned to refrain from intervening without being asked, especially with math problems. This allows students to build self-efficacy when they are successful at coming up with good ideas without the ideas being suggested by me. As a teacher, I will use similar strategies that are more time-intensive than simply telling students the process and answers, but will have better long-term results for their understanding and performance. While lecturing, I will allow for student questions, and I will intersperse lectures with activities to maintain student interest and engagement.
The role an instructor plays has greatly changed with the technological revolution. Most or all of the information provided in a class can now be found online in text format, with illustrations, or even as videos. It is no longer sufficient for an instructor to simply be a provider of information—he or she must interpret and present the information in a way that is superior to free sources for understanding and mastering the material. Maintaining student interest is a must. With the trend toward online classes, we must recognize and implement the unique opportunities that face-to-face classes offer, such as peer interactions and hands-on learning; otherwise, classroom-based learning might become a dying art. As an educator, a pivotal principle for me is simplicity—covering fewer learning objectives more thoroughly can improve performance, reduce student anxiety, and help less gifted students retain the knowledge and enjoy acquiring it. It also allows me to include activities and exercises that would otherwise be time-prohibitive. Thus, whenever possible, I will actually be teaching less material than other instructors teaching the same course, but with a higher level of rigor, and (hopefully) better long-term results.
Other pages in Richard Thripp’s Teaching Portfolio: | <urn:uuid:37bd6a31-5977-4717-abe7-d06ffe79fbee> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://thripp.com/teaching-portfolio/philosophy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189472.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00341-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949656 | 544 | 2.921875 | 3 |
All machines require a wide array of parts to work effectively. One of these parts could be polyurethane o rings. With a long list of industrial applications, these rings are vital for the functioning of factories and other manufacturing companies.
But how are polyurethane o rings made? By watching this informative segment by Precision Polymer Engineering Ltd, you’ll be able to understand the intricate process of creating this important part. Tune in and see the various stages this material goes through to become the final product of polyurethane o rings.
From the initial stages of molding to the final stages of quality inspection, much work is invested into the process of creating these valuable parts. By the time they land in a factory warehouse, they have been through an entire process that ensures they are of the highest quality. When you have a product that serves a vital purpose, no expense can be spared in the journey of making it the best product possible. Watch this clip and see how hard work and ingenuity come together in the creation of polyurethane o rings. | <urn:uuid:48f2684b-2fcd-4142-a4e2-de8201af64e6> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://infomaxglobal.com/2022/11/14/how-are-polyurethane-o-rings-made/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506669.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20230924223409-20230925013409-00434.warc.gz | en | 0.93721 | 219 | 2.546875 | 3 |
2017 Understanding and Supporting Behaviour in Autism
Target AudienceParents & Caregivers
Full fee: S$78 per participant
CTG Co-Payment: S$10 per caregiver
(inclusive of GST, handout materials and refreshments)
Individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder or autism may present with behaviours that are seemingly difficult and challenging to manage. In many situations, understanding the cause(s) of these behaviours will not only provide the answers to successful management of these behaviours but may also prevent them from occurring.
This workshop will provide an overview of the key elements of behaviour management strategies utilised in supporting individuals with autism; namely understanding common causes, prevention and management.
During this workshop, participants will acquire an understanding of some common causes of difficult and challenging behaviours. An emphasis will be placed on learning practical tips and strategies to successfully prevent and manage these difficult and challenging behaviours in the classroom and home context.
Upon completion of this workshop, participants will be empowered with the following:
- Understand some common reasons that bring about difficult and challenging behaviours in individuals with autism
- Learn practical tips which can be used to prevent these behaviours from happening
- Know when to seek professional help to manage certain types of behaviour
Parents/Caregivers caring for Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (Preschool or Special Education Schools)
Mr Tan Qiu Quan, Ms Lina Kam, Training Coordinator | <urn:uuid:8686de54-5a61-43b3-b293-1eaece6ce43d> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | https://apps.autism.org.sg/trg/courses?id=5&course=89 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806736.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20171123050243-20171123070243-00463.warc.gz | en | 0.899069 | 287 | 2.671875 | 3 |
(If you’re just joining the Weekly Presentation Crash Course by Improve Presentation, you might want to start at the beginning!)
What is aspect ratio?
The ratio between picture width and picture height. This ratio can be maintained even when resizing a picture. Most templates use either 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.
Big-screen presentations, such as major keynote addresses at conferences, often use templates with a 16:9 aspect ratio. The dimensions of templates with a 16:9 aspect ratio vary depending on the screen-projection requirements, but they are almost twice as wide as they are tall.
Why should I care?
In PowerPoint 2013 the slide layout area is now default 16:9 widescreen, so as soon as you start a new presentation your area dimensions are set like this as standard. All previous versions of PowerPoint default to a 4:3 ratio.
Most screens we use to view our presentations are now a 16:9 widescreen dimension:
- Laptops – 16:9 widescreen
- Plasma/LED TVs – 16:9 widescreen
- Projectors – newer models are using a 16:9 widescreen.
Determining the correct aspect ratio for your presentation should be top on your list before any slide development starts.
Widescreen, with its 16:9 aspect ratio, is taking over video screens faster than Godzilla in a scale model city. And that’s a good thing.
What is the aspect ratio of your presentation?
You can check & change the aspect ratio of your presentation quite easy.
To configure a special Aspect Ratio for your slides, you will need to go to Design tab and then press Page Setup.
This will open a new Dialog showing the Page Setup options. Here you can choose Slide Sized for different screen types and resolutions, and you can also set the page width in inches or page height.
To change the slide size to custom size, click on the Inspector – the blue icon with an i. Click Document on the document inspector, select slide size. You can also enter a custom width and height there. See the image below for reference.
If you try to open a 4:3 presentation in 16:9 aspect ratio your slides might look stretched.
Will your presentation be projected at 4:3 or widescreen? If you change to another aspect ratio midstream, graphics will stretch or distort, type sizes may change, text boxes can move out of position, etc. Slides will need to be reformatted and all graphics resized and repositioned — a time-consuming job.
You can probably get the quickest answers to these questions by consulting with your AV team or event site coordinators.
This is a blog written by Improve Presentation. We are presentation experts. We design high quality Powerpoint Templates and Keynote Templates and create custom unique slidedecks for our clients. See our work | <urn:uuid:8c00ea1d-37d3-47e9-901d-c12cb91f4ad4> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | https://www.improvepresentation.com/blog/presentation-crash-course-2choosing-right-aspect-ratio | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267863886.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20180620202232-20180620222232-00163.warc.gz | en | 0.879026 | 610 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Have you ever tried to find a cemetery where ancestors were probably buried, but it's not on any map you can find? The road may have changed. The cemetery may be in a field somewhere, hopefully fenced in somehow, probably overgrown with weeds and brush. But where is it?
Let's use this as an example. After you've entered what you know into the form, you'll get something like this:
PLOT THE MAP:
Likewise, along the top and/or bottom are the tiny Longitude numbers, 88W and 89W in our example. Our cemetery is farther west than 88 degrees, but not as far west as 89 degrees.
And now you have a little imaginary square and the cemetery is right in there somewhere.
For our purposes, we don't really need to be as precise as the data given. It's enough to know that the cemetery is a little over half way between Latitude 32 and 33 (5917 is roughly 60% of the way). So with the Longitude, 4107 is only about 40% of the distance from Longitude 88 toward Longitude 89. Get the idea?
People who live in that neighborhood can probably help you find the exact spot. Maybe the County Agent could help or one of the local Pastors. And of course, there are always our friends at the local Historical and Genealogical Society. | <urn:uuid:3f716a05-4bbe-4b1f-b5d0-0eaab415a172> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~msalhn/cemetery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501169776.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104609-00279-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965658 | 282 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Two months after announcing that the newly formed Republic of Lakotah had seceded from the United States, organizer Russell Means outlined plans for a wind-energy project for citizens of the new country.This spring. Fave part:
At a meeting in Rapid City on Saturday, Means said he has been talking with representatives of a California company about plans to put windmills on land owned by both Native Americans and non-Natives willing to become citizens of the new Republic of Lakotah. He declined to name the company. Means, a longtime activist, said he and other organizers have met with tribal members of the Standing Rock, Rosebud and Yankton Sioux tribes. Windmills could be sprouting on the Standing Rock, Rosebud and possibly Pine Ridge reservations this spring, he said.
Means said the homestead acts, allotment acts and the 1877 sale of the Black Hills to the U.S. government are all illegal, under Article 6 of the Constitution.He's not only the Republic's Chief Facilitator, he's its Chief Diplomat too!
"All of the people living in our land are outlaws," Means said. "All of the states are outlaws."
He also called existing tribal governments "collaborators in genocide."
But Means, one of the early leaders in the American Indian Movement, said the new country's organizers do not seek confrontation. "We want to live within the law," he said."We are legal and, most important, we are lawful," he said. "There aren't going to be any Wounded Knees," he said, referring to AIM's 71-day standoff with federal and tribal authorities on the Pine Ridge reservation village in 1973.No Wounded Knees? But Wounded Knee was a landmark in the struggle for Indian freedom, according to Russell. Here he is in an interview with The Progressive in 2001:
Q: What lasting effect did the occupation of Wounded Knee have on the Indian community at Pine Ridge?Rhetorical question: so why is he disavowing it now? Back to the Rapid City Journal:
Russell Means: It gave birth to self-dignity and self-pride and the idea that we can self-determine on our own merits. In 1973, the full-blood Indians on the reservation were living in abject poverty. They were totally overlooked, and their spirits were almost totally destroyed. Our culture, our song, our old people--everything was denigrated by our own people, as well as by the larger society.
What Wounded Knee did was give pride in just the fact that you are an Indian, and you can do something, and we have allies.
Means predicted that existing city, county and state governments, as well as tribal governments, would continue but eventually wither away as the new country flourishes.Just . . . wither away. New sobriquet for Russell: The Lakota Lenin.
Update: o/t, but rumors have been going around that this is Pirate Ballerina. I can say almost unequivocally that it's not.
Update II: I'd forgotten that the Denver Art Museum has one of Andy Warhol's American Indian Series (Russell Means) (1976).
The future Chief Facilitator as lipstick model. | <urn:uuid:f66f6846-b480-444d-b64f-b7f69bfe4848> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://thedrunkablog.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-fantasy-from-russell-means.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549423927.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20170722082709-20170722102709-00279.warc.gz | en | 0.973311 | 686 | 2.59375 | 3 |
- 7,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
The inspiring stories of 6 people who changed history.
Marco Polo who taught the world about China
Ibn Battuta who travelled to 44 countries
Christopher Columbus who discovered new worlds
James Cook, first to sail around the world in both directions
David Livingstone who explored Africa
Yuri Gagarin, the first man to go into space
Word count: 14,679
Headword count: 1,163
PLUS: visit www.collinselt.com/readers for videos, teacher resources and self-study materials.
This book is Level 3 in the Collins ELT Readers series.
Level 3 is equivalent to CEF level B1.
About the Amazing People series:
A unique opportunity for learners of English to read about the exceptional lives and incredible abilities of some of the most insightful people the world has seen.
Each book contains six short stories, told by the characters themselves, as if in their own words. The stories explain the most significant parts of each character’s life, giving an insight into how they came to be such an important historic figure.
After each story, a timeline presents the most major events in their life in a clear and succinct fashion. The timeline is ideal for checking comprehension or as a basis for project work or further research.
Created in association with The Amazing People Club.
About Collins ELT Readers:
Collins ELT Readers are divided into four levels:
Level 1 – elementary (A2)
Level 2 – pre-intermediate (A2–B1)
Level 3 – intermediate (B1)
Level 4 – upper intermediate (B2)
Each level is carefully graded to ensure that the learner both enjoys and benefits from their reading experience.
‘As a teacher using the Amazing People ELT Readers in an Extensive Reading Project, I’m as happy as my students are: motivating topics/real people, interesting facts and a great alternative to Graded Reader fiction. Having said that, the same class is also reading books from the Agatha Christie series, and enjoying them very much. Their Reading Diaries are full of questions, speculation about who-dunnit and comments about “unputdownability”. The buzz in the classroom when we’re swopping books is tangible.’
Hania Bociek, Zürich, Switzerland
About the author | <urn:uuid:7b65bb00-e3a4-4f63-91e1-abd55a6a4ac6> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://books.apple.com/de/audiobook/amazing-explorers/id1441726273 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320300810.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20220118092443-20220118122443-00161.warc.gz | en | 0.92135 | 527 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Kennedy of SSUSD explains Core Standards
News Review Correspondent
The latest major educational effort at the national level is Common Core State Standards, a program designed to even out the differences in educational content between states, from kindergarten through Grade 12, so that a high school diploma from one state carries the same meaning and educational level as a diploma from a different state.
Several states have worked together to develop standards for math and English in each grade level and are working on standards for science and history.
California has adopted the CCSS, so all school districts in our state are under a deadline to implement these standards by the 2014-15 school year.
Information and frequently asked questions about the CCSS can be found at www.corestandards.org. The actual text of the CCSS, including both math and English sections, can be found on the California Depart-ment of Education site, www.cde.ca.gov.
According to Shirley Kennedy, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at Sierra Sands Unified School District, SSUSD is right on track.
“We have been teaching the California State Standards for about 15 years,” said Kennedy. “Those came out in 1998 or 1999. At that time, it was guidance for schools to ensure that students learn specific concepts at specific grade levels. Each state did that independently. That created a sense of consistency for schools within each state at the time.
“Over the last few years, we learned that different states had different standards at different grade levels. We all had our own definition of proficiency. What was considered proficiency in one state did not necessarily equate to proficiency in another.”
The “No Child Left Behind” program did not take into account different learning styles, and made the lack of consistency between states more of an issue, she said.
“The whole point behind CCSS is to provide consistency among all the states. The process for English and math came out in March of 2010, and a number of states made the decision whether or not to adopt.
“California adopted the CCSS in August 2010. So for us at SSUSD, we started working on it because we were aware of what the program involved from the very beginning. We had a lot of professional development sessions to assist teachers and staff in learning the new standards and creating a transition plan.”
For the past three years, SSUSD’s main focus has been on checking what’s the same and what’s different about the two systems, to make alignment changes wherever possible while still holding to the California State Stan-dards through 2014 to help ease the transition from one accountability system to another.
“We’ve been working with a three-level transition plan,” said Kennedy. “First, awareness — we’re learning what the new standards are. Second, planning — there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work here.
“Our teachers are creating pacing so all will have covered the material by the end of the school year. The teachers are working together on this to create pacing guides. They have to guarantee all the standards for the grade level they’re teaching, knowing some students may not be as adept at grasping concepts, so we have systems in place to provide intervention for students who need extra support so they can also maintain the pace of grade-level material.”
These interventions can include immediate extra help from the teacher, before- or after-school work with the student and extra support on top of the class work. Referrals for possible testing may be made to see if a particular student has something interfering with the learning process. Some students just need more time to do the work.
Occasionally a student may need to be checked for learning disabilities.
Counseling is available if needed. “We have all kinds of strategies to help kids move through the curriculum,” said Kennedy.
Another factor that is different about this system is testing methods. Under this program, students can be tested in a variety of ways to see if they are truly learning the material and if they can demonstrate their knowledge in a way different from the current multiple-choice testing.
“Our schools are filled with strategies so students can be successful,” said Kennedy. “We have pretty much a ‘whatever it takes’ philosophy. We’re well above the county and state levels with our graduation rate and our low dropout rate. We work really hard with our students to make sure they’re successful.”
She added that she’s “excited about the CCSS. We like what’s been included. It’s very relevant and students are responding to it well. Students need to know the material. but can they apply it? We’re seeing a lot more critical thinking, analysis and problem solving to demonstrate that they can apply the information that they know.
“Another aspect of the transition is technology — it’s embedded in this curriculum. Students are assessing, really writing, speaking, listening and using various types of technology.
“Students are citing textual evidence, and doing argumentative writing. They can read a preamble, for example, and dissect the article so they really understand it at a deep level. They’re asked to take a position and argue their point using the text. In the work world, you’re writing proposals and things like that. This is to prepare students for their college career instead of waiting. We’re teaching readiness skills so they can step into either college or a career.”
Entry-level requirements in the job market have changed over the years. “The CCSS is addressing this change. Students are being taught to think earlier,” said Kennedy. “The school district is in a really good position to make the transition. Staffers are working hard to prepare for this.”
Most of the testing is on-line. For example a student may need headphones to hear a short speech, then answer questions testing listening skills. Then there are performance tasks, where students have to work together to accomplish a task. Many methods are used to make sure students don’t just guess, but instead demonstrate their knowledge.Story First Published: 2013-06-05 | <urn:uuid:0644b65c-f2da-412c-881b-bd084bf5b8c5> | CC-MAIN-2016-18 | http://www.news-ridgecrest.com/news/story.pl?id=0000001344 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-18/segments/1461861848830.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160428164408-00164-ip-10-239-7-51.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959289 | 1,307 | 3.125 | 3 |
- Cherokee County Water & Sewerage Authority is paying close attention to what unfolded in Flint, Michigan, and our thoughts are with all those who are struggling without access to safe and reliable water in their homes. In North America, no one should have to question the safety of water at the tap.
- Flint underscores that our first job is to protect the persons we serve. Those of us involved in managing, cleaning and delivering water share a solemn obligation to protect public health.
- We do not have first-hand information about what occurred in Flint, but this much seems clear: When Flint switched its water supply source, it did not take the required steps to manage water chemistry. The new water caused lead to leach from service lines and home plumbing – lead that ended up in water coming out of the taps.
- Lead does not come from the treatment plants and water mains; it comes from lead service lines running between the water main in the street and the home, and from plumbing inside the home. We do not have lead service lines in our system.
- This kind of incident is unlikely here. Cherokee County Water and Sewerage Authority collects samples for lead and copper analysis every three years as required by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, in accordance with federal rules. Because lead and copper enter drinking water primarily through plumbing materials used in individual homes, the US Environmental Protection Agency requires systems to monitor drinking water at customer taps. If lead concentrations exceed an action level of 15 ppb or if copper concentrations exceed an action level of 1.3 ppm in more than 10% of customer taps sampled, the system must undertake a number of additional actions to control corrosion.
Here are the most recent lead and copper results from CCWSA’s sampling:
Lead: 2.5 ppb / 90th percentile, (9/2015) Lead range: 0.00 ppb – 8.1 ppb (9/2015)
Copper: 0.83 ppm / 90th percentile (9/2015) Copper range: 0.00 ppm – 1.2ppm (9/2015)
Additionally CCWSA treats our drinking water with an orthophosphate to control corrosion within the water distribution system. The phosphate provides a layer of protection on the walls of the distribution pipes that decreases the potential corrosion of metals into the drinking water. CCWSA monitors corrosion within the water system through a corrosion coupon monitoring program. The program consists of mild steel discs that are placed throughout the distribution system and analyzed on a quarterly basis to determine the corrosion rate. Orthophosphate levels, along with the pH and alkalinity of CCWSA’s finished drinking water, are tested multiple times daily at our water production plant to maintain very high water quality in the distribution system.
- We are not content to simply comply with regulations. We observe the letter of the law and embrace the spirit of it.
- If you are a property owner, there are steps you can take to address potential risks from lead in water. Older brass faucets with lead content can be in newer homes. A certified plumber can check for lead solders in your internal pipes and look for fixtures containing lead. | <urn:uuid:0e2566cb-0f99-4249-b206-b2c336ede3f4> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | http://ccwsa.com/drinking-water-safe/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540515344.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20191208230118-20191209014118-00321.warc.gz | en | 0.935418 | 651 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge
Mary Elizabeth Coleridge Poems
- Affection The earth that made the rose, She also is thy ...
- The Other Side Of A Mirror I sat before my glass one day, ...
- Gibberish Many a flower have I seen blossom, Many a bird for...
- To Memory Strange Power, I know not what thou art, Murderer...
- ‘he Came Unto His Own, And His...
- The Deserted House There's no smoke in the chimney, And the ...
- The Witch I HAVE walked a great while over the snow, And I ...
She was a British novelist and poet, who also wrote essays and reviews. She taught at the London Working Women's College for twelve years from 1895 to 1907. She wrote poetry under the pseudonym Anodos, taken from George MacDonald; other influences on her were Richard Watson Dixon and Christina Rossetti. Robert Bridges,the Poet Laureate,described her poems as 'wonderously beautiful..but mystical rather and enigmatic'
Coleridge published five novels, the best known of those being The King with Two Faces, which earned her £900 in royalties in 1897. She travelled widely throughout her life, although her home was in London, where she lived with her family. Her father was Arthur Duke ... more »
Click here to add this poet to your My Favorite Poets.
The earth that made the rose,
She also is thy mother, and not I.
The flame wherewith thy maiden spirit glows
Was lighted at no hearth that I sit by.
I am as far below as heaven above thee.
Were I thine angel, more I could not love thee.
Bid me defend thee!
Thy danger over-human strength shall lend me,
A hand of iron and a heart of steel,
To strike, to wound, to slay, and not to feel.
But if you chide me,
I am a weak, defenceless child beside thee. | <urn:uuid:5ce60687-4e8e-43f4-aa01-e722bda44c88> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.poemhunter.com/mary-elizabeth-coleridge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514572934.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20190916200355-20190916222355-00005.warc.gz | en | 0.954137 | 422 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Should we mine the deep seafloor?
Beaulieu, Stace E.
Graedel, Thomas E
Hannington, Mark D.
MetadataShow full item record
KeywordDeep-sea mining; Environmental impacts; Manganese nodules; Seafloor massive sulfides; Sustainable development
As land-based mineral resources become increasingly difficult and expensive to acquire, the potential for mining resources from the deep seafloor has become widely discussed and debated. Exploration leases are being granted, and technologies are under development. However, the quantity and quality of the resources are uncertain, and many worry about risks to vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. Deep-sea mining has become part of the discussion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In this article we provide a summary of benefits, costs, and uncertainties that surround this potentially attractive but contentious topic.
© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Earth's Future 5 (2017): 655–658, doi:10.1002/2017EF000605.
Suggested CitationEarth's Future 5 (2017): 655–658
The following license files are associated with this item:
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
Tucholke, Brian E.; Macdonald, Ken C.; Fox, Paul J. (American Geophysical Union, 1991-06-18)Long-term Natural Laboratories for in-depth studies of the seafloor at both a slowspreading (<30 mm/yr) and a fast-spreading (>60 mm/yr) mid-ocean ridge are being established by the Office of Naval Research. The two Natural ...
Elgar, Steve; Raubenheimer, Britt (American Geophysical Union, 2008-04-12)Muddy seafloors cause tremendous dissipation of ocean waves. Here, observations and numerical simulations of waves propagating between 5- and 2-m water depths across the muddy Louisiana continental shelf are used to estimate ...
ten Brink, Uri S.; Danforth, William W.; Polloni, Christopher; Andrews, Brian D.; Llanes, Pilar; Smith, Shepard; Parker, Eugene; Uozumi, Toshihiko (American Geophysical Union, 2004-09-14)The Puerto Rico Trench, the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, is located where the North American (NOAM) plate is subducting under the Caribbean plate (Figure l). The trench region may pose significant seismic and tsunami ... | <urn:uuid:04fb6a6d-0925-416e-8f1d-ad9e283d45f7> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | https://darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org/handle/1912/9207 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046154321.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20210802141221-20210802171221-00447.warc.gz | en | 0.847236 | 552 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.