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Doctors often suggest that women get biopsies in order to see if there are any unusual growths there or to test a particular growth to see if it is cancerous. But are these accurate?
Many experts say that biopsies often show misleading results.
CBS news reports on the new information.
The new study shows that biopsy specialists often misdiagnose cancer, therefore reiterating the point that women should get second opinions before pursuing treatment options.
The study’s analysis shows that pathologists are very good at deciphering when invasive cancer is present in breast tissue. Their issue seems to come in the diagnosis part. The researchers say many of them are less adept at making the right diagnosis with less dangerous conditions or when biopsied tissue is normal.
How was the study conducted?
“The study involved 115 U.S. pathologists and 240 breast biopsy specimens. Their diagnoses were matched against those of three experts. It was an experiment and may not reflect what happens outside a research setting, but the authors say the results highlight the challenges of accurately interpreting tissue under a microscope,” according to CBS.
The research study has been published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association as the findings relate to many women being that biopsies are so common. Over one and a half million biopsies are conducted every year. Some take place after women feel a lump or after a radiologist sees something unusual on a mammogram.
How is it performed?
The specialist takes tissue from the breast through a needle or from a surgically removed growth and examines it under a microscope. Earlier research has shown that reading a mammogram can also be difficult and lead to over or under treatment as many of the white blots on a mammogram look very similar.
The study’s leader author, Dr. Elmore, commented on her findings.
She said, “Pathologists correctly diagnosed abnormal, precancerous cells about half the time, no better than a coin toss. Treatment for this condition typically includes frequent monitoring and sometimes medication. About a third of these cases were misdiagnosed as not worrisome or normal, while 17 percent were deemed more suspicious or cancer.”
Around 160,000 American women get this treatment yearly and Dr. Elmore fears that they are being misdiagnosed based on the results of the study.
In around thirteen percent of cases it has been found that pathologists mistakenly made a cancerous finding in normal tissue. Researchers had similar trouble when it came to a condition called DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), 13 percent of these cases were misdiagnosed as less serious, while 3 percent were mistaken for invasive cancer. What is this disease? It involves abnormal cells confined to a milk duct and is diagnosed in around 60,000 American women each year. Instances of this disease have increased because of rising mammogram use, and it can sometimes disseminate, so usual treatment includes surgery and radiation.
Co-author Dr. David Rimm, a Yale University pathology professor who also interprets biopsies, also commented on the study. He said,
“Pathologists weren't allowed to consult with colleagues when they were uncertain about findings -- while in the real world those consultations happen frequently. Still, he said the results are troubling and highlight that pathology is an imperfect science.”
Post a Comment to "Are Breast Biopsies Accurate?"To reply to this message, enter your reply in the box labeled "Message", hit "Post Message." | <urn:uuid:b3d03181-911b-4468-a8bb-e1ab9c75afea> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://www.oginski-law.com/blog/are-breast-biopsies-accurate-.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218190234.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212950-00495-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970153 | 722 | 2.78125 | 3 |
These Acadians settled along the waterways west of the Mississippi River eventually spreading through the prairies to the western border of Louisiana and Texas. Cajun Country is locally referred to as Acadiana and is an officially recognized area of French-speaking parishes.
Cajun History – Acadiana History – Crawfish Online – LA
Here is the short and simple version. For a more complete study, we suggest you check out www.acadian-cajun.com. Cajun is the slang version of Acadian which came out of the French to English translation. Originally, French Catholics settled in the French colony of Acadia, modern day Nova Scotia. Britain took control of the region in 1713. Unable to get the Acadians to pledge allegiance to the crown, the British forced their deportation. This happened in waves with each wave going to different destinations, some to Canada, New England, and others to Louisiana. | <urn:uuid:eb294ae4-6694-4c2b-9669-e70eba31afea> | CC-MAIN-2020-45 | https://cajuncrawfish.com/cajun-history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-45/segments/1603107880878.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20201023073305-20201023103305-00413.warc.gz | en | 0.940697 | 188 | 3.21875 | 3 |
The nervous system is a complex network of nerves and cells that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body.
© VectorMine / Shutterstock.com
The nervous system includes both the Central nervous system and Peripheral nervous system. The Central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord and The Peripheral nervous system is made up of the Somatic and the Autonomic nervous systems.
The Central Nervous System (CNS)
The central nervous system is divided into two major parts: the brain and the spinal cord.
The brain lies within the skull and is shaped like a mushroom. The brain consists of four principal parts:
- the brain stem
- the cerebrum
- the cerebellum
- the diencephalon
The brain weighs approximately 1.3 to 1.4 kg. It has nerve cells called the neurons and supporting cells called the glia.
There are two types of matter in the brain: grey matter and white matter. Grey matter receives and stores impulses. Cell bodies of neurons and neuroglia are in the grey matter. White matter in the brain carries impulses to and from grey matter. It consists of the nerve fibers (axons).
The Brain Stem
The brain stem is also known as the Medulla oblongata. It is located between the pons and the spinal cord and is only about one inch long.
The cerebrum forms the bulk of the brain and is supported on the brain stem. The cerebrum is divided into two hemispheres. Each hemisphere controls the activities of the side of the body opposite that hemisphere.
The hemispheres are further divided into four lobes:
- Frontal lobe
- Temporal lobes
- Parietal lobe
- Occipital lobe
This is located behind and below the cerebrum.
The diencephalon is also known as the fore brain stem. It includes the thalamus and hypothalamus. The thalamus is where sensory and other impulses go and coalesce.
The hypothalamus is a smaller part of the diencephalon
Other Parts of the Brain
Other parts of the brain include the midbrain and the pons:
- the midbrain provides conduction pathways to and from higher and lower centers
- the pons acts as a pathway to higher structures; it contains conduction pathways between the medulla and higher brain centers
The Spinal Cord
The spinal cord is along tube like structure which extends from the brain. The spinal cord is composed of a series of 31 segments. A pair of spinal nerves comes out of each segment. The region of the spinal cord from which a pair of spinal nerves originates is called the spinal segment. Both motor and sensory nerves are located in the spinal cord.
The spinal cord is about 43 cm long in adult women and 45 cm long in adult men and weighs about 35-40 grams. It lies within the vertebral column, the collection of bones (back bone).
Other Parts of the Central Nervous System
The meninges are three layers or membranes that cover the brain and the spinal cord. The outermost layer is the dura mater. The middle layer is the arachnoid, and the innermost layer is the pia mater. The meninges offer protection to the brain and the spinal cord by acting as a barrier against bacteria and other microorganisms.
The Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) circulates around the brain and spinal cord. It protects and nourishes the brain and spinal cord.
The neuron is the basic unit in the nervous system. It is a specialized conductor cell that receives and transmits electrochemical nerve impulses. A typical neuron has a cell body and long arms that conduct impulses from one body part to another body part.
There are three different parts of the neuron:
- the cell body
Cell Body of a Neuron
The cell body is like any other cell with a nucleus or control center.
The cell body has several highly branched, thick extensions that appear like cables and are called dendrites. The exception is a sensory neuron that has a single, long dendrite instead of many dendrites. Motor neurons have multiple thick dendrites. The dendrite's function is to carry a nerve impulse into the cell body.
An axon is a long, thin process that carries impulses away from the cell body to another neuron or tissue. There is usually only one axon per neuron.
The neuron is covered with the Myelin Sheath or Schwann Cells. These are white segmented covering around axons and dendrites of many peripheral neurons. The covering is continuous along the axons or dendrites except at the point of termination and at the nodes of Ranvier.
The neurilemma is the layer of Schwann cells with a nucleus. Its function is to allow damaged nerves to regenerate. Nerves in the brain and spinal cord do not have a neurilemma and, therefore cannot recover when damaged.
Types of Neuron
Neurons in the body can be classified according to structure and function. According to structure neurons may be multipolar neurons, bipolar neurons, and unipolar neurons:
- Multipolar neurons have one axon and several dendrites. These are common in the brain and spinal cord
- Bipolar neurons have one axon and one dendrite. These are seen in the retina of the eye, the inner ear, and the olfactory (smell) area.
- Unipolar neurons have one process extending from the cell body. The one process divides with one part acting as an axon and the other part functioning as dendrite. These are seen in the spinal cord.
The Peripheral Nervous System
The Peripheral nervous system is made up of two parts:
- Somatic nervous system
- Autonomic nervous system
Somatic Nervous System
The somatic nervous system consists of peripheral nerve fibers that pick up sensory information or sensations from the peripheral or distant organs (those away from the brain like limbs) and carry them to the central nervous system.
These also consist of motor nerve fibers that come out of the brain and take the messages for movement and necessary action to the skeletal muscles. For example, on touching a hot object the sensory nerves carry information about the heat to the brain, which in turn, via the motor nerves, tells the muscles of the hand to withdraw it immediately.
The whole process takes less than a second to happen. The cell body of the neuron that carries the information often lies within the brain or spinal cord and projects directly to a skeletal muscle.
Autonomic Nervous System
Another part of the nervous system is the Autonomic Nervous System. It has three parts:
- the sympathetic nervous system
- the parasympathetic nervous system
- the enteric nervous system
This nervous system controls the nerves of the inner organs of the body on which humans have no conscious control. This includes the heartbeat, digestion, breathing (except conscious breathing) etc.
The nerves of the autonomic nervous system enervate the smooth involuntary muscles of the (internal organs) and glands and cause them to function and secrete their enzymes etc.
The Enteric nervous system is the third part of the autonomic nervous system. The enteric nervous system is a complex network of nerve fibers that innervate the organs within the abdomen like the gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, gall bladder etc. It contains nearly 100 million nerves.
Neurons in the Peripheral Nervous System
The smallest worker in the nervous system is the neuron. For each of the chain of impulses there is one preganglionic neuron, or one before the cell body or ganglion, that is like a central controlling body for numerous neurons going out peripherally.
The preganglionic neuron is located in either the brain or the spinal cord. In the autonomic nervous system this preganglionic neuron projects to an autonomic ganglion. The postganglionic neuron then projects to the target organ.
In the somatic nervous system there is only one neuron between the central nervous system and the target organ while the autonomic nervous system uses two neurons. | <urn:uuid:d1796e8b-2634-4394-90f0-d07836c68ee0> | CC-MAIN-2019-39 | https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-the-Nervous-System.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-39/segments/1568514573124.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20190917223332-20190918005332-00535.warc.gz | en | 0.912981 | 1,708 | 3.953125 | 4 |
Blood Tests for Dogs
Blood testing is one of the most simple and frequently utilized forms of diagnostics performed in the veterinary clinic. At West Hill Animal Clinic, we have the capability to run blood work in the clinic, although most testing is sent to an outside laboratory.
Why are blood tests for dogs important?
Blood testing is used to assess for evidence of many things including: infection, organ dysfunction, viruses, and some cancers. Blood testing is typically performed in one of two scenarios: 1. To diagnose disease in sick animals 2. As a form of preventative medicine. We routinely run pre-anesthetic blood prior to every surgery to ensure that each patient is a good surgical candidate and we recommend annual bloodwork in our senior pets as a screen for early disease detection. When taking blood, the animal is restrained and blood is taken from an appropriate vein. On average, a maximum of 3 milliliters of blood is required to run most tests.
How do I understand the blood test results?
Once the results are received, the veterinarian will scan the bloodwork for abnormalities and call to discuss the findings to help you understand them. | <urn:uuid:7cc43659-c885-409f-aad0-ce0b03171d6c> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | https://www.westhillvet.com/dog/blood-tests/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794864544.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20180521200606-20180521220606-00386.warc.gz | en | 0.940449 | 231 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Originally Published July, 2003; Current Implications section added by Heidi Burgess in April 2017.
What Is Moral Conflict?
The 2017 Presidential election in the United States was a "wake up call" for many people. Many of us were not aware of the depth of the distributional--and moral--divide in this country.
Protracted conflict sometimes results from a clash between differing world-views. One group's most fundamental and cherished assumptions about the best way to live may differ radically from the values held by another group. Parties may have different standards of rightness and goodness and give fundamentally different answers to serious moral questions. When groups have different ideas about the good life, they often stress the importance of different things, and may develop radically different or incompatible goals. This can lead to conflict.
Because values and morals tend to be quite stable, people are often unwilling to negotiate or compromise with respect to these topics. Indeed, if the basic substantive issues of the conflict are deeply embedded in the participants' moral orders, these issues are likely to be quite intractable.
A group's moral order is related to its practices, its patterns of thinking, and its patterns of language. As they are socialized, group members learn to center their judgments on values and procedures fundamental to their own common culture. Their moral order provides the set of meanings through which they understand their experience and make judgments about what is valuable and important. These patterns of meaning shape the way that individuals understand facts and issues and help them to develop a sense of identity. Social reality also dictates what counts as appropriate action and sets boundaries on what people are able to do. It even affects the way in which emotions are labeled, understood, and acted upon. Thus, an individual's beliefs, sayings, and actions must be understood within the context of a particular social world.
People from the same culture have more or less equivalent realities and mindsets. Their values, assumptions, and procedures become part of "common sense" for them. However, when two parties that do not share norms of communication [customary patterns and rules of communication] and expectations about behavior must interact, they often clash. Each party may believe that its ways of doing things and thinking about things is the best way and come to regard other ways of thinking and acting as inferior, strange, or morally wrong.
Moral conflict occurs when disputants are acting within different social worlds, according to different meanings. Indeed, one of the reasons groups in conflict have trouble breaking the pattern of interaction between them is that each is caught in its own moral order. When two groups have radically different ways of making sense of human life, it is likely that actions regarded by one side as good and prudent will be perceived by the other as evil or foolish. This is because an action that one moral order deems perfectly acceptable may be regarded as an abomination by a different moral order.
For example, sometimes people distinguish between moral orders built on rights and those built on virtues. Each one is associated with particular forms of society and ways of being human. While a rights-based approach is associated with the Enlightenment and modernity, a virtues-based approach emerges from traditional society. When modernists carry out acts regarded as obligatory or good within their own moral order, "these very acts offend traditionalists." Inter-racial or inter-religious marriages, for example, are seen by many as one outgrowth of inclusivity and tolerance. The freedom to marry anyone is a "right." Traditionalists, however, would see it as evil -- harming their race or religion. Likewise, some traditional religious and political activities, for instance, limiting women's dress, freedom of movement, education, and/or public involvement is seen as abhorrent to modern, Western societies. The freedom to wear what one wants, and do what one wants, with no limitations, is seen as a woman's right. Yet the freedom that women exhibit in Western societies is abhorrent to some very traditional Muslim cultures, in which women's modesty is seen as a virtue. In short, the two groups have clashing conceptions of moral value.
In many cases, culture has a powerful influence on the moral order. Because systems of meaning and ways of thinking differ from one culture to another, people from different cultures typically develop different ideas about morality and the best way to live. They often have different conceptions of moral authority, truth, and the nature of community. For example, some cultures place great moral emphasis on the family, while others stress the importance of individual autonomy. These cultural differences become even more problematic when groups have radically different expectations about what is virtuous, what is right, and how to deal with moral conflicts. Thus, culture wars are often driven by moral conflict.
In some cases, one group may come to view the beliefs and actions of another group as fundamentally evil and morally intolerable. This often results in hostility and violence and severely damages the relationship between the two groups. For this reason, moral conflicts tend to be quite harmful and intractable.
Features of Moral Conflict
To further understand moral conflict and deal with it effectively, it is helpful to be aware of its common features.
The first general feature is the tendency for each side to misunderstand the words and actions of the other. People from incommensurate traditions may have trouble communicating because they rely on different systems of meaning, norms of communication, and behavioral expectations.
One possibility is that the participants use the same vocabulary but define and use these key terms differently. For example, the word "honor" might mean martial excellence to one party and economic success to the other. But it is also possible that the groups simply rely on radically different vocabularies that stress the importance of different values. If one party regards the key terms used by the other as unimportant, communication between them will be quite strained. All of this contributes to misunderstanding and makes it very difficult for participants to "articulate the logic of the other sides' social world in ways that the other side will accept."
Further misunderstanding and erroneous perceptions may arise because groups often perceive, define, and deal with conflict in different ways. Because of differing cultural frames, many of the words used to describe appropriate behavior during conflict do not reflect the same content from one culture to another. For example, the terms "conflict," "aggression," "peace," "time," and "negotiation" are not value-free. They carry judgments with them and may be used differently in different cultures. Aggression, usually defined as intentionally hurting another person, is a reflection of norms of conduct, and what hurts in one society may not be what hurts in another society. Thus, indicators of aggression may vary. In the Middle East, for example, a direct refusal is considered a hostile gesture. But in other cultures, raising an objection is customary and well accepted. Ideas about fairness and images of justice can also vary among different groups.
The moral positions of anti-abortion and pro-choice activists are sometimes regarded as incommensurable. That is, the parties not only disagree about substantive moral issues, but also approach moral questions in a fundamentally different way. For this reason, the abortion debate is a prime example of a moral conflict. Because parties are unlikely to be willing to compromise their most cherished values, such conflicts are likely to be interminable and intractable.
The second general feature of moral conflict is that group members tend to develop feelings of mistrust and suspicion toward the other group -- even a sense that the other group poses a danger to their very survival. Given the groups' different values and systems of meaning, actions taken by one side to defuse or resolve the conflict may often be perceived as threatening by the other party. This second party is likely to be stunned and offended by the other's action, and to respond in a negative way. This serves to perpetuate and/or intensify the conflict. Thus, the groups' different conceptions of morality lead to misunderstanding, which in turn contributes to conflict escalation.
Strained and Hostile Communication
Another general feature of moral conflicts is the hostility characteristic of the relationship and the communication between the parties. While sophisticated rhetoric consists of exchanging reasons in a quest to form shared beliefs, the patterns of communication in moral conflicts consist primarily in personal attacks, denunciations, and curses. Slogans and chants replace arguments intended to persuade and inform, and the discourse between the two groups involves many statements about what is wrong with the other group. Thus, opportunities for opposing groups to converse intelligibly and reason together are diminished. When one group is denounced, its members are likely to become defensive, which can contribute to more negative emotions and behavior.
Thus, discourse often moves to sweeping generalizations and abstract principles. For example, groups may appeal to abstract ideals of religion, patriotism, liberty, or "what America is all about" to point out why the actions of another group are morally wrong. In many cases, groups rely on rigidly held social or political beliefs, or ideology, to indicate why their position is morally superior. Such ideology is often accompanied by a sense of urgency about the need for pursuing those ideals.
Additional insights into moral or value conflicts are offered by Beyond Intractability project participants.
Discourse often involves sweeping generalizations about members of the other group. People in moral conflicts tend to invidiously categorize and denounce the personalities, intelligence, and social manners of those with whom they disagree. They may form negative stereotypes and attribute moral depravity or other negative characteristics to those who violate their cultural expectations, while they ignore their own vices and foibles, perceiving their own group to be entirely virtuous. This is what social psychologists call the attribution error.
For example, disputants may attribute the "strange" behavior of foreigners to undesirable character traits, such as moral depravity or lack of intelligence, rather than realizing that their seemingly inappropriate acts are simply a matter of cultural difference. Because parties are typically unable to give rich accounts of the moral order of the opposing group, they are likely to attribute whatever the group does to its stupidity, evil nature, and overall moral depravity. Groups with radically different conceptions of morality may feel stunned and offended by the actions or words of the other group and denounce those actions or the group as a whole.
These belief systems pull together fundamental assumptions and global viewpoints that are in general not up for compromise. Strict adherence to ideology can make it particularly difficult for individuals to approach those with differing worldviews with an open mind. They come to see the conflict entirely in win-lose terms. They may even get to the point that the goal of harming the other becomes more important than helping oneself.
Effects of Moral Conflict
Not surprisingly, moral conflict often has harmful effects. Participants in moral conflict often behave immorally, even according to their own standards of behavior, because they believe the actions of their enemies force them to do so. If a group is regarded as morally depraved, its members may come to be regarded as less than human and undeserving of humane treatment. The demonization or dehumanization of one's opponent that often occurs in moral conflict paves the way for hateful action and violence. It often leads to human rights violations or even attempts at genocide, as parties may come to believe that the capitulation or elimination of the other group is the only way to resolve the conflict.
Why Moral Conflict is Intractable
Because of its deep-roots, moral conflicts tend to be intractable and long-lasting. Parties to such conflict often have great difficulty in describing the substantive issues in shared terms. Because they are arguing from different moral positions, they disagree about the meaning and significance of the important issues. This makes negotiation or compromise extremely difficult in and of itself.
Resolution becomes even more difficult when parties disagree not only about substantive issues, but also about which forms of conflict resolution are morally right, aesthetically preferred, and politically prudent. Parties may have very different ideas about how to gather information, arrive at a conclusion, make a decision, and deal with uncertainty.
Over the course of conflict, the original issues often become irrelevant and new causes for conflict are generated by actions within the conflict itself. This is because in moral conflict, when groups try to act consistently with what they believe is morally good and just, they "prove" to the other side that they are fools or villains. Thus, the means by which the parties seek resolution often just provoke further conflict. As the conflict continues, substantive issues are largely forgotten and "the other side's means of dealing with the conflict is itself the force that drives the interactions among the various conflicted parties." Thus, moral conflicts are self-sustaining.
Parties involved in moral conflict also tend to have great difficulty in imagining a win-win resolution of the conflict at hand. The substantive issues are often a matter of rigidly held moral beliefs, based in fundamental assumptions that cannot be proved wrong. These fundamental moral, religious, and personal values are not easily changed, and people who adhere to a particular ideology may very well be unwilling to compromise their world-view. Instead, as noted earlier, they may engage in diatribe, a rhetorical strategy that discredits adversaries by characterizing them as evil or morally inferior. Such characterizations often lead to subversion, repression, and violence. Because rational discourse has become useless, each party may try to force the other side into compliance. The conflict is likely to escalate and become more protracted as a result.
Also, those involved in moral conflict may regard perpetuation of the conflict as virtuous or necessary. They may derive part of their identity from being warriors or opponents of their enemy and have a stake in the continuation of the conflict because it provides them with a highly desirable role. In addition, because struggles over values often involve claims to status and power, parties may have a great stake in neutralizing, injuring or eliminating their rivals. They may view any compromise about their most cherished values as a threat to their very identity and a grave evil. Indeed, moral conflicts often stem from a desire to safeguard basic human needs such as security and social recognition of identity. On some occasions, the continuation of a conflict may seem preferable to what would have to be given up if the other party were accommodated.
Unfortunately, those enmeshed in moral conflict may be unable to discern the effects of conflict, even if those effects themselves threaten the basic human needs that were at issue. Because moral conflicts tend to be intractable and have great potential for violence, we must search for new ways to manage them.
Dealing With Moral Conflict
What can be done when parties are faced with moral differences that seem to be intolerable?
Changing the Stories
In some cases, each party can heighten its understanding of the other's world-view through new forms of communication. Some suggest that moral conflict be viewed as a particular form of communication and pattern of interaction. At various points in a moral conflict, people have the ability to handle their conflict differently. One way in which people can change the pattern of conflict is by telling different stories about what they are doing. By using narratives and story-telling to communicate they can enrich the views that each side has about the other, often revealing commonalities in the midst of all the differences.
Third parties can sometime help the disputants to redefine or reframe their conflict, focusing more on attainable interests and less on non-negotiable positions or negative stereotypes. They can also help parties to seek mutually beneficial outcomes rather than competitive, win-lose outcomes. Even if the moral differences cannot be eliminated, sometimes the parties share interests or needs. All sides, for example, have a need for security, and increasing the feeling of security of one side does not diminish the security of the other side, as is commonly believed. Rather the opposite is generally true: the more secure one side feels, the less it feels a need to attack the other side; hence the more secure the other side is likely to feel. Therefore, reframing the conflict as a problem (at least in part) of security can sometimes help to get the parties to focus on something they can achieve together rather than on their non-negotiable differences.
Similar to story-telling, dialogue is a process of in-depth communication that allows parties to get to know each other better and to find commonalities with the other side. Although there are many forms and contexts of dialogue, all seek to replace the ubiquitous "diatribe" of moral conflicts with respectful communication, empathic listening, improved understanding, and respect. In some cases, these new forms of communication may help parties to see that their moral disagreements are less deep and fundamental than they previously thought. However, in other cases, the substantive issues will truly be beyond compromise.
Some suggest that in these sorts of cases, parties must strive to develop a space for citizenly public discourse. Even though the parties have radically different world-views and do not agree about the relevant issues, they can nevertheless reach an agreement about how to contend with moral and political differences in a constructive way. In other words, they can come to an agreement about how to disagree. They can thereby find a way to manage their conflict in a way that minimizes the costs to both parties.
The 2017 Presidential election in the United States was a "wake up call" for many people. Many of us were not aware of the depth of the distributional--and moral--divide in this country. While there are undoubtably many reasons why the election came out as it did, some observers believe that the past political successes of the left in forcing their moral views on the entire country was at least in part (perhaps in large part) responsible for the backlash that put Donald Trump in power. Fundamentalist Christians chaffed at being told that they had to issue marriage licences for gay couples (and at least one, who made the news, refused to do so). Christian bakers didn't want to bake "gay cakes." And Christian hospitals and businesses didn't want to be forced to provide abortions or birth control pills.
The left, meanwhile, assumed that they were "right" (meaning correct) and that the rest of the country was "coming around." This election shows, I think, that the country didn't "come around" as much as we thought it did. Morals, as this article argues, are very strong, very stable. And when a conflict involves such issues, it tends to become intractable.
As I re-read this article to write this "current implications" note, I was particularly struck with Maiese's list of "Features of Moral Conflict."
1 - Misunderstandings
2 - Mistrust
3- Strained and Hostile Communication
4- Negative Stereotyping
All of these are rampant between the right and the left right now. We don't understand each others' worldviews, nor do we even try to talk to the other side to try to learn about their views. We "know" we are right, they are wrong, and we have no interest in compromising or even listening to the other side.
All of this contributes to intractability. But note! This article lists some positive things that can be done to address such issues...and these suggestions are very valid in this case.
First, people can change their stories--they can explain who they are and why they believe what they do in different and sometimes more compelling ways. When I listened to Trump voters explain why they voted for him, I was surprised and in some sense sympathetic. I maybe wouldn't have made the same choice had I been in their shoes. But I could understand and empathize with their struggles much more than before when I hadn't heard those stories.
2. Reframe. To the extent we can reframe the dialogue to be about "all of us" instead of "us-versus-them," the better off we could be. I too, actually, want to "make America great again." So let's talk about what that means and how we can do it. Many of my friends believe it's about going backwards--going back to the 50s and its anti-women, anti-minority attitudes. That may be part of it, yes, but it is also about fundamental things such as security, jobs, and hope. We all want those. So if we can reframe the conversation about how we can all get those, we might be able to move away from the intractable moral conflict.
3. Lastly dialogue. This is a very effective way to get (willing) people to listen and learn from "the other." It has been used successfully in many contexts and goes a long way toward ameliorating moral conflicts. However, it is a "table-oriented process" meaning it is small scale, usually involving between 10-20 people. We need to figure out how to "scale dialogue up" so that its benefits can be experienced by 1000s or hundreds of 1000s of people. That's a serious challenge! | <urn:uuid:7f6bae68-b740-464f-b5ae-78d3c9744bf6> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | https://www.adrtimes.com/library/moral-or-value-conflicts-current-implications | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247481122.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20190216210606-20190216232606-00378.warc.gz | en | 0.963869 | 4,300 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Adjust Virtual Memory on windows 10 October 2020 update (A Quick Guide)
In Windows System Virtual memory is used in place of the physical RAM when it runs out of usable space. Virtual memory combines your computer’s RAM with temporary space on your hard disk called the Swap file, Paging file or Pagefile. Whenever RAM is not enough to complete task windows move data to the paging file and frees up RAM so that your computer can complete its task. And prevent issues like slow down of the machine, Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), Low Memory problem, App Crash Etc.
Virtual memory can be considered as being an extension of the computer’s physical memory.
Your computer has two types of memory: The hard drive or solid-state drive, used for your operating system, photos, music and documents, and RAM (Random Access Memory) used for storing program-specific data. The hard drive is perfect for long-term storage, while RAM much faster and more volatile, acting as a working area for the programs and files you have open.
Every time you open more applications than the RAM on your PC can accommodate, the programs already present in the RAM are automatically transferred to the Pagefile. This process is technically called Paging. Because the Pagefile works as a secondary RAM, many times it is also referred to as virtual memory windows 10.
Increasing Virtual Memory in Windows 10
Windows 10 manages Virtual memory itself only, But at times you might be required to alter the memory allocated. It is always said to customize the virtual memory into a size which is within the permissible limit. Here Fallow To manually Adjust Virtual memory for windows 10.
First press the combination of Win + R keys together to open the Run dialog box.
Here type sysdm.cpl on it and then click on the OK button.
This will open “System Properties” of your computer.
Go to the Advanced tab and click on the Settings option. Which is available under the “Performance” section.
Now On the “Performance Options” window, go to the Advanced tab and click on the Change button located under the “Virtual Memory” section.
You will see the Virtual Memory window on your computer screen.
Here you have to uncheck the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drive” option at the top of the same windows.
Select any of the Drive letter where you allow to create the paging file and then click on Custom size.
Then enter custom fields in the “Initial size (MB)” and “Maximum size (MB)” fields.
How To Calculate pagefile size
To Calculate the pagefile size always recommended amount (Refer above image) of total system memory. The maximum size is three (1.5) x the initial size. So let’s say you have 4 GB (1 GB = 1,024 MB x 4 = 4,096 MB) of memory. The and the maximum size would be 1.5 x 4,096 = 6144 MB.
After Set the Initial size (MB)” and “Maximum size (MB)” Value and click on set, Now Click on the OK button and then on the Apply button to save changes. This will prompt to Restart the windows ” you must restart your computer to apply these changes. ”
This is the Best and simple way to Increase Virtual Memory in Windows 10. | <urn:uuid:8e226d29-46e1-40bc-84b7-65b6bc0f7cbb> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.quikbox.com/single-post/adjust-virtual-memory-on-windows-10-october-2020-update-a-quick-guide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474688.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20240227220707-20240228010707-00674.warc.gz | en | 0.861016 | 721 | 3.09375 | 3 |
It’s the time of year when we really start to relish the extra hours in bed, on the dark mornings when we try to forget that the nights are drawing in and the days are becoming shorter. Thinking about the change in time got us talking about the many styles of clocks that we see today; from the grandeur of Big Ben, to stunning vintage clocks and all the way through to the tiniest, one-atom clocks that allow the world to tick along.
But when did we start using clocks, and when did time-keeping become so important to us?
The History Of Clocks!
The earliest time-keeping was almost certainly done by gauging the position of the sun. The earliest form of clock would definitely have been the sundial, where it was the shadow cast on the dial itself that determined the time of day. Another example of an extremely early clock would have been the water clock used by the early Greeks. They would slowly drain a tank of water to determine the vague time of day. At this point, hours, minutes and seconds were essentially un-measurable and unneeded. It was only in recent centuries that the precise measuring of time became an essential tool to everyday life.
The First Mechanical Clocks
The first time-keeping device resembling that which we use today was a watch, developed in the 16th century in Nuremberg, designed to hang around the neck on a ribbon. Early clocks were worn mainly as jewels, which reflected their ability to actually keep any sort of real time.
It wasn’t until the late 17th century when the slimmer pocket watch was created by Christian Huygens, a Dutch physicist who later had a hand in time-keeping when he added the pendulum and spiral balance spring to clocks to create an extremely accurate time-keeping device. Huygens worked alongside the renowned scientist and inventor Galileo to develop the pendulum version of the clock, as he was the only one with a model that actually worked.
From this partnership, the long-clock, or the grandfather clock as it was more affectionately known, was born. In 1675, this mechanism was developed into a spring-mechanism to create a piece that was much slimmer and altogether more accurate.
The First Portable Watches
During the 17th Century, the watch truly started to come into its own. Pocket watches became massively popular, as they no longer required distinguished gentlemen and landowners to wear large and bulky time-keeping devices around their necks. Instead, with the pocket watch slipping discreetly into a pocket of their waistcoat, they were able to maintain a more dignified and practical appearance.
As these pieces continued to develop and increase in popularity, it was Thomas Tompion who first added the minute hand to the watch’s face. Tompion was one of the greatest English clock and watchmakers of all time, and he made more than 6,000 watches over the course of his lifetime.
With a higher demand than ever before, the technology for reliable watches and clocks greatly accelerated, with many refinements and improvements being made over the following centuries. Today, there are dozens of different types of clock available, from wall clocks to mantle clocks, bedside alarm clocks and watches. Along with the more modern clocks, including mass-produced and digital designs, vintage clocks are still extremely popular as well!
Choose The Orchard, For High-Quality Vintage Clocks Of All Kinds!
Here at The Orchard, many of our clocks are made by Newgate Clocks, one of the UK’s most trusted names in clock making, with a heritage stretching back many years. Offering only the very best in British tradition and clock making craft, our diverse vintage collection is second to none.
We stock rustic, vintage-styled wall clocks harking back to yesteryear, right through to bedside alarm clocks in gorgeous crisp enamel paint. We also have clocks for wall-mounting that measure more than a metre in diameter, whilst our alarm clocks can be as small as twelve centimetres in size.
Here are just a few of our favourites:
To view our full collection of Vintage Clocks, please don’t hesitate to visit our website click here: http://www.theorchardhomeandgifts.com/section.php/21/1/best-of-british
To check out our other ‘Best of British’ items, click here: http://www.theorchardhomeandgifts.com/section.php/21/1/best-of-british
For more information on any of products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team directly on 0845 643 0363, or you can email any questions that you might have to firstname.lastname@example.org, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can! | <urn:uuid:e9c9ba24-1d55-4482-8508-f7035b5ec599> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | http://www.theorchardhomeandgifts.com/news/the-history-of-time-itself/9417 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232254889.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20190519141556-20190519163556-00141.warc.gz | en | 0.970974 | 1,023 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Everyone knows that cherry picking is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Cherry picking means showing non-representative examples to give a false impression of the quality of a product, an argument, or a scientific finding. In educational research, for example, cherry picking might mean a publisher or software developer showing off a school using their product that is getting great results, without saying anything about all the other schools using their product that are getting mediocre results, or worse. Very bad, and very common. The existence of cherry picking is one major reason that educational leaders should always look at valid research involving many schools to evaluate the likely impact of a program. The existence of cherry picking also explains why preregistration of experiments is so important, to make it difficult for developers to do many experiments and then publicize only the ones that got the best results, ignoring the others.
However, something that looks a bit like cherry picking can be entirely appropriate, and is in fact an important way to improve educational programs and outcomes. This is when there are variations in outcomes among various programs of a given type. The average across all programs of that type is unimpressive, but some individual programs have done very well, and have replicated their findings in multiple studies.
As an analogy, let’s move from cherries to apples. The first delicious apple was grown by a farmer in Iowa in 1880. He happened to notice that fruit from one particular branch or one tree had a beautiful shape and a terrific flavor. The Stark Seed Company was looking for new apple varieties, and they bought his tree They grafted the branch on an ordinary rootstock, and (as apples are wont to do), every apple on the grafted tree looked and tasted like the ones from that one unusual branch.
Had the farmer been hoping to sell his whole orchard, and had he taken potential buyers to see this one tree, and offered potential buyers picked apples from this particular branch, then that would be gross cherry-picking. However, he knew (and the Stark Seed Company knew) all about grafting, so instead of using his exceptional branch to fool anyone (note that I am resisting the urge to mention “graft and corruption”), the farmer and Stark could replicate that amazing branch. The key here is the word “replicate.” If it were impossible to replicate the amazing branch, the farmer would have had a local curiosity at most, or perhaps just a delicious occasional snack. But with replication, this one branch transformed the eating apple for a century.
Now let’s get back to education. Imagine that there were a category of educational programs that generally had mediocre results in rigorous experiments. There is always variation in educational outcomes, so the developers of each program would know of individual schools using their program and getting fantastic results. This would be useful for marketing, but if the program developers are honest, they would make all studies of their program available, rather than claiming that the unusual super-duper schools represent what an average school that adopts their program is likely to obtain.
However, imagine that there is a program that resembles others in its category in most ways, yet time and again gets results far beyond those obtained by similar programs of the same type. Perhaps there is a “secret sauce,” some specific factor that explains the exceptional outcomes, or perhaps the organization that created and/or disseminates the program is exceptionally capable. Either way, any potential user would be missing something if they selected a program based on the mediocre average achievement outcomes for its category. If the outcomes for one or more programs are outstanding (and assuming costs and implementation characteristics are similar), then the average achievement effects for the category should no longer be particularly relevant, because any educator who cares about evidence should be looking for the most effective programs, since no one would want to implement an entire category.
I was thinking about apples and cherries because of our group’s work reviewing research on various tutoring programs (Neitzel et al., 2020). As is typical of reviews, we were computing average effect sizes for achievement impacts of categories. Yet these average impacts were much less than the replicated impacts for particular programs. For example, the mean effect size for one-to-small group tutoring was +0.20. Yet various individual programs had mean effect sizes of +0.31, +0.39, +0.42, +0.43, +0.46, and +0.64. In light of these findings, is the practical impact of small group tutoring truly +0.20, or is it somewhere in the range of +0.31 to +0.64? If educators chose programs based on evidence, they would be looking a lot harder at the programs with the larger impacts, not at the mean of all small-group tutoring approaches
Educational programs cannot be replicated (grafted) as easily as apple trees can. But just as the value to the Stark Seed Company of the Iowa farmer’s orchard could not be determined by averaging ratings of a sampling of all of his apples, the value of a category of educational programs cannot be determined by its average effects on achievement. Rather, the value of the category should depend on the effectiveness of its best, replicated, and replicable examples.
At least, you have to admit it’s a delicious idea!
Neitzel, A., Lake, C., Pellegrini, M., & Slavin, R. (2020). A synthesis of quantitative research on programs for struggling readers in elementary schools. Available at www.bestevidence.org. Manuscript submitted for publication.
This blog was developed with support from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Foundation.
Note: If you would like to subscribe to Robert Slavin’s weekly blogs, just send your email address to firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:586269a1-c1d6-42a5-ac7b-8a0e7ac3952f> | CC-MAIN-2021-04 | https://robertslavinsblog.wordpress.com/category/replicability/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-04/segments/1610704798089.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20210126042704-20210126072704-00062.warc.gz | en | 0.965255 | 1,221 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Baker-Christopher Proposal of 2008 Violates the Constitutional Requirement that Congress Declare War.
James Baker, Warren Christopher and their War Powers Commission, along with the drafters of the War Powers Resolution of 1973, and the lower federal courts have erroneously assumed that “war powers” are shared between Congress and the President. Baker and Christopher introduced their proposal in The New York Times on July 8, 2008, stating bluntly “Our constitution ambiguously divides war powers between the president (who is the commander in chief) and Congress (who has the power of the purse and the power to declare war).” As a matter of constitutional law, this statement is wrong.
A. THE CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS ARE CLEAR.
1. Constitutional principles
There was no ambiguity in the Constitution as to which branch of government could decide to take the nation to war. To the contrary, in the opening days of the Constitutional Convention, delegates made clear that the president could not decide to take the nation to war. This issue was first addressed on June 1, 1787, when the Convention began to consider Virginia’s plan to strengthen the federal government. The Framers first adopted the separation of powers concept espoused by the leading political theorists – Locke, Montesquieu and Blackstone. They had written that declaring and making war were “executive powers” of monarchs like the Kings in France and England.
The Framers quickly divided the government they proposed into executive, legislative and judicial branches. The Virginia plan introduced on May 29 gave the President “executive powers” of the Congress under the Articles, without defining what those powers included.
On June 1, Charles Pinckney, delegate from South Carolina, feared that the term “executive powers” would give the President the power of “peace and war.” Pinckney
“…was afraid the Executive power of [the existing] Congress might extend to peace & war & etc., which would render the Executive a monarchy, of the worst kind, to wit and elective one.”
Pinckney’s fear of presidential power of “peace and war” was shared by all who spoke to the issue.
The Framers had solid reasons to insist that the president not be granted the power of war that was characteristic of monarchies. The next day, Delegate John Dickinson explained:
“A limited Monarchy he considered as one of the best Governments in the world…. A limited monarchy however was out of the question. The spirit of the times–the state of our affairs, forbade the experiment, if it were desireable.”
That spirit had been encouraged by Tom Paine’s Common Sense that had influenced many colonists who opted for revolution in 1776. Historian Joseph Ellis, in 2001 described that “spirit” of the times:
“At the very core of the revolutionary legacy…was a virulent hatred of monarchy and an inveterate suspicion of any consolidated version of political authority. A major tenet of the American Revolution… was that all kings, and not just George III, were inherently evil. The very notion of a republican king was a repudiation of the spirit of ’76 and a contradiction in terms.”
To make doubly clear that the President would not have the power to make war, the convention not only deleted the clause challenged by Pinckney but also determined that “making war” was not to be an “executive power” of the President. It was a “legislative power” to be exercised by Congress.
On August 6, 1787, the Convention’s Committee on Detail reported to the Convention the conclusion that Congress should have the power to “make war.” The Committee’s report was considered by the Convention on August 17.
Pierce Butler of South Carolina was the only delegate who sought to vest the power to “make war” in the President. Elbridge Gerry (Massachusetts) responded,
“I never expected to hear in a republic a motion to empower the executive alone to declare war.”
Butler’s view was not further considered. The Convention voted to allow the president to repel a “sudden attack” without first seeking an action by Congress by replacing the word “make” with “declare”. George Mason, George Washington’s friend, neighbor and advisor, was
“..against giving the power of war to the Executive, because it is not safely to be trusted with it. He preferred ‘declare’ over ‘make’.”
Nothing in the debates suggests that the replacement of “make” with “declare” would reduce the power of Congress to decide whether to take the nation to war. Assigning such a crucial decision to a Congress that included the House of Representatives – the only body directly elected by the people – reflected the sentiment of Declaration of Independence, the anti-monarchial attitudes of the people, and the deliberations of June 1.
The Framers expected that the decision for war would be made by the vote of each member of Congress “in the face of their constituents,” thus assuring that members of the House would be accountable to voters at the next election. Opponents of the Constitution – the “anti federalists” – did not identify a risk that a President could take the nation to war in their analysis of its defects.
Thus, there was no ambiguity or difference within the Federal Convention or the ratifying conventions that the authority to take the nation to war rested in the Congress. Alexander Hamilton explained in Federalist #26:
… [The president’s] authority would …amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, while that of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all which, by the Constitution…. would appertain to the legislature.” [Emphasis added]
2. Early practice under the Constitution confirmed congressional power to declare and limit war.
Practice of the government under the Constitution demonstrated how those who first administered its provisions viewed its requirements. For example, during the “quasi war” with France, Congress specified that the President could order the navy to capture French ships in territorial waters and on the high seas – but not elsewhere – and to limit the time of presidential authority. The Supreme Court held that Congress had full power to define and limit the scope of military action.
The leading commentator on the Constitution in the 1830’s was Justice Joseph Story. His view was:
“…the power of declaring war… is in its own nature and effects so critical and calamitous, that it requires the utmost deliberation, and the successive review of all the councils of the nation. War, in its best estate, never fails to impose upon the people the most burthensome taxes, and personal sufferings…. Indeed, the history of republics has but too fatally proved that they are too ambitious of military fame and conquest, and too easily devoted to the views of demagogues, who flatter their pride, and betray their interests. It should therefore be difficult in a republic to declare war; but not to make peace.”
3. Federal courts never considered the June 1 understanding that gave Congress authority over war.
The careful discussion of June 1, 1787 confining the power to “make war” to Congress was not considered at all in the leading case of Massachusetts v. Laird in 1971[Vietnam War]. This decision upheld the Congressional transfer to the President of its authority to take the nation to war. The Laird court wrote that “the Congress was given the power to declare war and nothing was said about undeclared hostilities.” [Emphasis added] The underlined statement was not true. What the court called “Undeclared wars” was fully encompassed within the concept of “imperfect” or “limited” wars that had been described by the Supreme Court in connection with the “quasi war” with France.
Ignoring these discussions enabled the Laird court to invent a joint authority between President and Congress to initiate war even though the Founders rejected such an approach. Compounding this error, Laird was followed by Doe v. Bush (2003) concerning the Iraq war as were other lower Federal courts. The Supreme Court has never reviewed these decisions. No US Court has examined the June 1 discussion at the Convention concerning the power to declare war.
The “authorization for the use of military force” by the President in Vietnam and the Iraq wars defeated the intention of the Founders and the early practices of the government. Since World War II, presidents have taken us into four major wars – Korea, Vietnam, and the Iraq wars. If members of Congress had assumed their political and legal responsibility to their constituents, they would have made these decisions themselves. By giving the authority to the president, congress avoided the necessity to scrutinize proposals for war in light of their personal reelection prospects. More attention by congress would require presidents to present the reasons for war in greater detail. Greater clarity may lead the nation to sharpen its attention to the details of going to war, and the congress to shape presidential authority with attention to the time, place and manner of a limited war. This would conform to the requirements of the Constitution and to the practices in the early years under the Constitution.
We have learned that informal consultation between presidents and congress is not enough. Such discussions took place in September and October, 2002, concerning Iraq. The decision to go to war was resolved by agreement between the national political party leaders before the Congressional debate was commenced!
B. BAKER-CHRISTOPHER PROPOSAL AND CURRENT EXECUTIVE POLICY VIOLATE THESE CONSTITUTIONAL PRECEPTS.
1. Reversing the Constitutional order.
For wars the Baker-Christopher Commission considers “significant,” the president may conduct hostilities for a month while Congress – with little time to hold hearings on the merits – votes on a resolution favoring his taking the nation to war. If Congress does not vote in favor of the war, the president may continue hostilities and Congress may take a second vote to disapprove his actions. If the second vote disapproves the war, the president may veto it. It takes a 2/3rd vote of each house to overcome the veto. Thus, if the president has 1/3 plus one support in either house of congress, the veto will stand and he can continue the war.
The result is legalistic jujitsu – reversing the positions of the president and Congress. Under the Constitution, Congress has the power to declare war by majority vote in both houses approved by the president. Under Baker-Christopher, that power to commence and conduct war would be assigned to a president who may have less than majority support. By the time the Baker-Christopher plan has played out, we will have been at war for months. This is more than a contest between the president and congress. When the president can maintain a war against the will of a majority of congress, the Constitution is violated and democracy is endangered.
2. Authorizing preventive war.
The Baker-Christopher Commission’s plan allows presidents to conduct a laundry list of wars – “preventive war,” “retaliatory war,” wars against nations that support terrorism, wars against any other nation we may attack hoping to defeat the enemy within a week – with no required Congressional approval.
This approach usurps the Congressional obligation to determine the circumstances under which the president may engage in hostile military action. “Preventive War,” even one the president hopes to end within seven days, risks evasion of Congressional authority. Its promulgation in the National Security Strategy of 2002 and 2006 has sullied the perception of the US abroad. President Obama, who must present his National Security Strategy soon after taking office, should question the use of preventive war without first seeking a Congressional judgment concerning its necessity. Congressional power to declare war includes the authority to determine when a war is justified.
Only the Supreme Court can fully resolve Constitutional issues concerning Presidential powers.
The assertion by many presidential administrations that the President has authority independent of Congress to use military force because he has done so in the past is without merit. Nor may Congress and the President jointly approve a reallocation of the powers mandated by the Constitution. The “Authorization for the Use of Military force by the President” that has been argued as equivalent to a declaration of war by Congress is precisely the kind of shift in Constitutional authority that has been condemned by the Supreme Court.
Baker-Christopher makes some recommendations for consultation between the President and Congress that are sound; but its procedures will hurt us when the next president wants to take us to war. The adoption by Congress of procedures proposed in Baker-Christopher will violate separation of powers principles established in 1787 by the founders precisely to protect us from Presidential decisions to take us to war. We need to enforce the procedure adopted by the framers. In that procedure Congress by roll-call vote defines the time, place, and manner of using military force, its objective, and a date when Presidential authority expires.
. Thomas A. Cowan Professor of Law Emeritus, Rutgers Law School, Newark, NJ. Co-author, with Ruth Blumrosen, of SLAVE NATION: HOW SLAVERY UNITED THE COLONIES AND SPARKED THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (2005) firstname.lastname@example.org. CV at Rutgers Law School-Newark. Advice of Alex Blumrosen and Fredrica Wechler is appreciated.
. Editorial consultant on SLAVE NATION: HOW SLAVERY UNITED THE COLONIES AND SPARKED THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION (2005). email@example.com
. James A. Baker III, Warren Christopher, Co Chairs, NATIONAL WAR POWERS COMMISSION REPORT, Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia, undated. For a equivalent statement in the Report, see p.6.”The Constitution provides the President and Congress with explicit grants of war powers, as well as a host of arguments for implied powers…Indeed, the Constitution’s framers disputed these very issues in the years following the Constitution’s ratification,expressing contrary views about the respective powers of the President, as “Commander in Chief,” and Congress, which the Constitution grants the power “To declare War.””
. The weakness of the government under the Articles of Confederation were discussed at length by Virginia’s Governor Edmund Raldolph at the beginning of the Convention. I Farrand’s Records of the Federal Convention, 18-23. Max Farrand, THE FRAMING OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, Yale University Press, 1913. Chapter III, The Defects of the Confederation, pp. 42-51. For a more detailed introduction to the Articles, see Merrill Jensen, THE ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION: AN INTERPRETATION OF THE SOCIAL-CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1781, (University of Wisconsin Press, 1940).
. Farrand, Records, note 4 supra, 30-31.
. Articles of Confederation, “Article IX. The United States in Congress assembled, shall have the sole and exclusive right and power of determining on peace and war….. unless nine States assent to the same:” There was no separate executive branch under the Articles; only a revolving President of the Congress, and no occasion to separately define executive powers.
. “Mr. Rutledge … was for vesting the Executive power in a single person, tho’ he was not for giving him the power of war and peace.
Mr. Sherman said he considered the Executive magistracy as nothing more than an institution for carrying the will of the Legislature into effect, that the person or persons ought to be appointed by and accountable to the Legislature only, which was the despositary of the supreme will of the Society.
Mr. Wilson preferred a single magistrate, as giving most energy dispatch and responsibility to the office. He did not consider the Prerogatives of the British Monarch as a proper guide in defining the Executive powers. Some of these prerogatives were of a Legislative nature. Among others that of war & peace &c. The only powers he conceived strictly Executive were those of executing the laws, and appointing officers, not ….appointed by the Legislature.” I Farrand, Records, 65-67
“Rufus King stated that Madison: agrees with Wilson in his definition of executive powers — executive powers ex vi termini,[from the words alone] do not include the Rights of war & peace &c. but the powers should be confined and defined — if large we shall have the Evils of elective Monarchies…” I Farrand, Records, page 70 [abbreviations modified]
. I Farrand, Records, 87
. Tom Paine’s Common Sense, concluded in a section entitled Of Monarchy and Hereditary Succession that “In England a King hath little more to do than to make war and give away places; which, in plain terms, is to empoverish the nation…” http://www.constitution.org/civ/comsense.htm. David McCullough, 1776, 112, quotes George Washington: “[B]y private letters I have lately received from Virginia, I find Common Sense is working a powerful change there in the minds of many men…” Pauline Maier, AMERICAN SCRIPTURE: MAKING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 28-34, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1997 discusses the impact of Common Sense on the public.
. Joseph Ellis, FOUNDING BROTHERS, THE REVOLUTIONARY GENERATION, 127-128, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2001
. James Madison, who had a major role in developing the Virginia Plan, understood that the phrase giving the president the “executive powers” of the Continental Congress was confusing the issue of whether the executive should consist of more than one person. He succeeded in his motion to delete that part of the proposal. I Farrand, Records of the Federal Convention, 67.
. II Farrand, Records of the Federal Convention, 318-319
. Senators were elected by State Legislatures; Presidents were selected by the Electoral College.
. Alexander Hamilton, Federalist papers, #26.
. Ralph Ketcham, ed., THE ANTI-FEDERALIST PAPERS AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION DEBATES, (Soft Cover, Signet, 1986,.) While the anti-federalists worried about a President becoming a tyrant, and about the risks to the people of standing army that might take control of the country, there is not one word about the President having the power to take the nation to war. It is inconceivable that those who opposed the Constitution would not have relied heavily on such a claim if they had conceived that the constitution could be interpreted to allow the president to take the nation to war. See particularly pp.174-175, 287-292.
. Federalist Papers, #69.
. District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S.Ct. 2783 (2008)
. Bas v. Tingy, 4 US 37, 1800; Little v. Barreme, 6 U.S. 170, 1804
. Massachusetts v. Laird, 451 F.2d 26 (0ctober 21,1971), [Vietnam War].
. Laird, supra at 33.
. Bas v. Tingy, note 19, supra.
. Doe v. Bush, 323 F.3d 133 (1st Cir, 2003); rehearing denied, 322 F.3d 109 (1st. Cir,2003) [Iraq War of 2003].
. New Jersey Peace Action v. Bush has been filed in the Federal District Court in Newark, New Jersey, in 2008 in an effort to address this issue. See Warpower.US for details. The case includes the argument that because Congress must make the decision for war rather than the President, citizens have rights to enforce this duty under the principles of Marbury v. Madison: 5 U.S. 137(1803). “The conclusion from this reasoning is that where the heads of departments are the political or confidential agents of the executive, merely to execute the will of the President, or rather to act in cases in which the executive possesses a constitutional or legal discretion, nothing can be more perfectly clear than that their acts are only politically examinable. But where a specific duty is assigned by law, and individual rights depend upon the performance of that duty, it seems equally clear that the individual who considers himself injured, has a right to resort to the laws of his country for a remedy.” [emphasis added] The relief sought in New Jersey Police Action is a declaratory judgment.
. President, House Leadership Agree on Iraq Resolution: The Rose Garden, http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/10/20021002-7.html. At the October 2 White House meeting when the agreement between leaders of both parties to support the war was reached and before any debate in Congress, the President announced, “The issue is now before the United States Congress… This debate will be closely watched by the American people, and this debate will be remembered in history… As the vote nears, I urge all members of Congress to consider this resolution with the greatest of care. The choice before them could not be more consequential.”
. Baker-Christopher, p. 47, Sec. 5A.
. Id at 5B.
. Id at 5C.
. Once our military forces are in action, Congressional monetary support may be based on protecting our forces, and does not reflect approval of the war. Mitchell v. Laird, 488 F.2d 611, 615, (D.C. Cir. 1973).
. Section 3(A) and 3(B), on page 45, and section 5 on page 47 of the Baker/Christopher report would enable presidents to conduct preventive wars and reprisal against terrorists or state sponsors of terrorism for at least 7 days without consulting Congress. This is an expansion over the existing War Powers Resolution which allows only 48 hours.
. United States v. Lopez, 514 US 549, 577-78 (1995) [concurrence of Justices Kennedy and Ginsburg): “[I]t would be mistaken and mischievous for the political branches to forget that the sworn obligation to preserve and protect the Constitution in maintaining the federal balance is their own in the first and primary instance….The political branches of the Government must fulfill this grave constitutional obligation if democratic liberty and the federalism that secures it are to endure.
At the same time, the absence of structural mechanisms to require those officials to undertake this principled task, and the momentary political convenience often attendant upon their failure to do so, argue against a complete renunciation of the judicial role…. the federal balance is too essential a part of our constitutional structure and plays too vital a role in securing freedom for us to admit inability to intervene when one or the other level of Government has tipped the scales too far.”
. Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer, 443 US 579 (1952) .
. I.N.S v Chada, 462 US 919 (1983); Clinton v. New York, 524 US 417 (1998); “The necessary implication of the argument is that by surrendering formal sovereignty over any unincorporated territory to a third party, while at the same time entering into a lease that grants total control over the territory back to the United States, it would be possible for the political branches to govern without legal constraint.
. Boumediene v. Bush, 128 S.Ct. 2229, 2258 (2008). ” Abstaining from questions involving formal sovereignty and territorial governance is one thing. To hold the political branches have the power to switch the Constitution on or off at will is quite another. The former position reflects this Court’s recognition that certain matters requiring political judgments are best left to the political branches. The latter would permit a striking anomaly in our tripartite system of government, leading to a regime in which Congress and the President, not this Court, say “what the law is.” Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 177.60 (1803).” | <urn:uuid:64469c3d-1e74-4205-b9fc-7e0dde8ad2de> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | https://againstbakerchristopher.wordpress.com/critique-of-b-c-plan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549424564.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170723142634-20170723162634-00676.warc.gz | en | 0.945482 | 5,226 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Artificial Intelligence in the Future
Introduction about Artificial Intelligence: Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence displayed by machines or software. It is even the name of the academic field of study that says how to make computers and computer program or software that are ability of intelligent behavior. Main AI researchers and textbooks describe this field as “the study and develop of intelligent agents”, in which an intelligent agent is a system that observes its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success.
Al research is extremely technical and particular, and is deeply classified into subfields that often fail to communicate with each other. Few of the division is because of social and cultural factors: subfields have grown up around specific institutions and the work of personal researchers. AI research is also divided by several technical issues. Some subfields focus on the solution of specific problems. Others focus on one of several possible approaches or on the use of a particular tool or towards the accomplishment of particular applications.
Description of Artificial Intelligence:
- The less explicitly named Future of Life Institute just published an open letter signed by many of AI researchers and famous tech personalities, warning, “If any major military power pushes ahead with AI weapon development, a global arms race is virtually inevitable, and the endpoint of this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become for tomorrow.”
- Mention the phrase “killer robot” in conversation and you’ll almost certainly raise a smile, your peers doubtless imagining a glowing blue humanoid cyborg sadly pondering, “What is love?” before its eyes turn red and it self-destructs, obliterating the northern hemisphere.
- Deeply ingrained in modern pop culture is the notion that some manner of AI uprising is on the cards James Cameron’s iconic image of a Terminator stamping on a mound of human skulls is never far from any geek’s thoughts.
- That playful, cinematic and deeply poetic cultural artifact belies the very real threat humanity faces, however. Not from killer robots overthrowing their human masters, but from intelligent robots following orders.
- The immediate threat, specialists warn, comes in the form of independent weapons military machines capable of killing without permission from a human. From unmanned planes to missile defense systems to sentry robots, we’ve already got military hardware that functions with very little input from a human mind.
- Groups such as the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots say we’re inching ever closer to closing the loop and letting machines handle our killing for us a scenario that’s legally, pragmatically, and of course ethically problematic. | <urn:uuid:db228d7f-f7ac-4bd0-bed2-3cdcb76d68eb> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | http://conewswire.com/artificial-intelligence-in-the-future | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806124.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20171120183849-20171120203849-00133.warc.gz | en | 0.938426 | 533 | 3.125 | 3 |
Asset Allocation is the process of determining optimal allocations for the broad categories of assets (such as Stocks, Bonds, Cash, Real Estate, …) that suit your investment time horizon and risk tolerance.
While this process can be performed on any portfolio with two or more assets, it is most commonly applied to asset classes. This allocation is probably the most important decision and may account for more than 80 % of the return of the portfolio.
Each asset class will generally have different levels of return and risk. They also behave differently. At the time one asset is increasing in value, another may be decreasing or not increasing as much and vice versa. The measure used for this phenomenon is called the correlation coefficient. | <urn:uuid:1b10190a-6158-4bce-9df8-77fd71d0d17e> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://globalinkusa.com/investment-products/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233506423.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20230922202444-20230922232444-00549.warc.gz | en | 0.938469 | 143 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Flooded Lead Acid Batteries
Batteries used in most off‑grid renewable energy systems are deep‑cycle flooded lead‑acid batteries. These batteries can be charged and discharged (cycled) hundreds of times before they wear out.
Lead‑acid batteries contain three separate 2‑volt compartments, known as cells. Inside each cell is a series of thick parallel lead plates (Figure1). The cells are connected internally (wired in series) so that they produce 6‑volt electricity. The space between the plates is filled with sulfuric acid (hence the term "flooded"). A partition wall separates each cell, so that fluid cannot flow from one cell to the next. The cells are encased in a heavy‑duty plastic case.
As illustrated in Figure1, lead acid batteries contain two types of plates: positive and negative. The positive plates connect to a positive metal post or terminal; the negative plates connect to a negative post. The posts allow electricity to flow in and out of batteries.
Fig. 1: Anatomy of a Flooded Lead‑Acid Battery
The positive plates of lead‑acid batteries are made from lead dioxide (Pb02). The negative plates are made from pure lead. The sulfuric acid that fills the spaces between the plates is referred to as the electrolyte.
How Lead‑Acid Batteries Work
Like all other types of batteries, lead‑acid batteries convert electrical energy into chemical energy when they are charged. When discharging, that is, giving off electricity, chemical energy is converted back into electricity. The chemical reactions that take place during battery discharge are shown in Figure 2.
As illustrated, when electricity is drawn from a lead‑acid battery, sulfuric acid reacts with the lead of the negative plates (top reaction). This reaction yields electrons, tiny negatively charged particles. They flow out of the battery creating an electrical current. During this reaction, lead on the surface of the negative plates is converted to tiny lead sulfate crystals.
Fig. 2: Chemical Reactions in a Lead‑Acid Battery.
When a battery is discharging, sulfuric acid also reacts with the lead dioxide of the positive plates, resulting in the formation of lead sulfate crystals on them as well (see bottom panel). Discharging a battery not only creates lead sulfate crystals on the positive and negative plates, it depletes the amount of sulfuric acid in the battery. When the battery is charged, however, lead sulfate crystals on the positive and negative plates are broken down, releasing sulfate ions into solution, thus replenishing the sulfuric acid. (The reactions that take place during recharge are the reverse of those that occur during discharge.)
Although the chemistry of lead‑acid batteries is a bit complicated, it is important to remember that this system works because electrons can be stored in the chemicals within the battery when a battery is charged. The stored electrons can be drawn out by reversing the chemical reactions. Through this reversible chemical reaction, the battery is acting as a"charge pump:' moving electrical charges through a circuit on demand. | <urn:uuid:06e21866-23e5-4e33-9bc6-735ed3125e6e> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://www.electricityforum.com/solar-power/solar-power-batteries | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371606067.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20200405150416-20200405180916-00380.warc.gz | en | 0.926978 | 631 | 3.78125 | 4 |
Minnesota’s trees and forests enrich our lives in so many ways. Beyond their visual splendor, they provide shade, wildlife habitat and places to walk, bike, hunt and enjoy the outdoors. They are nature’s own water purification system, absorbing pollutants and trapping sediment before they damage lakes, rivers and drinking water supplies.
Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for hundreds and even thousands of years. They also provide timber products, food and medicine, and generate jobs and economic opportunities.
Like other forests in North America, however, Minnesota’s forests are in trouble. Due in part to turn-of-the-century logging, slash burning, wildfires and modern harvesting practices, they have become greatly simplified in the diversity of tree species and age. This makes our forests less resilient and more vulnerable to stresses like invasive species, disease and insect infestations and changes in the climate.
The Nature Conservancy is working with forest managers, government and other decision-makers in Minnesota to: 1) help set forest conservation priorities for the next 20 years, 2) make forests in the Northwoods more resilient to climate change and other stresses through targeted restoration and protection and 3) expand the scale of forest restoration and protection by helping to develop good policies and plans for public forest lands and increasing funding for forest restoration.
Explore our work to conserve Minnesota’s forests for the future!
The Nature Conservancy is strategically planting 100,000 trees to create strongholds where native conifers will thrive even in anticipated warmer, drier conditions.
The Nature Conservancy forest conservation program director in Minnesota, Jim Manolis talks about all the benefits the Northwoods provide and why restoring their natural diversity is needed.
The Nature Conservancy is working as part of a collaborative effort to improve habitat for the state’s declining moose population.
The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota’s forest manager, Chris Dunham talks about how fire shaped Minnesota’s Northwoods and what can be done today to restore the region’s forests.
The Conservancy is working with partners to make Minnesota’s forests more resilient in the warmer, drier climate expected in the future.
Tree planting is one component of restoring degraded forests in Minnesota’s Northwoods so they are healthy and productive for people and nature.
Forest ecologist Mark White talks about what deer like to eat and the long-term impacts of deer browse on Minnesota’s forests. | <urn:uuid:5eb76b9f-4631-4778-aa33-83de04fda18b> | CC-MAIN-2018-30 | https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/minnesota/explore/protecting-our-future-forests.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-30/segments/1531676594886.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20180723032237-20180723052237-00090.warc.gz | en | 0.915245 | 506 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Come this New Year’s Eve, many Americans – and South Carolinians – will continue the long tradition of lighting up the night with fireworks at midnight.
If you desire to view a colorful pyrotechnic display to ring in the New Year, please remember that it’s best to leave fireworks to the professionals. But if you choose to handle fireworks yourself, be sure to take precautions that will protect you, your family members and your friends.
Fireworks can cause serious injuries, including burns, contusions, lacerations and eye injuries. And, yes, they also can be deadly.
Please observe the following safety tips to protect yourself and others from the perils of fireworks.
Please obey local and state laws regarding the sale and use of state-approved fireworks. Buy only consumer-grade fireworks. Avoid buying fireworks packaged in a brown bag, which often means they were made for professional displays and could be dangerous for consumer use.
Handle with care
Read all warning labels and follow directions on each device. Never put your head or any part of your body over a firework. Never hold a lit firework in your hand. Fireworks should not be carried in your pocket. Don’t aim or throw fireworks at another person. Store fireworks in a cool, dry place and keep a fire extinguisher or bucket of water handy.
Firework activities should be led by an adult; adults should never allow children to handle or ignite fireworks. Everyone should watch from a safe distance.
Light fireworks from the side (never standing directly over) using a blunt or hand-held igniter. Wear protective eyewear. Remember that a dud is a dud; never attempt to re-light a short fuse or a firework dud. And, call 911 immediately if someone is injured from fireworks.
For more information on firework safety, visit www.cdc.gov/family/minutes/tips/fireworks/. | <urn:uuid:656e77c1-be3a-4d3d-82f5-3855a055ea4c> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | https://blog.scdhec.gov/2016/12/28/make-firework-safety-a-priority-for-new-years-eve/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187823309.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20171019141046-20171019161046-00386.warc.gz | en | 0.909491 | 401 | 2.578125 | 3 |
- Archery, Rifle, Muzzleloader, Shotgun, Handgun
Canis latrans, the coyote, has exploded across North America in the last 100 years, expanding north and east from its historic Southwestern range. Of the 19 subspecies of coyotes, most separated along geographical lines, the Eastern “yote” is by far the largest, regularly growing in excess of 50 pounds. It’s believed that after wolves were cleared out of the American West, and humans moved in developing abundant “edge” habitat, coyotes pushed their range from the southwest until they intermingled with grey wolf populations in Ontario, Canada. The result of that cross was the Eastern coyote. In the last 10 years, coyote numbers have skyrocketed, with some packs expanding into densely urban and suburban areas—including Chicago and New York. Coyotes can be hunted in any state in the union. Most have no bag limits and no closed season. Many allow nighttime hunting. Coyotes are primarily hunted in one of two ways: run with hounds or called in. When dogs are used, the hunter often has to make a shot at a running coyote, as they don’t tree and rarely square off against the dogs. In call scenarios, hunters will make coyote or small game distress sounds—like a cottontail squeal—in hopes of bringing them into shooting range. This is especially effective at night, as coyotes are primarily nocturnal. Hunters will attach red lights to their guns, as the yotes can’t see along that color spectrum, or in some cases use night-vision equipment. A modern sporting rifle, like an AR-15, is highly effective when coyote hunting. | <urn:uuid:c974a964-4c43-4592-a2bc-1bb8a21ebc3a> | CC-MAIN-2021-17 | https://finandfield.com/species/coyote | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-17/segments/1618038073437.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20210413152520-20210413182520-00036.warc.gz | en | 0.95234 | 354 | 3.03125 | 3 |
UNDATED (AP) -- A new study suggests almost one in five 4-year-olds in the U.S. is obese. Even more startling, the rate among American-Indians is nearly one in three.
The Ohio State-Temple University study suggests obesity is also more common in Hispanic and African American youngsters. The lead author on the study says the magnitude of differences is larger than expected. Sarah Anderson says it's surprising to see differences by racial groups so early in childhood.
Anderson's co-author says factors explaining the disparities among races include poverty, less educated parents and diets high in fat and calories.
Dr. Glenn Flores also says higher rates of diabetes in American Indians and Hispanics may be genetic.
The study analyzed data from the government's National Center on Educational Statistics, which measured and weighed 8,550 preschoolers born in 2001. The report appears in toady's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
On the Net:
Association of American Indian Physicians: http://tinyurl.com/c8raox
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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Questions may be sent to email@example.com. Please provide detailed information. | <urn:uuid:14a10a54-c455-4ad8-9b16-7cb64019859d> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.local8now.com/news/health/headlines/42543782.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657124771.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011204-00007-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924234 | 347 | 2.78125 | 3 |
I work at a Wellness Program where I plan health challenges and health-related events. Yesterday at work we were discussing a new online health-tracking tool. My supervisor commented that she removed, from the online program, a couple of food options on a list of “Foods Under 100 Calories” because they were not healthy options. A co-worker and friend of mine commented that that bugged her. I asked, “Why?” Her response was this, “Because balance is what is important.” I responded, “Well why not promote healthy eating?” She responded, “There is no such thing as a really healthy food and an unhealthy food.”
I beg to differ.
Foods vary greatly in health benefits. While some foods are rich in antioxidants and prevent cancer, other foods PROMOTE cancer growth and contain chemicals which truly harm our bodies. It is essential we understand the role food plays in our health; they are very directly related. The conversation with my co-worker continued. I argued that foods do vary in healthiness. She responded that it all comes down to a matter of balance; her argument was that no food is healthy or unhealthy if consumed in the appropriate balance.
Why do we need to balance the amount of green, nutrient-dense vegetables with McDonalds saturated with saturated fat burgers? We do not need a “balance” of unhealthy foods. We absolutely do not need our 7% of fatty and sugary foods (refer to top picture), which only increase our risk of cardiovascular disease, heart disease, breast cancer, and hypertension! If we include these harmful products in our diet regularly, though some may call it balance, it actually imbalances our body processes. They are difficult for our body to digest, thus causing imbalance and nutritional stress.
You may argue, believing that you need some of your favorite unhealthy foods or snacks. Read on, my friends:
1. Taste buds change.
According to Dr. Oz, for a child it typically takes about ten times of eating a particular food to acquire a taste for it. For adults, the time is a little longer…but still remains true. Whole Food Mommies shares a couple of stories about acquiring taste buds for healthy eating:
A few months ago, one of my daughters needed to eat a red pepper (which she detests) in her salad. As she took a bite, she got a surprised look on her face and exclaimed, “Mom, Mom, it’s my tenth time”. Confused, I asked her what she meant. She said, “It must be my tenth time eating red peppers, because I love this.” Sure enough, she has not complained once about red peppers since then.
Last week my youngest groaned as he sat down to the dinner table and saw that we were having zucchini (again). Tears welled up is his eyes and he said, “I HATE zucchini.” We went through the same ritual that he needed to eat it but he could plus his nose if it helped. He ate everything else on his plate, and painfully left the zucchini for last. With a little persuasion he finally took a bite. As he did, his eyes popped, and he almost shouted, “My taste buds just hatched!” His sisters knew exactly what he was talking about (I think they introduced him to the terminology) and cheered. He now likes zucchini!
2. Nutrient satiety.
Our bodies send us a signal when it is full. However, how full our stomach literally is is only half of the equation. The other part of the equation is the consumption of necessary nutrients. We feel full when we have received the nutrients we need. [Ever noticed how many bowels of sugar cereal it takes to feel partially satisfied?!] Thus, my advice to those with cravings or favorite unhealthy foods is to eat a huge green salad, loaded with vegetables and light on the dressing (or any nutrient-dense meal) before eating that favorite unhealthy food. It is likely your body will feel great, and you will easily resist that unhealthy junk. | <urn:uuid:173c3098-bfcc-4936-ab4b-5189a4cd2cfb> | CC-MAIN-2017-17 | https://wholefoodlife.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/cmon-seriously-just-think-about-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-17/segments/1492917123530.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20170423031203-00443-ip-10-145-167-34.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973825 | 866 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Whether it is to increase your career options, grow your income potential, learn a specific set of skills, or broadening your horizons, a college degree can make a major impact on your future. Figuring out what motivates you to go to college and where you see yourself afterward can help you narrow down what kind of school you're looking for. There are a few first steps students can take in determining which school is a good match.
common decision factors
What are your career goals?
Most students enroll in postsecondary education to prepare for a career. If a student has a career field in mind (or multiple), it's important to make sure the schools you're looking at have programs in that field. For example, not every school will have an engineering department. Some may have a pathway to teacher licensure through their graduate school, while others will require you to finish it at another institution.
How much can you afford to pay?
We want to secure as many grants and scholarships as possible for our students, but college is still expensive even with these aid packages. As you look at different schools, it's important to see how much the Cost of Attendance is and how much institutional aid the school will provide. Students can still apply to these more expensive schools and wait to see what their award letter from the school's financial aid office looks like before making a final decision. Read more about paying for college.
Tool: FAFSA4caster - estimate your potential federal financial aid package
What kind of campus culture do you want?
"Campus feel" or "campus culture" can be very similar between different schools or vary drastically. Characteristics like student body size, location, athletic prestige, academic prestige, and faculty demographics are just some of the factors that impact the campus culture. While it may seem foreign to many students who only know their K-12 educational setting, simple questions can go a long way in narrowing down what kind of campus a student is looking for.
Do you want a college that has a larger or smaller student population than your high school? Do you want something new or familiar?
Do you want to be in a city with lots of activity outside of the college? Or do you want the college to be the hub for the town's activity?
Do you like being in a "school spirit" collectivist culture or a more individualized-student culture?
Do you want a school that has politically active students or apolitical ones?
Do you want a strong religious presence at your school, a soft presence, or none at all?
Are you going to college to develop your intellect and work skills, or to support your social and personal development?
How do you find out if a school matches what you want?
There are multiple ways to find out if a school matches what you want in a college.
College Admissions websites and College Fairs: These can answer many of the demographic and basic campus culture questions you may have about a school, in addition to finding out their admission requirements.
Talking to Students: Talking to current and former students from that school can give you a glimpse into what the campus culture is like. Trying to talking to multiple students per school because you could get wildly different experiences from students at the same college. See if the Admission Office at the college or your ASPIRE coordinator can set you up to talk with a current student at the college.
Visiting Campus: Campus visits give a nicely-packaged view of the college and can give you a sense of whether you could see yourself there. Organizing a campus visit with your classmates can save time and money. Virtual visits are often available on the college's website.
Worksheet: College Evaluation Scorecard
Guide: Volunteer Calendar (college fairs, campus visit days, etc.)
How do you even find schools to begin with?
These are some of the most common tools volunteers and students use to discover colleges (in addition to complete career assessments and organizing their accomplishments). These allow you to filter schools by location, size, degrees offered, price, and much more.
Oregon CIS: https://oregoncis.uoregon.edu/Portal.aspx
College Navigator: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
College Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
Many sites have quizzes to help students identify schools that match their interests. These are not scientifically-tested assessments, but they can be a fun launching point for figuring out what a student is looking for in school: | <urn:uuid:75a3cf15-e04f-40fd-9845-248c6d04fdf1> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://www.aspireoregon.org/volunteer-handbook/career-and-college-options | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400189928.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20200919013135-20200919043135-00711.warc.gz | en | 0.963765 | 935 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Southern authors Harper Lee, Margaret Mitchell profiled Monday on PBS 'American Masters'
MOBILE, Alabama — At first blush, Nelle Harper Lee and Margaret Mitchell would not seem to have much in common. Different writers, vastly different backgrounds.
Look closer and you will find that the two share much more than a Southern heritage.
Mitchell (1900-1949) and Lee (b: 1926) were Southern white women who won the Pulitzer Prize for their debut novels, two of the best-selling books of all time; both novels were adapted into Oscar-winning films.
Both authors were ahead of their time in challenging the social order and making a cultural impact with their books that still resonates today.
“American Masters” will showcase two documentaries, “Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel” (8-9 p.m.) and “Harper Lee: Hey, Boo” (9-10:30 p.m.) Monday, April 2, on PBS and Alabama Public Television.
The films examine the personalities behind the iconic novels “Gone With the Wind” (1936) and “To Kill A Mockingbird” (1960) and their equally memorable film adaptations.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind” and the 50th for the 1962 film adaptation of Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird” starring Gregory Peck.
“I am delighted to present these two remarkable writers on the same evening,” says Susan Lacy, “American Masters” series creator and executive producer. “Each woman so distinct in her own right, each so similar in many respects — both contributing novels that became the collective inheritance of the American reader.”
A PBS news release states that “Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel” includes interviews with historians, biographers and friends of the author to reveal a complex woman who experienced profound identity shifts during her life and struggled with the two great issues of her day: the changing role of women and the liberation of African-Americans.
“A charismatic force until a tragic accident lead to her death at age 48, Mitchell rebelled against the stifling social restrictions placed on women,” the release states, “as an unconventional tomboy, a defiant debutante, a brazen flapper, one of Georgia’s first female newspaper reporters and, later, as a philanthropist who risked her life to fund African-American education.
Writer and executive producer Pamela Roberts executive producer/writer used re-enactments based on Mitchell’s letters and journals to show how her upbringing and romantic relationships influenced the creation of “Gone With the Wind.”
The film also explores Scarlett and Rhett’s place as two of the world’s greatest lovers and the public’s initial reception to the book and David O. Selznick’s 1939 film, from racial lightning rod to model for survival, the news release states.
Speaking by long distance from her office in Atlanta, Roberts says she had no thought about a Mitchell documentary until she received a phone call from historian Ira Joe Johnson of Morehouse College.
Johnson is the author of “Benjamin E. Mays and Margaret Mitchell: A Unique Legacy in Medicine.” He asked Roberts whether she knew that Mitchell had secretly funded medical education for African-American doctors.
“I had never heard anything about that,” she says, “but I found it fascinating considering how controversial ‘Gone with the Wind’ was. I began looking into it, then into her life as a writer, and then the whole thing.”
Roberts says she ended up focusing on the latter part of Mitchell’s brief life when she was an active though clandestine philanthropist, funding causes she believed in such as education for African-Americans. It represented a significant transformation for the author, who earlier in her life refused to attended class with a black student at Smith.
“She couldn’t see as clearly then as she did later in her life,” Roberts says. “It’s an interesting arc of change she went through — what all of us have had to do. She, in a sense, did it earlier than most.”
Mitchell, a lifelong writer, did many things that few people fully understood. For example, she had the “Gone with the Wind” manuscript burned at the time of her death.”
Roberts admits she learned much about the author as she put the documentary together. For one thing, Mitchell did not vault into the public consciousness as a full-fledged, best-selling author with no background. She’d been writing all her life.
“There are all those collections of her stories as a young woman,” she says. “And she was modern woman reporter writing in-depth, serious analytical pieces along with fashion-oriented work. That made sense to me — she had been honing her craft a long time.”
Mitchell also took it personally when anyone suggested that a mere woman could not have written the epic “Gone with the Wind” on her own. Surely her husband helped her write it — or her father. The notion offended Mitchell, who said so in a letter.
The author’s righteous indignation had its roots in her feminist views, which were shaped by her suffragist mother, according to Roberts.
Although Mitchell enjoyed worldwide acclaim for “Gone with the Wind” — especially when the film was released — fame was its own burden.
“It was a shattering experience for Margaret Mitchell,” Roberts says.
She could not have foreseen the blockbuster success of book and movie, which were beloved around the world. Nor did she anticipate the appalling invasion of her privacy. People barged into department store dressing rooms where Mitchell was trying on clothes; they accosted her on the street and tracked her down at home. She was a most reluctant celebrity.
WHAT: “Harper Lee: Hey, Boo” and “Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel”
WHEN: 8-9 p.m. and 9-10:30 p.m. Monday, April 2
WHERE: PBS and Alabama Public Television
FILMMAKERS: Mary McDonagh Murphy (director/writer/producer), “Harper Lee: Hey, Boo”; and Pamela Roberts (writer/executive producer), “Margaret Mitchell: American Rebel.”
SERIES: Susan Lacy, creator and executive producer of “American Masters”
NOTE: Documentaries about the Pulitzer Prize-winning women behind classic novels “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1960) and “Gone With the Wind” (1936) and their equally memorable film adaptations.
“The bloodhounds never found me, and it was the most fantastic night in my life,” she said, according to Roberts.
That story, although not part of the “American Masters” documentary, is included in the DVD Collectors Edition. The disk also includes an interview with award-winning author Pat Conroy (“The Water Is Wide”) and footage of the “GWTW” movie premiere on Dec. 15, 1939, when 300,000 people jammed the streets of Atlanta. It was the city’s largest single event until the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Mitchell was “a woman ahead of her time, who wrote a book that appeared to be an old-fashioned story,” Roberts says. “In truth, she was brilliant enough to understand storytelling at its greatest and most powerful level. The book endured because she was so specific about her time and her people.
“Margaret Mitchell was very honest — she didn’t try to make the South something she didn’t think it was. She was personally progressive and she wanted the South to be the same way. She knew the South needed to change completely. She lived the life she felt it was important to live and she made a difference in people’s lives.
“She had the courage of her convictions and she was a great writer. . . . I hope (the documentary) leaves people wanting more.”
“Harper Lee: Hey, Boo” is a rare glimpse into Lee’s life from Emmy-winning filmmaker Mary McDonagh Murphy, author of “Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’” McDonagh interviews Lee’s friends and family, including her older sister Alice, who share intimate recollections, anecdotes and biographical details for the first time, according to the PBS news release.
We see her transformation from small-town Alabama girl to world-famous author, her tumultuous friendship with Truman Capote, and the origin of her most memorable characters such as Atticus Finch, his daughter Scout, her friend Dill, and Boo Radley.
Murphy is an independent documentary director, writer, author and television producer. “Harper Lee: Hey, Boo” was released theatrically in 20 cities by First Run Features. The project began as a documentary and eventually became a book, she says via long distance.
“When I began to cut the documentary, I realized I had so much great interview material that it would never make it in,” she says. “I took a 20-minute cut to an editor at HarperCollins. He was Harper Lee’s editor and he knew her. He said yes, it could be a book.
“The book came out first, which was great for me because I used the advance to keep making the documentary,” Murphy says with a laugh. “It came out in time for anniversary of the novel. I kept scraping together money and . . . the documentary didn’t sell until six or seven months later.”
The film came in at 76 minutes, but for “American Masters” it had to be 55 minutes or 81. Murphy added five minutes that included additional comments from Tom Brokaw and Mary Badham (“Scout” from the movie) and a bit more from Harper’s sister, Miss Alice.
While the novel and the film version are considered masterpieces, there is a substantial difference between the two, according to Murphy.
“I’m with the people who say it’s one of the greatest screen adaptations of our time. Both are masterpieces, but the film is just not as funny. Scout as the narrator is hilarious, she uses salty language and has her way of looking at the world — and that’s absent from the film. . . . The movie is really about Atticus more than anything else.”
Harper Lee hasn’t talked to the press since the mid-1960s, although she makes public appearances and has lived a full life. She isn’t a recluse. Building a portrait of the author posed challenges, according to Murphy, who worked 20 years for CBS News on programs such as “60 Minutes” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
“I began to see the story was the novel, not the novelist,” she says. “Telling the story of how the novel came to be and the remarkable impact it had was one of those epiphanies you have.”
Murphy says it was important to place the novel in the context of its era, the civil rights years. Were she to interview the author, one of her questions would be: “To what extent race was on her mind when she was doing this — among other things,” she says.
Murphy says she considers meeting Miss Alice, and her willingness to be interviewed on camera, “a remarkable coup in a lot of way.” Another revelation was meeting Harper Lee’s longtime friends, Joy and Michael Brown, who discussed Lee and “Mockingbird.”
The producer also obtained a radio interview that Lee gave in 1964 — her last full interview.
“It took nine months of me staring at it to realize it was a transcript of a radio interview,” Murphy says, “then two years to find the radio interview itself — and it was in a cardboard box in a basement of this guy in California. It took me another 10 months to pry it out of there, and I never knew if I was actually going be able to use it or not.”
What amazed her was the range and depth of reaction to Lee’s novel.”
“I kept saying, ‘Can anybody tell me something I haven’t heard yet?’ and every single time they did,” she says, “and it speaks volumes about the novel that everywhere I went there was new, fresh thinking and opinion about the novel.”
She also asked her interview subjects to read their favorite passages from the book.
“There were very few repetitions,” she says, “which speaks volumes.
“The whole reason I started this was that my adult reading of the novel had an even greater impact on me than my adolescent reading,” she says. “What blew me out of my chair as a 35-year-old was the writing, which is often overlooked.”
The impact of the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” can probably best be measured in each person’s reaction to it. Here is a book by a young white woman from the Deep South. Her message was universal, but it likely changed the way Dixie looked at itself.
Murphy says Lee’s novel “gave Southerners a way to question the system they were living in.”
“It’s a story of perseverance and the transforming power of reading, which is something most of us know about.”
Information from PBS and 'American Masters' was used in this report. | <urn:uuid:7d3c1cdd-2615-4c14-8c1c-0251ac20eddd> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/03/southern_authors_harper_lee_ma.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394010527022/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305090847-00032-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978095 | 2,966 | 2.78125 | 3 |
'Minecraft' Used by Microsoft to Train AI for Real World Functions
“Minecraft” is one of the most famous and beloved creative games today. But for the good guys at Microsoft, it is more than that – it is now a tool for taking artificial intelligence to new heights.
Microsoft has announced that they have a new project that lets programmers and AI researchers use the game in developing their technology, reports TechCrunch. The project is called AIX.
AIX is a software that hooks into “Minecraft” and allows the AI code to power an in-game character, called “Agents,” and get very helpful feedback from the corresponding consequences of its actions, reports BBC. Programmers have considered “Minecraft” to be more sophisticated but cheaper to use than conventional simulation robots.
"This is the state-of-the-art," Prof Jose Hernandez-Orallo from the Technical University of Valencia, one of the small group of people given early access to the software, said.
"At this moment there is nothing comparable, and this is just in its beginnings, so I see many possibilities for it," he added.
Katja Hofmann, head of AIX, said “Minecraft” presents more opportunities than for AI than what is currently available.
“Minecraft is the perfect platform for this kind of research because it’s this very open world,” Hofmann said, according to a Microsoft Blog. “You can do survival mode, you can do ‘build battles’ with your friends, you can do courses, you can implement our own games. This is really exciting for artificial intelligence because it allows us to create games that stretch beyond current abilities.”
The project isn't about training AI to play as characters in the game. Rather, the goal is to let AI train itself, in the same way that Google DeepMind's AI teaches itself everytime it plays a game of “Go.” In fact, this computer became so good at it that it defeated human champions.
Hofmann's project, however, aims to let the computer learn things for real-life applications. This, at a cheaper cost compared to using robots in a trial-and-error method.
This project is promising. Over the years, successful AI developments revolve around how good programmers have made computers to do specific tasks. However, in the are of what they call “general intelligence,” which is just like how a person thinks, computers still fall behind.
“The things that seem really easy for us are actually the things that are really difficult for an artificial intelligence,” Microsoft Research principal researcher Robert Schapire, who is part of the team using AIX in Microsoft’s New York lab, said. | <urn:uuid:d98a8857-e891-4071-9910-9e2cf7d379f1> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://www.parentherald.com/articles/28501/20160315/minecraft-used-by-microsoft-to-train-ai-for-real-world-functions.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257649683.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20180324034649-20180324054649-00149.warc.gz | en | 0.959858 | 577 | 3.078125 | 3 |
When I was a kid I was obsessed with the Hot Dog Problem: what if hot dogs taste different to you than they do to me, and that’s why you love them, and I find them disgusting? You could substitute in any number of foods here, but I chose hot dogs because people who liked them really liked them, and the people who hated them (me) really hated them. I knew, obviously, that personal taste is subjective, but what if the hot dog itself tasted different, person to person, and I would never get to experience the other side of it, because I have only the one mouth? What if, in some mouths, hot dogs taste incredible, and I will never know that taste? Sometimes I still worry about this.
Anyway, I was reminded of the Hot Dog Problem by this Scientific American piece, in which the author describes a linguistic relativity hypothesis known as “the Russian Blues,” so named because the Russian language has two separate words for “blue,” while English has just the one. The question, then, is this: do people who speak Russian perceive two distinct blues simply because they have two different words for it (goluboy for light blue and siniy for dark blue), while English speakers see just one because we have only one word for it? In a 2007 experiment, researchers asked Russian-speaking subjects to quickly determine whether two shades of blue presented on a screen were different colors or the same. They found that subjects could make that distinction most quickly when the colors shown were goluboy and siniy, rather than two shades of goluboy or two shades of siniy. English speakers, on the other hand, had no advantage in any of these conditions.
More recently, a group of researchers ran a similar test on Greek speakers (who categorize light blue and dark blue as two different colors rather than variations on the same, similarly to Russian speakers) and German speakers (who, like English speakers, have just the one blue). In their experiment, researchers asked subjects to detect a dark blue triangle over a light blue background, and a dark blue triangle over a dark green background, and so on — the theory being that Greek speakers should distinguish between light and dark blue just as easily as they do between dark green and dark blue, as both pairs incorporate two distinct colors in their language. Their results matched that theory. Greek speakers (and later, in a replication of the study, Russian speakers) also distinguished more easily between light blue and dark blue than they did light green and dark green (the latter of which belong to just one category or word in both languages).
Do you feel like you’re losing your MIND? Now you know how I feel about the Hog Dog Problem.
What these studies suggest, then, is that having words for things makes it easier for us to talk about them; in the Scientific American piece, author Catherine L. Caldwell-Harris, a a psycholinguistics professor at Boston University, makes the comparison to Schadenfreude — a word many English speakers know the meaning of, but which we’re unlikely to utilize as regularly as a German speaker might. What else might we be missing out on, simply because we don’t have the vocabulary for it? Hate it as I might, this is why terms like “FOMO” are, generally speaking, a net positive: they help us express something we didn’t even know we felt. If having the word for something makes it easier to access, I plan to spend the rest of the day coming up for one that describes how I feel in that perfect period of time just after I’ve done all the laundry and before a single piece of worn clothing goes into my beautiful, empty hamper.
But the main thing the Russian blues and the Hot Dog Problem both remind me of, I think, is how strange it is to realize you can’t access someone else’s perceptions, really, even if they are described to you (because, even then, they are filtered through your perception of their perceptions. Gah!). To me, light blue and dark blue will always be variations on the same core color. To me, hot dogs will always taste bad, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. Truly humbling to think about. And a little frustrating. I’m… frumbled!!! Haha. It could work, I think. | <urn:uuid:b88b6f4b-87f0-4b17-bbc3-4836eba4492a> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://www.thecut.com/2019/01/this-study-on-russian-blues-broke-my-brain.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371818008.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20200408135412-20200408165912-00366.warc.gz | en | 0.962866 | 916 | 3.015625 | 3 |
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers predict that large spiral galaxies, like our Milky Way, have hundreds of satellite galaxies orbiting around them. While a few satellites are visible, like the Magellanic Clouds, many other galaxies are too dim to see. Scientists suspect that these faint satellite galaxies are primarily comprised of mysterious dark matter, which makes up 85 percent of all matter in the universe and so far remains undetected.
Using supercomputers at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), Sukanya Chakrabarti, has developed a mathematical method uncover these dark satellites. When she applied this method to our own Milky Way galaxy, Chakrabarti discovered a faint satellite might be lurking on the opposite side of the galaxy from Earth, approximately 300,000 light-years from the galactic center.
Our approach has broad implications for many fields of physics and astronomyfor the indirect detection of dark matter as well as dark-matter dominated dwarf galaxies, planetary dynamics, and for galaxy evolution dominated by satellite impacts, says Chakrabarti, who presented these findings at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle. This result came from Chakrabartis postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently an assistant professor of physics at Florida Atlantic University.
Using Math to Find Invisible Mass
Chakrabartis technique involves an analysis of the cold atomic hydrogen gas that comprise the outskirts of a large spiral galaxys disk. This cold gas is gravitationally confined to the galactic disk and extends much further out than the visible starssometimes up to five times the diameter of the visible spiral. This gas can be mapped by radio telescopes.
According to Chakrabarti, the dark satellite galaxies create disturbances in the cold atomic hydrogen gas at the edges of the spiral galaxys disk, and these perturbations reveal the mass, distance and location of the satellite. With the help of NERSC systems, she successfully validated her method by analyzing the radio observations of the Whirlpool Galaxy, which has a visible satellite one-third of its size, and NGC 1512, which has a satellite one-hundredth its size. Her calculations correctly predicted the mass and location of both of the known satellite galaxies.
When she applied this analysis to radio observations of our own Milky Way, the analysis revealed a potential dwarf galaxy, or Galaxy X, sitting in the constellation of Norma or Circinus, just west of the galactic center in Sagittarius when viewed from Earth. Because this satellite sits across the Milky Way from Earth, it is obscured in our line of sight by gas and dust, and thus has not been detected.
According to her colleague Leo Blitz of the University of California at Berkeley, searching for satellite galaxies with this method is like inferring the size and speed of a ship by looking at its wake. You see the waves from a lot of boats, but you have to be able to separate out the wake of a medium or small ship from that of an ocean liner, he says.
The NERSC systems really sped up my work, says Chakrabarti. These systems are a great resource. I am currently using my method to develop a test of modified theories of gravity, and plan on running the simulations at NERSC.
Galactic Tango in 3D
To illustrate how a satellite galaxy disrupts the gas disk of a large spiral for the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Conference in January 2011, Chakrabarti turned to NERSC Analytics team member Prabhat who translated her scientific data into a three-dimensional (3D) movie for the Space Science Telescope Institute Booth with the VisIt software.
Chakrabarti explains her mathematical method for finding dark matter dominated galaxies at the 217 AAS Meeting in Seattle, Washington.
When a person looks up at the night sky from Earth, they cant tell the difference between a star that is far away and one that is nearby. It is the same when you are running simulations on a flat screen, you see bands that stretch in and out but you dont get the depth that a 3D visualization provides, says Prabhat.
Visualizing the merger of two galaxies is like watching a stone drop into a pond. A 2D slice lets you see the ripples, but a 3D view will let you see the splash. In this case of galaxy mergers, a 3D visualization lets us see the splash of the gas and instabilities in the galactic disk in real-time, says Chakrabarti. This depth is invaluable when you are studying dynamical phenomenon with variation in the plane.
Explore further: NGC 5746: Detection of hot halo gets theory out of hot water | <urn:uuid:3989a1eb-e731-418f-8527-8ae89ddbc502> | CC-MAIN-2015-32 | http://phys.org/news/2011-03-invisible-milky-satellite-uncovered-nersc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-32/segments/1438042989126.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20150728002309-00171-ip-10-236-191-2.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919312 | 965 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Thomas Reisch, a psychiatrist and researcher in Switzerland, was reviewing the rates of suicide in his country when he noticed something unusual. Right around 2004, the number of gun suicides substantially declined. Reisch, who serves as the medical director of a psychiatric hospital just outside of Bern, wondered why.
Switzerland, a peaceful country of about eight million people, is typically regarded for its pristine ski resorts, economic prosperity, and extraordinarily high life expectancy rates — second only in the world to Japan. The country also has a well-established gun culture. It boasts the fourth-highest rate of firearm ownership in the world — roughly 30 percent of all Swiss households contain a gun — trailing only the United States, Serbia, and Yemen.
The Swiss own so many guns because military service is compulsory, and active members are required to store their firearms at home. When members of the military leave the armed services, they are given the option to purchase their guns at a discount. In March 2003, the Swiss army introduced new reforms — titled “Army XXI” — that reduced the number of troops from approximately 400,000 to 200,000 over the period of one year. Reisch speculated that if there were fewer men in the army — and therefore fewer men with access to guns at home — the law could have contributed to a reduction in the suicide rate.
“I saw this drop, and I asked myself, ‘What could that be?’” Reisch tells The Trace. “This was hypothesis-driven, but of course I thought it was the army.”
The link between gun ownership and suicides is well-documented. One sweeping study in the U.S. of 33 years of suicide and gun ownership data from all 50 states found a direct correlation between the two. The higher the gun ownership rate, the higher the suicide rate, the study found. One explanation for the phenomena: Guns are incredibly lethal when compared to other methods of suicide.
In his research, Reisch seized an opportunity to examine what effect gun ownership has on suicide in his country. Since the reduction in active duty forces applied just to men ages 18 to 43, Reisch hypothesized that this group would see a reduction in the suicide rate, while rates among women and people outside this age group would remain steady.
It turns out, he was right. Reisch’s study, published in 2013 by The American Journal of Psychiatry, showed that among this particular cohort of men, there were 2.16 fewer suicides per 100,000, meaning about 30 men were “saved” by the reforms. (In 2013, there were 222 total firearm suicides in Switzerland.)
Reisch found that about 75 percent of the men who would have taken their life with a gun did not choose another method of suicide, like poison or hanging. This evidence contradicts a common talking point among gun rights groups: that people intent on killing themselves will simply find another means if they do not have access to a gun.
Research in the U.S. shows that between 5 and 11 percent of people who attempt suicide will go on to kill themselves — but the majority will not.
“It’s quite clear,” Reisch says. “Restricting access to guns saves lives.” (In what may amount to a substantive change in position, the leading firearms industry trade group recently partnered with the nation’s largest suicide prevention organization on an education program intended to reduce the number of gun suicides.)
Reisch’s research wasn’t the first to link changes in military policies to suicides. A 2010 study of the Israeli army, for instance, found that requiring soldiers to leave their weapons on base over the weekend, as opposed to bringing them home, decreased the suicide rate among troops by almost 40 percent.
Reisch’s work may help inform the understanding of growing suicide problem in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were a total of 21,334 gun suicides in 2014, up from 16,599 in 1999.
Researchers say that reducing access to firearms — whether by keeping them locked in secure environment, requiring waiting periods, or removing them from households altogether — is an essential strategy to save lives. That’s because suicide is usually an impulsive act: 71 percent of attempts come within the hour of making the decision to complete the act, research shows.
Men are more likely to kill themselves than women, and are much more likely to use a gun. That’s why members of the U.S. military deserve special attention, experts say. In May, the Pentagon released a report that the suicide rate among soldiers was more than twice the national average.
One of the high-profile efforts to prevent suicides in the military is a $50 million study that ultimately created an algorithm to predict which soldiers might be at a high risk for suicide. The algorithm analyzes a variety of data and risk factors, including a service member’s age, gender, and previous history of mental health and psychiatric disorders. So far, it’s effectiveness has been difficult to determine.
To researchers like Reisch, though, there are potentially less sophisticated ways to reduce suicides across the board. “I think [my study] can be easily transferred to any other country,” he says. “The principle is always the same. If you are able to restrict people who can get a gun, there will be less suicides.”
[Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images] | <urn:uuid:b79f63cd-ef6a-4e51-a189-636818fa9993> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://www.thetrace.org/2016/09/military-suicides-switzerland-gun-suicide-prevention/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496670597.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20191120162215-20191120190215-00489.warc.gz | en | 0.971226 | 1,134 | 2.515625 | 3 |
I found this story of the Tanzanian schoolboy, Erasto Mpemba, particularly inspiring, as well as a reminder for educators everywhere that they might not always be right.
Back in the 1960′s, Erasto, aged 13, was making ice cream at Magamba Secondary School. He noticed that when the ice cream was hot and started to freeze, it froze quicker than if it was already cold. His teacher dismissed the result, calling it “Mpemba’s physics” and subjected him to some ridicule.
In fairness to the teacher, the result did fly in the face of accepted physics (Newton’s Law of Cooling), but to refuse to believe a student strikes me as being poor teaching, not to mention unscientific.
Fast forward a few years and a Dr. Denis Osborne visited Mkwawa High School, where Erasto had moved and where the “Mpemba Physics” jibe had continued, when he continued to ask questions about the effect. Dr Osborne was also sceptical, but set out to show Mpemba that he was wrong, by repeating the experiment together. Of course, the new work proved Mpemba correct, much to everyone’s surprise.
In 1969, they published a joint paper on the Mpemba Effect, as a result of which they discovered that many eminent scholars from Aristotle to Descartes had noted a similar phenomenon. Currently, the reason for the Mpemba Effect is still unknown.
However, an inspiring story for students – and teachers – everywhere.
Hat Tip to The Science Magpie | <urn:uuid:23bb7125-349a-455e-90a0-3f5640850726> | CC-MAIN-2015-35 | http://mobhappy.com/blog1/2012/10/08/erasto-mpemba-a-story-of-persistence-and-scietific-discovery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440645298781.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827031458-00336-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980302 | 339 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Category theory is a mathematical theory that deals in an abstract way with mathematical structures and relationships between them. It is half-jokingly known as "generalized abstract nonsense". Categories appear in most branches of mathematics, in some areas of theoretical computer science and mathematical physics, and have been a unifying notion. Categories were first introduced by Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane in 1945, in connection with algebraic topology.
See list of category theory topics for a breakdown of relevant articles.
- 1 Background
- 2 Historical notes
- 3 Categories, objects, and morphisms
- 4 Functors
- 5 Natural transformations and isomorphisms
- 6 Universal constructions, limits, and colimits
- 7 Equivalent categories
- 8 Further concepts and results
- 9 Higher-dimensional categories
- 10 See also
- 11 References
- 12 External links
The study of categories is an attempt to capture what is commonly found in various classes of related mathematical structures.
Consider the following example. The class Grp of groups consists of all objects having a "group structure". More precisely, Grp consists of all sets G endowed with a binary operation satisfying a certain set of axioms. One can proceed to prove theorems about groups by making logical deductions from the set of axioms. For example, it is immediately proved from the axioms that the identity element of a group is unique.
Instead of focusing merely on the individual objects (groups) possessing a given structure, as mathematical theories have traditionally done, category theory emphasizes the morphisms — the structure-preserving processes — between these objects. It turns out that by studying these morphisms, we are able to learn far more about the structure of the objects than by simply focusing on the structures alone. In the example of groups, the morphisms are the group homomorphisms. A group homomorphism between two groups "preserves the group structure" in a very precise way — it is a "process" taking one group to another, in a way that carries along information about the structure of the first group into the second group. The study of group homomorphisms then provides a powerful tool for studying general properties of groups and consequences of the group axioms.
A similar type of investigation occurs in many mathematical theories. A category is an axiomatic formulation of this idea of relating mathematical structures to the structure-preserving processes between them. A systematic study of categories then allows us to prove general results about any class of mathematical structures and their processes which satisfy the axioms of a category.
A category is itself a type of mathematical structure, so we can look for processes which preserve this structure in some sense. Such a process is called a functor, and it associates to every object of one category an object of another category, and to every morphism in the first category a morphism in the second. By studying categories and functors, we are not just studying a class of mathematical structures and the morphisms between them, we are studying the relationships between various classes of mathematical structure.
Many mathematical theories attempt to study a particular type of structure by relating the structure to another simpler, better understood structure. For example, this is the central underlying theme of algebraic topology — very difficult topological questions can be translated into algebraic questions which are much easier to solve. Certain "natural constructions", such as the fundamental group of a topological space, can be expressed as functors in this way. Different such constructions are often "naturally related", and this leads to the concept of natural transformation, a way to "map" one functor to another. Throughout mathematics, one encounters "natural isomorphisms", things that are (essentially) the same in a "canonical way". Many important constructions in mathematics can be studied in this context.
Categories, functors and natural transformations were introduced by Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane in 1945. Initially, the notions were applied in topology, especially algebraic topology, as an important part of the transition from homology (an intuitive and geometric concept) to homology theory, an axiomatic approach. It has been claimed, for example by or on behalf of Stanislaw Ulam, that comparable ideas were current in the later 1930s in the Polish school. These ideas were in some ways a continuation of the contributions of Emmy Noether in formalizing abstract processes in the first half of the 20th-century. Noether realised that in order to understand a type of mathematical structure, one really needs to understand the processes preserving this structure. Eilenberg and Mac Lane gave an axiomatic formalization of this relation between structures and the processes preserving them.
Eilenberg/Mac Lane have said that their goal was to understand natural transformations; in order to do that, functors had to be defined; and to define functors one needed categories.
The subsequent development of the theory was powered first by the computational needs of homological algebra; and then by the axiomatic needs of algebraic geometry, the field most resistant to the Russell-Whitehead view of united foundations. General category theory—an updated universal algebra with many new features allowing for semantic flexibility and higher-order logic—came later; it is now applied throughout mathematics.
Special categories called topoi can even serve as an alternative to axiomatic set theory as the foundation of mathematics. These broadly-based foundational applications of category theory are contentious; but they have been worked out in quite some detail, as a commentary on or basis for constructive mathematics. One can say, in particular, that axiomatic set theory still hasn't been replaced by the category-theoretic commentary on it, in the everyday usage of mathematicians. The idea of bringing category theory into earlier, undergraduate teaching (signified by the difference between the Birkhoff-Mac Lane and later Mac Lane-Birkhoff abstract algebra texts) has hit noticeable opposition.
Categorical logic is now a well-defined field based on type theory for intuitionistic logics, with application to the theory of functional programming and domain theory, all in a setting of a cartesian closed category as non-syntactic description of a lambda calculus. At the very least, the use of category theory language allows one to clarify what exactly these related areas have in common (in an abstract sense).
Categories, objects, and morphisms
A category C consists of
- a class ob(C) of objects:
- a class hom(C) of morphisms. Each morphism f has a unique source object a and target object b. We write f: a → b, and we say "f is a morphism from a to b". We write hom(a, b) [or Hom(a, b), or homC(a, b)] to denote the hom-class of all morphisms from a to b. (Some authors write Mor(a, b) or C(a, b).)
- for every three objects a, b and c, a binary operation hom(a, b) × hom(b, c) → hom(a, c) called composition of morphisms; the composition of f : a → b and g : b → c is written as g ○ f or gf (Some authors write fg.)
such that the following axioms hold:
- (associativity) if f : a → b, g : b → c and h : c → d then h ○ (g ○ f) = (h ○ g) ○ f, and
- (identity) for every object x, there exists a morphism 1x : x → x called the identity morphism for x, such that for every morphism f : a → b, we have 1b ○ f = f = f ○ 1a.
From these axioms, one can prove that there is exactly one identity morphism for every object. Some authors use a slight variation of the definition in which each object is identified with the corresponding identity morphism.
Relations among morphisms (such as fg = h) can most conveniently be represented with commutative diagrams, where the objects are represented as points and the morphisms as arrows. Indeed, the morphisms of a category are sometimes called arrows due to the influence of commutative diagrams.
Types of morphisms
A morphism f : a → b is called
- a monomorphism (or monic) if fg1 = fg2 implies g1 = g2 for all morphisms g1, g2 : x → a.
- an epimorphism (or epic) if g1f = g2f implies g1 = g2 for all morphisms g1, g2 : b → x.
- an isomorphism if there exists a morphism g : b → a with fg = 1b and gf = 1a.
- an endomorphism if a = b. The class of endomorphisms of a is denoted end(a).
- an automorphism if f is both an endomorphism and an isomorphism. The class of automorphisms of a is denoted aut(a).
^ Note that a morphism which is both epic and monic is not necessarily an isomorphism! For example, in the category consisting of two objects A and B, the identity morphisms, and a single morphism f from A to B, f is both epic and monic but is not an isomorphism.
Main article: functor
Functors are structure-preserving maps between categories. They can be thought of as morphisms in the category of all (small) categories.
A (covariant) functor F from the category C to the category D
- associates to each object x in C an object F(x) in D;
- associates to each morphism f : x → y a morphism F(f) : F(x) → F(y)
such that the following two properties hold:
- F(1x) = 1F(x) for every object x in C.
- F(g ○ f) = F(g) ○ F(f) for all morphisms f : x → y and g : y → z.
A contravariant functor F from C to D is a functor that "turns morphisms around" ("reverses all the arrows"). Specifically, F is contravariant if whenever f : x → y is a morphism in C, then F(f) : F(y) → F(x). The quickest way to define a contravariant functor is as a covariant functor from the opposite category Cop to D.
Natural transformations and isomorphisms
Main article: natural transformation
A natural transformation is a relation between two functors. Functors often describe "natural constructions" and natural transformations then describe "natural homomorphisms" between two such constructions. Sometimes two quite different constructions yield "the same" result; this is expressed by a natural isomorphism between the two functors.
If F and G are (covariant) functors between the categories C and D, then a natural transformation from F to G associates to every object x in C a morphism ηx : F(x) → G(x) in D such that for every morphism f : x → y in C, we have ηy ○ F(f) = G(f) ○ ηx; this means that the following diagram is commutative:
The two functors F and G are called naturally isomorphic if there exists a natural transformation from F to G such that ηx is an isomorphism for every object x in C.
Universal constructions, limits, and colimits
Using the language of category theory, many areas of mathematical study can be cast into appropriate categories, such as the categories of all sets, groups, topologies, and so on. These categories surely have some objects that are "special" in a certain way, such as the empty set or the product of two topologies. Yet, in the definition of a category, objects are considered to be atomic; i.e. we do not know, whether an object A is a set, a topology, or any other abstract concept. Hence, the challenge is to define special objects without referring to the internal structure of these objects. But how can we define the empty set without referring to elements, or the product topology without referring to open sets?
The solution is to characterize these objects in terms of their relations to other objects, as given by the morphisms of the respective categories. Thus the task is to find universal properties that uniquely determine the objects of interest. Indeed, it turns out that numerous important constructions can be described in a purely categorical way. The central concept which is needed for this purpose is called categorical limit, and can be dualized to yield the notion of a colimit.
It is a natural question to ask, under which conditions two categories can be considered to be "essentially the same", in the sense that theorems about one category can readily be transformed into theorems about the other category. The major tool one employs to describe such a situation is called equivalence of categories. It is given by appropriate functors between two categories. Categorical equivalence has found numerous applications in mathematics.
Further concepts and results
The definitions of categories and functors provide only the very basics of categorical algebra. Additional important topics are listed below. Although there are strong interrelations between all of these topics, the given order can be considered as a guideline for further reading.
- The functor category DC has as objects the functors from C to D and as morphisms the natural transformations of such functors. The Yoneda lemma is one of the most famous basic results of category theory; it describes representable functors in functor categories.
- Duality: Every statement, theorem, or definition in category theory has a dual which is essentially obtained by "reversing all the arrows". If one statement is true in a category C then its dual will be true in the dual category Cop. This duality, which is transparent at the level of category theory, is often obscured in applications and can lead to surprising relationships.
- Adjoint functors: A functor can be left (or right) adjoint to another functor that maps in the opposite direction. Such a pair of adjoint functors typically arises from a construction defined by a universal property; it can be seen as a more abstract and powerful view on universal properties.
Many of the above concepts, especially equivalence of categories, adjoint functor pairs, and functor categories, can be situated into the context of higher-dimensional categories. Briefly, if we consider a morphism between two objects as a "process taking us from one object to another", then higher-dimensional categories allow us to profitably generalise this by considering "higher-dimensional processes".
For example, (strict) 2-category is a category together with "morphisms between morphisms", i.e. processes which allow us to transform one morphism into another. We can then "compose" these "bimorphisms" both horizontally and vertically, and we require a 2-dimensional "exchange law" to hold, relating the two composition laws. In this context, the standard example is Cat, the 2-category of all (small) categories, and in this example, bimorphisms of morphisms are simply natural transformations of morphisms in the usual sense. Another basic example is to consider a 2-category with a single object—these are essentially monoidal categories.
This process can be extended for all natural numbers n, and these are called n-categories. There is even a notion of ω-category corresponding to the ordinal number ω. For a conversational introduction to these ideas, see John Baez: The Tale of n-categories.
- List of category theory topics
- Important publications in category theory
- Glossary of category theory
- Adámek, Jiří, Herrlich, Horst, & Strecker, George E. (1990). Abstract and Concrete Categories. Originally publ. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-60922-6. (now free on-line edition)
- Barr, Michael, & Wells, Charles (2002). Toposes, Triples and Theories. (revised and corrected free online version of Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften (278). Springer-Verlag,1983)
- Borceux, Francis (1994). Handbook of Categorical Algebra.. Vols. 50-52 of Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Lawvere, William, & Schanuel, Steve. (1997). Conceptual Mathematics: A First Introduction to Categories. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Mac Lane, Saunders (1998). Categories for the Working Mathematician (2nd ed.). Graduate Texts in Mathematics 5. Springer. ISBN 0-387-98403-8.
- "Category Theory" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Homepage of the Categories mailing list, with extensive list of resources
- Category Theory section of Alexandre Stefanov's list of free online mathematics resources
- Discussion about alternative definitions of category with multiple sources and destinations for each morphismde:Kategorientheorie
es:Categorías y fundamentos eo:Teorio De Kategorioj fr:Théorie des catégories it:Teoria delle categorie (matematica) pl:Teoria kategorii pt:Teoria das categorias ru:Теория категорий sv:Kategoriteori tr:Kategori Teorisi zh:范畴论 | <urn:uuid:62bc2519-07c9-40c2-a7f8-ddb3110e46e3> | CC-MAIN-2018-51 | http://www.exampleproblems.com/wiki/index.php/Category_theory | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-51/segments/1544376828056.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20181217020710-20181217042710-00474.warc.gz | en | 0.910345 | 3,778 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Merry Meet...gather around our fire side...
A WELL-BALANCED VEGETARIAN OR VEGAN DIET CAN PROVIDE MANY HEALTH BENEFITS, SUCH AS A REDUCED RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASES, INCLUDING OBESITY, CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE, HYPERTENSION (HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE), DIABETES AND SOME TYPES OF CANCER. VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS ALSO HAVE LOWER RATES OF ILLNESS AND DEATH FROM A NUMBER OF DEGENERATIVE DISEASES.
The basic premise of veganism is an ethic of compassion to minimise suffering in the world. Any sentient being is capable of feeling pain. We vegans try to minimise harm to all sentient beings. Just about all products originating from nonhuman animals cause harm and a vegan avoids them all: flesh from slaughtered animals, dairy products from enslaved dairy cows in factory farms, eggs from battery hens living in situations resembling concentration camps and more.
Another bonus for vegans is that on a low-fat vegan diet you are far less likely to suffer from major 'diseases of civilisation' such as heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
A diet of plant-based foods is good for the Earth. Vegan foods require the least amount of land, water and energy to produce. Vegan foods also cause the least amount of soil erosion and pollution.
Most of the food crops that are grown in developed countries go towards feeding animals for the meat, dairy and egg industries, not for feeding humans. If we cut out our consumption of animal foods, we can live on a fraction of the cost to the Earth: costs in pesticides, fossil fuel input, arable land used, water used, water pollution and soil erosion. The Earth as well as the animals will thank you for turning vegan.
Millions of people around the world are questioning their dietary habits. The typical high fat, high cholesterol, high protein, low fibre, largely refined diet has been increasingly indicted as the prime contributing cause of heart disease, strokes, circulatory ailments; diabetes; various types of cancer and numerous other serious health problems. Public attention is also being drawn to the injustice and cruelty of preventing animals from living their own natural lives in glaring contrast to the brutal realities of the appalling conditions in which our slave 'food-animals' are usually raised and slaughtered.
Another major source of urgent concern is that the greatest waste of natural resources, the worst producer of desert and famine, a prime motive for the despoiling of vitally needed tropical rain-forest and the most wasteful use and pollution of precious water supplies, all involve the raising, feeding and slaughtering of livestock for food. The terrible ecological results of this human short-sightedness and callousness may in many areas be passing the point of irreversibility.
Thoughtful, caring people realise there has to be a better way and there is. Veganism is an ethical way of living without the use of animal products such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy foods. Vegans enjoy a plant based diet including wholefoods as basic sources, such as vegetables, grains, legumes, fruit, nuts, and seeds. A typical vegan cookbook lists wide varieties of delightful recipes for soups, entrees, salads, dressings, vegetable dishes, casseroles, sauces, 'dairy substitutes', breads, pasta, pizzas and deserts (icecreams, puddings, cakes, pies and biscuits) - all made without ingredients of animal origin. This is the time tested total vegetarian system that is nutritionally balanced, helpful and humane, ethically and scientifically sound, naturally rich in vitamins and minerals, high in fibre and complex carbohydrates, low fat and low sodium and contains no cholesterol. | <urn:uuid:ef60748f-e0fe-4016-84b9-ccb7109a9d6e> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | http://paganfireside.ning.com/group/vegyfoodforthosespecialoccasions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583516003.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20181023023542-20181023045042-00047.warc.gz | en | 0.908113 | 800 | 2.96875 | 3 |
The Science Museum has created a room in which visitors are plunged into total darkness and "haunted" by the recordings of ghostly voices from Britain's slave trade past triggered by their movements.
Called simply The Dark, it opens to the public tomorrow, only a few days after Tate Modern's huge sun, created by 144 sodium lights, was switched off and dismantled.
Visitors will be led in groups of 12 into a pitch-black room, nine metres by seven metres, where they will hear voices of people involved in the slave trade.
One is Edward Rushton, a Liverpool man who was so repulsed by the horrific conditions in which slaves were kept that he became an abolitionist. The other characters are Kunle, an African slave who saved Rushton's life at sea, and ship's captain John Newton.
The Dark is open in the Science Museum's Dana Centre from tomorrow until 30 April, 12 to 8pm.
- More about: | <urn:uuid:bff6a9eb-9f0f-49af-8627-aa3dd428dc2a> | CC-MAIN-2017-09 | http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/dark-days-at-museum-7233846.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-09/segments/1487501171251.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20170219104611-00291-ip-10-171-10-108.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977343 | 197 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Twenty-one years ago, when Dr. Raul Maranhão presented his cancer treatment strategy—based on artificial, compact, cholesterol particles—in national and international scientific journals, he did not imagine that he would encounter so many surprises, disappointments, setbacks and detours in moving his idea forward. Systematically, he experimented using animal models and then on limited groups of people with cancer, concluding that lipid nanoemulsions (known as LDEs) could act as a drug platform. LDEs would be able to carry drugs to predefined targets and reduce toxicity, which is a serious problem and very common in anti-cancer therapies. Often, the unwanted effects of these therapies are severe enough to limit their use, forcing a reduction in dosage or cessation of treatment. “We mastered some chemotherapeutics,” said Dr. Maranhão, with equanimity earlier this year from his basement office at the University of São Paulo (USP) Heart Institute (Incor).
He then brought up on his computer screen a table summarizing the undesirable side effects that arose in 46 people treated with carmustine, a highly toxic anti-tumor drug, combined with spheres of artificial cholesterol. With this treatment, the most common side effects—such as nausea, vomiting, alopecia (hair loss), anemia, severe loss of immune cells and hepatic or renal changes evaluated at grades 1, 2 and 3—were minimal, even at a dosage of 350 milligrams, nearly three times more than the dosage normally administered. “The results are very consistent, with no loss of pharmacological action,” he says.
Making these strategies work is not easy. There is a global battle to reduce drug toxicity, which could result in more treatment options for physicians and less discomfort for people undergoing treatment. Teams from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the Butantan Institute are also making progress with other types of particles that are proving effective in improving the action of drugs and vaccines. In each case, new combinations must pass all the safety and toxicity tests in animal models and in humans, and if they perform satisfactorily in all of these experiments, they will be approved for widespread use.
SOURCE LIPID LABORATORY/ INCOR USPDr. Maranhão had to overcome many scientific, technical and bureaucratic obstacles before successfully concentrating the drug-containing spheres in tumors (see graph). Cholesterol-rich LDEs, with a structure similar to low density lipoprotein (LDL) and a diameter of 20 to 60 nanometers (one nanometer is one millionth of a millimeter), are captured by cells through LDL receptors, which are abundant in tumor cells. “We deceived the tumor cells by providing a raw material they need in order to multiply, combined with a drug that will destroy them,” he says.
Two other anti-tumor drugs, paclitaxel (Taxol) and etoposide, provided them with more work to do. With Hélio Stefani, a colleague from the USP School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr. Maranhão soaked the LDE spheres with fatty acids to augment the adherence of the anti-tumor drugs. “In tests in mice and people with cancer,” he said, “the toxicity decreased dramatically.” However, this does not always work. In fact, the toxicity of methotrexate did not decrease when combined with LDE spheres. “I cannot explain why, but it may be possible to reduce the dosage, since the combination with the LDEs augments the absorption of the drug by tumor cells.”
Testing in hospitals
Intense scientific work and the results of initial clinical trials conducted since 1990 on approximately 200 people have served as the motivation behind two broader clinical trials that are in progress at public hospitals in the city of São Paulo. In one study, 23 people, after undergoing other treatments for prostate, breast, ovarian and lung cancer, some with bone metastases, are now receiving Taxol and LDE at the Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho Cancer Institute. In two men, the level of prostate specific antigen (PSA) decreased from 100 to 10 nanograms per deciliter of blood, indicating the regression of prostate cancer after seven months of treatment, according to Dr. Sylvia Graziani, a physician at the Institute’s oncology clinic. “In ovarian and breast cancers, we observed a stabilization of the disease and a significant improvement in clinical status due to the absence of adverse effects common to chemotherapy,” she says. “I saw a number of patients having lunch while undergoing chemotherapy,” says Dr. Maranhão. The medications used to prevent vomiting, a common side effect of treatment, have been eliminated.
“LDEs have a high affinity for inflamed tissues and areas of intense cell division,” says Dr. Maranhão. This characteristic led to other potential uses, such as treating atherosclerosis, a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries and veins. In one experiment, the arteries of rabbits with cholesterol plaques, somewhat similar to tumors, absorbed three times more LDEs than other tissues or organs. “The LDEs with paclitaxel cleaned the rabbit arteries,” he said, as he showed a succession of photos and graphics. The information he collected was used as the basis for testing the safety of combining taxol with LDE in a group of 10 people selected for treatment at the Dante Pazzaneze Institute of Cardiology in São Paulo. The results, detailed in an article in the final stages of preparation, indicate that this strategy can reduce the inflammation that accompanies the formation of fatty plaques in the coronary arteries of people who have already suffered a heart attack. “We have almost zero toxicity,” he concludes. This evidence is also impressive because it supports the use of an anti-tumor agent such as taxol to treat heart disease.
New vaccines in sight
Particles that carry drugs can do more than expected, and they can change other characteristics that often hinder drug efficacy. The Unicamp team of Chemist Oswaldo Alves has apparently overcome a limitation of camptothecin, an anti-tumor agent that is difficult to apply because of its insolubility, according to tests performed on tumor cells at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp).
“We made a slurry with silica nanoparticles, and the camptothecin entered the cells as if it were soluble,” says Amauri Jardim de Paula, one of the Alves researchers. “Today, we can synthesize nanostructures with a high degree of control over the chemical and physical properties on the surface and inside so that the surface can attract and the interior repel water molecules.”
In the cover story of the October 2012 issue of the Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, Alves makes an important statement concerning the safety of using mesoporous silica nanoparticles: these nanostructures do not destroy red blood cells under real-life conditions when immersed in plasma, regardless of the electrical charge on the surface of the particles; previous studies performed on a cell solution have suggested that this could be the case.
A type of nanostructured porous silica called SBA-15 is proving effective in transporting vaccines orally, according to studies conducted since 2002 in collaboration with the University of São Paulo, the Butantan Institute and the Laboratório Cristália. Tests with the hepatitis B vaccine in mice indicate that viral antigens carried by silica spheres were able to pass through the extremely acidic environment of the stomach, which most proteins cannot withstand, and be absorbed in the intestines.
“We are now in the process of planning tests on human volunteers,” says Osvaldo Sant’Anna, a Butantan researcher who is excited about the possibility of expanding oral vaccinations that are currently limited to the Sabin polio vaccine. He believes that if the tests go forward with positive results, silica particles could carry more than one vaccine at a time, in a manner more benign to the body than current techniques of application (injections), and they could yield considerable savings by eliminating the use of needles and syringes. These silica particle-based delivery vehicles could also increase the number of people vaccinated and enable the application of doses smaller than those presently administered.
Diego Stéfani Teodoro Martinez, of the Alves team, prepared carbon nanotubes of 10 to 40 nanometers in diameter and up to 10 micrometers in length soaked in antigens. This combination increased the body’s response compared to the response induced by antigens alone in preliminary tests in mice at the Butantan Institute, in partnership with Sant’Anna. “Nanotubes apparently have an immunostimulatory effect,” says Martinez, “possibly because they activate macrophages, a type of immune cell, and the release of cytokines,” which are the communication molecules of the immune system.
Other combinations of carriers and drugs may also yield impressive results. Unicamp, USP and Unesp groups coordinated by Wagner Fávaro and Nelson Duran, both of Unicamp, were able to reduce the dosage of the P-MAPA immunomodulator agent by a factor of approximately 10 without a loss of efficacy against bladder cancer by using a commercial polymer known as poloxamer or pluronic in preliminary tests in animal models.
“The pluronic must have facilitated the entry of the P-MAPA into the layer of cells lining the inside of the urinary bladder,” says Fávaro. “It’s an excellent result.” If confirmed in future studies, this effect may allow a considerable savings in drug costs and improve drug action, in addition to reducing the risk of any toxic effects. The P-MAPA and LDE spheres apparently do not lead to adverse reactions, nor do they present health risks, according to the tests performed thus far.
In studies conducted at Unicamp and Colorado State University in the US—with funding from the research network Farmabrasilis, FAPESP, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Unesp of Botucatu—P-MAPA has been shown to halt the progression of bladder cancer and slow the growth of bacterial colonies that cause tuberculosis in animal models. In studies on rats with bladder cancer, P-MAPA exhibited superior efficacy compared to the BCG vaccine, the best available treatment against this disease, as detailed in an article published in the June 2012 issue of the journal Infectious Agents and Cancer.
Results that now appear simple to understand were, at first, difficult to interpret. In 2006, Oswaldo Alves was faced with the following dilemma: should I purchase or synthesize the carbon nanotubes? He decided to buy them, but he noted that the nanotube sample was not a pure substance, as it should be, and this caused Alves to doubt the results of the experiments—positive or negative—uncertain whether the outcomes he observed were caused by the action of the nanotubes or the impurities.
“Purity has been a neglected subject,” he says. “Because of the rush to publish results, almost no one is questioning the origin of the nanostructure samples used in experiments; there is an assumption [that] they are pure.” Alves and his group developed their own purification techniques, and they now remove 98% of the metallic and carbonaceous residue from the imported nanomaterials. The resulting purified substances from Unicamp’s Solid State Chemistry Laboratory are so different from the original that they have been named LQES-1 and LQES-2. Another ongoing challenge, he said, is “to identify other chemists, physicists, biologists and physicians who want to work with nanostructures and believe that it is possible to bring quality to Brazilian science.”
“We cannot move forward alone,” says Dr. Maranhão, who has also faced many dilemmas. One of them was where to publish the results: “if I reveal too much, having sought the most widely read journals, I could be pushed aside by other groups, which could advance more quickly”. Deciding not to publish was not feasible because publishing scientific articles affords researchers visibility and credibility. The solution he found was to publish in medical journals of medium impact “without much fanfare.”
When Dr. Maranhão started, there were no patent laws for new drugs. At that time, the concept of medical nanotechnology did not exist, and the national companies were not interested in developing national drugs in Brazil. He tried a few foreign companies, hoping to find partners that would help in the production and development of nanoparticles, but company mergers and acquisitions disrupted the negotiations. Dr. Maranhão saw that he would have to set up and install his own production laboratory next to his room at InCor, and he paid a fortune for imported chemotherapy even as India and China began to sell at much lower prices. “It’s a chess game,” he says. “Often, the strategy precedes the science.”
The next battle
Dr. Maranhão explored areas unknown to him and formed teams, another risk, because the pace of the work and the methodological rigor of the group members may differ. “Luckily I’ve never had problems with my collaborators,” he says, “and I owe a lot to my medical colleagues and professors, such as Sylvia Graziani, Noedir Stolf, Vânia Hungria, Eloisa Bonfá, Roberto Hegg, Jesus Carvalho, Durvanei Maria and many others who have collaborated on this project for many years and whose work is of the highest quality.”
Yes, he says he did have problems with the necessarily anonymous reviewers of his funding requests, who criticized his lack of focus—because the research involved exploring other LDE medical applications—or asked for details that he did not have or that did not concern him. “We are our own executioners,” says another USP professor who has followed Dr. Maranhão’s work for many years.
To anyone who has discovered an apparently fantastic molecule and thinks the next stages of research and development will be simple, Dr. Maranhão’s message is: “Do not be overly ambitious. If you really want to accept this challenge, you must be in it for the long haul.” The work is not over yet; the next battle in sight will be to register the LDE drug combinations with government regulators.
“In the United States,” he says, “since we have already made the medical and scientific arguments, and given the urgency of finding new drugs against cancer, our registration request could easily be fast-tracked.” Fast-track is a fast and simplified method for obtaining approval on new drugs—a process that has been adopted by the US federal government. In Brazil, there is no fast-track, and the registration process usually requires a lot of paperwork and takes many years before the final stamp-of-approval is obtained. A Brazilian company is reported to have sent 70 kilos of documents to the agency responsible for this area in Brasilia and waited seven years to register a Brazilian drug similar to Viagra.
1. Lipid nanoparticles: applications in the study of the physiopathology, diagnosis and therapeutics of degenerative diseases (06/58917-3); Grant Mechanisms Thematic Project; Coordinators Raul Cavalcante Maranhão (USP); Investments R$1,406,940.52 (FAPESP).
2. New therapeutic strategies for non-muscle invasive urinary bladder cancer (12/20706-2); Grant Mechanisms Regular Line of Research Project Award; Coordinators Wagner José Fávaro (Unicamp); Investments R$133,260.00 (FAPESP).
3. Production of mesoporous silica nanostructures to transport hydrophobic antitumor agents (09/10056-8). Grant Mechanisms Doctorate; Coordinators Amauri Jardim de Paula (Unicamp); Investments R$110,201.13 (FAPESP)
FÁVARO, W.J. et al. Effects of P-MAPA immunomodulator on toll-like receptors and p53: potential therapeutic strategies for infectious diseases and cancer. Infectious Agents and Cancer. v. 7, No. 14. 2012 (online).
KRETZER, I.F. et al. Drug-targeting in combined cancer chemotherapy: tumor growth inhibition in mice by association of paclitaxel and etoposide with a cholesterol-rich nanoemulsion. Cellular Oncology. v. 6, pp. 451-60. 2012.
PAULA, A.J. et al. Suppression of the hemolytic effect of mesoporous silica nanoparticles after protein corona interaction: independence of the surface microchemical environment. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society. v. 23, No. 10, pp. 1807-14. 2012. | <urn:uuid:dc3850d8-0e30-4f07-a3eb-f9ef80107751> | CC-MAIN-2023-23 | https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/en/remarkable-letter-carriers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-23/segments/1685224652235.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20230606045924-20230606075924-00199.warc.gz | en | 0.949267 | 3,663 | 3.109375 | 3 |
HA is a straight-train macromolecular glycosaminoglycan that is composed of the D-glucuronate and N-acetyl-D-aminoglucose disaccharide unit and is a kind of acid mucopolysacharide. It extensively exists in soft tissues such as cell matrix, vitreous body of eyes, ambilical cord, cartilage, skin and joint synovial fluid of human beings and animals. The commodity HA is usually in the sodium salt form and appears as white powder, particle or fibriform solid. It has strong hygroscopicity and dissolves in water, doesn’t dissolve in organic solvent.
HA is extensively applied in fields of medicine, cosmetics and health food. | <urn:uuid:9ca5deca-d972-4546-ba83-66e43a59da44> | CC-MAIN-2022-27 | http://www.babobo.com/products/hyaluronic-acid/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-27/segments/1656103989282.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20220702071223-20220702101223-00007.warc.gz | en | 0.926166 | 162 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Monkeys Learn to Control Avatar Arms With Their Minds
Posted on November 8, 2013
Duke researchers have helped monkeys learn how to control virtual avatar arms. The monkeys were trained in a virtual environment where they viewed realistic avatar arms on a screen. They monkeys were encouraged to place their virtual hands on specific targets in a bimanual motor task. The monkeys first learned to control the avatar arms using a pair of joysticks, but were eventually able to learn to use just their brain activity to move both avatar arms without moving their own arms. The researchers say the monkeys' performance improved over time. Popular Science reports that the monkeys were given sips of juice as motivation.
The researchers say the study helps advance efforts to brain-controlled prosthetic devices for severely paralyzed patients. Researchers recorded nearly 500 neurons from areas in both cebral hemispheres of the monkeys' brain, which is the largest recorded to date. The researchers also discovered that cortical regions showed specific patterns of neuronal electrical activity during bimanual movements that differed from the neuronal activity produced for moving each arm separately.
Miguel Nicolelis, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurobiology at Duke University School of Medicine, said in a statement, "Bimanual movements in our daily activities -- from typing on a keyboard to opening a can -- are critically importante. Future brain-machine interfaces aimed at restoring mobility in humans will have to incorporate multiple limbs to greatly benefit severely paralyzed patients."
Here is a video of what the monkeys saw as they were controlling the avatar arms. Take a look:
The research was published here in the journal, Science Translational Medicine. | <urn:uuid:2a4a21cd-afad-4d97-9b08-462bacd19f34> | CC-MAIN-2018-34 | https://www.sciencespacerobots.com/monkeys-learn-to-control-avatar-arms-with-their-minds-110820131 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-34/segments/1534221213540.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20180818095337-20180818115337-00391.warc.gz | en | 0.954514 | 336 | 3.03125 | 3 |
"Sources are the raw materials that historians use to write history. This site offers a range of primary sources—published and unpublished documents as well as images—that begin to fill in the picture of adoption’s past, illuminating topics, people, organizations, and studies that shaped adoption theory and practice during the twentieth century."
"...an online archive funded by Marquette University and the National Endowment for the Humanities that shows the many ways children experienced city life during the last century and a half. Designed for use by teachers, students, historians, and general users, the site features hundreds of documents and images about children in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, drawn from newspapers, government and other official records, oral histories and memoirs, and many other sources."
"... is a core electronic collection of books and journals in Home Economics and related disciplines. Titles published between 1850 and 1950 were selected and ranked by teams of scholars for their great historical importance. The first phase of this project focused on books published between 1850 and 1925 and a small number of journals. Future phases of the project will include books published between 1926 and 1950, as well as additional journals. The full text of these materials, as well as bibliographies and essays on the wide array of subjects relating to Home Economics, are all freely accessible on this site. This is the first time a collection of this scale and scope has been made available." Cornell University
"With U.S. entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover to head the newly created U.S. Food Administration. A mining engineer who had successfully organized the massive effort to get food to Belgium’s citizens after the German army’s sweep through that country in 1914, Hoover was now charged with managing domestic agriculture and conservation in order to feed the U.S. Army and assist Allied armies and civilians. “Food Will Win the War,” declared the Food Administration through its ubiquitous posters and publicity efforts. Planting gardens, observing voluntary rationing, avoiding waste—these efforts at food conservation all came to be known as “Hooverizing.” Women’s magazines also took up the home conservation crusade, some employing military analogies to promote the recommendations of the Food Administration. Presenting domestic work as patriotic effort, this U.S. Food Administration campaign in Good Housekeeping offered women a membership shield and even provided instructions for sewing a “patriotic” housekeeping uniform."
An online collection of books from the HathiTrust Digital Library. It covers "areas in American domestic and commercial life in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. Far more than just cookbooks, it contains a wide diversity of materials from the 16th to early 20th centuries - books, ephemera, menus, magazines, graphics, maps, manuscripts, diaries, letters, catalogues, advertisements, and reference works - and is increasingly recognized as a premier collection for the study of culinary Americana"
The original archive is located at the University of Michigan's Clements Library (http://www.clements.umich.edu/longone-archive.php)
"Latah County was an exhilarating place to live at the beginning of the twentieth century. Residents of the county contended with wild animals, mob actions, economic upheaval, revenge murders, union struggles, mining and logging accidents, and various other challenges.." The collection contains digital audio recordings and transcripts of oral histories.
"Work, school, and leisure activities in the United States from 1894 to 1915 are featured in this presentation of 150 motion pictures. Highlights include films of the United States Postal Service from 1903, cattle breeding, fire fighters, ice manufacturing, logging, calisthenic and gymnastic exercises in schools, amusement parks, boxing, expositions, football, parades, swimming, and other sporting events."
"As the principles of scientific management came to play a more significant role in the workplace, some reformers sought to apply these principles to any aspects of daily life that might be improved by standardization and routine. Perhaps no one applied the principles of scientific management to the home with as much passion as Christine Frederick, the household editor of Ladies Home Journal as well as the National Secretary of the Associated Clubs of Domestic Science. In 1912, she published a four-part series in the Ladies Home Journal that promised less housework. Each article opened with a box recounting Frederick Taylor’s principles of scientific management. “Taylorization” made it possible for (compelled, really) steelworkers to quadruple their usual output, and Frederick implied that Taylor’s principles would also result in a four-fold increase in home productivity. Frederick’s articles were enormously popular. Although Frederick posed as an impartial efficiency expert, she had very close ties to appliance and kitchen-equipment manufacturers and helped lend scientific legitimacy to new products. In this excerpt from the first article in this series, Frederick described how to wash dishes correctly and efficiently. " GMU History Matters
"Working as an investigative photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), Lewis Hine (1874-1940) documented working and living conditions of children in the United States between 1908 and 1924. The NCLC photos are useful for the study of labor, reform movements, children, working class families, education, public health, urban and rural housing conditions, industrial and agricultural sites, and other aspects of urban and rural life in America in the early twentieth century. The collection consists of more than 5,100 photographic prints and 355 glass negatives, given to the Library of Congress, along with the NCLC records, in 1954 by Mrs. Gertrude Folks Zimand, acting for the NCLC in her capacity as chief executive."
"As immigration dropped sharply during World War I and many native-born women left domestic service for wartime jobs, middle-class women lamented the shortage of domestic workers. New experts offered their advice to the middle-class woman who decided to tackle housework without the assistance of paid help. Gladys Hutton Chase , writing in Good Housekeeping in 1918, explained the new middle-class housekeeping. Chase celebrated her newfound freedom from the “work and worry” of employing domestic workers. Notably, her solution was doing her own work with the help of a professional home economics course, rather than getting other household members to pitch in. And even as she enthused about the efficiency of her new methods, Chase revealed the escalating standards that expanded and complicated middle-class housekeeping." GMU History Matters
"With U.S. entry into World War I, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Herbert Hoover to head the newly created U.S. Food Administration. A mining engineer who had successfully organized the massive effort to get food to Belgium’s citizens after the German army’s sweep through that country in 1914, Hoover was now charged with managing domestic agriculture and conservation in order to feed the U.S. Army and assist Allied armies and civilians. “Food Will Win the War,” declared the Food Administration through its ubiquitous posters and publicity efforts. Planting gardens, observing voluntary rationing, avoiding waste—these efforts at food conservation all came to be known as “Hooverizing.” In a campaign sponsored by the Food Administration, Good Housekeeping magazine published a December 1917 editorial seeking recruits for an army of “kitchen soldiers.” The editorial portrayed women’s domestic work as part of the U.S. military effort and solicited women’s direct participation, asking readers to sign a pledge to conserve food." GMU History Matters
"Women’s magazines published between the Civil War and World War II frequently featured articles on “the servant problem” for their middle-class readers. For mistresses, the “problem” was the inadequate supply of “competent” household help. Over the years, the solution to the problem changed. Whereas in the 19th century women were counseled to follow the ideals of Christian maternal benevolence, in the 20th century women were advised to follow principles of scientific management. As this 1912 article by Christine Frederick, an advocate of scientific management for housewives, makes clear, none of these reforms touched the heart of the real problem: servants were poorly paid (eight cents an hour in this “enlightened” household) and treated with little respect. Even so, scientific management did have some potential benefits for domestic servants. Many household workers complained about the lack of a regular schedule, constantly changing orders, and conflicting demands. If household work were truly rationalized, it might free them of some of the arbitrary, demeaning, and disorderly conditions of their work lives." GMU History Matters
"The quest for efficiency touched nearly every aspect of American life during World War I, including the nation’s clocks. Daylight saving first appeared during the war years as an experiment to save fuel. Theoretically, people would use less artificial light in the evenings thanks to the extra hour of daylight. Urban dwellers generally delighted in the “extra hour,” but protests by farmers and other rural citizens brought the experiment to an end after only one year. Farmers, rural Americans, and those whose jobs forced them to work very early hours disliked the measure intensely. They bombarded Congress with petitions, letters, and angry telegrams demanding the return to “God’s time.” According to farmers, city dwellers who wanted more leisure in the afternoon could just show up for work an hour earlier and leave an hour earlier." GMU History Matters
"In folklore the black nursemaid was seen as a dutiful, self-sacrificing black woman who loved her white family and its children every bit as much as her own. Yet the popular images of the loyal, contented black nursemaid, or “mammy,” were unfortunately far from the reality for the African-American women who worked in these homes. In 1912 the Independent printed this quasi-autobiographical account of servant life, as related by an African-American domestic worker, which dispelled the comforting “mammy” myth."
Book Sources: Home & Family - 1910s
A selection of books/e-books available in Trible Library.
Click the title for location and availability information. | <urn:uuid:e4d2e344-7497-486f-9743-1ad4deffc53a> | CC-MAIN-2019-22 | https://cnu.libguides.com/the1910s/home | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-22/segments/1558232256082.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20190520162024-20190520184024-00255.warc.gz | en | 0.958966 | 2,132 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Roget's Int'l Thesaurus
Fowler's King's English
The King James Bible
Brewer's Phrase & Fable
Frazer's Golden Bough
Shelf of Fiction
The Period of the French Revolution
INDEX OF ALL CHAPTERS
The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes
Volume XI. The Period of the French Revolution.
§ 4. Satires.
Most of Cowpers critics have been unduly severe upon these moral satires. Doubtless, they are not so good as
or many of the shorter poems. Their weakness is obvious. A satirist, whether he be of the indignant order, like Juvenal, or the bitter, like Swift, or the genial, like Horace, must begin by knowing the world that he intends to attack; and Cowper, who had been cut off from the world, did not know it. When he attacks bishops and other clergy who were not of his own evangelical cast, or newspapers, or town life, it is difficult not to resent his easy smartness at the expense of things which his narrowness of outlook prevented him from understanding. Again, writing, as it seems, with an eye seeking for the approval of John Newton, Cowper gives too much space to good advice, and too little to the allurements which should distinguish the satirist from the preacher.
The clear harangue, and cold as it is clear,
Falls soporific on the listless ear
are lines from
The Progress of Error
which have been quoted against their author ever since the satires first appeared. And it may be said in general that, fine as is the famous passage on Petronius (Lord Chesterfield) in
The Progress of Error
Thou polished and high-finished foe to truth,
Grey-beard corrupter of our listening youth;
Cowpers poetry is not at its best when he is attacking or scolding; and, writing primarily to distract his mind and to benefit humanity, only secondarily to produce works of polished art, he is weak in the construction and arrangement of his poems. These objections, however, cannot outweigh the many merits of Cowpers moral satires. Their diction is precise and epigrammatic, not so much because Cowper polished his work minutely, as because his mind was exact and clear. Several of his couplets have become familiar as household words; and one of them,
How much a dunce that has been sent to roam
Excells a dunce that has been kept at home,
achieved the honour of quotation by Bulwer Lytton in his play
On a higher level is his criticism of Pope:
But he (his musical finesse was such,
So nice his ear, so delicate his touch)
Made poetry a mere mechanic art,
And every warbler has his tune by heart.
Cowper himself had the tune by heart, no doubt; but he did not sing it. Using the heroic couplet throughout these satires, he contrives to write quite unlike Pope. His versification is already unlike anything to be found in English literature, unless it be the verse of his former schoolfellow, Churchill, whose work he greatly admired. But Cowpers mind was so different from Churchills that the resemblance does not go very deep. In the most successful portions of these satiresespecially in the immortal picture of the statesman out of office, in
Cowper, both in matter and in manner, resembles Horace more than he resembles any other poet. He shows the same shrewd wisdom, the same precision and refinement, the same delicate playfulness.
which is the latest of these satires, is, undoubtedly, the best; and the perspicacious suggestion has been made
that it was written under the influence of Cowpers friend, Lady Austen, to whom we shall return. At any rate, in
he is talking of things which he understood and liked for their own sake; and, since his tender and genial spirit was more responsive to the stimulus of what he liked than of what he disliked, was better, in short, at loving than at hating, in the positive than in the negative,
shows him well suited by his subject and happy in its treatment.
The volume was published in 1782 under the title
Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple, Esq.
Besides the satires, it contained thirty-five shorter poems, of which three were in Latin. Those in English include one or two pieces of note:
Boadicea: an Ode,
which has well earned its place in the literature of the schoolroom and its reputation in the world as a fine example of great power and weight attained by perfectly simple means; the pretty
Invitation into the Country,
addressed to Newton; some very graceful and delicate translations from the Latin poems of Cowpers Westminster schoolmaster Vincent Bourne; the powerful
Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk;
and two poems showing Cowpers possession of a gift for writing delicate and suggestive lyric poetrylyric poetry with the indefinable touch of magic in itwhich he did not thoroughly cultivate. One is the poem entitled
to which reference was made above; the other, the lines addressed to a young lady beginning
Sweet stream, that winds through yonder glade,
Apt emblem of a virtuous maid!
a poem which equals the best achievements of Wordsworth or Byron in the same field.
. By Bailey, J. C.,
The Poems of William Cowper,
INDEX OF ALL CHAPTERS | <urn:uuid:b997a8f8-7a92-430c-a690-89d915704fed> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://bartleby.com/221/0404.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207929176.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113209-00037-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95602 | 1,174 | 2.609375 | 3 |
George Washington University doctors give tips on staying safe during a dangerously cold winter.
As the coldest air in nearly two decades sweeps from the Midwest to the East Coast, cities across the country are experiencing below-freezing, record-breaking temperatures—and Washington, D.C., is not immune to the “polar vortex.”
On Tuesday, temperatures in the District plummeted into the single digits, and wind chills ranged from negative 10 to negative 15.
Extreme weather is more than a nuisance for Washingtonians, it could be downright dangerous, said Leana Wen, director of patient-centered care research at the George Washington University Hospital and an instructor of emergency medicine in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
When exposed to the cold, your body preserves energy in its core by slowing down blood supply to the extremities, Dr. Wen said. This puts unexposed ears, fingers and toes at risk for frostbite.
“When it’s very cold, frostbite can set in within minutes,” she said.
And your mother wasn’t lying—dressing appropriately can help keep you safe.
It's important to keep your extremities covered and dry whenever you walk outside, said David Borenstein, a rheumatologist and clinical professor of medicine in SMHS. He recommends wearing mittens instead of gloves, because they allow fingers to warm one another. There is debate as to how much heat a person actually loses from the head, said Dr. Borenstein. But a hat or ear muffs will protect the ears, which are susceptible to frostbite. Wear thick socks, and if they get wet, remove them immediately, he said.
What are the first signs of frostbite? Your hands or feet will experience tingling or burning, and then your skin will begin to look pale, Dr. Wen explained. This is your body warning you to head inside. Run lukewarm (not hot) water over the affected area, until you get sensation back.
If you’re exposed to cold temperatures for an extended period of time, frostbite can become hypothermia as the body’s core temperature drops. Symptoms of hypothermia are confusion, light headedness and fatigue, Dr. Wen said. Young children and the elderly are most at risk and should limit their time outdoors to 15 minutes.
Wearing multiple, loose layers will conserve body heat. Dr. Wen said people shouldn’t abandon their exercise routines in the winter, but it is important to wear clothes that will trap body heat and wick away moisture. Improper clothing clings to sweat and can freeze when wet.
If you think alcohol could help warm you up, think again. Alcohol and freezing temperatures are a dangerous mix, according to Dr. Wen, because the body is tricked into thinking it's warm.
“If you are drunk, you may not feel cold, while actually, your body’s temperature is dropping quickly,” she said.
Still, young, healthy bodies can adapt “surprisingly well” to the cold, Dr. Borenstein said. However, for those with pre-existing health conditions, such as arthritis, the winter can be particularly painful.
While there is no definitive evidence as to whether the weather is really to blame, many of Dr. Borenstein’s patients say their joint pain worsens in frigid temperatures.
What could be the cause? A drop in barometric pressure—which often accompanies cold, stormy weather—allows tissues to expand, as air pressure pushes less against the body, he said. This, in turn, causes fluid to shift around the body. If someone has joint damage, the fluids move less freely, and the drop in air pressure can lead to stiffness and pain.
“These patients have barometers on them. It doesn’t happen all the time, but there may be those telltale joints that are very sensitive,” Dr. Borenstein said. “And if there is enough of a change, quickly enough, they may notice it.”
Patients with arthritis, lupus and scleroderma are more likely to experience Raynaud's phenomenon, which can significantly worsen during the winter months, Dr. Borenstein said.
If a person has Raynaud's, his or her body’s response to the cold is exaggerated. During a Raynaud’s attack, hands and feet will turn from white to blue to red. The condition is mostly just frustrating for those affected, but in extreme temperatures, Raynaud’s can become serious—leading to tissue damage and skin ulcers, Dr. Borenstein explained.
Temperatures in Washington are predicted to rise this weekend but could remain subfreezing until midday Thursday. The bottom line? Bundle up. | <urn:uuid:97aebf15-6f30-48bd-b1c5-c6271c7d3519> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | https://gwtoday.gwu.edu/freezing-temperatures-chill-district | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218189031.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322212949-00135-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945909 | 1,005 | 2.765625 | 3 |
The Arrival of St. Euphemia's Relics
Church of St. Euphemia, Rovinj, Croatia
On the island of Lemnos the people pull St. Euphemia's tomb out of the sea. A legend says that the tomb had been tossed into the sea in Constantinople by 8th-century Iconoclasts but then miraculously floated to Lemnos.
Read more about images of St. Euphemia.
Source: Klaus-Dieter Keller via this page at Wikimedia Commons. | <urn:uuid:b54787d0-c3ee-48c0-95f0-6a9d3169e650> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://christianiconography.info/Wikimedia%20Commons/euphemiaSarcophagusRovinj.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510284.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20230927071345-20230927101345-00862.warc.gz | en | 0.917731 | 115 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Solid Waste Management:
Our institution views responsible waste management as essential to reducing its environmental footprint and to providing a safe and healthy work environment for students, staff, employees, volunteers & visitors. Waste segregation is the process of separating waste at the point of generation and keeping types of waste separate during handling, accumulation, interim storage and transportation.
Different types of Waste
1. Canteen waste/ food waste
2. Garden Waste
3. Paper waste
4. Polythene Waste
5. Biomedical waste
6. E Waste
7. Metal waste
In PMCTECH the waste generated are dry waste, wet waste, paper waste, waste water, food waste.
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or disposal, and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and it is generally undertaken to reduce the effects of waste on health, the environment or aesthetics and to recover resources through recycling. A range of waste management strategies is undertaken by our institution to create a safe, secure and environmentally friendly workplace. The prevention and minimization of waste material being created is an important method of waste management. PMC TECH uses additional waste reduction strategies including the reuse of products, repairing broken items instead of buying new, using reusable products. Our institution maximizes conservation of natural resources and minimizes environmental harm through an effective waste management system of recycling and reusing waste products where ever possible. We actively promotes the use of effective waste management strategies and waste is disposed of safely in a way that least harms the environment. All staff are supported and encouraged to participate in waste management. Recycling and reusing waste products, and safe disposal of waste, contributes to an effective waste management system. Reduction of Consumption All staff reduces consumption, conserve energy and reduce air pollution through strategies such as: Preventing the need to use energy – Utilizing natural light to minimize energy waste. Minimizing use – Turning off lights and equipment when not operating. – Minimizing expenditure on air conditioners. – Efficient use of water. Use of efficient equipment, lighting – Using energy efficient office equipment and power saving functions Using the most efficient lights CFLs / LEDs instead of tube lights or comparatively more energy consuming lights. Maintaining green cover – The Institute maintains its green campus. – We will be planning indigenous trees in campus area to support local biodiversity. All staff minimize waste through strategies such as: Reusing – The e-waste is reused whenever possible by repairing and brought to use. – The discarded e-waste is replaced to buy the new products which helps in saving money to great extend and also provides with safe disposal process. Waste Disposal SBPIM employees dispose of waste in accordance with the Waste Management Procedure. Dry Waste – will be collected in the dust bins meant for dry waste Wet Waste – will be collected in the common dust bins meant for wet waste This waste will be handed over to the corporation collecting vans separately.
Liquid Waste Management:
A well-constructed drainage system exists leading to the closed collection tanks. The tanks are regularly cleaned to avoid stagnation of water and the cleaning part is out sourced. We adopting dilution method, where the sewage is subjected to perfect dilution so that the dissolved oxygen in natural water decomposes the organic wastes completely, thereby reducing the turbidity. The reduction of turbidity favours easier penetration of sun light and natural ecosystem is restored.
E – waste generated in the Institution is used for technical education purpose by keeping the hardware in laboratories for display. Our college has a “maintenance room” where all the maintenance of computers, tube lights & other electrical equipment is done. The components from the chokes of tube lights are reused in automatic street light system. Wires of the faulty tube lights are utilized for making connections. The unusable material is disposed off in an appropriate system such as disposal using scrap grinder machine and the remaining in open scrap disposal by appropriate mode. These scrap was supplied to the vendors for sale by contract. | <urn:uuid:aa56a1d0-5289-443e-805b-ceab398b13cd> | CC-MAIN-2021-31 | http://www.pmctech.org/waste-management/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-31/segments/1627046152129.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20210726120442-20210726150442-00020.warc.gz | en | 0.908838 | 817 | 3.328125 | 3 |
Pokemon lovers might be familiar with various types of Pokemon such as Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, or Squirtle. Each Pokemon has different strength characteristics, for example: Pikachu is known for its lightning strike and Bulbasaur is famous for the seeds that grow behind his back. But, do you know about Pokemon Mudkip? This water Pokemon is categorized as fish. His body is blue, he has gills on both sides of his cheeks, and has fin on his head. This fin on the head functions as a radar. It sense movement in the water and air, so he doesn’t need his eyes to look around. It also help him to recognize danger and enemy.
Making crafts can reduce stress and hone creativity. It’s the kind of activity that is worth trying for both adults and children. One of the crafts that should not be missed is Pokemon paper craft. This activity can give fun experience especially for kids. However, you need to prepare some basic materials to make it, what are they? Well, to make Pokemon paper craft, you will need: paper in A4 or letter size, glue, scissors, and cutting blades. But, a little note for those who want to make a durable Pokemon paper craft, you can use cardboard instead of paper. Basically, that’s all you need to make Pokemon paper craft. But, for more specific, you should find Pokemon pattern or schematic that will guide you to make Pokemon paper craft. Don’t worry because there are many websites that provide Pokemon schematic, for example you can go to printabler.com, instructables.com, or pokemonpapercraft.net.
The most important thing when making Pokemon paper craft is to find the pattern or schematic first. After you get it, half the steps have been completed. The rest you should do is folding the cardboard or paper according to instruction. However, here are the complete steps to make it:
1. Choose the size of paper and print the Pokemon schematic.
2. Now, it’s time for folding, binding, and cutting. Do it all according to the instruction. You can start from cutting the edges by following the lines cut. Try to cut it as neat as you can. You might also need to make a few folds. Then, glued all the pieces together.
3. Your Pokemon Paper Craft Mudkip is now ready to display! | <urn:uuid:4e253afe-b7c8-4777-b9b2-187b73e5f32e> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://www.printablee.com/post_printable-pokemon-papercraft-mudkip_273878/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510454.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20230928194838-20230928224838-00812.warc.gz | en | 0.962465 | 495 | 2.96875 | 3 |
“Something Wicked This Way Comes”:Witchcraft in Shakespeare’s Macbeth & the Connection to Elizabethan England
By Stephanie Petsche
Witchcraft and the supernatural has been a prevalent theme throughout theatre history, taking place in characters and issues of witches, wizards, magic, ghosts, and other mysticisms. The world’s most famous playwright, William Shakespeare, who wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, was definitely no stranger to otherworldly premises.
|On account of the fascination and fear of preternatural creatures, and the persecution of witches and in Elizabethan England, Shakespeare included an abundance of supernatural elements into his works. The presence and significance of magic is most prevalent in Shakespeare’s play of Macbeth, with the Three Witches and their influencing, visionary powers of dark sorcery and the ostensibly mad Lady Macbeth.
The witchery exhibited in Macbeth, (written around 1600–1606), is arguably a reflection of the societal climate of Europe at the time it was composed–An era where witches evoked feelings of major suspicion and panic, yet were also intriguing. The overall tone of the play and the correlation between the witchcraft of Macbeth and the society of Elizabethan England is best explained by William Shakespeare himself through the Three Witches, “Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air,” (Shakespeare, I, i, 12–13).
The Three Witches or ‘Weird Sisters’ are the first characters that appear in Macbeth, and their words in that opening act set the mood for the overall story and their malicious intentions. Whether or not they are the cause of King Macbeth’s downfall and homicidal tendencies is debatable, but it is certain they used their sorcery to influence him, “The Three Witches are only responsible for the introduction of these ideas and for further forming ideas in Macbeth’s head, but they are not responsible for his actions throughout the play,” (Mabillard 2000: 1).
They use cunning forms of temptation when they say Macbeth is destined to be king of Scotland and show him their foretelling visions/apparitions (Shakespeare I, iii, 1–75). Consequently, by placing these initial ideas in his mind, the Witches essentially put him on the path to his own ruin. The Three Witches use of sorcery and divination is obviously for malevolent intent; and “They are clearly agents of a darker power, in league with Hecate, the goddess of the underworld, and their purpose is to foment ‘toil and trouble’ for mankind,” (Fallon 2002: 165).
The Weird Sisters themselves serve to represent the darkness and evil in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and in the larger context of the play itself. As the characters first shown in Macbeth and the subsequent prophesies they reveal to Macbeth, the Three Witches are probably the catalysts for all the bloodshed and craziness that occurs throughout the rest of the story, although that has been debated for years, (Fallon 2002: 163–164). The Witches are described by Shakespeare to be quite androgynous, and not definitively male or female, and not clearly human or a form supernatural creature– which only adds to their mystery and function. On the stage, the Witches are normally played by women but are represented differently and with much creative liberty, depending on the era, location, director, and version of the performance. The Witches appear to have inspired very different reactions and emotions in the history of theatre and drama, from voodoo prophetesses, upper–class royalty, to choruses of singers, (Dickinson 2005: 195–196). Yet, in the original version of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, The Bard describes his Weird Sisters (via Banquo) as, “So withered and so wild in their attire, That look not like th’ inhabitants o’ th’ Earth,” and “You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so,” (Shakespeare, I, i, 40–41, 46–48).
While the Three Witches may not be definitively women, it is probable that the leading woman of the play, Lady Macbeth, could be in league with the Witches, and be a dark witch herself. Lady Macbeth is clearly insane, but she also acts much like a woman practicing witchcraft—calling evil spirits to her and influencing Macbeth to kill, much like the Three Witches do, (Shakespeare, I, v, 28–33). Witches and sorceresses in the fifteenth–century England were thought to be in covenant with the devil/Satan himself, and lived on the cusp between the material and spiritual–mystical worlds; they were nearly always / stereotypically women. Lady Macbeth develops the qualities associated with the cunning, evil Weird Sisters as the play progresses– no regard for integrity, devious, wicked, and signs of mystical powers.
Further adding to the notion of the Lady being somewhat otherworldly, she wants to be “unsexed” to achieve her murderous ambitions, reflecting the androgyny of the Witches themselves, (Dickinson 2005:196–197). Lady Macbeth behaves androgynously, with the strength and ambition of a man, the resourceful evilness of an insane woman, and possesses influences of another world– but the truth remains that she is a woman, and is consistently understood to be and depicted as one on the stage. Accordingly, the fact that Lady Macbeth acts as a mad, power–hungry murderess that mirrors great resemblance to the Weird Sisters reflects highly on Elizabethan culture, and their common portrayals and ideas about witches.
The European societies of the late sixteenth through the seventeenth–centuries were remarkably fascinated with mysterious and supernatural phenomenon like fairies, ghosts, magic, and most especially witches and witchcraft. The people of Elizabethan England were constantly facing uncertainty of life and death with the Bubonic Plague and wars raging throughout the continent, while famine, diseases, and other catastrophes were also constant concerns. Logically, the European people needed someone or something to be held responsible for these terrible events, and religion or God was a major source for explaining the disasters—At the same time, witches, witchcraft, and otherworldly wonders were also frequently regarded as culpable. William Shakespeare, among other writers, incorporated these otherworldly elements into his plays most likely for the same reason; to find some kind of rationale for all the misfortune in the world. Throughout Elizabethan England, witches bared the brunt of most of this blame, which is cleverly emulated in written works and artistic pieces of the time period, principally in Macbeth, (Alchin 2005: 1–4).
Being a male–chauvinist society, supposed witches in England were nearly always women—Either female healers who had knowledge of medicinal remedies (herbs, plants, etc) or women who were too old, weak, poor, or widowed to combat the rumors of their ‘sorcery.’ Thus, the combination of fear, panic, and lack of culpability for all the calamity, caused riots and tremendous upheaval regarding witches, magic, and witch–hunts. Queen Elizabeth herself actually issues a statute in the mid–sixteenth century, the Witchcraft Act of 1562, condemning any form of magic or mysterious behavior, which was further expanded upon by her successor, James I in 1604. The Witchcraft Act of 1562 sated that, “Anyone who should “use, practice should use, practice, or exercise any witchcraft, enchantment, charm, or sorcery, whereby any person shall happen to be killed or destroyed, was guilty of felony without benefit of clergy, and was to be put to death,” (Alchin 2005: 6–9).
William Shakespeare lived amidst all the supernatural phenomenon infatuation and witch–hunting chaos, which had clear influence on his compositions. As such, Shakespeare’s use of magic, witchcraft, and mystical elements play a more meaningful purpose in his works. The mysticisms and themes serve as vehicles into the feelings and beliefs of English culture throughout that era.
Macbeth, on an elementary level, is a play about ambition, sorcery, treachery, murder, and revenge; it is a dark and somewhat ambiguous work, which is a seamless channel into the society and mood of England during its composition. As stated before, the sixteenth–seventeenth centuries were a time of unrest, change, and uncertainty in Europe and Macbeth is a murkier reflection of this. The homicidal tendencies of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and nearly every other character make the possibility of death all the more likely in the play, much like the odds of death due to the Bubonic Plague, war, and/or famine are all the more real. In connection to the murderous characters, the incredible violence and additional bloodshed that occurs throughout Macbeth can also be another representation of the calamitous history surrounding Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. History acts as a part of nearly every Shakespeare play, and considering he was a product of the past English history and a medium to the future history of England–the fact that he wrote a dramatic piece about the history of Scotland, presents a fascinating correlation between the Elizabethan era and his writing. Furthermore, the historical aspect of the play adds to the conspiracy, mystery, and ambiguity of Macbeth. The manipulation and treachery by the Three Witches and Lady Macbeth paradoxically mirror the betrayal faced by women of Elizabethan England who were wrongly accused of being witches and doing sorcery.
The Weird Sisters and Lady Macbeth are all that women are not supposed to be in Elizabethan society, which is ironic as well since there was a powerful, single, woman monarch. The Witches are androgynous, power–seeking, independent, strong–willed, manipulative, otherworldly, scary, and ultimately insane. The women in Shakespeare’s day had no rights (legal or otherwise), and their jobs were to get married, raise babies, and obey their husbands or whatever man is in charge, (Alchin 2005: 12–15). The Witches, while supernatural, are depicted as single women with a manipulative and wicked nature, which is why so many women were accused of and persecuted for supposedly being actual witches. Lady Macbeth, as a probable agent of the witches, is equally as manipulative and wicked, but also extremely strong–willed, power–hungry, and evidently mad—Characteristics which also were condemned as being sorceress–like, but more importantly for the context of Shakespeare’s writing they were characteristics essentially unattributed to women in the fifteenth–sixteenth centuries.
“Fair is foul, and foul is fair. Hover through the fog and filthy air,” (Shakespeare, I, i, 12–13). The infamous quote by the legendary Three Witches IS perfect idiom to describe the historical and cultural framework during William Shakespeare’s composition of Macbeth, and the supernatural mysticisms so prevalent throughout it. The correlation between the witch fearing and otherworldly fascination of Elizabethan England and the dramatic play of Macbeth is undeniably the Three Witches, their influences of dark magic and prophesy, and the passionate, scheming, yet ethereal nature of Lady Macbeth. The supernatural has been a theme throughout the history of theatre and drama, and William Shakespeare through the play Macbeth, makes the paranormal enthralling, but also historically reflective of his time; yet still significant to modern times–nearly five centuries later.
- Alchin, Linda. “Elizabethan Witchcraft and Witches.” Elizabethan Era Educational Encyclopedia. 16 May 2005. http://www.elizabethan–era.org.uk/elizabethan–witchcraft–and–witches.html.
- Dickinson, Andrew. The Rough Guide to Shakespeare: The Plays, the Poems, the Life. London: Rough Guides, 2005.
- Fallon, Robert Thomas. A Theatergoer’s Guide to Shakespeare’s Themes. Chicago: I.R. Dee Publishing, 2002.
- Mabillard, Amanda. “Symbolism in Macbeth.” Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. http://www.shakespeare–online.com/faq/macbethfaq/symbolismmacbeth.html.
- McGinn, Colin. Shakespeare’s Philosophy: Discovering the Meaning Behind the Plays. New York: HarperCollins, 2006.
- Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. Editor Alan Durband. New York: Barron’s Educational Series Inc., 1985.
- Waters, Howard. “Ghosts, Witches, and Shakespeare.” Insights. Cedar City: Southern Utah University, 2006. | <urn:uuid:8340243a-e0ff-479a-8de9-948baef44a8b> | CC-MAIN-2015-22 | http://blog.world-mysteries.com/science/shakespeare-and-witchcraft/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-22/segments/1432207928865.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20150521113208-00211-ip-10-180-206-219.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947822 | 2,704 | 2.96875 | 3 |
To counteract insect decline, it is essential to understand the underlying causes, especially for key pollinators such as nocturnal moths whose ability to orientate can easily be influenced by ambient light conditions. These comprise natural light sources as well as artificial light, but their specific relevance for moth orientation is still unknown. We investigated the influence of moonlight on the reproductive behavior of privet hawkmoths (Sphinx ligustri) at a relatively dark site where the Milky Way was visible while the horizon was illuminated by distant light sources and skyglow. We show that male moths use the moon for orientation and reach females significantly faster with increasing moon elevation. Furthermore, the choice of flight direction depended on the cardinal position of the moon but not on the illumination of the horizon caused by artificial light, indicating that the moon plays a key role in the orientation of male moths.
The accelerating decline of insects has become a major topic in nature conservation and research over the last years1,2. Principal stressors include land use and climate change, agriculture, introduced species, nitrification, and pollution3. Along with the general insect decline, a significant decrease in abundance and altered distribution of moths has been observed across Europe4. Moths play a crucial role as nocturnal pollinators and are important components of almost all terrestrial food webs4,5,6. Consequently, there is an urgent need to understand the reasons for their decline. Recently, artificial light at night (ALAN), or “light pollution”, has been suggested as a possible driver for insect decline in general7,8 and the decline of nocturnal moths in particular (see discussion in4,9,10). Nocturnal insects have evolved under natural nocturnal light conditions and can therefore utilize dim light including starlight for orientation11,12,13,14. For example, dung beetles can use the Milky Way as an orientation cue15 and also sense polarization patterns from moonlight16,17.
ALAN has become a global threat, growing in intensity and affecting increasingly larger areas18,19. It alters natural light regimes with potential long-term effects on nocturnal insects10,20. Recently, it was shown that dung beetle behavior is affected by ALAN21 and the impact of ALAN on important ecosystem services such as nocturnal pollination was documented22. However, the underlying mechanisms and cues of the nocturnal orientation of moths are still poorly understood. In particular, the nocturnal orientation in the context of mate finding remains largely unknown but is of utterly importance as the survival and mating success of moths might decrease by ALAN-mediated degradation of such orientation cues23. The most easily perceived celestial body during the night is the moon. However, due to its variable, temporally limited visibility the moon is more difficult to utilize as compass compared to the sun12. Nevertheless, moonlight can potentially serve nocturnal insects for orientation11.
In this study, we combined behavioral experiments performed with free-flying male moths (Sphinx ligustri) with a detailed quantification of the nocturnal light environment using an all-sky camera. This allowed us to study natural light sources like the moon and the stars as well as “skyglow”—a type of indirect light pollution that originates from light radiated upwards that is then scattered back within the atmosphere19. We find that the visibility of the moon above the horizon improves the ability of male moths to find females and that they succeed faster as the moon rises. Although the moon increases the brightness of the entire environment, the cardinal position of the moon significantly influences the flight direction of males, as they choose to fly more frequently towards (caged) females located in the same hemisphere as the moon. Since bright areas at the horizon illuminated by distant light sources or skyglow do not trigger a comparable behavior, the moon as a natural light source apparently plays a key role in the orientation of male moths.
Results and discussion
The moon increases mate finding in moths
To investigate the impact of natural and artificial light sources on mate finding, we analyzed flight behavior in male moths, which were reliably attracted by caged virgin females (see Materials and Methods for details). Since we used these females specifically to exploit their attraction effect, we refer to them as ‘traps’ in the following. To establish a choice scenario (see below), males were released equidistantly from the traps, which were located north and south of the core release site in central Germany. Besides the stars, the moon creates the natural light environment that moths might use for visual orientation. We therefore first tested if the moon affects mate finding. We found that the percentage of males arriving within the experimental time (8 min from release, 58.6% of flights) at a trap increased significantly with the appearance of the moon (logistic regression: z = −2.06, p = 0.04, n = 58) and did not depend on the presence of clouds in front of the moon (z = −0.83, p = 0.406, n = 58). A few males reached the females later during the experimental night (13.8% of flights) and were released again on the next day. Some males never reached a trap and could therefore not be tested again in the next days (27.6% of flights). Furthermore, the time that successful males needed to reach a trap was significantly influenced by the height of the moon above or below the horizon (Fig.1; Cox PH survival model, z = 2.46, p = 0.014, n = 34): the higher the moon was above the horizon, the faster males were able to locate and reach the females. The presence of clouds in front of the moon did not play a significant role in this context either (z = −0.65, p = 0.519, n = 34), leading to the conclusion that the moon was equally well perceived if covered partly by clouds and used for effective orientation towards the females. Although the lunar phase changed during the period of the experiment from full moon to new moon, flight duration was not significantly affected by the percentage of the lit moon disk (z = 0.44, p = 0.66, n = 34). Thus, the properties of the moon that affected the flight duration of males were independent of the lunar phase.
It is important to emphasize that the results were not significantly affected by traits on the individual level like body size or origin of the animal (see Supplementary Results and Discussion for details). Furthermore, a possible learning effect of animals that were released more than once was not detectable since flight duration did not decrease depending on ‘experience’ but only with the elevation of the moon (Fig. S1). Thus, the moon as an easily perceivable orientation cue increased mate finding in general but also depended on its elevation. Despite two exceptions of long flight durations at moon elevations > 20° that go back to the same animal probably for individual reasons (Fig. S1), the variance in flight duration was highest at low moon elevations (Fig. 1). This relatively high variance at low moon elevations emphasizes the question if artificial lights affected mate finding, particularly whenever the moon as a natural light cue was not yet prominent.
Linking flight behavior to the light environment
We used a calibrated digital all-sky camera to track changes in the natural and artificial components of the night sky brightness24 (Fig. 2 a–c). A similar camera system was recently used to study dung beetle behavior21. Although the impact of light pollution on the site was not strong, the night sky was also not completely pristine. Luminance (LVv) values were about 0.34 mcd/m² at zenith and 1.6 mcd/m² near the horizon under clear sky conditions when the moon was not visible. A natural (unpolluted) sky brightness is 0.25 mcd/m² at zenith and can be used as the reference value “Natural Sky Unit” (NSU) for easy comparison (see also Materials and Methods). The analysis of specific sky sectors revealed that the moon was the strongest factor determining the ambient brightness, brightening every sector of the sky as soon as it appeared above the horizon (Fig. 2d). During observation times, the course of the moon mainly progressed through the eastern part of the sky, affecting particularly the LvV values in the corresponding sectors (Fig. 2d). Furthermore, light conditions never corresponded to a non-light polluted sky, as NSU values were always greater than one. Most sectors in the south, west and north (sectors seven to 12 and one) were hardly subjected to fluctuations. Nevertheless, it is recognizable that the moon made a decisive contribution to the light environment in all directions since images with the moon above the horizon were always brighter than those with the moon below the horizon (Fig. 2d).
Due to the design of the experiment with one trap located in the north and the other in the south of a central release site, we were able to investigate the choice behavior of males, especially in respect of the possible influence of the cardinal position of the moon as it was almost exclusively visible in the southern hemisphere of the sky (Fig. 2d). Although the moon continued to move south during the night, the moon’s cardinal position never overlapped with the exact direction of the southern trap. The only parameter that had a significant effect on choice behavior was indeed the cardinal position of the moon (Fig. 2e, logistic regression, z = −2.3, p = 0.022, n = 42). The more southern the moon’s position was, the more likely males flew to the southern trap. However, while some clouds in front of the moon had no significant effect on choice behavior (z = 0, p = 1, n = 42), moon above the horizon showed a tendency to affect males (z = −1.82, p = 0.069, n = 42). The results indicate that despite the general increase of ambient brightness by the moon, it is its position that mainly influenced the flight direction of males. Thus, moths preferred a flight direction with the prominent compass cue ahead to steer their flight towards the females but it is important to emphasize that moon and trap had an angular difference of at least 23° (80.8° to the moon’s mean cardinal direction). Therefore, males that chose to fly towards the southern trap did not fly directly towards the direction of the moon.
As the moon represents a natural distant light source, we tested whether distant artificial light sources or skyglow might elicit a comparable effect on the behavior of male moths and if such light sources might mask the moon. To evaluate the light environment with regards to these aspects, we defined sky segments of particular interest that occurred due to the location of the experimental field (Fig. 2c). For each arrival at a trap, the brightest sector of the environment was determined and placed on a north-south axis of maximum 180 degrees (Fig. 2f, g). If we look at the brightest sector of the environment and distinguish between the area close to the horizon, i.e. “outer ring” (Fig. 2f) and the one above, i.e. “inner ring” (Fig. 2g), we can observe differences in trap choice. The line indicates the logistic regression model and provides the probability of arriving at the northern trap. For the Lv in the area close to the horizon no effect of maximum Lv on trap choice could be found (logistic regression, z = 0.31, p = 0.753, n = 41). For the segment further above the horizon the probability of flying to the southern trap increased with maximum Lv but the results are marginally not significant (z = −1.85, p = 0.065, n = 41). Our results for trap selection indicate that distant artificial lights of the surroundings did not attract males and support the hypothesis that the moon, once it appears above the horizon and stands out from the general light (pollution) near the horizon (above five degrees), is used as an effective visual cue with moths rather flying towards than away from.
Digital cameras are suitable to measure the dynamics of night-time lighting conditions25,26, and allow researchers to track changes in artificial lighting conditions and brightness of the sky simultaneously27. However, it is not straightforward to distinguish between ALAN and natural light sources like the moon with luminance images when the moon is close to the horizon and thus in the section of the sky where most light pollution occurred. Yet, once the moon rose higher than 5° and thus stood out distinctly from the light-polluted horizon, it could be clearly identified on the images (Fig. 2b). In this context, it is particularly remarkable that the speed at which the females were reached increased reliably only above a similar threshold (Fig. 1), with the only exceptions of two flights with long durations at a moon elevation greater than 20° (Fig. 1); both flights originated from the same individual (Fig. S1). Thus, the high variance of flight durations at low moon elevations (Fig. 1) supports our hypothesis that the moon, as an orientation cue, can be masked by artificial light for the animals as well. Yet, this hypothesis needs to be explicitly tested in future experiments. In general, the possible consequences of light pollution are still uncertain28, especially because the amount of artificial light emitted during the night continues to increase exponentially worldwide18. But regardless of this, the moon is the decisive orientation cue as soon as it is visibly silhouetted against the horizon despite possible diffuse light pollution.
Another interesting next research project would be to investigate the relevance of polarized light, as this could provide an explanation for the occasional fast flights at times of low lunar elevations (cf. Figure 1). Furthermore, it might explain why flight duration was not significantly affected by clouds in front of the moon since the polarization pattern extends over the whole sky and is therefore not shielded completely by scattered clouds29. For dung beetles it has been already shown that they are capable of using the polarization signal for navigation16,30,31 and it has been proposed that moths might be capable of utilizing the same signal32. At the same time, it has already been demonstrated that urban skyglow can diminish the lunar polarization signal33, making a detailed investigation of the interplay between these two factors and the significance for moth orientation particularly exciting to understand underlying mechanisms.
Our results confirm that moths use the moon as an orientation cue, supporting the notion of Vickers & Baker34 that pheromones alone are not sufficient for successful (and fast) orientation. Since flight duration decreased as a function of lunar elevation, we conclude that the moon contributes to mating success, especially when it can be easily perceived. Since nocturnal landscapes around the world have been drastically restructured in terms of light intensity and light spectrum due to the rapid spread and increase of electrical lighting18, a deeper understanding of orientation mechanisms even in the absence of the moon as an easily perceivable cue could provide a valuable contribution to counteract insect decline.
Materials and Methods
The study was conducted from 19 July 2019 to 31 July 2019 on a meadow located east of Großseelheim and south of the river Ohm in the German State Hesse (50°49'17.5“N 8°52'15.4“E). The experiment was performed during the lunar phases from the full moon (19 July, 95.7% lit moon disk) to the new moon (31 July, 0.2% lit moon disk). A skyglow model based on satellite data suggests that the night sky brightness at zenith was relatively low (0.3 mcd/m²)19, which is indicated by the visibility of the Milky Way (Fig. 2c) and confirmed by our own measurements from such all-sky imagery for moonless clear nights (0.34 mcd/m² ≈ 1.36 NSU). Skyglow is a type of indirect light pollution that originates from light radiated upwards that is then scattered back within the atmosphere19. The surrounding villages and towns utilize standard artificial light sources (streetlights, private lights etc.). Therefore, some direct light sources, as well as skyglow were visible at the (distant) horizon from our site, originating from the adjacent village Großseelheim (0.4 km), the nearby cities Kirchhain (4.2 km), Amöneburg (5.0 km), Marburg (7.8 km), Stadtallendorf (10.0 km), and Giessen (30.0 km). It is important to note that the setup was located far beyond the attraction radius, i.e. the distance around a lamp at which an animal is directly attracted towards the light source, of any artificial light in the surroundings, as these were much further away than 23 m35.
Privet hawk moth males (Sphinx ligustri L., Lepidoptera, Sphingidae) were released individually and equidistantly (105 m) to cages with virgin females that served as pheromone traps. Each trap consisted of three virgin females kept individually in gauze cages attached to a wooden stick at a height of 1 m. To create a choice scenario, one trap was located in the North, the other one in the South of the release site. By selecting the north-south axis we took advantage of the circumstance that whenever the moon was above the horizon, it was almost exclusively visible in the southern hemisphere of the sky (85% of flights). The choice of the trap therefore also reflected whether males had chosen the hemisphere with the moon and thus indicated whether the cardinal position of the moon influenced flight behavior.
16 of the 23 males tested came from our own breeding, comprising the offspring of a mated female captured in the same study area one year before. These pupae raised were stored during winter in the refrigerator at a temperature of 5 °C and removed five weeks before the experiment. For hatching, the pupae were placed on the bottom of a cardboard box, as this allowed them to climb the walls and unfold their wings easily. Spatial separation was used to ensure that males and females were unable to mate. The hatching boxes were kept in a room without thermoregulation, so that humidity and temperature fluctuated between day and night according to the warm summer temperatures. The other seven males were attracted by the pheromones of females and caught in the field. All animals were measured (linear measurement after García-Barros;36 Forewing length) and marked with an individual color code on the abdomen.
At least one hour before a male was released it was fed with 2 M sugar solution to assure that it had enough energy to fly. Experiments were only performed during warm summer nights without rain or strong wind. The amount of cloud cover was documented before the release of each male. During the course of the experiment, there were rarely many clouds (8.6% of flights) and never a completely overcast sky. We measured the time an individual needed to reach a trap with a stopwatch and caught each male directly afterwards to be stored safely until the next day when it was allowed to perform another flight. Thus, males that managed to arrive at a trap were allowed to perform further flights, but each male was tested only once per day. By applying this procedure, we were able to test 23 moths and 17 of the males performed more than one flight (see Fig. S1), resulting in a total of 58 departures from the release site. We determined the fraction of males arriving at a trap, which trap was selected and how long it took each arriving individual to get there. Except for red light used shortly before the release (to prepare the animals in some cases), no artificial light sources were used during the experiment. Whether red light was used or not depended on the specific experiment that differed in the handling procedure because the dataset analyzed here also served as the control experiment of another study. Since the handling procedure had no significant effect on the flight behavior of males, we pooled all flights for the analysis of the present study.
All-sky photometry was used to measure spatially resolved sky brightness and its natural and artificial component utilizing a commercial digital single-lens reflex camera (Canon EOS 6D) with a full-frame CMOS sensor (20.2 Megapixel) operating with a 180° circular fisheye lens (Sigma 8 mm f/3.5 EX DG). The camera was mounted on a tripod and positioned five meters away from the release site. Heating pads were attached to the camera to avoid the formation of dew on the lens. Each night the camera was first aligned to the South and then tilted back to a 90-degree angle, so that the center of the lens was oriented towards the zenith. Images were obtained with ISO 3200 and varying shutter speed (15 s or 30 s) at intervals of 1 min. For the analysis, the first image obtained after the departure of each moth from the release site was processed. From the CR2 images (raw image format, Fig. 2a) luminance (Lv unit mcd/m2) was calculated for each pixel with the software “Sky Quality Camera” (latest version 1.8.1, Euromix, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Fig. 2b, c).
From this data, Lv was calculated for twelve defined sectors along the azimuth direction with 30° width (Fig. 2c, extended dashed lines). For days when the moon was almost full (95.7%), five extreme outliers (values outside the range of the median ± 4 times the median absolute deviation) were excluded from the analysis. This concerned all sectors except sector four. For analyses when the moon was below the horizon three extreme outliers were excluded (one in sector two and two in sector eleven). Additionally, the sky was segmented into further regions of interest, namely an outer ring of 5° elevation from the horizon (85°−90° zenith angle) and an inner ring 20° above the outer ring (65°−85° zenith angle; Fig. 2c)). This segmenting allowed to distinguish the brightening of the sky within the outer ring (dominated by ALAN) and the brightening within the inner ring (dominated by the moon) and how this affected flight behavior. The luminance is reported in “natural sky units” (NSU), which is more intuitive because a value in NSU indicates how much brighter or darker the sky was compared to a non-light polluted moonless clear night sky. It is defined here as 1 NSU ≈ 0.25 mcd/m2 at zenith37, please note that the night sky luminance is also slightly elevated near the horizon for non-light polluted sites38.
The position of the moon defined by elevation and cardinal direction was retrieved from https://www.timeanddate.de/. We used the all-sky pictures to determine the horizontal profile. As the landscape in the east was quite flat, the moon was visible at an elevation of one degree and was considered to be above the horizon after passing this threshold.
Statistics and reproducibility
Analyses were conducted with the R statistical programming environment version 4.0.339. We evaluated the arrival probability of moths within eight minutes after release (n = 58) in a logistic regression model (function glmer from R package lme4, version 1.1-26) with moon elevation, clouds in front of the moon, forewing length, as well as origin (breeding vs. field) as potential fixed-effect predictors, and individual moth as random factor. Flight duration of moths arriving at a trap within eight minutes after release (n = 34) was evaluated in a Cox Proportional Hazard survival model (function gam from R package mgcv, version 1.8-33, and link function cox.ph) with the same predictors and percentage of lit moon disk. In addition, we calculated median survival time (i.e. flight duration) from estimated survival function for arrivals within 8 minutes after release in response to moon elevation to visualize model predictions averaged over individuals. Choice of female trap (north or south) was modelled for all males that arrived at a trap (n = 42) by logistic regression in response to moon position (measured as the angle between the northern direction and the projection of the connection line of the moon and center of an experiment to the ground), clouds in front of the moon, breeding conditions as potential fixed-effect predictors, and individual moth as random factor. This analysis was repeated with the moon position replaced by the radial position of the section with maximum Lv in elevation classes for the outer and the inner ring (n = 41).
Our study involved individuals of S. ligustri, which were either reared by ourselves or trapped in the wild. We obtained permission for capture and release from the Regional Council of Giessen, Germany. All moths were carefully handled during experiments and maintained under appropriate conditions.
Further information on research design is available in the Nature Research Reporting Summary linked to this article.
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We thank Benjamin Lee and Thomas Walter for help in the field as well as the farmers in Großseelheim who gave us access to their grassland. Furthermore, we would like to thank Professor Menzel for the possibility to perform the nighttime experiments on the same experimental field his group used during the day. We are very grateful to Anna Stöckl for her comprehensive advice on establishing and maintaining the breeding of the moths. We also thank Basil el Jundi and Gerrit A. Thiene for their helpful comments on our manuscript. Funding was provided by DFG DE 2869/1-1. This publication was supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Würzburg.
So far written in the Acknowledgements: Funding was provided by DFG DE 2869/1-1. This publication was supported by the Open Access Publication Fund of the University of Würzburg. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Storms, M., Jakhar, A., Mitesser, O. et al. The rising moon promotes mate finding in moths. Commun Biol 5, 393 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03331-x | <urn:uuid:45a40b66-a805-4624-bb3c-40467eae501a> | CC-MAIN-2022-33 | https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03331-x | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-33/segments/1659882571190.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20220810131127-20220810161127-00437.warc.gz | en | 0.931025 | 7,622 | 3.796875 | 4 |
The Spirit of Saint Louis was the first airplane to be flown solo, non-stop across the Atlantic. On May 20th 1927, at 7:52 a.m. this custom-built, single engine, single-seat monoplane flown by Charles Lindbergh departed Long Island, New York on its historic flight. After 33.5 hours and 3,600 miles, the plane arrived safely at Le Bourget Field in Paris.
Was a long-range, Mach 3.5+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed by Lockheed and its Skunk Works® division. It was the first aircraft to be constructed mainly of titanium. At full velocity the airplane surface heats up to over 260°C+ (500 °F). A total of 3,551 missions were flown and not one Blackbird was lost due to enemy military retaliation. Note: Skunk Works is the nickname for Lockheed's Advanced Development Programs. Skunk Works engineers have developed highly advanced, military aircraft, often in secret, since World War II. | <urn:uuid:aa722cc9-4162-49e1-ba3f-2d0c75b40671> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.metalearth.com/f-22-raptor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593655891884.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20200707080206-20200707110206-00594.warc.gz | en | 0.960244 | 203 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Means in the EVENT of >>
The gradual onset of the effect of exposure to extreme cold may be overlooked in the early stages. When the body loses heat faster than it can create it and the core temperature is lowered, the condition is known as hypothermia. It is responsible for several deaths each year in Australia.
- Carry and wear suitable clothing to ensure you always have adequate protection from the cold particularly when combined with wet and windy conditions (ref clothing)
- Ensure a regular intake of food (high calorie) and drink. Do not drink alcohol which accelerates heat loss.
- On overnight walks be self sufficient and do not rely on reaching mountain huts for shelter.
- Avoid physical exhaustion by walking within your party's capabilities.
- Take particular care when walking with more susceptible people, such as young children, slightly built, weak or less fit individuals.
- Take into account that long stops or immobilisation due to injury increase susceptibility.
- Be aware of the early signs of hypothermia.
The early warning signs of tiredness, shivering and lagging behind and stumbling are a signal to assess the situation and take preventative action with respect to clothing, food, drink and rest. Difficulty unwrapping a sweet such as a barley sugar is a simple test for loss of usual co-ordination.
As body temperature continues to fall, mental and physical performance declines rapidly, often unbeknown to the victim. The danger signs requiring prompt action to prevent a potential fatality are uncontrollable shivering or a cessation of shivering, pain in the limbs, unusual or irrational behaviour, poor judgement, apathy, lack of co-ordination, exhaustion, confusion, hallucinations, slurred speech and blurred vision. The victim will feel cold to touch and is usually pale. Untreated they will collapse, pass into a stupor, unconsciousness and death.
The basic principles of first aid and resuscitation apply, in addition to the following measures to prevent further body cooling.
- STOP IMMEDIATELY
- Protect the victim from the cold environment by finding a nearby or improvised shelter from the wind and the wet, and insulating the body from the ground.
- Put on extra layers of clothing and a sleeping bag if available, remembering to cover the head.
- Enclose in a waterproof layer, such as a large plastic garbage bag pack liner, bivvy bag, ground sheet or safety blanket.
- Huddle together to warm the victim by body heat from other party members.
- DO NOT attempt to restore body heat by massage, warming beside a fire or hot water bottles. External heating that is too rapid may actually cause the core temperature of the victim to drop.
- Give warm sweet drinks and easily digestible food if conscious.DO NOT give victim alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, tea or hot drinks.
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Juan de Miralles, the first Spanish minister to the newly declared United States of America, is virtually unknown in United States today, despite his numerous and considerable contributions, his personal sacrifices and his close relationship with its founding fathers, including George Washington. His involvement with the founding fathers led to a high point in Spanish-American affairs that quickly evaporated following his death and that was never achieved again. It is possible that he is nearly unheard of because his nationality, mostly unwelcomed in the English world, have kept his name from the pantheon of other foreign heroes of the American Revolution, like Lafayette, Kosciusko and Von Steuben. Another reason he may be forgotten is that he met with an abrupt and unfortunate death before his work came to fruition. Had Miralles lived, his close relationships with the founding fathers of the United States may very well have changed the course of history between the two nations. For this reason, Miralles, a man whom Washington considered a close friend, deserves to be listed among those heroes, as well as for his diplomatic work in bringing together two polar cultures like Spain and America in a mutually beneficial way for nearly the only time in their long and troubled history.
Juan de Miralles was born in Petrel (or Petrer), a municipality of Valencia in the province of Alicante in the southeast of Spain, on July 23, 1713. His father, also Juan de Miralles (or Mirailles) was a native of the village of Monein, located in the southwest of France, near the Spanish border. He was an infantry captain in the army of Felipe V of Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession. His wife, Gracia Trailhon (or Trayllon), was a native of Arbus, also in the southwest of France. The son of French parents living in Spain, Miralles would have command of both languages.
Little is known of the early life of Miralles. It is fairly certain that he entered into merchant society, though his name is not found among the merchants or settlers of Alicante or Cádiz or in the French municipalities. However, by 1732, at the age of 19, it is certain that he was in Spain. What exactly occurred in his life over the next eight years, though, is largely unknown. Miralles worked at the business firm of Aguirre, Aristegui and Company of Cadiz, which traded with the British and Spanish colonies in the Americas, and which allowed Miralles to learn the English language. It is likely that Miralles traveled the Atlantic Ocean for the company during this time. Using the knowledge he acquired while working with the firm, Miralles established his own business in Havana, Cuba, in 1740. Here, Miralles dedicated himself to legitimate operations, as well as smuggling. Despite trade prohibitions between Spanish, French and British possessions in the New and Old Worlds, the illicit trade was a lucrative business. Far from the negativity associated with smuggling in today’s world, in the time of Miralles there was little shame or scandal brought upon those involved in this illegal trade. In fact, smuggling during this period was seen as a form of protest, liberty and independence. During these early years of Miralles’s enterprise, he trafficked in a variety of commercial items, including slaves.
In 1740, when Miralles arrived in Cuba, he had 8500 pesos to his name. The sum, of unknown origin, was extraordinary for the time, and some historians have claimed that it must have come from the slave trade, as Miralles’s name did not appear amongst the successful merchants of Spain, and his family’s landholdings would not have produced such a sum. Regardless of where his wealth originated, it allowed him to connect with the elite of Cuban society, and in 1744, he married into the influential Eligio de la Puente family. He married Doña Maria Josefa Eligio de la Puente y González-Cabello in La Iglesia del Espiritu Santo in Havana, Cuba, and moved into a house on Aguiar Street, near the port. The couple would go on to have eight children. The prominence and connections of his wife’s family, as well as the small amount of riches she brought to the marriage, allowed Miralles to grow his trade and prosper significantly.
By many accounts, Miralles played a substantial role in the illegal slave trade between Havana and the Thirteen British Colonies of North America. In the 1740s and 1750s, Miralles was involved in trading with Florida, Charleston, Philadelphia, New York and Boston. The beginning of the Seven Years’ War in 1756 did not immediately affect Miralles’s commercial success, though it would do so before its conclusion. The conflict, truly a world war, ensnared Miralles and ended his peaceful existence. Miralles, who had been working double duty as a businessman and spy (using the former as cover), prepared to move his operations to the island of Jamaica. In 1762, en route to uncover British plans, Miralles met with the British fleet, which was on an expedition to Cuba. He was captured at sea by the British advanced ships, and proceeded to watch from the rear as the British wrested control of the island from the Spanish. Once back on land, however, Miralles was given the freedom to resume his normal activities. There were some who, afterwards, questioned his loyalty, but it appears that these accusations were most likely furnished by envious competitors. His detractors pointed to the detail that he did not act against the English, and in fact continued to prosper under their rule. In reality, however, it would not have benefited Miralles’s work as a commissioned Spanish spy (or businessman) to draw the ire of the British. As further proof of his innocence of the traitorous charges, the Spanish government, once restored in Cuba, never initiated proceedings against Miralles, as it did with other suspected collaborators. Still, the rumors persisted about him for some time.
After the war ended, in 1763, the Treaty of Paris returned Cuba to Spain, but the Floridas fell under British control. Under the circumstances, it was probable that the two nations would soon be at war again, for control not only of the Gulf or Caribbean islands, but also of the Mississippi River. Thus, the beginning of the American Revolutionary War provided a pretext by which Spain could regain the Floridas from the British, and protect her colonies; and Juan de Miralles became a key player in making that happen. | <urn:uuid:974c163b-b019-402c-9169-2a300bfeb34e> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | https://winewithcheetos.com/2017/05/05/a-forgotten-hero-of-the-american-revolution-juan-de-miralles-and-the-relationship-between-spain-and-the-united-states-part-1-early-life/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084887077.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20180118071706-20180118091706-00557.warc.gz | en | 0.984419 | 1,383 | 2.71875 | 3 |
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Li Li, Joseph C. K. Cheng; Heading but not path or the tau-equalization strategy is used in the visual control of steering toward a goal. Journal of Vision 2011;11(12):20. doi: https://doi.org/10.1167/11.12.20.
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The visual strategies for the control of steering toward a goal include aligning one's instantaneous direction of travel (i.e., heading; J. J. Gibson, 1950) or the future path (J. P. Wann & D. K. Swapp, 2000) specified by optic flow with the target, equating the time to closure of the target-heading angle with the time to passage of the target (tau equalization, B. Fajen, 2001), or using the target egocentric direction and steering to center the target in the straight ahead or cancel the target optical drift (S. K. Rushton, J. M. Harris, M. Lloyd, & J. P. Wann, 1998). Supporting evidences for the use of these strategies in guiding steering or walking toward a goal were reported, but no consensus has been reached. In this study, by presenting participants with displays in which target egocentric direction was fixed and thus unavailable for steering to force participants to rely on information from optic flow for the control of self-motion, we systematically examined the use of the optic flow-based strategies in the visual control of steering toward a goal. We found that participants steered to align their heading with the target, supporting the use of the heading strategy. We found no evidence to support the use of the path or the tau-equalization strategy in the visual control of steering toward a goal.
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Berry Gordy, Jr.
Berry Gordy, Jr.
When it comes to impact on the music of America in the 60s and 70s, there was Berry Gordy, Jr., and then there was everyone else. A former boxer and factory worker in his hometown of Detroit, Gordy went on to create perhaps the most iconic music label of the 20th century, Motown. And now, more than 60 years after the label was founded, its accomplishments seem even more otherworldly than when they originally occurred.
Born in 1929, as the seventh of eight children, Gordy progressed through Detroit schools until 11th grade, when he dropped out to become a boxer. He was drafted into the Army at age 20 and was stationed in Korea during the Korean War. When he returned, he had the vision of a life in music, and became a successful songwriter, scoring a number of hits with local star Jackie Wilson.
Borrowing $900, he created the Tamla and Gordy record labels, and landed some regional hits such as Barrett Strong’s “Money.” His bigger vision was the establishment of the new Motown label (a mashup of “Motor” and “Town”), creating a music assembly line similar to the automotive assembly lines of his hometown. His dream received a major shot in the arm when “Shop Around” by The Miracles leaped to #1 on the charts in 1960.
Over the course of the next decade, Motown (with its associated labels) became the most successful independent label ever, and the unofficial “Sound of Young America.” Stars like The Temptations, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Jackson Five and countless others came of age during the label’s decade of dominance, creating a discography of music that is unparalleled.
Wanting to expand into the movie business, Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in 1968. It was a blow to Detroit, which had become the center of the musical world, and it turned out to have more mixed results on the Motown empire. Over the course of the next decade, Motown – while certainly having its share of hits, and even some successful movies – began a long decline from its late 60s peak, and Gordy was largely unable to recreate the magic combination of songwriters, producers and new artists that fueled the label’s growth. Many of Motown’s stalwart acts, from The Four Tops to Gaye to Ross left for other labels, and, save a few new stars like DeBarge and Rick James, Motown became just another music label.
By 1990, Gordy had sold his interests in Motown to MCA, and largely retired from the music business. He ultimately wrote a well received autobiography and also created a hit stageplay about the heyday of the label. He also assisted in the visioning of an expansive Motown Museum at the site of his original Hitsville USA studio on Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
By Chris Rizik | <urn:uuid:7547b006-bcde-4491-93ef-624794bb4798> | CC-MAIN-2020-16 | https://www.soultracks.com/Berry_Gordy_Jr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-16/segments/1585371611051.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20200405213008-20200406003508-00251.warc.gz | en | 0.980875 | 642 | 2.59375 | 3 |
MANY stock images of India’s cities show cows lying by the roadside or ruminating in the middle of the street as cars and bikes swerve around them. The animals, sacred to Hindus, have a licence to roam. Earlier this month the state government of Uttar Pradesh proposed making medicines with their urine, which is rumoured to cure cancer, eliminate wrinkles and prevent ageing. Their dung is believed to absorb harmful radioactivity. The animals’ status is now so high that in recent years “cow vigilantes” have taken to attacking and sometimes killing people they suspect of trafficking in cattle intended for slaughter. Thirty-seven such attacks were reported in 2017, many more than in previous years. Just last month a mob in the eastern state of Bihar beat up a truck driver whom they suspected to be carrying beef.
It was not always so. D.N. Jha, a historian, writes in “The Myth of the Holy Cow” that beef, along with other varieties of meat, was often used in the haute cuisine of early India. But sometime during the second millennium BC, with agriculture evolving, cows were increasingly considered more useful as a source of milk, manure and ploughing power than as meat. Fast-forward to the 19th century AD and for upper-caste Hindus the eating of beef had become a taboo. Cows were central to the first big riot between Hindus and Muslims, in Uttar Pradesh in 1893, which took place after Muslims had been stopped from slaughtering cows during an annual festival.
Most of India’s 29 states have either banned or restricted the killing of cows. In Gujarat it is punishable by life imprisonment. Rajasthan has a cow-welfare ministry. In the “cow belt” of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, “cow protectors” armed with bats, swords and guns look for vehicles that are transporting cows across state borders. They have been known to extort money from drivers without verifying whether the cows they carry are being sent to slaughter or, in the case of meat, whether it is indeed beef. In a country where relations between some Hindu and Muslim communities remain especially fraught, this behaviour does not necessarily reflect greater religiosity. But politics does seem to matter. According to IndiaSpend, a data-journalism website, 97% of all cow-vigilante attacks reported since 2010 took place after the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, with Narendra Modi as prime minister. Most have targeted Muslims and Dalits (formerly known as untouchables), who traditionally skin the carcasses of cows. In a report published in January, Human Rights Watch, a global campaigning group, wrote that the Indian government has failed to investigate the attacks in credible fashion, while “many senior BJP leaders publicly promoted Hindu supremacy and ultra-nationalism, which encouraged further violence.”
The costs of the attacks are high. India’s $83bn dairy industry has taken a hit. Farmers are increasingly unwilling to expand their herds, as it is hard to get rid of unproductive livestock. Shelters for old cows are often overcrowded, says Kavita Srivastava, an activist. In Rajasthan a 10% surcharge is levied on stamp duty to fund the shelters. In many states boxes outside shops encourage people to donate towards their upkeep. But the system is opaque. “No one knows where the money ends up,” says Arjun Sheoran, a lawyer. Some steps would improve the situation. Stricter laws that recognise cow vigilantism as a crime against minorities could be enacted. Victim-protection schemes and faster court rulings could be funded. And more stringent punishments could be meted out to those who use cows as a pretext to exacerbate communal tensions. But moves of this nature will be difficult in a country where a judge claimed just a few years ago that cow dung was more valuable than the Koh-i-noor diamond. | <urn:uuid:08afeb0d-14af-4072-932c-e792245fe07c> | CC-MAIN-2019-47 | https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/02/15/cow-vigilantism-in-india | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-47/segments/1573496669276.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20191117192728-20191117220728-00046.warc.gz | en | 0.974257 | 827 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Medical IDs and Vision Impairment
A vision impaired bracelet or vision impaired jewelry is probably the last thing on anybody's mind when dealing with a vision impairment. After all, bracelets, necklaces and anklets may not seem to serve any purpose beyond being decorative. However, when it comes to impairment like the inability to see fully, being identified as having a medical condition is often necessary.
This is why vision impaired bracelets are often worn not just to inform anyone about the wearer's health status but also to alert people, such as rescuers, first-aid staff and medical professionals of the appropriate action to perform when the wearer is involved in an emergency.
Knowledge Can Save a Life
When blind or vision impaired people were first encouraged to wear medical identification bracelets, some people were not very supportive of getting "tagged" as vision impaired. However, the fact that the bracelets were medical alert tags and could provide important information during an emergency quickly showed why it was a necessity. Today, even with modern technology, it still is.
Blindness, low vision, or profound vision loss are serious conditions, and it is important that those having the condition are properly identified with a medical bracelet in case of an emergency. Oftentimes, the vision impaired person may not be able to speak or communicate in an emergency. He or she may even be unresponsive. Furthermore, an emergency may occur when a relative or a friend who has knowledge about the vision impairment may not be around. In these cases, a vision impaired bracelet can silently inform the attending medical personnel. Medical personnel treating you will need to know whether the vision impairment is a new or an existing condition so that they will be able to diagnose and treat correctly. Otherwise they may consider the lack of vision or the inability to respond to visual stimuli to be a sign of brain or eye injury, perhaps due to head trauma.
Preparing for an Emergency
Vision impairment can be a difficult condition to have as it can make communication complicated, even in less stressful times. Having a vision impaired bracelet will let the medical staff know how best to communicate with you and be able to make the appropriate medical decisions that can save your life.
Always ensure that you or your loved one is wearing a vision impaired bracelet at all times and especially before leaving the house. If necessary, pack an extra bracelet during special trips, particularly if you will be traveling alone or leaving town on an extended trip. Always wear the bracelet where it can be spotted easily and avoid taking it off. It might cramp your style, but it can mean the difference between getting the proper care you need and suffering serious medical consequences.
- Medical IDs For
- Blood Thinners
- Celiac Disease
- Hearing Impairment
- Heart Patients
- Kidney Failure
- Renal Failure
- Seizure Disorder
- Organ Transplants
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St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor and the land surrounding the church are closely tied into the history of Catholicism and Jesuit missionary work in Maryland. Jesuit priests had maintained a presence in the city of Frederick since the mid-1700s. After the American Revolution, the faithful in Maryland were freed of anti-Catholic laws that forbade the presence of their churches outside of private homes. Jesuits took advantage of this new era of religious tolerance to establish new churches and chapels, including St. Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor.
Persecuted in Europe, many Jesuit priests came to America to work among the new nation’s Catholics, and a long list of immigrant clerics worshiped with the faithful at St. Joseph. In 1809, Father Francis Maleve, S.J., a Belgian by birth, replaced the Frenchman Father John DuBois, S.S., in Frederick and worked tirelessly to establish a number of new churches in the county. Father DuBois later founded Mount St. Mary’s College and became the third bishop of New York.
There were a number of tenant-farmer Catholics on Carrollton Manor, a 12,000 acre tract owned by Charles Carroll, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Read more about Charles Carroll of Carrollton at the website of the Independence Hall Association, www.ushistory.org. Carroll was the only Catholic signer of the Declaration.
In 1810, the Catholics on the manor reported to Father Maleve that they were still worried about religious persecution, and while they enjoyed the protection they believed Carroll provided them, they wondered what their fate might be when Carroll passed away. They suggested to Father Maleve that they might have to relocate to Louisiana, the only other area in the United States with a significant Catholic population.
In 1814, Carroll agreed to provide two acres of land for a church on Carrollton Manor, although the deed was not executed until 1819. This land seems to have remained vacant until 1822. In the summer of that year, Carroll’s granddaughter, Mary Patterson, executed a land swap with Father Maleve, giving him the deed to the current church property in exchange for the land her grandfather deeded in 1819. The church was probably built rapidly after that, and Mass was certainly celebrated there by November 1822, if not a month or two earlier. Under Father Maleve’s direction, the first St. Joseph Church was built of limestone. The building was 35 feet by 25 feet and faced east/west with the entrance to the west. Father Maleve may not have lived long enough to see the final results of his handiwork, as he died suddenly in October 1822. Father John McElroy of Ireland, who later founded Boston College, replaced him and served the Frederick area for the next 23 years. In this period, missionary churches such as St. Joseph’s usually had Mass celebrated once each month.
After the Civil War in 1867, another Irishman, Father John B. Gaffney, S.J., oversaw the construction of a new church. The walls of the old church, being in excellent condition, were left standing. The entrance changed to the north and was extended about 30 feet. Construction caused some disagreement as many parishioners wanted the church in the manor woods relocated to a more accessible spot. The Carroll family, however, had decisive influence because Emily Harper, Carroll’s great-granddaughter, made substantial donations for the church remodeling and wanted the church to remain where it was. Completed in June 4, 1871, the church was soon joined by a brick rectory. The original rectory or priest house stood on the opposite of the road from the present rectory.
The Jesuit mission evolved with the growth of the nation, and as millions of Catholics migrated from Europe to the North and Midwest, the Jesuits left their parish duties in Maryland for assignments in the rapidly growing cities of the North. Secular priests took over these duties in Frederick in 1902.
Next to the Carroll family, the Jarboe-Grove family was the church’s most generous benefactor. William Jarboe Grove wrote a history of Carrollton Manor in the 1920s and recalled the religious devotion of his mother in the book’s dedication:
To the memory of my mother, Susanna Jarboe Grove, whose greatest comfort and happiness was kneeling in prayer in Saint Joseph Church in Carrollton Manor surrounded by her children.(1)
Grove also recalled the early 20th century as a period of growth, and one where the church played a significant role in the religious and social lives of its followers, including a very popular annual picnic that drew in visitors from outside the county:
The members of St. Joseph Church, about ten years ago , secured about five acres in the Manor woods … The spot is an ideal one in the midst of virgin forest in Carrollton Manor woods. The annual picnics held here are always grand successes. The management has erected a large daning [dining] pavilion finely equipped and used in every way for the enjoyment of the people who come by the thousands from this and adjoining states.(2)
The church cemetery is also tied into the area’s growth and to the history of Catholic migration to the United States. The oldest headstone coincides with the completion of the first church in 1822 and includes some of the most prominent Catholic families from the county including Thomas, Day, Spalding, Jarboe, Dutrow, and Grove.
The era of railroad and canal building in the United States attracted many poor Catholic laborers from Ireland. This difficult and hazardous work claimed many lives, and some Irish laborers working on the construction of the C&O Canal were buried in the cemetery after they succumbed to a Cholera epidemic in 1832. Father McElroy worked tirelessly among the victims who were stricken along the Potomac River between Point of Rocks and Hagerstown.
For decades, parish offices and functions were housed in the basement of the historic church. In the early 1980s, a portable building was added to the property for offices. This building was removed in 2013 to make room for construction of the new church building.
Since 1994, St. Joseph’s has held its Country Fair every October, attracting hundreds from around the area.
The Parish Center was completed and dedicated by William Cardinal Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1997.
Mass is held in the church. Weekend Masses are Saturday at 4:30pm and Sunday at 8:30am and 10:30am. The historic church is often the site of weddings and funerals.
In January 2006, the purchase of 11 additional acres of property was completed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore for the parish. In 2013, we continued writing the next chapter in the history of St Joseph-on-Carrollton Manor as we celebrated a groundbreaking and began construction of a new church.
The church was dedicated on May 4, 2014.
(1,2) Carrollton Manor, Frederick County Maryland, by William Jarboe Grove; March 29, 1921
1406total visits,2visits today | <urn:uuid:af55a615-f895-4a59-97bc-a0deb41f3878> | CC-MAIN-2018-47 | https://www.stjoesbuckeystown.org/history/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-47/segments/1542039747215.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20181121052254-20181121074254-00105.warc.gz | en | 0.97858 | 1,483 | 3.25 | 3 |
But not everyone would have. When it comes to answering the call of duty, many people would rather let it go to voicemail. On the ABC show What Would You Do? hidden cameras capture nice, ordinary folks ignoring the bullying of an overweight stranger or saying nothing as a waitress is sexually harassed. "Fear, conformity to authority, and aversion to risk run deep," says Frank Farley, Ph.D., a psychologist at Temple University in Philadelphia. "Most people don't want to take heroic action if it will put them in danger."
In fact, he adds, some people may be, in part, genetically predisposed to avoiding such action or the risk-taking that he believes is a necessary component of it. Even those who have Wonder Woman DNA may still be held back by the "bystander effect," the psychological phenomenon that occurs when multiple witnesses to a crime or confrontation each assume someone else will intervene—so no one does anything.
Sounds bleak, but despite the natural human instinct to flee danger rather than put ourselves in the middle of it, 20 percent of people have intervened in "heroic fashion," according to a Stanford University study of 4,000 adults. Asked whether they had ever accomplished an act or deed that other people considered heroic, respondents noted a range of behaviors, including helping another person in a dangerous emergency, blowing the whistle on an injustice, and sacrificing for a stranger. "It's not always a big physical risk," says Christine Carter, Ph.D., a sociologist at the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California at Berkeley. "It can be just as heroic to take a big emotional or social risk."
It's still not totally clear whether heroism is something you're born with (or without) or a quality you develop over time, but more experts are beginning to believe it's the latter. "Many different traits go into being a hero, and some of those can be learned," says Farley. He estimates that anywhere from 20 to 60 percent of risk-taking characteristics can be inherited. "That still leaves quite a range for environment and upbringing to play a role," he says.
Empathy, another vital hero trait, begins to develop during early childhood. Kids who are taught how their behavior affects other people are better able to put themselves in others' positions, and that can lead to a desire to help. Connolly, the oldest of three girls, had plenty of experience with empathy and helping. As a teen, she worked as a lifeguard and grew comfortable with the idea that she might one day need to jump into a situation and save someone who was in trouble.
"People can develop skills that make it more likely they'll act heroically," says Carter.
"The first step is not believing that a hero is something you either are or aren't. It involves a set of skills that you can learn and practice." Here are some ways to start:
Think Like a Hero
In other words, practice empathy. One way to do that is to follow the lead of Philip Zimbardo, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Stanford University: Last year, he launched The Heroic Imagination Project (HIP) to teach regular citizens how to be heroes. HIP encourages daily good deeds—not because they are heroic, but because they help sharpen your social focus, which makes you better able to notice when people are in need or when a situation might escalate in a dangerous way. Carter calls these small acts "radical kindness" and says they help us cultivate our capacity to act when needed.
Nurture Your Inner Daredevil
"It may sound simplistic, but even altering your route to work or what you eat each day so that you're trying new things can build your tolerance for risk, change, and uncertainty," says Farley. "Engaging in new experiences is a way to push yourself along the risk-taking continuum." Start small and gradually work your way up to something that you've been nervous about doing, whether it's rock climbing or speaking in front of a group.
Practice Positive Conflict Resolution
Heroes don't run from confrontation, they engage in it. "When you avoid conflict, you aren't dealing with it in a constructive manner," says Carter. So the next time you have an argument with a coworker or your guy, rather than agreeing to disagree or avoiding him, make an active attempt to see his point of view. This simple act will start to build your confidence for dealing with conflict.
"Empathy is a key component of heroism, and in our culture it's on a massive decline," says Carter. "As a society, we're focused on achievements and status symbols like jobs and cars, and we're losing our sense of responsibility toward others. If your primary identity is tied to helping others, rather than your social status, you're much likelier to act heroically." That may be why research has found that people who volunteer are more likely to be heroes.
Find a way to donate some time to helping others and you'll develop your ability to empathize, which not only increases the odds of your rising to the occasion when duty calls but also boosts your confidence and happiness. And that's a double payoff. | <urn:uuid:9075021d-9270-48ce-8e96-0af816dd779e> | CC-MAIN-2021-10 | https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a19904929/are-you-a-hero/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-10/segments/1614178368687.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20210304082345-20210304112345-00141.warc.gz | en | 0.967455 | 1,066 | 2.59375 | 3 |
From one to four feet high, with rough leaves and one or a few handsome flowers, from one to four inches across, with deep yellow rays and a purplish-brown conical center. This comes from the Mississippi Valley, is very common in the East, and becoming common in Yosemite meadows.
This little weed comes from South Africa, but is now common in wet places, especially in the salt marshes around San Francisco Bay, often carpeting the sand and mud with its succulent, trailing stems. The bright green leaves are alternate and smooth, clasping the stem at base, some with toothless edges, others variously cut and lobed, and the flower-heads are about half an inch or less across, like the bright yellow center of a Daisy, without rays. Matricaria matricarioides is another little weed, common along roadsides, with conical, greenish-yellow flower-heads, without rays, and feathery foliage, which has a strong pleasant fruity smell when crushed, giving it the name of Pineapple-weed and Manzanilla. | <urn:uuid:8f7e4fa7-d9c6-469f-8688-48f0b1a3e8f8> | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | http://chestofbooks.com/flora-plants/flowers/Western-Wild-Flowers/Black-Eyed-Susan-Rudbeckia-Hirta-Yellow-Summer-California-Etc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948623785.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20171218200208-20171218222208-00593.warc.gz | en | 0.959102 | 223 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Mortar and Pestle
Start with small quantities of soft substances like herbs, before moving on to crushing harder items, grains which allows them to grasp the motion of grinding.
- The pestle (grinding stick) measures approximately 15cm in length. The diameter at the thicker end is approximately 4cm.
- The mortar (bowl) measures approximately 9cm in height and 10cm in diameter. | <urn:uuid:573a53d1-c94f-4c03-a753-15fb13a892e8> | CC-MAIN-2023-06 | https://joyintots.com/products/mortar-and-pestle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499744.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20230129144110-20230129174110-00027.warc.gz | en | 0.936805 | 88 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The Next Step
I still remember the first time I wet-finished my first "real" weaving project. It was a set of 4 cottolin towels and I was so scared it was going to go wrong (looking back, I'm not sure what disaster was going to befall me) I only wet-finished one "just in case." Today I can wet-finish cotton and cottolin without sweating, and you can bet that before weaving with a new fiber I'll be checking out Laura Fry's new video Wet-Finishing for Weavers so I can wet-finish without fear. —Christina
|Wet-finishing transforms fabric, sometimes
Congratulations! You’ve done it: interlaced warp and weft and cut the web off the loom. You aren’t quite done yet, though, because the next step is to wet finish it. What is wet finishing? It is the very first time the interlaced threads meet water.
Several important things happen during this transformation—because it is a transformation. It is being changed from a loosely interlaced grid of individual threads into a cohesive “real” cloth.
Why don’t I just call it washing? I prefer to distinguish between this first ever introduction to water from on-going cleaning because some of the processes may be quite a bit harsher than one would do in terms of ongoing maintenance. I might use much hotter water or more vigorous agitation in order to bring the cloth to its finished state than is recommended for general washing or laundering.
The process is as simple and complex as the rest of weaving. Essentially the steps are to scour, agitate, possibly compress, or brush. As with other aspects of weaving, what looks simple on the surface becomes more complex when you look at things like water temperature, vigorous or gentle agitation and so on.
Different fibres need to be treated differently. For example woolen and worsted cloths have completely different wet finishing processes. Cotton and linen can withstand much higher temperatures than are recommended for rayon and silk.
Woolen cloth may need to be fulled (agitated) quite vigorously or perhaps just a little, depending on what is being made. Woolen cloth might also be brushed to raise a nap. If this part of the process is going to be applied, the cloth must be stable and secure enough to withstand the process— stability which comes from vigorous agitation to develop a degree of fulling appropriate to the intended purpose. Woolen yarns will be warmer as air gets trapped inside the structure of the cloth. If the wool is fulled significantly and given a hard press it will stand up to abrasion better than a softer finish.
Fibers such as rayon, silk, and linen benefit from a firm compression, whether that is done with heat or cold.
All of these things—and more— can be part of the process of turning your interlaced threads into ‘real’ cloth.
Properly wet-finished cloth will often times be brighter in terms of their color, especially if spin oil residue has been left in the yarn. It will have more drape and be more flexible. It will be more stable, a quality that is very important if it is to be cut and sewn. It will wear longer because all the threads are acting in concert as one, rather than as individual threads.
All of these factors must be considered when designing a cloth from the threads up. Ultimately the cloth needs to be able to fulfill its function, hopefully with beauty and grace. Above all, it’s wise to remember that it isn’t finished until it’s wet-finished. | <urn:uuid:017b10af-1129-4ffd-9819-22f40c626acf> | CC-MAIN-2017-47 | https://www.interweave.com/article/weaving/the-next-step/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-47/segments/1510934806066.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20171120130647-20171120150647-00701.warc.gz | en | 0.963363 | 762 | 2.625 | 3 |
The Underground Railroad: Myth or Reality
The Underground Railroad Was Not a Myth
All the tracks of the Underground Railroad are gone. All the abolitionists have vanished. All the slaveholders have turned to dust. And all the freedomseekers are rejoicing with their maker, for their legend lives on. It’s this legend that drew me to study them, to learn about their secrets.
After more than 20 years of study and seven books, I have learned a great deal, and what I know now is that the Underground Railroad was anything but a myth. That’s why when I read the New York Times Op-Ed, “Myth, Reality and the Underground Railroad,” I became agitated. According to Ethan Kytle and Carl Gessert, academicians from California State University, Fresno, the Underground Railroad is a myth based on “melodramatic accounts,” “hyperbole,” and Ohio State University professor Wilbur Siebert’s “specious defense” of the recollections of former agents.
This opinion is nothing new. Larry Gara first trumpeted this message in his book, Liberty Line, published in 1961, and more recently, David Blight has expanded on it in his chapter on the Underground Railroad in Race and Reunion. In fact, Kytle and Gessert use some of Blight’s pet phrases of sarcasm from that book.
I take issue with this. There is ample evidence that the Underground Railroad was a daily reality. We find much of the proof we need in the accounts of Philadelphia's stationmaster William Still, who published his records in 1872, and in New York City stationmaster Sydney Howard Gay’s “Record of Fugitives.” In the “Record” which was recently published for the first time in Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City, Gay names the people who forwarded fugitives to him and lists agents in New England, New York and Canada to whom he forwarded the fugitives.
So what are we to make of the quotes used by Kytle and Gessert made by abolitionists Thomas Wentworth Higginson and William I. Bowditch that there was no real organization and no regular route or stations for the Underground Railroad? The problem is that they are taken out of context. One needs to read the entire letters and have an understanding of the context from which they are made.
Both men were members of the Boston Vigilance Committee, Boston’s Underground Railroad organization. There were 209 members, and 46 black associates whose homes were used as safe houses. From 1851-1860, it aided 430 fugitives from slavery. But that doesn't account for the fugitives aided by the three prior committees: the first organized in the spring of 1841 by Charles Torrey, the second by William Nell, and the third by Bowditch and his brother, Henry. Bowditch's home, incidentally, was used to harbor such famed fugitives as Henry Box Brown and Ellen Craft.
That there was no regular route or stop does not mean
there was no Underground Railroad. Routes and stops were usually dictated by
the situation. And using such examples out of context misleads and
misrepresents the true nature of what was actually occurring.
Though Siebert did make some errors and hasty judgments, like the lawn jockey being a marker for an Underground Railroad stop, that doesn’t discredit the full body of his work. Blight and Gara focused on these errors in an effort to debunk the Underground Railroad legend. Ironically, their myopia led them into errors of their own.
In Blight’s Race and Reunion, an otherwise
brilliant presentation on how Confederate supporters mis-remembered the
Civil War and its causes, he attempts to apply this theory to the
Underground Railroad. Unfortunately, he errs in his choice of examples.
The truth was, however, that when all seemed hopeless, Brown encountered a Quaker in Ohio who took him in and helped him recover so that he could continue his journey. Brown was so grateful that he took the name of the Quaker, Wells Brown, as his own as a free man. Gara neither mentioned that Wells Brown was involved in the Underground Railroad in Buffalo, nor that he took a job as a ship’s captain on Lake Erie and regularly took fugitive slaves to Canada. He also doesn’t place the Wells Brown escape in its proper context. While the Underground Railroad was always decentralized in Ohio, in 1834 it was still developing there.
There are other egregious examples of this mythologizing the history of the Underground Railroad by contemporary historians. They believe they are doing it in the service of bringing us the truth. But attacking Wilbur Siebert and those who have freely passed down their stories to posterity does not serve this end. They are not responsible for the apocryphal story of quilts codes, the over emphasis on “hidey holes,” and the iconification of Harriet Tubman, John Brown and Frederick Douglass to the exclusion of the hundreds of people who were involved in the Underground Railroad. In fact, the key to unlocking the real truth of the Underground Railroad can be found with agents like Sydney Howard Gay and Louis Napoleon, whose stories have now been brought to light for the first time by both the new book of Eric Foner, Gateway to Freedom, and the new book by myself and co-author, Don Papson, Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City.
Sources: Mary Rogers Diary, November 3, 1844; William Wells Brown, “Narrative of William W. Brown, An American Slave; Sydney Howard Gay, Record of Fugitives, 1855- ; Springfield Republic, May 20, June 5, 1857, June 19, June 26, 1857, July 3, 1857; Citizen and Gazette, June 5, 1857 and June 12, 1857; Cincinnati Enquirer, June 18, 1857; Ohio State Democrat, June 18, 1857; William Still, Journal C; “William I. Bowditch to Wilbur H. Siebert,” April 5, 1893 and “Thomas Wentworth Higginson to Wilbur H. Siebert,” July 24, 1896, Wilbur H. Siebert Underground Railroad Collection, Ohio Historical Society; Wilbur H. Siebert, The Underground Railroad: From Slavery to Freedom; Vincent Y. Bowditch, Life and Correspondence of Henry Ingersoll Bowditch; Wilbur Siebert, Vermont's Anti-Slavery and Underground Railroad Record; Larry Gara, “The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad”; Gary L. Collison, “Shadrach Minkins: From Fugitive Slave to Citizen,”; David W. Blight, “Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory; Eric Foner, Gateway to Freedom; Don Papson and Tom Calarco, Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City. | <urn:uuid:80300118-6233-45a4-97e0-b220030a8150> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://undergroundrailroadconductor.com/Not%20a%20Myth.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549429417.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20170727182552-20170727202552-00106.warc.gz | en | 0.966079 | 1,465 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Written: December 1932;
Source: Workers Library Publishers, New York, 1932.
Transcription/Markup: Brian Reid
March 14th, 1933, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the day on which humanity lost the most important mind it has ever possessed. Karl Marx, originator of Communism, founder and leader of the International Workingmen’s Association, the man who gave the proletariat “the consciousness of its own position and needs, the consciousness of the conditions of emancipation,” died on March 14th, 1883. In the workshop of this mind was created the most potent, most complete and most comprehensive work to be found in the history of humanity.
Marx’s doctrine is the most potent doctrine because it is the reflection of the objective truth. It did not proceed from any theoretical principle with its nucleus born in the “realm of reason” in order to draw its further conclusions from this principle. On the contrary, by their content Marx’s teachings are the theoretical epression of the real struggle which was going on in his day and is going on now in capitalist society with its anarchic mode of production, that struggle between those who possess and those who do not possess, between the capitalists and the wage-workers. They constitute the answer to questions raised by the foremost minds of humanity before Marx, but hitherto left unanswered. They are the answer to all the questions put by an actual historical movement, questions which we are being made hourly to face by the working-class movement of to-day.
Marx’s doctrine is the most complete there is. It contains the definitively discovered law of development governing human history; which, as Frederick Engels said in his funeral oration at the bier of his dead companion in their joint labours and struggle, “contains the simple fact covered up under ideological over-growth that man must, before all else, eat, drink, live and clothe himself, and then only can he engage in politics, science, art, religion, etc.; that therefore the production of the immediate material means of existence and thereby the corresponding degree of economic development of a people or a period forms the basis on which the State institutions, legal views, art and even the religious ideas of the people concerned developed and on which they therefore must be explained — and not vice versa, as heretofore.”
Marx’s doctrine does more than expound the general law of development of human history. It also contains the special law of development of the capitalist method of production and of bourgeois society engendered by it.
The great secret of capitalist production and its concurrent bourgeois society was a sealed book to the best representatives of bourgeois economy who investigated the capitalist method of production and deemed it an eternal institution, as well as to be the best representatives of pre-Marxian utopian socialism who critisised and rejected the capitalist system. The discovery of surplus value by Marx revealed this secret of capitalist production and bourgeois society. The wage-worker in capitalist society sells his labour power to the owner of the means of production. It is not a question here of any relation of things: product of labour and means of production, but of relations between people of whom one has only his labour power while the other owns the means of production. Commodity labour power is endowed with the peculiar property that even when purchased at its full value it creates more value than the equivalent of its own value, i.e., than is necessary for the reproduction of the commodity labour power. The private appropriation of these unpaid surplus values is the basis of the capitalist method of production and it is precisely this surplus value which is the source from which the capitalist class draws its growing wealth.
The discovery of surplus value led not only to the discovery of the motive power of the development of capitalist production, but also to the discovery of the driving force of the struggle between the two classes arising historically under capitalism: the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. Socialism was no longer a fortuitous discovery of this or that “gifted mind” but recognised as a necessary consequence of capitalist development and of the class struggle.
Capital — created by the workers — brings about the ruin of the small producers. It multiplies the class of the wage-workers. By developing the forces of production (machines, etc.), it constantly increases the earnings of the capitalists derived from the work of the former. Capital becomes more and more concentrated and finally leads to monopolist domination by a handful of the most powerful magnates. Production becomes more and more socialised. Hundreds of thousands and millions of workers are embraced in a few industrial organisations. The product of their social labour is, however, appropriated by a mere handful of capitalists.
In the process of the concentration of capital, human labour power is increasingly displaced by machinery. This leads, on the one hand, to the most intensified accumulation of wealth for the capitalists; on the other, to increasing misery for the working class. This also gives rise to the giant army of the unemployed. This industrial reserve army renders possible a still more intensive exploitation of the working class by the capitalists.
This constant expansion of production (which is accompanied by a steady decline in the purchasing power of the masses), leads to crises of over-production which become more aggravated at each repetition and shake the capitalist system more and more.
This historical tendency of development of capitalism was strikingly epitomized in “Capital,” the main work of Marx, in the following words:
“The expropriation of the immediate producers was accomplished with merciless Vandalism, and under the stimulus of passions the most infamous, the most sordid, the pettiest, the most meanly odious. Self-earned private property, that is based, so to say, on the fusing together of the isolated, independent labouring-individual with the conditions of his labour, is supplanted by capitalistic private property, which rests on exploitation of the nominally free labour of others, i.e., on wages-labour.”
“That which is now to be expropriated is no longer the labourer working for himself, but the capitalist exploiting many labourers. This expropriation is accomplished by the action of the immanent laws of capitalistic production itself, by the centralisation of capital. One capitalist always kills many. Hand in hand with this centralisation, or this expropriation of many capitalists by few, develop, on an overextending scale, the co-operative form of the labour-process, the conscious technical application of science, the methodical cultivation of the soil, the transformation of the instruments of labour into instruments of labour only usable in common, the economising of all means of production by their use as the means of production of combined, socialised labour, the entanglement of all peoples in the net of the world-market, and this, the international character of the capitalistic regime. Along with the constantly diminishing number of the magnates of capital grows the mass of misery, oppression, slavery, degradation, exploitation; but with this too grows the revolt of the working-class, a class always increasing in numbers, and disciplined, united, organised by the very mechanism of the process of capitalist production itself. The monopoly of capital becomes a fetter upon the mode of production, which has sprung up and flourished along with, and under it. Centralisation of the means of production and socialisation of labour at last reach a point where they become incompatible with their capitalist integument. This integument is burst asunder. The knell of capitalist private property sounds. The expropriators are expropriated.”
Even thirty vicars ago these words read like a prophesy, but to-day they already toll the death knell of moribund capitalist society and sound the tocsin of the attacking proletarian armies which, in the midst of the devastating world economic crisis, are storming the fortresses of capitalist exploitation and oppression on the sure ground of the post-war crisis of decaying capitalism. These prophetic words, the recognition, too, of the laws revealed by them, have brought it about that socialism which was a utopia has become a science and finally a reality, a science which records the objective law of development of society to socialism as dictated by nature.
Therefore the doctrine of Marx is the most complete which has been created through the collective efforts of the thought of all preceding generations and through the genius of their individual thinkers.
Marx accomplished the discovery of the general laws of motion of the development of human history as well as of nature through the cognition of materialist philosophy, on the basis of the cognition that, as Feuerbach said, “thinking is to be explained from being and not being from thinking.” Marx, however, did not stop at this general cognition. Dialectics — the science of the laws of the development of the external world as well as of human thinking which was liberated by Marx and Engels from the idealist envelope of the Hegelian system of philosophy — in its materialist form — the doctrine of the relativity of thinking as a reflection of matter eternally in motion — confronted Marx with the question whether different stages in the development of society had not different and peculiar laws of motion. Marx discovered the peculiar laws of motion the capitalist method of production and of bourgeois society built upon it.
Yet he went farther than that. In contradistinction to everything that had existed before him in science, Marx’s doctrine is not only an explanation of society, of its objective laws of motion, but is simultaneously the doctrine of the transformation of society.
In the notes by Marx on Feuerbach penned in the Spring of 1845 when, together with Engels, he wrote “German Ideology,” which was both the foundation of Marxism and the balance sheet, if you like, presented to bourgeois ideology; we read:
“The philosophers only give different interpretations of the world, but the point is to transform it.”
The doctrine of Marx is the first not only to give a world outlook which is not only a Weltanschauung, a world philosophy, but a doctrine of the transformation of the world and a guide for effecting this transformation.
It consists not only in that which the materialists taught even before Marx, namely that
“Man is a product of circumstances and upbringing; modified man is therefore a product of other circumstances and changed upbringing.”
“Circumstances are modified by man,” reads the great, historic, epoch-making discovery of Marx, by which not only was philosophy freed from the shackles of intuitive materialism but theory also — through materialist dialectics — was transferred to practical, human, perceptible activity.
“Man himself makes his own history” is what the great discovery of Marx denotes. The recognition of this fact has made active agents out of the proletarians instead of merely passive ones.
Society divided into classes accomplishes its development in the class struggle. The class struggle is the basis of its development. The class struggle is the driving force in the history of humanity.
The proletarians have not only been changed from passive to active agents but from active individuals to exponents of their class and its consciousness. Thus Marx developed the kernel of his doctrine.
In his letter to Weydemeyer, dated March 5th, 1872, a year after the Paris Commune, the first revolution of the proletariat, Marx himself described this kernel of his doctrine in the following manner:
“What I did was to prove, first: that the existence of classes is linked only to definite historical stages of development; second: that the class struggle leads necessarily to the dictatorship of the proletariat; third: that this dictatorship itself forms only a transition to the abolition of all classes and to classless society.”
The historical rôle of the proletariat, as the creator of the new society, consists therefore in the conquest of its own class dictatorship, as the pre-condition of the abolition of all classes and the creation of classless society.
Thus the most important point was discovered: the path to Socialism, the path to the liberation of the proletariat, the direction of the leap humanity must take from the land of necessity into the realm of liberty, into socialism.
The science of Marxism is likewise “an historically moving, a revolutionary force.” Science and revolution are united in Marxism not through the personal qualities of the creator of the doctrine, but internally and inseparably through the method — through materialist dialectics. Therefore Marxism is not only the most potent, the most complete, but also the most comprehensive of all doctrines that have been created in the field of the cognition of nature and of human society.
This most potent, most complete and most comprehensive of all doctrines, which itself represents an historically moving, revolutionary force, is the theory of a class. It lays no claim to hovering above the classes. It lays no claim to being non-partisan science, without pre-conditions. It is the theory of the revolutionary class of the proletariat and its revolutionary class party — the Communist Party!
Let toothless Kautsky repeat a hundred and a thousand times that the doctrine of the dictatorship of the proletariat is not the quintessence of Marxism; let his disciples keep on repeating after him such chatter as that the dictatorship of the proletariat was a “youthful aberration” of Marx and Engels. Marx himself attests the fact that his doctrine can only be the theory of the revolutionary workers, of the party that struggles for the dictatorship of the proletariat and materialises it.
The revolutionisation of the working class, the historical mission of which is the revolutionary overthrow of existing society, could only be effected by anchoring socialist theory in the consiousness of this very class. On the other hand, the transformation of utopian socialist theory from an “absolute truth,” “independent of time and space and historical development” and which only needs be discovered in order to “conquer the world by its own power,” into a science, could take place only by connecting socialist theory, on the very real basis of the existing capitalist system, with a definite class in whose very interests it is to fight for the destruction of the capitalist system and for socialism, viz., the working class.
The socialist movement and the labour movement pursued parallel and separate courses before Marx. The more or less sectarian socialist trends and movements lived their own lives outside of the working class and its daily struggles. The labour movements, the struggle of the workers against the employers, even the struggles of the workers for political rights (as for instance the Chartist movement in England), proceeded without being given socialist aims. Socialism and the working class, the socialist and the labour movement, were united for the first time by the party whose theoretical and practical leaders were Marx and Engels: by the revolutionary party of the Communists. This party was first the Communist League, whose programme was the Communist Manifesto dawn up by Marx and Engels.
The other revolutionary labour organisation called into life directly by Marx and Engels was the International Workingmen’s Association, the First International, the first world party of the revolutionary proletariat. The following historical slogan in its constitution has since become the common property of the international working class:
“The emancipation of the working class must be accomplished by the working class itself.”
But the interlinking of socialist theory with the labour movement could not be consummated through revolutionary theory alone. That required also a revolutionary leader.
“Marx was a revolutionist above everything else,” wrote Engels. “To participate somehow or other in the overthrow of capitalist society and of the state institutions created by it, to participate in the liberation of the modern proletariat . . . was his real life profession. And he fought with a passion, ability and success that could be matched by few.”
As a revolutionist Marx was the “most hated and most slandered man of his day.” And this not only as the mortal foe of the bourgeoisie who called and organised the workers for combat. He was hated and spurned as an enemy not only because he was the leader of the Communist League, the editor of the revolutionary Neue Rhenische Zeitung, the founder of the First International, the leader of its General Council, the advisor of the socialist organisations and movements in Europe and America, the leading publicist of the revolutionary labour movement, the spokesman of all revolutions of his day before the forum of international public opinion: of the French, the German, the Austrian and Hungarian revolutions in 1848-49, of the French Commune in 1871, of the revolutionary movements of the Russian Naródniki in the ‘70’s and 80’s, the defender of the oppressed nations: the Poles and the Irish as well as the Hindus and the American Negroes, but also because he fought against petty-bourgeois democrats like Mazzini, Ledru Rollin, Kinkel, etc., who in the name of the “interests of democracy” attempted to prevent the development of an independent Class Movement of the Proletariat. He was no less hated and slandered as a fighter against the world-redeeming ideas of the various socialist and anarchist sects, from Weitling and Proudhon by way of Willich, Schapper and Bakunin right to Ferdinand Lassalle, the friend of Bismarck. They all wanted to transform the world either according to their own ready-made prescriptions or to tie the working class to the tail of the ruling classes.
“The history of the International,” wrote Marx, on November 13th, 1871, to Boltke “was a continuous struggle of the General Council against the sects and amateur attempts, which sought to assert themselves against the real movement of the working class within the International itself.”
The Right-opportunist, petty-bourgeois danger (to use present-day terminology) which greatly threatened the young class-conscious labour movement from its inception, encountered his passionate ire in no lesser degree. In his famous Critique of the Gotha Programme he warned the follower of the Eisenach tendency of the dangers of the Lassallean dilution of the German labour movement. Together with Engels he remonstrated still more energetically when during the period of the validity of the anti-Socialist law the delivering over of the Party organ of the German Social Democratic Party to a circle of friends consisting of “philanthropically-minded students and professors of the upper and lower middle-classes,” was contemplated.
“So the gentlemen have been forewarned,” wrote Marx in 1879 to Sorge on the occasion of the emergence of this opportunist danger, and they know us sufficiently well to appreciate that here it means either bend or break! If they want to compromise themselves, tant pis (so much the worse).
“In no event will they be permitted to compromise us.”
An irreconcilable revolutionist, hurling defiance at all governments, whether absolute or republican; at all bourgeois-conservatives as well as extreme democrats, all petty-bourgeois — the preachers of general fraternisation between man and man, as well as the preachers of general destruction — inflexible revolutionist was our greatest of teachers, Karl Marx.
The fifty years that have elapsed since the death of Marx have been a period of incessant struggle for and against Marxism. No matter how numerous or how palpable the evidence furnished by history to corroborate the correctness of Marxism, the struggle for and against Marxism has never stopped, as this struggle is part of the great contest between two historical classes, the class struggle between bourgeoisie and proletariat.
As these fifty years rolled by, the course of historical development not only fully and completely confirmed, in the countries of older-established capitalism, the soundness of the Marxian teaching, but it was confirmed also by the awakening of new classes in the East — in Japan, in India and China — which had been only partly covered by Marx’s investigations and whose “historical inactivity and sleep” were of great assistance to the bourgeoisie of the old capitalist countries in maintaining their positions against the working class in their own countries.
The historical tendency of capitalism’s development, that is the ultimate passing beyond that stage of society, has moved towards its end with the iron necessity predicted of it by Marx and Engels. Capitalism, which after Marx’s death had already subjugated the entire world, entered a new phase at the end of the nineteenth century, the phase of monopoly capitalism, of imperialism. Through the concentration of capital in the hands of a few cartels, trusts and syndicates, dominated by still fewer major banks; through the seizure of the sources of raw materials especially in the colonies; through finance capital whose international cartels have commenced the economic partition of the world among themselves, free competition was replaced by monopoly. The export of capital became the principal means of the expansion of capital. The territorial division of the world among the great imperialist powers was concluded. In one imperialist war after the other (the Spanish-American war of 1899, the Boer war of 1900-02, the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-05) history was confronted with the problem of a fresh division of the world.
The three peculiar features of imperialism — monopolist, parasitic and decaying capitalism — have evoked a number of far-reaching changes in bourgeois society. The bourgeoisie of the imperialist countries has lost the last remnants of its progressive rôle. All its sections — though they harbour antagonisms among themselves — have become reactionary. The parasitism of the bourgeoisie, enhanced through the formation of an entire section of rentiers, has not only strengthened political reaction but also corruption, which had already assumed tremendous proportions. The parasitism of the ruling class has reached a monstrous scale through the export of capital and the exploitation of the colonies. The bloodsucking bourgeoisie in every imperialist country has extended privileges to an upper layer of the working class, the labour aristocracy, which occupies its privileged position partly at the expense of the colonial peoples, partly at the expense of the native proletariat. In the Federal Council of the English Section of the First International “a vote of censure was administered to Marx because he said that the English trade union leaders were bribed.” But this reprimand has been rescinded by history. The labour aristocracy, a bribed section of the working class, has become an international phenomenon. To the extent that the English working class as a whole lost its privileged position through the shattering of England’s Monopolist position on the world market, the bribed section of the labour aristocracy took shape in the other imperialist countries as well.
The decay of capitalism through the monopoly system — as well as the sharpening contradiction between the growing socialisation of labour and the capitalist method of appropriation — meant that capitalism, as Marx had predicted, was entering the stage of its death throes.
The monopoly system within the framework of an unevenly developed world capitalism placed two decisive questions upon the agenda of history: imperialist war for a division of the world and proletarian revolution for the dictatorship of the proletariat as the transition, to socialism!
Marxism and the class movement of the proletariat, on reaching this turning point in history, have arrived at what is a critical stage for themselves. The laws of motion underlying capitalist production discovered by Marx, and of bourgeois society corresponding to this mode of production, have exerted their influence on a higher plane of development. The historical fate of capitalism having entered a decisive stage, the historical destinies of Marxism have also entered a sphere marked by the embittered struggles of historical decisions.
Marx’s doctrine went through its historical development in the smoke of battle, both while Marx was still alive and after his death. Before the bourgeoisie applied the criticism of the weapon as such, or force of arms, against the revolutionary labour movement, it endeavoured to destroy Marxism through the weapon of criticism. An entire caste of doctors of philosophy, university lecturers, professors and syndics representing capitalist interests and independent scholars, an entire caste of large and small-scale producers of bourgeois ideology, was formed to “kill off” Marxism. They not only “killed off” Marxism daily, weekly and monthly in their periodical and non-periodical publications, but they buried it just as often. These “Marx-killers,” these economic and political weather-prophets of the bourgeoisie, applied their learning mainly against the law of the concentration of capital, the law of the pauperisation of the working class. Every reform, however small, every achievement of social policy, however petty, which was gained by the working class in severe class struggles was celebrated as a refutation of Marxist teaching, particularly that concerning the class struggle.
The influence of bourgeois ideologies upon the working class was not only fostered from without, but also from within. In the pre-imperialist period of capitalism this influence was exerted mainly through the medium of the proletarianised artisans, through newcomers in the working class. During the period of imperialism the labour aristoracy became the principal intermediary through whom bourgeois influences penetrated the working class.
Marxism after the dissolution of the First and the formation of the Second International gained the hegemony in the struggle of the working class to bar bourgeois influences from its movement. In the comparatively “peaceful” period after the overthrow of the Paris Commune until the Russian Revolution of 1905 and the beginning of the evolutionary movements of the Eastern nations, Marxism expanded the positions it had won among the broad masses. The perfectly obvious facts of the real development of the class struggle under capitalism were far more potent than the “proofs” of the Marx-killers.
Other methods had to be applied against Marxism which was deservedly extending and strengthening its hold among the working class.
Along with the method of Marx-killing, the method of Marx-adulteration had to be resorted to, mainly within the labour movement. By this means it was hoped to create a bourgeois labour movement instead of the proletarian-revolutionary class movement of the workers.
“The dialectic of history is such,” wrote Lenin in his article entitled The Historical Fate of Marxism, “that the theoretical victory of Marxism forces its enemies to don Marxian garb. Internally decaying liberalism seeks a revival in the form of socialist opportunism.”
After the death of Engels the Second International entered upon this stage of Marx-adulteration on a “wholesale” scale, entered upon an “entire stage of the undivided domination of opportunism.” Upon the structure housing the leading party of the Second International, the German Social-Democratic Party, the lately deceased Edward Bernstein openly hoisted the flag of the revision of the Marxian doctrine. In the realm of philosophy: against materialism, for idealism; against the “traps of Hegelian dialectics” — “back to Kant.” In the realm of economy: against the Marxian theory of value, for its “supplementation” by the so-called theory of final utility of Boehm-Bawerk’s Austrian school of economy, a theory which attempted to refute the theory of labour value. In opposition to the doctrine of the concentration of capital, a theory concerning the “indestructibility of small-scale production” and the “democratisation of capital” through joint-stock companies, was created. A theory concerning the absolute and relative amelioration in the position of the working class was counterposed to the theory concerning the absolute pauperisation of the working class. Whole libraries were written by Edward David and other revisionists “to prove” that Marx’s teaching had no application to the development of agriculture. In agriculture small-scale production gains the upper hand over large-scale production — was the conception of the revisionists.
The Marxist theory of crises was singled out for special attack by all the revisionists who maintained that capitalism through its cartels, trusts, etc., had overcome its anarchy and thereby also its periodically recurrent crises. By overcoming these crises and thus preventing the return of catastrophic mass unemployment, by dint of the increasing “social consideration of the bourgeois class,” which finds its expression in the strengthening of social policy — through all, this Marx’s “theory of collapse” was to be disproved. It was claimed that revolution would no longer be necessary to overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie; that no dictatorship of the proletariat was necessary to safeguard the transition from capitalism to socialism; that peaceful reformist work, the conquest of a parliamentary majority on the part of the Social-Democratic Parties, would assure evolution into socialism. Socialism was to cease to be the cause of one class, of the working class, and was to become the product of the peaceful “collaboration of all classes of the population.” In this way socialism was to be withdrawn as an urgent actuality of the hour which had to be faced just when it had been raised as a living issue by the advent of imperialism. “The final goal means nothing to me — the movement is everything,” was the motto of Edward Bernstein, the revisionist.
But the most dangerous falsification of Marx was not open revisionism, but the “defence” of Marxism by the Marxian Centre under the leadership of that driest of pedants, Karl Kautsky, Pope of the Second International. This “defence” consisted in the abandonment of what were just the most important theoretical positions of Marxism in favour of the revisionists this being done primarily on the issue which the revisionists put metaphysically as: “Reform or revolution.”
Marxism was to be split into two parts: into its “revolutionary” and its “reformist” ingredients. Reform as such held an independent significance all its own in the theory of the Centrists. Reforms were divested of their real character of a by-product of the revolutionary struggle and set up as a goal in themselves. The first victim of the “defence of Marxism” by the Centrists was the Marxian theory of the State. The doctrine of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and, therefore, Marx’s doctrine of revolutionary tactics, as well, was relegated by the Centrists to the attic of history as something superannuated. What Marx and Engels had written about armed uprising was passed over in silence or destroyed as so much “Blanquist deviation.” Engel’s introduction to Marx’s Class Struggles in France was brazenly falsified by the representative of the Executive Committee of the German Social-Democratic Party by suppressing those passages that spoke of armed uprising. Centrism was far from being headed towards a struggle against the bourgeois influence that the revisionists allowed to seep in; it represented, on the contrary, conciliation with the transformation of social democracy into a bourgeois labour party.
Revisionism and Centrism are most closely interwoven on the question of imperialism. For both, imperialism was not a special phase of capitalist development but a policy of part of the ruling class. The one openly espoused the imperialist policy of its own bourgeoisie, the other did the same thing while making a pretence of combating imperialist policy by mouthing pacifist phrases.
The left radical tendency, headed by Rosa Luxembourg, conducted a valiant struggle against revisionism and centrism, but not consistently against the latter. She was not in accord with the conciliatory attitude of Kautsky and Bebel toward Bernstein and Vollmar. The left radicals demanded the expulsion of Bernstein from the Social-Democratic Party. But they themselves designated very important theoretical views of Marx as “erroneous” or “obsolete.” They did this in the case of the law of the accumulation of capital; in the case of the doctrine of Marx and Engels concerning the national question and the peasant question; of their (Marx’s and Engels’) views concerning the rôle of the proletarian party, concerning armed uprising, the dictatorship of the proletariat, etc. It therefore could not be the tendency which continues Marxism in accordance with the new phase of the capitalist development of imperialism. It therefore was incapable also of discovering the roots of revisionism. For it reformism — and that variety of revisionism known as centrism — was not an inevitable consequence of the social composition, the social stratification, of the working class, but in large measure nothing but a theoretical or political deviation of individual theoreticians or leaders of the social-democratic parties.
This was the situation in the Western Sections of the Second International when imperialist development confronted the proletariat with two vital questions: imperialist war and proletarian revolution-imperialism or socialism?
The passing over of the revisionists as well as the centrists to the side of their own bourgeoisie, their attitude in favour of the imperialist war (in form openly social-chauvinist or mantled by social-pacifism), and their abominable betrayal of the cause of the working class was conditioned by the entire preceding development of the Second International.
The Left radicals, in accordance with their previous principles, conducted the struggle against imperialist war with courage and self-sacrifice. Liebknecht, Luxemburg and Mehring will live for ever in the history of the labour movement as courageous and valiant revolutionary fighters for the cause of the proletariat. Yet, and this was in keeping with their attitude on very important theoretical questions of Marxism, they could not break with the centrists during the war and even after the war they could do so only after a struggle, for they were not consistent supporters and continuers of the work of Marx and Engels. When the laws of motion of capitalist production and bourgeois society, laws discovered by Marx, were being “refuted” in whole or in part by the dominant tendencies in the Western parties of the Second International, it was naturally impossible to perceive that capitalism had entered a new stage in conformity, with these laws. Nor could they perceive what constituted the peculiar traits of capitalism during this phase and what conclusions the proletarian parties had to draw therefrom. The perception of the imperialist phase of capitalism and of its special traits reached on the basis of Marxian dialectics and the special laws of capitalist production discovered by Marx — this historical, epoch-making perception could rise only in the mind of a Marxist who permitted neither so-called “criticism,” nor “supplementation of Marxism,” nor its ossification into a lifeless dogma.
Only Lenin could succeed in accomplishing this epoch-making discovery: only he was the one consistent continuer of the Marxian doctrine after the death of Engels. He alone could show the right path, tell the working class how it should act in this new imperialist phase of capitalism, especially with reference to imperialist war.
He perceived reformism in its every variety, whether revisionist or centrist, as an inevitable phenomenon of capitalist society and completely exposed its social roots: the petty bourgeois sections of the proletariat which had sunk down to the working class and the sections of the proletariat that had risen to the labour aristocracy — there was its social source.
He also perceived the historical significance of reformism from its inception in whatever variety it appeared, revisionist or centrist. In 1908, in his article dedicated to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death of Karl Marx, he gave final shape to the characterisation of reformism as follows
“ . . . . It is quite natural that the petty bourgeois world outlook should again and again break into the ranks of the broad workers’ parties. It is quite natural that this should be so, and it will always be so, until the climax of the proletarian revolution; for it would be a great mistake to think that the “complete” proletarianisation of the majority of the population is necessary in order to bring about such a revolution. What we now experience more often on the mental plane only — discussions with theoretical additions to Marx what now emerges in working practice only on certain particular questions of the labour movement as tactical differences with the revisionists and splits on these grounds — the working class will have to experience to an immeasurably greater extent when the proletarian revolution makes all debatable questions acute, concentrates all the differences upon points which have most direct significance in determining the attitude of the masses and compels us, in the heat of the battle, to separate enemies from friends, and to expel bad allies in order to deliver decisive blows against the enemy.”
Leninism, which according to Stalin’s classic definition is “Marxism of the epoch of imperialism and of the proletarian revolution” was born in the struggle — in the only consistent struggle — for Marxism against the “Marx-killers” as well as against the Marx-falsifiers, the “supplementers” and “critics” of Marxism. Even historical continuity exists between the activity of Frederick Engels, Marx’s peer as a collaborator and comrade-in-arms, and Lenin, their peer as a continuer of their work and struggle.
Frederick Engel’s activity was terminated in 1895 by his death. In 1894, Who Are the Friends of the People and How do They Struggle against Social Democracy?, the product of young Vladimir Ulyanov, appeared illegally in Tsarist Russia in hectograph form. In this early work of Lenin’s, Marxism appears in full armour, the programme of the Communist revolution stands forth in complete and bold relief in a “way” that no one except Marx and Engels had ever presented it. In this work he took up the cudgels, not only against the special Russian form of petty bourgeois socialism, against the Nardóniks, but also “against the narrow conception of Marxism . . . . even among the Marxists.” Two years after the death of Engels appeared the protest by Lenin and his colleagues against Bernstein and his Russian supporters, a protest written while in Siberian exile. This protest, in contradistinction to the “defence” of Marxism by Kautsky and Co., really and consistently defended Marxism in its entirety and in every particle of its doctrine. From this first hectographed production of Lenin’s until the October Revolution and until his last work, which dealt with the co-operative plan, the same consistency in the development of his original thoughts may be noticed as with Marx and Engels, and their first labours until the last words written by them.
The October Revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Soviet Union, the construction of socialism throughout one-sixth of the globe, commenced under the leadership of Lenin and continued under the leadership of Stalin, is the fulfilment, the materialisation of Marxism in a struggle, not only against the bourgeoisie, but also against the opportunism of the Marx-falsifiers — which had developed into social-chauvinism, social-imperialism and social-fascism, from Bernstein, Kautsky and Trotsky to Otto Bauer, Hilferding and Vandervelde, as well as against the Right and “Left” distorters of Leninism.
The greatest historical act accomplished after the October Revolution in the course of socialist construction, the rooting of socialist forms in agriculture resultant on the achievements of socialist industrialisation (effected through the collectivisation of the peasant farms and elaborated theoretically and practically by Stalin), is nothing more nor less than a literal materialisation of that which Marx and Engels thought and wrote concerning the transition to Communist economy. In a letter, heretofore unpublished, written by Engels to Bebel on January 20th, 1886, we read the following concerning Marx and Engels’ plan of collectivisation
“And that during the transition to Communist economy we will have to utilise collective economy as a medial stage on an extensive scale, neither Marx nor I ever doubted. Now matters must be so arranged that society, i.e., in the first place, the State, retains the ownership of the means of production, (Compare The Nationalisation of the Land, the latest decree of the Soviet Government concerning the inalienability of collective-farm land and concerning the machine and tractor stations — B. K.), and that the special interests of the collective as against society as a whole cannot become incrustated.” (Compare, again, the purging of the collective farms of the kulak elements that had crept in, as the result of the efforts to sabotage grain-collections. — B. K.).
If we juxtapose the documents saved from the literary heritage of Marx and Engels and published recently — documents which were kept secret by the excellent premonition of social-democratic theoreticians like Bernstein and Kautsky — to the works of Lenin and Stalin, the fact must be acknowledged that the theoretical and practical attitude of Lenin and Stalin on questions in which the opinion of Marx and Engels could not have been known to them completely coincides with the attitude of Marx and Engels, in many instances even verbatim. This is not merely a matter of the personal qualities of Lenin and Stalin which can be measured with the rod of our two old masters, but the proof that the Bolshevism of Lenin and Stalin represent the only consistent continuation of the work of Marx and Engels.
Developments during the fifty years that have elapsed since Karl Marx died have not only fully and completely confirmed, upon a new stage of their development, the laws of the capitalist method of production, discovered by Marx, but especially their theory concerning the State and revolution, the dictatorship of the proletariat, as the only possible way to socialism. Not only the tremendous development of the forces of production through the dictatorship of the proletariat in the Soviet Union, but also — and this is especially to be noted at the threshold of the second Five-Year Plan — the struggle to train the toilers to become conscious builders of classless society confirm completely what Marx and Engels set forth in their “German Ideology,” published recently for the first time:
“That for the mass generation of this Communist consciousness, as well as for the accomplishment of the matter itself, a mass change in man himself is necessary, which can only take place in a practical movement, in a revolution; that the revolution, therefore, is not only necessary because the ruling class cannot be overthrown in any other way, but because only in a revolution can the overthrowing class reach the point of ridding itself of all the old rubbish and of becoming capable of founding a new society.”
In the struggle between the two systems — capitalism and socialism — the banners of the proletariat, which has become the ruling class, bear the proud slogan of the Communist Manifesto:
Workers of the World, Unite!
The leader of the proletarians of all countries, the Communist International, has it in its charter that:
“The Third Communist International, founded March, 1919, in Moscow, capital of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, declares solemnly to the entire world that it undertakes to continue and conclude the great task begun by the First International Workingmen’s Association. ”
This pledge to complete the work of the First International of Marx and Engels is an undertaking to fulfil, to materialise Marxism, begun by the October Revolution under the leadership of Lenin, a materialisation to be accomplished by incessant, arduous and indefatigable struggle for the world dictatorship of the proletariat. Marx belongs to those who fulfil his teaching, who struggle for the materialisation of Marxism — to the Leninists.
Marx belongs to us!
To us, the Communist International and the Young Communist International!
Many of you will consider we are being too fervent in stressing so sharply the fact that Marx belongs to us.
Who besides Communists lays claim to Marx to-day?
Was it not Mr. Emile Vandervelde, chairman of the Second International and repeatedly Minister of His Majesty the King of Belgium, who recently publicly repudiated Marxism?
He did this by replying to a new “Marx-killing” by Lord Melchett, chairman of the English Chemical Trust, better known as Sir Alfred Mond, partner to the English reformist trade-union leaders in founding so-called Mondism, the English variety of the theory of industrial peace. This noble lord said about seven years ago and reprinted in his book, entitled Industry and Politics:
“If there is one thing in the world which is dead in this country it is socialism. It was buried at Liverpool, buried deep, deep down. You have only to read Mr. Ramsay MacDonald’s speech to all. And why? Because every practical man knows, and every man who has had the responsibility of Government in this country, knows perfectly well in his heart, whatever he may in theory think about socialism or speak about it, you cannot apply the system. ”
To this Marx-killing the chairman of the Second International replied as follows:
“Socialism and Marxism are not to be taken as synonymous. . . . It would give the conception of socialism a peculiarly narrow construction if this conception were to be completely identified with Marxism. ”
The chairman of the Second International had nothing else to do but feign that he was abandoning the “sinking ship” of Marxism, his life he had boarded perhaps once only as a stowaway.
Was it not Karl Renner, one of the most prominent theoreticians of Austrio-Marxism and former Chancellor, who, on the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Ferdinand Lassalle — whose doctrine concerning the State became the socialtraitors’ theoretical point of departure — stored away Marxism for good when he wrote:
“Marx was right when figuring in centuries, but when figuring in the decades in which we live, Lassalle was right in every particular. ”
Both statements appeared in the theoretical magazine of the German Social-Democracy, edited by Dr. Rudolf Hilferding.
Another star of Belgian Social-Democracy, Henrik de Man, highly esteemed as a theoretician in the entire Second International, declared in his book On the Psychology of Socialism that “the vanquishing of Marxism, ” “the liberation from Marxism” were the result of his work. To him this vanquishing of Marxism is “not only a question of knowledge, but also of conscience” (German: “Wissen” and “Gewissen”). He does not any longer want to support. the lie — he writes this himself — that he is a Marxist as his party comrades do; he does not want to participate in the hypocrisy that is being practised in Germany where, in his judgment:
“Properly speaking Marxism no longer has any internal points of contact whatever . . . with the trade union and the co-operative movement, at least not in the sense that it directs their activity . . . . It only continues to play a rôle in the political activity of the Social-Democratic Party, which is recognised by the party as useful (i.e., for the purpose of “Left” manuvres. — B.K.). Social-Democracy is constrained to conduct an opportunist policy of coalition and support of the State, which, while not in reason, yet in sentiment contradicts the prior keynote of irreconcilable class struggle to which it owes its origin; in consequence of which it is particularly interested in emphasising the inner stability of this policy by symbolising its attachment to the Marxian tradition . . . It (i.e., Marxism. — B. K.) can no longer guide the policy of the party because this policy rests upon actual pre-conditions, which contradict those out of which the doctrine once arose. Of course, Marxism can still supply slogans for agitational purposes, slogans which, in the main, bridge the gap between the political tradition of yesterday and the policy of to-day. ”
This is the judgment of a leading social-democrat, not only concerning Marxism in general but also concerning the relation between social-democracy and Marxism.
In his latest book on Capitalism and Socialism After the World War (Rationalisation — Mistaken Rationalisation) (Fehlrationalisierung), Otto Bauer “dethrones” the Marxian theory of price to replace it by a brand new “theory” of Marshall, Moor and other American investigators of busiess conditions and manufacturers of ideology for Dollar Imperialism:
“The significance of these investigations is just as great for the development of the theory of price, ” wrote Otto Bauer, commenting on the work of these American economists.
“Heretofore the function of demand was no more than a mathematical symbol of the given demand situation which the price theory utilised to represent schematically the dependence of the market price upon the given demand situation. Only when definite functions for individual commodities, calculated on the basis of statistical data, take the place of the symbolic functions do we attain an inductive-statistical price theory.”
The price theory of Marxism, based upon the doctrine of value promulgated by Marx and Engels, is therefore declared inadequate by Otto Bauer and is “supplemented” by a vulgareconomic theory. Naturally, the only effect achieved thereby is a new “refutation” of one of the most fundamental precepts of Marxism.
And was it not Mr. Tarnow, a prominent leader of the A.D.G.B. (General German Trade-Union Federation) and of the German Social-Democratic Party who eliminated Marx altogether in his book Why be Poor? He actually accomplished the feat of raising Henry Ford, the auto king, to the rank of theoretician of the reformist trade-union movement, in order to prove that socialism was unnecessary, as poverty could be abolished forever under capitalism by using Ford’s method.
“Henry Ford’s book, My Life and Work, is certainly the most revolutionary writing of all economic literature to date.”
Thus in the reformist trade-union movement Marx’s Capital — written against capital — had to yield place in revolutionary world literature to make room for Henry Ford’s book — written for capital.
While Otto Bauer repudiates Marx’s theory of price, Rudolf Hilferding, who before the war was engaged in revising Marx’s money theory, cannot now reconcile himself to Marxism as applied to the agrarian question. On the occasion of the agrarian debate in the German Social-Democratic Party (1927) he declared in his Theoretical Observations on the Agrarian Question that:
“. . . the dispute concerning the preponderance between large and small-scale production in agriculture continues undecided to this day . . .” That on the one hand; and on the other he says that: “precisely the application of Marx’s method” shows “that the law of concentration (i.e., the law concerning the concentration of capital and of enterprises) does not apply to agriculture. ”
Disproving Marxism “in instalments” could not satisfy Prof. Erik Nölting, a social-democrat and one of the most typical theoreticians of social-fascism. In one of his discourses entitled What does Marxism mean to its to-day? (reported in the Frankfurter Volksstimme of January 21st, 1928), he attempted to guillotine Marxism altogether.
He recapitulated his refutation of Marxism in ten points from which we can cull only a few excerpts:
1. Since Marx, capitalist society has changed in its basic structure . . . . The doctrine of crises is itself no longer tenable, as the crises of to-day have their origin in shocks that have arisen outside the process of production. . . .
2. As trade unions were formed, the labour market changed. . . . Marx taught that the worker must necessarily become impoverished, must sink lower and lower . . . . that his liberation would grow out of his destitution. But the most elevated sections are the basic troops of socialism. . . . Psychologically the theory of pauperisation is erroneous.
3. The peasant question remains entirely unsolved. Marx was a typical city dweller, an exile in flight. We assumed with him that the peasantry would travel the same path of concentration as the capitalists. . . . That is a very grave misapprehension, etc.
4. The problem of socialisation as Marx saw it is too narrow. In one place he wants social justice, then he wants the transfer of the means of production. . . . The socialisation proposal of Marx also lacks the concrete indication as to whom the means of production are to be transferred. This we missed in the revolution.
5. The cultural question found no solution in orthodox Marxism. . . . Marxism says that the proletarian stands in opposition to the bourgeois, hence his culture also stands in opposition to bourgeois culture. Cultures did not grow out of the economic structure, however much they were modified by it. The higher the proletarian rises the more the differences disappear. . . .
6. International questions also found no exhaustive solution in Marxism. The placard-like formula: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” screens the actually existing differences between the workers of the individual nations.
7. The democratic parliamentary state is a fact which can afford the proletariat the possibility of improving its position. You must utilise this and not deny the State in the old Marxist sense. . . . Marx is of the opinion that the State is to be destroyed. But we see that it will only pass from one hand to the other. It is neither a purely bourgeois nor a purely proletarian matter. In essence it is rather a matter of officials. (Exactly the programme of the presidential government of von Papen and von Schleicher. — B. K.).
8. The fact that there is an intermediate link between capitalism and socialism overcomes the Marxist conception of an explosive conversion from capitalism to socialism. This transitional phase finds threefold expression: (a) politically by coalition governments (Kautsky is the father of this idea. — B. K.); (b) economically by industrial democracy (Hilferding is the father of this idea. — B. K.); (c) socially through labour legislation (the paternity of this idea is difficult to establish, the entire international trade-union bureaucracy share the responsibility. — B. K.).
9. Why the concept of determinism is superfluous. Marxism is imbued with the belief that socialism must grow out of capitalism. Every movement seeks to base its raison d’être on hope in the determinism of its thesis.
Enough of this piffle of the most vulgar bourgeois science, which nevertheless, has one advantage in Prof. Nölting’s recapitulation, viz., that it contains almost everything that the leading theoreticians of the Second International have uttered at various times in refutation of Marxism. Marx passed judgment on such a garbled apology of capitalism, when in his preface to the first volume of Capital he wrote concerning these theoreticians that for them it is not a question
“Whether this or that theorem is true but whether it is useful or harmful, convenient or inconvenient for capitalism, whether allowed or not allowed by the police.”
We could multiply ad infinitum such and similar declarations of social-democratic theoreticians and practitioners; in which Marx is “refuted,” and forever “dethroned” They were especially numerous during the period of the relative stabilisation of capitalism when it seemed to them that Hilferding and Naphtali’s “organised capitalism” had for ever rendered “unreal” the “irksome” law of capitalist production discovered by Marx and Engels. In the days of “prosperity,” when it seemed to the social-democratic leaders that imperialism had overcome its post-war crisis, Marxism was thrown overboard as ballast by all parties of the Second International. Even its utilisation as a shibboleth to placate those who wanted to erect a bridge “between the past and the present of social-democracy” was reduced to a minimum.
But the period of shocks and jolts for industry and the end of relative stabilisation brought about by the accentuation of the world economic crisis in the capitalist countries, together with the simultaneous victorious advance of socialist construction in the Soviet Union (which it was impossible to conceal from the necessitous masses of the capitalist countries), the revolutionary upswing and the growing influx of the masses into the Communist Parties caused other winds to prevail. The practical as well as the theoretical victories of Marxism have compelled the enemies of Marxism to re-dress themselves in Marxian garb after all their seasonal theories have been torn to tatters.
After the election victory of the Communist Party of Germany on November 7th, two Marxian parties suddenly appeared in Germany on the horizon of the Vienna Arbeiterzeitung.
“Relatively the share of votes obtained by the two Marxian Parties has increased,” wrote. Mr. Otto Bauer or one of his lieutenants after, the Reichstag elections in November, putting a pleasant face on an unpleasant situation.
The Berlin organ of the Social-Democratic Party, the Vorwärts, reprinted with special emphasis this new discovery of Otto Bauer’s concerning the “two Marxist parties.”
Mr. Vandervelde who, after the miners’ strike in Borinage, had to record the fact that the reformistically organised Belgian workers were disinclined to follow the coalition policy of his party, wants to convince them in the name of “Marxism” that they ought to form a united front with the clericals instead of with the Communists. On the occasion of the last governmental crisis in Belgium he wrote in Le Peuple on December 11th:
“I am an old Marxist. I believe in the primacy of the economic factors. I am decidedly inimical to any reversion to political formulas that would push anti-clericalism again into the foreground. I would deprecate with all the power within me every action whose aim it would be to divide the working class still more against itself, by undertaking any attack whatever upon freedom of conscience and of instruction.”
“Religion is opium for the people,” wrote Marx. The chairman of the Second International is ready to falsely label himself an “old Marxist,” so that the workers may believe him when he advocates a coalition with the dispensers of this opium.
The Social-Democrats, still Marxists only by the grace of Hitler, go so far that, at their party congress in Germany which is being called during the period of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the death of Karl Marx, Marx actually figures on their congress agenda. Rudolf Hilferding, author of Finance Capital and most devoted servant and avid beneficiary of finance capital, will make the introductory report at the party congress on “ Marx and the Present Day.” So it comes that Marxists by the grace of Hitler now lay “voluntary” claim to Marx.
We would like to recommend two slogans for the streamers that will decorate the congress hall when Hilferding delivers his address. Even without the use of clubs or beer jugs these two slogans would of themselves denote a battle in the meeting hall yet might be most appropriate on this occasion when Hilferding holds forth on Marx.
One of these slogans is by Marx himself: —
“I am the mortal enemy of capitalism.”
The promulgator of the other slogan was not a simple revolutionist like Marx; he demands that his honorary titles be enumerated: Ex-Chairman of the Social-Democratic Party of Germany, Member of the Council of People’s Commissars in November, 1918, and First President of the German Republic. I refer to Friedrich Ebert. The watchword that is traceable to him and dates back to those same days of the November revolution reads:
“I hate revolution like poison.”
I entertain no hopes that this proposal of mine — although it would be a correct introduction to Hilferding’s discourse on “Marx and the Present Day” — will be accepted. On the contrary, I think it is highly probable that Hilferding will solve this “slight discrepancy between the conceptions of Marx and Ebert in his own fashion which savours of Austro-Marxism — as follows:
“Well, you see, it’s a matter of taste; this one hates capitalism, and that one revolution, but both were enamoured with Socialism!”
I think it is quite improbable that in his discourse Hilferding will deal with all questions that bear on his theme — especially such current topics as the development of social-democracy into social-fascism, its relation to fascism; the responsibility of the social democrats and the reformist trade unions for the lowering of the working-class standard of living; for the unemployment of millions.
These questions are of the utmost importance to the present-day labour movement. A correct reply to them can be made only by consulting Marx. This is the more necessary because many social-democratic workers feel offended if one speaks about their party as a social-fascist party and opine — quite in good faith — that the social-democratic party has retained something of Marxism. For this reason it is necessary to counterpose at least two important questions of the day; the relation of the social-democrats and the fascist’s to the bourgeois State, and the wage policy of social-democracy and fascism, to the Marxist conception of the State and wage policy.
Let us next consider whether the social-democratic conception of the State which lies at the bottom of the “proposals for a united front,” calling, as they do, upon the workers not only of Germany but of the entire world, to defend the Weimar Republic — whether this conception of the State, the expression of which is the Weimar Constitution, has anything in common with Marxism and whether there is any essential difference, any difference in principle, between it and the fascist conception of the State.
It is well known that Marxism represents the idea that the bourgeois State, and therefore the Weimar Republic also, is “the expression of the irreconcilability of class-contradictions,” of the antagonism between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, between capitalist and worker. The Weimar Constitution, its construction, cost the lives of tens of thousands of German proletarians, of their best leaders: Liebknecht, Luxembourg, Jogiches and others who were murdered by the myrmidons of Ebert, Noske and Wels in order to produce this Weimar Constitution with its Article 165 which lays it down that: —
“Workers and employees are to collaborate with the entrepreneurs on an equal basis in the regulation of the conditions of work and wages, as well as in the entire economic development of the productive forces.”
We see that this sentence in the Weimar Constitution, which was fought out in the democratic counter-revolution against the proletarian revolution, which the German worker is to defend according to the “proposals for a united front” made by Breitscheid, Kunstler, Otto Bauer, etc., has nothing in common with the Marxist conception of the “irreconcilability of class contradictions.”
But this sentence in the Weimar Constitution corresponds so much the more — both in meaning and language — to the conception of the State entertained by the fascists.
Mussolini gives utterance to this principle upon which the social-democrats harp so much as his own principle in the following modest words
“We have incorporated all forces of production in the State. Labour and capital have equal rights and equal duties; they must work together, their conflicts being adjusted by recourse to law and the courts.”
And the fascist constitutional charter in Italy, the “Carta del Lavoro” (Charter of Labour) contains the following article, corresponding to Article 165 of the Weimar Constitution:
“The trades corporations recognised by law guarantee equality before the law as between employers and employees. They maintain the discipline of production and promote its perfection.”
Turati, the former General Secretary of the Fascist Party of Italy, could point with pride to its theories of communes expounded in the “Carta del Lavoro”:
“The juridical recognition of the syndicates as organisations of public law, which are authorised to represent all productive forces of the country (the entrepreneurs and the workers by hand and brain), forms the basic principle of the Fascist State.”
day, especially the wage policy of the reformist trade unions.
The wage policy of all trade unions which arc not to be designated as yellow but as organs of the class struggle, as organs for the defence of the daily interests of the working class — not to mention the struggle for the abolition of the wage system — was based upon the theory of Marx, according to which
“The general tendency of capitalist production is not to raise the average normal wage but to lower it, i.e., to shift the value of labour more or less to its minimum” (Marx: Value, Price and Profit).
Tarnow, the German trade union leader, joins issue with Marx here, giving it as his opinion that:
“The individual entrepreneur may figure now as before, that lowering wages can only be to his advantage. But for the entrepreneurs as a whole, this manipulation can no longer be practised without doing injury to the interests of capital and profit of the entrepreneurs themselves.”
Marx was of the opinion that the workers must wage a struggle against the capitalists, varying in form, but persistent.
“The determination of the actual degree (i.e., the degree of exploitation) is ascertained by the incessant struggle between capital and labour; the capitalist constantly tries to force down wages to their physically lowest and to draw out the working day to the physically longest, while the worker constantly exerts pressure in the opposite direction. The matter is solved by the question of the relative forces of the participants in the struggle” (Value, Price and Profit), — such is the other thesis upon which the Marxian trade union policy is founded.
Messrs. Nölting, whose text book Introduction to Theoretical Economy is considered a semiofficial publication of the A.D.G.B., entertain a different opinion:
“The formation of wages” — we read in this social-democratic text book — “is beyond the reach of strikes and the arbitrary will of parties. Every attempt to influence wages collapses by reason of its internal impossibility . . . . trade union wage policy, especially of the organisation and the carrying through of wage strikes is a fruitless and fateful illusion; laws can not be abrogated by putsches. A revolution against wages would be as nonsensical as a revolution against the law of gravitation.”
It is difficult to imagine that anything in the works of the social-democratic theoreticians could possibly exhibit more open enmity against Marxism. None the less the following choice morsel comes from the pen of Naphtafi, whom Tarnow celebrated as the “Marx-substitute” of the reformist trade unions:
“To-day relations have changed essentially,” this great discovery announces. “Legal relationships are being established between entrepreneurs and worker. To-day we can no longer speak in general of exploitation of the workers by their employers.”
These “refutations” of Marxism are the principles which form the basis of the policy of the A.D.G.B. This was the basis of its attitude on the question of capitalist rationalisation, when word was passed round that the “organisation” of capitalism was to be advanced at the expense of the working class by means of capitalist rationalisation. Everything that vulgar economy could invent was set up by the German trade union leaders in opposition to Marxism, was set in motion by the theoreticians of the German reformist trade unions to have the workers believe that what was being done under capitalism was in defence of their interests, actually promoted the realisation of their interests, much better than could be done by a socialism after the model of a “certain Marx.” Die Arbeit, theoretical organ of the German trade unions, wrote at the time
“Every step in rationalisation is a lap on the way to the return to consumption economy, of course, big capitalist in form, but without big-capitalist spirit, and is consequently a big lump of socialisation. Thus a century-old dream is coming true.”
Every word of which is so much bosh and nonsense! None the less, this omnium-gatherum of idiocies was the theoretical basis upon which the reformist trade union members were “voluntarily” subjected by their leaders to capitalist wage pressure in the halcyon days of capitalist rationalisation.
Time, however, brought changes in trade union tactics and a newer refutation of Marxism. Rationalisation could not even adduce the semblance of proof that the laws of capitalist production — discovered by Marx — had lost their validity. The “organisation” of capitalism could not master the crisis even with the aid of capitalist rationalisation. The theory according to which capitalism is interested in high wages was thus disproved. It was not the “individual entrepreneur” but the bourgeois State, the agent of the capitalist class or to use Tarnow’s terminology — “of the entrepreneurs as a whole” which led the offensive against the wages of the working class. The industrial reserve army, the host of unemployed, grew to monstrous proportions during the crisis. Otto Bauer was immediately on the spot when a defence of social-fascist practice was to be “theorised” — the practice of the reformist trade unions which, by supporting the pressure upon wages, and because of the immense increase in unemployment, pressed the workers by supporting capitalist rationalisation, close to the border line of barbarism or even into barbarism itself. The new descriptive word of social-democracy for the defence of capitalist rationalisation was coined by Otto Bauer and is denominated “mistaken rationalisation.”
The same Tarnow who conducted the chorus of the German trade union bureaucrats when they sang the praises of capitalist rationalisation had to admit publicly that “precipitate and overzealous rationalisation was one of the main causes of mass unemployment.”
As the crisis sharpened the workers offered resistance to the capitalist offensive.
Marx’s theory of trade union wage policy says clearly on this point that the working class should “utilise any occasional possibilities for temporary improvements . . . . If it were to yield in cowardly fashion in its daily conflicts with Capital, it would most assuredly deprive itself of the capacity to undertake any major movement.”
But the question was precisely this: that the working class was to be restrained from utilising capitalism’s critical state dine to the crisis, restrained from these “major movements,” i.e., from the proletarian revolution, from the struggle for socialism. That is why the entire social-democracy — supported by all sorts of renegades — proclaimed the theory: “No wage struggles, no strikes, during the crisis!”
The strike is, of course, far from being a revolution, but to underestimate the revolutionary significance of strikes is anything but Marxism. Both the social-democrats and the reformist trade union leaders correctly appraised the revolutionary significance of strikes — especially in times of crises — (more correctly than many Communists who do not understand the revolutionary significance of partial demands and partial struggles), by the supreme efforts they made, and are making, to hold the workers back from strikes in order thereby to be able to defend capitalism against proletarian revolution.
That is why Tarnow, the arch-reformist, advanced exactly the opposite kind of tactics against the trade-union tactics advocated by Marxism. In his notorious Königsberg discourse on the world economic crisis — delivered at a time when wage cuts were being handed out at high-pressure speed — Tarnow raised strike-breaking, instead of reforms and minor alleviations, to the rank of a theory.
“The crisis should not be regarded from the standpoint of the working class. The crisis must be tided over within the framework of capitalist economy by the sacrifices of the working class necessary for that purpose.”
Now, whereas the trade-union theory and practice of social-democracy is the direct opposite of Marxian trade-union theory and practice, this theory of strike-breaking, enunciated by the social-fascists has all the traits in common with the fascist point of view as to the relation of the working class to the crisis and to wage movements. Small wonder, then, that while Tarnow was delivering himself of these astonishingly self-revealing sentiments, Hitler’s personal press organ, the Völkische Beobachter was actually printing its stand on the matter in these words:
“if in this situation the economic demands of Germany’s employees are examined from the point of view of right, it will be evident at first blush that reason is against them because the entire economic scheme as such is on the verge of collapse.”
Both declarations date back to November, 1930 — Tarnow’s as well as that of Hitler’s own paper.
Quite true, there have been few historical injustices to match the case of social-democracy which stands accused of Marxism for no reason whatever by its twin brother, fascism. The economic theory of social-fascism, the principles of which form the basis of the wage policy and the entire practice of the reformist trade unions, is as far distant from Marxism as it is close to the economic “theory” of national fascism.
The point of departure taken by the Marxist theory is that surplus value, which the employer appropriates in its entirety at the expense of the worker, has its origin in the process of production. From this fact follows the irreconcilable contradiction between the employer and the employee, the class contradiction between capitalist and wage worker. The point of departure of all vulgar economy, also of the economic “theory” of fascism is, on the contrary, the process of exchange. Profit springs not from the production of commodities but from their exchange.
But, according to the theories of both the fascists and social-fascists, harmony prevails in the process of production as between the interests of the capitalists and the wage workers.
This the programme of the N.S.D.A.P. (National Socialist Labour Party of Germany), expresses less scientifically than clearly by stating in its tenth paragraph:
“It must be the first duty of every citizen to do mental or physical work. The activity of the individual may not infringe upon the interests of the community, but must be pursued within the framework of the entire body politic and must accrue to the advantage of all.”
Alfred Braunthal, one of the best-known economic theoreticians of social-democracy, propounds a theory in opposition to Marxism which is scientifically formulated, but whose content corresponds fully to the fascist programme. This theory is set forth in his Present-Day Economy and its Laws, and is intended for use as a text book. There this disciple of Otto Bauer says:
“The theory of productivity, viewed from the angle of wages, doubtless has practical significance and can be justified in one point, for the following law accords with it: Any rise in wages finds an absolute limit in the productivity of labour. And vice versa: the greater the productivity, the higher wages can, under certain circumstances, rise. In this respect the theory of productivity is undoubtedly superior to the Marxist theory.”
it is “superior” because it represents the interests of the capitalists by seeking to persuade the workers that an increase in the productivity of labour occurs “in the interests of the community” and “within the framework of the entire body politic and must accrue to the advantage of all” — to use the words of the fascist programme.
Braunthal’s theory of wages strikes a different tune. There we are informed that:
“Of course not more can be divided than has been produced, and the more there is being produced, the more we have at our disposal for distribution. Therefore the worker is undoubtedly interested in the greatest possible increase in production. . . .” (Of course, everything Braunthal says has reference to the capitalist method of production. — B. K.).
While Braunthal bases the social-fascist theory of wages solely upon the harmony of interests between worker and employer in the capitalist process of production, Kautsky also found a different “reason” whereby the economic as well as the political struggle of the wage workers against the capitalists can be regarded as the fascists regard it, namely, as an infringement upon the “interests of the community.” In his preface to the popular edition of the second volume of Capital, Kautsky distorted this great work of Marx’s inter alia by the following sentence:
“In the process of circulation phenomena arise which are of the greatest moment for the weal and woe of the workers and which do not lose in weight by the fact that here workers and capitalists have identical interests up to a certain degree.”
“Identical interests” between workers and capitalists in the process of production as well as in the process of circulation. What else is there left? Against whom is the social-democratic worker to fight in the opinion of his theoreticians, his political and trade union leaders?
Nothing else remains but to fight against the workers who do not recognise these “identical interests between workers and capitalists,” against the Communists, against the revolutionary proletarians who adhere to the Marxian doctrine — that the contradictions between Capital and Labour, bourgeoisie and proletariat, are not identical but irreconcilable.
So what does it mean when now a few social-democratic leaders like Otto Bauer, Vandervelde and company, in their immediate propinquity to fascism, suddenly make the discovery, under the blows of the crisis and the revolutionary upsurge, that somewhere in some country there are “two Marxian parties” — perhaps also two Marxian labour internationals? What significance attaches to this discovery after Kautsky’s well-known statement that if what is going on in the Soviet Union — and what we all want to materialise throughout the world — is Marxism then his life had been in vain?
This discovery is nothing more or less than an attempt to parry the main blow of the revolutionary proletariat which, in the struggle for socialism, must necessarily be directed against the internal foe of the proletariat, against the social-democracy. The Otto Bauers,
“the people who,” as Marx and Engels wrote concerning such types in the labour movement, “under the guise of incessant hustle and bustle, not only do nothing themselves, but even endeavour to hinder others so that nothing but idle chatter results . . . these self-same people who see a reaction (which they help into the saddle. — B. K.), and then are perfectly astonished to find themselves in an impasse where neither resistance nor flight avail, the same people who want to cram history into their narrow philistine horizon and whom history passes by each time without taking note of them,”
these people, caught in a deadlock, now write concerning the unity which they have split. They vociferate about the defence of the interests of the workers whom they have sold and sell every day of the year. They inveigh against the “nonsense of the Communists” who direct their main blow against the newly-discovered “Marxian party.” All their clamour about unity is because they know that in the difficult times of this crisis, of preparation for imperialist war, of military intervention against the Soviet Union, the proletariat presses for unity of action.
The sort of united front the social-democrats, who raise the hue and cry against the Communists, want is exemplified by the conference of the leaders of the national committee of German youth organisations which met on November 26th at which all tendencies were represented, social-democrats as well as national-socialists, with the sole exception of the Communist youth. This conference, which had “Youth in the Struggle for Germany” on its agenda, is reported in the Gewerkschaftszeitung (Trade organ of the A.D.G.B., in an in panegyrics, as stating that:
“For the trade unions it was interesting to see that among the numerous groups represented at the conference of the Reich committee of the German youth organisations none could be found to sponsor a policy of laissez-faire. It is also noteworthy that in the concluding remarks by Prof. Flitner, as well as in various Press comments, the question was raised whether it was not time for the leaders of the youth organisations to endeavour to take a common and positive stand on concrete questions of the day.”
Naturally, the organ of the A.D.G.B. is in favour of a “common and positive stand on concrete questions of the day” between the social-democratic and the fascist youth. For where there is no essential difference of opinion in the main question of to-day: defence of capitalism or the shattering of capitalism, such a common attitude is not at all difficult to maintain.
There have been cases where the social-democrats have succeeded — in the interests of capitalism — in perverting the pressure of the proletariat for unity of action into a unity farce. There are still many proletarians, I am certain, who — under the influence of social-democracy and the reformist trade unions — still flail to differentiate between unity of action in the class struggle, and the unity farce that serves the interests of the bourgeoisie.
In an unpublished letter of Engels’ we find a splendid reply to Otto Bauer’s hypocritical jeremiads concerning the “nonsense of the Communists” who direct the main blow against the social-democrats, who want to realise the united front of the Communist and social-democratic, of the organised and the unorganised workers, but who are disinclined to enter into a “united front” with the misleaders of the social-democratic workers — with the leaders of the Second and the Amsterdam Internationals and their sections, whose bankrupt policy was characterised as follows by the Arbeiter Zeitung of October 9th, 1932:
“The German workers have sacrificed themselves for the State, have again and again placed their own interests after those of the State. The German bourgeoisie is thankful to them for this — through Hitler and Papen.”
In this letter from Engels to Bebel, dated January 20th, 1886, we find the following:
“In France the long-expected split has become a fact. The original rapprochement between Guesde and Lafargue, and Melon and Brousse could not be avoided, I suppose, on founding the party, but neither Marx nor I ever laboured under any illusions about the fact that this could not endure. The point in dispute is purely one of principle: whether the struggle is to be conducted as a class struggle of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie, or is it to be permitted in good opportunist fashion (or to translate it into socialist languageJpossibilist fashion) to drop the class character of the movement and the programme wherever more votes, more followers, can be gained by doing so. . . . The development of the proletariat is everywhere the result of internal struggles, and France, which now is forming a Workers’ Party for the first time, is no exception. We in Germany are beyond the first phase of the internal struggle. Other struggles are still ahead of us. Unity is all right as long as it lasts, but some things take precedence over unity. And when one has fought all one’s life more than anyone else against self-styled socialists, as Marx and I have done (for the bourgeoisie we tackled only as a class and almost never engaged in single combat with one cannot lose any tears over the inevitable struggle has the bourgeois) the fact that broken out.”
This is the corroboratory judgment of and Engels concerning the theory that the blow of the revolutionary masses in the struggle against the main enemy, the bourgeoisie — must be directed against social-democracy. This is the answer Marx and Engels have for political bankrupts who desire to manoeuvre their way out of the deadlock at the expense of the workers they have betrayed. This is the keynote for our activities to effect a real united front of the working class, a united front from below, in the daily struggles which must be led on to the decisive struggles for power.
The insurrection of the forces of production against private property in the means of production, against the capitalist production relationships which are the life springs of the bourgeoisie and its domination, has won greater vigour by the economically and politically decisive fact that the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics exists and is victorious, while the capitalist world has approached the point where the dynamiting of Marx main the capitalist relations of production commences. Never before has the bourgeoisie proved itself so clearly a “superfluous class” as now. In its own countries it contemplates the crisis with despair as it breaks out with ever-renewed fury. It founds its domination more and more upon open terror against its wage slaves, whose millions lack the absolute minimum of existence.
But in the country where Socialism has become a fact, in the Soviet Union, it is daily proven that the working class, freed from its exploiters and oppressors, now its own master and ruling in its own right in the Soviets, develops the socialised forces of production at a tempo that staggers imagination, while at the same time appropriating socially the social product of labour. By abolishing the conditions of life under which it lived in bourgeois society, it abolishes “all the inhuman conditions of life” that capitalism has created: no unemployment, abolition of the slavery of woman, abolition of the oppression of more than a hundred nationalities. The general crisis of the capitalist system means also a crisis for the material power of society, the power of the ruling class, especially in view of the simultaneous triumphal march of socialism in the Soviet Union. This crisis for the material power evokes at the same time a crisis of the ruling intellectual power, of the prevailing bourgeois ideology.
The capitalist system which cannot give bread nor work to tens of millions of its wage slaves can also no longer cover their intellectual needs with its ideologies, not even with “anticapitalist ideology,” can no longer constantly satisfy them. The period of the intensification of the general economic crisis is at the same time a period of crisis of all bourgeois ideologies which also figure as a means whereby the bourgeoisie may keep exploited and oppressed masses in check. The hunger of the masses, especially of the millions of young workers whose “graduation to life” takes place at a time of severest deprivations, of unemployment and terror, demands not only work and bread, but also a world outlook. The period of the general crisis has become the period of “grave doubts” on the part of the bourgeoisie. Words like dislocation, disintegration, internecine struggle, cataclysm, ruin and chaos are now in very common usage not only in the sphere of science but also of ideology.
“What is the point at issue?” queries someone active in fascist circles who arrogates to himself the rôle of ideologist of young Germany. “That is the decisive question which everyone who thinks at all must ponder, which gives him no peace and agitates his entire being. Is that which we are living through today the result and the aim of a development which has devoured untold sacrifice and which has shaken man from head to foot? Is this the end?”
But also in the victor countries, in France, in England, in the United States, the words written by Hegel in his Philosophy of History concerning the wars of Napoleon are more than applicable to their economy as well as to their ideology:
“No greater victories have ever been gained, no more genial moves have ever been made; but likewise the impotence of victory never appeared in a more striking light.”
The nationalism rampant in the countries of victor and vanquished alike is an expression of the impotence that has seized the world after the repartition of the world by the Versailles Peace Treaty and the Washington Convention had tenfold increased the number of potential startingpoints of war to-day. On the other hand, it is also the consequence of the impotence of the bourgeoisie in the province of home policy, an expression of the fact, that as a result of the crisis, it feels itself more and more constricted in the application of its ideology of social reforms and is constrained to have recourse almost exclusively to what is the sheerest national damagogy.
Pacifism — that falsification of the honest will of the workers to peace, first omen of instinctive protest against imperialist war and of the awareness of a reactionary character in the clandestine preparations of imperialist war and military intervention against the Soviet Union is undergoing a profound crisis. The bourgeoisie becomes less and less capable of concealing the fact that the cause of war lies in imperialist capitalism itself; that capitalism and war are inseparable. Those who used to be pacifists by honest conviction are experiencing a change of heart. They are forsaking pacifism and drawing nearer to the idea of revolutionary struggle against capitalism as the cause of war. This was one lesson taught by the Amsterdam Anti-War Congress. Those, on the other hand, who were not the deceived but the deceivers in the pacifist movements are now revealing themselves more and more to the masses as the pacifist agents in this work of preparation for imperialist war and intervention.
The “revalorisation of all values,” that expression of disbelief in all traditional ideologies which always tends to crop up among the bourgeoisie in all crises of capitalism, extends to all spheres of bourgeois ideology, but more especially to the problem of the possibility of survival for the capitalist system itself.
Those political and economic leaders, leading ideologists of the bourgeoisie, who still entertain the belief that capitalism can continue as of old, are “white ravens” indeed. The words of the bourgeois, as well as social-democratic economic healers of the bourgeoisie concerning “late-capitalism” and “organised capitalism,” only seek to veil the hideous fact that for them capitalism has come to the end of its tether and that of course an attempt must be made to save it somehow. Optimists are scarce. But their optimism is no less impotent than the gloomy forebodings of the pessimists.
“The danger that man will become the slave of his tool,” wrote Prof. Adolf Weber, one of the optimistic champions of capitalism after the crisis had set in, “cannot be averted by changing the economic system, but only by influencing the patterns of thought and soul-life of man.”
The accentuated crisis of capitalist economy surely greets this inane prattle with derisive laughter. For it “freed” forty to fifty million proletarians, who had become unemployed, from the “slavery of their tools.” It never even permitted the millions of youth to reach the status of “slaves of their tools.” “Influence upon the patterns of thought and the soul-life of man” — that is social-democracy; that is fascism. How long they will suffice to stem the rising tide of the proletariat beating against the capitalist system, against the bourgeoisie, is to-day the greatest worry of the capitalists and their ideology manufacturers.
In this period of “grave doubt,” of the “revalorisation of all values,” when everything in economy, in the machinery of power, in the ideology of capitalism, has been shaken to its deepest foundations, the edifice of Marxian doctrine stands firm and proud in all its parts and particles, untouched by the crisis of ideologies.
Prof. Schmalenbaeh, a most prominent bourgeois theoretician of industrial economy, has said with resignation:
“What difference is there in essence between what we are going through to-day and the fulfilment of the predictions made by Marx, the great socialist?”
Nor is it this “recognition” of Marx on the part of an ideologist of the bourgeoisie that most glaringly characterises the discomfiture of bourgeois ideology and its defeat by Marxism-Leninism. The following is perhaps less self-evident but none the less much more characteristic: the turning of the bourgeoisie, in its period of decline, away from everything it had created during its period of ascent. Marx and Engels — however much their theory was “rooted in the material economic facts” — in the theoretical elaboration of scientific socialism, derived their start from the best that the young bourgeoisie had created in its period of ascent in the realm of ideology, that being “the thought material on hand.”
This “thought material on hand” was supplied by German classical philosophy — primarily Hegel, English classical political economy, primarily Smith and Ricardo, and French socialism, primarily Saint Simon and Fourier. The elabortion of scientific socialism, of Communism, by Marx and Engels, proceeded theoretically in the form of a critique of these doctrines, i.e., by contrasting these doctrines with the objective facts and their coherence. All that transcended in these systems the limited borders of bourgeois thinking was rescued by Marx and Engels and given over to the proletariat.
The putrescent bourgeoisie in the period of its decline repudiates even the remnants of those intellectual products produced in the heyday of its development as a class.
Hugo Schulz, a bourgeois economist, recently confessed that the bourgeoisie had to abandon the classical theory of political economy as it could not combat Marxism from the standpoint of this theory. The period of the present crisis is the period of a revival of vulgar economy in the camp of bourgeois science to an extent never witnessed before. A refutation of all law in economy, and the rejection of every theory, is the main trait of these hirelings of bourgeois economy. For them the economic crisis is not a consequence of the regular economic development, its cause does not lie “in economy” but “in the soul”; it is a “crisis of confidence.” Vulgar economics like this have nothing in common with the classical theory of political economy which the best representatives of the young bourgeoisie elaborated in the struggle against feudalism that the capitalist method of production might be victorious.
German classical philosophy, which translated the great French revolution into the field of philosophy for the cowardly German bourgeoisie, is to-day as dead as a door nail as far as it (the German bourgeoisie) is concerned. Hegel, greatest representative of the classical school, is again singled out by the bourgeoisie for treatment as a “dead dog.” Marx and Engels linked up the dialectic method with the revolutionary side of Hegelian philosophy. They stripped dialectics of their mystical covering of Hegelian idealism. They turned dialectics “up-side down” by demonstrating that the “ideal” is nothing else than the “material” converted and translated in the mind of man.
The bourgeoisie in the period of its crisis had to repudiate Hegel since his dialectics were intolerable for it even in their idealistic covering. Hegelian dialectics preclude precisely that which is most necessary for the idealogists of the bourgeoisie in the course of the crisis: the contemplation of the existing, of the existing order of society, as something endowed with finality.
Flight from truth, flight into the “intellectual,” is a general phenomenon in bourgeois science. The one takes refuge in religion — not only Christian religions, but also the ancient heathen religions, as certain fascist tendencies in Germany do, in oriental religions, in Buddhism, like the English theosophists. Within the bourgeoisie multifarious schools of philosophical mysticism prosper. It is the religion of the refined bourgeoisie, which has lost faith in the Christian as well as in the Jewish god, inasmuch as the Jewish god in his unity and the Christian god in all his trinity have proved themselves incapable of preserving capitalism from the crisis.
Not even the youth is spared this flight from the truth. The youth movement which finds expression in the “back to nature” ideologies: the cult of the old Germanic; of the Celtic, all sorts of vegetarian sects, religious pacifism, etc., are nothing but disintegrated products of bourgeois ideology.
Social-democracy too takes flight “into the intellectual.” The English trade union bureaucrats and American Socialist leaders unite their bureauaratmc functions in the labour organisations with the post of preachers in various ecclesiastical sects. Religious socialists find more favour in the social-democratic parties than radical free-thinkers. Sollmann, a German social-democratic leader, professes positive Catholicism. Otto Bauer has become nothing less than a god-seeker who has elevated a timeless, spaceless, and classless “freedom of conscience” to be his social-democratic god. The worst kinds of inane idealism have replaced the old French materialism and even the idealism of classical German philosophy.
In France the various radical-socialist tendencies — which in a certain sense consider themselves heirs of the French Revolution and French socialism — have discarded all semblance of kinship with the great utopians of French socialism and the great French Revolution. The socialism of the great utopians sallied forth from the traditions of the French Revolution to the watchwords: liberty, equality, fraternity. For these watchwords the radical-socialist groups in France have substituted the trinity: Panama-scandal-corruption.
To-day more than ever it is appropriate, is the high duty of every Communist, of every young Communist worker, to bear aloft the flag of Marxism-Leninism, the revolutionary “doctrine of the conditions of victory the working class;” to make Marxism-Leninism the common property of all proletarians seeking a world philosophy and emancipation. This duty now becomes paramount in the period of “grave doubt,” which has penetrated even the ranks of the proletarian youth.
Special significance attaches to-day to Lenin’s words: “Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.” Millions of youth — without any trade or profession, millions of adults who are losing their professional training through unemployment, who have been thrown upon the street, are now in quest not only of “room to live” but also of a “principle of life,” of a guide to action that will enable them to win for themselves “room to live.” They need a revolutionary theory to be able to resist the seduction of fascist demagogy, of social-democratic hypocrisy.
The bourgeoisie not only holds on to its positions in the process of production; retains its hold on capitalist private property with all possible tenacity, with all the power of its material force up to and even after its overthrow, but also insists upon the propagation of its ideology no matter how low it is laid by the crisis. It does this the more in view of the fact that this ideology also represents a measure of power which helps it to maintain its shaken domination.
Fascism it is which, as a method of government having recourse openly to armed force, to terror, and as an ideology which is being applied wherever and whenever social-democracy alone is not adequate to act as intermediary in bringing bourgeois influence into the working class to keep the indignant proletariat in check, is the expression of this tenacious, desperate life-and-death struggle of capitalism for its domination, for its very existence.
To free the workers won by fascism, especially the young workers, from the ideology of despair that drove them to fascism is possible only in a persevering struggle conducted with the weapons of Marxist-Leninist theory. This, of course, refers no less to the masses of workers and young workers which directly or indirectly, under the influence of social-democracy, are unwilling props in the main support of bourgeois dictatorship. The superiority of Marxism-Leninism as the consciousness of the working class over fascism and social-fascism cannot be doubted. Here the question is, on the one hand, only this: that our practice in the political-economic struggle has not been sufficiently pervaded by this theory; on the other hand, that our theoretical struggle lags far behind the requirements necessary to destroy the ideological-political influence of social-democracy and fascism in the working class.
Let us be honest with ourselves, comrades. Let each one take stock of himself and confess how often he remembers that the historical struggle of the proletariat does not proceed only in two forms of struggle. How often are we mindful of what Engels wrote and what Lenin and Stalin always emphasised — that the historical struggle for the liberation of the proletariat must proceed not only in two forms, in the form of the political and economic struggle, but in three forms: in the form of the political, economic and theoretical struggle, if the proletariat is to attain victory.
I have no doubt but that especially the neglect of the economic front of the class struggle, the boycotting of trade union work on the part of many revolutionists which is customary in the Communist Parties — to-day rather covert but none the less existent — is the consequence of the inadequate theoretical insight into the conditions and methods of the revolutionary class struggle, the consequence of the lack of knowledge of Marxist-Leninist theory.
I now put another question, comrades: How often are we mindful of the facts recorded by Engels back in 1875, the beginning of the socialist mass movement, when he stated that:
“Indifference to all theory . . . . is one of the main causes responsible for the fact that the English labour movement, despite all the excellent organisations of its individual apparatus, creeps along at such a snail’s pace; and on the other hand, for the mischief and confusion which Proudhonism in its original form wrought among the French and the Belgians, and in a form more caricatured by Bakunin among the Spaniards and Italians.”
Translate this, English, French, Spanish and Italian comrades, into the language of the present-day movement in your respective countries. Think of the narrow “practicism” of the leaders of the English trade unions and of the Labour Party who “reject all theory.” In order to be able under this guise the more easily to smuggle all kinds of bourgeois and petty-bourgeois theories such as the theory of industrial peace and of guild socialism into the working class. Think of French syndicalism which exhibits many essential reactionary traces of petty-bourgeois Proudhonist anarchism; think of the reformist syndicalists, of the Minoritaries within and without the C.G.T.L.! Think of the Spanish anarcho-syndicalists who were and are the props of bourgeois counter-revolution in Spain and who with their caricature revolutionism mislead many good revolutionary workers and keep them back from the struggle for the advancing of the bourgeois democratic revolution into the stage of proletarian revolution.
And you, young Communists of Germany! Remember what Engels wrote concerning the German working class in whose ranks Marx fought his first battles:
“The German workers must be given credit for the fact that they exploited the advantage of their situation (as the birthplace of Marxism — B. K.) with rare ingenuity. For the first time since a labour movement has been in existence is the struggle being conducted harmoniously, co-ordinatedly and planfully on all its three fronts, the theoretical, the political and the practical-economic (resistance against the capitalists). Precisely in this what may be called concentrated attack lies the strength and invincibility of the German movement.”
Remember that in your victories also this good tradition of the German labour movement is and will continue to be effective; but reflect also whether the degree of concentration of the struggle to-day does not leave much to be desired in many instances.
No doubt the fact that we have been unable to enlarge our mass influence at the expense of Social-Democracy in all countries, of the anarcho-syndicalists in Spain and South America, of the reformist trade union leaders in the entire world, to the extent that this may have been possible in the given objective situation, is largely due to our failure to conduct our agitational and propaganda work among the masses sufficiently on principle, with an adequate Marxist-Leninist basis. To-day when everything — the crisis, the revolutionary upsurge, the end of capitalist stabilisation, the great fundamental questions, questions of principle, of the struggle for and the way to socialism, the question Dictatorship or Democracy? when the victories of socialist construction in the Soviet Union — places the question of classless society now confronting the broad masses of the workers inevitably upon the order of the day, this is an especially grave shortcoming in our mass work. The point is that Social-Democracy, because of the trouncing it is receiving at the hands of the revolutionary working masses in the capitalist countries, feels compelled to act as if it wanted to return to a “policy of principle.” The “Left” manuvres denote a broader exploitation of pseudo Marxian phraseology. These attempts to mislead the workers through these pseudo-Marxist phrases can be combatted successfully only by unfolding a thorough propaganda of Marxism-Leninism and by basing our day-to-day policy on a broad footing upon basic principles. Likewise dryness, pedanticism, bureaucracy, these poisonous weeds that often take root in our mass work and which youth can bear least — these too can be fought with no better means than by imbuing our day-to-day work with the revolutionary spirit and ardour of Marxism-Leninism.
Nor let us forget the problem of cadres, a question that is in as bad shape as our mass work. How can we burrow deep enough if in dealing with this question we do not act on the directions given by Engels:
“It is the duty of the leaders to enlighten themselves more and more on all theoretical questions, to free themselves more and more from the influence of traditional phrases appertaining to the old world philosophy and ever to bear in mind that socialism since it has become a science must needs be treated like one, i.e., be studied. The point will be to disseminate with steadily mounting zeal among the workers the increasingly clarified discernment thus gained, to weld the organisations of the Party as well as of the trade union associations ever closer together.”
Who can assert that the “influence of traditional phrases appertaining to the old world philosophy” — above all Social-Democratic conceptions in the Communist Parties as well as in the sections of the Young Communist International — is nonexistent and does not act as a stumbling block an our way to conquer the majoriy of the working class? One should not seek comfort in the belief that youth has no Social-Democratic traditions like their elders. Unfortunately the fact is that neither age nor youth guard against folly. Social-Democratic conceptions percolate into the Communist movement not only via custom and traditions. The strenuous efforts of the petty-bourgeoisie seeking to maintain its existence finds expression also in the ideological pressure which this moribund medial stratum of society (incapable itself of conducting any independent policy), steadily exerts upon the working class. The strength of the labour aristocracy consists not so much in its numbers as in its key position in production — especially to-day in the period of the crisis — and it is precisely this position which is utilised as a conduit to pump bourgeois ideology into the broad masses of the workers. Social-Democracy is nothing more or less than the bourgeois poison that is innoculated through the petty-bourgeoisie, through the labour aristocracy, day by day into the heads of the workers. The sole and exclusive antidote in the Marxist-Leninist enlightenment of the workers through cadres trained for that purpose. It would be a denial of Marxism-Leninism, which is the revolutionary consciousness of the working class, an anti-Bolshevik deference to spontaneity, to think that without a thorough Marxist-Leninist education the officials of our Party and youth organisation can be made into leading Bolshevik cadres free from petty-bourgeois social-democratic inhibitions, into cadres that understand politics — the art of figuring with millions, the art of leading millions — who, in the coming war will do their bit without any hesitancy, who can lead the proletariat to victory!
Look at the Party of the Bolsheviks, hardened and steeled in three revolutions, in civil wars and last but not least in splits and in the struggle for the erection of the united front of the working class! This Party learnt the art of conquering in the political and economic struggle by never neglecting the theoretical struggle, by making splendid use of the burnished weapons of Marxist theory in the struggle against the Mensheviks as well as the “Left” currents.
Consider our two greatest and most victorious leaders: Lenin, the greatest theoretician and tactician of the proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat — and the perpetuator of his work, Stalin, the theoretician and tactician of socialist construction. It was and is their greatest source of strength, and at the same time their greatest pride, that they were and are the best disciples of Marx and Engels who devoted a major portion of their knowledge and their revolutionary fighting energy to the struggle on the theoretical front, to the defence of Marxism-Leninism against every counterfeit.
Proud and eager for battle we claim:
Marx is ours!
But we must take possession of him if we are to be accoutred for battle and victorious.
We must permit the broad masses of adult and young workers to share this possession of ours, so that they may he transformed into conscious fighters for the cause of the liberation of the working class and into conscious builders of socialism through the dictatorship of the proletariat.
East and West, North and South, the proletarian millions rally to the red banner of the Communist International of Marx, Engels and Lenin! From the tops of the industrial titans of the Soviet Union the five beams of light radiating from the Soviet star illumine the path to be trod by the proletarians and oppressed peoples of all five continents, who crave and fight for bread, work and liberation. The capitalist system, the power of the exploiters and oppressors, the power of the imperialist bourgeoisie, rocks to its very foundations. The more we strain our every effort to see to it that Marxist theory, penetrates the masses, the more this theory becomes the force that will deal the death blow to the power of the bourgeoisie!
The time has come for the proletariat to carry out this world-liberating deed in pursuance of its historical mission discovered by Marx: it is now!
Let the petty bourgeois denizens, the pedants, the philistines, the counterfeiters of Marxism, the traitors to the working class, the murderers of its best leaders and fighters shriek to their hearts’ content about the “dislocation, ruin and chaos” which it is claimed the revolution will call forth — the proletariat, flying the flags of the Communist International, will pursue its road plotted by Marx and Engels and graded by Lenin and Stalin. The call then is forward along the road of struggle for the socialist revolution, for the dictatorship of the proletariat, for the victory of communism throughout the world! | <urn:uuid:39e85732-46e6-4e3b-a174-d8d663715320> | CC-MAIN-2016-07 | https://www.marxists.org/archive/kun-bela/pamphlets/1932/12.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-07/segments/1454701150206.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160205193910-00257-ip-10-236-182-209.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95705 | 23,357 | 3.21875 | 3 |
First Nations across the country deal with aging or decrepit infrastructure every day with little hope for improvements due
to lack of funds or investment. A recent study by the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships states that experts estimate the infrastructure deficit across First Nations in Canada to be at least $25 billion and even higher than $30 billion.These infrastructure investments need to be sustainable. They need to meet the needs of the present without compromising the needs of future generations.
They need to support the development of employment opportunities for First Nation communities. Research has to be done to ensure all costs over the entire life cycle have been considered to ensure there will be sufficient funds to cover those costs.
Financing gaps occur because many First Nations don’t use all available fiscal tools or don’t have sufficient fiscal capacity. Examples of fiscal tools include annual property tax and other local revenues, long-term debentures, development cost charges and service taxes, public-private partnerships and transfers from other governments. Transfer funds from other governments are not stable enough for debenture financing as the amount of transfer funds is determined by the current elected government and would likely change with the election of a new government.
The FMA was designed to provide expanded tools to finance infrastructure and help facilitate the fiscal tools identified above. The FMA provides scheduled First Nations with expanded authority to make taxation laws that include property taxes, services taxes, development cost charges, business activity taxes and user fees.
Project Management gaps occur where there is insufficient experience or expertise to efficiently and cost effectively manage and build infrastructure projects. There is little experience within First Nation administrations to manage all elements of an infrastructure project. Also, few First Nation government administrations have the administrative framework in place to support either private or public investment. This includes missing statistical information and certified administrative capacity.
The FNTC is supporting First Nation proponents of a First Nations Infrastructure Institution (FNII) to be created under the FMA. The FNII could help close capacity gaps and provide higher value for money for the significant impending First Nation infrastructure investments by providing assistance to First Nations through:
- Implementing standards and laws required to support infrastructure projects and improve investment climates;
- Assessing infrastructure project readiness and developing an infrastructure development plan;
- Developing integrated infrastructure planning;
- Creating administrative capacity to assess appropriate costs for infrastructure projects;
- Creating capacity to efficiently project manage and build infrastructure projects;
- Creating certified training and systems for First Nation administrations to support the operation of sustainable infrastructure systems;
- Advocating for the development of new FMA revenue streams within an improved fiscal framework to finance infrastructure projects; and
- Assessing infrastructure risks and developing risk management strategies.
The proposed FNII could help fill the infrastructure capacity gaps faced by many First Nation governments in Canada. By filling the planning, financing, project management, and legal gaps, the new FMA institution can support First Nations in the development of economically and fiscally sustainable infrastructure projects. | <urn:uuid:dfe66737-2220-4bfa-929c-c9c927aa0f6d> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | http://fntc.ca/infrastructure-institution-needed-to-address-25-billion-infrastructure-deficit-among-first-nations-in-canada/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549423723.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20170721062230-20170721082230-00470.warc.gz | en | 0.92361 | 601 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Location: Floral and Nursery Plants Research Unit
2012 Annual Report
Complete experiments involving cucumber mosaic virus resistance in transgenic Gladiolus plants that contain either the CMV coat protein subgroup 1 or subgroup 2, CMV replicase, or single chain antibodies to the CMV coat protein.
Optimize the transformation system for Easter lilies and Ornithogalum using either the gene gun or Agrobacterium. Develop a transformation system for roots of Easter lilies using Agrobacterium rhizogenes.
Transgenic Gladiolus plants with D4E1 and cpo have been developed using the gene gun and are being grown for challenging with Fusarium in the greenhouse. Gladiolus will also be transformed with various chitinase genes for possible resistance to Fusarium.
Evaluate effectiveness of genetically engineered resistance to Fusarium oxysporum in Gladiolus by comparison to biological control technologies.
Develop Easter lilies that are resistant to the nematode Pratylenchus penetrans, the root lesion nematode. Genes involved in nematode development will be isolated and tested for their ability to kill Pratylenchus penetrans for affect its reproduction using RNAi.
Transgenic Gladiolus lines containing the synthetic antimicrobial peptide D4E1 were challenged with Fusarium oxysporum in vitro, and two lines were selected for further study based upon having the most resistance in vitro.
Conditions have been optimized for transformation of lilies using the gene gun. Direct bombardment of bulb scales resulted in a 6% transformation frequency. Conditions for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation were optimized based upon transient GUS expression, but stable transformants were not recovered using the optimized conditions.Kamo, K.K., Aebig, J., Guaragna, M.A., James, C., Hsu, H., Jordan, R.L. 2012. Transgenic Gladiolus plants containing single-chain fragment antibodies to Cucumber mosaic virus. Plant Cell Tissue And Organ Culture. 110:13-21. | <urn:uuid:1a198f68-813b-4bc9-8b94-dafe24023cde> | CC-MAIN-2014-10 | http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?ACCN_NO=419882&showpars=true&fy=2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1393999673608/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305060753-00014-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.872994 | 436 | 2.5625 | 3 |
To keep yourself healthy and strong, you have to go grocery shopping. But to help keep the world around you healthy and strong, too, you might want to think twice about how much waste you’re creating through the grocery shopping you do.
For most people, there is a lot of room for improvement in this area. So to help you see how you might make some positive changes, here are three tips for more sustainable grocery shopping.
Commit To Wasting Less Food
It’s almost scary to think about how much food the average person wastes. Especially when you consider how many people around the world are struggling to just get enough to eat, it can seem shameful to throw away the amount of food that doesn’t get eaten in more developed countries. To combat this problem, you and your family should try to commit to wasting less food.
This commitment starts when you’re at the grocery store. As a good place to start, try shopping for less food each time you go to the grocery store or market. If you plan to get food that will only last you for two or three days, there’s a much smaller chance that you’ll waste that food.
In addition to being better at shopping as a way to waste less food, you can also be more conscious of how you’re storing your food once you get home from the grocery store. This can help your food keep for longer so you’re not having to throw it out before you get around to eating it.
Bring Reusable Bags
In many places, you now can’t get plastic grocery bags to carry your purchase home unless you pay extra for them. So with this in mind, you should try to always remember to bring reusable grocery bags or totes with you to the grocery store.
Along with reusable grocery bags to carry out everything you’ve purchased from the store, you can also get reusable bags for things like produce or bulk grain so that you’re not having to buy as much disposable plastic in other areas, too.
Purchase Biodegradable Or Compostable Products
If you are going to purchase something that comes in a plastic container or has plastic in the packaging, try to find plastic that is biodegradable or compostable so that you don’t have to just throw that time in the garbage. Especially if you already have a compost pile at home, it can be very helpful to have these types of products put into your mix, along with things like egg cartons and other brown materials.
If you’ve realized that you come home from the grocery store with a lot of waste, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you discover ways that you can make your shopping experiences more sustainable. | <urn:uuid:85408183-2e5f-4195-afde-8daf6112807b> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://theboredninja.com/3-tips-for-more-sustainable-grocery-shopping/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947474641.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20240225171204-20240225201204-00877.warc.gz | en | 0.964898 | 569 | 2.75 | 3 |
Introduction from the NIV Study Bible | Go to Habakkuk
Little is known about Habakkuk except that he was a contemporary of Jeremiah and a man of vigorous faith rooted deeply in the religious traditions of Israel. The account of his ministering to the needs of Daniel in the lions’ den in the Apocryphal book Bel and the Dragon is legendary rather than historical.
The prediction of the coming Babylonian invasion (1:6) indicates that Habakkuk lived in Judah toward the end of Josiah’s reign (640–609 b.c.) or at the beginning of Jehoiakim’s (609–598). The prophecy is generally dated a little before or after the battle of Carchemish (605), when Egyptian forces, which had earlier gone to the aid of the last Assyrian king, were routed by the Babylonians under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar and were pursued as far as the Egyptian border (Jer 46). Habakkuk, like Jeremiah, probably lived to see the initial fulfillment of his prophecy when Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians in 597.
Among the prophetic writings, Habakkuk is somewhat unique in that it includes no oracle addressed to Israel. It contains, rather, a dialogue between the prophet and God (see Outline). (The book of Jonah, while narrative, presents an account of conflict between the Lord and one of his prophets.) In the first two chapters, Habakkuk argues with God over his ways that appear to him unfathomable, if not unjust. Having received replies, he responds with a beautiful confession of faith (ch. 3).
This account of wrestling with God is, however, not just a fragment from a private journal that has somehow entered the public domain. It was composed for Israel. No doubt it represented the voice of the godly in Judah, struggling to comprehend the ways of God. God’s answers therefore spoke to all who shared Habakkuk’s troubled doubts. And Habakkuk’s confession became a public expression—as indicated by its liturgical notations (see note on 3:1).
Habakkuk was perplexed that wickedness, strife and oppression were rampant in Judah but God seemingly did nothing. When told that the Lord was preparing to do something about it through the “ruthless” Babylonians (1:6), his perplexity only intensified: How could God, who is “too pure to look on evil” (1:13), appoint such a nation “to execute judgment” (1:12) on a people “more righteous than themselves” (1:13)?
God makes it clear, however, that eventually the corrupt destroyer will itself be destroyed. In the end, Habakkuk learns to rest in God’s sovereign appointments and await his working in a spirit of worship. He learns to wait patiently in faith (2:3–4) for God’s kingdom to be expressed universally (2:14). See note on 3:18–19.
The author wrote clearly and with great feeling, and he penned many memorable phrases (2:2,4,14,20; 3:2,17–19). The book was popular during the intertestamental period; a complete commentary on its first two chapters has been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls (see essay, p. 1939).
- Title (1:1)
- Habakkuk’s First Complaint: Why does the evil in Judah go unpunished? (1:2–4)
- God’s Answer: The Babylonians will punish Judah (1:5–11)
- Habakkuk’s Second Complaint: How can a just God use wicked Babylonia to punish a people more righteous than themselves? (1:12—2:1)
- God’s Answer: Babylonia will be punished, and faith will be rewarded (2:2–20)
- Habakkuk’s Prayer: After asking for manifestations of God’s wrath and mercy (as he has seen in the past), he closes with a confession of trust and joy in God (ch. 3)
© Zondervan. From the Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Used with Permission.
Published Wednesday, January 15, 2014 | <urn:uuid:d614db58-83bd-49d0-b041-99b5138e6e50> | CC-MAIN-2014-42 | http://www.biblica.com/en-us/bible/online-bible/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/intro-to-habakkuk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414119646519.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20141024030046-00054-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958765 | 923 | 3.0625 | 3 |
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Best Management Practices (BMP) - Anything we do
regularly to manage something (in this case stormwater) in the best way
possible. More specifically, any policy, maintenance procedure, prohibition, or
other management activity intended to prevent or reduce pollution. Some examples
of BMPs are: treatment facilities to remove pollutants; operation and
maintenance procedures; practices to control runoff, spills or leaks, waste
disposal, and drainage from stored materials; erosion and sediment control
practices; ordinances and rules.
Illicit Discharge - Anything entering the County's MS4 or other regulated
waterbodies, directly or indirectly, that is not purely stormwater. There are
some exemptions, such as firefighting activities, but these must be specifically
listed in an ordinance or rule. Any discharge in violation of a NPDES permit is
also considered an illicit discharge.
Measureable Goals - Specific quantifiable tasks a permittee agrees to
accomplish to meet the BMPs it has chosen in its NOr.
Minimum Measures - The six basic requirements of NPDES Phase II permits.
Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) - The publicly owned system
of pipes, ditches, drains, ponds, and other man-made devices for handling
stormwater. Two key points are (1) that the system has to be operated by a local
government and (2) it has to discharge to "Waters of the US", "Waters of the
State", or connect to another MS4.
The word "separate" means that it is separate from the sanitary sewer system
which handles toilets, showers, etc. It distinguishes storm sewers from the old
"combined" sewers that handle both types of water. We don't build "combined"
sewers anymore, but they still exist in some older places. To protect the public
health, combined sewers have to be regulated differently.
NPDES - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. This is the name
given to the US EPA's water permitting programs (including stormwater, domestic
wastewater, and industrial wastewater discharges).
Nonpoint Source Pollution - Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, is pollution
that comes from many diffuse sources. The opposite is Point Source pollution,
like what would come from industrial and sewage treatment plants. Think of it
just like the name, if you can point to the source (this pipe, or that lot of
land) it's a Point Source, if you can't it must be NPS pollution. When water
runs along the ground it picks up pollutants like dirt, chemicals, and trash,
then dumps them into waterbodies or soaks them into the ground water. Imagine
the path taken by a drop of rain from the time it hits the ground to when it
reaches a river. Essentially, anything we put on the ground will eventually get
into our waters.
NPS pollution is widespread because it can occur anytime and anywhere. Septic
systems, runoff from streets and yards, construction, recreational boating,
agriculture, forestry, grazing, altered stream channels, and degraded habitats
are all potential sources of NPS pollution. Careless handling of wastes at home
also contributes to NPS pollution.
Notice of Intent - The application to be covered under an NPDES generic
permit. This is where a permittee lists its BMPs and Measurable Goals.
Stormwater Management Program - The program a local government develops
to accomplish the tasks of the NPDES permit.
For complete information on the Florida NPDES
Stormwater Program including Rules, Forms and more, visit the FDEP website at: | <urn:uuid:4ed537d1-7f8d-477d-adfa-5971cca98448> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://www.hernandocounty.us/npdes/terminology.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657132495.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011212-00338-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902055 | 794 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Increases In Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Use And Decreases In Condom Use: Behavioral Patterns Among HIV-Negative San Francisco Men Who Have Sex With Men, 2004-2017
AIDS and Behavior
Using data from the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance of men who have sex with men (MSM), we estimated the prevalence of sexual behaviors among HIV-negative San Francisco MSM between 2004 and 2017. We estimate a recent increase in the 1-year prevalence of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, from 9.8% in 2014 to 44.9% in 2017. Over that same period, we estimate a decrease in the prevalence of consistent condom use, from 18.5 to 9.4%, and an increase in the percent of individuals with multiple condomless anal intercourse partners. We conclude that while risks for HIV infection may be decreasing among San Francisco MSM due, in part, to increases in PrEP use, the population faces increased risks for other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Because PrEP alone does not protect against other STIs, we strongly recommend that PrEP users use condoms when possible, routinely screen for STIs, and disclose infections with sexual partners.
Locate the Document
Chen, Y.-H., Snowden, J. M., McFarland, W., & Raymond, H. F. (2016). Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Use, Seroadaptation, and Sexual Behavior Among Men Who Have Sex with Men, San Francisco, 2004-2014. AIDS And Behavior, 20(12), 2791–2797. Retrieved from http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmedm&AN=26983951&site=ehost-live | <urn:uuid:222bea50-d333-494a-939a-a8da901168aa> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/sph_facpub/155/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347390758.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20200526112939-20200526142939-00258.warc.gz | en | 0.747328 | 385 | 2.546875 | 3 |
A lithium ion battery is a family of rechargeable battery types, the 18650 rechargeable battery is a typical example. When lithium ions move between anode and cathode it charges and discharges. This battery is also termed as secondary battery the reason is that , it can be charged and discharged repeatedly up to 4,000 cycles.
Lithium ion batteries are utilized in wide range of applications such as cell phones, power tools , solar system, motorcycles, RVs, boat, power station, digital cameras , vehicles and laptops as they are able to store high amount of electricity.
1.What to do with used lithium batteries?
Used lithium batteries or gadgets having these batteries should not be thrown away in domestic waste bin. After their primary use in vehicles or gadgets we can utilize these batteries again by reusing and recycling.
2.How long do used lithium batteries take to degrade?
Lithium batteries start to degrade during use. This is due to battery’s underlying chemistry which cause inevitable chemical reactions to occur inside the battery during use. Used lithium batteries are very sensitive to temperature. The rate of degradation of lithium ion batteries increases as soon as the intensity of temperature increases.
The rate of degradation also increases when the structure of electrodes damages. This happens as a result of the migration of mobile ions in and out of the two electrodes. If used in proper conditions lithium ion battery can last for 4000 cycles. If we talk about the voltage of lithium ion battery, not all lithium batteries have the same voltage. Ternary lithium batteries have a voltage of 3.7V, while lithium iron phosphate batteries have a voltage of 3.2V.
3.Can used lithium batteries be restored?
In general, used lithium-ion batteries can still be used, as long as there is no damage inside of the battery that causes battery failure. However, it is possible that this kind of battery has been placed for a long time. Due to the existence of the self-discharge phenomenon of the battery, it has no electricity and becomes dead battery. When lithium ion battery contains no more electrical power we consider it dead. But it still can be restored and one should at least try to restore it before disposing it. We can restore the used lithium ion battery by different ways mentioned below :
Lithium-ion batteries may go into sleep mode after battery capacity being drained for an extended period of time. Even lithium-ion batteries self-discharge at a very low rate. When lithium-ion batteries reach a low-discharge condition, their protective circuits immediately shut down. In order to restart a protection circuit, certain analyzers and lithium-ion battery chargers need relatively little electrical power. The right voltage is essential for charging lithium battery.
Deep discharges, which deplete the battery's internal power to achieve a deeper recharge, require some unconventional methods. A near-dead lithium-ion battery is fully discharged and then recharged to activate the battery. The idea is to discharge the battery in a deep way, depleting its internal power to achieve a deeper charge, which requires some unconventional methods
4.Can used lithium batteries be reused?What are used lithium batteries used for?
Lithium-ion batteries are secondary batteries that can be charged and discharged repeatedly. Unlike nickel-cadmium battery/Ni-Cd, which have a memory effect, they can be recharged on demand. Over time, lithium-ion batteries degrade in capacity and performance. But that doesn't mean that used lithium-ion batteries will drop to zero capacity at the end of their useful life. Used lithium-ion batteries can be reused once their useful lifespan is over.
In fact, lithium-ion batteries that reach the end of their useful life typically hold 80% of their capacity and they still retain 80 percent capacity for many years. It's called secondary life of used lithium batteries. Depending upon their conditions, used lithium-ion batteries can deliver extra 5 to 8 years in Second life functions. These reused lithium Batteries can be used in milder scenarios, though they are no longer suitable for high-performance scenarios, as shown below:
So these reused lithium batteries can be used to assist reduce environment impact and increase supply security. They are used to store stationary energy. These batteries increase material efficiency and bring significant value to automotive and energy industries as well as society.
5.How much is a used lithium-ion battery worth?
Following are some of the primary advantages of reused lithium batteries: High level of security, resource use is reduced, affordable, multiple uses, consists results and sustainability. The worth of used lithium batteries is perhaps only 100 US dollar per ton to 3000 Us dollar per ton. They might be 30 to 70 percent less expensive than new one’s. The expense of collecting, sorting and delivering used lithium ion battery to a recycler on the other hand , far out weights the scrap value.
6.What happens to lithium batteries at end of life?
At the end of life the used lithium batteries have great potential to be reused into second life batteries to use in the applications that require less effort. If a battery can not be used in second application the constituents of it may be recycled.
① Process of Recycling
From the perspective of the application field of recycled batteries, the recycling and reuse of lithium batteries can be divided into two aspects: 1) Echelon utilization of batteries conforming to the energy attenuation degree; 2) Recycle the batteries that cannot be used in steps, recover nickel, cobalt, manganese, lithium and other materials in them, or repair the regenerated battery materials, so as to improve the recycling value.Recycling of lithium ion battery can be done by chopping the battery into small pieces. After chopping the small pieces are crushed into powder. Finally the powder is melted at high temperature. It can also be dissolved by some acid.
② Precautionary measures to increase the life span of lithium ion battery
Lithium-ion batteries work by moving ions between positive and negative electrodes. In theory, lithium-ion batteries could work forever under this mechanism. However, as time goes by, the performance of the battery declines because the charge-discharge cycle is accompanied by temperature rise and battery aging. The average life of used lithium ion battery can be increased. This can be achieved by keeping in mind the following precautions :
Lithium batteries work best at room temperature, its operating temperature is -20-60℃. Using lithium batteries at high temperatures, charging them or storing them for long periods of time can permanently reduce their capacity. Do not overcharge or overdischarge, and keep the charge at about 20% to 80%. It is recommended not to use fast charging. Otherwise, the battery life will be damaged by excessive current.
Do not discharge the battery when the maximum discharge current is exceeded. Otherwise, the battery core or protection panel may be damaged. In serious cases, high temperature may cause other serious accidents. Batteries are best transported and stored at less than 80% full charge and do not store the battery for a long time when the battery discharge is below 30%.
7.Are used lithium batteries bad for the environment?
Used lithium batteries have impact on environment. When lithium ion batteries complete their life cycle many people throw it in their domestic recycle bin. But remember! this is not the right method to get rid of them. As after the completion of first life they still have 80 percent of capacity . Therefore they are combustible and have tendency to catch fire. Carelessly discarding used lithium batteries will have a certain impact on the environment, but the impact is not significant.
Lithium batteries do not contain or produce any lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxic and harmful heavy metal elements and substances regardless of production, use or scrap. Lead-acid and nickel-chromium batteries, which contain toxic elements such as heavy metals, pollute the environment more, while lithium-ion batteries are more environmentally friendly than other batteries. On the other hand, cobalt, lithium, copper and plastics in waste lithium batteries are precious resources with high recycling value. Therefore, scientific and effective treatment and disposal of spent lithium battery not only has significant environmental benefits, but also has good economic benefits.
Despite of their harmful impact on environment they are less hazardous as compare to other EV batteries. The reason is that compared with traditional batteries such as lead acid, nickel chromium and nickel hydride, lithium batteries do not produce any lead, mercury, cadmium and other toxic and harmful heavy metal elements and substances, and relatively less pollution. That is why they are more environmental friendly since they don’t contain any substance with high environmental load
So we can say that lithium ion batteries are much more useful than many other batteries because they are less hazardous as compare to other batteries. Also thanks to lithium battery high energy density, it can store high energy per unit volume, no other battery can store 5 times more energy in same space as lithium ion batteries. | <urn:uuid:55212604-4199-4423-9e83-24185b285d3c> | CC-MAIN-2022-49 | https://www.tycorun.com/blogs/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-used-lithium-batteries | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-49/segments/1669446710488.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20221128070816-20221128100816-00322.warc.gz | en | 0.920036 | 1,854 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Loss of species that pollinate is cause for global alarm, researchers say
Published 4:00 am, Thursday, October 19, 2006
Birds, bees, bats and other species that pollinate North American plant life are losing population, according to a study released Wednesday by the National Research Council. This "demonstrably downward" trend could damage dozens of commercially important crops, scientists warned, because three-fourths of all flowering plants depend on pollinators for fertilization.
American honeybees, which pollinate more than 90 domestic commercial crops, have declined by 30 percent in the past 20 years. This poses a challenge to agricultural interests such as California almond farmers, who need about 1.4 million colonies of honeybees to pollinate 550,000 acres of their trees. By 2012, the state's almond farmers are expected to need bees to pollinate 800,000 acres.
Gene Robinson, an entomologist at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and one of the 15 researchers who produced the report, said U.S. farmers had to import honeybees last year for the first time since 1922, underscoring the extent of the problem.
"The honeybee industry is at a critical juncture," Robinson said. "The time for action is now."
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A number of factors have cut pollinators' numbers in recent decades, the researchers said. Pesticides and introduced parasites such as the varroa mite have hurt the honeybee population. Bats, which carry pollen to a variety of crops, have declined as vandalism and development destroyed some of their key cave roosts.
John Karges, a Nature Conservancy conservation biologist who works with the federally endangered Mexican long-nosed bat in west Texas, said the bat's U.S. population fell from 10,000 in 1967 to 1,000 in 1983. The species feeds on nectar from the agave plant, which can be used to produce a sweetener as well as tequila.
"This bat is rare and suspected of declining rangewide," said Karges, noting that it can now be spotted only at one protected cave site in Big Bend National Park. "I don't think anyone's looking at it annually or closely."
The declines have been gradual and in some instances are hard to quantify, the committee concluded. But the panel's chairwoman, entomologist May Berenbaum of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, said in a statement that there is already cause for alarm.
"Despite its apparent lack of marquee appeal, a decline in pollinator populations is one form of global change that actually has credible potential to alter the shape and structure of terrestrial ecosystems," Berenbaum said.
Animals carry pollen, which they pick up inadvertently while feeding on a plant's nectar, and transfer it from one flowering plant to another, sometimes over significant distances. The process not only boosts plant production but increases species' genetic diversity.
Animal pollinators fertilize more than 187,500 flowering plants worldwide. Scientists believe these plants, called angiosperms, gained ecological dominance more than 70 million years ago in part because animals help them disperse their pollen so broadly. Other pollinators include hummingbirds and butterflies, as well as wild bees.
"Canadian black bears need blueberries, and the blueberries need bees" for pollination, Kevan said. "Without the bees you don't have blueberries, and without the blueberries you don't have black bears."
Despite this crucial link, Robinson said, many ordinary citizens fail to grasp how important pollinators are to food production.
European researchers also have documented serious declines: The diversity of bee species has declined by 40 percent in the United Kingdom and 60 percent in Holland since 1980. Europeans have more detailed records of pollinators than Americans, said University of Arizona entomologist Stephen Buchmann, partly because they have more amateur taxonomists keeping track of them. | <urn:uuid:e3729262-5ab8-47b8-8164-1fda96cfdb84> | CC-MAIN-2017-22 | http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Loss-of-species-that-pollinate-is-cause-for-2486251.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463607849.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20170524173007-20170524193007-00508.warc.gz | en | 0.952591 | 812 | 3.109375 | 3 |
“Well, I have learned a little of the soldier’s life; I have learned how to make a charge when the command is given, and how to stand my ground and stay with the boys during the battle, and also that some of the boys had to fall.”
—William Pollock, Troop D
Cuba, July 1, 1898. That afternoon was a footrace to the top of San Juan Hill. United States Army Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt and some 300 men—a mix of Rough Riders and white and black Regulars—ran through the tall grass, Mauser bullets cutting the air around them. Suddenly, over the gunfire, Rough Rider William Pollock let loose an “ungodly war-whoop.” A huffing and puffing Roosevelt turned to his orderly and shouted, “Holy Godfrey, what fun!”
Roosevelt would later describe the charge up San Juan Hill as the most joyous experience of his life, and Pollock’s uncanny war whoop, timed to perfection, would forever echo in his memory.
Pollock was a Pawnee Indian. When he was born in 1871, not far from the banks of Nebraska’s Loup River, his parents named him Taloowayahwho. He got his white man name at the agency school. At the age of 13, he enrolled at the newly opened industrial training school for Indians located in Lawrence, Kansas, soon known as the Haskell Institute.
The young Pollock immediately demonstrated a natural talent as an artist. In the school’s wagon shop, he ornamented wagon side panels and end-gates with Indian portraits and eagles with outstretched wings.
Following graduation from Haskell, Pollock studied art for two years at the University of Kansas, but an unknown illness led to his return to his family in Oklahoma Territory, where the Pawnees had been relocated. There, he ably served as an Indian policeman, a deputy sheriff and as a member of the militia.
With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, a call came for volunteers for a regiment of Westerners “possessing special qualifications as horsemen and marksmen.” Pollock speedily enlisted. The mustering officer recorded Pollock’s height as 5′ 8″ and his occupation as “artist.”
The 27-year-old artist’s comrades nicknamed him “Pawnee Pollock.” He wasn’t much of a talker, but he was a fighter, distinguishing himself in the battles of Las Guasimas and San Juan Heights. Roosevelt wrote that Pollock was always among those at the front of a charge.
Pollock planned to write a history of the Rough Riders and illustrate it with his own drawings. But the Pawnee warrior died of pneumonia at his Oklahoma home on March 2, 1899, his body weakened by malaria contracted in Cuba. He had just signed a contract to appear with other Rough Riders in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
“Bill Pollock was a fine fellow,” comrade Billy McGinty remembered, adding, “A braver man never wore the American uniform.”
Mark Lee Gardner is the author of Rough Riders: Theodore Roosevelt, His Cowboy Regiment, and the Immortal Charge Up San Juan Hill, due out this May
from William Morrow/HarperCollins. | <urn:uuid:52e2cf59-f14e-425f-935d-924aeb648a28> | CC-MAIN-2018-43 | https://truewestmagazine.com/rough-rider-artist/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-43/segments/1539583512411.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20181019145850-20181019171350-00230.warc.gz | en | 0.979511 | 712 | 3.125 | 3 |
The United States and Canada are moving to ban microbeads -- the tiny plastic bits in toothpaste and facewash that are big water polluters. Now scientists are focusing on a similar problem -- and it’s lurking in your laundry pile.
When you do laundry, take a look at the tags on your clothes. You’ll find that most shirts and pants have some synthetic material -- like polyester, nylon or spandex. Every time you wash them, tiny plastic fibers go down the drain.
Melissa Duhaime, part of a University of Michigan research team, says most fibers are captured by wastewater treatment plants. But, she adds, “If you consider how much water passes through a plant a day, that still means that roughly 15 billion plastic particles could be released per day from a single plant and sent directly into the Great Lakes watershed.”
Her research showed that the majority of microplastics released by treatment plants into Great Lakes tributaries are fibers. By comparison, the microbeads in your face scrub are just a blip on the radar.
And microfibers are more harmful to fish, Duhaime says.
“The beads could possibly more easily pass through the digestive system and not hang around inside the fish for as long as a fiber that can get enmeshed in the tissue,” she says.
The problem might get worse. According to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, synthetics are becoming more popular. Especially with the rise of “athleisure” -- a trend towards workout clothes you can wear every day.
But clothing makers are looking for solutions.
Jill Dumain works on this issue at Patagonia, which uses synthetics in fleece and other clothing. She says the plastics in a jacket can make it wind-resistant or waterproof, and it’s not so easy to replace a synthetic material with a natural one.
“And if we took a polyester shell, for example, or a nylon shell -- what could we replace that with and what would it be? Maybe a wax cotton that wouldn’t at all be the same performance as that product,” she says. “So it would be a really different product at the end of the day.”
Beth Jensen of the Outdoor Industry Association, says natural materials are also more expensive and come with their own problems.
“Natural materials have a whole host of other tradeoffs that you also have to consider -- whether it’s animal welfare in the supply chain of down and wool and leather,” she says. “Land use concerns, water use concerns. For example, cotton is a huge user of water.”
Jensen says potential solutions might lie in other areas. “Is there something that can be done with washing machines, for example?
“Putting a filter on a washing machine that could help address this problem," she says. "Is it something where wastewater treatment plants have a role to play in the broader more industrial processing of water.”
Or is there a way to make clothing so that it sheds fewer fibers? Jensen says clothing companies don’t want to make any major changes until scientists have more data on microfibers.
That worries Sherri Mason, who researches microplastics at the State University of New York at Fredonia. She says by the time all that data is in, the world’s water could be overloaded with microfibers.
“If there’s evidence that there might be an issue, you don’t wait for everything,” Mason says. “You don’t wait for all of the answers.” | <urn:uuid:0f386c1d-f8b8-485a-b36b-c6b94709027a> | CC-MAIN-2017-13 | http://news.wbfo.org/post/great-lakes-pollutant-lurks-your-laundry-pile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-13/segments/1490218203515.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170322213003-00505-ip-10-233-31-227.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95489 | 777 | 2.984375 | 3 |
So, when it’s raining, there’s a tonne of tiny water droplets hanging in the air. And those water droplets act exactly like a prism for any light that pass through them. So when you pass sunlight through the rain droplets, the sunlight is diffracted out into a spectrum of colours, which, to us, looks like a rainbow.
Here’s a ten second minutephysics video explaining it 🙂
yup Mark’s answer pretty much nailed it. But have you ever seen star wars? Tatooine, the desert planet, has two suns, which would each try and make their own rainbow. These binary star systems are also surprisingly common, so it may be that planets like this, if they have rain like us, would see double rainbows. My favourite webcomic xkcd does a really good job of exploring this: http://what-if.xkcd.com/150/ | <urn:uuid:b16d1671-2081-4803-9ac1-e4440635fcaf> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | https://oxygenn16.imascientist.ie/question/how-do-rainbows-work/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540530857.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20191211103140-20191211131140-00405.warc.gz | en | 0.952504 | 199 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Lecture Archive: Dan Fornari
Submarine Volcanism and Hydrothermal Processes on the Mid-Ocean Ridge
Posted: April 1, 2014
Lecture date: March 25, 2014. Dan Fornari is a senior scientist in geology and geophysics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The largest and most active volcanic province on Earth lies beneath the ocean along the global Mid-Ocean Ridge. Research on individual eruptions is still in its infancy. The close association of deep-sea hydrothermal vents and their chemosynthetic-based biological communities has revolutionized biological and oceanographic science, but there is much that we still do not understand about these linked phenomena.
Fornari presented examples of the lava formations and hydrothermal vent features that have been imaged using the latest deep-sea photographic and lighting techniques deployed on state-of-the-art vehicles.
Video Posted: April 1, 2014 | Running time: 51:23
Audio Only Version
Listen to the transcript or download to your mp3 player.
Please note: If you are having troubles viewing this video, please update to the latest version of your browser. | <urn:uuid:7e8376fa-454d-4f9a-aee8-c7252a268920> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/multimedia/player/lecture_archive_dan_fornari | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243991685.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20210512070028-20210512100028-00580.warc.gz | en | 0.892874 | 243 | 2.875 | 3 |
California's Climate Action Contribution
About California's Climate Efforts
California continues to pioneer ambitious public policies aimed at addressing climate change, protecting public health, and growing the economy, but California cannot do it alone. Through cooperative initiatives with other jurisdictions –such as the U.S. Climate Alliance, the Global Climate Action Summit, the Under2 Coalition, and America’s Pledge –leaders from across the nation and the world are working together to find strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
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Climate Action Plan | <urn:uuid:62981fcd-825c-480b-9b34-31a9b4f2ad0d> | CC-MAIN-2022-40 | https://www.wearestillin.com/organization/california | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030337836.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20221006124156-20221006154156-00134.warc.gz | en | 0.833155 | 136 | 2.625 | 3 |
student learning objectives (slo) resources for mathematics
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DESCRIPTIONStudent Learning Objectives (SLO) Resources for Mathematics . What are SLOs and why are they important?. Core Value of Hawaiis Effective Educator System (EES). - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Student Learning Objectives (SLO)
Resources forMathematics 11What are SLOs and why are they important?Core Value of Hawaiis Effective Educator System (EES)Teachers are at the heart of a childs education and profoundly impact student achievement. Thus, a high priority is placed on the enhancement of our teachers professional practices and the structures that support them.
3Primary Measures of the EES4Improved Student OutcomesTeacher PracticeStudentGrowth and LearningClassroom ObservationsCore ProfessionalismTripod Student SurveyWorking Portfolio (non-classroom only)Educator Effectiveness DataHawaii Growth ModelStudent Learning ObjectivesHawaiis EES consists of measures to evaluate professional practices and responsibilities, and student growth and learning components of the system. These measures are: Framework for Teaching Observations, responses from the Tripod Student Survey, student growth percentiles generated by the Hawaii Growth Model, and measures of student learning as evaluated by Student Learning Objectives. 4Student Learning Objectives (SLO)Are teacher designed content-driven goals set at the beginning of a coursethat measure student learning through an interval of time (i.e. one school year or one semester).
5Student Learning Objectives are teacher designed, content-driven goals set at the beginning of a course that specifically measure student learning through an interval of time (e.g. one school year or one semester). It supports the achievement and growth of all students that aligns to daily instruction and progress monitoring with specific prioritized goals.5Student Learning Objectives:support the achievement and growth of all students that aligns to daily instruction and progress monitoring with specific prioritized goals6SLO ProcessHawaii Department of Education7In order to develop and rate SLOs, we recommend a process that allows for SLO development, which includes the learning goal, assessment selection, and establishing the targets; planning for instruction; receiving initial approval; implementation of the learning goal; target revision, if necessary; analysis of assessment results; providing a teacher rating; and finally determining next steps for the teacher and students. In addition, this process includes reflecting on: enduring understandings and content standardsUse of formative instruction and strategiesuse of assessmentsmonitoring student progressdata to set targets and to determine next steps for student success.As schools engage in setting Student Learning Objectives as part of the Educator Effectiveness System, they will need to: 1) clearly communicate the elements of a high quality SLO, 2) provide opportunities to practice writing an SLO, and 3) opportunities to evaluate an SLO. The remainder of this professional development session will provide guidance for understanding the SLO template, including the meaning of each question, the process for developing a cohesive and acceptable quality SLO, and successfully using the SLO rubric for evaluating and improving the different aspects of the SLO. 7Copyright: The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (2013)These are four main components that make up an SLO. To have a strong SLO, all four components should be aligned. 8What is a learning goal and where can I find resources for it? Components of an SLO:the learning goalThe development of an SLO begins with identifying a big idea, a learning goal and the Common Core standard(s) being targeted.
10Whats the Big Idea?A declarative statement that describes a concept or concepts that transcend grade levels in a content area and represents the most important learning of the course.
One of the things the Student Learning Objective Calls for is for teachers to identify a Big Idea. This is a time for the classroom teacher to think about the most important concept or concepts they wish for their students to gain. These are not specific to a particular grade level or may not be specific to a single content area. The big idea is a target that I want my students to reach, however, the target is more of a larger/global goal that we are all working towards in order to ensure our students are on progressing to be college and career ready. 11A suggestion for a Math SLO Big IdeaUse one of the Smarter Balanced ClaimsThe Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium established four claims regarding what students should know and be able to do to demonstrate college and career readiness in mathematics. The four claims represent the big ideas that the Smarter Balanced assessments are attempting to measure
One source for identifying Big Ideas comes from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium. The Assessment is being designed to provide evidence of four claims regarding students readiness for college or a career.12Claim #1: Concepts and Procedures Students can explain and apply mathematical concepts and interpret and carry out mathematical procedures with precision and fluency.
Claim #2: Problem Solving Students can solve a range of complex and well-posed problems in pure and applied mathematics, making productive use of knowledge and problem solving strategies.Smarter Balanced ClaimsClaim #3: Communicating ReasoningStudents can clearly and precisely construct viable arguments to support their own reasoning and to critique the reasoning of others.
Claim #4: Modeling and Data Analysis Students can analyze complex, real-world scenarios and can construct and use mathematical models to interpret and solve problems.Smarter Balanced ClaimsThe Learning Goal A statement that describes what students will know, understand or be able to do by the end of the interval of instruction.The learning goal is grade-level specificWhereas the big idea transcends grade levels (i.e., big ideas are important to the discipline mathematics and applicable to any grade level)Suggestion: use the Cluster statements in the CCSS as the learning goal for the SLO.15Using the CCSS Clusters as the Learning Goal
Go to the HIDOE Standards Toolkit http://standardstoolkit.k12.hi.usPoint to Common Core and click on Mathematics
The first resources to turn to when crafting a learning goal are the standards for your grade level. Which standard or group of standards will you select for your SLO?16http://standardstoolkit.k12.hi.us/common-core/mathematics/
Select your grade levelAn important resource to turn to when crafting a learning goal are the CCSS cluster level statements for your grade level. Related standards are grouped together under in important idea for your grade level.17Using the CCSS Clusters as the Learning Goal
The first resources to turn to when crafting a learning goal are the standards for your grade level. Which standard or group of standards will you select for your SLO?18After the Big Idea and the Learning Goal, identify the targeted standard(s)
The first resources to turn to when crafting a learning goal are the standards for your grade level. Which standard or group of standards will you select for your SLO?19Example: Grade 4Big Idea: Problem Solving (Claim #2)Students can solve a range of complex and well-posed problems in pure and applied mathematics, making productive use of knowledge and problem solving strategies.Learning Goal: A cluster in the Fractions domainStudents will be able to build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers.Standards: 4.NF.3: Understand a fraction a/b with a > 1 as a sum of fractions 1/b.4.NF.4: Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication to multiply a fraction by a whole number.Note: both of these standards have a sub-part that focuses on problem solving.20Depth of KnowledgeSLOs should address learning targets that are at a minimum of a DOK level 2; If there are DOK level 3 targets for the course or grade level, those should be selected.
Depth Of Knowledge
Norm WebbResources for Common Core Mathematics Illustrative Mathematics: http://www.illustrativemathematics.org
Learn Zillion: http://learnzillion.com
Inside Mathematics: http://www.insidemathematics.org
Mathematics Assessment Project: http://map.mathshell.org/materials/index.php
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: http://www.smarterbalanced.org/smarter-balanced-assessments/
Open Education Resources: www.oercommons.org
Bill McCallums blog: commoncoretools.me
23Where can I find resources for instructional strategies?Instructional StrategiesGeneral high-impact instructional practices (that all mathematics teachers should routinely employ) for any mathematics topic:respond to most student answers with, Why? or How do you know that? or Tell me what you mean by that. In other words, teachers should routinely use students responses (when appropriate) as a springboard to provoke further discussion about the mathematics;conduct daily cumulative review of critical and prerequisite skills and concepts at the beginning of each lesson (e.g., a 5-minute warm-up task);elicit and acknowledge the value of alternative approaches to solving mathematical problems so that students are taught that mathematics is a sense-making process for understanding why (not merely memorizing the right procedure for the one right answer);provide multiple representations (models, diagrams, number lines, tables, graphs, and symbolic expressions or equations) of all the mathematical work to support the visualization of skills and concepts and helping students make connections between concrete, pictorial and abstract representations;25General high-impact instructional practices (that all mathematics teachers should routinely employ) for any mathematics topic:create language-rich classrooms that emphasize terminology, vocabulary, expla | <urn:uuid:7e47f074-f00f-4519-b6ff-2a0cdac6678f> | CC-MAIN-2020-05 | https://vdocuments.mx/student-learning-objectives-slo-resources-for-mathematics.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-05/segments/1579251737572.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20200127235617-20200128025617-00532.warc.gz | en | 0.891206 | 2,004 | 3.3125 | 3 |
The verdict is in: large amounts of screen time have a multiplicity of negative effects on children and adults.
It’s been extensively researched and there is no question about the negative effects. What can parents do to minimize the impact and amount of screen time our children are exposed to?
- The first thing parents can do is to disconnect themselves and set the standard for their children. Unfortunately, too many mothers and fathers sit next to their infant or young children engrossed in his or her phone/iPad/computer as she texts, games or surfs, completely ignoring the needs of their children. As the old saying goes “Practice what you preach.”
- Learn about the various technologies which your children are using. You will understand how the technology your children are using will affect them. This will also help you as you discuss in discussing their technology usage with them.
- Parents should talk to their children regularly about their screen time usage. Ask questions and listen carefully. Share with them your own experiences about technology to learn and develop a balance together.
- Educate children about the negative impact of advertising, lack of privacy, cyber bullying, identity theft, texting and sexting, computer security and the effects of pornography and violence on the young developing mind. Arm them with the knowledge to better understand how technology affects their lives, both, positively and negatively.
- Agree as a family on the amount of time for screen usage that works for the whole family and how screen time will be measured. Screen time should never interfere with any other activity that the family may typically do together (i.e. dinner time, family outings, homework, etc.) The American Academic of Pediatrics recommends less than 2 hours of screen time daily. Children under the age of two should not be exposed to any screen time.
- Keep televisions, computers and other digital devices out of bedrooms where they cannot be monitored by caregivers. Set a time around bedtime where all devices are turned off and stored.
- Add cable and internet site blockers and filters to your computer and other digital devices including your television.
- Two of my teenage daughters have tried the line “You don’t trust me!” around the issues of excessive screen time. We discussed the difference between trust and safety. I used the analogy about how door locks don’t keep people in, they keep unwanted people out. Thus, we have set limits (the door locks) on who can come into our home to minimize the possibility of someone potentially harming us. This helped them to understand why we want to manage and limit the usage of technology and media.
- Be transparent about your media monitoring. Children will trust that you want them to be safe as they use technology.
The Intermountain LiVe Well
program has some great ideas to get you started down the path of limiting screentime. There are also fun ways to get the family on board with monitoring time. | <urn:uuid:998c797b-aa70-451d-8bcf-fbd4a2688443> | CC-MAIN-2017-04 | https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/2013/08/effects-of-media-on-children-and-how-to-limit-screen-time/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-04/segments/1484560280825.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20170116095120-00403-ip-10-171-10-70.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963209 | 606 | 3.453125 | 3 |
A super moon is a new moon with the closest approach the moon makes to the Earth on its elliptical orbit, resulting in the largest apparent size of the lunar disk as seen from Earth. My son and I was able to see this super moon while we were bike riding on June 23, 2013, we went back to the house and got our cameras.
Through our research we found out that this super moon happens more than we knew, the next siting will be August 10, 2014. The super moon was bigger and brighter than we had seen all year, it was noticeable as it was raising in the sky but once it reach a certain height it was not as noticeable in size, but in brightness. My son made a joke about the werewolves were probably going nuts right now, they would have to be stronger since the moon was bigger and brighter. Then he says:
Son: Knock, knock!
Mom: Who’s there?
Mom: Werewolf who?
Son: Werewolf I be without you?
We could only wish that we could have seen it on the horizon, I know it would hold up to its name and appear “super”. Maybe next year! | <urn:uuid:b449e1c6-9ebf-40a8-8b6f-3392997557e0> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://bonumvitaeest.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/super-moon/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886104204.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20170818005345-20170818025345-00017.warc.gz | en | 0.9858 | 243 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Our first article delving deeper into the science of sleep emphasized the biological layers to the sleep cycle, including stages of sleep and the ways in which substances can interfere with sleep quality. Active addiction can alter sleep cycles, even into early recovery. Therefore, CeDAR treatment often involves helping people restore their sleep. Chronic insomnia is also a very common reported reason for someone relapsing on substances. The stress and agitation from poor sleep eventually wear someone down.
Insomnia is difficulty falling or staying asleep despite a person having the opportunity and desire to sleep. We separate insomnia into three overall periods: early, mid and late-insomnia. Early insomnia is difficulty falling asleep during the first parts of the evening. Mid-insomnia involves periods of disruption and waking through the night. Late-insomnia is the pattern of waking earlier in the morning than desired, with the inability to return to sleep. Our patients often struggle with each of these issues. Identifying the characteristics of a person’s insomnia can help us better understand the core issues at play.
Early insomnia is commonly associated with disruptions in the sleep/wake cycle, stimuli in the body such as caffeine or other substances, or some psychiatric issues such as anxiety or bipolar disorder. For people who feel ‘wired’ around bedtime or experience racing thoughts, they can find it nearly impossible to drift off into dreamland. Prescribed medications assist many of our patients with sleep. These pharmacologic approaches address early insomnia by making the person drowsy. In this way, the treatment approach causes sleep, but may not improve either sleep quality or total length of sleep time.
Mid-insomnia is very common for those recovering from alcoholism or drug addiction. The overall disruption in the brain’s sleep architecture requires a prolonged healing process – for some, up to one year out from the last drink. Mid-insomnia is also a way of describing someone who falls asleep but experiences generally poor sleep quality. The brain is not progressing deep into the stages of sleep, including REM sleep, and the person never feels rested. It is important to acknowledge that normal sleep patterns will involve brief periods of waking through the night. For the pattern to have a definition of insomnia, it will take the person at least 30 minutes to fall back asleep during these wakeful periods.
Late insomnia can be a highly frustrating experience for some people, as they do not feel completely rested and yet have woken up early in the morning. Some individuals may wake up around 3 or 4 o’clock despite setting their alarm for 6 or 7. They will then lie within their thoughts which may include agitation or worries. From a psychiatric perspective, late-insomnia is very common for those struggling with Major Depressive Disorder. Through conducting a detailed screen of someone’s insomnia, we may be able to determine the status of someone’s mental health needs such as depression. By providing treatment and resolving the depression, the late-insomnia is likely to heal.
Medications which promote sleep are some of the most commonly prescribed pills, as insomnia tends to be part of so many different behavioral health problems. These medications are primarily used to address early insomnia, as they act relatively quickly and help induce sleep. The most common neurotransmitter pathways involved in this effect are histamine and GABA. It is important to distinguish these modes of action, especially when treating patients with addictive disorders. Sleep medications which function through antihistamine activity are not habit-forming, whereas GABA-based medications can be highly addictive.
The medication Trazodone was initially designed to treat depression and is in the unique class of being a Serotonin-2 antagonist and Serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It was found to be generally weak at resolving depression and is therefore rarely used as a primary antidepressant. Its antihistamine properties are strong, however, giving Trazodone its small niche in treating insomnia both effectively and safely.
Trazodone has a wide range of dosing, between 50 and 200mg each night. It typically acts within 1-2 hours of dosing. The most common side effects experienced include vivid dreams and a morning headache. Rare side effects include the occurrence of priapism, which is a penile erection which may last for many hours and can require emergency medical treatment.
Seroquel (generic name: Quetiapine) is a complex medication, initially designed to treat severe mental illness including Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia. It is an antipsychotic medication, acting as a dopamine modulator in the brain. It also has some activity involving serotonin which may contribute to its antidepressant effects. The insomnia benefit from Seroquel is also through its antihistamine properties.
Because of its complexity, Seroquel has multiple potential side effects. These include metabolic effects such as weight gain, increased cholesterol, and the potential for developing diabetes. It can cause low blood pressure and has a rare risk for causing a dangerous fever. There has been a mild concern for patients to abuse Seroquel as a sedative medication, but this seems to be more prevalent in the jail system, where other drugs of abuse are difficult to obtain. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) does not consider Seroquel a controlled substance.
Common dosing for Seroquel is either 50 or 100mg each night. To lessen the risk for weight gain or the other metabolic effects, we often recommend using this medication for insomnia for a brief period of time. For patients with concurrent mental illness issues such as Bipolar Disorder, Seroquel can be a very useful insomnia medication.
A class of medications often used for sleep is the “Z-Drugs.” This includes Ambien (generic name: Zolpidem) which has activity similar to benzodiazepines. Because of the similar activity on the GABA system, Ambien acts quickly and effectively for sleep, but the person often builds a tolerance to its effects. With regular use, Ambien can be reinforcing. It is for these reasons that Ambien is classified as a controlled substance by the DEA.
There is a controlled-release version of Ambien which can be helpful for people struggling with the mid-insomnia as discussed above. This medication delivers a gradual dose through the night and can help induce sleep along with helping someone stay asleep.
Ambien also has potentially dangerous effects in the form of bizarre amnesia after taking a dose. Many people have heard terrifying stories of a person ingesting an Ambien and then driving across town in a blackout state. Other more common examples include binge eating or making strange phone calls to a friend while on Ambien.
For someone in early recovery, we regularly recommend against the use of Ambien for sleep. Although powerful in addressing early insomnia, the benefits likely do not outweigh the risks. This is especially true for someone diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Insomnia is incredibly common with this condition, However, the dissociative properties of Ambien are hinder our efforts to help people cope with reality as it is instead of falling back on repeated themes of avoidance.
Developed as an antidepressant similar to Trazodone was Rameron (Generic name: Mirtazapine). Unlike Trazodone, however, it causes a good effect in lifting symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is commonly used as an add-on medication for depression treatment taken concurrently with some other antidepressants.
Remeron’s side effects include sleepiness (hence its use to help facilitate early insomnia) and weight gain. It is ideally used to help someone who has terrible insomnia and is underweight. In this way, the side effects can be desirable within the overall goals of treatment.
We use certain medications to help facilitate better sleep, specifically ones that impact histamine or GABA. These approaches tend to treat early insomnia or the difficulty in falling asleep. It is our job as clinicians to help deepen the discussion with someone about their struggle with insomnia, as this helps us tailor appropriate treatment for them.
Our next article on the topic of sleep will focus on the therapeutic interventions available to treat insomnia, specifically the evidence-based protocol of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). When we combine effective and safe medication approaches with advanced therapy techniques, sleep quality can markedly improve, as can someone’s overall recovery and wellness. | <urn:uuid:081b2e06-4c26-4dcb-8496-38ae0b9eebe7> | CC-MAIN-2020-29 | https://www.cedarcolorado.org/articles/addiction-science/sleep-part-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-29/segments/1593657145436.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20200713131310-20200713161310-00506.warc.gz | en | 0.953786 | 1,698 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Or, we could if experiments done in flatworms translated directly to humans. If you haven’t read about James McConnell’s experiments with Planarians and memory transfer, I urge you to do so, if only just for the opportunity to read science writing that sounds as if it was ripped directly from the pages of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It also turns out that their blood is carrying some youthful factor that we want as well. The trouble is getting it out of them and into us. One might immediately think of vampires – which is not a bad place to start, but it might require a bit of refinement.
Science magazine from 9 May 2014 informs us that there is something soluble in the blood of young mice that, when transferred to older mice – well, to put it simply, it rejuvenates them. “The therapeutic implications are profound if this mechanism holds true in people,” says Matt Kaeberlein in the News and Analysis summary accompanying the article.
This article captured my interest and made me want to write about it for several reasons. First, this is effectively a ‘Fountain of Youth’ experiment – and it seems to work! Researchers have long wondered: what keeps the young, young and makes the old, old? What changes as we age? Can we stop it? Reverse it?
In terms of ethics, should we even be looking at age as a disease? Or is it just something that happens and needs to be accepted?
Most notably, work has been done to show that telomere length and the enzymes that maintain it, may be intimately involved in the aging process. Telomeres are sections of non-coding DNA at the very ends of chromosomes that consist of a number of sequence repeats. The thinking is that these DNA elements are maintained (by telomerase) in order to prevent the chromosomes from getting attacked and destroyed by nuclease enzymes. I think the Ponds Institute has been working on this for years 🙂
The other interesting thing about this work is the technique that gave us the data in support of this hypothesis. It’s a fantastic experiment called parabiosis. From the Greek you can see that this ‘living with one another’ experiment involves making artificial siamese twins of two mice, an old one and a young one.
I hope to be able to discuss this procedure in some detail in upcoming posts. But, until then, let us be satisfied that the technique was done. This now permits the intermingling of soluble blood products between one (clonal) mouse and another. When it’s done, something, crosses from one animal to the other. This provides cellular cues to the fact that something from this young mouse has been lost in older mice, but if it could be restored, it would result in (at least some) regeneration of youth.
– I’ll come back and revisit this more in the future to explain what has actually been observed and also to discuss some other interesting experiments carried out using this parabiosis technique. Right now I’m falling asleep and violating a new family rule on computer time to boot! | <urn:uuid:f4e47b77-4444-4f9c-be7a-d6ed88851ec5> | CC-MAIN-2022-05 | https://downhouse.software/tag/mice/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-05/segments/1642320300722.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20220118032342-20220118062342-00036.warc.gz | en | 0.962321 | 644 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Aging is bad for you. Whether you call it a disease, not a disease, a set of disease precursors, or some other variation on the theme, it is a medical condition, and thus a legitimate target – in principle – for medical intervention.
But is it a practical target? Medicine generally targets individual problems – a particular strain of virus, for example, or damage to a particular area of flesh. Aging seems like a huge number of progressive, chronic diseases all interacting with each other. Might such complexity be beyond the power of medicine – even medicine decades hence – to address?
Once these progressive, chronic diseases have become debilitating, piecemeal targeting of them is far less effective than medicine generally is against other, aging-independent diseases. The complexity is bad enough, but what’s worse is that the diseases are progressive – they get harder to treat as time goes on, because they are simply the later stages of intrinsic, lifelong processes of accumulation of molecular and cellular damage.
Is there a way out? Biologists who study aging have long been impressed by the fact that aging seems orchestrated, and especially that the one manipulation which reliably postpones aging in laboratory animals – calorie restriction – is a very simple intervention that nonetheless elicits all the metabolic changes required to postpone age-related ill-health and extend life. This, the reasoning goes, suggests that medical interventions against aging could likewise be simpler than the phenomenon they target. But there are also persuasive counter-arguments. First, the efficacy of calorie restriction is an exception, highly unlikely to be repeated by other simple interventions (except those that mimic it). Second, it is likely to work far less well in long-lived species such as humans than in mice or rats. And these arguments are robustly supported by available data.
However, in the past decade a new approach to medical intervention in aging has been explored: regenerative medicine. The attraction of this approach is that it acknowledges the irreducible complexity of aging, but it attacks the problem more pre-emptively than contemporary geriatric medicine does. Regenerative medicine can be defined as the restoration of structure to any damaged tissue or organ. As such, it encompasses molecular, cellular and organ-level repair. As applied to aging, it amounts to preventative maintenance – periodic partial elimination of the accumulating damage of aging before that damage reaches a pathogenic level, thus postponing, maybe indefinitely, the age at which the ill-health of old age emerges.
OK, so it’s an interesting new approach: but is it actually promising? Here’s a selection of the reasons for optimism.
The classical areas of regenerative medicine have been moving ahead at an unprecedented pace in recent years. Some of the highlights have, with good reason, been celebrated in the mainstream media: the foremost example is the development by Shinya Yamanaka, and subsequent refinement by numerous groups, of a method to convert adult cells into a state very similar to embryonic stem (ES) cells. These cells, termed “induced pluripotent stem cells” or iPS cells, appear to have almost all the versatility of true ES cells, but can be obtained far more easily, in far greater numbers, and without the main ethical challenges that have confronted the ES cell field.
Less celebrated, but possibly of similar significance, is an advance in tissue engineering. Following the pioneering work of Doris Taylor, many groups are now pursuing a creative solution to the main problem that has always dogged tissue engineering: vascularisation. The blood supply is a vital component of any solid organ, and it has proven hugely difficult to cajole the body to create a competent vasculature in an artificial organ before the cells in that organ have succumbed to deprivation of oxygen or nutrients. Taylor’s solution is to “decellularise” an organ from another individual – possibly not even from a human – leaving only the extracellular matrix that defines the vasculature, and then to repopulate this scaffold with suitable cells typically taken from the intended recipient of the organ. This achieves the main goal of tissue engineering, the rejection-free replacement of a damaged organ.
Less conspicuous is “molecular regenerative medicine” – repair of the intracellular structure of live cells in situ, or of extracellular structures, as opposed to the wholesale replacement of cells or organs. One of the most impressive advances within this field relates to Alzheimer’s disease. The amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer’s sufferers can be removed by vaccination, a trick that was first demonstrated (in mice) a decade ago. Doubts surfaced thereafter concerning whether this could work in humans, but the approach looks promising at present, with clinical trials having progressed to Phase III. Removal of plaques is unlikely to constitute a complete cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but it is almost certain to be part of an eventual combination treatment.
At an earlier stage, but still immensely exciting, is the corresponding treatment for “molecular garbage” that accumulates not between cells but inside them. This is a more challenging aspect of aging, because the material in question is resistant to breakdown by any human enzymes. The solution being pursued by SENS Foundation, the charity of which I am the chief science officer (SENS stands for Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence), is to identify non-human enzymes that can do the job, and introduce them into our cells. The biggest initial challenge is to identify such enzymes, but we have now done that with respect to the main types of garbage responsible for cardiovascular disease and macular degeneration. This has already led to several peer-reviewed academic publications, and we hope to bring it to the stage of testing in mice within the near future.
Additional targets being pursued by SENS Foundation include the elimination of cells that refuse to die when the body wants them to – a major aspect of the decline of the immune system with age, among other things – and the obviation of mitochondrial mutations by incorporating modified copies of the mitochondrial DNA into the nucleus. These projects are moving forward with impressive speed, though slowed by resource limitations.
When all these components are combined, will we have bona fide rejuvenation biotech? We won’t know that for certain until we complete the development of all those components, at least in mice. But every type of “aging damage” of which we’re aware – and for which SENS Foundation and others are developing interventions – has been known about for well over a quarter of a century. If some other factor is at work in aging, then biologists should have identified it by now. It looks as though all that stands between us and control of aging is hard work. Let’s up the pace.
Aubrey de Grey is chief science officer of SENS Foundation and editor-in-chief of Rejuvenation Research.
Zócalo is a partner of the Future Tense program of Arizona State University, Slate Magazine and the New America Foundation, for which this essay was produced.
*Photo courtesy Borya. | <urn:uuid:de1108b0-e280-497f-a781-ff8c0ec32618> | CC-MAIN-2019-35 | https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2010/11/15/can-we-defeat-aging-with-medicine/ideas/nexus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-35/segments/1566027314904.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20190819180710-20190819202710-00018.warc.gz | en | 0.953261 | 1,461 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Target shooting is popular worldwide and made its first Paralympics appearance at the 1976 Games. Paralympic shooters use exactly the same rifles, pistols, targets, ranges, and much of the same equipment as able-bodied athletes.
In fact, this is a sport where athletes with disabilities can and do compete with the able-bodied. The most famous was Hungarian Karoly Takacs, who switched from right-handed to left-handed shooting after an army accident, and became only the second athlete with a disability to compete in the Olympics. Takacs did more than compete: he was the first shooter to win gold in two consecutive Games, 1948 and 1952, in the 25-meter rapid-fire pistol event. More recently, American shooter Josh Olson represented the U.S. at the (able-bodied) 2010 Championship of the Americas.
The key difference is not whether the shooter stands or uses a wheelchair. Instead, rifle shooters are categorized by whether they can hold the weight of their gun without additional support (Pistol shooters are never allowed a gun support.)
Competitors shoot from 10, 25, and 50-meter distances, aiming, as in all shooting events, for the bullseye and the highest point tally on a 10-ring target.
• Sweden, South Korea, and Russia dominated the gold in 2008.
• The U.S. last medaled in 2004 when Dan Jordan placed second in a rifle event.
• This year, former U.S. Army Ranger Eric Hollen is a front runner for the U.S. team, as is Sgt. First Class Josh Olson, who lost a leg in Iraq in 2003. Both have qualified for Team USA.
Paralympics 2012 Competition: Aug. 30 – Sept. 6
The key classification for shooting is not whether an athlete can stand or uses a wheelchair. Instead, shooters are categorized by whether they can hold and aim without a gun stand (class SH1, rifles and pistols), or need a gun support to shoot (class SH2 – available only in rifle competition, not for pistols.)
Within the SH1 and SH2 classes, medical classifiers determine the support equipment allowed, particularly the height of the wheelchair backrest, based on the level of disability in torso control and stability. This is intended to equalize the competition for all.
Events are labeled as “standing,” “kneeling,” and “prone,” but the terminology, borrowed from the able-bodied sport, can be confusing. A “standing” event in Paralympic shooting is for athletes, on their legs or in a seat, who support the rifle with only their elbow, on the hip or side. A “kneeling” event indicates a sitting or kneeling athlete with one elbow supported on a knee or tabletop. And a “prone” event is for athletes lying on the ground or sitting in a chair with both elbows supported.
All of the pistol events are fired with one hand only.Back To Sports | <urn:uuid:eac65b64-649d-4dd2-9447-33952343ce54> | CC-MAIN-2014-42 | http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/medal-quest/sports/detail/shooting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414637898611.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20141030025818-00076-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957597 | 624 | 2.71875 | 3 |
WILSON (Wilson), CH.T.R.( Scottish physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1927)
Comments for WILSON (Wilson), CH.T.R.
Biography WILSON (Wilson), CH.T.R.
February 14, 1869, Mr.. - November 15, 1959
The Scottish physicist Charles Thomson Rees Wilson was born on a farm near Glenkorsa, in the family of John Wilson, a farmer, breeding sheep, and Annie Clark Wilson (nee Harper) from Glasgow. B., most of his life known as the H-T-P, was the youngest of eight children, who had his father's two marriages. The boy was four years old when his father died and the family moved to Manchester, England, where they have great support relatives. Visiting Grinheyskuyu academic school in Manchester, IN. expressed an interest in science, never missing an opportunity to prepare drugs for observation under the microscope. After leaving school in 1884. He, using financial support of his half-brother William, went to Owens College (now University of Manchester). There he studied science for three years and received a bachelor's degree in 1887, Mr.. Then he stayed in college for another year to study philosophy, Latin and Greek.
In 1888. V. enrolled at Sydney Sussex College in Cambridge at the fellowship fund. While enrolled at Owens College, he planned to study medicine, he was now convinced that his vocation - Physics. Degree from Cambridge in 1892, in. stayed there for research, but because his brother William died in the same year, the family needed now in its financial aid. V. left Cambridge in 1894 to become a teacher in a Bradford secondary school, but after a short time felt that it pulls back and continue their studies. Earning a living as a laboratory for medical students, he continued experiments in the Cavendish Laboratory, led by J. Thompson, whose own research soon led to the discovery of the electron.
After rising during the holidays in 1894. on Ben Nevis mountain peak in Scotland. remained under the influence of optical phenomena, such as a ring around the sun, which are formed when the sun shines through the clouds and fog, it gave impetus to his research. At the beginning of next year, he began to attempt to reproduce these phenomena in the laboratory using an instrument called the expansion chamber, which was intended to simulate fog and rain. 'Almost immediately, - he recalled - I ran into something of much greater interest than the optical phenomena, which I intended to study'. It was known that water vapor in the air condenses around dust particles that serve as nuclei for the drops, and it was assumed that the clouds can not form in an atmosphere free from dust. However,. found that if you remove all dust from the camera, using the re-condensation and precipitation, then the fog and rain will still be formed if the concentration of water vapor in the air is high. This discovery led him to the realization that water droplets can be formed and condenses around ions (electrically charged atoms or molecules).
Studying open Wilhelm Roentgen at the end of 1895. н¬-rays (X rays), in. use the primitive X-ray tube to energize the air in his cell. Formed in this dense fog not only confirmed his theory of condensation, but there (are then questioned by some physicists), atoms, molecules and ions. In the course of this work in. very significantly improved the design of their cameras, which became known as the condensation (ionization) chamber.
In the summer of 1895. V. re-visited in the Scottish mountains, where storms, from which 'raised the hair on the head', initiated his interest in the study of the electric field of the Earth. In 1896, Mr.. He was awarded a scholarship Clerk Maxwell at the Cavendish Laboratory and the next three years he studied ion condensation and atmospheric electricity. Thanks to his meticulous experimental work, managed to obtain important information about the behavior of ions in gases and their impact on the atmosphere.
In 1899. V. conducted research for the Meteorological Council, the following year he was elected a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College and was appointed lecturer. He continued his studies at the Cavendish laboratory, conducting experiments with the condensing chamber until 1904, thereafter it increasingly became interested in the study of atmospheric electricity. He invented a new form of electroscope (instrument for measuring the voltage), which was 100 times more sensitive than previous models, and using such a device it became available measurement of the electric field in the atmosphere.
In. returned to work on the condensation in 1910, intending to use the camera to record flying inside the atomic particles. His charge of alpha particles (helium nucleus) and beta particles (electrons) on the path segment ionize gas molecules. V. decided that water vapor condensing around the ionized molecules to form the traces, which can be fixed on the emulsion. Adapting the camera for this purpose, he said in 1911 that saw the first 'delightful cloud traces', condensed along the tracks of alpha-and beta particles. Photos of tracks made by him, made a deep impression in the scientific world. They served as a visible evidence of particles whose existence hitherto was set only indirectly, the particles can be distinguished from each other with incredible clarity.
In 1913, Mr.. V. was appointed as an observer in the field of Meteorological Physics in Solar Physics Observatory at Cambridge, where he remained until 1918, continuing to conduct research with his camera and studying atmospheric electricity. In the First World War he worked on the problem of protecting aircraft from fires caused by lightning and other electrical discharges.
Something like an ionization chamber B., wrote J. J. Thomson, 'difficult to find, she is an example of ingenuity, insight, ability to work with his hands, the continued patience and unwavering dedication'. This work became the foundation upon which further research conducted their P.M.S. Blackett, Peter Kapitza, Walther Bothe, Irene Joliot-Curie and others. Positron and other elementary particles were discovered with the help of the ionization chamber B., which has also become an invaluable tool for the study of cosmic rays. V. continued to work with the camera until 1923, when he published their findings in two recent articles. In one of them was given the experimental evidence that the interaction of X-rays with the atoms of electrons knocked out from there - a fact, as predicted earlier in the same year, Arthur X. Compton.
Since 1923. V. focused mainly on the study of atmospheric phenomena, inventing devices that measure the total charge carried by lightning, and other characteristics of thunderstorms. Submissions. the origin of electric fields in thunderstorms, and the atmosphere was an innovative contribution to the understanding of these phenomena. Since 1925. by 1934. He was professor of natural philosophy at Cambridge.
In 1927, Mr.. V. was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for the method of visual detection of the trajectories of electrically charged particles by means of condensation of steam '. 'Although from the time, . you suggested their elegant method of condensation, . has flowed a lot of time, . - Said Kai Siegbahn, . Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, . at presentation winner, . - The value of your discovery during this time increased significantly as through your tireless research, . and because of the results, . obtained by other '.,
. Retiring retired from Cambridge in 1934, in
. returned to Scotland, settling near the place where he was born. Always loved nature, he and his eighty-odd years has continued to make mountain climbing and long walks on the outskirts. At the age of eighty-six years, he first took to the air and was fascinated watching the storm from the aircraft. He introduced his latest article on the storm, Royal Society of London in 1956, being the oldest member of this society.
In 1907, Mr.. V. married Jessie Fraser, Dick, daughter of the Minister, they had two daughters and a son. V. was known as a gentle, quiet man, thirsty of knowledge of the laws of nature, but completely indifferent to the honor and prestige. Thompson described his work as 'moving forward without rest and bustle'. After a short illness in. died at his home in Karlopse, near Edinburgh, 15 November 1959
In addition to the Nobel Prize in. Hughes was awarded a medal (1911), . Royal (1922) and Copley (1935) Royal Society of London, . as well as the Hopkins Prize, Cambridge Philosophical Society (1920), . Gunning Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1921) and the Howard Potts Medal Franklinovskogo Institute (1925),
. He was ennobled in 1937. In addition, he was the holder of numerous honorary degrees. | <urn:uuid:73211676-06d8-4a59-b62a-b97acfa117ba> | CC-MAIN-2018-13 | http://persona.rin.ru/eng/view/f/0/17413/wilson-wilson,-chtr | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-13/segments/1521257649931.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20180324054204-20180324074204-00531.warc.gz | en | 0.97357 | 1,843 | 2.921875 | 3 |
The Arctic region is warming at a rate of almost twice the global average, resulting in profound and rapid changes in its living conditions and the environment. A European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, looks at how the rest of Europe affects the Arctic environment and how changes in the region impact Europe in return.
The Arctic environment is under considerable combined pressures from climate change, economic development, biodiversity decline, threat from invasive species and others drivers of change, according to the new EEA assessment "The Arctic environment — European perspectives on a changing Arctic". These pressures have cumulative impacts especially on the region and its inhabitants but also on the rest of Europe and, due to the Arctic’s role in climate regulation and sea level rise, even globally.
Europe has contributed to the changes in the Arctic, the report states, but the European Union and its Member States can also play a positive role in several policy areas, including:
- mitigating impacts from climate change and long-range pollution;
- improving health and living standards in the region;
- improving the knowledge base in support of strengthening the region’s ecosystem resilience;
- reducing imports of natural resources from the region through a transition to a circular economy;
- advancing sustainable management of resources; and
- engaging actively on issues that require an international response.
The economic downturn and fluctuations in world commodity prices have led to a slowdown in investments in the Arctic, providing more time to build a better understanding of the complexity of the region’s ecosystem and also to develop cleaner technologies and put in place safety standards for long-term protection and prudent stewardship. The report stresses that this window of opportunity should be taken advantage of and that it is insufficient to merely focus efforts on documenting changes in the Arctic.
The new report — launched at ‘A sustainable Arctic: Innovative approaches’, a high-level event co-hosted by the European Commission, the European External Action Service and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland — is built on a large number of Arctic assessments, studies and indicators available to the EEA through the European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) and our Arctic member countries, partners and networks. | <urn:uuid:2a0bb3a4-44b3-4ce8-b0b0-9b725e98d672> | CC-MAIN-2017-34 | https://www.aweimagazine.com/press-release/europe-can-help-ease-pressure-on-arctic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-34/segments/1502886105712.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20170819182059-20170819202059-00276.warc.gz | en | 0.930209 | 448 | 3.265625 | 3 |
An Eye Level education starts with seeing things from student's eye level.
This is a story about a teacher who lowered his height. A man was appreciating the art at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. As he approached each painting he would kneel down and look up at it. A curious visitor asked him why he was looking at the paintings from his knees. He replied, I am an elementary school teacher and I will bring my students here tomorrow. I was wondering how my students would enjoy the paintings from a student’s eye level.
Eye Level is based on an
educational principle where students learn at their own pace. When a teacher understands the learning needs of a student, the teaching are most effective.
● Problem Solvers
● Critical Thinkers
● Lifelong Learners
Eye Level is a systematic, individualized program that caters to students of all abilities utilizing a unique and proven learning method. This allows each child to have a customized starting point depending on their ability, regardless of his/her age and/or school grade. Each child's study progression will depend on the student's pace of learning.
Eye Level focuses on building each student’s foundation in Math and English, as well as helping students to gain self-confidence, interest in learning, and develops a child’s critical thinking and analytical skills.
All concepts and skills in the Eye Level program are interrelated. Mastery of basic foundational skills is necessary before advancing to more complex skills, resulting in improvement of a child’s accuracy and speed when completing more complex questions. | <urn:uuid:ce698878-c26e-46f2-be3f-6998954ee07e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.myeyelevel.com/America/whyenopi/Enopi_is.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965857 | 322 | 4.09375 | 4 |
A Cause and Effect Diagram is a graphical tool for displaying a list of causes associated with a specific effect. It is also known as a fishbone diagram or an Ishikawa diagram (created by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, an influential quality management innovator). The graph organizes a list of potential causes into categories.
The Cause and Effect Diagram shown here happens to have six branches. There is nothing magic about the number of branches. This one happens to be six because sometimes it’s convenient to have the chart coincide with the Six M’s. [i.e., Man (in the Generic Sense), Machine, Material, Method, Measurement, and Mother Nature] The team often chooses to use homogeneous groupings for the branches; however, many groupings there are, that’s how many branches will be on the chart. (below)
Example: A company has experienced problems with a particular machine. The drilling operation is producing an excessively large size of burr. What’s a burr? If you were to drill a hole in metal; then, if you were to run your finger across the hole and it cuts your finger, the cut was caused by a burr. It’s virtually impossible to drill a hole without a burr, but it isn’t impossible to minimize the size of them. The team chose to use a Cause and Effect Diagram to list as many causes as possible that might have an effect – which in this case is the burr. (See below)
The following illustration is a close-up look at a PORTION of the Cause and Effect Diagram. As you can see, the branches are subdivided into smaller branches and twigs. If the original Cause and Effect Diagram had more detail, these charts probably would have been called tree diagrams. More detail is always better. And, that’s why we brainstorm.
Keep in mind that the items listed on the Cause and Effect Diagram are potential causes. The Cause-Effect Diagrams should be used not only to document the list of causes, but also to direct data collection and analysis.
In practice, the team would want to exhaust each of the items listed as potential causes through the use of the ‘five whys’ technique.
WHY are the instructions inadequate? Because there are no illustrations.
WHY are there no illustrations? There is no reason why we cannot provide illustrations.
WHY not provide illustrations then? We will – starting next month. …and so on. The WHY QUESTIONS should be reflected on the chart as smaller branches and twigs. | <urn:uuid:6dd8c19f-40c8-435f-97e6-b9b69e8a114c> | CC-MAIN-2017-51 | http://www.sixsigmadaily.com/cause-and-effect-diagram-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-51/segments/1512948517845.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20171212173259-20171212193259-00267.warc.gz | en | 0.945657 | 542 | 3.90625 | 4 |
Independence Day in India is celebrated on the 15th of August. The country got independence from the tyranny of the British on 15th August 1947 and since then this day in the month of August is celebrated as Independence Day in our country. Independence Day hold special significance for the citizens of India. It reminds them of the bloodshed and sacrifices made by the freedom fighters to win independence.
Long and Short Essay on Importance of Independence Day (15th August) in India in English
Here are essays on Importance of Independence Day in India of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exams/school assignments. You can select any Importance of Independence Day in India Essay as per your need and interest:
Independence Day | Independence Day Speech | Slogans on Independence Day | Independence Day Quotes | Paragraph on Independence Day of India | Essay on National Flag of India | Essay on National Festivals of India | Essay on Importance of Independence Day in India | Speech on Independence Day for Teachers | Independence Day Speech for Principal
Short Essay on Independence Day in India – Essay 1 (200 Words)
The citizens of India suffered under the British rule for decades. The British officials looted the country of its wealth and treated the Indians poorly. India, once known as the golden bird, suffered immensely at the hands of the British.
The British treated the citizens of India as slaves. They made the Indians toil hard and paid meagrely for the same. The people here felt helpless and obeyed the instructions of the British to make their ends meet. However, we are thankful for those who showed courage and stood eye to eye with the British.
These Indian revolutionaries raised their voice against the tyranny of the British and inspired many others to do so. Numerous protests and rallies were conducted from time to time to express defiance against the British rule. While some of these revolutionaries such as Mahatma Gandhi followed the path of non-violence to further their aim others took to rather aggressive approach to fight the British and drive them away.
The joint efforts of both these types of revolutionaries paid off and India finally got Independence on 15th August 1947. Since then, 15th August is celebrated as Independence Day each year. It is celebrated with great pomp and show throughout the country.
Essay on Importance of Independence Day in India – Essay 2 (300 Words)
Independence Day, 15th of August, holds a special importance for the citizens of India. It is a day that reminds them of the sacrifices made by the freedom fighters. It instills them with a feeling of patriotism and infuses them with the zest to do something for their country.
A Mark of Respect to the Freedom Fighters
India had been under the British rule for decades. The tyranny of the British kept increasing with time. Many Indians came forward to fight the British and drive them away from the country. Under the leadership of freedom fighters such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, Sarojini Naidu, Rani Laxmi Bai and Subhash Chandra Bose, the citizens of India came together and fought for their independence.
They were inspired by these leaders and participated in the freedom struggle selflessly. Several protests were held and many movements were initiated. Many people lost their lives and others went to jail during these events however this did not dither their spirit to fight the British. Independence Day is a way to remind us of their sacrifices and thus holds special importance for the citizens of our country.
Celebrate Independence yet Remain Grounded
Independence Day is also a way to celebrate our freedom. The citizens of India tasted true freedom the day our country attained independence. They celebrated this new found freedom and this day commemorates the same spirit year after year. However, it also reminds us the importance of being close to our roots and remains grounded even as we fly high and feel independent.
The people of India are thankful to those who fought for the independence of their country. They celebrate their freedom each year on the 15th of August which has been marked as Indian Independence Day. The day is indeed special for every Indian. This can clearly be seen by the way this day is celebrated throughout the country.
Essay on how is Independence Day Celebrated in India? – Essay 3 (400 Words)
Independence Day is celebrated with great zeal in India and is of great importance to all the Indian citizens. The Indian flag is hoisted at various places in the country on this day. Several small and big functions are organized in offices, schools, residential societies and other places throughout the country. Here are the key highlights of these Independence Day celebrations:
- Flag Hoisting
The Indian flag, tri colour, is hoisted at the beginning of the celebration. Everyone gathered around for the celebration stands during flag hoisting which is followed by the national anthem, Jana, Gana, Mana. People pay respect to the national anthem by standing in attention position while it is played.
Next in line is usually a speech by the chief guest or some member of the organizing committee. In schools and colleges, the speech is usually delivered by the principal. The speech is all about the way India got its independence from the British Rule and the challenges faced by the people living in colonised India.
- Poetry Recitation
Patriotic songs and poetry is sung by people to rejoice the event and remember the great souls who selflessly sacrificed their lives so that their fellow citizens could live in an independent country.
Debate and quiz competitions are held on this day and people actively participate in these. The theme of these competitions revolves around Independence Day. This brings the participants as well as the spectators closer to the feeling of patriotism for the country.
- Cultural Activities
Various cultural activities are held to add to the flavour of this event. Dance and singing competitions are held. Participants usually perform dance forms of different states. They are seen clad in colourful dresses matching the dance form they opt for. The whole atmosphere is filled with fun and frolic during these performances.
- Sweet Distribution
The ritual of sweet distribution on Independence Day is as old as the day itself. While earlier laddoos were distributed on this day, these days different kinds of sweets are distributed among the people. Beautiful and delicious tri-colour sweets are available in the market these days. These are distributed at various places to celebrate the event.
People are seen clad in ethnic wear mostly in saffron, white or green colour or a combination of these. Wearing tri-colour batches, hair bands and wrist bands is also in vogue these days. The whole atmosphere is filled with a feeling of patriotism. The whole nation stands united on this day.
Essay on Why Do We Celebrate Independence Day? – Essay 4 (500 Words)
We the citizens of free India love our country and are proud to be a part of it. Independence Day, celebrated on the 15th of August, holds a special significance for all of us. It is celebrated with great zeal in various schools, colleges, offices and other places across the country. We celebrate Independence Day in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives to give us an independent nation and also to rejoice the freedom rendered to us. However, these are not the only reasons for the grand celebration on this day. Here are the various reasons why do we celebrate Independence Day and its importance to us:
- Pay Tribute to Freedom Fighters
One of the main reasons for the celebration of Independence Day is to remember the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives so that we could breathe freely in an independent nation. The celebration is a tribute to all those great souls. Speeches are delivered to narrate the heroic deeds of our freedom fighters and thank them for freeing our country from the British Rule. Songs are sung in their praise and various cultural programs held on this day are also dedicated to them.
- To Be Grateful and Humble
The people who saw the massacre that occurred during the British reign and the kind of difficulties faced during that time are more humble. They have seen the real hardships of life and value the good times. This feeling of gratefulness and humble attitude is missing in the younger generation. Independence Day celebration is a way to acquaint people about problems of the real world and to remind them to be grateful for what they have been bestowed with.
- Celebrate the Spirit of Freedom
Independence Day is also celebrated to celebrate the true spirit of freedom and independence. The joy of the citizens of our country knew no bounds as the efforts of the freedom fighters paid off and they attained independence in 1947. They experienced true freedom and this spirit of true freedom is celebrated each year.
- Keep the Love for Our Country Alive
The entire country is filled with the feeling of patriotism around Independence Day. Dedicating a special day to the country’s independence and celebrating it in various parts is a great way to show love and respect for the country. It is a way to keep the love for our country alive in our hearts.
- Inspire Young Generation to Serve the Nation
Independence Day celebrations are a way to inspire the young minds to serve the nation as dedicatedly as the people of the earlier generations did. The brave deeds of the freedom fighters and their love and dedication for their country instil a feeling of patriotism in the young generation and they are inspired to serve the nation in whichever way they can.
Thus, Independence Day is celebrated for various reasons. To be precise, the day is celebrated to keep the spirit of patriotism alive and at the same time enjoy the spirit of freedom. Independence Day is a national holiday in our country and is thus also a time to bond with the near and dear ones and celebrate the day together.
Essay on Independence Day Celebration in School/College/Whole Country – Essay 5 (600 Words)
Independence Day in India is celebrated on the 15th of August each year. The country had been under the rule of the British since almost around 200 years before it finally freed itself from their clutches and became an independent nation. 15th August since then has become a day to celebrate the feeling of freedom. It is also celebrated as a tribute to the freedom fighters who laid their lives to give us a better place to live.
It is celebrated by each and every citizen of India with great zeal and courage because Independence Day means a lot to them and very important. Here is how it is celebrated in the schools, colleges as well as whole country and its importance to the students and citizens of country:
Independence Day Celebrations in Schools/Colleges
Since 15th August is a national holiday, Independence Day celebration in most of the schools and colleges in the country is held a day before. Many schools, colleges and other educational institutes in the country have a full blown Independence Day celebration.
Independence Day celebrations in schools and colleges across the country include flag hoisting, speeches, debate and quiz competitions, dance, poetry recitation and various other cultural activities. Students are thrilled about these activities and take part in them with all their heart. Primary wing students are even seen dressed as freedom fighters. These activities take the students closer to their roots and fill them with the feeling of patriotism which is otherwise missing in this generation.
Independence Day Celebrations in Offices
The celebration in the offices is also held a day prior to the Independence Day. In offices, the employees are usually asked to wear saffron, white or green attires to keep up with the theme of Independence Day. People are seen wearing ethnic dresses in the mentioned colours and the entire atmosphere is lit up.
Flag hoisting is done in many offices across the country. Special lunches are organized to strengthen the bond among the employees. Tri-colour rice and sweets form a part of these lunches. People also come forward to give speeches on the occasion. Some offices also organise cultural programs to add to the spirit.
Independence Day Celebrations in Residential Areas
The resident welfare associations of various residential areas these days take the initiative of celebrating Independence Day. People gather around in a nearby park during the morning hours on Independence Day to celebrate the day in its true sense. They dress up according to the Independence Day theme and participate in various activities organised during the event. Flag hoisting is done at the onset of the celebration.
People stand in attention position to pay respect to the national anthem which is played after the flag is hoisted. Patriotic songs are played on full volume during these celebrations and people are seen immersed in the feeling of patriotism. Dance and poetry recitation competitions are held during these events. Fancy dress competitions are also held wherein kids are seen dressed up as freedom fighters such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Bhagat Singh, etc.
These competitions are mostly followed by brunch. People sit and enjoy food together during these events. It is a good time to bond with one’s neighbours.
Kite flying is done as a ritual on Independence Day in many parts of our country. Colourful kites flying freely in the sky are considered to be a symbol of freedom. People take to their roofs or go to nearby grounds to enjoy the kite flying activity. They invite their friends and relatives to enjoy this activity together. It is great fun. Kite flying competitions are also held at various places and people participate in these with full enthusiasm.
Independence Day is a day to celebrate freedom and independence. It is also a day to remember those great souls who stood up for their rights and fought without caring about their lives. It is celebrated with immense zeal across the country. | <urn:uuid:eddfb1d4-5e19-42f6-81c3-071085a063df> | CC-MAIN-2019-04 | https://www.indiacelebrating.com/essay/importance-of-independence-day-in-india-essay/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-04/segments/1547584519382.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20190124055924-20190124081924-00549.warc.gz | en | 0.965015 | 2,789 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Do you see people wearing headphones while walking, running, or in the gym and wonder “Are they just listening to tunes or does the music somehow enhance their workout?” Well, according to research sponsored by the American Council on Exercise, music can positively affect exercise intensity.
The researchers say that there are primarily three things about music that can allow you to work harder and enjoy your workout more:
One factor is the tendency of music to increase our desire to move. You can understand this if you are someone whose feet start tapping automatically when the band starts up. In fact, there is research about babies and music that shows that humans may be born with a predisposition to move rhythmically in response to music. The researchers translate this increased desire to move as evidence that music can increase endurance. In other words, if you listen to music while working out it makes you want to move, and you may be able to work for longer periods because of that.
Another thing is that we naturally tend to synchronize our movements to sounds that have a beat. Think of band members or soldiers marching to a drumbeat or cadence. The beat of the music you choose will determine how fast you move. Using uptempo songs will cause your feet to move faster if you are walking, your legs to move faster if you are cycling, etc. , than they might if you were not listening to music. This means you might work harder while listening to music than you would without.
I read once that one of the key differences between people who are able to maintain an exercise program and those who are not is the ability to withstand discomfort. The third factor the researchers identify is the tendency of music to distract you from discomfort. Your brain focuses on the music and not on the exercise, and this allows you to enjoy exercising more.
Do make safety a priority if you choose to use headphones to listen to music while exercising; particularly outdoors. Look for headphones designed specifically for sports, which allow you to enjoy your music while remaining aware of your surroundings. Exercise with a friend or a group of friends; this makes you more visible to drivers, and more ears equals more awareness. And keep the volume low to protect your hearing. | <urn:uuid:93757965-f92b-4aac-ab7d-d72bab1a0895> | CC-MAIN-2016-30 | http://www.saukvalley.com/2013/10/29/moving-to-the-music-can-help-workout/acerk80/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257823935.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071023-00319-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959715 | 448 | 3.015625 | 3 |
In a state of over 38 million people, Californians – as well as the rest of the U.S. – have come to rely inextricably upon the capabilities of modern telecommunications technologies. Whether it’s your smartphone accessing the cloud to download the latest cat video, taking an online class in a virtual classroom, or launching another tech startup, the tech industry lends itself to almost every aspect of daily life.
Likewise, in California alone, the information and communication technologies industry generates over $172 billion in revenue and accounts for over 1 million jobs.
During the Independent Voter Project’s annual Business and Leadership Conference, discussions about technology and communication focused on three major challenges in the industry: addressing the skills gap, modernizing outdated regulatory priorities, and developing an attractive business environment to encourage job growth in California.
Addressing California’s Skills Gap
By 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there will be 1.4 million new computer science jobs, but only about 400,000 trained workers available to fill them.
According to Code.org:
“The annual job growth [in computer science] is almost 3x the rate of students graduating with bachelor’s degrees [in that field].”
This phenomenon is known as the ‘skills gap,’ and it poses a major challenge to the communications industry.
California and Montana share a spot at the bottom of the list when it comes to math requirements nationwide.
As for California, it could threaten Silicon Valley’s supremacy as the gravitational center for the technology sector. However, there are possible solutions to the skills gap worth considering, not the least of which is a re-examination of the state’s education curriculum — math and computer science requirements in particular.
Currently, California and Montana share a spot at the bottom of the list when it comes to math requirements nationwide. High school students need only two years of math in order to graduate, whereas most other states require three or four years.
One way to address the issue would be to add a year or two to the existing math requirement and allow computer science classes to count for one of the additional years of study.
Bringing Regulations into the 21st Century
The first telephone was put to use in 1876 and for over a hundred years, government policies and regulatory agencies have been directed largely at the same technology — voice communication via telephones on a copper landline.
Yet it’s only taken a few decades for consumers to shift toward broadband Internet as their preferred medium of communication. Consequently, the number of households with landlines in use has dropped significantly since 2004. It’s down nearly 40%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As a result, long-standing regulatory agencies are still prioritizing their oversight resources in areas that have little to do with real-world consumer experience, essentially slowing progress across the board.
Today, over 86% of California residents have access to and use the Internet. The vast majority of personal communications is taking place through broadband networks – not the traditional landline networks of the past.
So the policy question for California has become, ‘how will regulatory agencies adapt to changes in technology, as opposed to focusing on policies that may soon be obsolete?’
Encouraging Innovation in California
Innovation and technology go hand in hand. However, it can be more complicated than one might expect for the California economy to actually benefit when a tech company or start up innovates.
When businesses look at where to locate, invest, or focus more resources, the first consideration is whether or not the cost-to-benefit exchange makes sense. While this is a long-standing debate in California politics, it lies at the center of what’s next for the information and communication technology industry.
Attracting the next Google or Facebook to California won’t be a product of the state’s weather climate alone; it will require new incentives to encourage small businesses as well as large ones to locate and do business in California as opposed to other states like Texas, which boasts a burgeoning tech community and fewer regulatory costs. | <urn:uuid:a65fc636-c2ab-4404-8fd0-0192cf780010> | CC-MAIN-2018-22 | https://ivn.us/2015/11/18/ivp-conference-skills-gap-outdated-regulations-threaten-californias-tech-dominance/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-22/segments/1526794867977.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20180527004958-20180527024958-00336.warc.gz | en | 0.937392 | 853 | 3.1875 | 3 |
When Major General Henry A. Greene, the first Camp Lewis Commander, was reassigned, he left a bustling cantonment to Brigadier General James A. Irons. With the Armistice, activity at Camp Lewis slowed. With peace, military appropriations were sharply reduced and Camp Lewis fell into neglect. The 400-acre cavalry remount area, called the “corral,” returned to scrub; and the hastily built barracks, without maintenance, started to fall apart. The main drill field, today’s Watkins Field, was reclaimed by fir seedlings.
A contract was let to dismantle some of the wooden buildings. The United States was returning to its traditional isolationist stance in world affairs, and the high cost of World War I caused the Congress to slash military spending. The Army was authorized 150,000 men and was allowed to maintain three combat-ready divisions. Although Secretary Baker publicly stated that Camp Lewis had been instrumental in the war effort and was an excellent training area, economy and priority were forcing him to use his men and funds elsewhere.
As the buildings fell to contractors and decay, Tacoma civic groups and newspapers demanded that the War Department return the land. The hastily acquired lands had resulted in much bitterness and litigation, and the Camp was not popular in all quarters.
As the workers tore down more barracks, rumors spread through the County that Camp Lewis was being abandoned. The clamor to “keep faith or return” the lands grew, this time led by the Rotary Club and The Tacoma News and Tribune. Local groups demanded that a division be stationed at the Camp. Although many thought that the agreement between the County and the government called for a division, the agreement actually called for the post to remain in government hands as long as it was used for the purposes named, chiefly a training area.
On 23 September 1921, Camp Lewis became Headquarters for the 3d Infantry Division, one of the three remaining divisions; but most of its units were scattered throughout the western states. Although the 3d Infantry Division would remain at Fort Lewis until 1942, it was never up to strength until the late thirties. The Camp Lewis garrison from 1920 to 1925 would number as few as 850 men and no more than 1,000. Many of the local groups considered this a mere sop. There were no troops or money to spare for Camp Lewis; and although War Secretary Baker and Army Chief of Staff General Peyton C. Marsh had wanted to develop the Camp’s potential, they stood no chance against the formidable Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew Mellon. Secretary Mellon was a fiscal conservative who viewed military appropriations as money down the drain; and during his tenure from 1921 to 1932, his fiscal policies were largely accepted by Congress.
Although the new Secretary of War John W. Weeks (1921-25) had sent Headquarters, 3d Infantry Division to Camp Lewis, he was not able to fulfill his promise of 2,000 troops. In 1922, many of the remaining wooden structures at the Camp were found to be dry-rotted. The old rumors were revived; and in April, Tacoma and Seattle newspapers headlined an Associated Press wire story – WAR DEPARTMENT PLANS VIRTUAL ABANDONMENT OF CAMP LEWIS. Secretary Weeks, questioned by Washington Representative Albert Johnson, denied any truth in the story. Clark Squire, in the Tacoma Times, reported that the roads, streets, and sewer systems at Camp Lewis were beginning to break down. The theater was condemned for fear it would cave in, other roofs had sagged or had fallen in, window panes everywhere were shattered, chimneys were down, and doors and stairways in barracks were splintered. Beer bottles, catsup bottles, tin cans, old shoes, and other rubbish was scattered over the floors. Desolation was everywhere.
The only event of bright note in 1921 was the opening of the American Lake Veteran’s Hospital four miles north of the camp, near Steilacoom.
In 1923, a new Commanding General, Major General Robert Alexander, inspected the camp and called it a “ghost post.” Many of the remaining buildings were in danger of collapse from the weight of winter snow. General Alexander estimated that 3.5 to 4 million dollars would be needed to build permanent buildings.
In 1924, the next Commander, Major General U. G. McAlexander, after viewing the post, wrote that “Camp Lewis is the most valuable military possession in the United States…large enough to train infantry movements and provide room for the firing of the heaviest guns.”
The year 1925 almost saw Camp Lewis revert to civilian ownership. In June, civic groups urged the county commissioners to begin proceedings to reclaim 26,000 acres of Camp Lewis lands. Eight hundred forty-seven of the remaining buildings and incidental structures were torn down and sold for scrap. Then fire struck. Almost nightly in the spring, summer, and autumn, fires advanced in a straight line and destroyed or damaged 250 structures. National Guardsmen training at Camp Lewis that summer were housed in tents. Many permanent personnel slept with their belongings packed. The camp was ringed with guards and roving patrols, but the fires kept on and no suspect was ever found.
The scrapping of the buildings and the fires added new fuel to the “keep faith or give back the land” groups. The Tacoma News and Tribune, in an editorial, accused the federal government of “breaking its promise.”
In 1926, Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis asked Congress to approve a ten-year building plan to rebuild and revitalize three army posts. Camp Lewis was one of the three. Congress, in March 1926, authorized $4,518,000, raised from the sale of Army lands, for this purpose. In May, Camp Lewis received $800,000 to begin construction on permanent red brick barracks on main post. Camp Lewis was to have a new lease on life. Its worst years were over. | <urn:uuid:3a7395a4-d557-419f-a7ca-79907ba0b2ea> | CC-MAIN-2019-09 | https://lewisarmymuseum.com/history-of-the-army-at-camp-lewis-fort-lewis-and-joint-base-lewis-mcchord/interwar-doldrums-1919-1927/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-09/segments/1550247495367.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20190220170405-20190220192405-00562.warc.gz | en | 0.98118 | 1,220 | 3.34375 | 3 |
These goannas are widely distributed throughout woodland habitats. They are solely a terrestrial species associated with sandy soils. This goanna is more commonly found in the wet season than the dry season. (Delean, 1981; Doles and Card, 1995; King and Green, 1993; Shine, 1986)
Adult female Gould’s goanna average two-thirds the body length and only one-third the mass of adult males. Adult males are approximately 32 cm in length while females are approximately 28 cm. The lizard is greenish-gray with uniform ringed small yellow spots all over its body. The spots are faint towards the neck but are more prominent on the tail and lower torso. The snake-like head is flat with the yellow pattern on the sides. The bottom quarter of the tail is long and solid yellow.
During the wet season when breeding occurs, the male goanna locates the burrow of a female and builds a burrow of his own a few meters away. Over several days the male and female spend an increasing amount of time together. Eventually, they begin to copulate. They continue to mate over and over again for several days. During this period of intense breeding activity, the pair may share the same burrow. After many days the intensity of copulation declines and the goannas separate and forage independently. When it is time to lay the eggs, the female locates an active termite mound. She digs a tunnel towards the center of the mound 50 to 60 cm deep. At the end of the tunnel she digs a large cavity. The female then sits on the top of the mound and lays 10 to 17 eggs into the tunnel. Afterwards she refills the tunnel, and the termites reconstruct the mound around the goanna eggs. The termites regulate the temperature and humidity, so this is an excellent place for development of the eggs. Delayed fertilization has been recorded in this species.
In this diurnal species, males have larger territories and are more active than females. The entrance of a goanna burrow is often beneath a flat rock, a small shrub, or a fallen log. Gould’s goanna often use the warrens of introduced rabbits for shelter instead of constructing their own burrows. The burrows are important for providing protection from predators and weather.
While foraging, goannas' attention is focused on digging for prey, so they expose themselves to predation. When walking, goannas carry their bodies high off the ground and only a small portion of the tail near the tip touches the ground. While running the tail is lifted completely off the ground. When approached the goanna takes on a threatening position by arching its back, inflating its neck, and hissing loudly, and it can produce powerful side-swipes of the tail. The species is also reported to sometimes rear up on its hind legs in response to a threat.
To get warmer the Gould’s goanna basks in the sun, and it burrows to cool down.
All varanids are carnivorous and active predators. Gould’s goannas eat primarily mammals and reptiles but will also eat birds, amphibians, reptile eggs, insects, and crustaceans. Much of the vertebrate portion of their diet is probably scavenged from animals killed on the road. The goanna forages over long distances and often digs for prey in loose soil and decaying vegetation. They obtain most of their water from their food. Goannas walk with their snout held close to the ground while hunting for food. The long forked tongue flickers in and out transferring scents to the Jacobson’s organs. This way they can rapidly locate hidden prey, even if it is underground. They then use their sharp claws as well as their snout to dig out the prey. Cannibalism also occurs in the Gould’s goanna. Often this involves feeding on carrion.
Many goannas are used for food by Aborigines. They are also important animals in many Aboriginal cultures.
This reptile does no economic harm.
Varanids are protected from exploitation by state, federal, and international legislation. The conservation status is quite stable. Their largest threats are poachers, vehicle traffic, and raptorial birds. Habitat alteration and pollution must be kept to a minimum in order to maintain the species. (King and Green 1993)
Kirsten McDonnell (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Dea Armstrong (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Living in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea and associated islands.
Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.
in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.
remains in the same area
Living on the ground.
the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.
A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
Delean, S. 1981. Notes on aggressive behavior by Gould’s goannas (-Varanus gouldii-) in captivity. Herpetofauna, 12(2): 30.
Doles, M., W. Card. 1995. Delayed fertilization in the monitor lizard Varanus gouldii. Herpetological Review, 26(4): 196.
King, D. 1980. The thermal biology of free-living sand goannas (Vananus gouldii) in southern Australia. Copeia, 1980(4): 755-767.
King, D., B. Green. 1993. Goanna: The Biology of Varanid Lizards. Kensington, Australia: New South Wales University Press.
Shine, R. 1986. Food habits, habitats and reproductive biology of four sympatric species of varanid lizards in tropical Australia.. Herpetologica, 42(3): 346-360. | <urn:uuid:b4bde7fd-f134-463a-9a88-589bf0693528> | CC-MAIN-2014-41 | http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Varanus_gouldii.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-41/segments/1410657129407.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20140914011209-00327-ip-10-196-40-205.us-west-1.compute.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938947 | 1,614 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Issue Date: December 4, 2017
Chiral organoboranes built by bacteria
Although there are natural products that contain boron, the organisms that make these compounds do so by using small molecules that react spontaneously with boric acid in the environment. No enzymes are involved. What’s more, natural organisms that create carbon-boron bonds, or organoboranes, are unknown. But that didn’t stop Frances H. Arnold, S. B. Jennifer Kan, Xiongyi Huang, and coworkers at Caltech, who reasoned that with a little genetic tinkering they . . .
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- Chemical & Engineering News
- ISSN 0009-2347
- Copyright © American Chemical Society | <urn:uuid:c48e616c-b391-44d0-875c-933002f71ea6> | CC-MAIN-2019-43 | https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i48/Chiral-organoboranes-built-bacteria.html?type=paidArticleContent | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-43/segments/1570986661296.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20191016014439-20191016041939-00102.warc.gz | en | 0.916578 | 165 | 3.40625 | 3 |
The remains of a man and lying close to him, women found Greek archaeologists in the legendary cave of Alepotrypa (Fox hole), which is a type of the Kingdom of Hades – the realm of the dead. The pair lay on its side, and the men’s skeleton held in the arms of a female.
Scientists have unraveled the mystery of the ancient graves of lovers
Unusual burial – lying in the arms of a man and a woman – was opened two years ago, but study finds, involving radiocarbon Dating, was completed only recently. Archaeologist Giorgos Papathanassopoulos, who leads the excavations in the cave of Alepotrypa since 1970, said that the death of these people some 6,000 years ago. They died young: the man for 25 years and the woman 20. These are the dead – the oldest found in Greece.
The experts, who were engaged in the study of unusual finds, there was a version that the couple died during sexual contact they were covered with fallen rock. George Papathanassopoulos does not exclude this theory, but stresses that it’s probably not true. Most likely, discovered the burial tomb. Continue reading
An international group of researchers from China and Australia have made a discovery that could one day turn the idea of human evolution .
The mysterious remains were discovered in the so-called “deer cave” in the Chinese province of Yunnan in 1979. In the remains of relatives of homo sapiens. scientists have identified an unknown science view of human beings. However, to explore them began only recently – from rock bones recovered only in 2009. Another similar skeleton was found in 1989 in neighboring Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region. But his study only in 2008. If the assumption of archaeologists are confirmed, in the books of anthropology among the people who inhabited our planet thousands of years ago, the company “Homo sapiens” and Neanderthals will be the third type.
According to scientists and archaeologists. found the remains of from 11.5 to 14.3 thousand years. A distinctive feature of the “man from deer cave” is the structure of the skull – cranial region: skull: round, low superciliary ridges. The face was small and flat, wide nose. The lower jaw was jutting forward strongly, with the structure of the neck was quite “modern”. Generally, statiscally is a kind of “mix” – from prehistory and the present man. Continue reading
The ridge of Usakos also quite exclusive route. Tourists don’t drive it often. This for two reasons – few sources of water along the way and a rather big load on my feet – to reach the crown of the route – the devil’s finger ( in Dakhovskaya this rock is called Bell tower ) and return to determine, you need to otmechat twenty kilometers. Options with Shuttle – to Romance ( Victory village ) or Dakhovskaya. The first option is better as you climb and there is no way to Unocosa fun. From Dakhovskaya is also possible (he had passed this way, and got burned, but more on that later), from the stables – and up.
To take Uncos we went on Monday. Light went to work, and the rest, pushed his way his eyes and wash with cold water some morning neverest, moved to Nakasu. All went easily enough, so decided to walk in full to the Fucking finger and back. Having Mesko, we filled out from the source a couple of bottles and crossed the stream. We went straight to the cleft in the ridge, the glorious fact that there is Alanic grave – the grave, which archaeologists produced in addition, Alan and elongated skull. Now in the grave they have this large toad. Katerina immediately dived into the pit, shook hands with the little animals and milesnorth. The rest has already been there this year (when he walked Mesko). Climbing up to the ridge, we – the stone trough, and shreds, as grandmaster, in the bypass, it was on Unease. The Bloody finger on Nakoso you can go two ways – top forest (in the shade, no special attractions, no water sources) or along a trail under Skalnik the sun, a lot of caves, cave Dakhovskaya, very nice and there are a couple of sources of water. Continue reading | <urn:uuid:ff515e63-2fba-419f-9425-9721e02ada6e> | CC-MAIN-2017-43 | http://milescopeland.biz/list/rock | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-43/segments/1508187824618.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20171021062002-20171021082002-00709.warc.gz | en | 0.96896 | 934 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Sunday, 19 October 2014
Which isn't so bad, if you happen to live in a densely vegetated environment. The rather smaller African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) does just this, inhabiting jungles north of the Congo, but was only recognised as being a separate species in 2010. The bush elephant, while it, too, often lives in dense forest, also seems happy to inhabit less favourable habitats. For example, a significant number live in the savannah of the Serengeti in East Africa, and in similar environments. At the extreme, some live on the edges of deserts in places like Mali and Namibia.
Sunday, 12 October 2014
There, however, are a number of different ways in which we can study them, and one of them is to listen to their calls. Like other whales, blue whales produce 'songs' that travel for miles through the deep, and, by listening to them, we can get at least some idea of where they are, and how numerous they are, and perhaps further information besides.
Compared with cetaceans like the humpback whale, the songs of blue whale are not particularly complex - although they remain more so than deep clicking sounds of sperm whales. For the most part, blue whale songs consist of the same element repeated over and over. This element, termed a "Z-call" because of the shape it produces on a spectrograph, has three parts: a long, deep rumble, followed by a rapid dip and then a short, musical tone at an even deeper pitch. The first part is commonly somewhere about the A four below middle-C, which is the very lowest note than can be produced on a grand piano. The last part is about three or four notes lower than that, which is generally considered below the range of normal human hearing.
Sunday, 5 October 2014
|Golden lion tamarin|
More recent molecular analysis, of the sort that also showed the clear difference between the Amazonian and Atlantic Forest marmosets, has shown that our initial instinct on the tamarins was correct. Indeed, it seems to be the case that lion tamarins are actually more closely related to marmosets than they are to other tamarins, something that makes the distinction unavoidable. Having said which, there's no dispute that, anatomically, they look much more like tamarins than they do their apparently closer relatives.
What this means is that it's the tamarins, not the marmosets, that most likely resemble the original members of their family. The marmosets are specialists, having changed further from their ancestor's body form because of their heavy reliance on gum as a food source, and the need to modify their teeth, jaw muscles, and bowel structure to accommodate this odd diet. Lion tamarins, which never did that, retain the original "tusked" teeth and fruit-digesting colons of their ancestors, just as true tamarins do.
Saturday, 27 September 2014
But there are five other epochs that precede the Pleistocene within the Age of Mammals, and, compared with most of them, it isn't even very long. Heck, it isn't even 5% of the total. As it happens, though, the epoch that immediately preceded the Ice Ages, the Pliocene, isn't much longer. If we imagine, as we're often invited to, the entire history of the Earth as a single year, the Pliocene is, very roughly, the period between 2 and 7 p.m. on the evening of the 31st December. That's not exactly a large chunk.
On the other hand, on a human scale, the Pliocene is vast; the long autumn that leads from the summer of the Miocene into the freezing cold of the great ice sheets that follow. When I first discussed the Pleistocene, I used the example of a TV documentary that whizzes through the whole of history. In fact, it takes one minute to cover each decade of time. So the entire history of the world since the outbreak of World War I is covered in just the final ten minutes. Your life so far is, I can assume with some confidence, covered in even less time than that.
Sunday, 21 September 2014
Carnivores eating other carnivores is called intraguild predation, which sounds like it ought to have something to do with World of Warcraft, but doesn't. (Unless your characters eat one another, which I'm fairly sure the game doesn't allow). Inevitably, such predation means that the lifestyle of a small carnivore is somewhat different from that large one. It's not just being eaten themselves that they have to worry about, either. There's also the risk of something larger coming along and pinching the dinner that you just spent so much time catching. Which, while we're on the technical terms, is called kleptoparasitism.
Sunday, 14 September 2014
|An earlier fossil|
(The new one still has the jaw attached to the rest of the skull)
Even when we look at prehistoric mammals, it's the big ones that get most of the attention. Mammoths. Prehistoric rhinos. Enormous tank-like armadillos. Giant wombats. Big animals are cool, and there were some pretty large ones in the distant past.
Yet, at any point since their first appearance, small animals will always have been more common than large ones. Lots of small and interesting things doubtless scurried about under the feet of the dinosaurs, and so it was with the Age of Mammals, too. So today I want to look at the recently described fossil of a small mammal, and how it too, can tell us something interesting.
Sunday, 7 September 2014
The tamarins that live here, in the northern Colombian forests, must be descended from some group that crossed the Andes, presumably through some of the lower, shorter, passes near what is now the Venezuelan border, or else along the coast. There are three species here today, all apparently descended from that same original group, and including one of the first of any tamarin species to be formally described, back in 1758. This is the cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), and it's at once one of the best known members of the marmoset family, and one of the most threatened. | <urn:uuid:c903e0cb-bc94-4f05-9d2c-032cc029d983> | CC-MAIN-2014-42 | http://synapsida.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-42/segments/1414119645866.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20141024030045-00105-ip-10-16-133-185.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969901 | 1,333 | 2.890625 | 3 |
The soldier sleeps – in distant foreign lands,
Beneath the ice or shifting desert sands.
An airman in the sun-split clouds.
The sailor in his watery shroud.
Their sacrifice, in time is lost,
With scant appreciation of the cost
Lest we forget.
The Battle Within the War
One of the things that irritated PM McKenzie King and many in Canada was the British belief was that Canada was just fulfilling an obligation. When in reality the Canadian effort was by pride a voluntary one. The British looked at the RCAF as a manpower bank for the RAF. The Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army had already kept their forces intact and not freely dispersed through out their British counterparts and Prime Minister King was bound and determined to have the RCAF a separate force on it’s own.
The government of Canada strongly insisted on what became known as “Canadianization” towards the RCAF. The formation of separate a bomber group for the RCAF was a high priority for the Canadian government and highly fought against by the RAF including the head of Bomber Command Air Chief Marshall Harris. He and his chiefs first regarded such an undertaking as a “colonial” venture doomed to failure. But Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King wouldn’t let go. The establishment of No. 6 Group would serve as an important symbol of a independent Canada. The feelings of the RAF brass towards what they looked on as a “colonial” idea was to last long into the war.
This is a comment someone made about the reblogged post titled August 2, 1945.
Thank you, Pierre, for reblogging today’s post on Wayne’s Journal. Today’s is the penultimate post. I hope that everyone that reads it will take time to read the entries under its “Notes & Commentary” section. There is a lot of information there about which most people know nothing.
I don’t know what the criteria were for shipping home remains, i.e., when was there nothing worth shipping home, of U.S. serviceman nor do I know if other countries did what we in the U.S. did.
Verne’s brother, Harry, told his wife and children that Verne’s body really wasn’t in the casket. That nothing was left of him. Yet every Christmas, Harry visited Verne’s grave and decorated it with a wreath. It was his way of honoring his brother. Harry was following the custom of many families in the U.S. Those that had loved ones buried in cemeteries overseas sometimes made arrangement for their graves to be decorated at Christmas.
It was once common at Christmas to find the graves of soldiers decorated with wreaths. As parents and brothers and sisters passed away and as families relocated to other places fewer and fewer wreaths were seen. Communities forgot those that were buried in their cemeteries and why they had died so young. Across the U.S. and at overseas military cemeteries, we are once again honoring with wreaths soldiers that have passed on. That effort is through local community groups working through an organization known as Wreathes Across America (http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/about/answering-why/). In 2014, Wreaths Across America through it network of volunteers laid over 700,000 wreaths on veterans graves at over 1,000 locations across the U.S. and overseas.
Those that died defending our country have not been forgotten nor should they ever be.
This has been on the back of my mind since I met my first WWII veteran. I have never written about it.
Are they being used?
I will let you ponder over this.
Beware of these “historians” disguised as thieves. Someone just told me about so called historians, but I already knew about it.
Medals Gone Missing is an Australian group led by Gary Traynor that tracks down stolen militaria and returns it to the family.
Same should be done here with the thieves.
My reader added this…
Peter Stoffer proposed a bill to deal with this:
OTTAWA- The recent auction of a World War II allied veterans’ medals shows why the federal government should step up and restrict the sale of veterans’ medals says Peter Stoffer (Sackville—Eastern Shore), the New Democrat’s Official Opposition Veterans Affairs Critic.
“I am angered that the medals of a WWII allied veteran, who fought at the Battle of Monte Cassino, have ended up at an auction for sale to the highest bidder,” said Stoffer. “Veterans’ medals should not be sold for profit at auctions, flea markets, on Ebay, or anywhere else,” said Stoffer. “It really cheapens the significance and meaning of these medals when someone profits from their sale.”
“These are the medals of our heroes and they should be proudly displayed at someone’s home, at a museum, or legion hall. They should not be displayed or sold for profit. I urge the federal government to act now and restrict the sale of veterans’ medals.”
Stoffer will re-introduce a bill in the House of Commons that would prohibit the sale of veterans’ and police medals. He noted that a Conservative MP introduced a bill in the last parliamentary session that would protect military medals with cultural significance from leaving the country.
“I urge the federal government to move quickly to restrict the sale of war medals for financial profit.”
I am turning 66 by the end of the month although I am still that little 10 year-old who is still standing in front of a display window of a men’s clothing store on Jean-Talon street in Montreal.
I am a humble person by nature, and I like to help people.
I have met several veterans since 2009 either in person or virtually.
The first one was my wife’s uncle, a sailor aboard HMCS Athabaskan. All those meetings were a most humbling experience. Seeing young kids almost 70 years later with all their recollections about WWII is most humbling.
All the veterans I met were humble except one, and I could write a book on that experience. People would not believe me so that’s the reason I will not never write about it. This veteran air gunner led me to create a blog about him and his squadron, 425 Les Alouettes, a squadron I never knew had ever existed before I met him.
When I found out he was using me for his own self-serving projects, I decided to virtually “shoot him down” on that blog. That was in August 2010.
Four years later the scars of being used are still there. But these scars are nothing compared to the scars of the veterans I met virtually or in person… | <urn:uuid:f5145029-e32d-4756-943a-50b64be6d9dd> | CC-MAIN-2017-30 | https://athabaskang07.wordpress.com/category/reflecting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-30/segments/1500549427749.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20170727062229-20170727082229-00204.warc.gz | en | 0.973128 | 1,455 | 2.609375 | 3 |
New reprint of Wolff's Law
Since June 2010, Wolff's more than 100 year old publication is available again in German book shops as reprinted paperback edition. Shortly also called the "Wolff's Law", it establishes that structure and shape of bone permanently adapt to loading conditions. His work is the most important and relevant stand work for orthopaedics and is still cited in scientific papers and international medical congresses.
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The key message of Wolff's law of the transformation reads "As a consequence of primary shape variations and continuous loading, or even due to loading alone, bone changes its inner architecture according to mathematical rules and, as a secondary effect and governed by the same mathematical rules, also changes its shape."
Simplified this says that the structure and shape of bone permanently adapt to the loading conditions. Wolff regarded this law of the transformation, which had also been influenced by Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902), as a "building block to the completion of the building" of Charles Darwin (1809–1882) theory.
Julius Wolff's book is available again
Scientists of the Julius Wolff Institute (JWI) and the Centre of Musculoskeletal Surgery (CMSC) of the Charité have published a reprint of one of the most famous and relevant orthopaedic books.
Additional to the 150 pages of the original work, the reprint also contains biographic and historical documents, for example letters to important scientific colleagues. The reproduction of Wolff's work was realised with the support of the Library of veterinary medicine of the Freie Universität Berlin, das Archive of the Humboldt University and the Jewish Museum in Fankfurt am Main that provided the original publication as well as other biographic documents for the scan and research. The Julius Wolff Institute thanks all partners for the excellent collaboration and support.
Here we listed an introduction into the publications written by Julius Wolff after whom the institute was named:
Julius Wolff MD; Translated and abridged by M.O. Heller, W.R. Taylor, N. Aslanidis, and Georg N. Duda
The Classic: On the Inner Architecture of Bones and its Importance for Bone Growth (Ueber die innere Architectur der Knochen und ihre Bedeutung für die Frage vom Knochenwachsthum)
Clin Orthop Rel Res. 2010 Apr, Volume 468(4) 1056-1065
The classic: on the theory of fracture healing. 1873.
Clin Orthop Rel Res. 2010 Apr, Volume 468(4) 1052-1055 | <urn:uuid:3ee8be20-9606-4f3e-85c2-ea8e4c18bc84> | CC-MAIN-2021-21 | https://jwi.charite.de/en/publications/reprint_of_wolffs_law/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-21/segments/1620243990929.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20210512131604-20210512161604-00206.warc.gz | en | 0.912331 | 560 | 2.5625 | 3 |
« ΠροηγούμενηΣυνέχεια »
The general rule therefore for multiplying any number of figures may be expressed thus, Maltiply each figure of the multiplicand by each figure of the multiplier separately, taking care when multiplying by units to make the first figure of the result stand in the
unit's place; and when multiplying by tens, to make the first figure stand in the tens' place; and when multiplying by hundreds, to make the first figure stand in the hundreds place, &c. and then add the several products together.
Note. It is generally the best way to set the first figure of each partial product directly under the figure by which you are multiplying.
Proof. The proper proof of multiplication is by division, consequently it cannot be explained here. There is also a method of proof by casting out the nines, as it is called. But the nature of this cannot be understood, until the pupil is acquainted with division. It will be explained in its proper place. The instructer, if he chooses, may explain the use of it here.
VIII. A man having ten dollars, paid away three of them; how many had he left ?
We have seen that all numbers are formed by the successive addition of units, and that they may also be formed by adding together two or more numbers smaller than themselves, but all together containing the same nuinber of units as the number to be formed. The number 10, for example, may be formed by adding 3 to 7,7 + 3 = 10. It is easy to see therefore that any number may be decomposed into two or more numbers, which taken together, shall be equal to that number. Since 7 + 3
10, it is evident that if 3 be taken from 10, there will remain 7.
The following examples, though apparently different, all require the same operation, as will be immediately perceived.
A man having 10 sheep sold 3 of them; how many had he left ? That is, if 3 be taken from 10, what number will remain ? A man gave 3 dollars to one son, and 10 to another
; how much more did he give to the one than to the other? That is, how much greater is the number 10 than the number :3 ?
A man owing 10 dollars, paid 3 dollars at one time, and the rest at another ; how much did he pay
the last time? That is, how much must be added to 3 to make 10?
From Boston to Dedham it is 10 miles, and from Boston to Roxbury it is only 3 miles ; what is the difference in the tuo distances from Boston ?
A boy divided 10 apples between two other boys ; to one he gave 3, how many did he give to the other? s'hat is, if io be divided into two parts so that one of the parts may be 3, what will the other part be?
It is evideot that the above five questions are all answered by taking 3 from 10, and finding the difference. This operation is called subtraction. It is the reverse of addition. Addition puts numbers together, subtraction separates a number into two parts. i
A man paid 29 dollars for a coat and 7 dollars for a hat, how much more did he pay for his coat than for his hat?
In this example we have to take the 7 from the 29; we know from addition, that 7 and 2 are 9, and consequently that 22 and 7 are 29; it is evident therefore that if 7 be taken from 29 the remainder will be 22.
A man bougkt an ox for 47 dollars ; to pay for it he gave a cow worth e3 dollars, and the rest in money; how much money
did he pay?
It will be best to perform this example by parts. It is plain that we must take the twenty from the forty, and the three from the seven; that is, the tens from the
tens, and the units from the units. I take twenty from forty and there remains twediy. I then take three from seven and there remains four, and the whole remainder is twenty four. Ans. 24 dollars.
It is generally most convenient to write the numbers under each other. The smaller number is usually written under the larger. Since units are to be taken from units, and tens from tens, it will be best to write units under units, tens under tens, &c. as in addition. It is also most convenient, and, in fact, frequently necessary, to begin with the units as in addition and multiplication.
Operation. Ox 47 dollars I say first, 3 from 7, and there Cow 23 dollars will remain 4. Then 2 (tens)
from 4 (tens) and there will re24 difference. main 2 (tens), and the whole
remainder is 24. A man having 62 sheep in his flock, sold 17 of them; how many
had he then ?
Operation. He had 62 sheep In this example a difficulty imSold 17 sheep mediately presents itself, if we at
tempt to perform the operation Had left 45 sheep as before; for we cannot take 7 from 2. We can, however, take 7 from 62, and there remains 55; and 10 from 55, and there remains 45, which is the answer.
The same operation may be performed in another way, which is generally more convenieni. I first observe, that 62 is the same as 50 and 12; and 17 is the same as 10 and 7. They may be written thus : 62
= 50 + 12 That is, I take one ten from the 17 = 10 + 7 six tens, and write it with the two
units. But the 17 I separate simply 45 = 40 + 5 into units and tens as they stand. Now I can take 7 from 12, and there remains 5. Then 10 from 50, and there remains 40, and these put together make 45.*
* Let the pupil perform a large number of examples by separating tbe:n this way, when he first commences subtractiun.
This separation may be made in the mind as well as to write it down. Operation.
62 Here I suppose 1 ten taken from the 6 tens, 17 and written with the 2, which makes 12. I
say 7 from 12, 5 remains, then setting down 45 the 5, I say, 1 ten from 5 tens, or simply 1 from 5, and there remains 4 (tens), which written down shows the remainder, 45.
The taking of the ten out of 6 tens and joining it with the 2 units, is called borrowing ten.
Sir Isaac Newton was born in the year 1612, and he died in 1727; how old was he at the time of his decease?
It is evident that the difference between these two numbers must give his age.
1600 + 40 + 2 = 1642
80 + 5 = 85 years old. In this example I take 2 from 7 and there remains 5, which I write down. But since I cannot take 4 (tens) from 2 (tens), 1 borrow 1 (hundred) or 10 teos from the 7 (hundreds), which joined with 2 (tens) makes 12 (tens), then 4 (tens) from 12_(tens) there remains 8 (tens), which I write down. Then 6 (hundreds) from Ô (hundreds) there remains nothing. Also I (thousand) from 1 (thousand) nothing remains. The answer
is 85 years.
A man bought a quantity of flour for 15,265 dollars, and sold it again for 23,007 dollars, how much did he gain by the bargain ? Operation.
23,007 Here I take 5 from 7 and there re15,265 mains 2 ; but it is impossible to take 6
(tens) from 0, and it does not immedia
2 ately appear where I shall borrow the 10 (tens), since there is nothing in the hundreds' place. This will be evident, however, if I decompose the num
bers into parts.
7,000 + 700 + 40 + 2 = 7,742 The 23,000 is equal to 10,000 and 13,000; tbis last is equal to 12,000 and 1,000; and 1,000 is equal to 900 and 100. Now I take 5 from 7, and there remains 2; 60 from 100, or 6 tens from 10 tens, and there remains 40, or 4 tens; 2 hundreds from 9 hundreds, and there remains 7 hundreds ; 5 thousands from 12 thousands, and there remains 7 thousands; and 1 ten-thousand from 1 ten-thousand, and nothing remains. The answer is 7,742 dollars.
This example may be performed in the same manner as the others, without separating it into parts except in the mind.
I say 5 from 7, there remains 2; then borrowing 10 (which must in fact come from the 3 (thousand) I say, 6 (tens) from 10 (tens) there remains 4 (tens); then I borrow ten again, but since I have already used one of these, I say, 2 (hundreds) from 9 (hundreds) there remains 7 (hundreds); then I borrow ten again, and having borrowed one out of the 3 (thousand), I say, 5 (thousand) from 12 (thousand) there remains 7 (thousand); then i (ten-thousand) from 1 (ten-thousand) nothing remains. The answer is 7,742 as before.
The general rule for subtraction may be expressed thus ; The less number is always to be subtracted from the larger. Begin at the right hand and take successively each figure of the lesser number from the corresponding figure of the larger number, that is, units from units, tens from tens, &c. If it happens that any figure of the lesser number cannot be taken from the corresponding figure of the larger, borrow ten and join it with the figure from which the subtraction is to be made and then subtract ; before the next figure is subtracted take care to diminish by one the figure from which the subtraction is to be made.
N. B. When two or more zeros intervene in the number from which the subtraction is to be made, all, except | <urn:uuid:8715a02d-9280-4aa0-af63-c0bde1555115> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://books.google.gr/books?id=Fd8YAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA150&focus=viewport&vq=feet&dq=editions:HARVARD32044096994090&hl=el&output=html_text | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623487586465.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20210612222407-20210613012407-00461.warc.gz | en | 0.962419 | 2,181 | 3.90625 | 4 |
I don’t know any other bird that gets me to jump off my chair to run and see it than the North American male cardinal. In fact it is one of the most well known and favorite birds in North America so much so that seven states honor it as their state bird: Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Illinois. The NFL’s Arizona Cardinals and the MLB’s St. Louis Cardinals, as well as many other universities have made the Cardinal their mascot. A cardinal is distinguished by it’s bright red crest and bill and it’s black “Lone Ranger” mask and a shade of red that can only capture your attention and hold it. Since cardinals don’t migrate they are as conspicuous in winter against a snowy background, and in summer for their musical whistles. Both the male and female sing. Not many North American female birds sing, but the female cardinal does, often while sitting on her nest, probably an indication of when to bring food. Being the romantic that I am, it makes me happy to know that males and females stay together for life, perhaps why Teddy Wayne Smith depicted them above in a pair. They have a life span of up to fifteen years.
I found this beautiful Haiku by Christine Kelly written coincidentally on my Dad’s birthday Feb. 2, 2013 that says it all I think about devotion and love:
Pair of Cardinals
perched together in the snow,
one warm, beating heart.
My mother was a great lover of cardinals and all my life I still have her favorite knick-knack of a musical cardinal that she left. It plays “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”, probably because in summer their whistles are one of the first sounds in the morning.
Many people think that cardinals are a sign of their lost loved ones and that they are a symbol of that person visiting them when they appear. According to this myth, they usually show up when you most need or miss your loved one. They also make appearances during times of celebration to let you know they will always be with you.
My friend Rosaleen who was very close to my parents has gifted me with some lovely reminders of my mother in the form of cardinals. One is this lovely snowy globe and recently she gave me some delicate cardinal hand-painted cups. Since I bought my childhood home back a few years ago, she is certain they will always be poignant reminders of them.
Cardinal snow globes
Cardinals are easily attracted to backyard feeders with sunflower seeds. They measure about 8” in length and have a wingspan of about 10 -12 inches. Although the male brings the nest material to the female, it is the female who does most of the building! They have a global breeding population of 120 million with 77% in the U.S. For those who choose to hold the Cardinal dear: you are a special person: energetic, vital, rare and always willing to care for those in need.
Thank you, Rosaleen.
See you next Tuesday. Have a warm almost summer weekend. Hope you see a cardinal. | <urn:uuid:ab14a325-ab7c-4b0e-801c-061f89901012> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | https://preciousartbypreciouspeople.org/2015/06/04/two-cardinals/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400190270.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20200919044311-20200919074311-00748.warc.gz | en | 0.971215 | 656 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Bermuda is a hardy and persistent warm-loving grass that thrives in Southern United States. Homeowners in different parts of the country also grow it because it is easy to grow and maintain, is not particular about a certain soil type, spreads quickly and is inexpensive. However, sometimes Bermuda grass extends its boundaries due to its rapid growth rate to become an invasive weed. For best results, kill Bermuda grass in the winter, when it is dormant and weak.
Mow the Bermuda grass as short as you can. This grass propagates by roots and runners, so collect the grass clippings in a plastic bag, knot it firmly and dispose of appropriately.
Purchase herbicide specifically formulated to kill Bermuda grass. This perennial grass has strong roots and is very difficult to remove once it establishes itself.
Follow label directions for preparation, use and precautions. Add water to the herbicide if it is concentrated, or pour the diluted form directly into a spray tank.
Wear your face mask and spray the herbicide directly over the Bermuda grass to kill it. This method is idea for large areas of Bermuda grass. Do not spray it on the grass if it grows in flowerbeds, as you could kill surrounding flowers as well.
Insert a shovel in the soil around a small patch of Bermuda grass, and lift if up. Make sure you collect all the roots to prevent it grow growing again. For best results, remove an inch of soil from the spot to ensure any remainder roots do not have a chance of propagating. Remove this weed from around or inside flowerbeds this way as well.
Reapply chemical herbicide over Bermuda grass up to two more times to ensure thre grass' deep roots die.
Cover the area you sprayed with herbicide with a black plastic tarp. This not only restricts water supply, but also prevents sunlight and air from reaching it. This step promotes good contact of the herbicide and grass, without any natural factors diluting the chemicals. Although Bermuda grass is drought-resistant to some extent, it will suffer from lack of hydration when it is dormant.
Things You Will Need
- Lawn mower
- Plastic bag
- Chemical herbicide
- Spray tank
- Face mask
- Black plastic tarp
- Practice safety when using chemicals. Wear a long-sleeved shirt, full pants, gloves, protective eyeglasses and a face mask.
- Do not allow children or pets near the sprayed area for at least 24 hours. Refer to label directions for relevant time span.
- Use Salt to Kill Grass
- Kill Dallis Grass
- Facts on Roundup Weed Killer
- Kill Leyland Cypress
- Homemade Remedy to Kill Poison Ivy
- Kill Garden Bermuda Grass Without Chemicals
- Treat Bermuda Grass
- The Best Way to Kill Weeds in Centipede Grass
- Remove a Pachysandra Bed
- Kill a Tree With Roundup
- Natural Ways to Kill a Poison Ivy Plant
- Kill Roots Around a House Foundation | <urn:uuid:e223b6c7-e12e-43b7-b14c-87eb3353c502> | CC-MAIN-2019-18 | https://www.gardenguides.com/97531-kill-dormant-bermuda-grass.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-18/segments/1555578530176.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20190421040427-20190421062427-00150.warc.gz | en | 0.900274 | 619 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Driven by the need to save energy and reduce operational costs, indoor growers are turning to alternative means of illuminating their cannabis crop. In more and more indoor grows, high-intensity discharge lamps (HIDs) are being swapped out for light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The reasons to do so are numerous, not just energy savings, but the increasing ability to tailor the light spectrum for getting the most out of the plant. LEDs will play an important role in grows of the future, where networked lighting and environmental sensors are integrated into a comprehensive cultivation platform. The time to try LEDs is now.
Enter Haitz’s Law for LEDs, which is similar to Moore’s Law. Just as the latter observation accurately has forecast the increase in computing power over the years, the late scientist Roland Haitz predicted that every decade the amount of light generated by an LED would increase by a factor of 20 while the cost would drop by a factor of 10. Haitz’s Law has held up over the years, and if there’s any inaccuracy it underestimates the rates of progress.
In short, LEDs are less expensive and brighter than when they first became available to growers—a combination that has piqued the interest of today’s cannabis cultivators. Today’s LED fixtures are every bit as powerful as the high-intensity discharge lamps (HIDs) they are starting to replace. The LED fixtures are roughly 40% more efficient than their HID counter parts.
A Change in Lighting System Means Careful Planning and Time to Adjust
LEDs can be great, but adapting the crop growing conditions to them requires some forethought and detailed planning. When a lighting “change-out” occurs in grow rooms, the differences between LEDs and traditional lighting systems are significant enough to cause a rethinking of the cultivation protocols in even the most meticulously designed and monitored grow rooms. Successful growers have had to re-educate themselves and adjust their tried and true cultivation approaches. In short, you just can’t replace the fixtures and expect the same or better results. You have to take some time to prepare, plan, test, and implement your system in a methodical and careful manner to achieve the results that you desire.
For example, LEDs produce far less radiant heat than their HID cousins. This means that adjustments in the cultivation environment must be made to ensure crop health. Without the radiant heat generated by HIDs, the temperature of the grow room and the leaf surfaces drops significantly—and lower temperatures means higher relative humidity in the grow room. When the plants enter a night cycle, the reduced heat input reduces nighttime transpiration and slows the plant growth rate. A grower can address this two-fold issue: 1. Heat the grow room to reduce the relative humidity, resulting in an increase in the water saturation level of the air, or 2. Increase the HVAC system’s dehumidification capability. Some growers choose to do both.
To have a deeper understanding of how this can impact the plant, I need to introduce a concept called vapor pressure deficit (VPD) (4). This is a calculated value based on three parameters: air temperature, relative humidity, and leaf temperature. Every professional grow room should always have the first two measurements visible. For reading leaf temperatures, those pistol-like infrared thermometers cost less than $100. (As an aside, a healthy leaf’s temperature should be lower than the air temperature by about 4.2 °F/2 °C with the difference due to the cooling effect of transpiration.) Once cultivators know those three measurements, they can find free online VPD calculators that will tell them the difference between the level of water vapor in the leaf (always 100%) and the water vapor in the grow room’s air. Because this is a measurement of a pressure difference, the standard unit is kilopascals (kPa); for reference, the pressure of air at sea level is 101.3 kPa.
Managing VPD over the course of the cannabis life cycle is critical to getting the most out of the plant. If the VPD is too high, the transpiration rate will not be enough to keep the leaves from drying out, which stresses the plant. Ultimately, the plant’s response is to shut down its transpiration rate and diminish the flow of nutrients, compounding the problem. If the VPD is too low, transpiration will be slowed, resulting in less cooling of the leaves and less uptake of nutrients, which means slower growth and lower yields. To get the best outcome, it’s essential to maintain the optimal VPD range over the lifecycle of the plant. For propagation and the early part of vegetative growth, the VPD should be kept between 0.4–0.8 kPa. During late vegetative and early flower growth, the VPD should be maintained at 0.8–1.2 kPa. Finally, VPD is increased further during mid- and late-flower growth at 1.2–1.6 kPa. Yes, VPD management comes at a cost of a bit more energy, but the value of doing so is well worth the price.
Allison Justice, vice president of cultivation at OutCo in San Diego, California, uses fixtures from Fluence Bioengineering to illuminate their indoor cultivation facility, cutting costs significantly. However, she cautions that the 40% savings in electricity use for lighting was negated partially by the need for dehumidifiers to be in the grow room. In my estimation, actual energy savings of the overall LED based cultivation operations are closer to 30%.
- R. Kern, Cannabis Science and Technology 1(4), 18–20 (2018).
- Y. Park and E. Runkle, PLoS ONE 13(8), e0202386 (2018).
- A.Torres and R. Lopez, “Measuring Daily Light Integral in a Greenhouse” (Purdue University, Purdue Extension Program handout, 2012).
- H. Wollaeger and E. Runkle, “Why should greenhouse growers pay attention to vapor-pressure deficit and not relative humidity?” (Michigan State University Extension, July 2015). Available at: https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/why_should_greenhouse_growers_pay_attention_to_vapor_pressure_deficit_and_n.
- S. Chandra, H. Lata, I.A. Khan, and M.A. Elsohly, Physiol. Mol. Biol. Plants 14, 299–306 (2008).
Dr. Roger Kern is a scientist and technologist who cares deeply about the cultivation and health of plants in the cannabis industry. With his PhD in microbiology from the University of California, Davis, Plant Growth Laboratory, he solves the most challenging problems in hydroponics, from studying the root microbiome to developing nutrients and lighting systems to ensure plant health and a disease-free lifecycle. He spent 22 years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a scientist, technologist, and research leader before becoming the President of Agate Biosciences, a consulting firm for project management, systems engineering, and science in CEA for the past eight years. He leads developments to optimize sustainability, consistency, quality, and yield without compromising plant health. Direct correspondence to: [email protected]
How to Cite This Article
R Kern, Cannabis Science and Technology 2(2), 20-24 (2019). | <urn:uuid:cf978a8e-ec8e-4e82-9686-732305f2b882> | CC-MAIN-2020-24 | https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/article/cultivating-leds-past-present-and-future/page/0/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347407667.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20200530071741-20200530101741-00560.warc.gz | en | 0.932404 | 1,565 | 2.625 | 3 |
Welcome to the Department of Special Education!
The Department of Special Education is distinguished through a variety of in person and online programs that serve underrepresented populations. These include programs for Teaching Students with Disabilities Program, Autism, Applied Behavior Analysis, Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultant, and Teaching in Inclusive Settings.
Special projects include professional development for teachers on co-teaching, a literacy project at the Catrambone School, the Autism MVP grant with Matawan-Aberdeen school district, and the Special Services Academy for local schools. Other scholarship involves studying teacher candidate supervision, studying parent-teacher relationships for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder, utilizing a collaborative student teaching model, the implementation of teaching strategies to serve students with autism spectrum disorder and an exploration of student “flow.” Accreditation for Special Education occurs through the Council for the Accreditation of Educational Professionals (CAEP). | <urn:uuid:ef18474b-b9d6-49b0-9c11-5b325d7f50b5> | CC-MAIN-2019-51 | https://www.monmouth.edu/department-of-special-education/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-51/segments/1575540542644.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20191212074623-20191212102623-00171.warc.gz | en | 0.935852 | 183 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Lemon as worldwide famous fruit has lots of health benefits. Lemon has been used in treating variety of diseases. Lemon is great source of vitamin C that’s why is good as treatment in many health issues.
Lemon is also beneficial for treating cancer. It has been known that lemon has anti-cancer properties beneficial for treating different kinds of cancer confirmed with studies.
Lemon has power to act even on 12 types of cancer. This is even confirmed by the largest drug manufactures.
Comparing lemon with chemotherapy it has been proven that lemon is 1000 stronger than the chemo- effects, or the effects of narcotic products.
Baking soda is another household ingredient beneficial for the health. But combined together with lemon is the most powerful combination against cancer cells.
The good news is that this simple and natural treatment has no negative effects on the body.
For best results it is recommended usage of organic lemons because they are not chemically treated with chemical fertilizers.
How this combination works:
In order to stop or prevent development of cancer it is necessary to be created an alkaline environment because it is known that cancer thrives in an acidic environment.
1 teaspoon baking soda
Juice of 1 lemon
240 ml filtered water
Mix all the ingredients and consume this drink at least 3 times during the day.
There are several important factors for maintaining perfect pH in the body:
Your diet should consist of 80% fresh vegetables and fruits, especially vegetables like spinach and kale
Make sure to consume at least half a liter of purified water on a daily basis
Check your pH levels regularly
Reduce the stress level, and try to be more relaxed. | <urn:uuid:2b0dfb68-57c5-4c55-81ee-c73432b1d4a7> | CC-MAIN-2017-39 | http://www.healthylifestyleadvice.com/lemon-and-baking-soda-great-combination-1000-times-stronger-than-chemotherapy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-39/segments/1505818685850.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20170919145852-20170919165852-00591.warc.gz | en | 0.958744 | 340 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Vernal Pool Monitoring
The Metroparks Vernal Pool Monitoring Program raises public awareness about the existence of vernal pools and their importance to local biodiversity, allows people to participate in a field-research based program, and establishes baseline information about the overall biodiversity for a selected vernal pool. This survey looks at the vernal pool as part of an interconnected ecosystem because the health of a vernal pool is an indicator of the health of the surrounding environment.
The survey started in 2004 and has continued on an annual basis and is entirely a volunteer initiative. It lasts throughout the summer (depending on the water depth), starting in early March and continues every other week with one special night monitoring event in mid-June. The location varies each year.
Each year, either a summary or detailed reports of the seasonal information are sent to the Metroparks of the Toledo Area, Frog Watch USA (a national amphibian program), and the Ohio Environmental Council who maintained a state-wide database on vernal pools (discontinued as of 2015). A report about the yearly Vernal Pool Survey, in either an oral or poster format, is presented at the Oak Openings Research Forum. In 2009 and 2012, Metroparks Vernal Pool Monitoring program hosted the Ohio Environmental Council’s spring vernal pool workshop, and presented methods and data there as well. In past years, a poster has been presented at other relevant conferences such as the Midwest Oak Savanna and Woodland Conference, the Ohio Declining Amphibians Conference, and the Ephemeral Gems: Exploring Seasonal Ponds Conference at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Lastly, survey data is useful as a measure of biological diversity and as baseline data.
Environmental data such as current weather, cloud cover, air and water temperature, water depth, percent tree canopy cover, and precipitation in the past 24 hours are noted first. After that, a large variety of information is collected about aquatic life, local plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammal tracks and signs, and other life forms that are seen or captured that day within thirty feet of the pool’s edge. During the yearly night monitoring event, additional information is collected for calling frogs and toads.
Important Reasons to Monitor Vernal Pools:
- Vernal pools are temporary wetlands found in many local woods. They are very high in biodiversity, and are critical breeding habitat for several species, including salamanders and frogs.
- Classified as wetlands but having little protection, vernal pools can be centuries old, and each one holds a unique mix of aquatic life.
- Vernal Pools enable other aquatic wildlife to breed successfully (before the pools dry and disappear), due to the fact that they lack fish. | <urn:uuid:cc300a9c-af8a-4be1-ae98-62ee88740251> | CC-MAIN-2023-40 | https://metroparkstoledo.com/discover/blog/posts/vernal-pool-monitoring/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-40/segments/1695233510924.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20231001173415-20231001203415-00101.warc.gz | en | 0.939269 | 565 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Neil Parkinson provides an alternative view of pipework vibration management
Some incidents are guaranteed to make headlines, never more so than at COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations) and OSCR (Offshore Installations (Safety Case) Regulations) sites, which have the ability to turn even the smallest incidents into disasters.
Available data for individual onshore plants suggests that in Western Europe, between 10 and 15% of pipework failures are caused by vibration-induced fatigue while offshore, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) reports than more than 20% of hydrocarbon leaks are caused by piping vibration and fatigue. In 2012, 431 serious offshore incidents were reported, of which nearly 30% involved hydrocarbon release. More than 50 of these incidents were classed as major, and in total 33 were attributed to pipework failure. Vibration-induced fatigue clearly represents a serious risk category, but how exactly were these pipelines broken?
If asked to break a paperclip, most people would probably bend it back and forth, or perhaps rub it against another surface until it wore through. One might pull it until it snaps, or use tools to cut it through. Although pipework is far larger and more complex, individual molecules of steel behave the same way in a pipeline as they do in a paperclip – meaning that pipelines can fail as easily as a paperclip can be broken. Bending a paperclip back and forth has the same effect as low cycle fatigue in pipework, leading to vibration fatigue over time. Rubbing a paperclip to wear it down through friction is equivalent to fretting in pipework. Static overloads and pressure surges in pipelines are similar to pulling a paperclip until it snaps, while both can be subjected to mechanical damage.
Bending a paperclip back and forwards is probably the most effective method of breakage and similarly, back-and-forth vibration of pipework is one of the most common causes of failure. Mechanical excitation, flow-induced pulsation, changes in surge or momentum, acoustic-induced vibration, or cavitation and flashing are all common vibration-induced failure mechanisms, but how much vibration is significant?
The Energy Institute (EI) publication Guidelines for the Avoidance of Vibration Induced Fatigue Failure in Process Pipework contains an assessment chart to determine whether pipes are likely to suffer fatigue based on frequency and velocity of movement – and the levels for concern might be surprising. In fact, problematic vibration may not even be visible to the human eye as even at dangerous levels, prolonged movements of only 0.5mm can produce fatigue failure. For EI assessments, pipework movement must be measured in units of velocity at different frequencies. At 25Hz (1,500rpm) for example, pipework vibrating at 8mm per second would place it in the ‘concern’ range, while anything above 40mm/s is a definite problem.
Although vibration amplitudes are barely visible and velocities are relatively low, the cumulative effect over time can be significant – especially as problems can go unnoticed until a dangerous failure ‘suddenly’ occurs. However, as vibration is well understood, fatigue failures are easily preventable with a range of retrofit solutions available for a host of applications.
As the solution to vibration depends on the excitation mechanism, thorough inspection in the form of qualitative assessment, visual inspection, and specialist measurement and predictive techniques must be undertaken before determining the corrective action. The specialist measurement phase includes a variety of more in-depth tests from dynamic strain measurement and fatigue analysis to experimental modal analysis and operating deflection shape analysis, while engineers can also implement specialist predictive techniques, applying sophisticated tools and modelling to provide a more detailed assessment of the dynamics of specific pipelines throughout their lifecycles.
Although one solution to pipework fatigue is to remove the excitation mechanism altogether, this may be quite intrusive, requiring modification of the process conditions or the pipework geometry. As this disrupts production and may involve temporary shut-down, generally a non-intrusive retrofit solution is preferred as a means of providing increased resistance to vibration.
Some solutions can be very straightforward. For example, it is common for pipelines to rest on supports without any additional protection against fretting damage, in which case a secondary ‘doubler’ plate can be installed for additional support and strength without modifying any processes. However, unsuccessful or incomplete attempts at supporting pipework can result in no reduction of vibration or even an exacerbation of the problem. Small bore connections (SBCs) are frequently braced to the deck or nearby structures, for example, but to adequately counteract vibration they should in fact be braced back to the parent pipe. Bracing solutions can also be fitted in the wrong place, supporting the pipe itself rather than the main mass such as a valve, while poorly maintained bracing can loosen and return the pipework to its original level of excitation.
Another common mistake is to brace the pipework in only one plane, where vibration can cause movement in several directions. The most effective bracing system will be able to accommodate any geometric alignment of SBC, with a stiff truss design to resist movement on any plane. Similarly, for mainline pipes, visco-elastic dampers are effective in all degrees of freedom as they provide dynamic damping movement in all directions and over a wide frequency range. Another option for mainline pipework is a dynamic vibration absorber, which when tuned to the same frequency and direction as the problem vibration, will resonate to the same level out-of-phase to cancel it out. This is especially useful if there is no steelwork nearby on which to attach a visco-elastic damper.
Although pipework vibration can be difficult to visually detect, knowledge of EI Guidelines and safe limits as well as an understanding of the most effective corrective actions can prevent the kind of vibration-induced pipework fatigue that can break a pipeline and hit the headlines.
Neil Parkinson is technical director at AV Technology (AVT). | <urn:uuid:9eb24dc5-e578-4155-a243-5e5a0f64a866> | CC-MAIN-2021-25 | https://www.engineerlive.com/content/%E2%80%98how-to%E2%80%99-guide-breaking-pipeline | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-25/segments/1623488517820.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20210622124548-20210622154548-00391.warc.gz | en | 0.944012 | 1,232 | 2.75 | 3 |
Consider the person who lives his entire life avoiding responsibility. One who thinks only of feeding himself, of only his own future, house, car and other property … That which unfolds around him, the tragedies and injustices that take place all over the world, the bloodshed, anguish and hunger suffered by others, does not concern him at all. He is indifferent to plight of those who have been unjustly attacked, or the child who can find not even a crumb to eat. There are many who think that if they can avoid thinking of these concerns, they themselves can be at peace. Although they find themselves in a cruel world, this does not trouble them or affect their consciences. Now, you may be thinking, “Yes, but what can I do?” But, think how the world would be if everyone thought that way … There would not be a single person to battle for good against the evils of the world. In fact, in every period of history, there have been those who fulfilled this duty. They came out fearlessly, trying to promote good in the world and keep it alive. The basic characteristics to be found among them were a fear (and respect) of Allah, listening to their conscience, courage, outspokenness, and a willingness to accept responsibility. True courage, as outlined in the Qur’an, is showing determination in respecting all of the limits that Allah set for humanity, without exception, and without hesitation, fearing none other than Allah, and not deviating from this course whatever the circumstances or the conditions may be. | <urn:uuid:3355da68-e340-4023-873a-68ce87e61116> | CC-MAIN-2018-26 | http://bookglobal.net/index.php?route=product/product&path=1_11&product_id=2819&limit=50 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-26/segments/1529267868237.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20180625170045-20180625190045-00628.warc.gz | en | 0.97495 | 317 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Posted on behalf of Richard Johnston.
The world’s first laboratory beef burger — a proof of concept after five years of research — was cooked and eaten today during a live press conference in London that doubled as a web-TV cookery programme.
Hanni Rützler, a food scientist, and Josh Schonwald, a writer, were the first to sample the cultured beef burger, but were not blown away by its taste, either positively or negatively. The texture was “crunchy and hot”, but didn’t have an intense meat flavour, and “it is a bit like cake”, Rützler said.
The chief creator of the artificial patties, Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands, was on hand as well, and said he feels so comfortable about the safety of the artificial food that he would feed it to his children. In fact, he said he planned to bring the leftovers from the event back home and have his kids taste them.
For now, the burgers are 100% lean, but Post said that his team is working on developing artificial fat tissue as well.
Post and his collaborators have been developing the rather unglamourously titled ‘in vitro meat’ for five years, perfecting the methodology to grow cattle muscle cells in the lab. The resulting beef burger does not come cheap: research and development costs exceeded €250,000 (US$332,000), which came mostly from philanthropic funders rather than from government or industry. Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, financed part of the research and the press launch, which included a video and animation highlighting the laboratory techniques and the rationale behind the project.
To make artificial beef, the scientists start with muscle cells from a living cow. They then feed the cells antibiotics and fetal bovine serum. This makes them multiply to create muscle tissue strands — around 20,000 strands were combined to make the burger. So far, a relatively small amount has been produced, and a full nutritional assessment has yet to be carried out.
The team behind the research aims to mitigate the impact that meat production has on the world. They describe a future with more sustainable synthetic beef that is made in the lab using less water, land and energy, and releasing less carbon dioxide and methane. They predict we could see cultured meats available commercially in the next 10–20 years. | <urn:uuid:959832eb-9eb6-4422-9001-35aaaf60ff48> | CC-MAIN-2020-40 | http://blogs.nature.com/news/2013/08/researchers-put-synthetic-meat-to-the-palate-test.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-40/segments/1600400204410.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20200922063158-20200922093158-00466.warc.gz | en | 0.975982 | 500 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Binary search tree is a data structure which has the following public methods exposed
public void add(int data); public boolean search(int searchData); public void printOrdered();Ofcourse, the above three methods are not the only methods present in a binary search tree, but once these methods are understood and analyzed, understanding the rest of the binary tree should not be a big problem.
Adding elements to a binary tree : In the example program that I've written, I am using only integers as the node data to hold values and ofcourse you need something that is comparable to make binary search trees realistic (refer my previous post on comparable objects). While adding data to a binary search tree, we need to follow the simple rule - lesser should go left and greater then or equal should go to the right of the parent node. By taking a snap at the code, the add(int data) method internally calls a private method that does the job in recursion.
Searching elements in a tree : Searching elements in any data structure is a essential part that reflects the space and time complexity and Binary search tree is no exception. To search from a balanced binary search tree, it would take only O(logn) whereas the same is not so in case of an Array. The simple reason being, for arrays, we need to traverse the entire array sequentially in which the worst case would produce O(n). Consider the below example where in we need to search the element 5.
Whereas in a binary search, the depth count would simply provide the desired result.
Consider a situation in a balanced binary search tree of 7 elements, when the value given to search is at its leaf (which would be the worst case here). The example shown below is a balanced and a perfect binary search tree (which we would look into future posts). Assume the element we need to find is 5. First inspect the root (4), our value is greater, so go the right node, then inspect it (6), our value is lesser so go the left node, bingo! we found our result. This took only 2 comparisons of a tree of depth 2 whereas it look 7 comparisons in an array of length 7! Through this we can come to conclusion that binary trees perform search in O(logn) time.
The method printOrdered() is something we have to allocate time and look into a different post. As for now, lets convince ourselves that binary tree's search is powerful enough to perform the search operation in O(logn) time.
Rest, later. Cheers, | <urn:uuid:a92c63fd-cd19-43c1-871f-97dc4fcd5285> | CC-MAIN-2022-21 | https://tech.bragboy.com/2010/02/binary-search-trees-in-java-continued.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-21/segments/1652662527626.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20220519105247-20220519135247-00377.warc.gz | en | 0.902033 | 534 | 3.546875 | 4 |
- Project plans
- Project activities
- Legislation and standards
- Industry context
Last edited 09 Aug 2018
Bill of quantities breakdown structures BQBS
A bill of quantities (sometimes referred to as a 'BoQ' or 'BQ') is a document, typically prepared by a cost consultant (often a quantity surveyor) that provides measured quantities of the items of work identified by the drawings and specifications in the tender documentation for a project. It is issued to tenderers for them to prepare a price for carrying out the works.
According to NRM2, RICS new rules of measurement, Detailed measurement for building work, there are three main breakdown structures for bill of quantities (BQBS), each with advantages and disadvantages. If preparation of the bill of quantities is digitised according to a standard codification, it may be possible to re-order it from one structure to another.
Measurement and description is undertaken by group elements, with each group element forming a separate section of the bill of quantities, irrespective of the order of work sections in NRM 2. Group elements are sub-divided through the use of elements, which are further sub-divided by sub-elements, as defined by NRM 1: Order of cost estimating and cost planning for capital building works.
For more information see: Elemental bill of quantities.
This structure may be preferred by contractors, as similar products and components are grouped together, rather than being spread across a number of different elements as they are in an elemental breakdown. This can make pricing easier for contractors.
For more information see: Work section bill of quantities.
Measurement and description is divided into employer, quantity surveyor or contractor defined work packages (based either on a specific-trade, or a single package comprising a number of different trades). This structure may be preferred by contractors for procuring from their supply chain.
For more information see: Work package bill of quantities.
Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Advantages of a bill of quantities.
- Approximate bill of quantities.
- Bill of quantities.
- Bill of quantities software.
- Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWS).
- Common mistakes in bill of quantities.
- Comparison of SMM7 with NRM2.
- Elemental bill of quantities.
- Firm bill of quantities.
- How to take off construction works.
- New Rules of Measurement.
- Standard Method of Measurement (SMM7).
- Taking off.
- Tender documentation.
- Tender pricing document.
- Types of bill of quantities.
- Work package bill of quantities.
- Work section bill of quantities.
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Spectrum of Hope – Dr. A. K Kundra
Spectrum of Hope – Dr. A. K Kundra
Most people think Autism is a disorder. Autistic people are atypical. But they do not have a disease/ disorder. Autism is not a disability, but a different ability! So, next time don’t think of it as a disorder or a disease. In other words, Autistic people are a part of neuro-diversity in the human race.
However, Autism is considered a disability from a legal point of view. This is because Autistic people need access to extra support, care, and government aid. Since each person with Autism is unique, their need for support also varies. Autistic people have a high vulnerability in everyday life. Hence, when they are considered as disabled, it is to protect them from this vulnerability.
Q1. How did it all begin?
When Dr. A. K. Kundra was a teacher of English in the Andhra Pradesh district of Bolarum in 1984, he first became aware of autism. One student was “different,” according to the teachers present.
When the child’s behaviour did not alter, Dr. Kundra realised it might be due to a learning deficit. At first, he thought the child was acting out deliberately to avoid studying.
A few months later, he made a trip to London where he learned more about the condition and established an organisation inside the Bolarum district school for kids with autism. Dr. Kundra’s first project for the autism community was that one. He has since made significant contributions to their welfare, building an Autism Ashram (shelter house) in Hyderabad in 2012.
Q-2. What is Autism Ashram?
On the outskirts of Hyderabad, Autism Ashram and SimplyGive Foundation established the first private residential gated community for families with autism in the world. Dr. A K Kundra (who has completed his doctoral research on autism and ageing) observed that a significant portion of parents live in constant stress because they want to care for their special needs child until they are no longer alive but do not have any options for planning for their special needs child’s future needs. While working with families like these and providing residential care under Autism Ashram, Dr. Kundra made this observation.
Q-3. What is Autism Guardian Village?
Autism Guardian Village (AGV) is a pioneering residential complex in India created just for people with autism and their families. It officially opened its doors in 2020.
For families with a child or adult with autism, a ground-breaking idea called “Creating Guardians for Life-After Life” has begun taking development.
The region features 84 houses, hundreds of trees, a community hall, a dining area, a hospital, and a cafe, all of which are dispersed throughout 10 acres of property. 35 of the gated community’s cottages are occupied, and the remaining ones are completely reserved.
Some enchanting features
- Guardianship Concept: A Global First
- All 83 parents come together to take up the role of a child’s guardianship!
- They jointly look out for the welfare of children.
- The child whose parents have passed away immediately receives a Caregiver trained by the Caregiver Institute of India.
- The child is blessed with a caring guardian in charge of the child’s health, hygiene, and safety.
- A mini-India with a diverse culture, where families who moved from Kashmir to Kanyakumari now reside and look out for one another.
Q-4. How was the idea of establishing AGV born?
Dr. Kundra was inspired to build the village after hearing from a number of parents who said they did not want to give up their children or other family members but still want a safe place for them.
“Shelter homes abroad have spacious grounds, with one acre set out for five kids. I originally invested a sizable chunk of my own resources in land since I did not want to compromise on it. I obtained 5-year-old amla, mango, neem, and other trees to build up the greenery that helps to quiet the mind after obtaining the required approvals. Each cottage costs Rs 35,00,000, according to Kundra.
The management group led by Dr. Kundra, which is made up of professionals and specialists, is in charge of looking after and maintaining this hamlet. Every day, they participate in group activities in the community centre, including vocational training, music, reading, and other things.
Q-5. What are the activities held at AGV?
The walls of 2-BHK homes are thinner to allow for more space. According to Dr. Kundra, the kitchen features doors that may be kept locked because persons with autism prefer to eat more frequently.
If they don’t exercise, people with autism can quickly become obese, which leads to various lifestyle-related diseases. As a result, we have paid close attention to their emotional and physical needs. We have built swings on the porches because they enjoy them, says Dr. Kundra.
The entire space is vehicle-free for people to move around freely without the risk of accidents. Dr Kundra notes that people with autism are often fascinated by cars, so if one is kept outside the house, they tend to bang on it.
Every activity is made to help the youngster and the adult. For instance, they frequently hold drumming sessions to ease stress and anxiety. Similar to a neurological workout, Working visual, auditory, and motor cortexes, according to Dr. Kundra.
Q- 6. What are the facilities in the campus?
Inside the facility, there is a general store run by three young adults. According to Dr. Kundra, delivering necessities to cottages is another successful socialising strategy.
A basketball court, table tennis, mini golf course, and pool tables are also on the site.
There are individuals with autism in every age range, ranging from two and a half years old to 42 years old, which is advantageous for the parents. With the help of other parents, the youngest mother is now able to better nurture her child.
The planning of Autism Guardians’ Village, where these families will settle, was prompted by the recurrent theme of the need for life-long care along with the necessity for a location where parents could age while the children grew into adults.
To ensure that autistic children and adults are adequately prepared to lead independent lives in the community while being cared for by their parents, all specialised interventions will be provided in the neighbourhood. Parents will also have the assurance that their children will have a secure and predictable future after their own lifetime. Autism is just another state of mind.
Q-7. How do the occupants and families feel about this initiative?
Their main worries were the lack of information and resources on how to raise a child with autism. The parents worked hard to find therapists and teachers who might help their children with issues including emotional intelligence, learning disabilities, and social interaction.
“Our world fell apart, and we found ourselves scrambling to find experts all over Noida. I had to leave my job due to sensitivity issues, inadequate infrastructure, and callous medical care. There were highs and lows throughout the days. To raise our son in a secure setting, we took on the role of hands-on parents. Mona, the first mom to reserve a cottage, adds, “We worked hard to be able to afford everything.
A parent ” Mona, a consultant by trade, isn’t the anxious and wary parent she was when she first moved here. The surroundings have made it easier for them both to deal with losing Bhanu (Husband).
She has seen a decrease in Tanmay’s (Her son) sobbing and anxiety. He enjoys sitting on the porch, watching people go by, and even says hello to them, which Mona thinks is a big change.
With this mission of building a world for families with autism, Dr. A. K. Kundra has not only received blessings but also shown the world that anything is possible.
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- Celebrating Excellence: Pratiksha Gupta Wins SABLA NARI Award for Best Speech Language Therapist and Audiologist 2023 - January 19, 2024 | <urn:uuid:46217def-3e68-4da9-bf3b-36c183062099> | CC-MAIN-2024-10 | https://www.1specialplace.com/2022/10/06/spectrum-of-hope-dr-a-k-kundra/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2024-10/segments/1707947476205.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20240303043351-20240303073351-00152.warc.gz | en | 0.970036 | 1,808 | 3.015625 | 3 |
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Reptilia
- Order: Testudines
- Family: Dermochelyidae
- Genus: Dermochelys
- Species: Coriacea
- Average Size: 7 ft (2 m)
- Average Weight: 660 to 1,100 lbs (300 to 500 kg)
- *Heaviest recorded weight was 2,00 lbs or 900 kg
- Length of Front Flippers: 8.9 ft (2.7 m)
- Maturity At: 15 to 20 years
- Estimated Average Age: 45 years
Leatherbacks have the widest global distribution of all reptile species. Primarily located in the open ocean, they can be found in the tropic and temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Oceans, and Mediterranean Sea but will also travel as far north as Canada and Norway and as far south as New Zealand and South America. They are the largest of all living sea turtles and the fourth largest modern reptile behind three crocodilians.
Leatherback sea turtles face many predators in their early lives. Eggs dug out of the nest and baby turtles trying to get to the ocean can be eaten by a variety of coastal predators, including ghost crabs, monitor lizards,raccoons, coatis, dogs, coyotes, genets, mongooses, and shorebirds ranging from small plovers to large gulls. Once in the water, the young turtles face predation from cephalopods, requiem sharks, and large fish. Despite the difficulties of growing to adulthood, the huge adults face fewer serious predators. They may occasionally be overwhelmed and preyed on by large marine predators like killer whales, great white sharks, and tiger sharks. Nesting females have also been preyed by jaguars in the American tropics. Leatherbacks are threatened by human activities that interfere with the turtles’ feeding and nesting as well as being injured or killed from boat accidents.
Due to their delicate, scissor-like jaws, if the turtles eat anything other than soft-bodied organisms, it would cause jaw damage. Their main staple food is jellyfish but will also feed on salps, pyrosomes, sea urchins, squid, crustaceans, tunicates, fish, blue-green algae, and floating seaweed.
The Leatherback can consume about 73% of its own body weight of jellyfish in a single day, amounting to about 16,000 calories, three to seven times more than it needs to survive.
Leatherbacks have the most hydrodynamic body design of any sea turtle with its large, teardrop-shaped body. Its large flattened front flippers are adapted for swimming in the open ocean. Claws are absent from both pairs of flippers.
Leatherback sea turtles are also the only sea turtle species that lacks a hard shell. Instead of scutes, the thickened horny or bony plates that make up the shells of turtles and crocodiles, they have thick, leathery skins embedded with minuscule osteoderms, bony deposits in the dermal layer of the skin. Seven distinct ridges rise from the shell, or carapace, from the anterior to posterior margin of the turtle’s back. Their shells are normally dark grey to black with white or pale spots, while the underbellies are pinkish-white.
Unlike other reptiles, Leatherback sea turtles are able to maintain warm body temperatures and are able to survive in water that is too cold for other marine turtles. Their unique set of adaptations have allowed these sea creatures to retain and even generate body heat.
These adaptations include their large body size, changes in blood flow, and a thick layer of fat. Their high volume to surface area ratio means that the turtle has a relatively small surface area compared to its significant body mass, allowing the turtle to retain body heat. Leatherbacks also have a “countercurrent” heat exchangers in their flippers with their veins and arteries closely bundled next to one another. This way, the warmer blood carried away from the heart in the arteries helps to warm the cooler blood returning to the heart from the veins. Furthemore, underneath the leathery skin of the belly is a thick layer of fat like marine mammals. In most sea turtles, the lower shell is made up of nine bones that are fused together to create a solid plate. But in the Leatherback, these bones are reduced to a ring around the edge and is filled with the layer of fat. Any heat generated by muscle movement is contained by this fatty layer. These factors help the the Leatherback maintain a body temperature to almost 18 Celsius warmer than the surrounding water temperature.
Leatherback sea turtles, like other turtles, lack teeth. They only have two cusps, pointed parts, on their upper jaw and one on their lower jaw to grab their food. Instead, they have backward spines down its mouth and esophagus to help swallow the soft-bodied prey, like jellyfish. The sharp papillae actually prevent the jelly from escaping by floating back out of the mouth, allowing for the Leatherback to feed on a variety of jellyfish species. In addition to the papillae, the turtle also have an unusually long esophagus that extends past its stomach to the rear. From there, it loops back up to connect with the stomach. A long esophagus allows for the Leatherback to swallow large amounts of jellyfish at a time.
The Leatherback sea turtle is a migratory species, travelling over 10,000 miles a year between breeding and feeding areas, averaging 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) each way. The migration occurs between the cold waters where leatherbacks feed to the tropical and subtropical beaches in the regions where they hatch.
It needs all the energy it can get to cover large distances, but jellyfish aren’t exactly energy-boosting foods with their high water content. This accounts for the Leatherback’s huge appetite and long esophagus.
Leatherbacks follow their jellyfish prey throughout the day, resulting in turtles preferring deeper water in the daytime and shallower water at night, when the jellyfish rise up the water column. This often places turtles in very frigid waters where their ability to retain and even possibly generate body heat despite being reptiles comes in handy. They are also known to pursue their prey deeper than 1,000 meters which is beyond the physiological limits of all other diving tetrapods except for beaked whales and sperm whales.
Female Leatherbacks migrate to their respective nesting sites and come ashore during the breeding seasons every two or three years. Their ritual involves excavating a hole in the sand, laying an average of four to seven clutches of approximately 100 eggs during a nesting season. Once the eggs are laid, leatherback sea turtles, like other reptiles, leave the hatchlings to fend for themselves. Only about 1 out of 4 will survive its first day and about 1 out of 10,000 survives to reproduce again.
The temperature inside the nest determines the sex of the hatchlings. A mix of male and
female hatchlings occurs when the nest temperature is approximately 85.1 degrees Fahrenheit (29.5 degrees Celsius) but higher temperatures produce a higher ratio of females and cooler temperatures produce a higher ratio of males.
After the eggs are incubated for about 55 to 75 days, the Leatherback hatchlings emerge from the nest and quickly scramble to get to the ocean water.
The global population of Leatherbacks comprises of seven biologically and geographically subpopulations located in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean.
The East Pacific subpopulation is considered critically endangered with a decreasing population trend. It is estimated to have only 633 mature individuals. They nest along the Pacific coast of Mexico, Central, and South America with its area of occupancy of 2,000 km2 extending from Baja California, Mexico, to central Chile, and westward to 130°W and south to 40°S. This subpopulation has declined 97.4% during the past three generations. IUCN’s long-term abundance trends analysis from long-term monitoring projects on primary nesting beaches in Mexico and Costa Rica demonstrates that nesting abundance has declined more than 90% since the 1980s. It is estimated to be nearly extinct with a population decline of 99.9% in another generation (i.e. by 2040), with a remaining abundance of approximately 52 nests per year or fewer than 30 adults female total.
The West Pacific subpopulation is also considered critically endangered with a decreasing population trend. It is estimated to have only 1,438 mature individuals. Due to the beach temperatures, this subpopulation has a 3:1 female to male ratio. Their region extends north into the Sea of Japan, northeast and east into the North Pacific to the west coast of North America, west to South China Sea and Indonesian Seas, and south into the high latitude waters of the western South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea. They nest primarily in Papua Barat, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands as well as in Vanuatu. Their largest nesting population in Terrengannu, Malaysia, is now functionally extinct. IUCN’s long-term abundance trends analysis in the western Pacific demonstrates that nesting abundance has declined at the two Indonesian index beaches by 78.3% over 27 years at Jamursba-Medi and by 62.8% over the past nine years at Wermon. The West Pacific Leatherback subpopulation has declined 83% during the past three generations. It is estimated that it will continue to diminish with a population decline of 96% in another generation (i.e. by 2040), with a remaining abundance of approximately 572 nests or 260 adult females total.
The Northwest Atlantic subpopulation is considered to be ‘of least concern’ with an increasing population trend. It is estimated to have 29,637 to 33,810 mature individuals. Their range extends throughout the North Atlantic Ocean, from the equator to beyond 50°N, and from the Gulf of Mexico into the Mediterranean and across the equator to northwestern Africa. They nest in southeastern United States, throughout the mainland and insular Caribbean, and the Guiana Shield. Compared to the other subpopulations, the Northwest Atlantic subpopulation is large. There has been an increase of 20.6% with over 50,000 nests over the past three generations and is projected to increase to over 180,000 nests in the next generation (by 2040). Despite being listed as ‘of least concern’, the future population increases depend on the success of current conservation efforts to protect the subpopulation and its habitat.
The Southwest Atlantic subpopulation is considered as critically endangered, but they do have an increasing population trend. It is estimated to have only 35 mature individuals with an estimated area of occupancy of 320 km2. Their range is thought to extend north across the equator in Brazil and east to the coast of Atlantic Africa, southwest to southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, and southeast to South African waters. Despite its large range, they nest only in Brazil. The Southwest Atlantic subpopulation has increased by 232% over the past three generations and estimated to increase by 957% in another generation (i.e. by 2040) with an abundance of approximately 169 nests or 85 adult females total.
The Southeast Atlantic subpopulation is considered as data deficit with an unknown population trend. Although the they share identical geographical distribution with the Southwest Atlantic subpopulation, they are genetically distinct and do not breed together. The nesting epicenter lies in Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Republic of Congo, with additional nesting in smaller numbers extending north to Senegal and south to Angola. Trend data is unavailable for the nesting site in Gabon. Although data is available for the nesting sites in Congo and Equatorial Guinea, they make up a cumulative abundance of less than 10% of the abundance in Gabon, the largest Leatherback nesting population in the world. This does not make it ideal to assign the trends observed in Congo and Equatorial Guinea to the entire subpopulation.
The Northwest Indian subpopulation is considered critically endangered with a decreasing population trend. It is estimated to have only 148 mature individuals occupying an area of 1,500 km2. Their range extends through the Agulhas Current around the Cape of Good Hope in the Indian and Atlantic Oceans but they nest along the Indian Ocean coast of South Africa and Mozambique. This subpopulation has a similar sex ratio as East Pacific’s. The Northwest Indian subpopulation has declined slightly by 5.6% during the past three generations. The reason for its status as critically endangered is due to its restricted range of a single location and small population size.
The Northeast Indian subpopulation is considered as data deficit with an unknown population trend. Their range includes Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. They nest primarily in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Sri Lanka, and to a less extent in Thailand and Sumatra, India. The nesting population in Sri Lanka is estimated to be 100 to 200 females per year, in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, approximately 400 to 600 females per year, and in Thailand, there are fewer than 10 nests. There is a significant gap in the knowledge and understanding of the Northeast Indian subpopulation. It is hypothesized that the nesting beaches in Sri Lanka and the Nicobar Islands might belong to a third distinct Indian Ocean subpopulation.
Once prevalent in every ocean except the Arctic and Antarctic, the leatherback population is rapidly declining in many parts of the world. Estimation of global population change based on subpopulation trends, weighted based on relative size to the global population size, produced an estimate of 40.1% decline over the past three generations.
Currently listed as ‘vulnerable’ on IUCN, the global Leatherback sea turtle’s projected population based off of the subpopulation trends show that by 2030, population will be increasing by 3%. Therefore, within the next ten years, the global population might no longer be qualified to be listed as vulnerable. However, a future population increase is dependent on the success of conservation actions to mitigate current and future threats through its range.
Nearly 99% of the global population is contained with the Northwest Atlantic subpopulation, which obscures the declines and threatened status of the Pacific and Indian subpopulations. So while the results demonstrate that the species will not extinct globally, subpopulations are still at risk and should be given priority.
There are five main threats to this species’ survival. Fisheries bycatch, the incidental capture of marine turtles in fishing gear targeting other species, is listed as the greatest threat to Leatherbacks globally. Many Leatherbacks fall victim to fishing lines and nets, or are even struck by boats. Turtles and eggs directly taken for human consumption and coastal development affecting turtle habitat and nesting sites are the next greatest threats. Pollution, debris, and pathogens caused by humans affects marine turtles and their health. Leatherback sea turtles, in particular, die from ingesting plastic bags that look similar to jellyfish in the water. Some individuals have been found to have almost 11 pounds or 5 kilograms of plastic in their stomachs The current and future impacts from climate change will affect marine turtles in their habitats in ways such as increasing sand temperatures, sea level rise, and storm frequency.
- Leatherbacks untake the longest migrations of any sea turtle species.
- The largest Leatherback found was an 8.5 ft (2.6 m) long male weighing 2,020 lbs (916 kg) that washed up on the west coast of Wales in 1988.
- They have never been successfully raised to maturity in captivity.
- They cannot swim backwards.
- They can dive to depths of 4,200 feet (1,280 meters) and can stay down for up to 85 minutes.
- They are the fastest-moving reptiles. The 1992 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records lists the leatherback turtle moving at 21.92 mph (35.28 km/h) in the water. Typically, Leatherback sea turtles swim at 1.12-6.26 mph (1.8-10.08 km/h).
Warning: This video contains dissections.
References + For More Reading | <urn:uuid:3e189ad3-0a28-4bf8-b6c8-d98fc69e30c7> | CC-MAIN-2018-05 | https://animalalmanacblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/animal-spotlight-leatherback-sea-turtle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2018-05/segments/1516084886815.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20180117043259-20180117063259-00785.warc.gz | en | 0.939124 | 3,364 | 3.546875 | 4 |
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