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The World Electric – Part II As I discussed in part one of this series, electrical power and lighting was débuted at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition by Westinghouse and Nicola Tesla. Now, a little over 100 years later we carry in our pockets technology so advanced that the Victorian era population would not even recognize it as such - in fact, it may have been considered magic or supernatural. But what is the next stop beyond the current generation of digital and analog semiconductor devices? I recently had a chance to talk with National Semiconductor’s Chief Technology Officer and Director of NS Labs, Dr. Ahmad Bahai. I asked him what he thought of today’s high performance processes and the never ending progress to smaller geometries. He said, “Analog scaling doesn’t buy you any performance advantage” – primarily due to the way the transistors are used. Analog functions still require isolation and moving things closer only complicates the issue. Digital processes use transistors as switches avoiding the “in-between” or linear regions of the devices. Analog semiconductors actually take advantage of the linear region to provide amplification and accurate control of voltage and current. In mixed signal semiconductors such as Analog to Digital Converters (ADCs), there is a percentage of digital logic, but it is usually such as a small percentage of the function that shrinking it doesn’t provide great benefit. I also asked him what he thought about digital process nodes below 22nm. He made an interesting comment, “below 22nm is it (the semiconductor) electrical or mechanical?” This raises an interesting question… at these tiny geometries is it easier to build switches from mechanical functions? With so much research going on with carbon nano-tubes, it may remain in the realm of electrical for the near term. This along with the ability to stack circuits may continue to raise the transistor count to give Moore’s law another 10+ years. For now the move in analog semiconductors will be to enhanced processes such as Silicon Nitride (SiN), Silicon Carbide (SiC), Gallium Nitride (GaN) and other familiar materials to increase the power handling capability – a property very important to energy management and technologies such as the Smart Grid. Beyond that, you’ll have to wait until part III… till next time…
City officials said the water supply is safe to drink, even though coliform was detected in some water samples. A letter was given to residents stating that high levels of coliform bacteria were located in the water supply in April. Officials have said there is “no harmful bacteria” in the water, and it is not necessary to boil water. Tests from a sample site may have been contaminated and the bacteria level is most likely isolated. Subsequent tests were performed and all samples passed the test, officials said. According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, “Coliforms are a group of bacteria found in the intestines of humans and other animals. Coliforms also occur naturally in the soil, on vegetation and in surface waters (lakes and streams). Most members of the coliform group do not cause disease. “When found in drinking water, coliform bacteria indicate that contamination of the water has occurred, and that other disease-causing bacteria could also get into the water supply.” Coliforms are a sign that there could be a problem with the treatment or distribution systems. The city has tested for “fecal coliform” or E. coli, which was not present in the samplings. For more information, please contact the water system staff at city hall, 636-583-3600, or at the water plant, 636-583-3522. People also can contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at 314-416-2960, or public water program at 573-751-5331.
What do the Rick Roll and Boris Yeltsin have in common? The cultural phenomenon and political figure were both fixtures of the late 20th and early 21st-century cultural zeitgeist, a time heavily defined by Generation X. Separate from the populous Baby Boomers and their Millennial offspring, this segment of western society was born between the late 1960s and early ’80s. X-ers lived in a pre and postdigital world and were witness to how technology transformed culture. Coming of age just before the turn of the century, this generation experienced the growth of globalization and a collective loss of innocence. Currently on view at New York’s Friedman Benda gallery, An Accelerated Culture—closing on June 8—is a unique group exhibition that seeks to survey rather than typecast design from this period.
EPA Develops Regulations for Geologic CO2 Sequestration The EPA announced plans to develop regulations to establish a clear path for geologic sequestration, a process of injecting captured carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in deep rock formations for long-term storage. Once completed, the regulations will ensure there is a consistent and effective permit system under the Safe Drinking Water Act for commercial-scale geologic sequestration programs to help reduce the effects of climate change. "Addressing global climate change will require fundamental changes in the way the world generates and uses energy," said EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson. "By harnessing the power of geologic sequestration technology, we are entering a new age of clean energy – where we can be both good stewards of the Earth, and good stewards of the American economy." EPA is working with the Department of Energy as it carries out its carbon sequestration research and development program and is also coordinating efforts to evaluate potential impacts on health, safety and the environment.The Safe Drinking Water Act established the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program to allow the safe injection of fluids into the subsurface in a manner that does not endanger current or future underground sources of drinking water.EPA plans to propose regulatory changes to the UIC program in the summer of 2008 and will invite the public and stakeholders to provide input throughout the rule development process.
Tucuxis are found in the Amazon drainage as far inland as southern Peru, eastern Ecuador, and southeastern Colombia. They occur in the main tributaries of the Amazon/Solimões River basin and they cross international boundaries in areas such as Leticia, between Brazil and Colombia. The species does not occur in the Beni/Mamoré river basin in Bolivia nor in the upper Rio Negro. Its putative presence in the Orinoco is controversial because of a stretch of rapids and waterfalls that are suspected to block the species movements to this area (Flores and da Silva 2009). During the flood season, Tucuxis may move into smaller tributaries, but apparently they do not move into the inundated forest to feed (as botos, Inia geoffrensis, often do), staying mainly in the main river channels, tributaries and lakes (da Silva and Best 1996). Tucuxis are largely sympatric with the Boto in the Amazon and Orinoco systems but generally do not interact with that species.
Thyroid TherapyMichael Vertolli, RH March 1, 2006 Foods and Herbs to Nourish this Hardworking Master Gland Stress is something that we have learned to accept in modern Western society. It has become a way of life. For example, the technologies that are supposed to make our lives easier are actually accelerating our stress load. It began with answering machines, then came cell phones, faxes and e-mails. Although these inventions facilitate communication, it has reached a point where we are communicating ourselves into an early grave. In addition to psychological stress, chemical stress is also on the rise as our population and level of consumption increases and we rapidly fill our one and only home with our toxic waste products. Not surprisingly, this sad state of affairs is having a profoundly negative impact on our physical and psychological well-being. Physiologically, it takes a major coordinated effort for the body to mount a defence against the many sources of stress in our lives. Although this effort is ultimately controlled by our nervous system, it is primarily implemented by hormones produced by our many endocrine organs. Many of our body functions are controlled by hormones. These are one of several classes of substances that allow the different parts of our body to communicate with each other. Our endocrine glands release their hormones into our blood, where they travel throughout our body until they reach their target cells. Any cell that has receptor sites for a particular hormone will be influenced by it when it is present in our blood. Generally, a hormone will either speed up or slow down one or more processes that occur within the cells that it influences. The part of our brain that controls our endocrine system is the hypothalamus. It controls the pituitary gland, which in turn controls many of the functions of the remaining endocrine glands. The backbone of our stress response is known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, as our primary stress response is stimulated by adrenal hormones in response to signals from our hypothalamus and pituitary. Nevertheless, endocrine glands tend to work together and the hormones produced by one of them will usually influence most or all of the other endocrine glands either directly or indirectly. This is why disturbances in the functioning of one endocrine gland tend to have a negative influence on the functioning of the whole system. Dysfunction of one or more of the endocrine glands is very common in our society. This is partly due to the prevalence of stressful lifestyles and overconsumption of foods, beverages and drugs that stimulate or suppress the functioning of various endocrine glands. Many environmental toxins also act on hormone receptor sites. Disturbances of the functioning of endocrine glands often develop over many years. Medical diagnostic methods usually cannot detect a problem until these conditions are very advanced. As a result, they often go undiagnosed. These are what we call subclinical conditions as the symptoms are often too subtle to be easily diagnosed. Nevertheless, these conditions are very real and can have a profound impact on our health and well-being. Those who suffer from them are usually aware that something is wrong even if their doctor can’t find anything. SYMPTOMS OF THYROID DYSFUNCTION One of the most common categories of endocrine dysfunction in our society involves disturbances of thyroid function. This usually results in an over- or under-production of thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones help to regulate the metabolic rate of our body cells and also calcium metabolism. Consequently, thyroid dysfunction influences every organ in our body. Hyperthyroidism occurs when thyroid hormones are being produced in excess. This tends to speed up many of the processes that occur in our body. Symptoms include hyperactivity, elevated heart rate, intolerance to heat, weight loss, mild diarrhea and insomnia. In more serious cases goiter (enlarged thyroid) usually develops. Most of these symptoms can also be associated with hyperadrenal function and other conditions. Hyperadrenal function often occurs concurrently with hyperthyroid. Hypothyroidism occurs when thyroid hormones are deficient. This tends to slow down many of the processes that occur in our body. Symptoms include fatigue, depression, reduced libido, intolerance to cold, weight gain, elevated cholesterol levels, constipation, hair loss and irregularities of the menstrual cycle in women. In advanced cases goiter develops here as well. Most of these symptoms can also be associated with hypoadrenal function and other conditions. Hypoadrenal function often occurs concurrently with hypothyroid. Diagnosed hypothyroidism is much more common than diagnosed hyperthyroidism. However, both are considerably more common when we include undiagnosed subclinical cases. Hypothyroidism often occurs after a period of subclinical hyperthyroidism. FACTORS THAT DISTURB THE THYROID Aside from the negative impact of psychological stress that affects all of the endocrine glands via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, there are many factors that can potentially disturb thyroid function. They include: 1. Dietary factors: Excess consumption of sea vegetables, iodized salt and stimulants such as caffeine can contribute to hyperthyroidism. Excessive consumption of raw vegetables and herbs from the mustard family (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, arugula, rapini, etc.) and mint family (e.g. peppermint, spearmint, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, marjoram, lavender, catnip, lemon balm, motherwort, bugleweed) and soy products can contribute to hypothyroidism. As well, deficiencies of iodine, zinc and vitamins A, B2, B3, B6 and E also exacerbate hypothyroidism. 2. Exercise: Lack of exercise can contribute to both hyper- and hypothyroidism, as can insufficient sleep. 3. Toxicity: Many toxins can bind to hormone receptor sites resulting in negative health consequences. Also of particular importance for thyroid function is radioactive iodine, which is a byproduct of nuclear fission from power plants and weapons testing. Iodine is an important component of thyroid hormone and this substance tends to be found in the highest concentrations in our thyroid. 4. Autoimmune factors: Many cases of both hyper- and hypothyroidism have an autoimmune component. Psychological and toxic stress are major factors contributing to the development of autoimmune conditions. 5. Tumours: Cysts and tumours of the thyroid can result in hyper- and hypothyroidism. One of the major causes of tumours in this organ is radioactive iodine. 6. Iatrogenic causes: Post-therapeutic hypothyroidism can occur from over-zealous treatment of hyperthyroidism resulting in destruction or removal of too much thyroid tissue. Foods and herbs from the mustard and mint families are very nutritious and many have important medicinal properties. Regular consumption of these plants will not lead to underactive thyroid function unless other factors are also involved, particularly iodine deficiency, which is rare since the advent of iodized salt. Only those who already have hypothyroidism need be concerned. In these cases foods from the mustard family should be reduced, but not eliminated, from the diet and only eaten cooked. Spices and herbs from the mint family aren’t as much of a concern because they aren’t consumed in as large a quantity. However, regular consumption of herbal products containing bugleweed, motherwort and lemon balm should be avoided. HERBAL MEDICINE FOR THYROID DYSFUNCTION Iodine-deficiency hypothyroidism is rare in our society. It can be treated by increasing dietary sources of iodine or taking kelp or dulse supplements. Autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s disease and Grave’s disease require treatment protocols that are more complex. The treatment of these conditions should be supervised by a qualified herbalist or other natural health care professional. Post-therapeutic hypothyroidism is treatable, however the success of treatment will depend on how much of the thyroid has been destroyed. If most of the thyroid is present, complete treatment is possible. If too much of the thyroid has been destroyed, only partial results are possible. If the thyroid has been completely or almost completely destroyed, treatment is only possible with thyroid hormone supplements. Functional subclinical hyper- and hypothyroidism are relatively easy to treat as long as you are not taking thyroid medications. If you are taking thyroid medications, the condition is still treatable, but it should be supervised by a qualified practitioner. If you are not taking thyroid medications, it is possible to attempt to treat the condition yourself as long as you have an accurate diagnosis. As always, if you are someone for whom self-treatment is possible, you should stop the treatment and consult with a practitioner if you experience any unusual symptoms or the treatment doesn’t produce significant results after a period of 3-6 months. The treatment protocol for post-therapeutic hypothyroidism is the same as for milder cases of subclinical hypothyroidism. The herbal treatment of both hyper- and hypothyroidism is similar and involves 2 distinct stages. In the first stage we use a formulation that consists of 5 herbal components: (1) a strong bitter herb such as gentian root (Gentiana lutea: 10-20%), centaury herb (Centaurium erythraea: 10-20%), wormwood herb (Artemisia absinthium: 5-15%) or horehound herb (Marrubium vulgare: 10-20%); (2) a mildly bitter detoxifying herb such as dandelion root (Taraxacum officinale: 20-25%), elecampane root (Inula helenium: 20-25%), or burdock root (Arctium spp.: 20-25%); (3) a pungent (hot) herb such as cayenne fruit (Capsicum spp.: .5-2%), garlic bulb (Allium sativum: 5-15%) or ginger rhizome (Zingiber officinale: 5-10%); (4) an aromatic herb such as hyssop herb (Hyssopus officinalis: 20-40%), thyme herb (Thymus vulgaris: 20-40%), German chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutita: 20-40%), lavender flowers (Lavandula angustifolia: 20-40%) or spearmint herb (Mentha spicata: 20-40%). (5) The fifth component is different depending on whether we are treating hyperthyroid or hypothyroid. For hyperthyroid we use bugleweed herb (Lycopus spp.: 25-35%). For hypothyroid we use bladderwrack thallus (Fucus vesiculosus: 25-35%). Overall, both kinds of formulations should be fairly bitter (but not overpoweringly so) and pungent (spicy) enough so that you can feel the heat in your mouth without burning it. The best way to use these herbs is in the form of 1:5 fresh herb tinctures taken three times per day on an empty stomach 15-30 minutes before meals. Add the tincture to a small amount of water 20-25 ml (0.5-1 ounce) and hold it in your mouth for about 30 seconds before swallowing. Begin at a relatively low dose of about two droppers (a dropper is the amount of tincture that you get in the glass tube of the dropper when you completely press the bulb once) of the formulation (not each individual herb). As long as you don’t get any unusual symptoms, increase the unit dose by one dropper every week until you reach a maximum dose of 5-7 droppers. Maintain that dose for at least 3 months or until the symptoms have normalized. When you have finished the first stage of treatment, take a break from the herbs for 1-2 weeks then begin the second formulation. It should consist of three components: (1) two adaptogenic herbs such as North American ginseng root (Panax quinquefolius: 25-35%), Siberian ginseng rhizome (Eleutherococcus senticosus: 25-35%), Chinese milkvetch root (Astragalus membranaceus: 25-35%) or lacquered polypore fruiting body (Ganoderma lucidum: 25-35%); (2) a pungent herb such as cayenne fruit (.5-2%) or ginger rhizome (5-10%); and (3) maidenhair tree leaves (Ginkgo biloba: 25-35%). In this stage of treatment there are no differences between the treatment of hyper- and hypothyroid. The second formulation is taken the same way as the first, except that it is not necessary to build up the dose. Start at 5-7 droppers right away. This formulation needs to be taken for at least 2-3 months. The doses that I have recommended are based on 1:5 fresh herb tinctures. Tinctures that you purchase may be stronger or weaker, depending on the manufacturer. The lower the second number in the ratio, the more potent the tincture (i.e. 1:2 is stronger than 1:5, 1:10 is weaker than 1:5). The recommended dose of the formulation may need to be decreased or increased depending on the potency of the tinctures that you purchase. You can use the recommended dosages on the product as a guideline. It’s also best if you purchase all of your tinctures at the same potency, otherwise the recommended proportions will change (lower for a more potent tincture, higher for a less potent tincture). This may sound complicated to some of you, but, unlike drugs, herbs are very forgiving. Minor changes to the proportion of an herb in a formulation will usually not make a big difference in the results, as long as it is a good formulation. It is very important that you are sure of your initial diagnosis before beginning treatment as the symptoms of both hyper- and hypothyroid could be due to other conditions. If you begin treatment and experience any unusual symptoms or you get mediocre results, discontinue the treatment and seek the advice of a qualified practitioner. Michael Vertolli is a Registered Herbalist practising in Vaughan (just north of Toronto). He is the Director of Living Earth School of Herbalism, which offers in-class and online general interest courses, certificate, and diploma programs. For more information: 905-303-8723, ext. 1. Visit his website: http://www.livingearthschool.ca/index.html Blog: http://michaelvertolli.blogspot.com/
Bitcoin is digital money used for secure and instant transfer of value anywhere in the world. It is not controlled or issued by any bank or government - instead it is an open network which is managed by its users. Much in the way email improved communication by making it fast and cheap, bitcoin is an improvement on existing payment methods which were not designed for the internet era. Bitcoin’s core protocol is viewable by anyone, has been vetted by thousands of security researchers around the world, and has proven to be robust and reliable after immense scrutiny. Using bitcoin is similar to using other private applications on the internet, such as email or online banking. Just like these other web services, you must access your bitcoin with a password in order to ensure only you have access to your money. The value of a bitcoin is not tied or pegged to the value of any other currency. Similar to stocks or property, bitcoin’s value is determined by buying and selling in the open market. A bitcoin’s price changes in real time based on the number of people who want to buy or sell it at a given moment. Bitcoin is traded for dollars, euros, yen, and other currencies in real time 24 hours a day. Depending on the demand for buying or selling bitcoin, the price can fluctuate from day to day. This is similar to the manner in which the value of a stock or property can go up or down based on supply and demand. Bitcoin’s value can be volatile compared to traditional currencies such as the US dollar because it is still an emerging technology. Unlike credit card networks like Visa and payment processors like Paypal, bitcoin is not owned by an individual or company. Bitcoin is the world’s first completely open payment network which anyone with an internet connection can participate in. Bitcoin was designed to be used on the internet, and doesn’t depend on banks or private companies to process transactions. Bitcoin allows you to instantly send any amount of money to anyone in the world without needing a bank. It allows you to access your money without needing an ATM or credit card - bitcoin gives you back control over your money. Plus you can pay friends back for dinner, buy your next computer, and donate to charity, all using bitcoin. Many large online businesses accept bitcoin, such as Overstock, Expedia, and Dell. Non-profits such as Wikipedia and the United Way also accept bitcoin donations. Look for a bitcoin payment option at many of your favorite websites and you’ll be surprised how many accept bitcoin! You can view a list of merchants here.
Interior Chief Signs Species Protection Plan for Lower Colorado PHOENIX Interior Secretary Gale Norton has signed an agreement with representatives of Arizona, Nevada, and California to protect wildlife habitat on the Colorado River and aid native species. The Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program will create 8,100 acres of riparian, marsh, and backwater habitat for about 27 species, six of which are endangered. "As we look at water issues across the West, we see that endangered species are often a key factor in determining how water is managed," Norton said this week. "This proactive planning is a great break with the past." The program is designed to protect habitat between Lake Mead and the U.S.-Mexico border, while ensuring water supplies and power operations using Colorado River water can continue. The river supplies water and power to 20 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California. "It allows both plants, animals, and people to all better coexist," Norton said. The program was developed after concerns arose about the reliability of power and water resources following the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 1994 designation of critical habitat for four endangered fish species. Critical habitat designations mean federal agencies must seek permission before doing work in a designated area. Although the program was formally developed in 1997, officials are still working out details. They plan to examine the levels and temperatures of reservoirs to make sure fish are not harmed. They also plan to build more hatcheries and examine irrigation methods to see how they are affecting the temperature and quality of the water. Trees and plants will be planted along the river to restore the diversity of habitat, which has been harmed by low water levels, said Chuck Paradzick, aquatic habitat specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It has yet to be determined where the water will come from to sustain the restored habitats, Paradzick said. Not everyone is convinced the plan will work. Rather than creating a viable habitat for these species, it will just add more animals and plants to a damaged environment, said Jennifer Pitt, a scientist with Environmental Defense, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. "It is sort of like a zoo approach, rather than a river-based approach," Pitt said. The federal government will pay for half of the 50-year program's estimated $620 million cost. California will cover about $155 million, with Arizona and Nevada paying roughly $77.5 million each, said Bob Walsh of the Bureau of Reclamation. Source: Associated Press
Burnside, Niall, Metcalfe, Daniel J., Smith, Roger and Waite, S. (2006) Ghyll woodlands of the Weald: characterisation and conservation Biodiversity and Conservation, 15 (4). pp. 1319-1338. ISSN 0960-3115Full text not available from this repository. Ghylls are linear valley features cut into the sandy beds of the Weald of south-eastern England. The ghyll's indigenous woodlands are highly species rich at the small scale, support distinctive assemblages of cryptogamic plants, and are unique to south-east England. Field surveys were carried out for 48 ghyll woodlands in the Weald with a GIS used to examine the ecology, landform and conservation status of the ghyll woodlands. The data were analysed using spatial and multi-variate techniques in order to identify sub-groups or ghyll woodland communities based upon species composition, topography and geology. The ghylls are shown to be reasonably uniform for canopy vegetation type and structure and for their geological and soil characteristics. However, analysis shows that geomorphology, understorey and field layer variability may act as stronger indicators of site conditions and character. Further analysis focused on the level and extent of nature conservation protection that these unique and ancient systems receive. The study concludes that despite their ecological importance and potentially international significance, ghyll woodlands are poorly understood and protected. \|Item Type:\|\|Journal article\| \|Uncontrolled Keywords:\|\|Biodiversity conservation; Geographical information systems; Ghyll woodlands; The Weald; Woodland characterisation\| \|Subjects:\|\|F000 Physical Sciences > F800 Physical Geography and Environmental Sciences > F850 Environmental Sciences\| \|DOI (a stable link to the resource):\|\|10.1007/s10531-005-3875-5\| \|Faculties:\|\|Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environment and Technology Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Environment and Technology > Ecology, Landscape and Pollution Management \|Depositing User:\|\|editor environment\| \|Date Deposited:\|\|23 Nov 2006\| \|Last Modified:\|\|18 Dec 2013 14:18\| Actions (login required) Downloads per month over past year
I’m interested in Aristotle’s philosophy and I study his concepts of substance and accident. Aristotle says that an accident is that which exists through another or present in another and not in itself. My question is how exactly can I conceptualize the phrases “being in itself” and “being present in another” with some examples to clarify how something can be in another and what sort of relationship exists between them. Answer by Craig Skinner Aristotle’s metaphysics of potentiality/ actuality, substance/accidents, matter/ form, essence/ existence, and four causes/ causal powers is increasingly recognized as the framework underlying the physical and biological sciences, after a long period of misrepresentation and neglect beginning with early moderns such as Hobbes, Descartes and Locke, and I’m pleased you’re interested in it. As regards substance and accident, these refer to the individual, naturally occurring, concrete items of the world (plants, planets, cats, humans, and so on) and their properties. So, a substance is a thing or object (consisting of prime matter taking the form of that particular thing), and its accidents are its properties (qualities, attributes, features), what can be said of it (predicated of it). For example my cat is a substance having the accident “black”, my grandchild is “female”, the tree in the garden is “leafy”. You can readily see that the substances (cat, grandchild, tree) are self-standing items, existing “in themselves”, but they cant be a property of something else – nothing can be “cat” or “tree”, so they cant be “present in (as a feature of) another”. Accidents (“black”, “female”, “leafy”) on the other hand can only be present as features of things (substances) , they are “present in another” not “beings in themselves”. Thus, you never come across a big or a black, an old or a female, it always has to be a big, black or old something. By the way, Plato thought that properties were instances in the everyday world of universals which exist in another heavenly world of Forms. So the black of my cat instantiates the Form of the Black (blackness). Even if every black thing in the world were destroyed, the Form of the Black would remain, just uninstantiated. But Aristotle thought blackness existed only as and in its instances. “Goodbye to the Forms, for they are nonsense” he said. Some accidents can be lost but the substance remains the same thing. My dog, for example, is long-haired, but can be clipped and still be the same dog. Its shagginess is a contingent accident (one that could be otherwise). Other accidents are essential to a substance ie without them it wouldnt be the substance it is. Water for instance boils at 100°C at sea level, and dissolves salt. If it didnt have these properties, it wouldnt be water. Some scholars take “accident”, to mean only non-essential features (accidental ones as it were), others take “property” to mean only essential attributes (“proper” accidents). And for Aristotle “accident” applies widely, including not just intrinsic qualities like colour or hardness, but also attributes such as place, position, length, relation to other things, actions being undertaken, in short the various categories he applies to things. Note that only natural things are substances (or substantial forms). Artefacts, whether designed, such as knives or computers, or chance arrangements like a heap of stones which happens to be table-shaped, are not substantial forms but rather accidental forms (dont confuse the “accidental” here with “accidents” as discussed above). A natural form has an intrinsic, sustained tendency to maintain its identity, an artefact hasnt. So wood, say, when in the form of a tree, maintains and repairs its shape and function (its form) over the years, but when in the form of a shed, it rots and falls apart with the years. The shed, unlike the tree, has no inbuilt tendency to become and remain a shed. And if you plant a bit of a tree, another tree may grow, but a planted bit of shed wont grow another shed. Of course, accidental forms, just like substantial ones, have attributes (accidents) as discussed earlier. I agree with Aristotle’s view that things are a compound of substance and accidents. Modern rivals, such as the bundle theory and the substratum theory are incoherent. The bundle theory says that a thing just is all of its properties: take away all the properties and there is nothing left. But what is it, then, that binds these properties together to make a particular thing?. If on the other hand we say that there is a bearer of the properties, a bare substratum, what sort of entity can this be? If the substratum has no properties whatsoever, we could exchange the substrata of a dog and a stone say. But now the entity with all the properties of a dog is really a stone. Absurd. No, the bearer of the properties is the substance itself. I hope I’ve said enough to give the general idea: - Substance + accidents = thing + attributes. - A thing is a “being in itself” and cant be “present in another thing”. - Attributes arent beings in themselves and can only be present in, or exist through, (other) things. - The substance/ accidents view of the constitution of concrete things is superior to the bundle or the substratum views.
The essence of June Millicent Jordan’s life reveals itself in her poetry and in her autobiographical writings, in particular in Civil Wars (1981) and her memoir Soldier: A Poet’s Childhood. She was born in Harlem, to Granville, a Panamanian immigrant, and Mildred, her Jamaican mother. When she was five years old, her parents moved to Brooklyn, and Jordan began her education by commuting to an all-white school. She later attended Northfield School for Girls, a preparatory school in Massachusetts. Her introduction to poetry came through her father, who forced her to read, memorize, or recite the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare, the Bible, the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, and the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as the novels of Sinclair Lewis and Zane Grey. At the age of seven, she began to write poetry herself. Unfortunately, her father’s pedagogical methods also included beatings for unsatisfactory performance, but Jordan never questioned his love for her, affirming that he had the greatest influence on her poetic and personal development, having given her the idea that “to protect yourself, you try to hurt whatever is out there.” Jordan’s mother, who committed suicide in 1966, did not oppose her father’s harsh treatment of her, and Jordan found this passivity harder to forgive than her father’s brutality. Her interest in poetry was developed at Northfield but was limited mainly to white male poets “whose remoteness from my... (The entire section is 614 words.)
\|Bardia or Bardiya\| \|King of Persia Pharaoh of Egypt \|King of Persia\| \|Father\|\|Cyrus II (the Great)\| Bardia or Bardiya (Old Persian: 𐎲𐎼𐎮𐎡𐎹 Bardiya; Ancient Greek: Σμέρδις Smerdis) (possibly died 522 BC) was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. He either ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BC, or was impersonated by a magus called Gaumāta. (Old Persian: 𐎥𐎢𐎶𐎠𐎫) Name and sources The prince's name is listed variously in the historical sources. His Persian name is Bardia or Bardiya. He is called Tonyoxarces (Sphendadates) by Ctesias, he is called Tanooxares by Xenophon, who takes the name from Ctesias, and he is called Mardos by Justin and Aeschylus. In the prevalent Greek form of his name, Smerdis, the Persian name has been assimilated to the Greek (Asiatic) name Smerdis or Smerdies, a name which also occurs in the poems of Alcaeus and Anacreon. The traditional view is based on the majority of ancient sources, e.g., Darius the Great's Behistun inscription, as well as Herodotus, Justin, and Ctesias, although there are minor differences between them. Bardiya was the younger son of Cyrus the Great and a full or half-brother of Cambyses II. According to Ctesias, on his deathbed Cyrus appointed Bardiya as satrap (governor) of some of the far-eastern provinces. According to Darius the Great, Cambyses II, after becoming king of Persia but before setting out for Egypt, killed Bardiya and kept this secret. However, according to Herodotus who gives two detailed stories, Bardiya went to Egypt with Cambyses and was there for some time but later Cambyses sent him back to Susa out of envy, because "Bardiya alone could draw the bow brought from the Ethiopian king." Herodotus then states that "Cambyses had a dream in which he saw his brother sitting on the royal throne. As a result of this dream Cambyses sent his trusted counselor Prexaspes from Egypt to Susa with the order to kill Smerdis" (i.e. Bardiya). Bardiya's death was not known to the people, and so in the spring of 522 BC a usurper pretended to be him and proclaimed himself king on a mountain near the Persian town of Paishiyauvada. Darius claimed that the real name of the usurper was Gaumata, a Magian priest from Media; this name has been preserved by Justin i. 9 (from Charon of Lampsacus?) but given to his brother Cambyses (called Patizeithes by Herodotus) who is said to have been the real promoter of the intrigue. According to Herodotus, the name of the Magian usurper was Oropastes, but according to Ctesias it was Sphendadates. The despotic rule of Cambyses, coupled with his long absence in Egypt, contributed to the fact that "the whole people, Persians, Medes and all the other nations," acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a tax relief for three years. Cambyses began to march against him, but died in the spring of 522 BC in disputed circumstances. Before his death he confessed to the murder of his brother, and publicly explained the whole fraud, but this was not generally believed. Nobody had the courage to oppose the new king, who ruled for seven months over the whole empire. The new king transferred the seat of government to Media. A number of Persian nobles discovered that their new ruler was an impostor, and a group of seven nobles formed a plot to kill him. They surprised him at a castle in Nisa, home of the Nisean horses, and stabbed him to death in September 522 BC. One of the seven, Darius, was proclaimed as ruler shortly after. Some modern historians dispute the traditional story. They believe that the person who ruled for a few months was the real son of Cyrus, and that the story of his impersonation by a magus was an invention of Darius to justify his seizure of the throne. According to M. Dandamaev, this view "must remain hypothetical". There are some implausibilities in the "official" story. For example, the impostor resembled the real Bardiya so closely that most of wives did not spot the difference, except for queen Phaidyme. Darius often accused rebels and opponents of being impostors (such as Nebuchadnezzar III), and it could be straining credulity to say that they all were. In the next year, another person claiming to be Bardiya, named Vahyazdāta (Old Persian: 𐎺𐏃𐎹𐏀𐎭𐎠𐎫) rose against Darius in eastern Persia and met with great success. But he was finally defeated, taken prisoner and executed Perhaps he is identical with the King Maraphis "the Maraphian," name of a Persian tribe, who occurs as successor in the list of Persian kings given by Aeschylus. The real Bardiya had only one daughter, called Parmys, who eventually married Darius the Great. Some contracts dating from his reign have been found in Babylonia, where his name is spelt Barziya or Bardiya. Darius says that Bardiya destroyed some temples, which Darius later restored. Bardiya also took away the herds and houses of the people, which Darius corrected once he gained the throne. Bardiya is likely the "Artaxerxes" referred to in Ezra 4:7. A letter was written to him concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Concerned about the possibility of a rebellion, he halted work on the reconstruction of the temple until work resumed at the decree of Darius I (Ezra 4:24, Ezra 6:8-12). Bardiya in fiction Bardiya, called Gaumata in this case, plays a minor role in the video game Age of Empires Online. One of the first quests for players of the Persian Civilization is to kill him on Darius' orders (though the event is portrayed as a conventional battle rather than an assassination). His supporters are fought in several other quests. "The imposter magician Smerdis" is mentioned in the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius. He is the only historical character that the protagonist is able to recognize when discovering the article on the fictitious nation of Uqbar, and it is stated that his name has been invoked mainly as a metaphor. - Akbarzadeh, D.; A. Yahyanezhad (2006). The Behistun Inscriptions (Old Persian Texts) (in Persian). Khaneye-Farhikhtagan-e Honarhaye Sonati. p. 59. ISBN 964-8499-05-5. - Kent, Ronald Grubb (1384 AP). Old Persian: Grammar, Text, Glossary (in Persian). translated into Persian by S. Oryan. p. 395. ISBN 964-421-045-X. Check date values in: - This article does not take sides on this dispute, but further investigation of recent scholarship in both Iran and the West would be useful. - Akbarzadeh, D.; A. Yahyanezhad (2006). The Behistun Inscriptions (Old Persian Texts) (in Persian). Khaneye-Farhikhtagan-e Honarhaye Sonati. p. 60. ISBN 964-8499-05-5. - Ctesias Pers. 8 - Xenophon Cyrop. Vin. 7.ii - Aeschylus Pers. 774 - Justin i.9, Mergis - Leick, Gewdolyn Who's Who in the Ancient Near East - Van De Mieroop, Marc A History of the Ancient Near East - Ctesias, Persica: Book 11, Fragment 9, taken from Photius' excerpt http://www.livius.org/ct-cz/ctesias/photius_persica.html#%A78 cf. Xenophon Cyrop. vin. 7, if - Dandamaev, M. (2001). "Bardia". Encyclopaedia Iranica 3. New York. - Herodotus iii.68 - Olmstead, A.T. History of the Persian Empire - Holland, Tom Persian Fire - Axworthy, Michael Iran: Empire of the Mind - Bourke, Dr. Stephen (chief consultant) "The Middle East: Cradle of Civilisation Revealed" p. 225, ISBN 978-0-500-25147-8 - Behistun Inscription 4.1 (52) - Akbarzadeh, D.; A. Yahyanezhad (2006). The Behistun Inscriptions (Old Persian Texts) (in Persian). Khaneye-Farhikhtagan-e Honarhaye Sonati. p. 115. ISBN 964-8499-05-5. - Behistun Inscription ~ 40 if. - Aeschylus Pers. 778 - For the chronology, see Parker & Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology. - Behistun Inscription i.14 - Herodotus ~ 79 - Ctesias Pers. 15 - Barnes, Albert. (1834). Notes on the Bible. p. Commentary on Ezra 4:7. - Clarke, Adam (1810–1826). Clarke's Commentary on the Bible. p. Commentary on Ezra 4:7. - Stackhouse, Thomas; George Gleig (1817). A History of the Holy Bible Corrected and Improved. p. 529. - Nichol, Francis D. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. p. Notes on Daniel 6:27–28.] - This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. BardiyaBorn: ?? Died: 522 BC \|King of Kings of Persian Empire Darius I of Persia \|Pharaoh of Egypt
What is a Battery? Philips Medical Equipment Batteries a collection of one or more cells that undergo chemical reactions to generate a flow of electrons in a circuit is known as a battery. Thus this flow of electrons powers the intended device. Usage of Batteries in Medical Equipment Batteries power a diverse array of medical devices, including critical care equipment, cardiovascular devices, pacemakers, ventricular assist systems, drug delivery. In addition a surgical power tools, diagnostics, home monitoring systems, powered prosthetics, and orthotics. Importance of Medical Device Batteries Medical device batteries are key in modern health care by powering the devices that allow patients to function more normally by managing and also improving their health or even survive life-threatening ailments. Critical Care Devices Functioning on Batteries Majority of the medical devices like Pacemakers, Glucometers, Ventilators, also OT Tables, Surgical Saw, etc.; function on Batteries. Selection of an Appropriate Battery Type The type of battery used is an important aspect since it defines the Reliability and Performance of the device. Battery selection during the time of equipment design is made on the basis of the power requirements of the hardware. Electrical and Physical Characteristics of Batteries - Voltage, Backup capacity (mAh) - Charging/Discharging Time - Life Cycle - Dimensions, Weight - Also discharge Current Lithium-ion Technology in Philips Medical Equipment Batteries Philips medical equipment batteries have lithium-ion technology. These batteries are rechargeable ones and hence, they are reusable as well. They are manufactured with natural rubber latex. Shelf life and Packaging These batteries do not have any minimum shelf life. They are packaged individually, that is each package contains one battery and it weighs 920 kg. Furthermore, they are CE certified. Philips Medical Equipment Usage Guidelines One thing to keep in mind is that these batteries can be used with Philips Healthcare Equipment only.
How would you define a museum? The questions we take for granted are sometimes the most challenging to answer. In this article we will talk about: The definition by ICOM 2022 Defining what is meant by a museum is important for orienting cultural policies and adopting a shared vision of what a museum is today. On August 24th, ICOM, the International Council of Museums, finally updated the official definition dating back to 2007. ICOM is not new to this task, since since its foundation in 1946 it has been involved in spreading a unique and shared definition among all its members to delimit the common area of interest. What are the main changes introduced Compared to the past version, in the new definition the mission entrusted to museums to become promoters of study, conservation and valorisation of heritage remains unchanged. The main novelty introduced has to do with the greater attention to accessibility, inclusiveness and sustainability. This is the desired direction for all of our museums, keeping each one the autonomy to appropriately decline its own uniqueness.
Bian Lian (simplified Chinese: 变脸; traditional Chinese: 變臉; pinyin: Biàn Liǎn; literally: "Face-Changing") is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. They also wear vividly colored masks, typically depicting well known characters from the opera, which they change from one face to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand. Face-changing, or "biàn liǎn" in Chinese, is an important subgenre of Chinese Sichuan opera. Sichuan opera is one of the Han Chinese operas, popular in eastern and central Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou Province, Yunnan Province. Sichuan Opera masks are the important part of the Sichuan Opera performing, they are treasures that the ancient opera artists work together to create and pass down. The secret of the face change has been passed down from one generation to the next within families. Traditionally only males were permitted to learn Bian Lian, the theory being that women do not stay within the family and would marry out, increasing the risk the secret would be passed to another family. Controversially, a Malaysian Chinese woman named Candy Chong has become a popular performer after learning Bian Lian from her father. Another female performer is Du Li Min, who teaches a workshop in Kuala Lumpur with her Husband Bian Jiang. In a 2006 interview, Sichuan Opera performer Wang Daozheng said the secret of Bian Lian leaked out during the 1986 visit of a Sichuan Opera troupe to Japan. Wang laments the leak of this Chinese traditional secret performance art and is concerned that non-Chinese performers in Japan, Singapore, South Korea and other countries are not well-trained. Wang argues that Bian Lian is one of the traditional arts protected by Chinese secrecy laws but officials of the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China have stated that this is not true. In 2003, Hong Kong pop star Andy Lau allegedly offered to pay Bian Lian master Peng Denghuai 3,000,000 yuan (ca. US$360,000) in order to learn the techniques. Although Lau did learn the techniques from Peng, both deny any money changed hands. Knowing the secret does not make it easy and thus far, Andy Lau has only learned how the masks are changed so quickly, but has not yet mastered the technique. Historically, Bian Lian had rarely been seen outside of China because non-Chinese were not permitted to learn the art form, but since the mid-2000s it has been performed occasionally in international mass media and at Chinese themed events. Juliana Chen performed on The World's Greatest Magic television special with a brief black-light performance of Bian Lian. Michael Stroud, (as The Magique Bazaar) performed Bian Lian on America's Got Talent. Bian Lian was also featured on Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour. In San Francisco, Bian Lian was featured at the China Town Autumn Moon Festival 2010–2012 and at the Miss National Asia 2011 and 2012 beauty pageants. United Airlines presented Bian Lian to celebrate their inaugural flight to Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan province where Bian Lian originated. and Wild Aid presented it at their 2014 fundraising gala attended by many international celebrities. Since the cultural basis of the opera are not well known outside of China, international performers have been making efforts to inform and increase the entertainment value for Westerners who do not know the context and meaning of the different faces. Four ways of face-changing Blowing Dust (simplified Chinese: 吹脸) - The actor blows black dust hidden in his palm or close to his eyes, nose or mouth, so that it obscures his face. Beard Manipulation (simplified Chinese: 髯口功夫) - Beard colours can be changed while the beard is being manipulated, from black to grey and finally to white, expressing anger or excitement. Pulling-downing Masks (simplified Chinese: 扯脸) - The actor can pull down a mask which has previously been hidden on top of his head, changing his face to red, green, blue or black to express happiness, hate, anger or sadness, respectively. Face-dragging (simplified Chinese: 抹脸) - The actor drags greasepaint hidden in his sideburns or eyebrows across his face to change his appearance. - Koay, Allan (19 January 2009). "Ancient art unmasked". The Star Malaysia. Retrieved 30 April 2013. - Beautiful mask-changer, The Star Malaysia, 14 April 2007. - People's Daily website (7 June 2006). "PRC Ministry of Culture Says Face-Changing was Not Certified as a Traditional Art Covered by the PRC Secrecy Law 文化部称川剧变脸未经保密法认定". Retrieved 20 April 2011. - Lu Chang (25 September 2003). "Changing face of face-changing". Shanghai Star. China Daily. Archived from the original on 25 December 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2011. - "Probably the world's only female face-changer". Unconventional World Records. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2010. - The World's Greatest Magic (NBC),2008, - America's Got Talent, June 2010 - Michael Stroud, September 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxsyla-tPI - Sept 2012, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaS_XtWAF3Y - Dan Chan Presents June 2014, http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/06/united-airlines-san-francisco-chengdu-inaugural-flight-review/ - Wild Aid Gala Bian Lian November 2014, http://bayareadinnershow.com/WildAidGala.pdf - BBC article about face changing artist He Hongqing with good video showing the speed of the changing - An example of a performer at work
January 17, 2019 Purdue-affiliated Brightlamp launches smartphone app that can rapidly monitor the brain for signs of concussion WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Brain Injury Research Institute reports that high school athletes who sustain a concussion are three times more likely to sustain a second concussion, and a lack of proper diagnosis and management of concussion may result in serious long-term consequences, or risk of coma or death. Brightlamp Inc., a Purdue University-affiliated startup, has launched an application that lets a smartphone user quickly record data that can be sent to a medical trainer or other medical professional who can objectively determine if that person has sustained any neurological disturbance, including concussion, with potentially serious long-term health repercussions. The app, called Reflex, works exactly like a pupillometer and can take a digital video recording with a smartphone of an individual’s eye to measure a response called “pupillary light reflex.” Basically, the user holds the camera up to an eye, taps the screen and a light flashes to initiate a response from the pupil. Reflex is a Class I regulated medical device, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The app measures the latency, constriction rate, dilation rate and other relevant metrics. Change in pupil response has been correlated with brain stem and hypothalamus injuries including blast-induced traumatic brain injuries, non-blast-induced traumatic brain injuries, neurodegenerative diseases and conditions affecting cognitive capacity. The app can be used by athletic trainers, physicians, neurologists and academic researchers to monitor cognitive functionality for many neurological disturbances, diseases and abnormalities. A concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head or body that causes the brain to move rapidly inside the skull. Diagnosing a concussion can be tricky. According to Brain Injury Research Institute, an estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million sport- and recreation-related concussions occur in the United States each year. The Brain Injury Research Institute reports that high school athletes who sustain a concussion are three times more likely to sustain a second concussion, and a lack of proper diagnosis and management of concussion may result in serious long-term consequences, or risk of coma or death. Revelations from former professional athletes have shown concussions have potential for long-term damages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people with traumatic brain injuries can face effects that last a few days or the rest of their lives. It says effects of TBI can include impaired thinking or memory, movement, sensation, vision hearing or emotional functioning, such as depression or personality change. The ultimate goal is to let a sports youth coach or parent to use a version of the app that can suggest there is a problem, but that would require approval from the FDA, which will take years, said Kurtis Sluss, Brightlamp’s CEO. “We give them an objective tool to monitor that. That way they’re not second-guessing,” Sluss said. “Plus it gives them data they can reliably look back on and track progression over time.” A study by researchers at Butler University released in 2018 found that duping one of the nation’s most common screening tests, the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Test, or ImPACT , was significantly easier than previously measured. Sluss said Brightlamp’s method can’t be duped. “Our test is unbiased. It’s based on natural response, so you can’t beat it. It also gives direct insight into the brain,” he said. Brightlamp recommends that users take a baseline test before an athletic season begins, but Sluss said it isn’t necessary. “There’s a normal physiological response across the human population, so we know what normal areas are,” he said. Medical professionals have long used the pupillary light reflex — usually in the form of a penlight test where they shine a light into a patient’s eyes — to assess severe forms of brain injury. Recent tests have shown that those tests aren’t very accurate, Sluss said. A growing body of medical research has recently found that more subtle changes in pupil response can be useful in detecting milder concussions. Sluss said Brightlamp’s app is better because it is more sensitive. The company has a patent on the technology. Sluss and Michael Heims co-founded Brightlamp when they were Purdue students. Sluss graduated with dual graduate degrees from Purdue’s Davidson School of Chemical Engineering and Department of Chemistry, and Heims graduated from Krannert School of Management with degrees in finance and management. Sluss and Heims each received commercialization guidance from the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship accelerator in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Purdue’s Discovery Park. Sluss completed Firestarter, a program to guide entrepreneurs through the ideation and startup development product and introduction to customer discovery workshops for information on entrepreneurship. The technology aligns with Purdue's Giant Leaps celebrating the university’s global advancements made in health, space, artificial intelligence and sustainability highlights as part of Purdue’s 150th anniversary. Those are the four themes of the yearlong celebration’s Ideas Festival, designed to showcase Purdue as an intellectual center solving real-world issues. Medically trained professionals can download Reflex from the iOS app store. About Purdue Foundry The Purdue Foundry is an entrepreneurship and commercialization accelerator in Discovery Park's Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship whose professionals help Purdue innovators create startups. Managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, the Purdue Foundry was co-named a top recipient at the 2016 Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Designation and Awards Program by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at email@example.com. Writer: Tom Coyne, 765-588-1044, firstname.lastname@example.org Source: Kurtis Sluss, email@example.com
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Separating Fact from Fiction Since the introduction of the first genetically modified food crop - a tomato - in the early 1990s, genetically modified foods have been both hailed and vilified. Consumers are confused about GMOs due to conflicting reports about their benefits and risks; many don't know who to trust. Environmentalists say GMOs will lead to pesticide-resistant insects and weeds, yet gene technology may be a solution to world hunger. U.S. farmers and agribusiness see substantial economic benefits, reduced use of pesticides, and crops that are more tolerant to climate changes, but consumer acceptance and understanding must come first. The controversy over genetically modified foods (known as GMs or GMOs) rages on, while consumers and health/nutrition professionals try to sort through the science in order to understand the relative advantages and disadvantages of eating foods that have had their genes altered in some way. This unique panel discussion was developed to provide you with both the current science and a balanced view of the most hotly debated GMO issues today. Join us for this educational webinar (1.5 PDUs): Genetically Modified Organisms: Separating Fact from Fiction Presented by Wayne Parrott, Ph.D., Bruce Chassy, Ph.D., and Gregory Jaffe, J.D. Archived Recording - 90-minute program $35 AAFCS members ($50 nonmembers) Check out our webinar bundle package to learn how you can save on registration rates! Site licenses and group discounts also available! Technology advances of the last few decades have enabled the movement of genes between species, and thus the emergence of new fields of scientific exploration. For the average consumer - as well as many professionals - when it comes to understanding the pros and cons of GMOs, there are more questions than answers. Are these foods safe? Is it ethical to alter the genes of a living organism? Will it harm the environment...or lead to ecological benefits? How do GMOs differ from "natural" or "organic" foods? It is time to separate fact from fiction and gain a clear understanding of this controversial issue. In this 90-minute program that presents the issue from three perspectives - biology, food safety, and consumer advocacy - you will explore: Few issues touch every human being on the planet as much as food. And, as technology has opened new doors in producing enough food for our ever-growing world population, it has raised troubling new questions. Hear first-hand from three experts who will provide you with the very latest science and critical information you need to make the best decisions for you and your family . . .and to help educate consumers. How does an archive work? Once you register for the archived event, your confirmation email will contain log in instructions for viewing the archived event. You may choose the day and time that you view the event, but please be aware that registration gives you access to 1 viewing only. About the Presenters: Wayne Parrott, Ph.D., is a professor at the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia. In addition to teaching topics such as transgenic breeding, behavior and evolution of the plant genome and agroecology he is also head of the Parrott Lab. The Parrott Lab conducts research on crop genetic engineering and is part of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences and the Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics and Genomics at The University of Georgia in Athens Georgia. He received his Masters and Doctorate in plant breeding and plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin. Bruce Chassy, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his A.B. in Chemistry from San Diego State University, and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cornell University. In addition to serving as Head of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition Assistant, Dr. Chassy has also been the Dean for Science Communications in ACES. Dr. Chassy has served as a member of a number of professional societies including the FDA Food Advisory Council; Executive Committee and Councilor for the Institute of Food Technologists and past Chair of the IFT Biotechnology Division. He served as a NIH Visiting Professor, received the U.S. Public Health Service Special Recognition Award, was named in Who's Who in Science and Technology, and was an ASM International Visiting Professor. Gregory A. Jaffe, J.D. is director of the Project on Biotechnology for the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).Mr. Jaffe came to CSPI after a long and distinguished career in government service as a Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Natural Resources Division and as Senior Counsel with the U.S. EPA, Air Enforcement Division. He is a recognized international expert on agricultural biotechnology and biosafety and has published numerous articles and reports on those topics. He was a member of the Secretary of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Biotechnology and 21st Century Agriculture from 2003-2008 and was recently reappointed for a new term starting in 2011. Gregory Jaffe earned his BA with High Honors from Wesleyan University in Biology and Government and then received a law degree from Harvard Law School. $35 for AAFCS members ($50 non-members) If you work at a higher ed institution and would be interested in using this webinar as content in your classroom, please contact Daila Boufford for information on special site license rates! New to webinars? Check out our risk-free guarantee 100% Refund if You're Not Satisfied We believe you will find our professional development events to be of high quality and unique value. Our goal is to provide you with a great online learning experience. Our webinar tool is very easy to use and we offer technical support before and during our events. However, if you should encounter technical difficulties during the webinar that impede your learning in any way, we will either correct the problem or refund 100% of your registration fee. 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When you create a new document in Word, you'll need to know how to save it so you can access and edit it later. As with previous versions of Word, you can save files to your computer. If you prefer, you can also save files to the cloud using OneDrive. You can even export and share documents directly from Word. OneDrive was previously called SkyDrive. There's nothing fundamentally different about the way OneDrive works; it's just a new name for an existing service. Over the next few months, you may still see SkyDrive in some Microsoft products. Save and Save As Word offers two ways to save a file: Save and Save As. These options work in similar ways, with a few important differences: - Save: When you create or edit a document, you'll use the Save command to save your changes. You'll use this command most of the time. When you save a file, you'll only need to choose a file name and location the first time. After that, you can click the Save command to save it with the same name and location. - Save As: You'll use this command to create a copy of a document while keeping the original. When you use Save As, you'll need to choose a different name and/or location for the copied version. To save a document: It's important to save your document whenever you start a new project or make changes to an existing one. Saving early and often can prevent your work from being lost. You'll also need to pay close attention to where you save the document so it will be easy to find later. - Locate and select the Save command on the Quick Access toolbar. Clicking the Save command - If you're saving the file for the first time, the Save As pane will appear in Backstage view. - You'll then need to choose where to save the file and give it a file name. To save the document to your computer, select Computer, then click Browse. Alternatively, you can click OneDrive to save the file to your OneDrive. - The Save As dialog box will appear. Select the location where you want to save the document. - Enter a file name for the document, then click Save. Saving a document - The document will be saved. You can click the Save command again to save your changes as you modify the document. You can also access the Save command by pressing Ctrl+S on your keyboard. Using Save As to make a copy If you want to save a different version of a document while keeping the original, you can create a copy. For example, if you have a file named Sales Report, you could save it as Sales Report 2 so you'll be able to edit the new file and still refer back to the original version. To do this, you'll click the Save As command in Backstage view. Just like when saving a file for the first time, you'll need to choose where to save the file and give it a new file name. To change the default save location: If you don't want to use OneDrive, you may be frustrated that OneDrive is selected as the default location when saving. If you find it inconvenient to select Computer each time, you can change the default save location so Computer is selected by default. - Click the File tab to access Backstage view. Clicking the File tab - Click Options. - The Word Options dialog box will appear. Select Save, check the box next to Save to Computer by default, then click OK. The default save location will be changed. Changing the default save location
Board certification is the process by which a physician or other professional in the United States demonstrates a mastery of basic knowledge and skills through written, practical, or simulator-based testing. There are 24 boards that certify physician specialists in the United States and there is no legal requirement to attain it. Some hospitals may demand that physicians must be board certified to get privileges. The commonly used acronym BE/BC (board eligible/board certified) refers to a doctor who is eligible or is certfied to practice medicine in a particular field. The term board certified is also used in the nursing field, where a candidate with advanced mastery of a nursing specialty can also become eligible to be Board Certified. Board certification is also used in the field of pharmacy, where a pharmacist can be recognized in specialized areas of advanced pharmacy practice after fulfilling eligibility requirements and passing a certification examination. Doctoral level psychologists (Ph.D., or Psy.D.) may also be board certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology, or the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology or the American Board of Pediatric Neuropsychology. Board certification is available to a licensed attorney (J.D.) in the United States as well. Many state bar associations, including Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, offer board certification in various specialty areas, such as admiralty law, civil trial law, estate planning (or wills, trusts, and estates) law, family (and/or marital) law, immigration law, and tax law. Other organizations also offer certification, with some being accredited by the American Bar Association. The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Specialization offers extensive resources to attorneys and consumers. At least one state allows board certified attorneys to use an acronym similar to board certified doctors: The Florida Bar only allows its certified attorneys to use the acronym B.C.S. to identify themselves as board certified, "experts," or "specialists." Defining a medical specialty The core body of knowledge that defines an area of medical specialization is referred to as the core competencies for that specialty. Core competencies are developed through detailed review of the medical literature combined with review by recognized experts from established medical specialties, experts within the new area of specialization and experts from outside the medical profession. This list of core knowledge and skills is then compiled into a draft core competency document. Once the core competency document is drafted, the certifying organization and its associated professional academy, college or society review the document against the existing literature and again solicit expert opinion regarding the domains of competence and areas of competency contained in the document. The core competencies are next formatted using a psychometric taxonomy such as Bloom's Taxonomy based on the core competencies required by physicians practicing in the area of specialization as non-specialists and as specialists or sub-specialists. Development of the first core competency document takes five to ten years and is a prerequisite to creating the certification examination. Physicians seeking board certification in a given area of specialty must successfully complete and pass an examination process designed to test their mastery of the minimum knowledge and skills contained in the core competency document. Prior to taking the examination, a physician must graduate with a degree, either MD or DO, and meet all other prerequisites to certification as set out by the certifying agency or "board." The examination itself may consist of one or more parts. Traditionally, an exhaustive written examination is required of all candidates for board certifications in any specialty. While written examinations are adequate measures of basic knowledge, they do not test the mastery of skills or the application of knowledge as well. Many specialties have over the decades attempted to evaluate skills through "practical" examinations using "model" patients (actors) or by observing the physician candidate in a clinical environment. The practical examination has been criticized for being subjective and irreproducible even in the hands of an experienced examiner. As a result, computerized animatronic human patient simulator based examinations are now being adopted. The traditional written examination is also rapidly being replaced by computer-based testing. The certification application and examination process for physicians is similar to the process for attorneys. Most state bar associations and organizations approved by the American Bar Association to certify attorneys in a particular area of law generally require five or more years of practice in that area, a minimum number of continuing legal education credits in that area, and references from peer attorneys, judges, or others qualified to comment on the attorney applicant's certification candidacy. Examinations vary, but many utilize multiple choice and essay questions to test the attorney's substantive knowledge and experience. For example, the Texas Board of Legal Specialization generally administers a six-hour examination consisting of three hours of essay questions in the morning and three hours of multiple choice questions in the afternoon, although the format varies based on the area of specialty. Certifying agencies for physicians Board certification is overseen by different agencies and organizations throughout the world. In most cases, these organizations are not only specific to a particular type of physician training (MD vs. DO), but a specific country or group of countries. There are three agencies or organizations in the United States which collectively oversee the certification of M.D.s and D.O.s in the 26 recognized medical specialties. These organizations are the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the American Medical Association; the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOABOS) and the American Osteopathic Association; the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) and the American Association of Physician Specialists. AOABOS and ABPS each have associated with associated national medical organization functions as an umbrella for its various specialty academies, colleges and societies (see table). The American Board of Medical Specialties represents the largest of these organizations, with over 800,000 US physicians having received certification from one or more of its 24-member Boards. The ABMS is not affiliated with any medical society. ABPS is recognized by most states, however, there are some states where physicians are not, by law, allowed to call themselves "board certified" if the specialty designation is from their boards. \|Certifying Board\|\|National Organization\|\|Physician Type\| \|ABMS\|\|no-affiliation\|\|M.D. and D.O.\| \|AOABOS\|\|American Osteopathic Association\|\|D.O. only\| \|ABPS\|\|AAPS\|\|M.D. and D.O.\| Many boards of certification now require that physicians demonstrate, by examination, continuing mastery of the core knowledge and skills for their chosen specialty. Recertification varies by specialty between every 7 and every 10 years. Certifying agencies for attorneys Most state bar associations restrict their licensed attorneys from advertising that they are certified, experts, or specialists in a particular area of law unless they are either (a) certified by the state bar association or (b) certified by an organization approved by the American Bar Association. This approach generally follows Rule 7.4 of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Specialization lists specialty certification programs, including state bar associations and the specialty areas offered for certification purposes. Medical specialty colleges are societies that represent specialist physicians. Any physician may join these organizations, though most require board certification in order to become a fellow of the college and use the respective post-nominal letters. Similarly, legal specialty colleges are societies that represent specialist lawyers. Fellows of a particular legal specialty college might or might not be board certified. The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, which was originally known as the American College of Probate Counsel, is one of the oldest legal specialty colleges, although the American College of Trial Lawyers was founded a year later (1950). While medical licensing in general has been criticized, the board certification process specifically has also had its fair share. Since many board examinations have started requiring re-certification periodically, critics like the New York Times have decried board certification exams as being "its own industry", costing doctors thousands of dollars each time and serving to enrich testing and prep companies rather than improving the quality of the profession. Some also have reported that tests have evolved into more general exams where a large portion of the test isn't relevant to the specialty a given doctor practices, and thus passing rates are much lower. - "Gynecology’s Gender Question". New York Times. December 23, 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-27. The gynecology board is one of 24 boards that certify medical specialists in the United States, based on training, exams and other requirements. Certification is voluntary and not required by law, but in practice it is essential, because most hospitals and insurers require it and patients are increasingly encouraged to choose only specialists who are certified. - American Board of Nursing Specialty - Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties - Standing Committee on Specialization - http://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBResources.nsf/Attachments/53249E61C0B0107A85256F73005424F0/$FILE/Board%20Certification%20Q%20&%20A.pdf?OpenElement (Accessed May 15, 2013) - TBLS Attorney Exam Specifications - http://docwhisperer.wordpress.com/ (accessed October 11, 2010) - http://docwhisperer.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/aaps-nysdoh-decision.pdf (Accessed October 11, 2010) - Rule 7.4: Communication of Fields of Practice & Specialization - Sources of Certification - American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc. (AAPS) - American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) - American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists (AOABOS) - American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) - American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) - American Board of Medical Psychology (ABMP) - International Board for Quality in Healthcare (IBQH) - Board of Pharmacy Specialities (BPS) - American Board of Professional Neuropsychology (ABN)
The term Big Bang generally refers to the idea that the Universe has expanded from a primordial hot and dense initial condition at some finite time in the past. According to the ESA/Planck data, released in February 2015, the initial conditions occurred 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago, and the Universe continues to expand to this day. \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Big bang.\| This category has only the following subcategory. - ► Inflation (cosmology) (22 P) Pages in category "Big Bang" The following 30 pages are in this category, out of 30 total. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).
Holometaboly (adj. holometabolous). Development in which the insect body form abruptly changes at the pupal moult; complete metamorphosis. But it is so much more than that. The immature holometabolous insects are called larvae. These larvae go through several instars, or moults, each time growing larger until the pupal instar. The pupal instar marks the massive physiological change between larvae and adult. Most notably, only adult insects have wings (if they have wings): larvae never have real wings. Pupation can occur in a cocoon, or with the insect open to the elements. It depends on the bug. There are, of course, several reasons that such a complete metamorphosis evolved. The most obvious reason, that most of the 'higher' insect orders are holometabolous is food. Complete metamorphosis means that larvae and adults share different environments and have different mouth structures. This means they are eating different food. This means that they are not in competition for food. Think about it. If it came down to you versus a three year old going for the last donut in the box, who would win? Insects aren't altruistic when it comes to a food source, especially when it is a competitor to whom any genetic relationship is unknown (social insects aside, such as the Hymenoptera, but in those cases the adult workers feed the young specifically). Holometaboly is not some final stage in insect evolution. It is one of many working methods for some insect orders to survive this crazy little game called life.
The following paper will attempt to describe what leadership actually is and what role a vision plays within the concept of leadership. Structured into three parts in the first some of the major theories about leadership will be summarised to continue in the second chapter with the significance of a vision for an effective leader. The third part, as a case-in-point, will begin outlining leadership within the strategy of DELL Inc. and Michael Dell’s role as the founder and leader in DELL’s 30 year’s history as one of the world’s leading IT companies to finalise with some recommendations and annotations for Michael Dell. Leadership, what is it? Leaders have been around for thousands of years and yet we are still unable to define leadership in just a few words that we all could agree on. Probably that is because leadership is in a continuous process of development and evolution and, more than what it seems to be, it is strongly depending on how it is been looked at. Leadership is a highly complex concept and the many applications and results that it creates depend very much on the context in which it is being observed. The following will, in the first two chapters, attempt to carve out the significance of a vision within the concept of leadership and therefore will begin with a short overview of different leadership theories. In the final chapter this paper will furthermore have a closer look at strategy at DELL Inc., Michael Dell’s leadership style while founding and leading DELL Inc., taking it public in 1988 and private again 2013 in the largest corporate privatization in history and finally give recommendations and annotations. From Caesar to Napoleon and from Nelson Mandela to Martin Luther King, there may be as many styles to lead as there are leaders. To evaluate the concept of leadership different styles to lead will be examined and essential questions will be answered to clarify to whether a particular leadership style makes a leader particularly suited to leadership. s What makes a leader a leader? s Is there such thing as a born leader? s If leaders are not born as such, do they actively become leaders or are they made leaders? s What is first, the leader or the followers? Among the early theories about leadership is the idea that leaders are born as such and not made leaders. The assumption was that leadership qualities are inherent and probably hereditary. Later from these naturalistic approaches the trait theories, still assuming leaders are born as such, rose. In contrast to behavioural theories trait theories do not look at a leader’s behaviour but argue that effective leaders share a number of common personality characteristics, or ‘traits’ that naturally qualifiy them as leaders. Kirkpatrick and Locke (1991, p. 48) argue that “key leader traits include: drive […]; leadership motivation […]; honesty and integrity; self-confidence […]; cognitive ability; and knowledge of the business”. Though obvious these traits and characteristics pose a major role in good leadership Ralph Stogdill (1948, p. 64) concluded in 1948 that “A person does not become a leader by virtue of the possession of some combination of traits” because his research showed that there are no universally existing traits identical in business, political and military leaders. In 1939 the German Psychologist Kurt Lewin (Lewin, et al., 1939) argued that leadership works best in a participative environment. He identified three main leadership styles: § Autocratic - The leader informs what must be done. Most or all decisions are made by the leader without involvement of employees. § Democratic - Some decision-making powers are given to employees while the final decision is still made by the leader. § Laissez-faire or delegative - This being a rather relaxed leadership style, almost all decision-making-control is given to staff. While granting independence this may only work on employees that are also responsible for maintaining control of their work and at a particular skill-level, where they do not need a push from superiors. In 1960 Douglas McGregor (1960) contrasted on two theories on human motivation and management; he called these Theory X and Theory Y. Figure 1: Theory X and Theory Y mapped on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs While theory X assumes that employees generally have no ambition or incentive to work because they dislike working and avoid responsibility, employees need to be forced and threatened to deliver what is needed, directed, controlled and supervised at every step. Theory Y on the other hand describes a de-centralized, participative style of management assuming employees are generally creative and happy to work and in fact seek responsibility as a self-motivation to enjoy working. McGregor noticed that X-Type workers usually are the minority but for example in large scale production environments, X Theory management may be unavoidable. According to Robert Blake and Jane Mouton (Gill, 2011, p. 72) and their leadership model from 1964, the best style to lead is the ‘Team-Management-Style – High-Production/High-People’. Understanding the organization's purpose and the employee’s commitment to the organization’s success leads to high satisfaction and motivation and therefore to high results. Figure 2: The Blake-Mouton Leadership Grid The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory (Gill, 2011, p. 80), first published in 1969, elaborates that, depending on the maturity of the team members, different styles need to be used. Figure 3: Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory They argue that a more directing approach should be used while working with immature employees and with a growing maturity of the people a more participative, delegating style is adequate. As there are no teams and team members that are created equal they argue that leaders are more effective when their leadership is based on the groups or individuals they are leading. In their book ‘Primal Leadership’ Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2001) described six distinct emotional leadership styles. While two of their styles – ‘Coercive’ and ‘Pacesetting’ – can create tension and therefore should only be used carefully in specific situations, the other four styles – ‘Authoritative’, ‘Coaching’, ‘Affiliative’ and ‘Democratic’ – have the positive outcome of promoting harmony. Figure 4: Goleman's Leadership Styles (2001) According to Goleman (2001) the six styles should be used interchangeably, adapting to the specific situation and the needs of the people that have to be handled. After having explained and described several leadership styles and theories and still not having answered the question what leadership actually is we will have closer look at Theodore Hesburgh’s claim that a vision is the essence of leadership: The very essence of leadership is [that] you have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. Therefore it is important to realize that just because someone holds a position of leadership, that doesn’t necessarily mean they should. Isn’t leadership without a vision just management? Leadership may be described as the process of maximising the efforts of others by social influence and the provision of direction while management could be defined as the ability to get things done through other people in order to achieve the organisational goals. By the creation and communication of a vision effective leaders do the ‘right things’ whilst managers do ‘things right’ (Bennis & Nanus, 1985, p. 21). While Leadership and Management cannot be seen as equivalent terms, Kotter (1990, p. 103) emphasised that “leadership and management are two distinctive and complimentary activities” that may both be necessary for success and Mintzberg, throughout his work, concludes that leadership is far from being separate and distinct from management but just one dimension of a multifaceted management role: … ever since the distinction was made between leadership and management – leadership somehow being the important stuff and management being what surgeons call the scut work – attention focused on leadership. My view is that management without leadership is disheartening or discouraging. And leadership without management is disconnected, because if you lead without managing, you don’t know what’s going on. It’s management that connects you to what’s going on. We can make the distinction between leadership and management conceptually, but in practice I don’t think we should. (Mintzberg, as cited in Mangelsdorf, 2009) Warren Bennis (1989) summarised the key differences between a leader and a manager quite clearly: Figure 5: Differentiation Manager/Leader It appears that vision plays a major role in most leadership models and theories. In the broadest sense a vision is the ability to see, a picture that is imagined, a dream, may it be political, religious or in the business sense, that someone wants to become true and therefore dedicates a certain amount of effort to it. So indeed it appears true that a vision is essential for leadership as, following Warren Bennis, a leader without a vision would effectively be only a manager. In 1978 James McGregor Burns (1978) established the ideas of transformational and transactional leadership. The transformational model was further developed by Bernard Bass (1985) in 1985. The four components are sometimes referred to as the four I’s: § Idealized Influence – Leading by example; while the leader is considered as a role model, he therefor is admired § Inspirational Motivation – Leading by inspiring and motivating employees § Individualized Consideration – Leading by demonstrating genuine concern for the individual needs of employees. § Intellectual Stimulation – Leading by requiring innovation and creativeness Combining the first two constitutes the leader’s individual ‘charisma’. Although transformational leaders are often wrongly considered as being ‘soft’ they actually constantly challenge their employees to thrive for higher performance. There are three general assumptions in transformational leadership: People will follow a person who inspires them, people with vision and passion can achieve great things, and injecting enthusiasm and energy is the way to get things done. Within the concept of transformational leadership the creation and constant perpetuation of a vision is indispensable. The ability to convince and inspire people of this vision, appealing to their values and motivate them to deliver this vision, making it their own, makes a real leader and distinguishes a leader from a manager. Real leaders lead by example, being admired by their followers they create valuable and shared goals by inspiring and motivating their followers. However, besides a vision Father Hesburgh added one other thing to the essence of leadership. Jimmy Carter (Wofford, 2015), the 39th president of the United States of America, once asked Father Hesburgh 'How can you advise anybody to be a leader of a great nation?' and he answered, 'Be human'. When Michael Dell dropped out of Medical School in 1984 his management experience was rather limited. He said “there were […] no classes on learning how to start and run a business in my high school […]” (Dell, 1999, p. 17) but as his business grew quickly these skills became essential. That time, Dell was brave enough to reach out for help. Early in the company’s history (1986), Lee Walker, a venture capitalist and consultant, joined Dell and established a mentoring relationship with him. It was Walker who encouraged Dell to overcome his shyness and reluctance to take up a public role. Dell was not born with a charismatic personality like some other CEOs of rival companies, Oracle’s Lawrence Ellison or IBM’s Michael Armstrong. According to Thompson (Thompson & Strickland, 1997) in the company's early days Michael Dell was said to hang around mostly with the company's engineers. He was so shy that some employees thought he was stuck up because he never talked to them. But people who worked with him closely described him as a likable young man who was slow to warm up to strangers. With George Kozmetsky, cofounder of Teledyne, and Bobby Ray Inman, former chairman, president, and chief executive of Westmark Systems, Walker brought two high-profile executives to the director’s board providing Dell with sound advice. Sun Microsystems’ Thomas Meredith joined as CFO in 1992, Apple’s John Medica 1993 and in 1994 Motorola’s Morton Topfer followed as vice-chairman. Seeking counsel and sharing responsibilities should prove essential for Dell on the way to success. Michael Dell is neither a born leader nor a management professional. He never studied leadership or management and it is very doubtful that in the early 1980s he had a strategy at all. What he had was a vision and the strong will to compete with IBM. His way in doing business was learning by doing. Chapter three in his book is titled ‘Learning the hard way’ (Dell, 1999, p. 35). He was keen enough to make mistakes and take lessons learnt as the hard way to learn. To take it that way his strategy was seeking advice, surround himself with only the best people and learning from everyone around him. Within the first eighteen months of business DELL had to move to larger facilities six times as their business was growing much quicker than Michael Dell had ever expected. It is not that he considered a growth strategy from the beginning, he was forced into growing bigger and bigger due to the immense demand. From his college dorm room where he started business in 1984 they ended up after five other locations in a 30,000-square-foot building the next year which grew too small again by 1987. Michael Dell’s vision to compete with IBM, producing cheaper and keeping the inventory low, was revolutionary at that time and within only a few years’ time DELL indeed was a serious competitor to IBM. It was not only Walker’s mentorship that made Dell a public speaker. Today he is well known for speaking in a quiet, reflective manner, motivating people by his charisma and positive aggressiveness. Michael Dell’s successful leadership can be seen as result of four major strengths: Ø His powerful vision of the future and his unique business philosophy. Ø He is a hard worker with a clear goal and focus on it. Ø His strong sense for innovation. Ø His understanding of responsibilities and the importance of work-life-balance. Michael Dell’s employees praise him and his tactics. What people like and respect about Dell is his honesty and integrity. Dell led the company for almost 20 years as CEO and was well known amongst his staff for making other people feel important and appreciated, providing a vision and inspiration for the future but also for demanding from his people not less as he himself is willing and able to give. After he decided to step back in 2003 Kevin Rollins took over his post as CEO. Although he was brought on board by Michael and he still describes him as a “great business partner and friend” (Lohr, 2007) and his contributions over the years are looked upon with great respect, he was not able to fulfil Michael Dell’s role. Rollins was seen as the foremost practitioner and advocate of the Dell model, even when pushing the same buttons no longer worked. Subsequently in 2007 the director’s board of DELL agreed that Michael Dell is required to re-take the position as CEO. Analysing Dell’s leadership shows changes in the way he leads and has led. In his early life he was autocratic and it was him to make the decisions. He became participative when he started sharing management and reaching out to hire high-profile managers. He had a unique approach to leadership when he and Rollins led DELL together, both in the position as CEOs. When he introduced the leadership board in 2007 he showed again his willingness to share power and seek other people’s advice. I’ve always tried to surround myself with the best talent I could find. When you’re the leader of a company, be it large or small, you can’t do everything yourself. The more talented people you have to help you, the better off you and the company will be. (Dell, 1999) It occurs that the way Dell changed his style to fit the circumstances is a situational leadership style. However, his influence on people more results from his characteristics than from his leadership style. Similarly to Steve Jobs in his early years, who was nervous, nerdy and almost appeared to be clumsy, they both grew with their responsibilities and both became not only charismatic persons but finally became great leader through their charisma. All that points more to a transformational leadership style. It is his characteristics that resulted in people giving him credibility, trust and confidence. DELL staff developed a sense of loyalty that goes beyond what an average leader gets back from his employees. The trusting and open climate he created by helping and empowering others to be successful, by encouraging them to do more is the result of his idea of creating a ‘Company of Owners’. Michael Dell not only provides his people with inspiration and requires them to be inspirational, he too shows ethical behaviour founding the ‘Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’ to improve the health and education of children worldwide. DELL was recognized in 2014 and 2015 as one of the World’s Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute (2015). In 2007 Michael Dell returned as CEO and since then he repeatedly emphasized that the Dell model “is not a religion” and he, who was once known as a man by-the-numbers, a short-term-thinker, seems now to be planning many years ahead. He changed his way by introducing a new leadership board. He again delegated power and shared decision making. Since then Dell introduced a lot of changes. David Yoffie from Harvard Business School (Lohr, 2007) said: “This is going to be about changing the way they do business at many levels.” Dell stepped beyond his selling-direct-model and again forged retail agreements with WalMart, Carphone Warehouse and even Tesco. He started acquiring business, Alienware, ACS, EqualLogic, Perot Systems and just recently EMC to name just few. With the acquisition of Zing Systems they finally stepped into the section of hand-held-devices. Though more than 80 percent of its sales is from corporate customers Dell accepted that they need to focus more on the consumer market to stay on top. In point of marketing they came up with a new slogan: “One Company, One Brand, One Beat” giving the brand a makeover. “Hey, we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’re just getting started”, Steve Lohr (Lohr, 2007) from the New York Times quotes Dell. And he got started. The company’s core business always was server solutions, PC business being called dead from several sides, DELL focussed on getting into the mobile and tablet market. Given the strong presence of Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy that failed in 2011. DELL faced an enormous process of change in the past eight years shifting their strategy away from low-margin PCs towards higher-margin systems and services for corporate customers. “At DELL, we never talk about ‘managing change’ or ‘dealing with change’ because change is all we‘ve ever known. […] change promotes growth” said Michael Dell (1999, p. 214). However, he emphasized that planning for and communicating clearly opportunities is the way to encourage employees to embrace change without fear “There’s no risk in preserving the status-quo, but there’s no profit, either” (Dell, 1999, p. 222). In 2013 Dell, shortly before the 30th birthday of DELL Inc., completed the largest corporate privatization in history. "You can't keep doing the same thing and expect it to keep working. We had to do something different." (Foster, 2014) Michael Dell is not only open for change, he knows how to plan and communicate for it. “Dell went public because the company needed capital” (Dell, 2015). Without dividends and buybacks, he will have increased cash-flow and without the public markets to worry about, he has much more flexibility to keep their growth strategy going. ‘In China, for China’ is DELL’s newest strategy. Until 2020 they want to invest $125 billion in China demonstrating their long-term commitment to the Chinese market, propelling the strategy of ‘massive entrepreneurship and innovation by all’. Michael Dell, an accomplished business man for more than 30 years. He started with $1000 and became a billionaire within ten years, he knows the ups and downs in business and life. What advice or recommendation could a college student possibly give him? DELL built its reputation as a leading technology provider through listening to customers and developing solutions that meet customer needs. They were always focused on providing long-term value creation through the delivery of customized solutions that make technology more efficient, more accessible, and easier to use. DELL are focused on improving their core business, shifting their portfolio to higher-margin and recurring revenue streams over time, and maintaining a balance of liquidity, profitability, and growth. Consistently focusing on generating strong cash flow returns, allowing them to expand capabilities and acquire new ones. Michael Dell very clearly follows an intense growth strategy, shown with the China 2020 strategy. To keep that strategy on track the continuous perpetuation and development of the vision is mandatory. Everyone within DELL needs to know where they are going and why. Almost 20 years ago Michael Dell advised: “Mobilize your people around a common goal. Help them to feel a part of something genuine, special, and important, and you’ll inspire real passion and loyalty.” (Dell, 1999, p. 119) Having met Michael Dell about ten years ago during a team night out in Dublin South where DELL Inc. is situated he appeared very down-to-earth and the short conversation was rather refreshing. “Where is your beer” he asked and ordered me a new one. In his book he wrote that he does not want his interactions planned, “I want anecdotal feedback. I want to hear spontaneous remarks” (Dell, 1999, p. 117). In the early years he hang out with his engineers, later he tried to keep touch with employees as much as possible which was much appreciated. Of course DELL has grown into an organisation where most employees have never met their boss, however, my advice to him is to keep meeting the people, keep the contact to the soldiers on the front, and spread the vision to the people. Keep on doing what you did while becoming what you are. Bass, B. M., 1985. 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An American to Remember: Father Hesburgh of Notre Dame. [Online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harris-wofford/an-american-to-remember-father-hesburgh_b_7215536.html [Accessed 01 03 2015].
4 Types of Sentences Downloads 28,785 19 Learn about the 4 types of sentences; interogative, exclamatory, imperative, declarative File Type: SMART Response question set Subject: English as a Second Language, English Language Arts Grade: Grade 3, Grade 4, Grade 5, Grade 6 Date submitted: April 13, 2011 Submitted by: SDTeacherTrainer Note: By using any resource from this site, you are agreeing to these Terms.
Baby Milestones: Sitting, Rolling, Crawling And Walking At around two months your baby is working very hard at trying to control his head. This is an important skill to develop in preparation for sitting up, rolling over, crawling and later walking. Head control along with development of back, neck and tummy muscles will help your baby sit up and around at 4-6 months your baby will be able to sit up with support and reach his arms and hands to grasp toys. To help your baby develop the skills needed for sitting, encourage your baby to participate in ‘Tummy Time'. At around 4-6 months, your baby will have developed good control of his head, reaching and grasping will have become purposeful and he will be learning to sit upright. By the end of 6 months your baby may be learning to roll over. Between 4 to 6 months, your baby’s primitive reflexes disappear, allowing your baby to have more control over his body movements, thus the movements become purposeful. Your baby will also begin to discover what fun his mouth is and all objects will be put in his mouth to explore. This is not necessarily a sign your baby is hungry or teething, it's just his way of learning about his world through his mouth as he explores shapes and textures. When your baby begins to sit up with support, encourage him to sit on the floor. You will notice he will lean forward on his hands as his back muscles are not yet strong enough. However, with practice and encouragement, your baby might be able to sit up unsupported for brief moments by 6 months. Your baby will also now begin to use his hands to explore as he will reach for and grasp at toys which are placed close to him on the floor. When your baby is placed on his tummy he will begin to push up on his arms. When toys are placed close to him he will try to reach out to them causing him to collapse over onto his back. This begins accidentally and as he practices and engages in ‘Tummy Time’, he will become more proficient and purposeful at rolling onto his back. By 6 months your baby should be able to roll from tummy onto back. During this period it is really important to encourage your baby’s motor development by allowing him to engage in different positions. Spending play time on a mat on the floor, supervised at all times, will help him develop his motor skills. Try not to let your baby spend long periods of time sitting in his buggy or car seat. From 6 to 9 months, your baby will be working very hard at developing his tummy muscles to help him sit unsupported and to crawl. When your baby is lying on his back he will play with his feet and lift his head to look at his feet. This is important for developing tummy muscles. As your baby masters the ability to sit unsupported, he will be able to sit up from a lying position and go from a sitting position to a lying position on the floor. Your baby will also now have the freedom to play with toys when sitting on the floor. As your baby practices these skills, he is developing the skills needed for crawling. When your baby does manage to get up onto all fours, he will spend time rocking back and forth on all fours. The next step in crawling is moving backwards on all fours. If you think your baby is having difficulty crawling, you can help by giving your baby lots of ‘Tummy Time’. Also, strip your baby down to vest and nappy as clothes such as baby suits, tights, trousers etc are all very restrictive around your baby’s pelvis, hips and knees and can impede your baby’s crawling. When your baby does take off crawling, encourage him to crawl over different surfaces, such as carpet and tile, to develop your baby’s sense of touch. Whilst some babies do not crawl, going straight into standing, missing the crawling stage can be an indicator of latter difficulties. So if your baby does not crawl, it is not a sign your baby is really intelligent by skipping a milestone, rather you should encourage your baby to spend time on the floor developing the skills for crawling. From 9 to 12 months, your baby will begin to pull himself up into a standing position. Any piece of furniture will become a place for your baby to try pulling up into standing. Once your baby has mastered standing, it won’t be long before he is rocking on his legs holding onto the furniture, then he will attempt to side step around the furniture before taking his first steps. Some babies begin walking at nine months while others begin walking at 16 months. The most important thing is that your baby develops and masters all the skills needed for walking. If you are in any way concerned about your baby’s development or progress, do speak to your healthcare professional. Often, reassurance is all that is needed and if there are signs your baby is having difficulty it is much better to take action at a younger age than waiting until your baby is older. When seeking advice, always check to your therapist is validated by the Department of Health. This will ensure the advice and recommendation you are given are correct and in no way misleading. Any questions? Leave a comment below.
Consumers often buy generators because they do not know that there is a better solution available to them: the power inverter. What is a power inverter? Simply put, a Power Inverter converts DC (battery) power into AC (wall outlet) power. What are AC and DC power? AC (Alternating Current) power is what you find in the wall outlets of your house. DC (Direct Current) power is commonly found in battery powered electronics and your car accessory (cigarette lighter) sockets. Which device is better, a Generator or Inverter? There is only one reason that a generator can be better than a power inverter; there is no DC or battery power source around. Smaller, lighter, less expensive, fume-free, can be used indoors, no maintenance, are all things that Inverters offer over Generators. Do Inverters output the same power as a generator? Yes, if not more! Our Inverters range from 80 watts all the way up to 10,000 watts; this is the same as generator offerings, BUT our Inverters have peak surges that are usually double (100%) the inverter’s printed wattage. Generators usually have peak surge capabilities around 20% of their printed wattage. I’m looking at buying a Generator or Inverter to supply power away from home, what do I need? The first thing you need to find out is: what your power (wattage) needs are. See the “Simple Questions to Answer” section at the top of this Blog. After you know how much power you need, you must ask yourself how you want to power these appliances; via gas or DC power. Another category that the Inverter excels in is sheer size. In comparison, the inverter is around 1/15th the overall footprint of a comparable generator! Even with a battery bank that exceeds the generator capacity, the Inverter still wins. Which is more expensive? Dollar for Dollar, the power Inverter is less expensive. Once you buy the Inverter, there is no oil, gas, or maintenance needed. Generators need constant attention to ensure gas does not run out, you must “winterize” them for storage, and you must periodically service them too. How do you power an Inverter? Inverters can be powered by any DC power source: batteries (direct), vehicle DC Accessory Socket, even Solar Panels and Wind Turbines! How to Use a Power Inverter: • Connect Inverter to DC Power Source (Battery) • Turn Inverter Power Switch “On” • Plug in Your AC Appliance How to Use a Generator: • Move Generator Outdoors • Check Oil Level • Fill with Fuel • Turn Fuel Valve “On” • Prime Fuel System • Turn Power Switch “On” • Turn Choke “On” • Pull on Recoil Starter Until Engine Starts • Slowly Turn Choke Off until in “Run” Position • Plug in Your AC Appliance Are generators useless? NO! Generators still have their place in certain industries. As a building back-up power source, trailer-mounted generators are ideal. For smaller systems such as portable, vehicle, or a house, a power inverter is best. As you can clearly see, Inverters are ideal for 99% of your power needs. Whether it’s camping, tail-gating, fishing, commuting, sporting events, job sites, road-trips, or off-grid living, a power inverter is the best solution for your power needs. Blog: Understanding Inverters and How-to Select the one that is right for you Blog: How to Connect a Large or Small Inverter to a Battery Blog: Battery Basics: Cranking Amps (CA) vs. Cold Cranking Amps (CCA)
Irvine, Calif., June 12, 2012 -- Mosquitoes bred to be unable to infect people with the malaria parasite are an attractive approach to helping curb one of the world's most pressing public health issues, according to UC Irvine scientists. Anthony James and colleagues from UCI and the Pasteur Institute in Paris have produced a model of the Anopheles stephensi mosquito - a major source of malaria in India and the Middle East - that impairs the development of the malaria parasite. These mosquitoes, in turn, cannot transmit the disease through their bites. "Our group has made significant advances with the creation of transgenic mosquitoes," said James, a UCI Distinguished Professor of microbiology & molecular genetics and molecular biology & biochemistry. "But this is the first model of a malaria vector with a genetic modification that can potentially exist in wild populations and be transferred through generations without affecting their fitness." More than 40 percent of the world's population lives in areas where there is a risk of contracting malaria. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 300 million to 500 million cases of malaria occur each year, and nearly 1 million people die of the disease annually - largely infants, young children and pregnant women, most of them in Africa. James said one advantage of his group's method is that it can be applied to the dozens of different mosquito types that harbor and transmit the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, including those in Africa. Study results appear this week in the early online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers conceived their approach through mouse studies. Mice infected with the human form of malaria create antibodies that kill the parasite. James' team exploited the molecular components of this mouse immune-system response and engineered genes that could produce the same response in mosquitoes. In their model, antibodies are released in genetically modified mosquitoes that render the parasite harmless to others. "We see a complete deletion of the infectious version of the malaria parasite," said James, a member of the National Academy of Sciences. "This blocking process within the insect that carries malaria can help significantly reduce human sickness and death." He and his colleagues have pioneered the creation of genetically altered mosquitoes that limit the transmission of dengue fever, malaria and other vector-borne illnesses. Alison Isaacs, Nijole Jasinskiene and Mikhail Tretiakov of UCI and Isabelle Thiery, Agnes Zettor and Catherine Bourgouin of the Pasteur Institute contributed to the study, which received support from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases - a National Institutes of Health entity - through grant number R37 AI029746. About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County's second-largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu. News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university. NOTE TO EDITORS: Photo available at http://today.
Bile acids are compounds released from the gallbladder that help digest fats Research indicates TUDCA may be particularly useful for combating the backup of bile acid in the liver (cholestasis) as the water-soluble bile acids may counteract the toxicity of regular bile acids. TUDCA has also been studied for its ameliorating effects on inflammatory metabolic diseases, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and renal disease. TUDCA is able to reduce stress to a cell's Endoplasmic Reticulum -- an organelle that serves as a conduit from the nucleus out into the cytoplasm and assists in folding proteins. By reducing endoplasmic reticulum stress, TUDCA has been implicated in a wide range of beneficial metabolic effects such as reducing insulin resistance.
Mean Chey District is home to 26 organised urban poor communities comprised mainly of migrants from the provinces. For many parents here, school seems to be an afterthought for their children. But the Ministry of Education, with support from UNICEF, is trying hard to change that, writes Bunly Meas. As she helps her son put on his school uniform, twenty-six-year-old Sien Chres is excited but surprised to see him returning to kindergarten. Eight months ago, it was normal for Dy Choeun to stay in class for a few days and then quit his education, as he has done twice over the last three years – a reason he is still in kindergarten at the age of eight. Dy hardly talks and cannot engage in conversation. His teachers could not engage his attention when he was in class and he normally prefers to play alone. “I almost gave up on him as I thought he could not learn at school. But his teacher at the current school has new ways to interact with him,” said Mrs Chres. “Now he can say simple words and loves going back to school each day.” Mrs Chres and her family live in the urban poor community of Mean Chey District in Phnom Penh. She and her husband collect garbage and sell it for a living. They earn an average 20,000 riels ($5) a day – an amount that barely buys enough food for the family for the day. They live in a small room with a monthly rent of $40. Mrs Chres has been a refuse scavenger since she was 12 when her mother and her other five siblings left their hometown in Prey Veng Province for Phnom Penh to search for a better livelihood. Since this migration she has not gone to school and has moved location regularly to earn a living. Sitting near Mrs Chres in the classroom is Sony Men, principal of the state-run Stung Mean Chey Kindergarten. She comes to check on Dy’s progress and asks if her support is needed. She said: “Dy is one of the four students who needs special attention in our school. He is a bit over-aged for our pre-school but I thought he could benefit from our teachers who got training on inclusive education for children with disabilities. I am really glad that he did.” Seven teachers from Mean Chey district, including Mrs Men, have received instruction since 2015 in inclusive education, with a special focus on children with physical and less severe intellectual disabilities. The programme is conducted by the Ministry of Education, with support from UNICEF and it has enabled teachers in three Khans (districts) in Phnom Penh to identify disability conditions among students and adapt teaching techniques to fit their needs. Dany Prum is one of the staff who completed the training. Among her students, she is now teaching two children with special attention needs including Dy. She finds the skill useful in engaging her students. She said: “Dy did not listen to me but ran around and shortly left for home. I later found [out] he loved listening to stories so I began every class with storytelling. “After a week, he started responding ‘Yes’ when I asked and enjoyed drawing and playing with other classmates.” Dy’s improvement has given hope to his mother, though for her, priority is to be able to put food on the table for her children. Her family’s income from scavenging is hardly enough and it likely they move somewhere else to earn more. Mean Chey District is home to 26 organised urban poor communities comprised mainly of migrants from the provinces. The Phnom Penh Department of Education reported that only 140 out of 1,279 children aged three to five attended pre-schools in Mean Chey District last year. This figure is in line with UNICEF’s assessment in 2017 that identified 1,140 children and their parents and caregivers in 13 urban poor communities across Phnom Penh. It revealed that only 29 per cent of children aged three to five were enrolled in pre-schools. Poverty, poor health conditions, a lack of understanding about the importance of education, high informal school fees and low teacher motivation were cited as key barriers to urban poor children accessing an education. These factors also increased the chances of a poor child dropping out of school. At 5pm in the urban poor community of Dangkor District, 14-year-old Soklyn and her mother are finishing work in a local noodle workshop. They pack noodles full-time and each earns between $6 and $9 a day. Eight months ago, Soklyn was a Grade 6 student. She studied in the morning and worked with her mother in the afternoon to provide income for the family. Her parents migrated from Kampong Cham city to Phnom Penh when she was just one. They now live in a small room with a seven-year-old cousin and pay a monthly rent of $20. Her father is a street vendor who sells bread and earns around $5 a day. “My parents were sick some time and we did not have enough money to buy food so I decided to quit school to earn for the family,” said Soklyn. “I am not sure if I will go back to school. I do not think about the future,” she added. A UNICEF migration study conducted in 2017 revealed it is difficult for adolescents to continue their education after migrating to live in urban areas because of high education costs. They have a high tendency to enter the labour market and rarely return to school. While Dy enjoys his kindergarten, his future education remains uncertain as his family do not have the stability to settle in one place. Likewise, Soklyn is now working full-time and her chance to go back to school is minimal. Recently the Cambodian government rolled out universal social protection under the Social Protection Policy Framework to provide income or in-kind support and programmes, especially for poor children and families so they can access social services such as education, clean water or health care. Other ongoing initiatives, such as the National Scholarship Programme provides financial support to poor students so they can stay in school. In addition, the Cash Transfer Programme supports pregnant women and children from poor families with small amounts of money and links them to health care and nutrition services. While these programmes were introduced in Cambodia, their coverage remains limited. For vulnerable children such as Dy and Soklyn, it is important to accelerate and expand the delivery of such support programmes. Increasing the national budget for such schemes is critical so that the Cambodian government can assist more children and families, especially those who are most in need such as migrant families. UNICEF Cambodia
Image credit: Tatjana Baibakova / 123rfA team led by Motonari Uesugi, professor and deputy director of Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), found that a vitamin D metabolite known as '25-OHD' inhibits proteins that regulate lipid production. Those proteins, called sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), cannot then stimulate expression of lipid-producing genes. "To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that 25-OHD inhibits SREBPs," the researchers concluded in their study recently published in Cell Chemical Biology. Drug companies could develop synthetic analogs of 25-OHD to potentially help regulate lipid production in individuals who lack vitamin D to do this for them. Vitamin D deficiency is caused by insufficient dietary intake or sunlight exposure, and it is increasing worldwide. It is associated with several bone diseases such as rickets in children and osteoporosis in adults. It is also linked with metabolic disorders and certain types of cancers. But it has been unclear how the lack of vitamin D contributes to metabolic disorders and cancers. The research team came across 25-OHD while screening an extensive chemical library of endogenous molecules. They were looking for inhibitors of SREBPs, which regulate lipid production, and honed in on 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD), which is a hydroxylated vitamin D metabolite. The relationship between 25-OHD and lipid levels has been known for more than 20 years. However, 25-OHD has generally been considered biologically inactive. The researchers found 25-OHD induces the breakdown of SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), an escort protein required for SREBP activation. They were able to document how 25-OHD degrades SCAP into smaller amino acids. SREBP and SCAP proteins are increasingly recognized as potential drug targets for cancers and metabolic disorders. Understanding the role 25-OHD plays in the SREBP-SCAP interaction and in lipid regulation could open up new treatment opportunities. Like this article? Click here to subscribe to free newsletters from Lab Manager
The NFI provides an important basis for decision making in Swiss forestry and environmental policy. 31% of Switzerland is covered by forest. This forest is an important habitat for animals and plants. It provides wood, protection from natural hazards and room for recreation. For the sustainable use and protection of the forests it is necessary to provide objective information to politicians, scientists, ecologists, foresters and the timber industry, as well as to national and international organisations. The NFI is intended to record the current state and the changes of the Swiss forest in all its functions. It should be possible to give statistically reliable results for Switzerland, larger cantons and regions. Consequently the Federal Council decided to carry out the first national forest inventory (NFI) in 1981. Today there is a legal foundation for the NFI in articles 33 and 34 of the 921.0 Swiss Federal Act on Forest and, in article 37a, the 921.01 Forest Ordinance. In the 510.620 Geoinformation Ordinance, the foundations (ID 163) and findings (ID 164) are set forth. The forest- and geoinformation ordinances both assign the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) as the responsible federal authorities. Along with other surveys, the NFI constitutes a national forest information system. It is part of the program «Swiss Forest Monitoring» Program along with the Long-Term Forest Ecosystems Research LWF, the Sanasilva Inventory SSI, and the Swiss Forest Protection.
If you are experiencing symptoms like jaw pain and stiffness, TMJ disorder might be the problem. This disorder can have a significant impact on your physical and mental health. The condition generally worsens without treatment. A TMJ specialist is a trained and experienced professional who offers treatment for TMJ disorders. Continue reading to find out… Types of Sleep Apnea and Treatments A relatively common type of sleep disorder, sleep apnea occurs when breathing stops and then restarts throughout the sleep cycle. As a result, major organs in the body, including the brain, receive less oxygen at varying intervals throughout the night. A person with sleep apnea may not be aware of these events while sleeping and are only cognizant of the effects the next day, such as a dry mouth and throat, fatigue and irritability. This process is hard on the human body and can result in excessive tiredness throughout the day, even if the individual did not wake during the night. Those with sleep apnea are at an increased risk for numerous health conditions, including heart attack or heart failure, stroke, diabetes, depression and headaches. Therefore, it is critical for these individuals to obtain a proper diagnosis and begin treatment. Diagnosing Sleep Apnea Sleep apnea is often diagnosed or observed through a sleep study, which allows a medical professional to monitor a patient’s breathing throughout the night, as well as heart rate, brain activity and oxygen levels. Through such evaluations, it can be determined if the patient actually suffers from sleep apnea or another form of sleeping disorder, as well as which type of sleep apnea is present in the individual. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of the disorder and occurs when the airway becomes blocked and breathing is impaired. Central sleep apnea is more rare and happens when the brain fails to signal the lungs to breathe during sleep. Once a patient is diagnosed with either obstructive or central sleep apnea, treatment can begin to help maintain steady breathing throughout the night. Treating Sleep Apnea Depending on the severity of the case, there are several options for effective treatment. First and foremost, patients should make positive and healthy lifestyle changes to set themselves up for success, like exercising regularly, losing extra weight and avoiding drug and excessive alcohol use. One possible solution is to simply sleep in a side-lying position to prevent airway blockage while sleeping. Many individuals find success in receiving a customized oral appliance from a dental specialist to help align the jaw or stabilize the tongue during sleep. For more serious cases, a CPAP machine may be prescribed to be worn at night and provide consistent positive air pressure to maintain breathing. In some situations, surgery may be required to repair abnormalities in the nasal passage, mouth or throat. Sleep apnea is a serious condition that should not be ignored. In addition to poor sleep habits and insufficient rest for the body, it can also lead to a host of other potentially serious diseases. Diagnosis and evaluation are typically relatively straightforward and treatment can usually begin promptly afterward. While living with undiagnosed sleep apnea can be difficult both in the present and long term, many can experience relief and restful sleep with the proper treatment plan. Check out what others are saying about our services on Yelp: Read our Yelp reviews. The growing number of sleep apnea cases needs the collaboration of health care professionals. Several treatment options are now available for people suffering from this sleep disorder. Your specially trained dental care professional can help you along the way. If you want to find out what role a sleep medicine dentist has in treating sleep… People with sleep apnea understand how this condition can disrupt lives and affect health. If you are suffering from the signs and symptoms of this illness, you should get help right away. A sleep medicine dentist can help. The dentist may prescribe an oral appliance, which can effectively open your airway and help you to… Thousands of nerves and various neurological pathways run through our brain, and abnormalities or damage to those nerves can lead to chronic diseases. Trigeminal neuralgia is a painful disease that affects the trigeminal nerve, which runs through the face and upper jaw. Since its obvious spasms can be caused by touching the face, some patients…
- ›› Eras and Sub-Eras : Jim Crow and The Great Migration Throughout the twentieth century, many influential Hollywood films, such as Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, Glory, and Amistad, have helped shape the way Americans have thought about slavery and its legacy.Birth of a Nation (1915) Birth of a Nation was the most popular film of... Which of the two views presented below, W.E.B. Du Bois’ or Booker T. Washington’s, offered a better strategy to put our nation on a quicker path to equality for African Americans at the turn of the twentieth century?Documents Booker T. Washington, 1895 Atlanta Compromise Speech, History Matters, George Mason University Excerpt from W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk... The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, who are representatives typically chosen by the candidate’s political party, though some state laws differ. Each state’s number of electors is based on its congressional delegation (one for each member in the House of Representatives and one for each member in the Senate). Currently, a total of 270 electoral votes is required to win the presidency.Prior to the 1804 election the first runner-up became vice president, as spelled out in the US Constitution. As a... A carefully crafted lesson has a well-defined focus and framework as well as a clearly stated purpose. The lesson should present students with an issue that is phrased as a problem to be solved or a thought-provoking question to be analyzed and assessed. By using these questions students can learn to think critically and develop positions and viewpoints.
Here is the Whisker Warrior’s Community Cat named Sandy, she is ear-tipped on her left ear to identify she was spayed through our TNR program, then released. They make look fierce at times, but most feral cats need our help. As we discussed in our previous blog post “It’s no LOL matter – feral cats need our help,” most feral cats are unlikely to want to take up residence in your home. However, providing food and water on a regular basis to a colony of them or one or a few that return to your home every day is a lifesaver. Equally important is to have the feral cats you care for spayed or neutered so that they are not producing endless litters of kittens, many of whom will succumb to disease or other prey. And of course, considering the number of homeless cats already populating shelters, the goal always is to end the cycle of unwanted animals. The effort to trap, neuter (or spay) and return a feral cat to its community is called TNR. It not only improves the lives of feral cats, it addresses concerns in a community about too many homeless cats. According to Best Friends, TNR came onto the scene in the 1950s in Great Britain followed by Denmark in the 1970s. In the U.S., Alley Cat Allies worked to make TNR mainstream in the U.S. There are many examples of the success of TNR in controlling the population of feral cat communities around the country. The Humane Society in its animal sheltering blog points to the efforts of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society. It had more than 300 cats in 1992. In 2009, the last cat from the colony passed away. In another example, the Neighborhood Cats in Riverside Park in Manhattan went from having more than 70 cats in 2001 to fewer than five in 2016. Despite its proven success, TNR still has its detractors. Negative sentiment generally stems from the position that anything that poses a potential threat to wildlife is unacceptable. Still with many positive results under their belt and a deep concern for the well-being of feral cats, TNR programs are active in many communities across the country, such those conducted in Rancho Cordova by individuals and feral cat organizations. If you find a feral cat or a colony of then in your neighborhood or where you work and want to get involved hands on, here is an overview of the steps to take. Get a trap: In addition to purchasing a humane trap, if you live in Rancho Cordova, contact Animal Services about possibly renting one. Local rescue groups are another source for borrowing a trap to use. Make sure you get proper instructions on how to set the trap, and then find a good location to leave it. Choose an area near where the cat(s) congregate. Also try to camouflage the trap. Put a towel over it, for example, or place the trap in the bushes. Entice cats with food: Tuna fish or sardines can be a powerful draw. Just be sure to leave the food as far back as possible behind the foot plate, which triggers the trap when the cat steps on it. The night or early morning before you set the trap, don’t leave food. This way, hungry cats will be more attracted to the food you set out in the trap. Spring into action when cat is trapped: A trapped cat will panic. Covering the cage with a towel, if you haven’t already, or a blanket, will help the cat calm down. You’ll want to take the cat to a safe place, such as your garage, until you can get it to a vet or local low-cost spay/neuter facilities. You should have a list of these before you begin trapping. Whisker Warriors can provide you with contacts and vouchers for free sterilization. Post-surgery release: Cats should be kept for a day and possibly longer for females after surgery to assure there are no complications. After that, release the cats back to the site where you trapped them and of course continue to provide food and water. Fixed feral cats will have a notched or clipped ear to indicate they’ve been altered, so you won’t have to worry about taking a fixed cat to surgery again if you re-trap it. You’ll no doubt have more questions before you trap for the first time. Contact us and we can provide more instructions and even offer names of organizations who can work with you until you feel comfortable trapping on your own.
When you enter a dark room you’re familiar with you can remember what objects surround you. If you see only part of a familiar object you may be able to still know what it is. You can thank your sense of sight for those skills. Even being able to identify colors, shapes, letters and numbers all begins with visual processing. Our perceptions of the objects in the world around us largely depend on our sense of sight. Messages are sent to our brains and sensory systems through what we see with our eyes. Our thoughts and psychological perceptions of our surroundings taken in by our sight is known as visual perception. Our visual system is complex and consists of many elements including but not limited to memory, discrimination, spatial concepts and tracking. Stimulation of our visual system contributes to early reading, writing and math skills. Complex as this system may be there are many simple ways a development of our sense of sight can be included in sensory play. Color Mixing Activities - Start with two primary colors and allow children to explore what happens when the colors are mixed to create a new color. - This can be done with colored water, ice, milk, paints, or shaving cream. - Make shadow puppets. - Hold up fingers to count in a shadow. - Find shadows outside on a sunny day, or play shadows game with your child as you walk (let them run around you and trying to step on your shadow!) I Spy Activities - Can easily be done with sensory bags or bottles filled with different objects. - Play outside, around the house or find objects in a book. Scavenger Hunts and Hide and Seek - Place objects around the house or outside and go looking for them. The lists above are just a few examples of how you can get started with visual sensory play for children with or without processing disorders.While you play you can encourage association of visual skills with language by describing objects, discussing relation to other objects and talking about what you see. Be creative and look around! You’ll find lots of ways to explore with the sense of sight!
Study finds false perceptions of body weight put new mums in diabetes danger zone An alarming number of new mums who develop increased blood sugar levels during pregnancy are placing themselves at heightened risk of long-term diabetes because of false perceptions of their own weight and health risk. Research by University of Western Sydney School of Medicine and Blacktown Hospital researchers found that the majority of women with gestational diabetes underestimate their weight category and fail to take action to prevent type 2 diabetes. Increased blood glucose during pregnancy, known as gestational diabetes, affects women in around five per cent of pregnancies.1 While blood glucose often returns to normal after childbirth, failure to reduce excess weight increases the mother's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers also believe gestational diabetes and excess weight gain during pregnancy increase the child's risk of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes in later life.2-4 The study, presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian Diabetes Society & Australian Diabetes Educators Association, found that women with an accurate understanding of their weight were almost twice as likely to attempt weight loss than women with a false perception of their weight. "Self-perception is a major barrier to tackling weight issues and diabetes risk. It really is a case of 'I see what I want; not what I should' for many new mums," says Allison Sigmund, Adjunct Fellow in the UWS School of Medicine. Researchers studied 98 women with gestational diabetes who had given birth in the last three months. One-in-three were overweight and almost half were classified as obese. "The results are concerning," says Ms Sigmund who is a dietician and diabetes researcher. "Almost half of the women who were overweight considered themselves to be of a 'healthy weight', while more than half of the obese women described themselves as 'healthy weight' or 'overweight'. "We also found that more than 70 per cent of women at 'high risk' of diabetes considered their diabetes risk to be 'moderate' or 'none/slight'." "A false perception of weight equals less effort to lose weight, which increases the likelihood of lifelong type 2 diabetes. We mustn't sugar-coat the message. Too many women ignore weight issues during and after birth and are putting themselves at risk," says Ms Sigmund. Diabetes experts attending the Scientific Congress also warn that excess weight gain during pregnancy increases the risk of gestational diabetes and that this can influence the child's risk of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes in later life.2-4 Ms Sigmund stressed the importance of new mothers with gestational diabetes consulting a credentialled diabetes educator to help them reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other weight-related complications. 1 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2010). Diabetes in pregnancy: its impact on Australian women and their babies, page 3. 2 Bammann K, Peplies J, De Henauw S, et al. Early life course risk factors for childhood obesity: The IDEFICS case-control study. PLOS One 2014; 9: 1–7. 3 Eriksson JG. Epidemiology, genes and the environment: lessons learned from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study. J Intern Med 2007; 261: 418–25. 4 Lawlor DA, Lichtenstein P, Langstrom N. Association of maternal diabetes mellitus in pregnancy with offspring adiposity into early adulthood: sibling study in a prospective cohort of 280 866 men from 248 293 families. Circulation 2011; 123: 258–65. 5 Crozier SR, Inskip, HM, Godfrey KM, et al. Weight gain in pregnancy and childhood body composition: findings from the Southampton Women's Survey. Am J Clin Nutr 2010; 91: 1745–51. 29 August 2014 Photo: Sally Tsoutas What’s the bloody big deal? How Australian workplaces and educational institutions can help break the menstrual taboo A team of multidisciplinary Western Sydney University researchers have launched a new white paper exploring how workplaces and educational institutions can help break the menstrual taboo. Professor Emily Cross from Western Sydney University’s MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development will lead an exciting interactive performance and seminar at Vivid Sydney on Monday, 30 May. A new world-first centre dedicated to helping NSW small businesses respond to cybersecurity incidents and strengthen their cybercrime fighting capabilities has officially opened at Western Sydney University.
Professor Peter R. Galle Director of the Department of Internal Medicine, Mainz University Medical Centre There have been remarkable technological advances in gastrointestinal endoscopy over recent years. Highly flexible, miniaturised endoscopes can now be gently manoeuvred around the stomach and intestines without causing pain, giving doctors a better idea of what is going on inside the body. This makes both diagnosis and treatment easier, safer and more efficient to carry out. Until the late 18th century, it was not possible to inspect the gastrointestinal tract through the body’s natural openings. The development of the light guide by Philipp Bozzini (born in Mainz in 1773) paved the way for the first endoscopic examinations. Today, the Mainz University Medical Centre performs more than 12,000 endoscopic and sonographic examinations every year. Close cooperation with manufacturers of endoscopic devices enables new endoscopes to be developed and put into everyday use in the hospital within increasingly short periods of time. Concept of university endoscopy The aim of university endoscopy is to continually improve and enhance top-level patient care by applying new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. This principle has led to new clinical concepts in endoscopy, described here using the example of two illnesses. Heartburn is a widespread condition that is becoming particularly common in the western world. Heartburn – gastric reflux – is increasingly entering the spotlight as a result of changes in eating habits and the growing prevalence of obesity. The constant reflux of stomach acid inflames the oesophagus, which can lead to changes in the mucous membrane of the oesophagus. In approximately 10 per cent of patients, this causes Barrett’s oesophagus, which results in a greatly increased risk of developing oesophageal cancer. It is recommended that patients with Barrett’s oesophagus undergo regular gastroscopy examinations, in which several biopsies are performed on the affected section of the oesophagus in order to diagnose any malignant changes at an early stage. The procedure has been improved by the introduction of endomicroscopy. This is when a miniaturised laser microscope is integrated with the endoscope so that the oesophagus can be examined under the microscope during the endoscopic examination. This makes the early detection of cancer considerably more effective and only a few samples have to be taken from the mucous membrane. Colon cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in humans and is widely feared. It can be prevented by an early colonoscopy (preventive care). Many people are scared of having a colonoscopy and are not aware that this examination can save their life. Modern colonoscopies do not cause any pain and are over very quickly. We offer a very innovative procedure – a high-definition colonoscopy – that improves the diagnosis of precancerous stages of colon cancer, known as adenoma. The endoscopic image is also enhanced using an electronic filter or software, resulting in better recognition and characterisation of precancerous tissue. This procedure enables the precancerous tissue to be pinpointed and removed (polypectomy), thus preventing colon cancer from developing. As an alternative for patients who are scared of undergoing a colonoscopy, we also offer capsule colonoscopy as a preventive measure. In this highly innovative procedure, the patient swallows a capsule containing a video camera on two sides that captures images of the mucous membrane of the colon. The capsule sends these images from the gastrointestinal tract to a data recorder that the patient carries around on a shoulder strap or belt throughout the day. Add your favourites here. Save, sort, share and print your selection and plan your entire trip to Germany. 0 favourites selected Dve uporabni bližnjici za povečavo v brskalniku: Dodatna pomoč vam je na voljo pri ponudniku brskalnika. Do nje dostopate s klikom na ikono:
In his last fight– the one against Parkinson’s – Muhammad Ali went the distance finally succumbing in early June to complications from a respiratory problem. He was 74. In the more than 30 years since Ali was first diagnosed, our understanding of Parkinson’s has changed enormously and yet there is still much we don’t understand. While many assume that it was Ali’s many years in the ring that caused his Parkinson’s, it’s likely much more complicated than that. Dr. Rachel Dolhun, the vice president for medical communications with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, recently wrote about this. “(H)ead trauma and traumatic brain injury are associated with an increased risk of Parkinson’s but the mechanisms for how they are connected are unclear and direct causation (head or brain injury actually causing Parkinson’s) has not been established,” Dolhun writes. “More work is necessary to fully understand this relationship.” While head trauma has been linked to Parkinson’s, so too has exposure to chemicals and genetics. “Genes load the gun” and some environmental exposure or head trauma, “pulls the trigger.” What complicates the picture is also the nature of Parkinson’s itself. It may not be one disease, but many different conditions that fall under one diagnosis. This evolving understanding of the disease was noted in a recent article in The Atlantic by one of the magazine’s senior editors, Dr. James Hamblin. He notes that some neurologists have come to use the term “Parkinson’s disease syndrome” to describe the condition. In the same way our understanding of what causes the disease has also come to include many different culprits – including head trauma. While Hamblin focuses on just one genetic discovery by a team at Northwestern University, there have been many found over the years, including genetic variants that might mitigate the risk for the disease. Each finding has helped researchers deepen their understanding of the biological underpinnings of the disease, which in turn has helped to focus efforts looking at new treatments for the condition. As we noted in our blog earlier this month, Ali himself (along with his daughter Laila) supported research into the disease. With 23andMe the two helped produce a video to encourage participation in Parkinson’s research. 23andMe now has the largest Parkinson’s community for genetic research in the world. It’s allowed researchers to make important breakthroughs and uncover new genetic associations for the disease. Find out more about our research into Parkinson’s here.
A Short History of Anaerobic Digestion Anecdotal evidence indicates that biogas was used for heating bath water in Assyria during the lOth century BC and in Persia during the 16th century. Jan Baptita Van Helmont first determined in 17th century that flammable gases could evolve from decaying organic matter. Count Alessandro Volta concluded in 1776 that there was a direct correlation between the amount of decaying organic matter and the amount of flammable gas produced. In 1808, Sir Humphry Davy determined that methane was present in the gases produced during the AD of cattle manure. The first digestion plant was built at a leper colony in Bombay, India in 1859.1 AD reached England in 1895 when biogas was recovered from a "carefully designed" sewage treatment facility and used to fuel street lamps in Exeter.2 The development of microbiology as a science led to research by Buswell3 and others in the 1930s to identify anaerobic bacteria and the conditions that promote methane production. In the world of AD technology, farm-based facilities are perhaps the most common. Six to eight million family-sized, low-technology digesters are used to provide biogas for cooking and lighting fuels with varying degrees of success. In China and India, there is a trend toward using larger, more sophisticated systems with better process control that generate electricity. In Europe, AD facilities generally have had a good record in treating the spectrum of suitable farm, industrial, and municipal wastes. The process was used quite extensively when energy supplies were reduced during and after World War II. Some AD facilities in Europe have been in operation for more than 20 years. More than 600 farm-based digesters operate in Europe, where the key factor found in the successful facilities is their design simplicity. Around 250 of these systems have been installed in Germany alone in the past 5 years. Other factors influencing success have been local environmental regulations and other policies governing land use and waste disposal. Because of these environmental pressures, many nations have implemented or are considering methods to reduce the environmental impacts of waste disposal. The country with the greatest experience using large-scale digestion facilities has been Denmark, where 18 large centralized plants are now in operation. In many cases these facilities codigest manure, clean organic industrial wastes, and source-separated municipal solid waste (MSW). Denmark's commitment to AD increased with an energy initiative4 that will double biogas production by the year 2000, and triple it by the year 2005. One of the key policy tools used to encourage technology deployment is "green pricing," i.e., allowing manufacturers of biogas-generated electricity to sell their product at a premium. Interestingly, the sales of co generated hot water to specially-built district heating systems is becoming an important source of revenue for project developers. The use of the AD process for treating industrial wastewaters has grown tremendously during the past decade. Worldwide, more than 1,000 vendor-supplied systems now operate or are under construction. It is estimated that European plants comprise 44% of the installed base. Only 14% of the systems are located in North America. A considerable number of the systems are located in South America, primarily Brazil, where they are used to treat the vinasse coproduct from sugar cane-based ethanol production.5 More than 3 5 example industries that use digesters have been identified, including processors of chemicals, fiber, food, meat, milk, and pharmaceuticals. Many use AD as a pretreatment step that lowers sludge disposal costs, controls odors, and reduces the costs of final treatment at a municipal wastewater treatment facility. From the perspective of the municipal facility, pretreatment effectively expands treatment capacity. Although the first digester to use MSW as a feedstock operated in the United States from 1939-1974, it is receiving renewed interest. MSW processing facilities have made significant progress towards commercial use in recent years, with several in operation for more - than 15 years. A number of types of systems have been developed; each has its own special benefits. Processes such as AD and composting offer the only biological route for recycling matter and nutrients from the organic fraction of MSW. Composting is an energy-consuming process, requiring 50-75 kWh of electricity per ton of MSW input. Composting technology for MSW is commercially available and in use, but its further application is limited mainly by environmental aspects and process economics. AD is a net energy-producing process, with around 75-150 kWh of electricity created per ton of MSW input. MSW digestion technology is now being demonstrated and fully commercialized. MSW digestion poses many technical problems, including an increase in HRT. High-solid digestion (HSD) systems have been developed with the potential to improve the economic performance of MSW systems by reducing digester volume and the parasitic energy required for the AD process. Several alternative HSD designs have been developed that operate with total solids (TS) concentrations greater than 30%. These designs employ either external or internal mixing, using biogas or mechanical stirrers, In general, all HSD systems have equivalent performance. - Meynell, P-J. (1976). Methane: Planning a Digester. New York: Schocken Books. pp. 3. - McCabe, J; Eckenfelder, W. eds. (1957). Biological Treatment ofSewage and Industrial Wastes. Two volumes. New York: Reinbold Publishing. - Buswell, A.M.; Hatfield, W.D. (1936). Bulletin 32, Anaerobic Fermentations. Urbana, IL: State of Illinois Department of Registration and Education. - Danish Ministry of Energy and Environment (1996). Energy 21; The Danish Government's Action Plan for Energy 1996. Copenhagen, Denmark. - Lettinga, G.; Van Haandel, A. (1992). "Anaerobic Digestion for Energy Production and Environmental Protection." Chapter 19 in Renewable Energy: Sources for Fuels and Electricity. Covelo, CA: Island Press. pp. 817-839.
1. Display the students' completed sculptures along with their preparatory drawings. 2. Bring back the criteria for a sculpture developed in Lesson 1. Have each student choose the work of a classmate and use the criteria to write an evaluation of the artwork in his or her journal addressing the following questions. What symbols did the artist use? What do the symbols stand for? If the symbols are part of a larger subject, what do the symbols in the sculpture communicate about the subject of the sculpture? In your opinion, how effective are the symbolic elements in this work of art at conveying meaning? How does the medium that the artist chose affect your appreciation of this sculpture? If the artist hadn't been limited to specific mediums, is there another medium that you think he or she could have used? What would the ideal medium for this sculpture be? 3. Ask the class which of the Getty artworks helped them solve their own design problems. Make sure they explain why and point out which aspects of the Getty works helped them. Common Core Standards for English Language Arts Text Types and Purposes 1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Production and Distribution of Writing 4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. SPEAKING AND LISTENING Comprehension and Collaboration 1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. 2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Visual Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools Grades 9–12 Proficient 1.0 Artistic Perception Develop Perceptual Skills and Visual Arts Vocabulary 1.1 Identify and use the principles of design to discuss, analyze, and write about visual aspects in the environment and in works of art, including their own. 1.2 Describe the principles of design as used in works of art, focusing on dominance and subordination. Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design 1.4 Analyze and describe how the composition of a work of art is affected by the use of a particular principle of design. Impact of Media Choice 1.5 Analyze the material used by a given artist and describe how its use influences the meaning of the work. 4.0 Aesthetic Valuing 4.1 Articulate how personal beliefs, cultural traditions, and current social, economic, and political contexts influence the interpretation of the meaning or message in a work of art. Make Informed Judgments 4.4 Articulate the process and rationale for refining and reworking one of their own works of art. 4.5 Employ the conventions of art criticism in writing and speaking about works of art. National Standards for Visual Arts Education 2. Using knowledge of structures and functions a. Demonstrate the ability to form and defend judgments about the characteristics and structures to accomplish commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art. b. Evaluate the effectiveness of artworks in terms of organizational structures and functions. 3. Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas a. Reflect on how artworks differ visually, spatially, temporally, and functionally, and describe how these are related to history and culture. b. Apply subjects, symbols, and ideas in their artworks and use the skills gained to solve problems in daily life. 4. Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures c. Analyze relationships of works of art to one another in terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, justifying conclusions made in the analysis and using such conclusions to inform their own art making. 5. Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others a. Identify intentions of those creating artworks, explore the implications of various purposes, and justify their analyses of purposes in particular works. b. Describe meanings of artworks by analyzing how specific works are created and how they relate to historical and c. Reflect analytically on various interpretations as a means for understanding and evaluating works of visual art.
The internet has come a long way since its inception in the late 1960s. From the early days of ARPANET to the creation of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, the internet has revolutionized the way we communicate, learn, and conduct business. However, as the internet has grown and evolved, it has become clear that the current model of centralized control and ownership is not sustainable in the long term. That’s where Web 3 comes in. Web 3, also known as the decentralized web or the web of trust, is the next evolution of the internet. It is built on top of blockchain technology, which allows for decentralized control and ownership of digital assets. In Web 3, users have control over their data and can interact with others on the internet in a more secure and private manner. One of the key features of Web 3 is the use of decentralized applications (dApps). These are applications that run on a decentralized network of computers, rather than a centralized server. This means that the data and logic of the application are stored and processed on the network, rather than being controlled by a single entity. This makes dApps more secure and less vulnerable to hacking or other malicious attacks. Another important aspect of Web 3 is the use of smart contracts. These are self-executing contracts that are programmed to execute automatically when certain conditions are met. They are built on top of blockchain technology and can be used to automate a wide range of processes, from financial transactions to supply chain management. Smart contracts are transparent, tamper-proof, and can be used to reduce the need for intermediaries in many areas of business. Web 3 also incorporates the use of digital currencies, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. These currencies are decentralized and can be used to facilitate transactions on the internet without the need for intermediaries such as banks or payment processors. This makes transactions faster, cheaper, and more secure. Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of Web 3 is the potential for new business models and revenue streams. With the use of dApps, smart contracts, and digital currencies, businesses can create new ways to interact with their customers and generate revenue. For example, a content creator could use a dApp to sell access to their content directly to their fans, without the need for a third-party platform like YouTube or Patreon. However, Web 3 is still in its early stages of development, and there are many challenges to overcome. One of the biggest challenges is user adoption. The current model of the internet is so entrenched in our daily lives that it can be difficult to convince people to switch to a new, decentralized model. Additionally, there are technical challenges to overcome, such as scalability and interoperability between different blockchain networks. Despite these challenges, the potential benefits of Web 3 are too great to ignore. It has the potential to create a more secure, private, and equitable internet that is controlled by its users, rather than a few large corporations. As Web 3 continues to evolve and mature, it will be exciting to see the new possibilities that emerge. Web 3 is the future of the internet. Built on top of blockchain technology, it offers a decentralized and secure model for conducting business and interacting with others online. While there are still challenges to overcome, the potential benefits of Web 3 are too great to ignore. As we move into the next phase of the internet’s evolution, it’s important to embrace new technologies and business models that empower users and promote decentralization.
NZ Research Finds Way to Detect Cadmium in Soil Researchers from New Zealand has found a way to predict levels of cadmium – a potential threat to human health – in soil. The team from New Zealand’s Lincoln University, published Cadmium Concentrations in New Zealand Pastures: Relationships to Soil and Climate Variables in the Mar. 21, 2014 edition of the Journal of Environmental Quality the article also aims to give some solutions to the problems. Many of the New Zealand’s pasture soils have become enriched in cadmium — a toxic heavy metal that is readily taken up by grasses and then transferred to the cattle and sheep that graze them. The concern is that if cadmium concentrations rise to unsafe levels in meat and dairy products, human health and New Zealand’s agricultural economy could be jeopardized. That so far hasn’t happened. However, because much of the cadmium in the nation’s pasture soils originates from mined phosphate fertilizers that farmers continue to use, Kiwi farmers whose soils test high in the metal are being advised to apply low-cadmium fertilizers, for example. and reduce phosphorus applications overall. In the study led by Brett Robinson scientists found that soil pH, iron concentrations, and total cadmium levels were all excellent predictors of the potentially bioavailable fraction of soil cadmium. At the same time, they were relatively poor predictors of the actual cadmium concentrations measured in pasture grasses. So the question now becomes, how can cadmium be managed? The metal is difficult to remove from soil once it’s there, so one important solution is to keep what’s already present locked up and unavailable to plants. Robinson’s work indicates one way to achieve this. In the study, concentrations of plant-available cadmium rose as pH declined, suggesting that maintaining neutral or high soil pH levels whenever possible will reduce uptake of the metal by grasses—and ultimately by livestock. In January, the EPA withdrew a controversial rule governing the reporting of cadmium and cadmium compounds, admitting the regulation had caused serious confusion and uncertainty. The rule was a precedent-setting move that was troubling for businesses, according to Lynn Bergeson, managing director of law firm Bergeson & Campbell, PC. Writing in Chemical Processing, Bergeson said the regulations required that any companies that manufactured or imported cadmium in the past ten years, or even proposed doing so, submit to the EPA any data they have that bears on the chemical’s health or environmental effects. Energy Manager News - Submissions Now Accepted for Energy Manager Today Awards - New York City Study Conclusion: Benchmarking Works - Behind the Meter Podcast: Keys to Energy Efficient Air Filtration - Tecogen Lands Deal in Coney Island, NY - SCS Provides LEDs to AZ Stores in Arizona - New Green Advancements in Hospital Environments - Big Island Utility Hits 5-MW Cap on Customer-Operator Rooftop Solar Credits - Benton PUD Announces 5% Rate Hike
Producer Price Index The Producer Price Index (PPI) for food measures changes in prices paid to domestic producers for their output. The PPI is similar to the CPI in that it measures price changes over time and is a natural extension of ERS's work with the CPI for food. ERS regularly updates farm and wholesale food price forecasts for the short-term period. Data is collected for nearly every industry in the goods-producing sector of the economy. Of particular interest to the food sector are indexes for farm products and processed foodstuffs and feedstuffs. Changes in PPIs, particularly the stage-of-processing indexes, are often an early indicator of retail food price inflation for related CPIs in the U.S. economy. For this reason, the PPI is closely followed by industry analysts, food market participants, and policymakers. Forecasting estimates for farm and wholesale groups are essential, not only to recognize and predict farm and wholesale food prices, but also to understand retail food prices. ERS's analysis of the PPI consists of: - Reporting the current index level for farm level, wholesale level, and stage-of-processing foodstuffs and feedstuffs; - Examining changes in the PPI for farm- and wholesale-level food; and - Constructing forecasts of the PPI for farm- and wholesale-level food for the next 12-18 months.
What do Chromatograms tell us? Base line goes up and shows a “hump” after each analysis..8 Aug 2014 Chromatograms are like fingerprints. If you can “read” chromatograms well, you often can find a plausible cause. In this series, we will show a series of GC-chromatograms that are obtained from users and discuss some potential causes for the phenomena. Then we can move into some solutions for improvement. When using GC sometimes the baseline increases with every analysis. Also sometimes a huge “hump” elutes after all the components of interest have eluted, see fig.1. The “hump” typically shows as a broad peak, indicating “something” is eluting form the column. Normally the base line should be stable after the elution of the peak marked “X”. Fig.1 Ghost peaks appearing every analysis Typical causes for such “humps” are: Built up of later eluting peaks in the column. If there are heavy components in the sample, they will elute eventually. This will result in unstable base line and also in the “hump” from figure 1. - Heat the column to a higher temperature each analysis, so the heavier components will elute. - If the column cannot be heated at higher temperature, consider to use a flow – or pressure program. This will also make the late eluting compounds elute faster. - Use a back flush system. You can back-flush the whole column after elution of the last peak of interest; You can also use a pre-column of the same phase and only back-flush the pre-column. Back-flush systems are used a lot in process analyzers. They will offer the most reliable chromatography. Challenge is, that valves or Deans switching has to be used, which does require a little more understanding of the separation process. - One can also choose to do more sample prep and remove heavies before the analysis is done.If the “hump” or ghost-peak is not coming from the sample, it may be a contaminant somewhere in the system, that is also accumulating. Check this by doing a blank run (no injection) first; Then also do a solvent injection and see if the “hump” is increasing. GC split/splitless systems often get contaminated at the split-vent line. Because this location is cold, often heavy components can accumulate. See also Blog: Contamination of Injection System Split-Vent-Lines: A Maintenance item not to Underestimate That split-vent line need to be cleaned regularly, as well as the charcoal trap that should be connected downstream your split-vent line. Be aware of that. Many of us do not realize this, but it can impact the base line significantly. Lastly, also check your detector temperature.. If it’s too low, peaks will also broaden.. - Using a solvent, especially in splitless mode, sometimes extracts these contaminants and they get into the column. Ideally this should not happen as there should be a positive flow outside the injection port. Practically, we do see sometimes, that such contaminants can make it back into the system and they show up as ghost / broadened peaks.
Champlain Valley National Heritage Area The Champlain Valley National Heritage Area is a federally designated National Heritage Area encompassing eleven counties in New York and Vermont surrounding Lake Champlain. The heritage area designation recognizes the area's historical and scenic significance. The region was a strategic corridor between the Hudson Valley of the United States and the Richelieu Valley of Quebec during the American Revolution in the late 18th century, and saw considerable military action during the War of 1812. During the American Civil War the valley was a part of the Underground Railroad network. The National Heritage Area encompasses Clinton, Essex, Warren, Saratoga and Washington counties in New York, and Bennington, Rutland, Addison, Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties in Vermont. Attractions located within the National Heritage Area include Fort Ticonderoga, the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Saratoga National Historical Park, portions of Adirondack Park and Green Mountain National Forest, Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge and the Lake Champlain Underwater Historic Preserves. The Champlain Valley National Heritage Area was established by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Act of 2005. It is administered by the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.
January 24, 2005 LOS ANGELES—The Getty Research Institute (GRI) collects with a scholarly audience in mind. Its special collections form the core of the Research Library at the Getty Research Institute, which is one of the largest art libraries in the world. The GRI’s holdings include important primary source material such as original documents, personal notes and letters, prints, rare books, photographs, and sketchbooks. This material provides a direct link to the artists, offering researchers unparalleled insight into their minds, motivations, and environments. It also documents the history and development of art and culture. The following are some recent additions to the Research Library’s special collections. The Archive of Edmund Teske (American, 1911–1996) Eighteen archival boxes of documentation including business and personal letters and records, poetry, prose writing, sketches, essays, news articles, transcriptions of interviews, speeches, a variety of printed ephemera, financial data, teaching materials, calendars, audio and video tapes, and a small number of books. The archival collection is complemented by six volumes of photocopies that Teske compiled over several years as his visual diary. It is an exhaustive chronicle of the career of this innovative 20th-century artist whose early career was marked by his professional association with Frank Lloyd Wright (American, 1867–1959). His later period in Los Angeles, which spanned the second half of the 20th century, reflected the “California fusion” of contemporary art, cinema, and culture. Besides supporting research on the artistic development of Teske himself, this archive provides insight both into the creative atmosphere of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellowship as well as the multifaceted culture of Los Angeles. Augustus and Alice Dixon Le Plongeon Archive on 19th-century Archaeology and Ethnography in Mexico and Peru The archive comprises the records of two amateur archaeologists noted for their pioneering exploration of ancient sites in Central and Latin America. Augustus Le Plongeon (French, 1826–1908) and his wife Alice (English, 1851–1910) were among the earliest explorers of Inca sites in Peru and the remains of Mayan cities in the Yucatan. They undertook excavations, photograph and casting campaigns, and collected artifacts, presenting the results in publications and lectures. The archive contains original records covering their travels from the 1860s through the early 1900s, including diaries, unpublished scholarly manuscripts and notes, correspondence, and extensive photographic documentation of ancient architecture and sculpture, city views, and ethnographic studies. Although Augustus Le Plongeon’s interpretation of the remains of New World civilizations did not ultimately stand the test of time, his photographs documenting intricate relief sculpture, glyphs, and architectural monuments at major sites such as Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Ake, and Mayapan remain crucial evidence in the study of Mayan culture. The archive is a valuable source for the history of archaeology, the history of photography, and 19th-century ethnography in Peru and Mexico, containing key evidence of the critical relationship between photography, archaeology, and ethnography that began to emerge at this time. Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard (French, 1802-1872), Album Photographique de l’artiste et de l’amateur, Lille, Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Evrard, 1851 Published in fascicules between 1851 and 1853, Blanquart-Evrard’s Album Photographique de l’artiste et de l’amateur contains 36 salted-paper photographs, produced both by anonymous amateur photographers and recognized practitioners, including Charles Marville, Ernest Benecke, and Maxime du Camp. Acquisition of this seminal document in the history of photography, whose provenance can be traced to Blanquart-Evrard’s own studio, complements both the J. Paul Getty Museum’s collections on the early history of photography and the Getty Research Institute’s holdings on the history of the photographically illustrated book. The Collection of Marcia Tucker The American curator, critic, and art historian Marcia Tucker (b. 1940) achieved prominence as one of the most provocative and influential voices in the art world of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Tucker’s collection documents the full scope of her professional activity during her career as curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art (1968–76) and as director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, which she founded in New York City in 1976 and directed through 2000. Extensive artists’ correspondence in this archive includes regular exchanges with the American conceptual artist John Baldessari (b. 1931), the American painter Nicholas Africano (b. 1948), the American sculptor and installation artist Richard Tuttle (b. 1941), the American painter Jack Tworkov (1900–82), and many others. Taken together with her personal notebooks and video documentation of interviews and installations, Tucker’s collection attests to her unique role as a late-20th-century impresario who shaped contemporary art toward fluidity among media and greater social and political engagement. Gengzhi Tu (Illustrations of Tilling and Weaving) Beijing, 1696 A rare and well-preserved hand-colored copy of one of the most famous Chinese illustrated books. Commissioned by the Kangxi Emperor, the subjects are two essential Chinese agrarian industries: the cultures of rice and silk. This first edition was produced in 1696 at the imperial printing press, Wuying Dian, in the Forbidden City (Beijing, China). Forty-six woodblock illustrations by Zhu Gui, based on watercolor paintings by Jiao Bingzhen, are paired with poems on the rice growing and sericulture by Emperor Kangxi. As an amalgum of essential texts and images, the book is an important publication for researchers of Qing dynasty culture. It is especially significant because its illustrations show the influence of western perspective on Qing-period art (transmitted by Jesuit missionary contacts). The woodcuts were copied and used to decorate porcelain plates and vases in Europe. The volume augments the small, highly select collection of books, prints, and maps that elucidates the interactive communications between China and Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. The volume is on display through April 3, 2005 in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s exhibition Imagining the Orient as a source for chinoiserie, and in fall 2006 it appears in the GRI’s exhibition The Garden of Perfect Clarity as an example of the artistic dialogues between China and Europe. Artists’ books by Raymond Pettibon Artist Raymond Pettibon, who was a Getty visiting scholar in spring 2004, lives and works in the Los Angeles area. This small collection documents Pettibon’s photocopied books that appeared between 1985 and 2001. The titles include: Cars, TV, Rockets, H-bomb—You name it, 1985; ’S not fake ! ’S real !, 2001; Like Death Valley, 1985; New Wavy Gravy, 1985; Pig Cupid, 1985; Short Teats, Bloody Milk, 1985; The Express Sex Train, 1985; The Navigator’s Wives, 1985; Wein, Weib und Gesang, 1985; New Wavy Gravy 2 (as opposed to Old Wavy Gravy), 1985; Dance of the Damned..., 2002; Plot Burial by Josh Bayer (aka Sketchy) and Raymond Pettibon, 2001; and Selfishness with drawings by Raymond Pettibon, 1985. * Note, the GRI holds a significant and growing collection of artists’ books, particularly by California artists. An upcoming exhibition titled The Artist Turns to the Book, on view at the Getty Center, May 24–Septmeber 18, 2005, will feature contemporary artists’ books drawn from the GRI’s special collections. James Ensor (Belgian, 1860-1949), L’entrée du Christ à Bruxelles (1898) This etching, based on Ensor’s painting Christ’s Entry into Brussels in 1889 (held in the collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum), discloses harsh commentary on religion, politics, and the arts as the artist reimagines Christ’s entry into Jerusalem in his own contemporary Brussels. Christ, surrounded by an aura of light at the center of the image, sits astride a donkey amid a long procession of people in costumes and carrying banners representing various social, political and religious groups. A technical and formal tour de force, this important etching is a gift from Dr. and Mrs. Richard A. Simms to the GRI. Like the painting, Ensor’s print played a significant role in the development of Expressionism. Getty Communications Dept. Getty Communications Dept. # # # About the Getty: The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts that features the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Getty Research Institute. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu. Sign up for e-Getty at www.getty.edu/subscribe/ to receive free monthly highlights of events at the Getty Center and the Getty Villa via e-mail, or visit our event calendar for a complete calendar of public programs.
Stand Up For Yourself Becoming assertive has been shown to have benefits for mental health and wellbeing. Assertiveness is not, as is often wrongly assumed, to be about becoming "Bolshy". Assertiveness is a style of communication in which a person is able to express their views and wishes whilst respecting thos of the other person. Assertiveneness as a style of communication is differentiated from a passive, sly and aggressive style of communication. Like other skills it can be learned. Research has demonstrated benefits of developing assertiveness skills such as increased confidence and reduced anxiety and being more effective in dealing with conflict in relationships and at work 1. Evaluation of assertiveness training for psychiatric patients, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 17, 2008 2.Managing difficult staff interactions, Rehabilitation Nursing, 1997 Assertivenss training has been used for a wide range of issues including leadership, nursing, mental health and social development to name but a few. Life Coach Directory is not responsible for the articles published by members. The views expressed are those of the member who wrote the article.
Power Line Communication Module for Home/Building Smart Light(IoT) About this Solution: This document documents PLC(Power Line Communication) module. PLC module is designed to send/receive serial data over the power line network. PLC module is designed to transparently move serial data over the power line network, and achieves the target of replacing cables by the ubiquitous power line network. PLC module has the built-in packet-level repeater function. This feature can greatly extend the coverage of the power line communication. PLC module has both physical and logic addresses. In a network, both physical and logic addresses can be used to address different nodes in the network. The specific idea of power line carrier bidirectional transmission module design is: PLC module consists of modulation, oscillation, power amplifier, T/R switch, coupled circuit and demodulator etc. And the oscillation can provide carrier signal for the modulator. When data transmission, the signal sends out from TXD, and modulates the signal through the modulator, then the signal will be sent to power amplifier, and then through the T/R changeover switch and coupled circuit to load the modulated signal on the power line. Similarly, when data is received, the transmitter module sends out the modulated signal through the coupled circuit and T/R switch into the demodulator, demodulated by a demodulator to extract the original signal, and the original signal sent from the RXD terminal to the next level of digital processing devices. PLC module basic principle is when sending the signal, the user data will be modulated by modulation techniques, and loading the high-frequency signal containing information on the electric current, then make the transmission on the power line. At the receive port, take out the modulated signal through the filter first, and then demodulated, the original communication signal can be obtained and sent to the back-end device, to do information transmission. PLC equipment can be divided into two parts, the first part of the Central Office Application Interface (Host machine is asynchronous communications interface, auxiliary machine can be GPIO or PWM or ADC) and the other part is the modulator (=PLC Module), CO communication interface is responsible for the communication with PLC modulator and the connection with external application control devices. During the communication, the data from the user enters modems and been modulated, through the user's distribution line (power line) and being transmitted to another central office application interface, the central office will have the demodulated information corresponding to the real application control signals, for example: pulse width modulation signal or switch data signals, and then go to the external application control devices, such as lighting control devices. If the central office application interface is a SENSOR, the signal path is the opposite path. PLC Module can be divided into sub-machine host control terminal and controlled end, the host is used to send control signals or collect data, the sub-machine is used to control applications devices, such as: LED lamps, SENSOR or METER, a host can control 128 sub-machine, the slave address uses the switch for setting, the switch address setting can refer to Switch define. To have more than 128 sets of sub-machine control applications, you can use WIFI or Internet to expand the number of hosts in order to achieve a large network control applications, you can refer to the sequence Application Illustration. - AC power line Communications - Opto-electronic coupling on the UART interface to provide protection of the host machine or board. - No ceramic filter and therefore non-fragile. - Fully transparent mode, plug and play coming out of the box without the need to do any programming. - Built-in error correction codes. - Built-in repeater function to extend the coverage. - Physical and logic address - 3.3V TTL UART interfaces - BPSKï¼ˆBinary Phase Shift Keyingï¼‰modulation used in physical layer - Average Power consumption < 0.1W - UART Over Power line Communication Transceiver Module - Small module size (50mm X 440mm including the on-board power switch regular keep out area), and easy to be implemented into existing products. - Industry manufacture and control - Safeguard, fire alarm, smoke alarm - Collect and transmit instrument data - Safeguard and monitor - Home automation - Solar/Wind electricity generation system 4. Command & Interface - UART Interface - UART Baud of 57600 - Format: 8, 1, N (LSB first) - 8 Data bits, 1 stop bit, No parity bit. - Sending: 1st byte Command (receive echo), 2st byte LEDID (receive echo), 3st byte SliderLowByte (receive echo), 4st byte SliderHightByte (receive echo) - Command: 0x03 slider command - LEDID: LED ID Address 0x00 ~ 0x7F - SliderHightByte, SliderLowByte: 0 ~ 1638 (0x00: 0x00 ~ 0x06: 0x66) - Waiting time is 4msec, after send one byte. 5. Application Illustration 5.1 Intelligent lighting control system Using PLC module to control the Lighting system, the infrastructure as below: 5.2 Power-meter automatic meter reading systems Using PLC module, one can use the existed power lines to directly complete data transmission. This Solution is most applicable for the following stages and categories:
The early history of the Chácobo Indians is unknown. The first account referring to their existence dates to 1845. The information, provided by missionaries and explorers who traveled through the area during the last decades of the nineteenth century, focuses on the aboriginal peoples' location rather than describing their culture. Documents from 1863 found in the Archive of La Paz refer to the first effort to missionize the Chácobo. Later Jesuit references show that the Chácobo rejected any "invitation" to join the missions, preferring their freedom. Unlike other tribes of the Bolivian Oriente, the Chácobo repelled every early attempt at missionization. Because the northern region of the Llanos de Mojos was an economically uninviting area for colonizers, the Chácobo and most of the neighboring tribes maintained their traditional way of life up to the beginning of the twentieth century. Until this time, sporadic contacts with outsiders were initiated by the Chácobo Indians only to obtain iron tools. During the last decades of the nineteenth century, however, the discovery of the excellent quality of the rubber tree Hevea brasilienis in the Río Beni region led to the establishment of White populations in those areas considered "uncivilized" or "vacant." And with the White settlements began the extinction of the peoples of the Llanos de Mojos. Extermination came through murderous raids and epidemics that devastated people without resistance to Europeans' diseases. Unwilling to work for rubber patrons as cheap manual laborers, Chácobo Indians migrated to the north of their original area, where they found protection in the open savanna. In reaction to the constant advance of the White population, the Chácobo pattern has always been to move inland rather than either to defend their territory or to share it with White or Creole people. Thus in 1955 the Chácobo were living along the Río Benicito, an area rich in fish and game and isolated from White commercial activities; during the following ten years, missionaries of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (a Protestant organization) moved a portion of the Chácobo population of the Benicito to the Río Ivon, and the rest moved from the Benicito toward the Río Yata. In 1965 both concentrations were still living in these same areas. The Chácobo traditionally maintained friendly relations with the Cayuvava and the Movima; the former used to visit Exaltación, the closest Jesuit mission to the Chácobo area. As of the 1980s, there is a Chácobo who is married to an old Movima woman. This is the first and only intertribal marriage. Chácobo avoided any kind of contact with the Sirono, whom they considered to be extremely aggressive. Although the Chácobo knew about the existence of the Esse Ejja and the Araona, no contact was established. Currently, Chácobo interact with the Pakahuara, whom they ridicule and consider to be inferior.
Chaparral is a shrubland or heathland plant community found primarily in the U.S. state of California and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild, wet winters and hot dry summers) and wildfire, featuring summer-drought-tolerant plants with hard sclerophyllous evergreen leaves, as contrasted with the associated soft-leaved, drought-deciduous, scrub community of coastal sage scrub, found below the chaparral biome. Chaparral covers 5 percent of the state of California, and associated Mediterranean shrubland an additional 3.5 percent. The name comes from the Spanish word for scrub oak, chaparro. - 1 Introduction - 2 California chaparral - 2.1 California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion - 2.2 California cismontane and transmontane chaparral subdivisions - 3 Chaparral and wildfires - 4 See also - 5 References - 6 Bibliography - 7 External links In its natural state, chaparral is characterized by infrequent fires, with intervals ranging between 10–15 years to over a hundred years. Mature chaparral (stands that have been allowed greater intervals between fires) is characterized by nearly impenetrable, dense thickets (except the more open chaparral of the desert). These plants are highly flammable. They grow as woody shrubs with hard and small leaves, are non-leaf-dropping (non-deciduous), and are drought-tolerant. After the first rains following a fire, the landscape is dominated by soft-leaved non-woody annual plants, known as fire followers, which die back with the summer dry period. Similar plant communities are found in the four other Mediterranean climate regions around the world, including the Mediterranean Basin (where it is known as maquis), central Chile (where it is called matorral), the South African Cape Region (known there as fynbos), and in Western and Southern Australia (as kwongan). According to the California Academy of Sciences, Mediterranean shrubland contains more than 20 percent of the world's plant diversity. The word chaparral is a loan word from Spanish chaparro, meaning both "small" and "dwarf" evergreen oak, which itself comes from the Basque word txapar, with exactly the same meaning. Conservation International and other conservation organizations consider the chaparral to be a biodiversity hotspot - a biological community with a large number of different species - that is under threat by human activity. California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion - California coastal sage and chaparral: In coastal Southern California and northwestern coastal Baja California, as well as all of the Channel Islands off California and Guadalupe Island (Mexico). - California montane chaparral and woodlands: In southern and central coast adjacent and inland California regions, including covering some of the mountains of the California Coast Ranges, the Transverse Ranges, and the western slopes of the northern Peninsular Ranges. - California interior chaparral and woodlands: In central interior California surrounding the Central Valley, covering the foothills and lower slopes of the northeastern Transverse Ranges and the western Sierra Nevada range. Chaparral and woodlands biota For the numerous individual plant and animal species found within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, see: Some of the indicator plants of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion include: - Quercus species - oaks — ie: - Artemisia species - sagebrush — ie. - Artemisia californica - California sagebrush, coastal sage brush - Arctostaphylos species - manzanitas — ie: - Ceanothus species - California lilacs — ie: - Rhus species - sumacs — ie: - Eriogonum species - buckwheats — ie: - Eriogonum fasciculatum - California buckwheat - Salvia species - sages — ie: California cismontane and transmontane chaparral subdivisions Another phytogeography system uses two California chaparral and woodlands subdivisions: the cismontane chaparral and the transmontane (desert) chaparral. California cismontane chaparral Cismontane chaparral ("this side of the mountain") refers to the chaparral ecosystem in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome in California, growing on the western (and coastal) sides of large mountain range systems, such as the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the San Joaquin Valley foothills, western slopes of the Peninsular Ranges and California Coast Ranges, and south-southwest slopes of the Transverse Ranges in the Central Coast and Southern California regions. Cismontane chaparral plant species In Central and Southern California chaparral forms a dominant habitat. Members of the chaparral biota native to California, all of which tend to regrow quickly after fires, include: - Adenostoma fasciculatum, chamise - Adenostoma sparsifolium, redshanks - Arctostaphylos spp., manzanita - Ceanothus spp., ceanothus - Cercocarpus spp., mountain mahogany - Cneoridium dumosum, bush rue - Eriogonum fasciculatum, California buckwheat - Garrya spp., silk-tassel bush - Hesperoyucca whipplei, yucca - Heteromeles arbutifolia, toyon - Acmispon glaber, deerweed - Malosma laurina, laurel sumac - Marah macrocarpus, wild cucumber - Mimulus aurantiacus, bush monkeyflower - Pickeringia montana, chaparral pea - Prunus ilicifolia, islay or hollyleaf cherry - Quercus berberidifolia, scrub oak - Q. dumosa, scrub oak - Q. wislizenii var. frutescens - Rhamnus californica, California coffeeberry - Rhus integrifolia, lemonade berry - Rhus ovata, sugar bush - Salvia apiana, white sage - Salvia mellifera, black sage - Xylococcus bicolor, mission manzanita Cismontane chaparral bird species The complex ecology of chaparral habitats supports a very large number of animal species. The following is a short list of birds which are an integral part of the cismontane chaparral ecosystems. - The species essential to the health of the ecosystem include: - California thrasher (Toxostoma redivivum) - California towhee (Pipilo crissalis) - Spotted towhee (Pipilo maculatus) - Western scrub jay (Aphelocoma californica) - Very common inhabitant species include: - Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) - Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus) - Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) - Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) - Wrentit (Chamaea fasciata) California transmontane (desert) chaparral Transmontane chaparral or desert chaparral — transmontane ("the other side of the mountain") chaparral — refers to the desert shrubland habitat and chaparral plant community growing in the rainshadow of these ranges. Transmontane chaparral features xeric desert climate, not Mediterranean climate habitats, and is also referred to as desert chaparral. Desert chaparral is a regional ecosystem subset of the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, with some plant species from the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion. Unlike cismontane chaparral, which forms dense, impenetrable stands of plants, desert chaparral is open, with only about 50 percent of the ground covered. Individual shrubs can reach up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in height. Transmontane chaparral or desert chaparral is found on the eastern slopes of major mountain range systems on the western sides of the deserts of California. The mountain systems include the southeastern Transverse Ranges (the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains) in the Mojave Desert north and northeast of the Los Angeles basin and Inland Empire; and the northern Peninsular Ranges (San Jacinto, Santa Rosa, and Laguna Mountains), which separate the Colorado Desert (western Sonoran Desert) from lower coastal Southern California. It is distinguished from the cismontane chaparral found on the coastal side of the mountains, which experiences higher winter rainfall. Naturally, desert chaparral experiences less winter rainfall than cismontane chaparral. Plants in this community are characterized by small, hard (sclerophyllic) evergreen (non-dropping; non-deciduous) leaves. Desert chaparral grows above California's desert cactus scrub plant community and below the pinyon-juniper woodland. It is further distinguished from the deciduous sub-alpine scrub above the pinyon-juniper woodlands on the same side of the Peninsular ranges. Transmontane chaparral distribution Transmontane (desert) chaparral typically grows on the lower (3,500–4,500 feet (1,100–1,400 m) elevation) northern slopes of the southern Transverse Ranges (running east to west in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties) and on the lower (2,500–3,500 feet (760–1,070 m)) eastern slopes of the Peninsular Ranges (running south to north from lower Baja California to Riverside and Orange counties and the Transverse Ranges). It can also be found in higher-elevation sky islands in the interior of the deserts, such as in the upper New York Mountains within the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert. The California transmontane (desert) chaparral is found in the rain shadow deserts of the: - Sierra Nevada creating the Great Basin Desert and northern Mojave Desert - Transverse ranges creating the western through eastern Mojave Desert - Peninsular ranges creating the Colorado Desert and Yuha Desert. Transmontane chaparral plants - Adenostoma fasciculatum, chamise (a low shrub common to most chaparral with clusters of tiny needle like leaves or fascicles; similar in appearance to coastal Eriogonum fasciculatum) - Agave deserti, desert agave - Arctostaphylos glauca, bigberry manzanita (smooth red bark with large edible berries, glauca means blue-green, the color of its leaves) - Ceanothus greggii, desert ceanothus, California lilac (a nitrogen fixer, has hair on both sides of leaves for heat dissipation) - Cercocarpus ledifolius, curl leaf mountain mahogany, a nitrogen fixer important food source for desert bighorn sheep - Dendromecon rigida, bush poppy (a fire follower with four petaled yellow flowers) - Ephedra spp., Mormon teas - Fremontodendron californicum, California flannel bush (lobed leaves with fine coating of hair, covered with yellow blossoms in spring) - Opuntia acanthocarpa, buckhorn cholla (branches resemble antlers of a deer) - Opuntia echinocarpa, silver or golden cholla (depending on color of the spines) - Opuntia phaeacantha, desert prickly pear (fruit is important food source for animals) - Purshia tridentata, buckbrush, antelope bitterbrush (Rosaceae family) - Prunus fremontii, desert apricot - Prunus fasciculata, desert almond, (commonly infested with tent caterpillars of Malacosoma spp.) - Prunus ilicifolia, holly leaved cherry - Quercus cornelius-mulleri, desert scrub oak or Muller's oak - Rhus ovata, sugar bush - Simmondsia chinensis, jojoba - Yucca schidigera, Mojave yucca - Hesperoyucca whipplei (syn. Yucca whipplei), foothill yucca - our Lord's candle. Transmontane chaparral animals There is overlap of animals with those of the adjacent desert and pinyon-juniper communities. - Canis latrans, coyotes - Lynx rufus, bobcats - Neotoma sp., desert pack rat - Odocoileus hemionus, mule deer - Ovis canadensis, bighorn sheep - Peromyscus truei, pinyon mouse, resembles the California mouse (Peromyscus californicus) - Puma concolor, mountain lions - Stagmomantis californica, the California mantis Chaparral and wildfires \|This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2013)\| The Chaparral is a coastal biome with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. The Chaparral area receives about 38–100 cm (15–39 in) of precipitation a year. This makes the chaparral most vulnerable to fire in the late summer and fall. The chaparral ecosystem as a whole is adapted to be able to recover from infrequent wildfires (fires occurring a minimum of 15 years apart); indeed, chaparral regions are known culturally and historically for their impressive fires. (This does create a conflict with human development adjacent to and expanding into chaparral systems.) Additionally, Native Americans burned chaparral to promote grasslands for textiles and food (Vale 2002). Before a major fire, typical chaparral plant communities are dominated by manzanita, chamise (also called greasewood or Adenostoma fasciculatum) and Ceanothus species, toyon (which can sometimes be interspersed with scrub oaks), and other drought-resistant shrubs with hard (sclerophyllous) leaves; these plants resprout (see resprouter) from underground burls after a fire. Some chaparral plant communities may grow so dense and tall that it becomes difficult for large animals and humans to penetrate, but may be teeming with smaller fauna in the understory. Many chaparral plant species require some fire cue (heat, smoke, or charred wood, and chemical changes in the soil following fires) for germination. Others, such as annual and herbaceous species like Phacelia require fires to allow sunlight to reach them, and are known as fire followers. During the time shortly after a fire, chaparral communities may contain soft-leaved herbaceuous annual plants that dominate the community for the first few years - until the burl resprouts and seedlings of chaparral perennials create an overstory, blocking the sunlight from other plants in the community. When the overstory regrows, seeds of annuals and smaller plants may lie dormant until the next fire creates the conditions required for germination. Mid-sized plants such as Ceonothus fix nitrogen, while others cannot, which, together with the need for exposure to the sun, creates a symbiotic relationship of the entire community with infrequent fires. Because of the hot, dry conditions that exist in the California summer and fall, chaparral is one of the most fire-prone plant communities in North America. Some fires are caused by lightning, but these are usually during periods of high humidity and low winds and are easily controlled. Nearly all of the very large wildfires are caused by human activity during periods of very hot, dry easterly Santa Ana winds. These man-made fires are commonly caused by power line failures, vehicle fires and collisions, sparks from machinery, arson, or campfires. Though adapted to infrequent fires, chaparral plant communities can be exterminated by frequent fires. Today, frequent accidental ignitions can convert chaparral from a native shrubland to nonnative annual grassland and drastically reduce species diversity, especially under global-change-type drought (Syphard et al. 2007, Pratt et al. 2013). There are two assumptions relating to California chaparral fire regimes that appear to have caused considerable debate, and sometimes confusion and controversy, within the fields of wildfire ecology and land management. - That older stands of chaparral become "senescent" or "decadent", thus implying that fire is necessary for the plants to remain healthy, - That wildfire suppression policies have allowed dead chaparral to accumulate unnaturally, creating ample fuel for large fires. The perspective that older chaparral is unhealthy or unproductive may have originated during the 1940s when studies were conducted measuring the amount of forage available to deer populations in chaparral stands. However, according to recent studies, California chaparral is extraordinarily resilient to very long periods without fire and continues to maintain productive growth throughout pre-fire conditions. Seeds of many chaparral plants actually require 30 years or more worth of accumulated leaf litter before they will successfully germinate (e.g. scrub oak: Quercus berberidifolia, toyon: Heteromeles arbutifolia, and holly-leafed cherry: Prunus ilicifolia). When intervals between fires drop below 10 to 15 years, many chaparral species are eliminated and the system is typically replaced by non-native, invasive, weedy grassland. The idea that older chaparral is responsible for causing large fires was originally proposed in the 1980s by comparing wildfires in Baja California and southern California . It was suggested that fire suppression activities in southern California allowed more fuel to accumulate, which in turn led to larger fires (in Baja, fires often burn without active suppression efforts). This is similar to the argument that fire suppression in western United States has allowed ponderosa pine forests to become “overstocked”. In the past, surface-fires burned through these forests at intervals of anywhere between 4 and 36 years, clearing out the understory and creating a more ecologically balanced system. However, chaparral has a crown-fire regime, meaning that fires consume the entire system whenever they burn. In one study, a detailed analysis of historical fire data concluded that fire suppression activities have failed to exclude fire from southern California chaparral, as they have in ponderosa pine forests.[clarification needed] In addition, the number of fires is increasing in step with population growth. Chaparral stand age does not have a significant correlation to its tendency to burn. Low humidity, low fuel moisture, and high winds appear to be the primary factors in determining when, where, and how large a chaparral fire burns.[clarification needed] - California Chaparral Institute - California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion - Heath (habitat) - Fire ecology - International Association of Wildland Fire - "The Biodiversity Hotspots_Conservation International". - A Natural History of California, Allan A. Schoenerr, Figure 8.9 - 8.10, Table 8.2 - County of San Diego Department of Planning and Land Use Multiple Species Conservation Program, - A Natural History of California, Allan A. Schoenherr, pp.8-9, 357, 327, ISBN 978-0-520-06922-0 - A Natural History of California, Allan A. Schoenherr, pp.327, Figure 8.9, ISBN 978-0-520-06922-0 - (Hanes 1971) - (Minnich 1983) - (Keeley, Pfaff, and Safford 2005) - (Hubbard 1986, Larigauderie et al. 1990) - (Haidinger and Keeley 1993, Keeley 1995, Zedler 1995) - (Keeley et al. 1999) - (Moritz et al. 2004) - Haidinger, T.L., and J.E. Keeley. 1993. Role of high fire frequency in destruction of mixed chaparral. Madrono 40: 141–147. - Halsey, R.W. 2008. Fire, Chaparral, and Survival in Southern California. Second Edition. Sunbelt Publications, San Diego, CA. 232 p. - Hanes, T. L. 1971. Succession after fire in the chaparral of southern California. Ecol. Monographs 41: 27–52. - Hubbard, R.F. 1986. Stand age and growth dynamics in chamise chaparral. Master’s thesis, San Diego State University, San Diego, California. - Keeley, J. E., C. J. Fotheringham, and M. Morais. 1999. Reexamining fire suppression impacts on brushland fire regimes. Science 284:1829–1832. - Keeley, J.E. 1995. Future of California floristics and systematics: wildfire threats to the California flora. Madrono 42: 175–179. - Keeley, J.E., A.H. Pfaff, and H.D. Stafford. 2005. Fire suppression impacts on postfire recovery of Sierra Nevada chaparral shrublands. International Journal of Wildland Fire 14: 255–265. - Larigauderie, A., T.W. Hubbard, and J. Kummerow. 1990. Growth dynamics of two chaparral shrub species with time after fire. Madrono 37: 225–236. - Minnich, R. A. 1983. Fire mosaics in southern California and northern Baja California. Science 219:1287–1294. - Moritz, M.A., J.E. Keeley, E.A. Johnson, and A.A. Schaffner. 2004. Testing a basic assumption of shrubland fire management: How important is fuel age? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2:67–72. - Pratt, R. B., A. L. Jacobsen, A. R. Ramirez, A. M. Helms, C. A. Traugh, M. F. Tobin, M. S. Heffner, and S. D. Davis. 2013. Mortality of resprouting chaparral shrubs after a fire and during a record drought: physiological mechanisms and demographic consequences. Global Change Biology - Syphard, A. D., V. C. Radeloff, J. E. Keeley, T. J. Hawbaker, M. K. Clayton, S. I. Stewart, and R. B. Hammer. 2007. Human influence on California fire regimes. Ecological Applications 17:1388-1402. - Vale, T. R. 2002. Fire, Native Peoples, and the Natural Landscape. Island Press, Washington, DC, USA. - Zedler, P.H. 1995. Fire frequency in southern California shrublands: biological effects and management options, pp. 101–112 in J.E. Keeley and T. Scott (eds.), Brushfires in California wildlands: ecology and resource management. International Association of Wildland Fire, Fairfield, Wash. - Campbell, Neil A.; Brad Williamson; Robin J. Heyden (2006). Biology: Exploring Life. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-250882-6. \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to California chaparral and woodlands.\|
It raises the density by adding more mass, to the same volume of water. (i.e. adding 4 tsps. of salt to one cup of water will raise the densitybecause the salt is adding mass to the same amount of volume, on cup of water. You can do an experiment to prove it, all you have to do is find something that doesn't float, example, egg, and then add 4-5 tsp. salt to one cup water and it will float.
An ear infection is an inflammation of the middle ear, which houses a few tiny bones and determines how we hear. Fortunately, these infections often clear up on their own as long as it’s managed appropriately with pain relief treatments in mind (especially since hearing problems can arise). Sometimes antibiotics are used to get rid of any remaining bacteria left behind after cleaning out fluids or debris from around your ears. This way you don’t have this issue again down the line. At BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital, we have one of the best ENT department to treat simple to complex ear infections. Ear infections are more common in adults than children, but they can still happen. Unlike childhood ear bugs that often pass quickly and don’t require treatment, Adult-onset ailments are likely signs of something worse going on with one health. A lot less obvious than it sounds: young people get earaches because their ears haven’t fully developed. Though these adult diseases may seem like something out of date in the past or present truths aren’t always true; they still happen today. Goths with an infected outer portion (the pinna) inside the ear canal will experience pain when the listener listens. Wiping out earwax is a natural, healthy process for the human body. When this habit doesn’t work as it should and stuff builds up in the ears causing pain or blocked eardrums, and then consult a doctor immediately before things get worse. Ear infections often go away naturally. Ear pain can arise gradually or all of sudden. The type and severity of the pain may vary, but it is usually dull to sharp in nature with temporary relief possible for some people who experience ongoing ear-related distress like ringing sounds (tinnitus). Primary otalgia occurs when inflammation starts within the ears while secondary otalgia refers to any other cause outside these structures which causes similar symptoms such as hearing loss due to damage caused by blunt force trauma/ jarred nerve endings etc. The most common symptoms in children include: - Ear pain, especially when lying down - tugging or pulling at ear trouble sleeping (because they’re woken by the noise) - fussiness and/or crying more than usual. Adults may also experience these signs and symptoms due to illness such as infection of their middle ears – which we call otitis media. Symptoms can range from mild discomfort all the way up until - Ear pain - Drainage of fluid from the ear - Trouble hearing - fever over 100 F (38 C) There are three main types of ear infections. They correspond to the three main parts of the ear: inner, middle and outer which have different symptoms. Inner Ear Infection – A condition diagnosed as an inner ear infection may actually be inflammation and not an actual infection. In addition to ear pain, symptoms include: dizziness nausea vomiting being a sign of a more serious condition, such as meningitis. A middle ear infection is also known as otitis media. It is caused by fluid trapped behind the eardrum, causing the eardrum to swell. In addition to an earache, people may experience a feeling of fullness in the ear and have fluid drainage from the affected ear. Otitis media may be accompanied by fever. It caused hearing problems until the infection starts to go away. Outer ear infection- The outer ear is the part of the ear that extends from the eardrum to the outside of the head. An infection of the outer ear is also known as otitis externa. An outer ear infection often starts with an itchy rash. The ear may become: painful and red swollen. Ear infections are often caused by bacterial infections. But whether have an outer or middle ear infection depends on how infected people get. Middle ear infections are often caused by bacterial infections. But whether you get an outer or middle ear infection depends on how bacteria enter in the body, which can vary depending on where in the world that they live and what types of respiratory problems people have from there. The most common way for these bugs to enter our bodies is through a cold virus-infected throat since this area has so many entry points into it. A swelling could occur as well if eustachian tube irritation leads up towards blocking drainage channels. Outer ear infections are common for people who swim or bathe frequently. The moisture in outer ears can lead to an infection if it’s not cleaned regularly, and this type of bacteria is called otitis externa which starts out as just swelling around the outside of hearing tubes. However people may also scratch at them with dirty fingers that contain germs from previous scratches – these then turn into more serious issues.
A magnet is a magnetic dipole and it can be represented by a magnetic vector. A moving magnetic field induces a current in a loop of wire. For example, the rotating magnet below induces a sinusoidal current that can be recorded. MRI coils can be used for transmitting and/or receiving. As it is not possible to receive RF signal in the same axis as B0, coils are only sensitive to variations of transverse magnetization vector. Quadrature RF coils (circularly polarized coils) consist of at least two coils that are oriented orthogonal to each over (and both are othogonal to B0 axis). They have a better signal to noise ratio than linear RF coils.
\|This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2014)\| \|Part of a series on\| Early Christian music Christianity began as a small, persecuted Jewish sect. At first there was no break with the Jewish faith; Christians still attended synagogues and the Temple in Jerusalem just as Christ had done, and presumably still carried on the same musical traditions in their separate Christian meetings. The only record of communal song in the Gospels is the last meeting of the disciples before the Crucifixion. Outside the Gospels, there is a reference to St. Paul encouraging the Ephesians and Colossians to use psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Later, there is a reference in Pliny who writes to the emperor Trajan (61–113) asking for advice about how to prosecute the Christians in Bithynia, and describing their practice of gathering before sunrise and repeating antiphonally "a hymn to Christ, as to God". Antiphonal psalmody is the singing or musical playing of psalms by alternating groups of performers. The peculiar mirror structure of the Hebrew psalms makes it likely that the antiphonal method originated in the services of the ancient Israelites. According to the historian Socrates of Constantinople, its introduction into Christian worship was due to Ignatius of Antioch (died 107), who in a vision had seen the angels singing in alternate choirs. The use of instruments in early Christian music seems to have been frowned upon. In the late 4th or early 5th century St. Jerome wrote that a Christian maiden ought not even to know what a lyre or flute is like, or to what use it is put. The introduction of church organ music is traditionally believed to date from the time of the papacy of Pope Vitalian in the 7th century. Gregorian chant is the main tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical chant of Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. This musical form originated in Monastic life, in which singing the 'Divine Service' nine times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants. In its long history Gregorian Chant has been subjected to many gradual changes and some reforms. It was organized, codified, and notated mainly in the Frankish lands of western and central Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions and redactions, but the texts and many of the melodies have antecedents going back several centuries earlier. Although popular belief credits Pope Gregory the Great with having personally invented Gregorian chant, scholars now believe that the chant bearing his name arose from a later Carolingian synthesis of Roman and Gallican chant During the following centuries the Chant tradition was still at the heart of Church music, where it changed and acquired various accretions. Even the polyphonic music that arose from the venerable old chants in the Organa by Léonin and Pérotin in Paris (1160–1240) ended in monophonic chant and in later traditions new composition styles were practised in juxtaposition (or co-habitation) with monophonic chant. This practice continued into the lifetime of François Couperin, whose Organ Masses were meant to be performed with alternating homophonic Chant. Although it had mostly fallen into disuse after the Baroque period, Chant experienced a revival in the 19th century in the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglo-Catholic wing of the Anglican Communion. The mass is a form of music that sets out the parts of the Eucharistic liturgy (chiefly belong to the Roman Catholic Church, the Churches of the Anglican Communion, and also the Lutheran Church) to music. Most Masses are settings of the liturgy in Latin, the traditional language of the Roman Catholic Church, but there are a significant number written in the languages of non-Catholic countries where vernacular worship has long been the norm. For example, there are many Masses (often called "Communion Services") written in English for the Church of England. Music is an integral part of mass, it accompanies various rituals acts and contributes to the totality of worship service. Music in mass is an activity that participants share with others in the celebration of Jesus Christ.Mass (liturgy)#Communion rite Masses can be a cappella, for the human voice alone, or they can be accompanied by instrumental obbligatos up to and including a full orchestra. Many Masses, especially later ones, were never intended to be performed during the celebration of an actual mass. Generally, for a composition to be a full Mass, it must contain the following invariable five sections, which together constitute the Ordinary of the Mass. - Kyrie ("Lord have mercy") - Gloria ("Glory be to God on high") - Credo ("I believe in one God"), the Nicene Creed - Sanctus ("Holy, Holy, Holy"), the second part of which, beginning with the word "Benedictus" ("Blessed is he"), was often sung separately after the consecration, if the setting was long. (See Benedictus for other chants beginning with that word.) - Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God") The Requiem Mass is a modified version of the ordinary mass. Musical settings of the Requiem mass have a long tradition in Western music. There are many notable works in this tradition, including those by Ockeghem, Pierre de la Rue, Brumel, Jean Richafort, Pedro de Escobar, Antoine de Févin, Morales, Palestrina, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Mozart, Gossec, Cherubini, Berlioz, Brahms, Bruckner, Dvořák, Frederick Delius, Maurice Duruflé, Fauré, Liszt, Verdi, Herbert Howells, Stravinsky, Britten, György Ligeti, Penderecki, Henze, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. In a liturgical Mass, there are variable other sections that may be sung, often in Gregorian chant. These sections, the "Proper" of the Mass, change with the day and season according to the Church calendar, or according to the special circumstances of the mass. The Proper of the Mass is usually not set to music in a Mass itself, except in the case of a Requiem Mass, but may be the subject of motets or other musical compositions. The sections of the Proper of the Mass include the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract (depending on the time of year), Offertory and Communion. A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, often having a popular character. Today the carol is represented almost exclusively by the Christmas carol, the Advent carol, and to a much lesser extent by the Easter carol. The tradition of Christmas carols goes back as far as the 13th century, although carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest tide as well as Christmas. It was only in the late 18th and 19th centuries that carols began to be sung in church, and to be specifically associated with Christmas. Traditionally, carols have often been based on medieval chord progressions, and it is this that gives them their characteristic sound. Some carols like "Personent hodie" and "Angels from the Realms of Glory" can be traced directly back to the Middle Ages, and are among the oldest musical compositions still regularly sung. Carols suffered a decline in popularity after the Reformation in the countries where Protestant churches gained prominence (although well-known Reformers like Martin Luther authored carols and encouraged their use in worship), but survived in rural communities until the revival of interest in carols in the 19th century. The first appearance in print of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", "The First Noel", "I Saw Three Ships" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was in Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833) by William Sandys. Composers like Arthur Sullivan helped to repopularize the carol, and it is this period that gave rise to such favorites as "Good King Wenceslas" and "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", a New England carol written by Edmund H. Sears and Richard S. Willis. Thomas Aquinas, in the introduction to his commentary on the Psalms, defined the Christian hymn thus: "Hymnus est laus Dei cum cantico; canticum autem exultatio mentis de aeternis habita, prorumpens in vocem." ("A hymn is the praise of God with song; a song is the exultation of the mind dwelling on eternal things, bursting forth in the voice.") The earliest Christian hymns are mentioned round about the year 64 by Saint Paul in his letters. The Greek hymn, Hail gladdening light was mentioned by Saint Basil around 370. Latin hymns appear at around the same time, influenced by Saint Ambrose of Milan. Early Christian hymns are known as canticles and are often based on Biblical passages other than the psalms; they are still used in Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist liturgy, examples are Te Deum and Benedicite. Prudentius, a Spanish poet of the late 4th century was one of the most prolific hymn writers of the time. Early Celtic hymns, associated with Saint Patrick and Saint Columba, including the still extant, Saint Patrick's Breastplate, can be traced to the 6th and 7th centuries. Catholic hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys, and came to be led by organ and choir. The Protestant Reformation resulted in two conflicting attitudes to hymns. One approach, the regulative principle of worship, favoured by many Zwinglians, Calvinists and other radical reformers, considered anything that was not directly authorised by the Bible to be a novel and Catholic introduction to worship, which was to be rejected. All hymns that were not direct quotations from the bible fell into this category. Such hymns were banned, along with any form of instrumental musical accompaniment, and organs were ripped out of churches. Instead of hymns, biblical psalms were chanted, most often without accompaniment. This was known as exclusive psalmody. Examples of this may still be found in various places, including the "free churches" of western Scotland. The other Reformation approach, favoured by Martin Luther, produced a burst of hymn writing and congregational singing. Luther and his followers often used their hymns, or chorales, to teach tenets of the faith to worshipers. The earlier English writers tended to paraphrase biblical text, particularly Psalms; Isaac Watts followed this tradition, but is also credited as having written the first English hymn which was not a direct paraphrase of Scripture. Later writers took even more freedom, some even including allegory and metaphor in their texts. Charles Wesley's hymns spread Methodist theology, not only within Methodism, but in most Protestant churches. He developed a new focus: expressing one's personal feelings in the relationship with God as well as the simple worship seen in older hymns. The Methodist Revival of the 18th century created an explosion of hymn writing in Welsh, which continued into the first half of the 19th century. African-Americans developed a rich hymnody out of the spirituals sung during times of slavery. During the Second Great Awakening in the United States, this led to the emergence of a new popular style. Fanny Crosby, Ira D. Sankey, and others produced testimonial music for evangelistic crusades. These are often designated "gospel songs" as distinct from hymns, since they generally include a refrain (or chorus) and usually (though not always) a faster tempo than the hymns. As examples of the distinction, "Amazing Grace" is a hymn (no refrain), but "How Great Thou Art" is a gospel song. During the 19th century the gospel-song genre spread rapidly in Protestantism and, to a lesser but still definite extent, in Roman Catholicism. The gospel-song genre is unknown in the worship per se by Eastern Orthodox churches, which rely exclusively on traditional chants, and disallow instrumental accompaniment. Along with the more classical sacred music of composers ranging from Mozart to Monteverdi, the Roman Catholic Church continued to produce many popular hymns such as Lead, Kindly Light, Silent Night, O Sacrament Divine and Faith of our Fathers. Many churches today use contemporary worship music which includes a range of styles often influenced by popular music. This style began in the late 1960s and became very popular during the 1970s. A distinctive form is the modern, lively black gospel style. - A.C. Zenos, ed., "The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus", in A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. Second Series, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company 1957. - Hutchings, Arthur. Church Music in the Nineteenth Century, in series, Studies in Church Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967. 166 p. - Robin Sheldon, ed. In Spirit and in Truth: Exploring Directions in Music in Worship Today. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989. x, 198 p. ISBN 0-340-48715-1 - Matt. xxvi 30 'When they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives' - Eph. v. 19, Col. iii 16 - Schaff and Wace, book VI, chapter VIII, vol 2, p 144 - Pottie, Charles S. (1984). A More Profound Alleluia!. Washington, D.C.: The Pastoral Press. pp. 34–35. - Aquinas, Thomas. "St. Thomas's Introduction to his Exposition of the Psalms of David". Retrieved 2008-02-08. - Randel, Don Michael (1986), The Harvard Dictionary of Music, Belknap Press, ISBN 0-674-01163-5 (p. 143) - Watson, J.R. (2003). An Anotated Anthology of Hymns. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 10–11, 19. ISBN 0-19-926583-6. - Wilson-Dickson, Andrew (1992). The Story of Christian Music. Oxford: Lion, SPCK. pp. 110–111. ISBN 0-281-04626-3.
U.S. Department of State Background Note Iraq is bordered by Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The country slopes from mountains over 3,000 meters (10,000 ft.) above sea level along the border with Iran and Turkey to the remnants of sea-level marshes in the southeast. Much of the land is desert or wasteland. The mountains in the northeast are an extension of the alpine system that runs eastward from the Balkans into southern Turkey, northern Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, terminating in the Himalayas. Average temperatures range from higher than 48°C (120°F) in July and August to below freezing in January. Most of the rainfall occurs from December through April and averages between 10 and 18 centimeters (4-7 in.) annually. The mountainous region of northern Iraq receives appreciably more precipitation than the central or southern desert region. Almost 75% of Iraq's population live in the flat, alluvial plain stretching southeast from Baghdad and Basrah to the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers carry about 70 million cubic meters of silt annually to the delta. Known in ancient times as Mesopotamia, the region is the legendary locale of the Garden of Eden. The ruins of Ur, Babylon, and other ancient cities are in Iraq. Iraq's two largest ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds. Other distinct groups are Turcoman, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Persians, and Armenians. Arabic is the most commonly spoken language. Kurdish is spoken in the north, and English is the most commonly spoken Western language. The majority (60-65%) of Iraqi Muslims are members of the Shi'a sect, but there is a large (32-37%) Sunni population as well, made up of both Arabs and Kurds. Small communities of Christians, Jews, Bahais, Mandaeans, and Yezidis also exist. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslim but differ from their Arab neighbors in language, dress, and customs. Once known as Mesopotamia, Iraq was the site of flourishing ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures. Muslims conquered Iraq in the seventh century A.D. In the eighth century, the Abassid caliphate established its capital at Baghdad. At the end of World War I, Iraq became a British-mandated territory. When it was declared independent in 1932, the Hashemite family, which also ruled Jordan, ruled as a constitutional monarchy. In 1945, Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League. In 1956, the Baghdad Pact allied Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom, and established its headquarters in Baghdad. Gen. Abdul Karim Qasim took power in July 1958 coup, during which King Faysal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said were killed. Qasim ended Iraq's membership in the Baghdad Pact in 1959. Qasim was assassinated in February 1963, when the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (Ba'ath Party) took power under the leadership of Gen. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr as prime minister and Col. Abdul Salam Arif as president. Nine months later, Arif led a coup ousting the Ba'ath government. In April 1966, Arif was killed in a plane crash and was succeeded by his brother, Gen. Abdul Rahman Mohammad Arif. On July 17, 1968, a group of Ba'athists and military elements overthrew the Arif regime. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr reemerged as the President of Iraq and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC). In July 1979, Bakr resigned, and Saddam Hussein assumed both offices. The Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) devastated the economy of Iraq. Iraq declared victory in 1988 but actually achieved a weary return to the status quo antebellum. The war left Iraq with the largest military establishment in the Gulf region but with huge debts and an ongoing rebellion by Kurdish elements in the northern mountains. The government suppressed the rebellion by using weapons of mass destruction on civilian targets, including a mass chemical weapons attack on the city of Halabja that killed several thousand civilians. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, but a U.S.-led coalition acting under United Nations (UN) resolutions expelled Iraq from Kuwait in February 1991. After the war, Kurds in the north and Shi'a Muslims in the south rebelled against the government of Saddam Hussein. The government responded quickly and with crushing force, killing thousands. It also pursued damaging environmental and agricultural policy meant to drain the marshes of the south. As a result, the United States, United Kingdom, and France established protective no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq. In addition, the UN Security Council required the regime to surrender its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and submit to UN inspections. When the Ba'ath regime refused to fully cooperate with the UN inspections, the Security Council employed sanctions to prevent further WMD development and compel Iraqi adherence to international obligations. Coalition forces enforced no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq to protect Iraqi citizens from attack by the regime and a no-drive zone in southern Iraq to prevent the regime from massing forces to threaten or again invade Kuwait. A U.S.-led coalition removed the Ba'th regime in March-April 2003, bringing an end to more than 12 years of Iraqi defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The coalition formed the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to provide for the administration of Iraq during the period of transitional administration, to restore conditions of security and stability, and to create conditions in which the Iraqi people could freely determine their own political future. The UN Security Council acknowledged the authorities of the coalition and provided for a role for the UN and other parties to assist in fulfilling these objectives. The CPA disbanded on June 28, 2004, transferring sovereign authority for governing Iraq to the Iraqi Interim Government (IIG). Based on the timetable laid out in the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), the IIG governed Iraq until elections were held on January 30, 2005; thereafter the Iraqi Transitional Government assumed authority. In May 2005, the Iraqi Transitional Government appointed a multi-ethnic committee to draft a new Iraqi Constitution. The new constitution was finalized in September 2005, and was ratified in a nationwide referendum on October 15, 2005. On December 15, 2005, Iraqis again went to the polls to participate in the first legislative elections as laid out by the new constitution. The new four-year, constitutionally based government took office in March 2006, and the new cabinet was approved and installed in May 2006. Iraq is a constitutional democracy with a federal system of government. The 2005 Iraqi Constitution guarantees all Iraqis basic rights in many areas. The executive branch is made up of the Presidency Council (one president, two deputy presidents) and a Council of Ministers (one prime minister, two deputy prime ministers, and 34 cabinet ministers). The President is the Head of State, protecting the Constitution and representing the sovereignty and unity of the state, while the Prime Minister is the direct executive authority and commander in chief. Beginning in 2006, the military and police began transitioning from being under the operational control of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq command to Iraqi command and control. The President and Vice Presidents are elected by the Council of Representatives (CoR). The Prime Minister is nominated by the largest bloc in the Council of Representatives. Upon designation, the Prime Minister names the members of his cabinet, the Council of Ministers, which is then approved by the Council of Representatives. The Council of Representatives may withdraw confidence from the Prime Minister, in which case the Prime Minister and Cabinet are considered resigned. Under normal circumstances, the executive branch serves a four-year term concurrent with that of the Council of Representatives. Iraq's legislative branch consists of an elected Council of Representatives and an as-yet unformed Federation Council. The Council of Representatives consists of 275 members, each of whom is elected to four-year terms of service. At least one-quarter of the members of the Council of Representatives must be female. The responsibilities of the Council of Representatives include enacting federal laws, monitoring the executive branch, and electing the President of the Republic. The Federal Council will be established, by law, as a representative for governorates and territories that are not organized in a region. Iraq's judicial branch is independent, and is under no authority but that of the law. The federal judicial authority is comprised of the Higher Judicial Council, Federal Supreme Court, Court of Cassation, Public Prosecution Department, Judiciary Oversight Commission, and other federal courts. The Higher Judicial Council supervises the affairs of the federal judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court is the highest court in the country, and the final authority on legal decisions. The establishment of the federal courts, their types, and methods for judicial appointments will be set forth by laws enacted by the Council of Representatives. Principal Officials of the Iraqi National Unity Government Vice-President--'Adil 'Abd al-Mahdi Prime Minister--Nuri al-Maliki Deputy Prime Minister--Salam al-Zawba'i Deputy Prime Minister--Barham Salih Minister of Agriculture--Yaroub al-Abodi Minister of Communications--Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi Minister of Culture--vacant Minister of Defense--Abdel Qader Jassim Obeidi al-Mufraji Minister of Displacement & Migration--Abd al-Samad Rahman Sultan Minister of Education--Khudayyir al-Khuza'i Minister of Electricity--Karim Wahid Minister of Environment--Narmin 'Uthman Minister of Finance--Bayan Jabr Minister of Foreign Affairs--Hoshyar Zebari Minister of Health--vacant Minister of Higher Education--Abd Dhiyab al-Ajili Minister of Human Rights--Wijdan Mikha'il Minister of Housing & Construction--Bayan Daza'i Minister of Industry & Minerals--Fawzi al-Hariri Minister of Interior--Jawad al-Bulani Minister of Justice--vacant Minister of Labor & Social Affairs--Mahmud Muhammad Jawad al-Radi Minister of Municipalities & Public Works--Riyad Ghurayyib Minister of Oil--Husayn al-Shahristani Minister of Planning--Ali Baban Minister of Science & Technology--Ra'id Fahmi Jahid Minister of Trade--Abd al-Falah al-Sudani Minister of Transportation--Karim Mahdi Salih Minister of Water Resources--'Abd al-Latif Rashid Minister of Youth & Sports--Jasim Muhammad Ja'far Minister of State for Civil Society--vacant Minister of State for CoR Affairs--Safa al-Safi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs--Rafi Hiyad al-Isawi Minister of State for Governorates Affairs--vacant Minister of State for National Dialogue Affairs--Akram al-Hakim Minister of State for National Security Affairs--Shirwan al-Waili Minister of State for Tourism and Antiquities--vacant Minister of State for Women's Affairs--Fatin Abd al-Rahman Mahmud Major Political Parties and Organizations [Leaders] Assyrian Democratic Movement [Yonadam Kanna]; Al-Da'wa [Ibrahim al-Ja'afari]; Badr Organization [Hadi al-Amiri]; Constitutional Monarchy Movement [Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein]; General Conference of Iraqi People [Adnan al-Dulaymi]; Hewar National Iraqi Front [Saleh al-Mutlaq]; Independent Iraqi Alliance [Falah al-Naqib]; Iraqi Hizballah [Karim Mahud al-Muhammadawi]; Iraqi Independent Democrats [Adnan Pachachi]; Iraqi Islamic Party [Muhsin Abd al-Hamid]; Iraqi National Accord (INA) [Ayad Allawi]; Iraqi National Congress (INC) [Ahmad Chalabi]; Iraqi National Unity Movement [Ahmad al-Kubaysi]; Iraqi Turkmen Front [Faruk Abdullah Abdurrahman]; Jama'at al-Fadilah [Ayatollah Muhammad 'Ali al-Yacoubi]; Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) [Massoud Barzani]; Kurdistan Islamic Union [Salaheddine Muhammad Bahaaeddin]; Mithal al-Alusi List [Mithal al-Alusi]; Muslim Ulama Council [Harith Sulayman al-Dari]; National Democratic Movement; Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) [Jalal Talabani]; Al-Risalyun [Muqtada al-Sadr]; Al-Sadr Movement [Muqtada al-Sadr]; Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI, formerly the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, SCIRI) [Abdul Aziz al-Hakim]; Yazidi Movement for Reform and Progress Note: The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan, the Iraqi List, and the United Iraqi Alliance were electoral blocs consisting of the representatives from the various Iraqi political parties. Alliances and Electoral blocs are subject to change. Since March 2006, the Government of Iraq has been a broad coalition led by a Shi’ite legislative bloc known as the United Iraqi Coalition (UIC) or the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). The UIC currently holds 128 of 275 seats in the Council of Representatives. The UIC is currently composed of ISCI, the al-Sadr movement, al-Da’wa al-Islamiyya, Da’wa Tanzim al-Iraq, Jama’at al-Fadilah, and various independents. Politicians with Sunni religious affiliations, including the Tawaffuq and Hewar groups, presently hold 59 seats in the Council of Representatives. The Kurdish bloc known as the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan (which includes the KDP & PUK) holds 53 legislative seats. Ayad Allawi’s Iraqiyya or Iraqi National List (INL) holds 25 seats. The remaining seats are composed of various independents. With regard to the executive branch, much care has been given to ensure that there is proportionate distribution of ministerial positions among the major political groups. For example, in the Presidency Council, President Jalal Talabani is Kurdish, Deputy President ‘Adil ‘Abd al-Mahdi is a Shi’a Muslim, and Deputy President Tariq al-Hashimi is a Sunni Muslim. Additionally, the Council of Ministers consists of 18 Shi’a Muslims, 8 Sunni Muslims, 8 Kurds, and 5 members of Ayad Allawi’s secular INA. The Government of Iraq is currently working toward reviewing the Constitution. The process is likely to be a long and careful one, as consideration needs to be given to the interests of each of the major political groups. Issues to be addressed include federalism, the sharing of oil revenues, de-Ba’thification reform, and provincial elections. Historically, Iraq's economy was characterized by a heavy dependence on oil exports and an emphasis on development through central planning. Prior to the outbreak of the war with Iran in September 1980, Iraq's economic prospects were bright. Oil production had reached a level of 3.5 million barrels per day, and oil revenues were $21 billion in 1979 and $27 billion in 1980. At the outbreak of the war, Iraq had amassed an estimated $35 billion in foreign exchange reserves. The Iran-Iraq war depleted Iraq's foreign exchange reserves, devastated its economy, and left the country saddled with a foreign debt of more than $40 billion. After hostilities ceased, oil exports gradually increased with the construction of new pipelines and the restoration of damaged facilities. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, subsequent international sanctions, damage from military action by an international coalition beginning in January 1991, and neglect of infrastructure drastically reduced economic activity. Government policies of diverting income to key supporters of the regime while sustaining a large military and internal security force further impaired finances, leaving the average Iraqi citizen facing desperate hardships. Implementation of a UN Oil-For-Food (OFF) program in December 1996 improved conditions for the average Iraqi citizen. In December 1999, Iraq was authorized to export unlimited quantities of oil through OFF to finance essential civilian needs including, among other things, food, medicine, and infrastructure repair parts. The drop in GDP in 2001-02 was largely the result of the global economic slowdown and lower oil prices. Per capita food imports increased significantly, while medical supplies and health care services steadily improved. The occupation of the U.S.-led coalition in March-April 2003 resulted in the shutdown of much of the central economic administrative structure. The rebuilding of oil infrastructure, utilities infrastructure, and other production capacities has proceeded steadily since 2004 despite attacks on key economic facilities and continuing internal security incidents. Despite uncertainty, Iraq is making progress toward establishing the laws and institutions needed to make and implement economic policy. Iraq's economy is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings. Current estimates show that oil production averages 2.0 million bbl/day, One key issue that currently confronts economic policymakers in Iraq is inflation. The year-on-year inflation rate for 2006 was 64.8%, a significant increase over the 2005 rate of 31.6% and well above the IMF target rate of 30% annual inflation. In an effort to infuse some stability in prices in Iraq, the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) began to appreciate the Iraqi Dinar (ID) relative to the U.S. Dollar (USD) in November 2006. As of June 7, the CBI had appreciated the ID by 17%. It has also accelerated interest rate increases; the deposit rate is currently 20%. Inflation in Iraq, however, is only partly a monetary problem, and is more strongly related to real sector effects, particularly bottlenecks resulting from the security situation. The Iraqi Government is seeking to pass and implement laws to strengthen the economy, including a hydrocarbon law to encourage development of this sector, a revenue sharing law to equitably divide oil revenues within the nation in line with the Iraqi constitution, and writing regulations to implement a new foreign investment law. Controlling inflation, reducing corruption, and implementing structural reforms such as bank restructuring and private sector development will be key to Iraq's economic growth. Foreign assistance has been an integral component of Iraq's reconstruction efforts over the past three years. At a Donors Conference in Madrid in October 2003, more than $33 billion was pledged to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq. Out of that conference, the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank launched the International Reconstruction Fund Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) to administer and disburse about $1.4 billion of those funds. The rest of the assistance is being disbursed bilaterally. To date $13.5 billion has been pledged in foreign aid for 2004-2007 from outside of the U.S. The Government of Iraq has also made an agreement with the Paris Club to reduce some of its debt service obligations. This three-stage agreement will allow for the reduction of over $34 billion in Iraqi debt. Also, in December 2005, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to extend a stand-by agreement (SBA) to the Government of Iraq in the amount of SDR 475.4 million (about U.S. $685 million). In July 2006, the Government of Iraq and the UN began work to formulate the International Compact with Iraq (ICI), a five-year framework for Iraq to achieve economic self-sufficiency within its region and the world. On May 3, 2007 in Sharm el-Sheikh the ICI was formally launched by more than 70 countries and international organizations, many represented at the ministerial level. The Compact aims to create a mutually reinforcing dynamic of national consensus and international support. Domestically the aim is to build a national Compact around the government's political and economic program and to restore the Iraqi people's trust in the state and its ability to protect them and meet their basic needs. Internationally, the Compact establishes a framework of mutual commitments to provide financial and technical assistance and debt relief needed to support Iraq and strengthen its resolve to address critical reforms and policies. Despite its abundant land and water resources, Iraq is a net food importer. Under the UN Oil-For-Food program, Iraq imported large quantities of grains, meat, poultry, and dairy products. Obstacles to agricultural development during the previous regime included labor shortages, inadequate management and maintenance, salinization, urban migration, and dislocations resulting from previous land reform and collectivization programs. A Ba'ath regime policy to destroy the "Marsh Arab" culture by draining the southern marshes and introducing irrigated farming to this region destroyed a natural food-producing area, while concentration of salts and minerals in the soil due to the draining left the land unsuitable for agriculture. Through assistance from USAID and USDA, targeted efforts have begun to overcome the damage done by the Ba'ath regime in ways that will rehabilitate the agricultural sector and confront environmental degradation. These efforts include infrastructure development, private sector development, veterinary clinic restoration, increased wheat production, and training and technical assistance in developing policies on sustainable water resources management and building Iraqi natural resources management. The United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990. Under the Oil-For-Food program Iraq was allowed to export oil and use the proceeds to purchase goods to address essential civilian needs, including food, medicine, and infrastructure spare parts. With the lifting of UN sanctions after the Ba'ath regime was removed in 2003, Iraq is gradually resuming trade relations with the international community, including with the U.S. The U.S. designated Iraq as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program in September 2004. Iraq was granted observer status at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in February 2004, and began its WTO accession process in December 2004. On May 25, 2007, Iraq participated in its first Working Party meeting in Geneva. The meeting, in which Trade Minister al-Sudani participated, was characterized as a successful start to the WTO accession process, one that is crucial to Iraq's integration into the international economy. Dependent upon Iraqi progress on relevant issues, the next Working Party meeting could take place as early as spring 2008. The Iran-Iraq War ended with Iraq sustaining the largest military structure in the Middle East, with more than 70 divisions in its army and an air force of over 700 modern aircraft. Losses during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and subsequent expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait in 1991 by a UN coalition resulted in the reduction of Iraq's ground forces to 23 divisions and air force to less than 300 aircraft. When major combat operations ended in April 2003, the Iraqi Army disintegrated, and its installations were destroyed by pilfering and looting. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) officially dissolved the Iraqi military and Ministry of Defense on May 23, 2003. On August 7, 2003, the CPA established the New Iraqi Army as the first step toward the creation of the national self-defense force of post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. Support for the manning, training, and equipping of Iraq's security forces is led by the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I). In addition to defense forces, the Ministry of Interior, with the help of the MNSTC-I, is training and equipping civilian police forces to establish security and stability, primarily through combating the nation-wide insurgency. Initially under the command and control of the Multi-National Forces-Iraq (MNF-I) command, in 2006 police and Iraqi Army units began to transition to Iraqi civilian control. With the fall of Saddam Hussein and the Ba'ath regime, Iraq has taken steps toward re-engagement on the international stage. Iraq currently has diplomatic representation in 54 countries around the world, including 3 permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva and the Arab League in Cairo. 48 countries have diplomatic representation in Iraq, The Republic of Iraq belongs to the following international organizations: United Nations (UN); Arab League (AL); World Bank (WB); International Monetary Fund (IMF); International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Nonaligned Movement (NAM); Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC); Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); Interpol; World Health Organization (WHO); G-19; G-77; Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA); Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD); Arab Monetary Fund (AMF); Council of Arab Economic Unity (CAEU); Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD); International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO); International Community for Radionuclide Metrology (ICRM); International Development Association (IDA); International Development Bank (IDB); International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); International Finance Corporation (IFC); International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS); International Labor Organization (ILO); International Maritime Organization (IMO); Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC); International Organization for Standardization (ISO); International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC); United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Universal Postal Union (UPU); World Customs Organization (WCO); World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); World Meteorological Organization (WMO); World Trade Organization (WTO) observer. The focus of United States policy in Iraq remains on helping the Iraqi people build a constitutional, representative government that respects the rights of all Iraqis and has security forces capable of maintaining order and preventing the country from becoming a safe haven for terrorists and foreign fighters. The ultimate goal is an Iraq that is peaceful, united, stable, democratic, and secure, with institutions capable of providing just governance and security for all Iraqis and is an ally in the war against terrorism. U.S. forces remain in Iraq as part of the Multi-National Force-Iraq to assist the Government of Iraq in training its security forces, as well as to work in partnership with the Government of Iraq to combat forces that seek to derail Iraq's progression toward full democracy. The U.S. Government is carrying out a multibillion-dollar program to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq. TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises Americans traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information Sheets, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings. Consular Information Sheets exist for all countries and include information on entry and exit requirements, currency regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Public Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or unstable. For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml. The Department of State encourages all U.S citizens traveling or residing abroad to register via the State Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on security conditions. Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada or the regular toll line 1-202-501-4444 for callers outside the U.S. and Canada. The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays. Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled "Health Information for International Travel" (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800. Further Electronic Information Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and market information offered by the federal government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the export process, and more.STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international trade information from the Federal government. The site includes current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank. Revised: Jun. 2007
\|Part of a series on the\| (the German Baptists or Dunkers) \|Christianity · Protestantism · Anabaptism · Radical Pietism · Radical Reformation\| \|Non-creedalism · Trine baptism · Love feast · Feet washing · Holy kiss · Free church · Anointing with oil · Non-resistance · Pacifism · The Brethren Card\| \|Alexander Mack · Louis Bauman · Conrad Beissel · Donald F. Durnbaugh · Vernard Eller · Christoph Sauer · John C. Whitcomb\| \|Brethren (Ashland) Church · Brethren Reformed Church · Church of the Brethren · Conservative Grace Brethren · Dunkard Brethren · Grace Brethren · Old Brethren · Old Brethren German Baptist · Old German Baptist Brethren · Old Order German Baptist Brethren · Old German Baptist Brethren, New Conference\| \|Amish · Bruderhof · Community of True Inspiration · Hutterites · Mennonites · River Brethren · Religious Society of Friends\| The Church of the Brethren represents the largest body of churches that descended from the original pietist movement began in Germany by Alexander Mack and seven other believers. Early in the 20th century some members began to feel that there was a drift away from apostolic standards. Because of this, a small group of conservatives withdrew from the Church of the Brethren and formed the Dunkard Brethren Church in 1926. The name Dunkard or Dunker is derived from the Pennsylvania German word dunke, which comes from the German word tunken, meaning "to immerse" or "to dip". This emphasizes the method of baptism observed by all of the various branches of Schwarzenau Brethren—trine immersion. A believer is immersed three times, once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son, and once in the name of the Holy Spirit. Some of the Dunkard Brethren exhibit the plainness of dress associated with the "Old Order" Brethren and Mennonites. As defined by Webster's New International Dictionary second edition unabridged: Dunkard, n. One of a religious denomination practicing trine immersion and refusing oaths and military service; -also Tunkers, Dippers, and, by themselves, Brethren, or, officially, German Baptist Brethren. The denomination was founded in 1708 at Schwarzenau, in Wittenburg, Germany, by Alexander Mack. In 1719 the Dunkers began to come to Pennsylvania, whence the group had spread, mainly westward. The Dunkers regard nonconformity to the world as an important principle, following closely scripture teaching and observing the primitive simplicity of the church. The Dunkard Brethren Church has 25 congregations in the United States with approximately 900 members. They support a mission among the Navajo Indians in New Mexico, and a mission in Africa. The church's publication is called The Bible Monitor. The majority of the churches are located in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, California, and Ohio. - The Brethren Encyclopedia, Donald Durnbaugh, editor - The Mennonite Encyclopedia, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis Martin, et al., editors - Dunkard Brethren Church—unofficial Web Site
Our GCSE Maths course is aimed for individuals who like to progress with their careers, but they need a GCSE in maths, or for those who would like to become proficient in their knowledge and understanding of maths. Learners will cover key elements such as number, statistics, algebra and geometry. Our GCSE maths course is available for school leavers on our Study Programme courses. This course is taught once a week for approx three hours of classroom learning. The course is assessed through exams throughout and at the end of the academic year. What do you need to apply for the course? Entry Level – No previous qualifications are required for this programme, however, a pre-course interview will be required before a place is offered. There will be an initial assessment for all learners at the start of the course to assess current abilities. GCSE’s are free for those learners on our Study Programmes. How will you be assessed? You will be assessed via written assessments and exams. Our GCSEs in maths and English are based around the AQA assessment method, and designed with the classroom in mind. We offer subject expertise and targeted resources as well as support for post-16, adults and resits. For learners to successfully improve their grades and gain an appropriate GCSE qualification in Maths in order to progress in their careers or further study.
Orthodontics is a line of dental treatment which is more corrective. Teeth which are irregular in their placement can be corrected with orthodontic procedures. Though this treatment is recommended for young children, even adults can go in for these. In simple terms and for most people this treatment involves the use of braces. Speaking, it is a lot more than just braces. In real time terms, Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry which corrects teeth and jaws which are not positioned properly. Crooked teeth which do not fit well are more difficult to keep clean. Also, there is more of a chance of them being liable to get infected or not with tooth decay. These teeth also are subject to getting the periodontal disease and other related infections. With orthodontic treatment, people get very healthy teeth and gums and even a better looking facial structuring. Also, teeth, once they are aligned properly, can last longer and provide a healthier lifestyle to those who have them. Which conditions require orthodontics? Overbite: this is also called a condition of buck teeth. In this, the upper front teeth are too far forward over the lower teeth. Underbite: this is a bulldog kind of a look which a person has. This is due to the lower teeth which are too far forward as compared to the lower setting which is too far backward. Crossbite: when the upper teeth do not come down slightly in front of the lower teeth when biting. Open bite: space between the biting surfaces of the front and side teeth when the back teeth bite together. Misplaced midline – this is when the center of your upper front teeth do not line up with the center of the lower front teeth. Spacing – gaps or spaces between teeth exist. This is as a consequence of missing teeth or teeth which do not fill up the mouth, so to say. Crowding – when there are too many teeth on the dental bridge. Which types of appliances exist in orthodontic treatment? Braces – this is a commonly fixed appliance. Especially fixed appliances – these are used to control thumb sucking or tongue thrusting. Fixed space maintainers – these are used to keep the space open till the permanent tooth comes in after a baby tooth is lost. Which all removable devices exist? Removable space maintainers – these function like fixed space maintainers. Jaw repositioning appliances – are referred to as a split. Lip and cheek bumpers – are structured to keep the lip and the cheeks away from the teeth. Palatal expander – this is used to widen the arch of the upper jaw. Removable retainers – these are worn on the roof of the mouth and prevent shifting of teeth. Headgear – these slow the growth of the upper jaw and hold the back teeth where they are while the front teeth are pulled back. Call: (203) 628-2077.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. - 1. slang, cant, jargon, lingo, argot, patois, vernacular, non-standard speech - usage: a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo" - 2. jargoon, jargon, zircon, zirconium silicate - usage: a colorless (or pale yellow or smoky) variety of zircon - 3. jargon, expressive style, style - usage: specialized technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject All rights reserved. See also: jargon (Dictionary)
- Fast Track Overview - Contact Us This project was piloted in four communities across the United States: Durham, Nashville, rural Pennsylvania and Seattle. Fast Track is based on the hypothesis that improving child competencies, parenting effectiveness, school context and school-home communications will, over time, contribute to preventing certain behaviors across the period from early childhood through adolescence. The Data section offers an extensive amount of information on the data instruments used in the study. Technical Reports are available for each instrument, many having multiple reports. The primary report (first year used) includes information on the nature of the measure scaling, differences between study groups, and recommendations for use in analyses.Data Instruments Maternal depressive symptoms and child social preference during the early school years: Mediation by maternal warmth and child emotion regulation. Kam, C., Greenberg, M.T., Bierman, K., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2011). The influence of classroom aggression and classroom climate on the early development of aggressive-disruptive behavior problems in school. Thomas, D.E., Bierman, K.L., Power, C.J., & the Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (2011).
Ohio parents may be surprised to learn of the wide variety of distracting activities teenagers have reported engaging in while they are driving. While texting and driving remains the most problematic behavior, teens report doing many other things while they are behind the wheel, including changing clothing and shoes. In a study led by a member of the Oregon State University faculty, 27 percent of teenage respondents reported they had changed articles of clothing while driving. In addition to this behavior, they reported doing their homework while driving, applying makeup and changing their contact lens. Approximately 40 percent of those surveyed reported texting while driving, which is lower than numbers from some prior studies. The researcher who led the study recommends that driver’s education programs should include a strong component regarding distracted driving. Such programs have been shown to be effective in reducing this behavior. Teens should be educated about the dangers of all types of multitasking while they are driving. Even things like switching radio stations, eating and adjusting GPS coordinates while driving take a driver’s attention away from the road and increase the risk of motor vehicle accidents. Teenagers are the least experienced drivers on the road. They are thus probably more likely to be less aware of the risks involved with distracted driving. Such behavior increases the risk for both themselves as well as for others on the road around them. Taking attention away from the road can cause a driver to drift out of the lane or have a rear-end collision. People who are seriously injured in an accident caused by a distracted driver may wish to speak with a personal injury attorney to determine the possibility of filing a lawsuit for the recovery of damages. Source: NPR, “Teens Say They Change Clothes And Do Homework While Driving”, Maanvi Singh, March 18, 2015
(Saxon, great judgment), instituted long before the Conquest, and not abolished till the reign of Henry III. Ordeals were of several kinds, but the most usual were by wager of battle, by hol or cold water, and by fire. This method of “trial” was introduced from the notion that God would defend the right, even by miracle if needful. (1) Wager of battle, was when the accused person was obliged to fight anyone who charged him with guilt. This ordeal was allowed only to persons of rank. (2) Of fire, was another ordeal for persons of rank only. The accused had to hold in his hand a piece of red-hot irou, or had to walk blindfold and barefoot among nine red-hot plough-shares laid at unequal distances. If he escaped uninjured he was accounted innocent, aliter non. This might be performed by deputy. (3) Of hot water, was an ordeal for the common people. The accused was required to plunge his arm up to the elbow in scalding hot water, and was pronounced guilty if the skin was injured in the experiment. (4) Of cold water, was also for the common people. The accused, being bound, was tossed into a river; if he sank he was acquitted, but if he floated he was accounted guilty. (5) Of the bier, when a person suspected of murder was required to touch the corpse; if guilty the “blood of the dead body would start forth afresh.” (6) Of the cross. Plaintiff and defendant had to stand with their arms crossed over their breasts, and he who could endure the longest won the suit. (7) Of the Eucharist. This was for clergymen suspected of crime. It was supposed that the elements would choke him, if taken by a guilty man. (8) Of the corsned, or consecrated bread and cheese. Godwin, Earl of Kent, is said to have been choked when he submitted to this ordeal, being accused of the murder of the king's brother. “This sort of ordeal was by no means unusual. Thus in Ceylon, a man suspected of theft is required to bring what he holds dearest before a judge, and placing a heavy stone on the head of his substitute, says ‘May this stone crush thee to death if I am guilty of this offence.’ ” In Tartary, an ostiack sets a wild bear and an hatchet before the tribunal, saying, as he swallows a piece of bread, “May the bear devour me, and the hatchet chop off my head, if I am guilty of the crime laid to my charge.” (9) Of lot, two dice, one marked by a cross, being thrown. It was a fiery ordeal. A severe test. (See above, No. 2.)
Carl de Keyzer’s photography project on world power is inspired by the history of classical painting. Each part refers to a painting by its subject and format and tries to explore in a conceptual way the mechanisms of power and history. Most things come in three. A trinity structure has occurred during many reigns, empires, and organized religion: 1. The leaders or gods, 2. the army or avenging creatures and 3. the people or representatives. Figurative painting or drawing was, for a long time, the source for historical reflection and reporting. Format, color, glorification, imposing frames, mise en scène were elements of persuasion to create an overwhelming feeling of history and testimony. "By going back to the idea of one large image representing a situation I try to reintroduce the element of time in dealing with images of reality - Carl De Keyzer Now, television and printed media have taken over this concept. 30 images per second and millions of pictures per day determine and influence in a direct or indirect way the global opinion and give a thin notion of reality and opinion. World leaders like CNN are the perfect example.
My kindergartner is always getting into trouble -- especially on the school bus. She hits, kicks, and bites other students. She loves going to school and she's so excited to see her friends, but other times she's so shy that it's hard for her to interact. We've tried many ways of encouraging her to consider other children's feelings and reminding her to keep her hands to herself, but it only lasts for a few days. What else can we do? Try focusing on the positive with your daughter. Ask the bus driver to let you know each day how your daughter's behavior was, then follow up at home. A good day on the bus can earn an extra bedtime story or a walk around the block just with you; two good days in a week can earn having a friend over to play on the weekend. Ask yourself why your daughter is exhibiting these behaviors. Are her verbal skills not as well-developed as those of her peers? Does she know appropriate ways to get attention from her friends? Is she younger developmentally than the other children in kindergarten? Talk with the school counselor. He may be able to give your daughter some individual time or include her in a small group on good communication skills. Keep in mind that any kind of behavioral system that you try must be used over a long period of time, and it must be enforced consistently.
Definition of coronal root : an adventitious root that springs from the stem just above the surface of the ground (as in wheat) — compare seminal root Love words? You must — there are over 200,000 words in our free online dictionary, but you are looking for one that’s only in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary. Start your free trial today and get unlimited access to America's largest dictionary, with: - More than 250,000 words that aren't in our free dictionary - Expanded definitions, etymologies, and usage notes - Advanced search features - Ad free! Seen and Heard What made you want to look up coronal root? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Basic of One way Data Table This is an extension of the post Start the new decade with Goal Seek in #Excel. In that post, we talked about using Goal Seek to find the initiate savings required to obtain a total savings of $1000 at period end, given the other variable remains constant. How about if we want to have a list of outcomes with different initiate savings? Do we need to change the value one by one manually and then do the great copy and paste? Like the screen-cast below… 🤦♂️ Of course we don’t! We can do it with (One-Way) Data Table under What-If Analysis. You may download a Sample File to follow along. Note: You may want to read this post to understand the context before moving on. 1. Setting up the spreadsheet The range G4:H14 is where we are going to put the Data Table. - The values pre-input in G5:G15 are the list of initiate saving (variables) that we want to examine. - In H5, input =B4 (i.e. referencing to the variable) 2. Inserting Data Table Now we are ready to insert the Data Table. Nevertheless, we have to select the range G5:H14 first. (tip: It’s up to you to have a shorter/longer list) With the range selected, - Go to Data Tab - What-If Analysis - Data Table… In the Data Table dialog box, reference to $B$5 (the variable) in the Column input cell: Here we go! Let’s watch it in action! As simple as this! 🙂 Well, you may be thinking… can we add one more variable (Weekly incremental % in our example) so that we can have a cross tabular result listing multiple scenarios? Yes, we can. Let’s talk about it in the next post! Stay tuned. 😉
1897 – Birth of Amelia Mary Earhart, noted American aviation pioneer and author (shown); she becomes the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. 1933 – Amy Johnson and Jim Mollison, in their de Havilland Dragon ‘”Seafarer,” nearly succeed in their flight from England to New York, but crash land in Connecticut. 1947 – First flight of the Ilyushin Il-22, the first Soviet jet-engined bomber prototype to fly. 1951 – Death of Eugen Bönsch, Austro-Hungarian World War I fighter ace who also served in World War II. 1992 – Mandala Airlines Flight 660, a Vickers Viscount 816, crashes into a mountain on Ambon Island in Indonesia during landing at Pattimura Airport in a heavy thunderstorm, killing all 70. 2012 – The Syrian Air Force attacks rebels for the first time in the Syrian Civil War when Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-23s bomb eastern areas of Aleppo.
What is Lewy body dementia (LBD)? Lewy body dementia, also known as LBD or dementia with Lewy bodies, is a neurodegenerative brain disease where Lewy bodies (abnormal protein deposits) form in the sections of the brain that control cognition, motor control and behavior. Lewy body dementia affects more than 1.4 million people in the United States and is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. There is not a cure for Lewy body dementia, so treatment is focused on treating individual symptoms. Causes of Lewy body dementia The cause of Lewy body dementia is unknown, but it is thought to be related to the abnormal buildup of Lewy bodies in the nerve cells. Risk factors for Lewy body dementia There are only a few risk factors associated with Lewy body dementia including: - Age — people over the age of 60 are at higher risk of developing Lewy body dementia. - Gender — men are more likely to develop Lewy body dementia. - Family history — if you have a family history of Lewy body dementia, you are more likely to develop the condition as well. - Depression — early research studies show a link between depression and Lewy body dementia Symptoms of Lewy body dementia Symptoms of Lewy body dementia include: - Hallucinations — visual hallucinations are often a first sign of Lewy body dementia; patients may see objects, people or animals that are not there. - Impaired thinking — cognitive function may be impaired, so patients with Lewy body dementia may have challenges thinking clearly, memory loss, poor attention span and feel confused. - Difficulty walking — patients with Lewy body dementia may shuffle, become rigid or walk more slowly. - Difficulty sleeping — patients with Lewy body dementia report acting out dreams while they are sleeping. - Changes in behavior — changes in behavior, such as loss of attention span, loss of motivation or speech problems, can occur in patients with Lewy body dementia. - Tremors — Parkinson’s disease-like tremors can occur in patients with Lewy body dementia. Symptoms start slowly and intensify as the disease progresses. In late stages of the disease, patients with Lewy body dementia may need assistance to perform day-to-day activities. Diagnosis of Lewy body dementia It is difficult to diagnose Lewy body dementia because symptoms are similar to other progressive brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. If you think you or a loved one has Lewy body dementia, schedule an appointment with a Mercy Health neurologist for testing. Your neurologist will perform a full physical and neurological exam as well as take a full medical history. During the neurological exam, your doctor will examine your reflexes, walking, muscle tone, eye movements and balance. He or she will also assess your mental abilities and memory compared to others in the same age group. Other testing to diagnose Lewy body dementia includes: - Blood tests — a blood test can rule out other conditions or deficiencies that may be causing your symptoms. - Diagnostic imaging — MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), PET (positive emission tomography), CT (computed tomography) scans are used to rule out other conditions such as a stroke or brain tumor that may be causing your symptoms. After the doctor has all the information from the testing, he or she will make a diagnosis if he or she determines you have a progressive decline in ability to think along with repeated hallucinations, symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, sleep disorders where you are acting out dreams, and/or declining cognitive function. Treatment for Lewy body dementia There is not a cure for Lewy body dementia, so the goal of treatment is to relieve symptoms. Because of the complexity of the condition, a multi-disciplinary approach to treatment is necessary, and you may have numerous doctors from multiple specialties working together to develop the most appropriate treatment plan for your case. The two main treatment types are medication and non-medical therapy. Medication for LBD For medication, your doctor may prescribe medications that can relieve cognitive, movement, visual hallucination, REM sleep behavior and neuroleptic sensitivity symptoms. Medications such as dopamine agonists or anticholinergic medications can cause adverse side effects and should be avoided. Many patients experience side effects from using medicine to manage their Lewy body dementia. If a medication's side effects outweigh the benefits, non-medical therapies may be effective. Non-medical therapies for LBD - Physical therapy and exercising — physical therapy can help Lewy body dementia patients improve their gait and cardiovascular health as well as strengthen their bodies. - Speech therapy — for patients who are having trouble with speech volume and enunciation, speech therapy can help improve muscle strength in the vocal cords. - Occupational therapy — occupational therapy helps patients maintain functional skills, which can impact their feeling of independence. - Modify the environment and simplify routines — patients with Lewy body dementia do better with structure and simplified routines in their day.
Author and Page information This print version has been auto-generated from http://www.globalissues.org/issue/367/sustainable-development This part of the globalissues.org web site attempts to introduce the issue of development and sustainable development. Sustainable Development is often an over-used word, but goes to the heart of tackling a number of inter-related global issues such as poverty, inequality, hunger and environmental degradation. In theory, development that is sustainable and not damaging to the planet is very possible. Of course though, in reality there are a lot of politics and challenges involved as highlighted throughout this site. This section is woefully small to start off with, and hardly covers the issues in enough depth, though over time, I hope to add more articles to the ones below. Last updated Wednesday, November 18, 2009. The idea of sustainable development grew from numerous environmental movements in earlier decades. Summits such as the Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil, 1992, were major international meetings to bring sustainable development to the mainstream. However, the record on moving towards sustainability so far appears to have been quite poor. The concept of sustainability means many different things to different people, and a large part of humanity around the world still live without access to basic necessities. Read “Sustainable Development Introduction” to learn more. Last updated Wednesday, April 06, 2011. At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was born. 192 countries, plus the EU, are now Parties to that convention. In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention committed to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity loss by 2010. Perhaps predictably, that did not happen. Despite numerous successful conservations measures supporting biodiversity, the 2010 biodiversity target has not been met at the global level. This page provides an overview on how the attempts to prevent biodiversity loss is progressing. Read “Addressing Biodiversity Loss” to learn more. Posted Tuesday, June 05, 2012. Twenty years ago at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, countries adopted Agenda 21 — a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection. Marking that anniversary, this year sees Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, with aims to get bold agreements to address things like poverty, sustainable development, decent jobs, etc. This page provides coverage of recent events via Inter Press Service’s news feed. Read “Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development” to learn more. Last updated Saturday, February 12, 2005. The causes of poverty and of environmental degradation are inter-related suggesting that approaching sustainable development requires understanding the issues from many angles, not just say an environmentalist or economics perspective alone. Read “Poverty and the Environment” to learn more. Last updated Wednesday, June 01, 2005. What does an ever-increasing number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mean? NGOs are non-profit organizations filling the gap where governments will not, or cannot function. In the past however, some NGOs from the wealthy nations have received a bad reputation in some developing nations because of things like arrogance, imposition of their views, being a foreign policy arm or tool of the original country and so on. Even in recent years some of these criticisms still hold. However, recently some new and old NGOs alike, have started to become more participatory and grassroots-oriented to help empower the people they are trying to help, to help themselves. This is in general a positive turn. Yet, the fact that there are so many NGOs popping up everywhere perhaps points to failures of international systems of politics, economics, markets, and basic rights. Read “Non-governmental Organizations on Development Issues” to learn more. Last updated Sunday, September 28, 2014. In 1970, the world’s rich countries agreed to give 0.7% of their gross national income as official international development aid, annually. Since that time, billions have certainly been given each year, but rarely have the rich nations actually met their promised target. For example, the US is often the largest donor in dollar terms, but ranks amongst the lowest in terms of meeting the stated 0.7% target. Furthermore, aid has often come with a price of its own for the developing nations. Common criticisms, for many years, of foreign aid, have included the following: - Aid is often wasted on conditions that the recipient must use overpriced goods and services from donor countries - Most aid does not actually go to the poorest who would need it the most - Aid amounts are dwarfed by rich country protectionism that denies market access for poor country products while rich nations use aid as a lever to open poor country markets to their products - Large projects or massive grand strategies often fail to help the vulnerable; money can often be embezzled away. This article explores who has benefited most from this aid, the recipients or the donors. Read “Foreign Aid for Development Assistance” to learn more. Last updated Sunday, June 06, 2010. Issues such as water privatization are important in the developing world especially as it goes right to the heart of water rights, profits over people, and so on. This article looks into these issues and the impacts it has on people around the world. Read “Water and Development” to learn more. Posted Saturday, July 07, 2007. Corporate Social Responsibility is a bit of a buzz word and some feel that it has been diluted from its original aims, while others are trying to find innovative ways to engage with businesses to be more responsible in their practices. Read “Corporate Social Responsibility” to learn more. Last updated Sunday, May 15, 2011. Energy security is a growing concern for rich and emerging nations alike. The past drive for fossil fuel energy has led to wars, overthrow of democratically elected leaders, and puppet governments and dictatorships. Leading nations admit we are addicted to oil, but investment into alternatives has been lacking, or little in comparison to fossil fuel investments. As the global financial crisis takes hold and awareness of climate change increases, more nations and companies are trying to invest in alternatives. But will the geopolitics remain the same? Read “Energy Security” to learn more. Posted Friday, April 14, 2006. Brain drain is a problem for many poor countries losing skilled workers to richer countries. In healthcare, the effects can often be seen vividly. For example, in many rich countries, up to one third of doctors may be from abroad, many from Sub-Sahara Africa, while many African countries have as little as 500 doctors serving their entire population. Reasons for this brain drain vary, ranging from poor conditions domestically to attractive opportunities and active enticement from abroad. Read “Brain Drain of Workers from Poor to Rich Countries” to learn more. Last updated Sunday, September 18, 2005. The UN World Summit for September 2005 is supposed to review progress since the Millennium Declaration, adopted by all Member States in 2000. However, the US has proposed enormous changes to an outcome document that is to be signed by all members. There are changes on almost all accounts, including striking any mention of the Millennium Development Goals, that aim for example, to halve poverty and world hunger by 2015. This has led to concerns that the outcome document will be weakened. Developing countries are also worried about stronger text on human rights and about giving the UN Security Council more powers. Read “United Nations World Summit 2005” to learn more. Last updated Saturday, September 07, 2002. This section introduces some of the issues on the international summit (August 26 - September 4, 2002) where thousands of delegates met to discuss various issues comprising sustainable development. Of course, there was a lot of controversy including differences between the global North and South on all sorts of issues such as corporate-led globalization, privatization of energy, water, health, etc. In addition there was also concern about motives and influences of large corporations on the outcomes of the Summit. Read “World Summit on Sustainable Development” to learn more. Last updated Wednesday, July 25, 2001. The United Nations is the largest international body involved in development issues around the world. However, it has many political issues and problems to contend with. But, despite this, it is also performing some much needed tasks around the world, through its many satellite organizations and entities, providing a means to realize the Declaration of Human Rights. Unfortunately though, it is not perfect and is negatively affected by politics of powerful nations that wish to further their own interests. Read “United Nations on Development Issues” to learn more.
Windows communicate with the application by sending messages. There are many Windows messages and each message is represented by a unique integer value.In WINDOWS.H there are standard names for these messages. There are some common Windows messages like:- Messages are always accompanied by other values that contain additional,related in formation.This information includes things like cursor or mouse coordinates etc.Windows interacts with your programs through messages.Specifically each time when event occurs a message is sent to program which identifies the event. As there are large number of messages so it not necessary for the program to respond allthe messages so MFC has a default message handler. In a normal Windows program your program's window procedure receives each message and also any additional information which is related to that message .Inside the window procedure,a large switch statement determines what type of message has been received and then processes it accordingly.While using MFC responding messages is much easier. MFC provides a set of predefined message handler functions that your program may implement. If your program implements one of these handlers then that function will be called whenever its associated message is received.When a message has an additional information associated to it this information will be passed to message handler as an argument. To respond to a message ,your program must perform these three steps:- 1. The message macro corresponding to the message must be added to your program's message map. 2. The prototype for the message handler must be added to the window class that will process the message. 3. Implement the message handler associated with the message. MFC message macros have the same name as standard window messages,except that they all begin with ON_ and end with a set of parentheses.There is one exception to this rule: the WM_COMMAND message uses ON_COMMAND for its message macro. This is because WM_COMMAND is a rather special windows message and it requires unique treatement by MFC. Here are some MFC message macros:- ON_WM_CHAR,ON_WM_PAINT,ON_WM_MOVE,ON_WM_CLOSE,ON_W M_LBUTTONUP,ON_WM_LBUTTONDOWN,ON_WM_COMMAND,ON_WM_ SIZE. To add a message macro to your message map,simply include it between BEGIN_MESSAGE_MAP and END_MESSAGE_MAP. Each message that your program responds to must be associated with a message handler. All message handlers are members of the CWND class, and may be overridden by your program. As a general rule name of the message handler is constructed using the name of the message preceded by ON. For example , the handler for WM_CHAR IS OnChar(),the handler for WM_LBUTTONDOWN is OnLButtonDown(). To respond to the message one must add the message handler to the window class that your program defines and that is done by including its prototype in the class declaration. Implementing Message Handlers Implementing message handlers depends on two things:- 1.Nature of the message. 2.Meaning of the message for your program.
Decision Pushes Bluefin Tuna to Brink of Collapse Marrakech, Morocco — The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has decided to allow the massive overfishing of endangered bluefin tuna, putting the species at imminent risk of collapse and commercial extinction. The Commission’s scientific committee had recommended that 7500 tons of tuna be caught to avoid any further decrease in population. Under pressure from the European Union, the Commission instead allowed a catch of 22,500 tons. "ICCAT has missed its last chance to save the bluefin tuna from stock collapse," said Sebastian Losada, Greenpeace Spain oceans campaigner, who has been attending the Marrakech meeting. "Bluefin tuna has become an endangered species because of ICCAT mismanagement. It's time to take the fishery out of their hands and look to Conventions like CITES to impose trade restrictions on the species." The bluefin, which is highly prized for sushi, is one of the most extraordinary animals in the sea: the size of a small elephant, it can move faster than a cheetah, reaching speeds of more than 50 miles per hour within seconds. Its numbers have declined to the brink of extinction in recent years due to both legal and illegal overfishing. The European Union, representing the majority of Mediterranean countries with interests in the bluefin tuna fishery, bullied other parties in the meeting into agreeing to management proposals which completely fail to follow the advice of ICCAT's own scientific body to substantially reduce fishing and protect the species' spawning grounds. Despite efforts by a number of concerned countries – Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Norway, South Africa and the United States – they were unable to overcome EU opposition to measures that would save the species. The new management plan fails to protect the spawning population and merely shortens the purse seine fishing season, responsible for the bulk of illegal catches, by 10 days. The pressure from the European countries has been so strong that they have even managed to slow down the 'payback' for the illegal catches made in the region in 2007. In 2006, following years of extremely high levels of pirate fishing by European Union fishing vessels among others, ICAAT’s scientific committee recommended a limit of 15,000 tons. Instead, the Commission permitted a catch of 29,500 tons. Because of pirate fishing, the scientific committee now estimates that actual bluefin tuna catches were about 61,000 tons in 2007. Greenpeace has been calling for a closure of the fishery until a proper recovery plan is in place, including at a very minimum a Total Allowed Catch (TAC) in line with the scientific advice, a seasonal closure covering the months of May, June and July and the establishment of marine reserves to protect the bluefin tuna spawning grounds. A recently released performance review of ICCAT written by a panel of experts appointed by ICCAT itself states that "the management by ICCAT members of this bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean is widely seen as an international disgrace." The panel itself recommends "the suspension of fishing on bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean until the CPCs fully comply with ICCAT recommendations on bluefin." "Once again, short term financial gain has been put before the long-term survival of the species, and of the livelihood of fishermen who depend on it," said Phil Kline, a senior Greenpeace oceans campaigner and former commercial fisherman of twenty-nine years. "The independent review panel was right – ICCAT´s management of the fishery is an international disgrace. If ICAAT won’t act, we need to find another authority to do what’s needed before someone eats the last bluefin." “Taking Tuna Out of the Can,” Greenpeace Report on the State of the World’s Tuna: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/taking-tuna-out-of-the-can For Greenpeace’s submission to ICCAT 2008:http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/ICCAT-16 Greenpeace is campaigning for a global network of fully protected marine reserves covering 40 percent of our oceans as an essential way to protect our seas from the ravages of climate change, to restore the health of fish stocks and protect ocean life from habitat destruction and collapse. It comprised of 28 independent national/regional offices in over 40 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. VVPR info: Jane Kochersperger, Media Officer, + 1 202 680 3798 cell Phil Kline, Oceans Campaigner, + 1 202 271 6710 Notes: For Greenpeace’s submission to ICCAT 2008: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/ICCAT-16 B-Roll/Photos Available
Moerdijk Field Research 2005-2006 (last update: 14 August 2010) \|Larus argentatus argenteus & Larus fuscus graellsii - Moerdijk, the Netherlands Phenotypic characteristics and moult commencement in breeding Dutch Herring Gulls Larus argentatus & Lesser Black-Backed Gulls Larus fuscus - M. Muusse, T. Muusse, R-J. Buijs, R. Altenburg, C. Gibbins & B-J. Luijendijk - Birds with a large geographic distribution commonly show variation in plumage throughout their range. This plumage variation is often the basis for describing different subspecies. In the western Palaearctic, the argentatus-fuscus-complex has raised many debates over the classification of species and subspecies. Based on recent molecular work, the most distinct populations are nowadays classified full species, as described in Yesou (2002). But how do we identify individual birds in the field? With full species status for closely related taxa, the interest for the variation within a population has increased. In this paper, we describe two Dutch subspecies: Herring Gull Larus argentatus argenteus and Lesser Black-backed Gull L. fuscus graellsii. For both these taxa we describe their intra-population variation. Several publications deal with phenotypic characteristics and moult commencement in Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Voous (1959) compared Herring Gulls from four locations in Europe to measure mantle colour, size and wing pattern. The very thorough work by Goethe (1961) deals with wingtip patterns and head dimensions of 160 Herring Gulls from the island Mellum in Germany. Stresemann & Stresemann (1966) describe the moult timing after examining museum specimen. Harris (1971). Barth’s work (1968, 1975) covered populations of both species from 13 locations in Europe. He described upper-part grey tone, primary patterns and colour of soft parts. Verbeek (1977) reconstructed primary moult timing from dead birds for both species on Walney Island. Hario (1984) described the moult onset for Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls by collecting shed feathers in a Finnish colony. Mierauskas et al (1991) compared yellow-legged Herring Gulls from the eastern Baltic with Caspian Gulls from the S Ukraine on wingtip pattern, vocals and bill dimensions. Stewart (2006) published on moult timing in trapped birds in the Severn Estuary. Buzun (2002) described primary patterns, wing length, iris colour, orbital ring colour and primary moult for West Siberian Gulls. Continental European Herring Gull L. a. argenteus and Lesser Black-backed Gull L. f. graellsii are known to show phenotypic characteristics which are intermediate between their British (L. a. argenteus & L. f. graellsii) and Scandinavian relatives (L. a. argentatus & L. f. intermedius). However, nothing has been published to date on the moult pattern and detailed phenotype of birds breeding in the Netherlands. The industrial complex Moerdijk in the Netherlands holds a mixed colony of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Colonisation of Moerdijk started in the early 1980s. By 2006, an estimated 650 pairs of Herring Gulls and 2900 pairs of Lesser Black-backed Gulls bred in the colony. In 2005, 157 breeding Herring Gulls and 434 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were colour ringed at Moerdijk, with 158 and 604, respectively, ringed in 2006. In this paper we use these data collected at Moerdijk to describe the phenotypic characteristics and commencement of primary moult. Seventeen Herring Gulls and 37 Lesser Black-baked Gulls were trapped both in 2005 and 2006. For these birds, only data for 2006 was used. In some chapters we discuss these re-trapped birds to see if scores and patterns changed between the two years. Our data illustrate the large intra-population variability that exists for these taxa, even within a single colony. We discuss the implications of this variability for field identification of the various sub-species of Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Read further on METHODS > \|Industrial complex Shell Moerdijk, research area.\| \|Roland-Jan Buijs & Job ter Horn.\| \|Complete nest: 3 eggs. Good nest to put a cage on.\| \|Air view of Shell Moerdijk.\| \|Administration in the field.\| \|Roland-Jan Buijs & Theo Muusse. For some areas, safety equipement required.\| \|Job ten Horn.\| \|Students of the Agrigultural School going field research.\| \|Attempt to escape.\| \|Mars Muusse & Roland-Jan Buijs. Scanning the colony for metal-ringed birds and interesting nests to put cages on.\| \|Cage is placed.\| \|Mars Muusse explaining the measurements to students.\| \|Out in the field...\| \|Roland-Jan Buijs explaining the measurements to students.\| \|Breeding birds alarming when we enter the colony to place the cages again.\| \|Spinder waste dump. Feeding dump in the vicinity of the colony.\| \|After breeding birds disperse. Here, Mars Muusse at Le Portel, France. Crate of salmon left-overs to read rings.\| \|Fishing trawlers in the S Northsea are important feeding possibilties after the breeding saeson.\| \|Fishing trawlers enter the harbour. Birds take a rest at the sea-dike of Westkapelle, Holland.\|
About the State Board - Even before statehood, Michigan was a leader in public education. In 1809 judicial districts created schools and levied taxes to support them. Twenty years later, The Territorial Council divided the districts into school districts and gave the State the right to supervise schools. Michigan's first constitution created a Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1835. John D. Pierce, a frontier missionary, was Michigan's first superintendent and the first independent administrator of education appointed under a state constitution in the United States. The State Board of Education's current responsibilities were established by the 1963 State Constitution. The leadership legacy continues as Board members lead the way in improving public education through recommendations and actions that have resulted in key legislative changes. The State Board of Education and Michigan Department of Education are pleased to work hand-in-hand with Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley regarding Special Education. - February 9, 2016 Lt. Governor Brian Calley's Presentation to the State Board of Education - January 12, 2016 Michelle Fecteau and Eileen Weiser Presentation on Special Education Task Force - September 8, 2015 Lt. Governor Brian Calley's Presentation to the State Board of Education
large anti-submarine helicopter The Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King replaced the H04-S in the 1960s for shipborne use. First flown off HMCS BONAVENTURE, Canada's last aircraft carrier, the Sea Kings were also flown from the decks of ST. LAURENT and ANNAPOLIS class destroyers when the latter became available and the former were converted to helicopter carrying destroyers. The Canadian Navy pioneered the use of such a large helicopter from the deck of small destroyers, and all destroyers were fitted with the new Beartrap helicopter haul-down device (the USN eventually adopted this equipment as the RAST). Sea Kings have been the workhorses of the fleet for over 40 years now, and have delivered excellent service for a large portion of that time. The Sea Kings have received several upgrades over the years, including new engines, radar, missile avoidance countermeasures, and a FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) camera. However, the sonar system is antiquated, and the Sea Kings are now somewhat of a weak link for the warships that carry them (in addition to their increasing unreliability). Some sources suggest a recommended 20 lifetime for these aircraft; aside from being complex machines which eventually wear out, helicopters operating from the decks of small warships also suffer from salt water corrosion and added stresses to the airframe. However, the intended procurement of the EH-101 to replace the Sea King in the early 1990s fell through. The Sea Kings are still flying today and will continue to do so for the near future, until they are replaced. The government has selected the new Sikorsky H-92 to replace the Sea King, but these helicopters must be converted for use off warships and will not be ready until 2008 at the earliest. Until then, the personnel who fly in the Sea Kings must continue to operate increasingly cantankerous helicopters that require a considerable number of maintenance hours for each hour in the air. (click on thumbnail for bigger image)
Just because you’ve been blessed with the sense of hearing does not mean you’ve been blessed with the skill of listening. Hearing is in fact one of the five senses. It is merely the act of perceiving sound and receiving sound waves or vibrations through your ear. Unless you’re hearing impaired you likely take that ability for granted. You also seldom stop to think about the difference between hearing someone speak and actually listening to what was said. The failure to understand that difference is often a fatal mistake for new and emerging leaders. Listening is the act of hearing a sound and actually understanding what you hear. It usually requires more than just the sense of hearing. Great communicators are great listeners, they use the sense of hearing, seeing, and sense of touch. Great communicators know that listening is a skill that requires you to stop talking long enough to let the sound you hear go through your brain so it can process the meaning of it. The best communicators are active listeners. Active listening means also observing what you hear, like the speaker’s body language and emotions, in order to better understand what the speaker is truly saying. When we fail to listen we lose the ability to understand and interpret what was said. When we fail to listen we create a communication “gap” and we often fill that gap with our personal bias, judgements and experiences. That’s where the “you said this, no I didn’t” arguments usually come from. Hearing will never build a relationship with anyone. If you want to build relationships with anyone you’ll need to listen to them. When people know you’re interested enough to truly listen to them then they will know enough to know that you also truly care. And oh by the way, don’t kid yourself; if you’re talking you’re most certainly NOT listening.
From something as simple as a door sensor at a store to the new age of “smart” sensors in a rapidly emerging wearables market, the application of sensors has already permeated many parts of our everyday lives. But the future of dynamic sensor applications goes beyond just measuring your heart rate through the new Apple Watch; it is about how readily available sensor technology can be seamlessly intertwined with our daily activities to give us continuous insight into our own health and the way we interact with the world around us. This is not just about wearables. Companies within the medicine, military and sport industries have all been increasing the connectivity of their respective products and workflows to the Internet of Things (IoT), and have used this connectivity and awareness to create powerful tools that enable better understanding, better analyses and better decisions. Sensors fuel this process. But like all tools, it’s important to use the right one for the job. Not every type of sensor is fit to measure the range of lifestyles that we lead, or how our environment affects us. People are dynamic beings with soft bodies that react differently when we interact with the different situations and products around us. A Step Up With Soft Sensors Unlike conventional sensors that focus on the movement and characteristics of hard objects, soft sensors have been developed with the body and other “soft” structures in mind. Whether they are a few millimeters in diameter or the size of a sheet of paper, these sensors provide highly accurate and repeatable data about any change in the shape of these soft structures. Technology should enhance our life, not distract us from it. Soft and stretchy sensors can be used to measure human movement directly without interfering with that movement. They can be placed on the body, discreetly integrated into our clothes or otherwise glued, sewn or moulded into anything soft. This enables products to be designed to fit the way our bodies and other soft structures work, not the other way around. The opportunities are limitless. Stretch sensors have massive potential to disrupt much more than just the realm of consumer wearables. The most obvious application for soft sensors is in the sports sphere. The connected athlete already has a suite of wearable tech tools at their disposal, such as armbands and wristbands that measure distance, time and routes. However, many of these products are focused purely on monitoring biometric data. By contrast, barely-there soft sensors add a level of bio-mechanical data that gives athletes and coaches a better understanding of body motion, muscle contraction, breathing rates, movement techniques, posture and risk of injury for each individual. Companies such as Heddoko have already started integrating StretchSense’s fabric stretch sensor into compression clothing to continuously track body movement and guide athletes toward optimal performance and precision. The flexibility of the sensors means that they can be applied to any item of clothing or footwear without restricting any part of the athlete’s natural movement and performance. Paired with wireless technology, athletes can break down and analyse every part of their performance without leaving the sporting venue. Hospitals and specialist clinics have already benefited greatly from the use of sensors to measure a range of health metrics, like heart rate, blood pressure, glucose levels and much more. However, the healthcare industry still lacks a wide integration of available technologies that could produce better results. Wireless and wearable soft sensors enable low-level care to be shifted out of the hospital and into the home, allowing accurate self-assessment and ongoing monitoring of patients during home recovery time periods. For patients who require ongoing physiotherapy, soft sensors allow for the individual monitoring of exercise movements, improving the accuracy of technique and tracking of the recovery progress. Patients can share their data in real time with their specialist, from home or work, saving everyone the time and opportunity cost involved in making a special trip. At MIT, researchers have created a “7 finger robot” that enhances the grasping mechanism of the human hand by adding two extra “fingers” adjacent to the thumb and pinky finger. The grasping assistance of the robot has potential to help elderly and disabled patients expand their independence capabilities over greater periods of time. Watch the video of the device: The automobile sector already uses more than 100 sensors (depending on the model) to measure brakes, tire pressure, temperature and if you’re too close to a car. The majority of these sensors focus on the condition and safety of the car. Soft sensors open new ways to monitor and enhance the safety and comfort of the people within the car. Embedded within a car seat, soft sensors can be used to analyze how people are sitting, showing clearly the weight distribution and posture of the driver or passengers. The seat can automatically adjust to the personal preference of the person sitting in it and ensure they stay comfortable throughout their journey. Safety features, such as an airbag, can be dynamically geared toward the individual sitting in the seat — whether it’s an adult or a child — enabling the car to deploy the airbag with appropriate pressure and height in the event of an accident. Virtual, Augmented Reality Although large companies like Google have sparked a resurgence in the interest on virtual reality, it is interesting to see the limiting factors that hold back virtual reality from being a truly immersive experience — namely, the lack of input methods for interacting with the digital universe. Keyboards and touchscreens simply do not work. Unfortunately for the industry, these are still the critical elements that, apart from the visual aspect, largely connect the user to the experience. Precisely tracking how a person moves in a simple, untethered way not only plugs a major gap in the VR/AR experience, it paves the way for the whole body to become an input device. Soft sensors can make games responsive through the natural movements of a player. Motion and body language data can be combined with other biometric data to measure a person’s neurological reactions in nearly real-life situations. Now developers can create a truly immersive and truly interactive experience that responds to the people in it. A Simple Solution These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. For too long we have focused on repurposing sensor technology created for rigid and precise machines and putting them on soft bodies. However, people are soft and precise — and hard sensors simply cannot tell the whole story. With soft, precise sensing we now have a way of capturing so much more of the non-verbal communication we take for granted when we interact with each other. Mastering this new contextual awareness will take us one giant leap closer toward a world where technology is smarter, less intrusive and more seamlessly embedded in the fabric of our lives. Because, at the end of the day, technology should enhance our life, not distract us from it.
Dolphins to Drones: Beat It, Bozo #drone #droneday As drones become more ubiquitous it is important to consider the impact on all environments. Via Hakai Magezine New research suggests drones can stress bottlenose dolphins and cause them to change their behavior. Ticiana Fettermann, a marine biologist at the Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand and lead author of the study, says drones should be flown at least 25 meters above the ocean’s surface as a precaution against disturbing dolphins. “When drones are not used safely, appropriately, and responsibly, they can put marine mammals at risk,” Fettermann says. “These findings provide invaluable guidance for the regulation of recreational and commercial use of drones around wildlife.” Welcome to drone day on the Adafruit blog. Every Monday we deliver the latest news, products and more from the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), quadcopter and drone communities. Drones can be used for video & photography (dronies), civil applications, policing, farming, firefighting, military and non-military security work, such as surveillance of pipelines. Previous posts can be found via the #drone tag and our drone / UAV categories. Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
TECHNOLOGY FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE As part of efforts toward environmental sustainability, Microsoft recently developed a mouse made from 20% recycled ocean plastic. This product represents a breakthrough in sustainable design technology, which required years of research and collaboration between design and development teams. Upon completion of the project, Microsoft approached RUN about making a video to tell the unique story of how this device was created. The story of the Ocean Plastic mouse is about environmental impact, collaboration between teams, and new technology. To make the video compelling, we focused our efforts in two areas: 1) Capture the enthusiasm and excitement that the Microsoft team has for this project through authentic and engaging interviews 2) Create a beautiful, memorable visual motif that ties the interviews and the product back to the ocean where the plastics were pulled With these areas of focus in mind, we conducted the interviews in a studio with projected imagery of ocean waves crashing in the background. This gives the interviews not only a unique look, but aesthetically connects them to the supporting footage. The consistent use of water imagery and colors throughout the video creates unity between the style and the content of this piece. Production occurred over the course of two days on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, with one day dedicated to the interviews, and a second day for b-roll capture. To set up the b-roll footage, we focused on staging scenes of collaboration between key participants in the project, while showing the various prototypes and early iterations of the Ocean Plastic mouse. The tone for the video is optimistic and informative, which is conveyed through the music, footage, and interviews. We focused on the genuine story about why this product is important and how this is the one of the first steps toward sustainable design in consumer electronic products.
A galactocele (also: lacteal cyst or milk cyst) is a retention cyst containing milk or a milky substance that is usually located in the mammary glands. It is caused by a protein plug that blocks off the outlet. It is seen in lactating women on cessation of lactation. Once lactation has ended the cyst should resolve on its own without intervention. A galactocele does not cause infection as the milk within is sterile and has no outlet for which to become contaminated. Attempts to drain the cyst are unsuccessful because the protein plug remains intact and milk production continues. It presents as a large, soft, fluctuating lump in the lower part of breast. It is not usually painful. Treatment is by aspiration of the contents or by excision of the cyst. Antibiotics are given to prevent infection. Galactocele may be associated with oral contraceptive use.
CP/M was blessed with many programming languages, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. I think that Turbo Pascal stands out from these and I'm not alone. When Turbo Pascal was released in 1983 by Borland, as their first software development application, it was quickly adopted by schools, universities, hobbyists and professional software developers. Turbo Pascal combined ease of use, power, speed and a great manual all for the really low price of $49.95. Why Use Turbo Pascal Under CP/M? With TP you get an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), so that you can edit, compile and run all from the same application. Since the IDE is only 34Kb there is plenty of space left on a disk for your source code and compiled programs. This is particularly handy for single disk machines. The editor is very functional and uses a subset of the Wordstar key combinations. Pascal was designed to be easy to compile and because TP uses a single pass compiler, compilation speed is incredibly quick. The downside of the compilation speed is that the code is quite a literal translation without much optimization. However, for many applications this won't be much of an issue compared to the increased programmer productivity. If you need parts of your program to run faster, you can always embed inline machine code into functions/procedures or access functions in external binaries. The latter option allows you to create libraries in assembly language and use a jump table to access individual functions with the In 1986 Borland released Turbo Pascal 3.0 which added support for overlays. The running code could now be swapped in and out from disk as needed. With careful planning, you could escape the normal 64Kb limit and only be constrained by the capacity of the disk you are running the application from. The standard library offers a good range of functions and TP keeps quite close to Standard Pascal as defined by Jensen & Wirth in their 'User Manual and Report'. As with all Pascal implementations, there are problems porting programs between implementations. However, if you aren't using any of the operating system specific calls, then you can easily port to the MS-DOS and CP/M-86 versions. My only gripe is that TP doesn't support procedures and functions passed as parameters. Finally, Borland included a highly readable and very complete manual. It covered not just the IDE, language and libraries, but also detailed information on the memory layout and calling conventions from assembly language. This meant that you could quickly get up and running with few additional resources. How to install First download Turbo Pascal 3.01a for CP/M-80 and unzip the archive. Put at least TURBO.* files onto a disk. The real advantage of not copying all the files is seen if you only have a single drive. The extra room will allow you to edit, compile and run your programs all from the same disk. For instructions on how to create a virtual disk for z80pack look at: Emulating a CP/M System With z80pack. Boot up your CP/M system, put in the disk with TP on it and change to this drive if necessary. In my examples I am using TINST program to set up the screen: S for Screen Installation and select the appropriate terminal for your set up. I'm using z80pack, so I select ANSI. You probably don't want to alter this definition so say No to altering it. Then enter the speed in Mhz of your machine. If a suitable terminal isn't listed consult the TP manual for advice. If you want to configure additional editor commands, you can do this via the Command Installation option. At the very least, if you have them, you'll probably want to configure the page-up, page-down keys as well as the cursor keys to represent character-left, character-right, line-up and line-down. If not press Q to quit. To start the IDE run: You should now be looking at the Turbo Pascal splash screen, showing the version, copyright message and which terminal is configured. At the bottom you are asked whether to 'Include error messages'. For the moment press Now you will be presented with the main screen. You have a number of commands on this screen, which are accessed by a single letter. To work with a pascal source file, first press W and then enter a filename. This is the file that the editor will open and it is also the file that the compiler will compile if you haven't selected a main file. To edit the work file, press E. The editor uses Wordstar key combinations which you can read more about in the manual. For now the following keys will be useful to know: \|CTRL-k s\|\|Save Document\| You can also use any keys that you configured above with the Command Installation option in Files are edited in memory so to save them to disk you press S from the main menu. To compile and run the work file, or main file if selected, press R. Depending on what is set in the compiler options, this will either compile to a com file or will compile to memory. To try this with the traditional 'Hello, world!' program, set the work file to hello.pas, edit the file and enter the following, then quit the editor. program helloworld; begin writeln('Hello, world!'); end. Compile and run it by pressing R from the main menu. You should see it compile and then say hello to the world. The following video shows the creation of a FizzBuzz program using Turbo Pascal and allows us to see just how quick and easy it is. The source code for fizzbuzz.pas used in the video is as follows: program fizzbuzz(output); var i: integer; begin for i := 1 to 100 do begin if i mod 15 = 0 then write('FizzBuzz ') else if i mod 3 = 0 then write('Fizz ') else if i mod 5 = 0 then write('Buzz ') else write(i, ' '); end end. Get the Turbo Pascal 3.0 Manual for CP/M-80, CP/M-86 and PC-DOS/MS-DOS from bitsavers.org. It is a wonderfully well-laid out manual and you should have no problems using this to learn and get the most out of Turbo Pascal. You may also want to take a look at a copy of the old Borland musuem page: Antique Software: Turbo Pascal v3.02. You are now ready to use Turbo Pascal to write and compile applications like it was 1986.
Heliciculture, also known as heliculture, commonly known as snail farming, is the process of raising land snails specifically for human use, either to use their flesh as edible escargot, or more recently, to obtain snail slime for use in cosmetics, or snail eggs for human consumption as a type of caviar. Perhaps the best known edible land snail species in the Western world is Helix pomatia, the Roman snail, Burgundy snail or Apple snail. Another species eaten is Helix aspersa. Both of these land snails are European in their native range. Other species of land snail that are consumed by humans are found in Europe, Northern Africa, North America and in various other parts of the world. - 1 History - 2 Economic impact - 3 List of edible land snail species - 4 Mating and egg laying - 5 Growth - 6 Farming snails - 7 Pens and enclosures - 8 Cannibalism by hatchlings - 9 Feeding - 10 Diseases and pests - 11 Population density - 12 Turning snails into escargots - 13 Restrictions and regulations in the United States - 14 References - 15 Further reading - 16 External links Lumaca romana, (translation: Roman snail), was an ancient method of snail farming or heliciculture in the region about Tarquinia. This snail farming method was described by Fulvius Lippinus (49 BC) and mentioned by Marcus Terentius Varro in De Re rustica III, 12. The snails were fattened for human consumption using corn flour and aromatic herbs. People usually raised snails in pens near the house, and these pens were called "cochlea". The Romans, in particular, are known to have considered escargot as an elite food, as noted in the writings of Pliny. The Romans selected the best snails for breeding. Shells of the edible land snail species Otala lactea have been recovered in archaeological excavations of Volubilis in present-day Morocco. "Wall fish" were also often eaten in Britain, but were never as popular as on the continent. There, people often ate snails during Lent, and in a few places, they consumed large quantities of snails at Mardi Gras or Carnival, as a foretaste of Lent. According to some sources, the French exported brown garden snails to California in the 1850s, raising them as the delicacy escargot. Other sources claim that Italian immigrants were the first to bring the snail to the United States. U.S. imports of snails were worth more than $4.5 million in 1995 and came from 24 countries. This includes preserved or prepared snails and snails that are live, fresh, chilled, or frozen. Major exporters to the U.S. are France, Indonesia, Greece and China. The U.S. exported live, fresh, chilled, or frozen snails worth $55,000 to 13 countries; most were shipped to Japan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Individual statistics are not available for U.S. exports of prepared or processed snails from the U.S. Department of Commerce. List of edible land snail species Edible land snails range in size from about one millimeter long to the giant African snails, which occasionally grow up to 312 mm (12 1⁄4 in) in length. "Escargot" most commonly refers to either Helix aspersa or to Helix pomatia, although other varieties of snails are eaten. Achatina fulica, a giant African snail, is sliced and canned and passed off on some consumers as escargot. Terms such as "garden snail" or "common brown garden snail" are rather meaningless since they refer to so many types of snails, but they sometimes mean H. aspersa. - Helix aspersa is also known as the French "petit gris," "small grey snail," the "escargot chagrine," or "la zigrinata." The shell of a mature adult has four to five whorls and measures 30 to 45 mm across. It is native to the shores of the Mediterranean and up the coast of Spain and France. It is found on many British Isles, where the Romans introduced it in the 1st century AD (Some references say it dates to the Early Bronze Age.) In the early 19th century the French brought it into California where it has become a serious pest. These snails are now common throughout the U.S. It was introduced into several Eastern and Gulf states even before 1850 and, later introduced into other countries such as Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Mexico, and Argentina. H. aspersa has a life span of 2 to 5 years. This species is more adaptable to different climates and conditions than many snails, and is found in woods, fields, sand dunes, and gardens. This adaptability not only increases H. aspersa's range, but it also makes farming H. aspersa easier and less risky. - Helix pomatia measures about 45 mm across the shell. It also is called the "Roman snail," "apple snail," "lunar," "la vignaiola," the German "Weinbergschnecke," the French "escargot de Bourgogne" or "Burgundy snail," or "gros blanc." Native over a large part of Europe, it lives in wooded mountains and valleys up to 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) altitude and in vineyards and gardens. The Romans may have introduced it into Britain. Immigrants introduced it into the U.S. in Michigan and Wisconsin. Many prefer H. pomatia to H. aspersa for its flavor and its larger size, as the "escargot par excellence." - Otala lactea is sometimes called the "vineyard snail," "milk snail," or "Spanish snail." The shell is white with reddish brown spiral bands and measures about 26 to 35 mm in diameter. - Iberus alonensis, the Spanish "vaqueta" or "serrana", measures about 30 mm across the shell. - Cepaea nemoralis, the "grove snail," or the Spanish "vaqueta", measures about 25 mm across the shell. It inhabits Central Europe and was introduced into, and is now naturalized in many U.S. states, from Massachusetts to California, and from Tennessee to Canada. Its habitat ranges widely from woods to dunes. It mainly eats dead plant material, but it likes nettles and buttercups and will eat dead worms and dead snails. - Cepaea hortensis, the "white-lipped snail", measures about 20 mm across the shell which often has distinct dark stripes. It is native to central and northern Europe. This species was introduced into Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire in colonial times, but it never became established in these states. Its habitat varies but C. hortensis is found in colder and wetter places than C. nemoralis. Their smaller size and some people's opinion that they do not taste as good make C. hortensis and C. nemoralis less popular than the larger European land snails. - Otala punctata, called "vaqueta" in some parts of Spain, measures about 35 mm across the shell. - Eobania vermiculata, the "vinyala," "mongeta," or "xona", measures about 25 mm. It is found in Mediterranean countries and was introduced into Louisiana and Texas. - Helix lucorum, sometimes called "escargo turc," measures about 45 mm across the shell. It is found in central Italy and from Yugoslavia through the Crimea to Turkey and around the Black Sea. - Helix adanensis comes from around Turkey. - Helix aperta measures about 25 mm. Its meat is highly prized. It is native to France, Italy, and other Mediterranean countries and has become established in California and Louisiana. Sometimes known as the "burrowing snail," it is found above ground only during rainy weather. In hot, dry weather, it burrows three to six inches into the ground and becomes dormant until rain softens the soil. - Theba pisana, also called the "banded snail"or the "cargol avellanenc", measures about 20 mm and lives on dry, exposed sites, usually near the sea. Native to Sicily, it has been spread to several European countries, including England. This snail is a serious garden pest and is the "white snail" that California once eradicated by using flamethrowers to burn off whole areas. In large numbers, up to 3,000 snails per tree, it can ravage a garden in 24 hours and a citrus or other crop in a couple of nights. - Sphincterochila candidissima or Leucochroa candidisima, the "cargol mongeta," or "cargol jueu" measures about 20 mm. - Achatina fulica and other Achatina species, giant African snails. They can grow up to 326 mm (1 ft ¾ in) in length. Their native range is south of the Sahara in East Africa. This snail was purposely introduced into India in 1847. There was an unsuccessful attempt to establish it in Japan in 1925. It has been purposely and accidentally transported to other Pacific locations and was inadvertently released in California after World War II, in Hawaii, and later in North Miami Florida in the 1970s. In many places, it is a serious agricultural pest that causes considerable crop damage. Also, due to its large size, its slime and fecal material create a nuisance as does the odor that occurs when something like poison bait causes large numbers to die. The U.S. has made considerable effort to eradicate Achatina. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has banned the importation and possession of live Giant African snails. However, they are still sought after as pets due to the vibrant "tiger stripes" on their shells. Mating and egg laying Snails are hermaphrodites. Although they have both male and female reproductive organs, they must mate with another snail of the same species before they lay eggs. Some snails may act as males one season and as females the next. Other snails play both roles at once and fertilize each other simultaneously. When the snail is large enough and mature enough, which may take several years, mating occurs in the late spring or early summer after several hours of courtship. Sometimes there is a second mating in summer. (In tropical climates, mating may occur several times a year. In some climates, snails mate around October and may mate a second time 2 weeks later.) After mating, the snail can store sperm received for up to a year, but it usually lays eggs within a few weeks. Snails are sometimes uninterested in mating with another snail of the same species that originated from a considerable distance away. For example, a H. aspersa from southern France may reject a H. aspersa from northern France. Snails need soil at least 2 inches deep in which to lay their eggs. For H. pomatia, the soil should be at least 3 inches deep to keep out pests such as ants, earwigs, millipedes, etc. Dry soil is not suitable for the preparation of a nest, nor is soil that is too heavy. In clay soil that becomes hard, reproduction rates may decrease because the snails are unable to bury their eggs and the hatchlings have difficulty emerging from the nest. Hatchability of eggs depends on soil temperature, soil humidity, soil composition, etc. Soil consisting of 20% to 40% organic material is good. The soil should be kept at 41 to 50 °F (5 to 10 °C), and is best around 70 °F (21 °C). Soil moisture should be maintained at 80%. One researcher removes eggs immediately after they are deposited, counts them, then keeps them on moist cotton until the eggs hatch and the young start to eat. Snails lose substantial weight by laying eggs. Some do not recover. About one-third of the snails will die after the breeding season. H. pomatia eggs measure about 3 mm in diameter and have a calcareous shell and a high yolk content. H. pomatia lays the eggs in July or August, 2 to 8 weeks after mating, in holes dug out in the ground. (Data varies widely on how long after mating snails lay eggs.) The snail puts its head into the hole or may crawl in until only the top of the shell is visible; then it deposits eggs from the genital opening just behind the head. It takes the snail 1 to 2 days to lay 30 to 50 eggs. Occasionally, the snail will lay about a dozen more a few weeks later. The snail covers the hole with a mixture of the slime it excretes and dirt. This slime, which the snail excretes to help it crawl and to help preserve the moisture in its soft body, is glycoprotein similar to eggwhite. Fully developed baby H. pomatia snails hatch about 3 to 4 weeks after the eggs are laid, depending on temperature and humidity. Birds, insects, mice, toads and other predators take a heavy toll on the young snails. The snails eat and grow until the weather turns cold. They then dig a deep hole, sometimes as deep as 1-foot (30 cm), and seal themselves inside their shell and hibernate for the winter. This is a response to both decreasing temperature and shorter hours of daylight. When the ground warms up in spring, the snail emerges and goes on a binge of replacing lost moisture and eating. H. aspersa eggs are white, spherical, about 3 mm in diameter and are laid 5 days to 3 weeks after mating. (Data varies widely due to differences in climate and regional variations in the snails' habitats.) H. aspersa lays an average of 85 eggs in a nest that is 1 to 1½ inches deep. Data varies from 30 to over 120 eggs, but high figures may be from when more than one snail lays eggs in the same nest. In warm, damp climates, H. aspersa may lay eggs as often as five times from February through October, depending on the weather and region. Mating and egg-laying begin when there are at least 10 hours of daylight and continue until days begin to get shorter. In the United States, longer hours of sunlight that occur when temperatures are still too cold will affect this schedule, but increasing hours of daylight still stimulate egg laying. If warm enough, the eggs hatch in about 2 weeks, or in 4 weeks if cooler. It takes the baby snails several more days to break out of the sealed nest and climb to the surface. In a climate similar to southern California's, H. aspersa matures in about 2 years. In central Italy, H. aspersa hatches and emerges from the soil almost exclusively in the autumn. If well fed and not overcrowded, those snails that hatch at the start of the season will reach adult size and form a lip at the edge of their shell by the following June. If the environment is manipulated to get more early hatchlings, the size and number of snails that mature the following year will increase. In South Africa, some H. aspersa mature in 10 months, and under ideal conditions in a laboratory, some have matured in 6 to 8 months. Most of H. aspersa's reproductive activity takes place in the second year of its life. By contrast, one giant African snail, Achatina fulica, lays 100 to 400 elliptical eggs that each measure about 5 mm long. Each snail may lay several batches of eggs each year, usually in the wet season. They may lay eggs in holes in the ground like H. pomatia, or lay eggs on the surface of a rocky soil, in organic matter, or at the base of plants. In 10 to 30 days, the eggs hatch releasing snails about 4 mm long. These snails grow up to 10 mm per month. After 6 months, the Achatina fulica is about 35 mm long and may already be sexually mature. Sexual maturity takes 6 to 16 months, depending on weather and the availability of calcium. This snail lives 5 or 6 years, sometimes as many as 9 years. Within the same snail population and under the same conditions, some snails will grow faster than others. Some will take twice as long to mature. This may help the species survive bad weather, etc., in the wild. However, a snail farmer should obviously select and keep the largest and fastest maturing snails for breeding stock and sell the smaller snails. By selecting only the largest, the average size of the snail may increase significantly in only a couple of generations. Most of the differences in growth are probably due to environmental factors including stocking density. However, to whatever extent these differences are genetic, farmers generally breed large, fast-growing snails instead of small, slower-growing ones. Several factors can greatly influence the growth of snails including: population density, stress (snails are sensitive to noise, light, vibration, unsanitary conditions, irregular feedings, being touched, etc.), feed, temperature and moisture, and the breeding technology used. H. aspersa requires at least 3% to 4% calcium in the soil (or another source of calcium) for good growth. Most snails need more calcium in the soil than H. aspersa. Low calcium intake will slow the growth rate and cause the shell to be thinner. Calcium may be set out in a feeding dish or trough so the snails can eat it at will. Food is only one calcium source. Snails may eat paint or attack walls of buildings seeking calcium, and they also will eat dirt. A newborn's shell size depends on the egg size since the shell develops from the egg's surface membrane. As the snail grows, the shell is added onto in increments. Eventually the shell will develop a flare or reinforcing lip at its opening. This shows that the snail is now mature; there will be no further shell growth. Growth is measured by shell size, since a snail's body weight varies and fluctuates, even in 100% humidity. The growth rate varies considerably between individuals in each population group. Adult size, which is related to the growth rate, also varies, thus the fastest growers are usually the largest snails. Eggs from larger, healthier snails also tend to grow faster and thus larger. Dryness inhibits growth and even stops activity. When it becomes too hot and dry in summer, the snail becomes inactive, seals its shell and estivates (becomes dormant) until cooler, moister weather returns. Some snails estivate in groups on tree trunks, posts, or walls. They seal themselves to the surface thus sealing up the shell opening. Peak snail activity (including feeding and thus growth) occurs a few hours after sunset, when the temperature is lower and the water content (in the form of dew) is higher. During daytime snails usually seek shelter. Successful snail culture requires the correct equipment and supplies, including: snail pens or enclosures; devices for measuring humidity (hygrometer), temperature (thermometer), soil moisture, and light (in foot candles); a weight scale and an instrument to measure snail size; a kit for testing soil contents; and a magnifying glass to see the eggs. Equipment to control the climate (temperature and humidity), to regulate water (e.g., a sprinkler system to keep the snails moist and a drainage system), to provide light and shade, and to kill or keep out pests and predators may also be needed. Some horticultural systems such as artificial lighting systems and water sprinklers may be adapted for snail culture. Better results are obtained if snails of the same kind and generation are used. Some recommend putting the hatchlings in another pen. Four systems of snail farms can be distinguished: - Outdoor Pens. - In buildings with a controlled climate. - In closed systems such as plastic tunnel houses or "greenhouses". - In addition, snails may breed and hatch inside in a controlled environment and then (after 6 to 8 weeks) may be placed in outside pens to mature. Climate: A mild climate 15–25 °C (59–77 °F) with high humidity (75% to 95%) is best for snail farming, though most varieties can stand a wider range of temperatures. The optimal temperature is 21 °C (70 °F) for many varieties. When the temperature falls below 7 °C (45 °F), snails hibernate. Under 12 °C (54 °F) the snails are inactive, and under 10 °C (50 °F), all growth stops. When the temperature rises much above 27 °C (81 °F) or conditions become too dry, snails estivate. Wind is bad for snails because it speeds up moisture loss, and snails must retain moisture. Moisture: Snails thrive in damp but not waterlogged environments and thus a well-draining soil is required. Research indicates that water content around 80% of the carrying capacity of the soil and air humidity over 80% (during darkness) are the most favorable conditions. Many farmers use mist-producing devices to maintain proper moisture in the air and/or soil. Also, if the system contains alive vegetation, the leaves are to be periodically wet. Soil: Snails dig in soil and ingest it. Good soil favors snail growth and provides some of their nutrition. Lack of access to good soil may cause fragile shells even when the snails have well-balanced feed; the snails growth may lag far behind the growth of other snails on good soil. Snails will often eat feed, then go eat dirt. Sometimes, they will eat only one or the other. A well-functional soil would have the following characteristics: - Containing neither a lot of sand nor too much clay, as snails strive to dig into hard clay and sand dries out easily. - 20–40% organic matter content. Organic matter enhances cation exchange capacity of calcium and magnesium which in turn stimulates growth. - pH around 7. - Adequate calcium, the primary constituent of shells (up to 98%). A common way to introduce calcium is to add ground limestone at a suggested concentration of 4.5 kg per 100 square feet (9.3 m2). Calcium may also be set out in a feeding dish or trough so the snails can eat it at will. More advanced techniques involve the addition of polyacrylamide with the following concentration: 12.5 cm³ of a 160 g M.A./one preparation in 250 cc of water per kilogram of dry soil. Such stabilization treatment helps the soil structure resist washing and allows regular cleaning without destroying the crumb structure of the soil that is beneficial for egg laying. Soil care: A farmer must find a way to prevent the soil from becoming fouled with mucus and droppings and also tackle undesirable chemical changes that may occur in time. Soil mix suggestions: Pens and enclosures Enclosures for snails are usually long and thin instead of square. This allows the workers to walk around (without harming the snails) and reach into the whole pen. The enclosure may be a trough with sides made of wood, block, fiber cement sheets, or galvanized sheet steel. Cover it with screen or netting. The covering confines the snails and keeps out birds and other predators. Fences or walls are usually 2 feet (0.61 m) high plus at least 5 inches into the ground. Fencing made of galvanized metal or hard-plastic sheets helps keep out some predators. A cover will protect against heavy rain. Shade (which may be a fine mesh screen) on warm winter days helps keep the snails dormant. 5 mm mesh or finer is used for pen screens or fences. Pens containing baby snails need a finer mesh. Snails need hiding places, especially during the warm daytime. Plastic soil drainage pipes from the local garden center can be split in two lengthwise, and stacked one layer one way and the next layer at a right angle, providing shelter and also increasing by 50% the number of snails that can live in the pen. A sprinkler system ensures moisture when needed and can be turned on at sunset rather than earlier in the day, when the moisture may drive snails out into hot sunshine. Temperature and humidity can be monitored using a thermometer and a hygrometer. The bottom of the enclosure if it is not the ground or trays of dirt, needs be a surface more solid than screening. A snail placed in a wire-mesh-bottom pen will keep crawling, trying to get off the wires and onto solid, more comfortable ground. In order to preventing escapes, in an open pen, the top of the fences curve inward in a half circle; this works to confine the vineyard snail. However, H. aspersa can escape from such an open pen, and an electric fence may be needed to contain them. [The electric fence top has two or more thin wires that are 2 to 4 mm apart. Each wire carries the opposite charge of the wire next to it. A battery or transformer is used to supply 4 to 12 volts to the wire. A snail will get a mild shock and retract when it crawls over a wire and touches a second wire.] Another technique to confine snails is to bend the fence top inward into a sharp "V" shape with about a 20 degree angle. The snail's shell will hit the bent-back part of the screen before the snail can reach up and start crawling on it. This blocks the snail, and the angled screen automatically compensates for the size of the snail. Another alternative, suitable for solid wall enclosures, is to attach to the wall a horizontal piece of screen that projects inward several inches over the enclosure. The screen is made with material such as nylon monofilament that is moderately stiff and springy yet easily flexible. On the inside edge of the screen, the cross fibers are removed, producing a fringe several inches wide. When a snail crawls on the underside of the screen and moves out onto the fringe, his weight pulls several individual fibers down. One by one, another fiber gets away from the snail and springs back up out of reach. Eventually the snail is dangling by a thread. The snail then falls, because the surface area is not big enough to crawl on. Because snails usually will not cross a copper band, another solution is to top the fence with 3-inch-wide (or wider) copper band.The band can be bet so that part of it faces inward and is parallel to the pen floor. The band must not be placed very close to the ground, because rain may wash soil against the copper and leave a residue that may enable the snail to cross it. The bottom of the fence must be buried deep enough into the ground so that the snails cannot dig under it. An alternate method is to make a square pen with a 10-foot (3.0 m)-square garden in it. Plant about six crops, e.g., nettles and artichokes, inside the pen. The snails will choose what they want to eat. If it has not rained, turn sprinklers on for about 15 minutes at dusk, unless the snails are dormant. A disadvantage to this method is that, if the snails are not mature at the end of the year, it is difficult to replant fresh plant crops in the pens. Plastic tunnels make cheap, easy snail enclosures, but it is difficult to regulate heat and humidity. The tunnel will be 10 to 20 degrees warmer than the outside, and snails become dormant when the temperature climbs above 80 °F (27 °C). When snails are raised indoors under controlled conditions, reproduction varies according to the geographic origin of the breeding stock. For example, one researcher found that H. aspersa snails from Brittany seem to do better indoors than snails from another region. To breed snails indoors, the temperature needs to be kept at 70 °F and the relative humidity at 80% to 90%; some sources say 95%. Another source recommends 75% humidity by day and 95% at night. The Center for Heliciculture once recommended 65–75% humidity during the day and 85–95% at night at 68 °F. In any event, avoid humidity higher than 95% (some say 90%) for any length of time. Excessive humidity can kill snails. Optimum temperature and relative humidity depend on several things, including the snail variety and even where breeding stock was gathered. For H. aspersa, the optimum temperature for hatching eggs seems to be 68 °F (20 °C) at 100% relative humidity. The second best temperature/humidity combination depends on where the snails came from and results can drop drastically to 0% hatching at 17 °C (63 °F) and 100% humidity. The soil must not be kept wet when the humidity is maintained at 100%, as the eggs will absorb water, swell up, and burst. Fluorescent lamps can be used to give artificial daylight. Different snails respond to day length in different ways. The ratio of light to darkness influences activity, feeding, and mating and egg-laying. Eighteen or more hours of light apparently stimulate H. aspersa growth, while less than 12 hours inhibit it. Some snail species may associates the long hours of light with the start of summer—the peak growing season. Eighteen hours of daylight also appear optimal for breeding (mating and egg laying), but snails will breed in darkness. Snails can be bred in boxes or cages stacked several units high. An automatic sprinkler system can be used to provide moisture. Breeding cages need a feed trough and a water trough. Plastic trays a couple of inches deep are adequate; deeper water troughs increase the chance of snails drowning in them. Trays can be set on a bed of small gravel. Small plastic pots, e.g., flower pots about 3 inches deep, can be filled with sterilized dirt (or a loamy pH neutral soil) and set in the gravel to give the snails a place to lay their eggs. After the snails lay eggs each pot is replaced. (Set one pot inside another so that one can be easily lifted without shifting the gravel.) When the snails have laid their eggs, the pots are put in a nursery where the eggs will hatch. The young snails are kept in the nursery for about 6 weeks, and then moved to a separate pen, as young snails do best if kept with other snails of similar size. Eight hours of daylight is optimal for young snails. Some who raise H. aspersa separate the five stages: reproduction, hatching, young, fattening, and final fattening. In a typical example, the breeding box has concrete sides, soil with earthworms (to cleanse the soil) on the bottom, vegetation, curved tiles to provide shelter, feeders, and a chicken waterer. Mosquito netting or screening covers the top. These breeding boxes may be outside, or better results may be obtained when the boxes are inside a greenhouse—as long as the greenhouse does not get too hot or too dry. One researcher reported that in outdoor boxes, each breeder snail had about seven young. In greenhouses, each breeder snail had about 9 to 12 young. The researcher felt that under better weather conditions than those he had that year, each adult breeder snail would have produced 15 young snails. Fattening pens can be outside or in a greenhouse. High summer temperatures and insufficient moisture cause dwarfing and malformations of some snails. This is more a problem inside greenhouses if the sun overheats the building. A sprinkler system (e.g., a horticultural system or common lawn sprinklers) can supply moisture. Make sure excess water can drain. Fattening pens may contain 2-by-3-foot (0.61 by 0.91 m) pieces (or other convenient size) of heavy plastic sheets, hung from boards resting on a rack that lets the tips of the plastic sheets just touch the ground. The plastic sheets are about 4 inches apart. The sheets give the snails a resting and hiding place. Feeders may be located on the rack that supports the plastic sheets. A layer of coarse sand and topsoil with earthworms is placed on the fattening pen's bottom. The worms help clean up the snail droppings. Snails that hatched the previous summer can be put in a chilled room for hibernation over winter. About 1 April, (adjusted for local climate), they are moved to the final fattening pen. IN cases where there are several fattening pens, the smaller snails are placed in one, medium in another, large in another. One-third of a pound of H. aspersa snails require one square foot of pen. Snails lose weight when they estivate in summer, therefore some growers do not stock pens by weight but by count. For H. aspersa, 10 to 12 snails per square foot is the maximum. Cannibalism by hatchlings The first snails to hatch eat the shells of their eggs. This gives them calcium needed for their shells. They may then begin eating unhatched eggs. If the snail eggs are kept at the optimum temperature, 68 °F (for some varieties), and if none of the eggs lose moisture, most eggs will hatch within 1 to 3 days of each other. Cannibalism also will be low. If hatching extends over a longer period, cannibalism may increase. Some eggs eaten are eggs that were not fertile or did not develop properly, but sometimes, properly developing embryos might be eaten. A high density of "clutches" of egg masses increases the rate of cannibalism, as other nearby egg masses are more likely to be found and eaten. Snail egg has 12 to 20 times the protein of lettuce. The protein helps the baby snails start developing quickly and be healthier. Snail egg is an excellent starter food for newly hatched snails, but they tend to only eat eggs of their own species. Feeding season is April through October, (or may vary with the local climate), with a "rest period" during the summer. Do not place food in one small clump so that there is not enough room for all the snails to get to it. Snails eat solid food by rasping it away with their radula. Feeding activity depends on the weather, and snails may not necessarily feed every day. Evening irrigation in dry weather may encourage feeding since the moisture makes it easier for the snails to move about. Put the breeding snails in the breeding pens in April or early May. Feed until mid June when mating begins and the snails stop feeding. Snails resume eating after they lay eggs. Once snails have laid their eggs, the adult snails can be removed. This leaves more food and less crowding for the hatchlings. Snails of the same species collected from different regions may have different food preferences. Some foods that snails eat are: Alyssum, fruit and leaves of apple, apricot, artichoke (a favorite), aster, barley, beans, bindweed, California boxwood, almost any cabbage variety, camomile, carnation, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac (root celery), celery, ripe cherries, chive, citrus, clover, cucumbers (a favorite snail food), dandelion, elder, henbane, hibiscus, hollyhock, kale, larkspur (Consolida or Delphinium genera), leek, lettuce (liked, and makes good snails), lily, magnolia, mountain ash, mulberry, chrysanthemum, nasturtium, nettle, nightshade berries, oats, onion greens, pansy, parsley, peach, ripe pears, peas, petunia, phlox, plum, potatoes (raw or cooked), pumpkins, radish, rape, rose, sorrel, spinach, sweet pea, thistle, tomatoes (well liked), turnip, wheat, yarrow, zinnia. They will eat sweet lupines, but will reject bitter lupines and other plants with high quinolizidine alkaloids. Snails also avoid plants that produce other defensive chemicals, defensive stem hairs, etc. Snails usually prefer juicy leaves and vegetables over dry ones. If snails are fed vegetable trimmings, damaged fruit, and cooked potatoes, uneaten food must be promptly removed as it will quickly spoil. Bran may be supplied that is wet or sprinkled dry over leafy vegetables. The diet may consist of 20% wheat bran while 80% is fruit and vegetable material. Some growers use oats, corn meal, soybean meal, or chicken mash. Laying mash provides calcium, as does crushed oyster shells. Snails also may eat materials such as cardboard (but do not purposely feed it to them); they can eat through shipping cartons and escape. Snails may sometimes eat, within a 24-hour period, food equal to 10%, and occasionally as much as 20%, of their body weight. Active snails deprived of food will lose more than one-third of their weight before they starve to death—a process that takes 8 to 12 weeks. Estivating snails can survive much longer. Supply calcium at least once a week if it is not available in the soil. It should not contain harmful salts or be so alkaline as to burn the snails. Mix calcium with wet bran or mashed potatoes and serve on a pan; this will keep any leftover food from rotting on the ground. Some researchers use chicken mash for feed. A plastic pipe can be cut in half lengthwise to make two troughs which can be used as feeders for mash. Mix laying mash (used for egg-producing hens) into the feed to provide calcium for the snails' shells. Commercial chicken feeding mash is around 16% to 17% protein, from fish meal and meat meal, making it good for growing snails. Supplying mash to hatchlings might reduce cannibalism. Two feeds that snails like and that promote good growth are: (A) broiler finisher mash consisting of 7% broiler concentrate, 58% corn, 16% soya, 18% sorghum, 7% limestone flour (40% Ca); and (B) chicken feed (pellets) for layers consisting of 5% layer concentrate, 10%, corn, 15% soya, 20% sorghum, 44% barley, 6% limestone flour (40% Ca). Pellets are fine for larger snails, but mash is better for younger ones. Pellets should be partially crushed if fed to young snails. Snails do not grow well if rabbit pellets are their primary diet. Snails show a distinct preference for moist feed. Easy access to enough water must be ensured if snails are fed dry mash. Be sure to frequently clean the feed and water dishes. The amount of feed a snail eats depends very much on air humidity and on the availability of drinking water. Clean drinking water can be served in a shallow container to reduce the risk of the snail drowning. Some types of chicken waterers may be suitable. Other factors (e.g., temperature, light intensity, food preferences versus food supplied, etc.) also affect feeding. A compromise, until the optimum feed is found, is to feed half green vegetable material and half chicken feed/grain/animal protein. Young H. aspersa readily eats milk powder. Its rapid rate of assimilation promotes rapid growth. Diseases and pests Good hygiene can prevent the spread of disease and otherwise improve the health and growth rate of snails. Food is replaced daily in order to prevent spoilage. Earthworms added to the soil help keep the pen clean. Parasites, nematodes, trematodes, fungi, and microarthropods can attack snails, and such problems can spread rapidly when snail populations are dense. The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes intestinal infections that can spread rapidly in a crowded snail pen. Possible predators include rats, mice, moles, skunks, weasels, birds, frogs and toads, lizards, walking insects (e.g., some beetle and cricket varieties), some types of flies, centipedes, and even certain carnivorous snail species, such as Strangesta capillacea. Population density also affects successful snail production. Pens should contain no more than six to eight fair-sized snails per square foot, or about four large H. pomatias; or figure one kilogram per square meter (about .2 pounds of snail per square foot), which automatically compensates for the size of the snails. To encourage breeding, best results will occur with not more than eight snails per square meter (0.8 per square foot). Some sources say that, for H. pomatia to breed, 2 to 4 snails per square meter (0.2 to 0.4 per square foot) is the maximum. Snails tend not to breed when packed too densely or when the slime in the pen accumulates too much. The slime apparently works like a pheromone and suppresses reproduction. On the other hand, snails in groups of about 100 seem to breed better than when only a few snails are confined together. Perhaps they have more potential mates from which to choose. Snails in a densely populated area grow more slowly even when food is abundant, and they also have a higher mortality rate. These snails then become smaller adults who lay fewer clutches of eggs, have fewer eggs per clutch, and the eggs have a lower hatch rate. Smaller adult snails sell for less. Dwarfing is quite common in snail farming and is attributable mainly to rearing conditions rather than heredity factors. Crowding snails is false economy. A recommended rate for H. aspersa is not more than one-third pound per square foot (3.6 kg/m²) of soil surface for snails that weigh more than 1 gram and not more than 0.2 pound per square foot (2.2 kg/m²) for snails that weigh less. (One ounce is about 28 grams.) Turning snails into escargots Snails are mature when a lip forms at the opening of their shell. Before they mature, their shells are more easily broken, making them undesirable. For H. aspersa, commercial weight is 8 grams or larger. The nutrient composition of raw snails (per 100 grams of edible portion), according to information from the nutrient databank of France, is: - Energy: 80.5 kcal (337 kJ) - Water: 79 g - Protein: 16 g - Available carbohydrates: 2 g - Fiber: 0 g - Fat: 1 g - Magnesium: 250 mg - Calcium: 170 mg - Iron: 3.5 mg - Vitamin C: 0 mg Restrictions and regulations in the United States The same snails that some people raise or gather as food also are agricultural pests that cause considerable crop damage. Introduced slug and snail varieties tend to be worse pests than native species, probably due in part to the lack of natural controls. Snail pests attack crops ranging from leafy vegetables to fruits that grow near the ground, such as strawberries and tomatoes, to citrus fruits high up on trees. The Federal Plant Pest Act defines a plant pest as "any living stage (including active and dormant forms) of insects, mites, nematodes, slugs, snails, protozoa, or other invertebrate animals, bacteria, fungi, other parasitic plants or reproductive parts thereof; viruses; or any organisms similar to or allied with any of the foregoing; or any infectious substances, which can directly or indirectly injure or cause disease or damage in or to any plants or parts thereof, or any processed, manufactured, or other products of plants..." The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) categorizes giant African snails as a "quarantine significant plant pest." The United States does not allow live giant African snails into the country under any circumstances. It is illegal to own or to possess them. APHIS vigorously enforces this regulation and destroys or returns these snails to their country of origin. Since large infestations of snails can do devastating damage, many states have quarantines against nursery products, and other products, from infested states. Further, it is illegal to import snails (or slugs) into the U.S. without permission from the Plant Protection and Quarantine Division (PPQ), Animal Plant Health and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. APHIS also oversees interstate transportation of snails. Anyone who plans to "import, release, or make interstate shipments of" snails, must complete APHIS's PPQ Form 526, Application and Permit to Move Live Plant Pests and Noxious Weeds. This form should be submitted to the State regulatory official. The state will process the request and make a recommendation to APHIS who will then make a decision. Information on Plant Pest Permits is available at APHIS's website . The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the canning of low-acid foods such as snails. According to FDA, "establishments engaged in the manufacture of Low-acid or Acidified Canned Foods (LACF) offered for interstate commerce in the United States are required...to register their facility...and file scheduled processes for their products with" the FDA. This does not refer to fresh products. For appropriate forms, contact: LACF Registration Coordinator, HFS-618, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 200 C Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20204. Telephone: (202) 205-5282. FAX: (202) 205-4758 or (202) 205-4128. Improper canning of low-acid meats, e.g., snails, involves a risk of botulism. When canning snails for home consumption, carefully follow canning instructions for low-acid meats to prevent food poisoning. State laws also may apply to imports into certain states and to raising snails in a given state. Some states may want to inspect and approve facilities. Thus anyone who plans to raise snails also should check with their State's Agriculture Department. - Prehistoric edible land snails in the circum-Mediterranean: the archaeological evidence., D. Lubell. In J-J. Brugal & J. Desse (eds.), Petits Animaux et Sociétés Humaines. Du Complément Alimentaire Aux Ressources Utilitaires. XXIVe rencontres internationales d'archéologie et d'histoire d'Antibes, pp. 77-98. Antibes: Éditions APDCA. - Are land snails a signature for the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition? In, M. Budja (ed.), Neolithic Studies 11. Documenta Praehistorica XXXI: 1-24. D. Lubell. - De Re Rustica III, 12 - C. Michael Hogan, Volubilis, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham (2007) - Bertrand, Jordane (December 15, 2007). "Snail caviar! The new gourmet frontier". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 21 January 2015. \|\|This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (April 2009)\| - Rebecca Thompson and Sheldon Cheney Raising Snails "National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture." - Source of this article in Russian at the Wayback Machine (archived June 8, 2004) - Source of this article in Romanian - Breeding and Growing Snails Commercially in Australia - Escargot Passion - Free-range Snail Farming in Australia Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, Australian government - Man and Mollusc's Data Base of Edible Molluscs - Snail Farming in Africa - Snail Farming (Heliculture)
When a child learns to speak, the first ethical behavioral lesson taught is politeness, that is, the golden words-“Please” and “Thank you.” As important as it may be to know how to ask for something, it is even more important to know how to say “Thanks”. Psychological studies reveal that gratitude is more than just a social nicety, or a way of making the helper feel good; it reassures others their help was actually appreciated and it encourages further pro-social behavior. What about thanking God? Does God need encouragement and constant appreciation? One may argue that most of Jewish liturgy is about thanking God. Pre-eminent among this plethora of thanks is the Birkat Ha’mazon/Blessing after meals. The mitzvah (obligation) for saying this blessing is learned from Deuteronomy 8:10-“When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.” I can understand the psychology of thanking one another for an act done or gift given, but does God really require a formal “thank you”? The late Professor Abraham Joshua Heschel taught, “Prayer is our humble answer to the inconceivable surprise of living. . . . gratefulness for witnessing the wonder, for the gift of our unearned right to serve, to adore, and to fulfill. It is gratefulness which makes the soul great.” Learning the skill of gratefulness is the key to mastering the divine art of appreciation. It is learning to appreciate our unique relationship with God. The Jew does not say the pleasing over the bread (Motzi) as the wheat is being harvested. Only when the miracle of the wheat (God’s presence) partners with humankind to make the bread does it become worthy of blessing and thankfulness. Only when the partnership of God and humankind comes together to produce the life-sustaining food, and then only after it has been consumed, do we offer the Birkat Ha’mazon/the blessing for the meal. In the prologue to Heschel’s book of Yiddish poems he writes, “I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder.” Blessings of thankfulness are our way of expressing wonder at the gift of life and all that sustains it. Rabbi Howard Siegel
If you are a fan of literary works based on sea life, you must have an idea about the classical literary piece named " Moby Dick". This book depicted a rare white sperm whale which is one of the rarest to be found sailing around. It was seen on the coast of Jamaica a few days ago. Thank Goodness for mobile technology, when a Dutch oil tanker's captain Leo Van Toly saw this amazing sight, he was quick to record it with his mobile camera. Although the video was a short one, it captured the amazing scene of the rare " Moby dick" near the water's surface. The captain could not believe his eyes on seeing the rare sight. He sent the video to one of his acquaintances named Annemarie van de berg. Annemarie is the director of SOS dolfijn. It is an organization that works towards the safety of whales. They quickly confirmed from experts about the whale in the video being the rare white sperm whale and then shared that exclusive video on their social media accounts. Moby Dick was portrayed as a monster in Herman's famous novel. That monstrous whale was hunted down by captain Ahab who lost one of his legs to Moby Dick in a previous encounter. The novel is written as the narration and the narrator of the story is Ishmael who was a sailor himself. However, no doubt that the character of Moby Dick was a fictional character but white sperm whales are a real species, although they are highly rare and hard to find. One may wonder why are they so white? Well, it's a medical condition. They might either be suffering from Albinism or leucism. These conditions hinder the ability of these great animals to produce a pigment called melanin. Melanin is responsible for the gray color of normal whales. All in all, it was surely a special occasion for all whale lovers to see a white sperm whale once again. The last recorded sighting of a white sperm male was in 2015. Many scientists believe it's almost impossible to tell how many white sperm whales are present because of their great ability to hide.
Hispanic Heritage Month is a wonderful time to celebrate the vibrant cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. At Tessa International School, where a rich mosaic of Hispanic cultures is represented among our community of families and teachers, we are deeply committed to embracing all of our cultures and providing a global education experience. During this special month, we came together to honor Hispanic heritage in various engaging ways. Let’s take a closer look at some of the activities that took place this past month: Embracing the Cultural Diversity of our Educators We began by showcasing the cultural identities of our Spanish team. On the first day, they dressed in clothes representing their Hispanic backgrounds. It was a colorful way to highlight the diverse Hispanic community at our school. “Cuentos del Árbol” The highlight of our celebration was a bilingual play called “Cuentos del Árbol” (“The Tree of Tales”). It was performed by the PushCart Players, a group known for educating children through theater. The play was about a special tree that sheltered and nurtured many characters. This tree symbolized the shared heritage and experiences of Hispanic and Latino cultures. The kids loved the performance, and they got to practice their Spanish while having fun. Exploring Hispanic Literature During the month, our librarian and teachers introduced students to books that explored Hispanic culture. These books included stories, fables, and the achievements of remarkable Hispanic individuals. It was a way for our students to learn more about the Hispanic heritage. Dressing Up and Dancing Our youngest students represented different Hispanic cultures through dressing in special clothing. They received a visit from the PushCart Player crew, who were also dressed up in cultural outfits. Additionally, our Spanish teacher, Miss Miranda, taught some of her students how to dance the Merengue! Astronomy and Inspiration In one of their learning activities, PK4 students learned about Ellen Ochoa, a Mexican astronaut. She was the first Hispanic woman in space. Her story inspired our students and showed them that Hispanic individuals have achieved great things in various fields. Hispanic Heritage Month at Tessa International School was a time of learning, celebrating, and coming together. Our students explored the rich Hispanic cultures and appreciated the contributions of Hispanic individuals. We look forward to continuing this journey of exploration, learning, and celebration in our multicultural world.
“New research revealed that approximately 20% of children and adolescents with celiac disease reported not strictly adhering to a gluten-free diet.” - by Preeti Paul, MS Biochemistry in Medical News Bulletin 1 The only safe and effective treatment of celiac disease* is a gluten-free diet. When gluten is not a part of a diet, the small intestine heals and the patient can return to normal health. Adherence to a gluten-free diet is, however, challenging for patients of all ages. It is especially difficult for children and adolescents with celiac disease to comply with a gluten-free diet. Social, cultural, and economic pressures prove to be the main reasons for lack of compliance among this age group. Past research has shown that inadequate information and education about the disease is another obstacle to maintaining a gluten-free diet. In addition, the limited availability and high cost of gluten-free diets are some other barriers for celiac disease patients to overcome. Celiac in Children and Adolescents Pediatric patients with celiac disease often find it harder to follow a strict gluten-free diet. Therefore, it is important to follow-up with these patients on a regular basis. Monitoring dietary compliance, following up the signs and symptoms and analysis of biochemical and serologic markers of celiac disease may prove to be helpful tools in the management of children and adolescents with celiac disease. A recent cross-sectional and retrospective study published in the BMC Gastroenterology 2 evaluated patients under 20 years of age to examine the rate and determinants of non-adherence to a gluten-free diet. This study, conducted between November 2011 and February 2012 at the pediatric gastroenterology outpatient clinic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, also evaluated the dietary habits and nutritional status of the participants. Thirty-five male and female participants selected for the study were administered a questionnaire to obtain information on social life, awareness, adherence and difficulties regarding the gluten-free diet, and food routine at home, school, parties, and travel. Researchers used past medical records to gain knowledge about any associated diseases, laboratory test results, and anthropometric measurements such as weight, height, and body mass index (BMI). The available data was collected at the time of diagnosis and one, two, and five years after diagnosis. Treatment Effects in Celiac Disease Patients Interestingly, 91.4% of the patients or their family members reported being in a good, very good or great state of health compared with the same age people without celiac disease. Adherence to the gluten-free diet by these patients improved their health and well-being. The researchers found that almost half of the participants had another disease in addition to celiac disease, the most common being type 1 diabetes. - About 20% of the patients reported not strictly adhering to a gluten-free diet. The reasons cited for transgression were high cost, low palatability, and lack of choices in the gluten-free diet. Socializing with friends and voluntary non-compliance were also reported as factors contributing to non-adherence to a gluten-free diet. After transgressions, most patients experienced symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain. The patients also reported an increased frequency of flatulence when they did not adhere to the gluten-free diet. Using the anthropometric data at the time of diagnosis, the researchers evaluated the nutritional evolution for 27 patients after treatment. The treatment resulted in a considerable improvement in weight and height gain in children who were underweight and had a height deficit respectively at the time of diagnosis. Additionally, there was a significant increase in the proportion of overweight patients during the follow-up period. Most patients in this study found it easy to follow the gluten-free diet and were fully aware that they would need to follow the diet lifelong. However, dietary adherence in case of celiac disease is challenging and voluntary or involuntary transgressions lead to the occurrence of undesirable symptoms in patients. There is a need to educate patients, their parents, schools, and all those responsible for patient’s adherence to ensure a lifelong gluten-free diet. Although this study has limitations such as a small sample size, lack of complete nutritional evolution data, and the retrospective nature of the analysis, the results point out to a trend commonly observed in many other studies on adherence to the gluten-free diet. Early Diagnosis and Continuous Education Needed Celiac disease a lifelong condition that currently has no cure. Avoiding gluten is the only way to treat the disease and prevent the complications associated with it. This study emphasizes the important factors such as high cost, lack of availability, and poor palatability of gluten-free diets as the reasons for transgression. Patients who strictly followed the diet could overcome the nutritional deficit and gain weight and height. The authors express the need for early diagnosis and continuous education for a better adherence to gluten-free diet and an overall improvement in the quality of life of pediatric celiac disease patients. Written by Preeti Paul, MS Biochemistry Reference: Maraci Rodrigues et al., Rate and determinants of non-adherence to a gluten-free diet and nutritional status assessment in children and adolescents with celiac disease in a tertiary Brazilian referral center: a cross-sectional and retrospective study. BMC Gastroenterology (2018) 18:15 DOI 10.1186/s12876-018-0740-z * Celiac disease (CD) is the most common genetically related food intolerance. It is an autoimmune disorder in which the body reacts to gluten – a water-insoluble protein found most commonly in wheat, barley, and rye. The immune system of genetically susceptible patients reacts to gluten consumption by destroying the part of the small intestine that absorbs vital nutrients, leading to enteropathy (inflammation of intestinal mucosa). Celiac disease affects approximately 1% of the general population. The symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloating, flatulence, and constipation. Celiac disease can also be associated with extra-intestinal manifestations such as anemia, reduced growth in children, weight loss, fatigue, epilepsy, osteoporosis, arthritis, infertility, dental enamel defects and others. The diagnosis of the disease is usually based on typical symptoms, serology tests, intestinal biopsy, and response to a gluten-free diet. The autoantigen associated with clinical manifestation of celiac disease is the enzyme tissue transglutaminase. The presence of anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies and anti-endomysial antibodies (EMAs) is used as a diagnosis. The genetic susceptibility of an individual is conferred by haplotype variations (set of DNA variations) in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA). - 1 https://www.medicalnewsbulletin.com/celiac-disease-patients-fail-adhere-gluten-free-diet - 2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5775619
Hi! Simply click below and type your query. Our experts will reply you very soon. Posted by Admin on February, 04, 2020 An extruder machine is the backbone of the processing industry. It is a device to use edge tool for processing ingredients. Then, they are used in processing completed products. This machine is developed to carry ingredients and force them through the gun barrel using a screw. It carries and also forces them out from the barrel. Extruders have following parts of equipment: 1. A barrel which covers the screws and ingredients 2. The screws move and blend the ingredient 3. It has water-steam locks which act as restriction points to filter the materials processed More or less all the processing industries are dependent on the extruder machines in Punjab. Some industries like noodle making, plastic product manufacturing use extruders. These machines have varied uses for the processing of plastics, rubber and metal parts. Types of Extruder There are general and specific extruders. Suppliers categorize products by the material extruded. Here is a list. 1. Moist Extruders 2. Moist extruders are operated using heat to process materials. 3. Dry extruder 4. Uses the ingredients which are preheated. Hot extrusion machines form plastic, rubber, metal, or composite products. They are also used in hot spinning, making metal parts, rotating disk and to rotate the metal to flow. 5. Plastic extruders 6. Designed for plastic materials in pipe extrusion 7. Profile extrusions are used to for sheet extrusion applications 8. Thermoplastic extrusion is used to process the thermoplastics 9. Rubber extrusion machines are used for processing rubber materials How to select the right machine? Selecting the machine requires a thorough analysis of the machine from different points of view. All different parts and functioning can be checked for specific purposes. Here is a checklist. 1. Selecting extrusion machines need an investigation of extruder screws. You should also check the other parts like barrels, and tips. 2. You should also check the surface treatments for extruder screws. 3. It should be made of tool steels, and have wear-resistance properties. 4. Some other features to consider are crew section lengths, flight depth, flight pitch, and a length-to-diameter ratio Types of screw used in extrusion machines There are four types of screws used in such machines; Three-Piece, Four-Piece, Locking Ring, and Free Flow. Features of Machines It has consistent feeding and should work for uniform melting. Good intrusions offer steady pumping and can provide consistent mixing action You can choose the extruder machine manufacturers in Punjab 1. They maintain a huge inventory of the best quality machines 2. Get machines usable for any industry 3. Get quality equipment produced going through manufacturing norms by the manufacturers of extruder machines in Punjab. 4. Price discounts and exceptional customer service 5. Transportation to doorsteps This entry was posted on February, 04, 2020 at 13 : 10 pm and is filed under Extrusion Machine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response from your own site.
Search and compare thousands of words and phrases in British Sign Language (BSL). The largest collection online. How to sign: the application of heat to change something from a liquid to a gas Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Categories: evaporation, heating, vapor, vaporisation, vaporization, vapour, warming Within this category: decoction process Upload your sign now. Add this video to your website by copying the code below.
History of rail transportation in California Part of a series on the \|History of California\| The establishment of America's transcontinental rail lines securely linked California to the rest of the country, and the far-reaching transportation systems that grew out of them during the century that followed contributed to the state’s social, political, and economic development. When California was admitted as a state to the United States in 1850, and for nearly two decades thereafter, it was in many ways isolated, an outpost on the Pacific, until the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869. In recent years, passenger rail transportation has undergone something of a renaissance, with the introduction of services such as Metrolink, Coaster, Caltrain, Amtrak California, and others. On November 4, 2008, the People of California passed Proposition 1a, which helped provide financing for a high-speed rail line. The early Forty-Niners of the California Gold Rush wishing to come to California were faced with limited options. From the East Coast, for example, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take five to eight months, and cover some 18,000 nautical miles (33,000 km). An alternative route was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, to take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, to wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. Eventually, most gold-seekers took the overland route across the continental United States, particularly along the California Trail. Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck to typhoid fever to cholera or Indian attack. The very first "inter-oceanic" railroad which affected California was built in 1855 across the Isthmus of Panama, the Panama Railway. The Panama Railway reduced the time needed to cross the Isthmus from a week of difficult and dangerous travel to a day of relative comfort. The building of the Panama Railroad, in combination with the increasing use of steamships (instead of sailing ships) meant that travel to and from California via Panama was the primary method used by people who could afford to do so, and was used for valuable cargo, such as the gold being shipped from California to the East Coast. California's symbolic and tangible connection to the rest of the country was fused at Promontory Summit, Utah, as the "last spike" was driven to join the tracks of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, thereby completing the First Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869 (before that time, only a few local rail lines operated in the State, the first being the Sacramento Valley Railroad). The 1,600 mile (2,575-kilometer) trip from Omaha, Nebraska would now take mere days. The Wild West was quickly transformed from a lawless, agrarian frontier to what would become an urbanized, industrialized economic and political powerhouse. Of perhaps greater significance is the unbridled economic growth that was spurred on by the sheer diversity of opportunities available in the region. The four years following the Golden Spike ceremony saw the length of track in the U.S. double to over 70,000 miles (nearly 113,000 kilometers). By around the start of the 20th century, the completion of four subsequent transcontinental routes in the United States and one in Canada would provide not only additional pathways to the Pacific Ocean, but would forge ties to all of the economically important areas between the coasts as well. Virtually the entire country was accessible by rail, making a national economy possible for the first time. And while federal financial assistance (in the form of land grants and guaranteed low-interest loans, a well-established government policy) was vital to the railroads’ expansion across North America, this support accounted for less than eight percent (8%) of the total length of rails laid; private investment was responsible for the vast majority of railroad construction. As rail lines pushed further and further into the wilderness, they opened up huge areas which would have otherwise lain fallow. The railroads helped establish countless towns and settlements, paved the way to abundant mineral deposits and fertile tracts of pastures and farmland, and created new markets for eastern goods. It is estimated that by the end of World War II, rail companies nationwide remunerated to the government over $1 billion dollars, more than eight times the original value of the lands granted. The principal commodity transported across the rails to California was people: by reducing the cross-country travel time to as little as six days, men with westward ambitions were no longer forced to leave their families behind. The railroads would, in time, provide equally important linkages to move the inhabitants throughout the state, interconnecting its blossoming communities. "Transportation determines the flow of population," declared J. D. Spreckels, one of California's early railroad entrepreneurs, just after the dawn of the twentieth century. "Before you can hope to get people to live anywhere...you must first of all show them that they can get there quickly, comfortably and, above all, cheaply." Among Spreckels' many accomplishments was the formation of the San Diego Electric Railway in 1892, which radiated out from downtown to points north, south, and east and helped urbanize San Diego. Henry Huntington, the nephew of Central Pacific founder Collis P. Huntington, would develop his Pacific Electric Railway in Los Angeles and Orange Counties with much the same result. Spreckels' greatest challenge would be to provide San Diego with its own direct transcontinental rail link in the form of the San Diego and Arizona Railway (completed in November 1919), a feat that nearly cost the sugar heir his life. The Central Pacific Railroad, in effect, initiated the trend by offering settlement incentives in the form of low fares, and by placing sections of its government-granted lands up for sale to pioneers. When the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad charted its own solo course across the continent in 1885 it chose Los Angeles as its western terminus, and in doing so fractured the Southern Pacific Railroad's near total monopoly on rail transportation within the state. The original purpose of this new line was to augment the route to San Diego, established three years prior as part of a joint venture with the California Southern Railroad, but the Santa Fe would subsequently be forced to all but abandon these inland tracks through the Temecula Canyon (due to constant washouts) and construct its Surf Line along the coast to maintain its exclusive ties to Los Angeles. Santa Fe's entry into Southern California resulted in widespread economic growth and ignited a fervent rate war with the Southern Pacific, or "Espee" as the road was often referred to; it also led to Los Angeles' well-documented real estate "Boom of the Eighties." The Santa Fe Route led the way in passenger rate reductions (often referred to as "colonist fares") by, within a period of five months, lowering the price of a ticket from Kansas City, Missouri to Los Angeles from $125 to $15, and, on March 6, 1887 to a dollar! The Southern Pacific soon followed suit and the level of real estate speculation reached a new high, with "boom towns" springing up literally overnight. Free, daily railroad-sponsored excursions (complete with lunch and live entertainment) enticed overeager potential buyers to visit the many undeveloped properties firsthand and (hopefully) invest in the potential of the land. Unfortunately, as with the Comstock mining securities boom of the 1870s, Los Angeles' land boom attracted an unscrupulous element that often sold interest in properties whose titles were not properly recorded, or in tracts that did not even exist. Major advertising campaigns by the SP, Santa Fe, Union Pacific, and other major carriers of the day not only helped transform southern California into a major tourist attraction but generated intense interest in exploiting the area's agricultural potential. Word of the abundant work opportunities, high wages, and the temperate and healthful California climate spread throughout the Midwestern United States, and led to an exodus from such states as Iowa, Indiana, and Kansas; although the real estate bubble "burst" in 1889 and most investors lost their all, the Southern California landscape was forever transformed by the many towns, farms, and citrus groves left in the wake of this event. Historians James Rawls and Walton Bean have speculated that were it not for the discovery of gold in 1848, Oregon might have been granted statehood ahead of California, and therefore the first Pacific Railroad might have been built to that state, or at least been born to a more benevolent group of founding fathers. This speculation lacks support, however, when one considers that a significant hide and tallow trade between California and the eastern seaports was already well-established, that the federal government had long planned for the acquisition of San Francisco Bay as a western port, and that suspicions regarding England's intentions towards potentially extending their holdings in the region southward into California would almost certainly have forced the government to embark on the same course of action. While the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad would rightfully be remembered as a major milestone in America's history, it would also foster the birth of a railroad empire that would have a dominant influence over California's evolution for years to come. Despite all of the shortcomings, in the end the State reaped innumerable and unprecedented benefits from its associations with the railroad companies, which helped put California "on the map." Even today, California is well known for the abundance and many varieties of fruit trees that are cultivated throughout the state. The only fruits indigenous to the region, however, consisted of wild berries or grew on small bushes. Spanish missionaries brought fruit seeds over from Europe, many of which had been introduced to the Old World from Asia following earlier expeditions to the continent; orange, grape, apple, peach, pear, and fig seeds were among the most prolific of the imports. Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, fourth in the Alta California chain, was founded in 1771 near what would one day be the City of Los Angeles. Thirty-three years later the mission would unknowingly witness the origin of the California citrus industry with the planting of the region's first significant orchard, though the commercial potential of citrus would not be realized until 1841. Several small carloads of California crops were shipped eastward via the new transcontinental route almost immediately after its completion, using a special type of ventilated boxcar modified specifically for this purpose. The advent of the iced refrigerator car or "reefer" led to increases in both the amount of product carried and in the distances traveled. For years, the overall scarcity of oranges in particular led to the general perception that they were suitable only for holiday table decoration or as indulgences for the affluent. During the 1870s, however, hybridization of California oranges led to the creation of several flavorful strains, chief among these the Navel and Valencia varieties, whose development allowed for year-round cultivation of the fruit. Substantial foreign (out-of-state) markets for California citrus would come into full stature by 1890, initiating a period referred to as the Orange Era. As the market for agricultural goods outside the state’s boundaries increased, the Santa Fe developed a massive fleet of refrigerator dispatch cars, and in 1906 the Southern Pacific joined with the Union Pacific Railroad to create the Pacific Fruit Express. Fully half the farm products produced in California could now be exported throughout the country, with western railroads carrying virtually all of the perishable fruit traffic. The western states of California, Arizona, and Oregon would dominate U.S. agricultural production by the coming of the Great Depression; once such diverse and high-demand crops as wheat, sugar beets, olives, and lettuce were cultivated, California would become known as the nation's "produce basket." With the expansion of agriculture interests throughout the state (along with new rail lines to carry the goods to faraway markets), new communities were founded and existing towns expanded. Agrarian successes led to the establishment of post offices, schools, churches, mercantile outlets, and ancillary industries such as packing houses. The discovery of brea, more commonly referred to as tar, in Southern California would lead to an oil boom in the early twentieth century. Railroad companies soon discovered that shipping wooden barrels loaded with oil via boxcars was not cost-effective, and developed steel cylindrical tank cars capable of transporting bulk liquids virtually anywhere. By 1915, the transportation of petroleum products had become a lucrative endeavor for western railroads. Most oil tank cars would remain in revenue service for decades until the "Black Bonanza" had run its course. The Southern Pacific is credited with being the first western railroad to experiment in 1879 with the use of oil in its locomotives as a fuel source in lieu of coal (with substantial technical assistance from the Union Oil Company, one of the SP’s biggest accounts). By 1895, oil-burning locomotives were in operation on a number of Southern Pacific routes, and on the competing California Southern and Great Northern Railway as well. This innovation not only allowed the SP (and other railroads that soon followed their example) to benefit from the use of this abundant and economically viable fuel source, but to create new markets by capitalizing on the burgeoning petroleum industry. The conversion from coal to oil also help solved the Southern Pacific's problem of intense smoke in the tunnels of the Sierra Nevada. Thanks to the railroads, California was once again thrust into the limelight. As has been previously discussed, the railroads were among the first to promote California tourism as early as the 1870s, both as a means to increase ridership and to create new markets for the freight hauling business in the areas they served. Some sixty years later, the Santa Fe would lead a resurgence in leisure travel to and along the west coast aboard such "name" trains as the Chief and later the Super Chief; the Southern Pacific would soon follow suit with their Golden State and Overland Flyer trains, and the Union Pacific with its City of Los Angeles and City of San Francisco. The immense popularity of Helen Hunt Jackson's 1884 novel Ramona in particular fueled a surge in tourism which happened to coincide with the opening of SP's Southern California lines. But it can be said that only the Santa Fé embraced the aura of the American Southwest so completely in its advertising campaigns as well as its operations. The AT&SF routes and the extraordinary level of service provided thereon became particularly popular with stars of the film industry in the thirties, forties and fifties, both building on and adding to the Hollywood mystique. The "golden age" of railroading would eventually end as travel by automobile and airplane became more cost-effective, and popular. Corruption and scandal In 1901, Frank Norris vilified the Southern Pacific for its monopolistic practices in his acclaimed novel The Octopus: A Story of California; John Moody’s 1919 work The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States referred to "the American railroad problem" wherein the men who rode the iron horse were characterized as "monsters" that too often suppressed government reform and economic growth through political chicanery and corrupt business practices. While it is true that much of the traveling public would have been unable to make the trip to California's sunny climate were it not for the fleet, relatively safe, and affordable trains of the western railroads, it is also true that those companies in effect preyed on those same settlers once they arrived at the end of the line. For instance, while the railroads provided much-needed transportation routes to out-of-state markets for locally produced raw materials and avenues of the import for eastern goods, there were numerous instances of rate fixing schemes among the various carriers, the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific included. Opposition to the railroads began early in Southern California's history due to the questionable practices of The Big Four in conducting the business of the Central (later Southern) Pacific. The Central Pacific Railroad (and later the Southern Pacific) maintained and operated whole fleets of ferry boats that connected Oakland with San Francisco by water. Early on, the Central Pacific gained control of the existing ferry lines for the purpose of linking the northern rail lines with those from the south and east; during the late 1860s the company purchased nearly every bayside plot in Oakland, creating what author and historian Oscar Lewis described as a "wall around the waterfront" that put the town’s fate squarely in the hands of the corporation. Competitors for ferry passengers or dock space were ruthlessly run out of business, and not even stage coach lines could escape the group's notice, or wrath. The Northern California railroad barons also effectively slowed San Diego's development in the early 20th century. San Diego had a natural harbor and many thought that it would become a major port on the west coast. However, San Francisco was strongly opposed to this as San Diego's development would hurt their trade. Charles Crocker, the manager of Central Pacific Railroad was quoted as saying: “I would not take the road to San Diego as a gift. We would blot San Diego out of existence if we could, but as we can[’]t do that we shall keep it back as long as we can.” Instead, the Central Pacific only extended their rail route into Los Angeles." Competition between carriers for rail routes was fierce as well, and unscrupulous means were often used to gain any advantage over one another. Santa Fe work crews engaged in sabotage to slow the progress of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad through the Rockies as the two fought their way toward the Coast; the Santa Fe (in conjunction with the California Southern) would win the race in establishing its connection to Bakersfield in 1883. Some eleven years earlier, the Southern Pacific essentially blackmailed the then-fledgling City of Los Angeles into paying a hefty subsidy to ensure that the railroad’s north-south line would pass through town; in 1878, the company would be rebuffed in its attempts to extend its Anaheim branch southward to San Diego through Orange County's Irvine Ranch without securing the permission of James Irvine, Sr., a longtime rival of Collis Huntington. The Southern Pacific would similarly block the westward progress of the Santa Fe (known to some as the People's Railroad) until September 1882, when a group of enraged citizens ultimately forced the railroad's management to relent. Numerous accounts of similar "frog wars" and other such tactics have been recorded throughout California's railroad history. Perhaps the most notorious examples of impropriety on the part of the railroads surround the process of land acquisition and sales. Since the federal government granted to the companies alternate tracts of land that ran along the tracks they had laid, it was generally assumed that the land would in turn be sold at its fair market value at the time the land was subdivided; circulars distributed by the SP (which was at the time a holding company formed by the Central Pacific Railroad) certainly implied as much. However, at least some of the tracts were put on the market only after considerable time had passed, and the land improved well beyond its raw state. Families faced with asking prices of ten times or more of the initial value more often than not had no choice but to vacate their homes and farms, in the process losing everything they worked for; often it turned out to be a railroad employee who had purchased the property in question. A group of immigrant San Joaquin Valley farmers formed the Settlers' League in order to challenge the Southern Pacific's actions in court, but after all of the lawsuits were decided in the favor of the railroads, one group decided to take matters into their own hands. What resulted was the infamous Battle at Mussel Slough, in which armed settlers clashed with railroad employees and law enforcement officers engaged in eviction proceedings. Six people were killed in the ensuing gunfight. The Southern Pacific would emerge from the tragedy as the prime target of journalists such as William Randolph Hearst, ambitious politicians, and crusade groups for decades to follow. Leland Stanford's term as Governor of California (while still serving on the SP's board of directors) enhanced the corporation's political clout, but simultaneously further increased its notoriety as well. Public response to the corruption that arose from California's economic "explosion" led to the enactment of numerous reform and regulation measures, many of which coincided with the ascendancy of the Populist and Progressive movements. Early examples of railroad regulation include Granger case decisions in the 1870s, and the creation of the first (albeit ineffective) Railroad Commission via amendment of the State's Constitution of 1879, forerunner of today's California Public Utilities Commission. In 1886, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Santa Clara County in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad. The documents of the Court decision included a statement that a corporation henceforth could be considered an American citizen, with all the associated immunities and privileges (except the right to vote). The document phrasing has long made it difficult for states to pass legislation that could make corporations accountable to the people. The Stetson-Eshelman Act of 1911 provided for the fixing of shipping rates by state legislatures. In 1911, California's new Progressive government established the second Railroad Commission, more effective and less corrupted than the first one. Passenger rail in California during the early 20th Century was dominated by private companies. The San Diego Electric Railway, founded by John D. Spreckels in 1892, was the major transit system in the San Diego area during that period. In the Los Angeles area, real estate tycoon Henry Huntington established both the Los Angeles Railway, also known as the Yellow Car system, and the Pacific Electric, also known as the Red Car system, in 1901. Business magnate Francis Marion Smith then created the Key System in 1903 to connect San Francisco with the East Bay. All four streetcar systems, and other similar rail networks across the state, declined in the 1940s with the rise of California's car culture and freeway network. They were then all eventually taken over to some degree, and dismantled, in favor of bus service by National City Lines, a controversial national front company owned by General Motors and other companies in what became known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy. Environmental and traffic concerns beginning in the 1970s led to a resurgence in urban passenger rail, specifically the construction light rail networks. The San Diego Trolley opened in 1981, followed by both the Sacramento Regional Transit and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail systems in 1987, and the Los Angeles Metro Rail in 1990. Planning for a modern, urban rapid transit system in California did not begin until the 1950s, when California's legislature created a commission to study the Bay Area's long-term transportation needs. Based on the commission's report, the state legislature created the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District in 1957 to build a rapid transit system to replace the Key System. Passenger service on BART then began in 1972. The Red rapid transit line of the Los Angeles Metro Rail then began construction in 1986, and its first segment opened in 1993. One urban system that was not severely affected by the streetcar decline was the San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) in San Francisco. Its five heavily used streetcar lines traveled for at least part of their routes through tunnels or otherwise reserved right-of-way, and thus could not be converted to bus lines. As a result, these lines, running PCC streetcars, continued in operation for several decades. When plans for stations in the double-decker Market Street Subway tunnel through downtown San Francisco, with BART on the lower level and MUNI on the upper level, required high platforms, it meant that the PCCs could not be used in them. Hence, MUNI ordered a fleet of new light rail vehicles, and Muni Metro began service in 1980. Caltrans and Amtrak partnered together to form Amtrak California in 1976. The intercity service currently consists of three lines: the Capitol Corridor, connecting the Bay Area with the Sacramento area; the Pacific Surfliner, serving the coastal communities of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo; and the San Joaquin, connecting Central Valley communities, from Bakersfield and Sacramento, with the Bay Area. In 1977, Southern Pacific petitioned the state to discontinue the Peninsula Commute, the commuter rail service connecting San Jose with San Francisco, citing operating losses. Instead, Caltrans began to subsidize the operation and eventually renamed it Caltrain in 1987. Southern Pacific later sold 175 miles (282 km) of track to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority in 1991, which became the nucleus of the Metrolink commuter rail network when it opened one year later. The Coaster commuter rail, connecting San Diego and Oceanside, then began service in 1995 on tracks formerly owned by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The Altamont Commuter Express, connecting San Joaquin County and the Bay Area, then opened in 1998. Southern Pacific was purchased by Union Pacific and acquisition was finalized in 1996. In the same year, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form BNSF Railway in 1996. With those two mergers, the two major railroads in California are now Union Pacific and BNSF. A recurring issue in California is whether the state should continue to expand its freeway network or concentrate on improving mass transit networks in urban areas. The Sprinter light rail system began service in 2008, connecting cities in northern San Diego County. In addition, several public rail expansion plans are either under construction or in the planning stages such as the Silicon Valley BART extension, LA Metro Rail's Purple Line Extension and Gold Line Foothill Extension, Muni's E Embarcadero, the San Diego Trolley's Mid-Coast extension project, and the Sacramento RT Light Rail's Blue Line extension project. The California High Speed Rail Authority was created in 1996 by the state to implement a 700-mile (1127 km) rail system. It would provide a TGV-style high-speed link between the state's four major metropolitan areas, and would allow travel between Los Angeles's Union Station and the San Francisco Transbay Terminal in two and a half hours. In November 2008, voters approved Proposition 1A, a bond measure that allocated $9 billion to finance the project. In 2012, the California legislature and Governor Jerry Brown approved financing for an initial stage of construction for the project. The High Speed Rail Authority estimates that the initial stages will not be completed until 2021. - California State Railroad Museum - Pacific Southwest Railway Museum - List of California railroads - Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad - Brands, H.W. (2003). The age of gold: the California Gold Rush and the new American dream. New York: Anchor (reprint ed.). pp. 103–121. - Brands, H.W. (2003), pp. 75-85. Another route across Nicaragua was developed in 1851; it was not as popular as the Panama option. (see Rawls, James J. and Orsi, Richard J. (eds.) (1999). A golden state: mining and economic development in Gold Rush California (California History Sesquicentennial Series, 2). Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. pp. 252–253.) - Rawls and Orsi, (1999) p. 5. - Holliday, J. S. (1999). Rush for riches; gold fever and the making of California. Oakland, California, Berkeley and Los Angeles: Oakland Museum of California and University of California Press. pp. 101, 107. - Duke and Kistler, p. 9 - Otis, Fessenden Nott (M.D.). Isthmus of Panama: History of the Panama railroad; and of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1867 pp. 15-16; 50-56. - The Panama Railroad: 1865, 1868 & 1871 Certificates of Stock; an 1855 Newspaper Report of its Opening; 1861 & 1913 Maps; Early Harper's Engravings; and 1861 Schedule of Regular, Special and "Steamer" Trains. - One ill-fated journey, that of the S.S. Central America, ended in disaster as the ship sank in a hurricane off the coast of the Carolinas in 1857, with an estimated three tons of California gold aboard.(see Hill, Mary (1999). Gold: the California story. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. pp. 192–196.) Another notable ship wreck was the steamship Winfield Scott, bound to Panama from San Francisco, which crashed into Anacapa Island off the Southern California coast in December 1853. All hands and passengers were saved, along with the cargo of gold, but the ship was a total loss. - Daniels, p. 53 - Daniels, p. 54 - Daniels, p. 55 - Robinson, p. 157 - Dodge, p. 18 - Hanft, p. 77 - Duke, p. 43 - Donaldson and Myers, p. 58 - Duke and Kistler, p. 32 - Beebe, p. 240 - Rawls and Bean, p. 207 - Rawls and Bean, p. 112 - Wright, p. 25 - Thompson, p. 341 - Thompson, p. 342 - Daniels, p. 94 - Duke, p. 403 - Thompson, p. 343 - Duke, p. 404 - Duke, p. 432 - Yenne, p. 53 - Duke and Kistler, p. 60 - Triem, Judith P.; Stone, Mitch. "Rancho Camulos: National Register of Historic Places Nomination" (significance). San Buenaventura Research Associates. Retrieved 2007-04-13. - Moody, p. 237 - Lewis, p. 366 - Lewis, p. 371 - Donaldson and Myers, p. 14 - Donaldson and Myers, p. 43 - Yenne, p. 31 - Daniels, p. 59 - Yenne, p. 74 - "PUC History & Structure". California Public Utilities Commission 2007-12-28. - "This is Light Rail Transit" (PDF). Transportation Research Board. Retrieved January 8, 2010. - "Metrolink (Southern California)". ireference.ca. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2015. - "Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) - Metrolink (United States), URBAN TRANSPORT SYSTEMS AND OPERATORS". Jane's Information Group. 2009. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved April 30, 2015. (subscription may be required or content may be available in libraries) - Michael Martinez (July 19, 2012). "Governor signs law to make California home to nation's first truly high-speed rail". CNN. Retrieved 3 September 2012. - "California High-Speed Rail Program Revised 2012 Business Plan" (PDF). California High Speed Rail Authority. Retrieved September 3, 2012. - Bain, David Haward (1999). Empire Express: Building the first transcontinental railroad. Viking Press, New York, NY. ISBN 0-670-80889-X. - Beebe, Lucius (1965). The Central Pacific & The Southern Pacific Railroads: Centennial Edition. Howell-North Books, Berkeley, CA. - Brands, H.W. (2003). The age of gold: the California Gold Rush and the new American dream. New York: Anchor (reprint ed.). ISBN 0-385-72088-2. - Daniels, Rudolph (2000). Across the continent: North American railroad history. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN. ISBN 0-253-21411-4. - Dodge, Richard V. (1960). Rails of the Silver Gate: The Spreckels San Diego empire. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-019-3. - Donaldson, Stephen E. and William A. Myers (1990). Rails through the orange groves, Volume I. Trans-Anglo Books, Glendale, CA. ISBN 0-87046-088-9. - Donaldson, Stephen E. and William A. Myers (1990). Rails through the orange groves, Volume II. Trans-Anglo Books, Glendale, CA. ISBN 0-87046-094-3. - Duke, Donald (1995). Santa Fe: The railroad gateway to the American West, volume one. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-110-6. - Duke, Donald (1995). Santa Fe: The railroad gateway to the American West, volume Two. Golden West Books, San Marino, CA. ISBN 0-87095-110-6. - Lewis, Oscar (1938). The Big Four. Alfred A Knopf, New York, NY. - Hanft, Robert M. (1984). San Diego & Arizona: The impossible railway. Trans-Anglo Books, Glendale, CA. ISBN 0-87046-071-4. - Harper's New Monthly Magazine March 1855, Volume 10, Issue 58 complete text online - Hill, Mary (1999). Gold: the California story. Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21547-8. - Holliday, J. S. (1999). Rush for riches; gold fever and the making of California. Oakland, California, Berkeley and Los Angeles: Oakland Museum of California and University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21401-3. - Moody, John (1919). The railroad builders: A chronicle of the welding of the states. Yale University Press, Haven, CT. - Rawls, James, J., and Walton Bean (2003). California: An interpretive history. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. ISBN 0-07-255255-7. - Rawls, James J. and Orsi, Richard J. (eds.) (1999). A golden state: mining and economic development in Gold Rush California (California History Sesquicentennial Series, 2). Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21771-3. - Robinson, W. W. (1948). Land in California. University of California Press, Los Angeles, CA. - Thompson, Anthony W., Robert J. Church, and Bruce H. Jones (2000). Pacific Fruit Express. Signature Press, Wilton, CA. ISBN 1-930013-03-5. - Wright, Ralph B. (1950). California's missions. Hubert A. and Martha H. Lowman, Arroyo Grande, CA. - Yenne, Bill (1985). The history of the Southern Pacific. Brompton Books Corp., Greenwich, CT. ISBN 978-0-517-46084-9. - Cooper, Bruce C., ed. (2005). Riding the transcontinental rails: Overland travel on the Pacific Railroad 1865-1881. Polyglot Press, Philadelphia, PA. ISBN 1-4115-9993-4. - Cooper, Bruce Clement (2010). The Classic Western American Railroad Routes. New York: Chartwell Books/Worth Press. ISBN 0-7858-2573-8. - Deverell, William (1994). Railroad crossing: Californians and the railroad 1850–1910. University of California Press, Los Angeles, CA. ISBN 0-520-08214-1. - Norris, Frank (1901). The Octopus: A Story of California. Doubleday. ISBN 0-14-018770-7. - Thompson, Gregory Lee (1993). The passenger train in the Motor Age: California's rail and bus industries, 1910–1941. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH. ISBN 0-8142-0609-3. - California Rail Map - The Impact of the Railroad: The Iron Horse and the Octopus - Guide to Railroad History web links to primary and scholarly sources
Originally posted by smalMSorry, it seems it was still not simple enough for me! In a nutshell, here is what HT does: In a non-HT processor, when the OS stops one process and starts another every 10 ms (preemptive multitasking), it has to save the state of the process that was stopped - this means saving the address of the next instruction to be executed, the contents of all of the registers and flags, and the contents of the stack. Then the same data for the process to be executed next has to be restored from where it was when IT was last interrupted. All this data moving is part of what is known as a context switch. HT circuitry makes it possible for the processor to just switch to using a second set of registers, stack, and flags, making the context switch transparent. There is only one set of execution units, but there are 2 complete sets of context switching circuitry. So the processor behaves as if there were 2 separate processors, or at least it APPEARS that way to the operating system, since the OS does not have to move all the data around every time a new process is resumed. So HT really doesn't allow 2 processes to run simultaneously; it just makes it very fast to switch from process A to process B, and it makes the OS think that there are 2 cores, when in fact there is only one computational unit - just circuitry to hold context information for 2 threads at once.
DUBLIN, Ireland – Ireland is entering a new Eire. Starting next year, the country's name plate during conferences will be "Eire Ireland." Currently it says simply "Ireland." Last year the EU recognized Gaelic as the 21st official working language in the 25-nation bloc. Ireland had lobbied for the change, which requires EU documents to be translated into Gaelic and translators to be on standby at key EU events. That holds even though most members of the Irish government don't speak Gaelic with ease, English being their first language. While about 40 percent of Ireland's 4.1 million residents identify themselves as fluent in Gaelic on census forms, only about 55,000 identify themselves as native Gaelic speakers. But "Eire" has been widely recognized for decades. The name is used on Irish passports, coins and stamps and on the presidential seal. The 1937 constitution declares bluntly: "The name of the state is Eire, or, in the English language, Ireland." Eire remained the preferred name for the country until 1949, when the parliament passed a law declaring the country a republic, breaking Ireland's final symbolic ties to Britain. Thereafter the country, though still constitutionally Eire, became universally known as the Republic of Ireland.
Geographically, Cyprus is caught between the Western and Central Paleo-arctic. And we get all sorts of vagrants it seems, especially in winter. Last winter in particular was surprising with a Baird’s Sandpiper and a Pectoral Sandpiper, that must’ve gotten just a bit lost. This winter is equally interesting, although the vagrants seem to be coming from the Middle East, for the most part. The first was the Steppe Grey Shrike, which is usually considered a subspecies of Southern Grey Shrike and typically breeds in Central Asia and winters in Iran and further eastwards. Remarkably, it seems to be staying around for most of the winter so far, enjoying weather that’s warm enough to let small lizards remain active (Shrikes need to eat too). The second was the Grey Hypocolius, and typically resides in Iraq and Iran, rarely straying outside of the states neighboring the Persian Gulf. This birds didn’t stick around more than 2 days and eluded all but the quicker twitchers. And now we have a Kurdish Wheatear to speak of. As its name suggests, it’s typically from the Kurdish or Kurdistan regions of Eastern Turkey, Northern Iraq, and neighboring countries, and is alternatively called Kurdistan Wheatear or Red-rumped Wheatear, and is not to be confused with the Persian Wheatear with which it was formerly lumped as a species with. There’s no telling how long it’s been here, because unlike the first two this one was found in a place in Cape Greco that is virtually ignored by birders as being virtually vacant of birds. Thus the Kurdish Wheatear could’ve been there for over a month with no one recognizing it. The Steppe Grey Shrike and Kurdish Wheatear were each only the 5th (or so) record for Cyprus, while the Grey Hypocolius was a first record for Cyprus (and for Europe, in fact). And oh yeah, there’ve been a couple other interesting vagrants not from the Mid East too. Like the Red-breasted Mergansers see at Paralimni a few days ago. They used to winter here in small numbers on occasion, but are still extremely rare visitors. Why the trend though, in the ultra-rare birds coming from the Mid East this year? That’s the puzzle, I think. The conventional wisdom though is that weather and more specifically the warm/cold fronts can “push” or blow the birds outside of their usual ranges. This, I think, explains a lot of why it seems to happen from a specific region in a specific year, and another region in another year, etc. And of course it’s also true that some species will wander in search of food bonanzas to one degree or another. But taking the long view, in light of the role of geographical dispersion in evolution, I can’t help but think that there’s a slim but real chance that a few of these vagrants could potentially form a founder population. Unlikely, I know, but it probably happens once in a great long while if you think about it. CREDIT: ©Jane Stylianou / Cyprus Bird Tours
i reeally appreciate help from people who enjoy history. 1 - The student movement began with students from which college? A. Alabama A&T University? B. North Carolina A&T University C. Tennessee State University D. University of Georgia 2 - What was the estimated number of students that participated in the student movement of 1960? A. 3,600B. 7,000C. 30,000D. 70,000 3 - Which individual planned both a 1941 and 1962 march on Washington? A. KingB. RandolphC. RustinD. Shuttlesworth 4 - Which of the following was the site of a student sit-in to support the desegregation of Southern universities? A. J.C. Penneys B. K-MartC. Sears & Robuck?D. Woolworth 5 - Which of the following was largely responsible for the success of the student movement? A. The Congress of Racial Equality B. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People C. The Student Movement for Civil Rights D. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 6 - Which individual was the real catalyst who forced President Kennedy to take significant action to push for a civil rights bill? A. Bayard RustinB. James MeredithC. Medgar EversD. Phillip Randolph 7 - After whom did students that took up the cause of pressuring the government to enforce civil rights model their behavior? A. Freedom RidersB. James MeredithC. Robert F. KennedyD. Martin Luther King
Zika, Mosquitoes, and Standing WaterPosted on by With spring weather and mosquito season coming soon in the United States, the Zika virus – and the mosquitoes that carry the virus – may be a major concern. Zika is currently affecting more than 30 countries and territories in the Americas and Pacific Islands. Zika virus is primarily spread through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito. People and communities can take steps to reduce the number of mosquitoes in their homes and communities to protect themselves from Zika. How Does Water Help Mosquitoes Breed? Aedes aegypti is known as a “container-breeding mosquito” because it likes to lay eggs in and around standing water. Studies show that female mosquitoes prefer to lay eggs in water that collects or is stored in manmade containers. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes lay eggs on the walls of water-filled containers. Eggs stick to containers like glue and remain attached until they are scrubbed off. The eggs can survive when they dry out—up to 8 months. When it rains or water covers the eggs, they hatch and become adults in about a week. Reduce mosquitoes at home Here are a couple of steps you can take to prevent mosquitoes from living and breeding around your home. Remove standing water Keep mosquitoes from laying eggs inside and outside of your home. Items in and around people’s homes can collect water. Once a week, empty and scrub, turn over, cover, or throw out containers that hold water, such as - pet water bowls - flowerpot saucers - discarded tires - pool covers - trash cans, and - rain barrels. These actions can help reduce the number of mosquitoes around areas where people live. Follow safe water storage tips If water must be stored, tightly cover storage containers to prevent mosquitoes from getting inside and laying eggs. Reduce mosquitoes in the community Communities also can take steps to reduce the number of mosquitoes and the chances of spreading disease. Build systems that distribute safe water If people have access to clean and safe water in their communities, they will not need to store it in and around their homes. Research has shown that when community-wide distribution systems are built, the number of mosquitoes decreases, because water is not being stored near areas where people live. When water is contaminated with organic matter (for example, human or animal waste, grasses, and leaves), the chances that mosquito larvae will survive may increase because contaminated matter provides food for larvae to eat. Sanitation departments and wastewater treatment plants remove organic wastes and treat water with chlorine or other disinfectants. These activities may decrease mosquito populations and, simultaneously, prevent diarrheal diseases. Basic sanitation includes access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste, and the ability to maintain hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage collection, industrial/hazardous waste management, and wastewater treatment and disposal. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are critical to keep people healthy and prevent the spread of many different disease, including Zika. World Water Day recognizes the importance of safe drinking water and improved sanitation and hygiene in the health of our world’s population. Learn more about World Water Day at www.unwater.org/worldwaterday and visit www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global for more information about CDC’s efforts to ensure global access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene. For more information on the Zika virus, and for the latest updates, visit www.cdc.gov/zika. - Page last reviewed:March 23, 2016 - Page last updated:March 23, 2016 - Content source:
Early Egyptian paintings from the 13th and 15th centuries B.C. depict sedimentation apparatus and wick siphons, and it is speculated that the ancients utilized alum to remove suspended solids. Historically, water was considered clean if it was clear. Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, invented the "Hippocrates Sleeve", a cloth bag to strain rainwater, in the 5th century B.C. Perhaps one of the first filters made by man. Skilled Roman engineers created a water supply system that delivered 130 million gallons daily through aqueducts between 343 B.C. to 225 A.D. Public Water Supply Systems were born at the end of the 3rd century B.C. in Rome, Greece, Carthage and Egypt. Storage or settling cisterns were constructed to remove silt by plain sedimentation. From about 500 to 1600 A.D., there was little progress in water treatment and its connection to public health. Sir Francis Bacon, the great Elizabethan philosopher, chronicled only 10 scientific experiments in the preceding 1,000 years which related to water treatment. Drinking Water in the 17th and 18th Centuries In 1680 the microscope was invented by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, and in 1685 an Italian physician named Lu Antonio Porzio designed the first multiple filter. These two unrelated events were to play important parts in the future of water treatment. Van Leeuwenhoek was accused of inaccuracy. The scientific community regarded his sketches of microscopic organisms as unimportant curiosities. Then 200 years later, the scientists of the 19th century made the connection between these "animalcules," water, and health. Porzio's filter used plain sedimentation and straining followed by sand filtration. It contained two compartments (one downward flow, one upward). Filtration had taken a leap forwards in design and functionality. In 1746, Parisian scientist Joseph Amy was granted the first patent for a filter design, and by 1750 his filters for home use could be purchased. The filters consisted of sponge, charcoal, and wool. Multimedia filtration &Charcoal as a filtering medium is believed to have its origins here. Drinking Water in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The first water facility to deliver water to an entire town was built in Paisley, Scotland in 1804 by John Gibb to supply his bleachery and the town, and within three years, filtered water was even piped directly to customers in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1806 a large water treatment plant began operating in Paris. The plant's filters were made of sand and charcoal and were renewed every six hours. Pumps were driven by horses working in three shifts. Water was settled for 12 hours before filtration. In the 1870's, Dr. Robert Koch and Dr. Joseph Lister demonstrated that microorganisms existing in water supplies can cause disease. Since then, America and other countries around the world have relied on several processes of water treatment. The U.S. Civil War interrupted the development of filtration in the United States; however once the North and South were reunited, the U.S. became a leader in the art of water treatment. The year 1906 saw the use of ozone as a disinfectant in Nice, France. For disinfection Ozone is still perhaps the best method possible on a large scale. In 1908 U.S. Jersey City Water Works became the first utility in America to use sodium hyperchlorite for disinfection in 1908, and the Bubbly Creek plant in Chicago instituted regular chlorine disinfection. Perhaps unknowingly they started this flawed practice that has led to more health problems than we might ever know. See the article "Chlorine, big business and a bad solution. Another poison in our water." Allen Hazen proved the effectiveness of filtration in 1895. The initial treatment process utilized slow sand filters to provide a more aesthetic product. Within several years filtration was recognized for removal of undesirable particles and deadly bacteria, as those communities that utilized it had fewer outbreaks of typhoid. Significant improvements to water treatment in the latter part of the 19th century included the development of rapid sand filters, filters, improved slow sand filters, and the first applications of chlorine and ozone for disinfection. At the turn of the century, chlorination became the most popular method in the United States and numbers of typhoid dysentery and cholera case plummeted while other health problems started to rise. In 1914, the U.S. Department of The Treasury promulgated the country's first drinking water bacteriological standard, a maximum level of 2 coliforms per 100 mL. By the 1920's , the use of filtration and chlorination had virtually eliminated epidemics of major waterborne diseases from from the American landscape. These two decades also saw the development of dissolved air flotation, early membrane filters, floc blanket sedimentation, and the solids-contact clarifier. In 1940 Desalination Equipment was developed. A major step in the development of desalination technology arrived during World War II when various military establishments in arid areas required water to supply their troops. In 1942 the U.S. Public Health Service adopted the first set of drinking water standards, and the membrane filter process for bacteriological analysis was approved in 1957. Since in the USA 1974 enactment of the Safe Drinking Water Act, the government, the public health community, and water utilities throughout the country have worked together to safeguard the nation's drinking water supplies and to ensure that law protects public health in the best possible ways. The later part of the 20th Century has many diverse companies seeking ways to remove all contaminates in water, even the living part of the water. Some innovative companies start to seek way's to make water better than just purification. In 2003 MiraculeWater is incorporated and begins to market the first water processors that go beyond filtration and into enhancement of water.
The Criminology of Terrorism Mutating Forms of Terrorism You have probably heard and may have used the word terrorism prior to reading this book. If you have, then you had an image in your mind when you discussed it. Other people have used the word, and they also project their own meanings into the term terrorism. This creates a problem. Nobody has been able to produce an exact definition of the subject. As a result, terrorism means different things to different people. To make matters worse, the nature of terrorism has changed over the course of history. Violent activity at one point in time may be called terrorism, while the same action may be deemed war, liberation, or crime in another period of history. Religion has come to play an important part of some forms of terrorism in the past few years. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce methods for understanding terrorism and the tactics terrorists use. After reading this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Describe the problems of the contextual meaning of terrorism. 2. List and define some of the contexts of terrorism. 3. List and summarize some common definitions of terrorism. 4. Explain the strengths and weaknesses of typologies of terrorism. 5. Describe a tactical typology of terrorism. 6. List and summarize the five basic tactical forms of terrorism. THE CONTEXT OF TERRORISMTerrorism beams into our homes through television screens, it assaults us in newspapers and magazines, and it sometimes touches our lives in more direct manners. People do not seem to worry about the definition of terrorism at such times. They simply feel terror when they see the violence. Sometimes it seems as though the event itself defines terrorism. For example, when a plane is destroyed by a bomb, it is frequently called terrorism, but when military forces shoot down a civilian aircraft, it can be deemed an unfortunate mistake. The United States may launch missiles at a suspected terrorist base and claim it is defending national interests. Yet, it may condemn another country for doing the same thing in another part of the world. Dual standards and contradictions lead to confusion any time the term terrorism is employed. The term terrorism has spawned heated debate. Instead of agreeing on the definition of terrorism, social scientists, policymakers, lawyers, and security specialists often argue about the meaning of the term. H. H. A. Cooper (1978, 2001), a renowned terrorist expert from the University of Texas at Dallas, aptly summarizes the problem. There is, Cooper says, "a problem in the problem definition." We can agree that terrorism is a problem, but we cannot agree on what terrorism is. There are several reasons for confusion. First, terrorism is difficult to define because it has a pejorative connotation. (Pejorative means that it is emotionally charged.) A person is politically and socially degraded when labeled a terrorist, and the same thing happens when an organization is called a terrorist group. Routine crimes assume greater social importance when they are described as terrorism, and political movements can be hampered when their followers are believed to be terrorists. Further confusion arises when people intertwine the terms terror and terrorism. The object of military force, for example, is to strike terror into the heart of the enemy, and systematic terror has been a basic weapon in conflicts throughout history. Some people argue that there is no difference between military force and terrorism. Many members of the antinuclear movement have extended this argument by claiming that maintaining ready-to-use nuclear weapons is an extension of terrorism. Others use the same logic when claiming that street gangs and criminals terrorize neighborhoods. If you think that anything that creates terror is terrorism, the scope of potential definitions becomes limitless. One of the primary reasons terrorism is difficult to define is that the meaning changes within social and historical contexts. This is not to suggest that "one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter," but it does suggest the meaning fluctuates. Change in the meaning occurs because terrorism is not a solid entity. Like crime, it is socially defined, and the meaning changes with social change. This chapter examines some common definitions of terrorism. These definitions are worth reviewing, but it is more important to understand that definitions of terrorism are not very helpful. You need to understand the context of the definition before applying the term. The definition of terrorism always changes with social and historical circumstances. As a result, terrorism presents a problem. Akin to the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography, we do not know how to define terrorism, but we know what it is when we see it. It seems that H. H. A. Cooper is indeed correct. We have a problem in the problem definition. Some Common Contexts of TerrorismBefore reviewing definitions of terrorism, it is helpful to examine the meaning of terrorism within specific frameworks. It is more helpful to list the context of terrorism than to memorize a variety of definitions. The following are some contextual issues to consider. History The meaning of terrorism has changed over time. It is almost impossible to talk about terrorism without discussing the historical context of the terrorist campaign. This is so important that the second part of the text is designed to familiarize you with historical developments in world history. Modern terrorism originated from the French Revolution (1789–1795). It was used as a term to describe the actions of the French government. By 1848, the meaning of the term changed. It was employed to describe violent revolutionaries who revolted against governments. By the end of the 1800s and early 1900s, terrorism was used to describe the violent activities of a number of groups including: labor organizations, anarchists, nationalist groups revolting against foreign powers, and ultranationalist political organizations. After World War II (1939–1945), the meaning changed again. As people revolted from European domination of the world, nationalistic groups were deemed to be terrorist groups. From about 1964 to the early 1980s, the term terrorism was also applied to violent left-wing groups, as well as nationalists. In the mid-1980s, the meaning changed again. In the United States, some of the violent activity of the hate movement was defined as terrorism. Internationally, terrorism was viewed as subnational warfare. Terrorists were sponsored by rogue regimes. As the millennium changed, the definitions of terrorism also changed. Today terrorism also refers to large groups who are independent from a state, violent religious fanatics, and violent groups who terrorize for a particular cause such as the environment. It is important to realize that any definition is influenced by the historical context of terrorism. Conflict The meaning of terrorism fluctuates around various types of war. In times of conventional war, armies use commando tactics that look very much like terrorism. In the American Civil War, the Federal Army unleashed Major John Anderson to destroy Confederate railroads. The Confederates captured Anderson and accused him of being a spy, but he remained a hero in the North. He did not wear a uniform, and he did not fight by the accepted norm. Armies routinely use such tactics in times of war and never define their actions as terrorism. In guerrilla war, guerrillas use terrorist tactics against their enemies and may terrorize their supporters into submission. In total war, air forces may destroy entire cities with fire. The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) did so at Stalingrad in 1942, and the British and American Air Forces did the same at Dresden in 1945. Neither side believed it was practicing terrorism. While it is possible to cite many other examples and endless contradictions, you should realize that the definition of terrorism changes with the nature of conflict. The term terrorism is more likely to be employed to describe violent activity that explodes during a peaceful period. Political Power The definition of terrorism depends on political power. Governments can increase their power when they label opponents as "terrorists." Citizens seem willing to accept more abuses of governmental power when a counterterrorist campaign is in progress. "Terrorists" do not enjoy the same humanitarian privileges as "people." In the public mind, illegal arrest and sometimes even torture and murder are acceptable methods for dealing with terrorists. Labeling can have deadly results. Repression Closely related to the issue of power is the concept of repression. Some governments routinely use terrorism to keep their citizens in line. Such repression can sometimes be seen in the political structure of the country as leaders use secret police forces to maintain power. Joseph Stalin (1879–1953) ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953 through terror, and Saddam Hussein rules Iraq by similar methods. Latin America has witnessed several rulers who maintain power through repression, many times with help from the United States. Repression can also develop outside formal political structures. This is called extrajuridical repression. It refers to repressive groups who terrorize others into certain forms of behavior. Political repression is a form of terrorism, but people seldom refer to this form of violence when defining terrorism. Media Journalists and television reporters frequently use the term terrorism to define political violence. However, there is no consistent standard guiding them in the application of the definition. Many times they employ the term to attract attention to a story. Terrorism, when defined by the media, is relatively meaningless. Crime You might think that criminals and terrorists represent two different types of violent behavior. Some analysts would agree, but confusion remains. A few years ago, a Presidential Commission on criminal justice stated that it was necessary to look at the motivation of a criminal act to determine whether it was a terrorist action (National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, 1976). When a crime is politically motivated, the report says it is terrorism. The problem with this approach is that a crime is a crime no matter what motivation lies behind the action. Except in times of conflict or government repression, all terrorism involves criminal activity. Even in the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation does not file most political crimes under the heading of terrorism in its Uniform Crime Reports. Religion In recent years, religion has played a more significant role in the process of terrorism. This is fully examined in Chapter 4, but it is important to understand that extreme religious beliefs provide a context for defining terrorism. Religious violence centers around three sources (White, 2000). First, some religious groups feel they must purify the world for a new epoch. This can be defined as violent eschatology. Second, some groups feel they are chosen and may destroy other people in the cause of righteousness. This type of attitude can lead to violent intolerance and religious war. Finally, other people may become so consumed with a particular cause that they create a surrogate religion and take violent action to advance their beliefs. Ecological terrorists serve as an example of this type of pseudoreligious terrorism. Specific Forms Sometimes the term terrorism is defined within a specific context. A detailed look at weapons of mass destruction is presented later in this book under the heading of technological terrorism. Another specific form of terrorism refers to computer attacks, viruses, or destruction of an information infrastructure. This is called cyberterrorism. Finally, drug organizations frequently use terrorist tactics, and some terrorist organizations sell drugs to support their political activities. Some analysts use the term narcoterrorism to describe this type of violence. Retired FBI counterterrorist specialist William Dyson (2000, in press) argues these issues are not separate forms of terrorism. Rather, they are modes of attack used by political terrorists. Changing ContextsCan you think of other contextual factors that influence the definition of terrorism? The list is probably endless. Regardless, it is enough to be aware that the definition of terrorism changes with political and social contexts. Terrorist analyst Alex Schmid (1983) says no matter how we define terrorism, the definition will always fluctuate because the context of violent activity changes. We cannot define terrorism. With that weakness in mind, it is time to look at some of the more popular definitions. SOME COMMON DEFINITIONSThe most widely used definition in criminal justice, military, and security circles is a rather simple view fostered by Brian Jenkins, a widely known counterterrorist security specialist, and Walter Laqueur, another leading authority from Georgetown University. They defined terrorism separately but arrived at remarkably similar conclusions. Jenkins offers a definition he has frequently used while consulting with security forces. Jenkins (1984) calls terrorism the use or threatened use of force designed to bring about a political change. In a definition closely related to that of Jenkins, Laqueur (1987, p. 72) says terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people. He adds that attempts to move beyond the simple definition are fruitless because the term is so controversial. Volumes can be written on the definition of terrorism, Laqueur writes in a footnote, but they will not add one iota to our understanding of the topic. In a later work, Laqueur (1999, pp. 8–10) promotes a simple definition, only arguing that meanings and definitions fluctuate with history. Both Jenkins and Laqueur freely admit problems with their simple approach. Neither definition limits the topic, and there is no meaningful way to apply a simple definition to specific acts of terrorism. Simple definitions also leave academicians, policymakers, and social scientists frustrated. In short, simplicity does not solve the problem presented by Professor Cooper. Yet, Laqueur intimates, it is necessary to live with the problems and weaknesses of the simple definition because terrorism will always mean different things to different people. With this in mind, examine the positions of Laqueur and Jenkins. From a security perspective, Laqueur’s conclusion makes sense: terrorism is a form of political or criminal violence using military tactics to change behavior through fear. This simple approach does not solve the political problems of definition, but it allows security personnel to move beyond endless debates. Anyone charged with counterterrorism is trying to prevent military-style criminal attacks against innocent people in a noncombat area. But definitions hardly stop with pragmatic simplicity. Germany, the United Kingdom, and Spain outlawed terrorism more than a decade ago, and America has examined the idea of a legal definition (Mullendore & White, 1996). The beauty of legal definitions is they give governments specific crimes that can be used to take action against terrorist activities. Beyond that, they are quite useless because they account for neither the social nor the political nature of terrorism. More important, they can be misused. Violence is the result of complex social factors that range beyond narrow legal limitations and foreign policy restrictions. Political violence often occurs during the struggle for legitimacy. For example, American patriots fought the British before the United States government was recognized. Legal definitions also contain internal contradictions. Under the legal guidelines of the United States, for example, some groups can be labeled as terrorists, while other groups engaged in the same activities may be described as legitimate revolutionaries. In addition, governments friendly to the United States in Latin America have committed some of the worst atrocities in the history of the world in the name of counterterrorism. Ironically, some Latin American revolutionaries who oppose our repressive friends espouse the rights expressed in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, yet we refer to them as terrorists. Legal definitions are frequently shortsighted. Martha Crenshaw (1983) says terrorism cannot be defined unless the act, target, and possibility of success are analyzed. Under this approach, freedom fighters use legitimate military methods to attack legitimate political targets. Their actions are further legitimized when they have some possibility of winning the conflict. Terrorists fail to meet the legitimacy test in one of the three categories: military methods, military targets, and some chance of victory. Crenshaw also suggests revolutionary violence should not be confused with terrorism. To Crenshaw, terrorism means socially and politically unacceptable violence aimed at an innocent target to achieve a psychological effect. Such analytical distinctions have helped make Crenshaw a leading authority on terrorism, but two problems remain. Whoever has the political power to define "legitimacy" has the power to define terrorism. In addition, the analytical definition has not moved far from the simple definition. During the Reagan administration (1981–1989), it became popular to define terrorism in terms of national policy. Analysts pointed to terrorist states that used terrorism to attack American interests. Neil Livingstone (Livingstone & Arnold, 1986, pp. 1–10) lists five powers that served as the former Soviet Union’s client states. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (1986, pp. 5–15) called the West to arms against the terrorist states. If you accept this logic, it solves the definitional dilemma. Terrorists were shadow warriors from Libya, Syria, Bulgaria, East Germany, and North Korea under the command of the former Soviet Union’s Bureau of State Security (KGB). However, the state-sponsored definition fell on hard times, even before the collapse of the Communist empire. James Adams (1986) thoroughly demonstrates that terrorist groups are not and never were controlled by sponsor states. Michael Stohl (1988, pp. 1–28) sounds another caveat. Some terrorist states did indeed offer logistical support and sympathy to terrorist groups, but their overall impact was insignificant. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the arguments of state sponsorship dwindled. Although some terrorists hiding in East Europe were arrested (the East Germans turned over names and addresses of the Red Army Faction to the new German federal police, for example), the nature of terrorism shifted in the last part of the twentieth century. Terrorism is too complex and too significant to be controlled by nation-states. A different definition comes from Edward Herman (1983), who says terrorism should be defined in terms of state repression. Citing corrupt Latin American governments, Herman argues that repressive policies have resulted in more misery for more people than any other form of state-sponsored terror. In a separate publication, Michael Stohl (1988, pp. 20–28) sounds a sympathetic note, claiming terrorism is most frequently used by governments to maintain power. Walter Laqueur (1987, p. 6) says such conclusions are correct, and one would be foolish to deny that state repression has caused less suffering than modern terrorism. Yet, Laqueur argues, governmental repression is a long-term political problem, separate from modern terrorism. To include it in the discussion confuses the issue and does little to enhance our understanding of terrorism. In an effort to solve the definitional dilemma, Alex Schmid (1983, pp. 70–111) tries to synthesize various positions. He concludes there is no true or correct definition because terrorism is an abstract concept with no real presence. A single definition cannot possibly account for all the potential uses of the term. Still, Schmid says, a number of elements are common to leading definitions, and most definitions have two characteristics: someone is terrorized, and the meaning of the term is derived from terrorists’ targets and victims. Schmid also offers a conglomerated definition of terrorism. His empirical analysis finds 22 elements common to most definitions, and he develops a definition containing 13 of those elements. Schmid sees terrorism as a method of combat in which the victims serve as symbolic targets. Violent actors are able to produce a chronic state of fear by using violence outside the realm of normative behavior. This produces an audience beyond the immediate victim and results in a change of public attitudes and actions. Some scholars believe Schmid has solved the definitional dilemma by combining definitions. Others think he has refined the undefinable. While analysts wrestle with the problem, most end up doing one of three things. Some follow the lead of Crenshaw and Thomas Thorton (1964, p. 73) and look for illegitimate violence instead of political revolution. Others follow the lead of Schmid, either synthesizing definitions or using those of others. Finally, some people ignore the problem altogether. They talk about terrorism and assume everybody knows what they mean. See Box 1.1 for a summary of the common definitions of terrorism and Box 1.2 for a list of some official definitions that are used. TYPOLOGIES OF TERRORISMA typology is a classification system, and there are as many typologies of terrorism as there are definitions. Models, classification systems, and typologies, however, offer an alternative to definitions, and they have several advantages. First, the broad scope of the problem can be presented. Terrorism is composed of a variety of activities, not a singly defined action. A typology captures the range of terrorist activities better than most definitions. Second, the scope of the problem allows the level of the problem to be introduced. Terrorism can be local, national, or international in occurrence. A typology helps identify what kind of terrorism is to be examined. Third, when the level of terrorism is identified, the level of response can be determined. Finally, by focusing on types of violence and the social meanings of tactics, typologies avoid the heated debates about the meaning of terrorism. Typologies are not a panacea, and they do not solve all the definitional dilemmas. First, the process of terrorism is in a constant state of change. Models, taxonomies, and typologies only describe patterns among events. They are generalizations that describe extremely unstable environments. Typologies may increase our understanding of terrorism, but each terrorist incident must be understood in its specific social, historical, and political circumstances. Another weakness of typologies involves the distortion of reality. After developing a model, some people, including scholars, try to fit particular forms of terrorism into it. They alter what they see so that it will blend with their typology. This has been especially true regarding Latin America. Governments, journalists, teachers, and revolutionaries have developed ideological typologies for Latin America and then bent reality to fit their political views. Changing events to fit a pattern can completely distort reality. When this happens, researchers only see what they want to see. In addition, typologies hide details. They produce patterns, not specifics, even when they are correctly applied. Peter Fleming, Michael Stohl, and Alex Schmid (1988, pp. 153–195) criticize the use of typologies to describe terrorism, claiming they reflect the biases of the researchers. Typologies also tend to compare variables that should not be compared in different incidents. To be usable, these researchers believe, typologies must account for a group’s political motivation, origin, scope of action, and the focus of its attention. Fleming, Stohl, and Schmid are critical of typologies because none of them has attempted to provide in-depth political analysis. If you assume that Fleming, Stohl, and Schmid are correct, you may reject the use of typologies; however, they can have limited benefit. Although they do not solve the definitional problems or provide a method for examining deep-seated political and social issues, they can be useful in the more limited role of tactically identifying a security problem. Some noted authorities have approached terrorism in this manner. TOWARD A TACTICAL TYPOLOGY OF TERRORISMAlthough this is not an optimistic thought, a simple assumption will help you understand terrorism. Humans live in a constant state of conflict. Indeed, it is impossible to have a human social organization without conflict. Even in the most peaceful community, social organization is maintained because the controlling group can force people to join the organization and force members to obey the organization’s rules. The amount of force is subject to limitation, but the ability to coerce is real. Therefore, social organizations are never truly "at peace"; they are always "at war." The amount and level of conflict varies, but conflict is normative. If you accept this assumption, you will be able to understand terrorism. To illustrate this, consider a concept developed by the U.S. Army in the early 1970s. After the Vietnam War, the Army realized its mission was changing and it had to be prepared to fight any number of different styles of war. Conflict could range from low-level brushfire wars to nuclear devastation, and the meaning of war was nebulous at best. To clarify this situation, the U.S. Army spoke of a spectrum of conflict (see Figure 1.1).The spectrum was a continuum that ranged from low-intensity conflict to full-scale war. This scale probably more correctly reflects the human condition than the belief that we can either be at war or at peace. It also helps us understand terrorism. Because humans live in a perpetual state of conflict and conflict management, civil coercive power has a place on the spectrum of conflict. Even before conflict rises to a military level, civil authorities routinely face challenges that must be met by implied or direct force. At the lowest level of organization, informal norms and mores enforce compliance, and if they fail, stronger coercive force is applied. In modern Western society, this may be civil or criminal law, whereas a more passive social group might use expulsion or shunning. Regardless, social groups always have the potential to exhibit coercive force to enforce behavior. Terrorism is a form of violent civil disobedience, and it can be placed on a spectrum of conflict. At the most basic governmental level, the state faces low-level challenges with ordinary crime. This increases with group violence, then rioting and wider disorders, and finally terrorism. At this point, military options may be employed as the continuum moves to guerrilla war, low-level war, conventional war, technological war, wars of ecological destruction, and wars of oblivion. Ethicists may correctly argue that we must always move to minimal conflict by using the least amount of force, but morality is not the issue here. What you should be able to see from the simple model is that terrorism is simply a form of conflict among social organizations that accept conflict as normal. There is nothing mystical about terrorism. It is simply a form of conflict between civil disorders and guerrilla warfare. If it is a form of conflict, its tactics can be modeled. Over the past few years, I have used a typology to train military and police personnel in counterterrorism (Figure 1.2). It does not solve any definitional problems, but police and military officers have told me that it has helped them conceptualize their counterterrorist mission. This tactical typology may help you understand the issues involved in responding to terrorism. The three parallel lines in the model symbolize three different measures that roughly correlate with each other. The first measure shows the level of activity. It is fairly simple to grasp: incidents on the low end equal low activity, whereas the high end represents increasing rates of violence. The second line represents the type of activity. The line itself indicates the size of the terrorist group. On the extreme left, directly correlated with low activity on the activity continuum, is a single individual. Size increases as you move to the right. This brings the first rule of thumb. In terrorism, the level of activity is generally correlated with the size of the group. Generally, the larger the group, the greater its potential for terrorist violence. Notice that the second line is divided by a nebulous border separating criminal and political terrorism. This border is intentionally open because terrorists are free to move between the criminal and political boundaries. The openness is designed to illustrate the movement of political violence. Some criminal groups can become so large that they may act like terrorist groups. Small terrorist groups can become so focused on crime that they become nothing more than criminal gangs. Examples of these types of groups appear underneath the line. The final continuum illustrates the type of response. Most criminal terrorism and a good share of political terrorism is a law enforcement responsibility. This means that when nonpolice units assist police agencies as part of a security force, they must think as the police do. For example, deadly force is always the last alternative in police operations. Additionally, legal procedures and an emphasis on individual rights guide each phase of a law enforcement response and investigation. As you move across the continuum, however, response actions become more militaristic. Although deadly force remains the final option, law enforcement personnel must think of themselves as a team, much as the military does. The courts may allow certain amounts of latitude in procedures, such as internment in Northern Ireland, in the interest of public safety. Teamwork, however, does not imply an ability to operate outside legal norms. Despite the necessity to develop certain military tactics or employ the direct help of the military, extrajuridical activities cannot be tolerated. For example, police and military units of some countries have formed secret death squads, claiming terrorists have become too strong. If legal norms are violated, security forces can become little more than terrorists themselves. THE TACTICS OF TERRORISMThe tactical typology is simply a verbal model to help in conceptualizing the state of terrorism. Yet, the practice of terrorism is not as stable as the loosely correlated model indicates. Brian Jenkins (1985) explains why. Traditionally, Jenkins says, there are six terrorist tactics: bombing, hijacking, arson, assault, kidnapping, and taking hostages. As religious fanaticism has grown in the past few years, the arsenal of terrorism has changed to include potential threats from weapons of mass destruction (Jenkins, 1996; Brackett, 1996, p. 45; White, 1986b, 2000). Yet, even religious terrorists use traditional terrorist tactics. The only addition to Jenkins’s categories can be found in the realm of technology. In the age of information and electronics, disruption of services through electronic hacking has also become a tactic of terrorism. Technology has another impact on terrorism. Jenkins calls this influence "force multipliers" (see Box 1.3). In military terms, a force multiplier increases striking power without increasing the strength of a unit. Terrorists routinely use force multipliers because it adds to their aura. All political terrorists and some criminal terrorists want to give the illusion that they can fight on another level. They want to move to guerrilla or conventional war, although they almost never do so. Three force multipliers give the illusion that terrorists operate on a higher level. Christine Ketcham and Harvey McGeorge (1986, pp. 25–33) identify the first force multiplier as technology. The use of technological weapons or attacks on technological targets gives the illusion of a high level of activity. James Adams’s (1986) analysis of finances in terrorism illustrates the second force multiplier: transnational support. Any group with the ability to cross national borders can operate on a higher level. Another force multiplier is the media. One incident can be converted into a "campaign" as live electronic media scramble to break the latest news. A frightening new force multiplier, according to Bruce Hoffman (1995), has been the introduction of religious fanaticism in terrorist activities. This has become so important that Chapter 4 will focus exclusively on violent religious behavior. Regardless of the source, force multipliers allow small groups or individuals to operate as if they were a larger group. GUIDE TO THE KEY CONCEPTS 1. Terrorism is defined within social and political contexts. This is the primary reason that no single definition of terrorism will ever be successful. 2. In terms of contextual definitions, the meaning of terrorism is influenced by history, conflict, political power, political repression, mass media, crime, and the specific form that terrorism takes. 3. Since the meaning of terrorism fluctuates, a simple definition is probably the best course of action. 4. It is best to look at terrorism from a tactical standpoint, if you are focusing on security. Terrorism is simply a method of fighting. It terrorizes the public because violence is centered on places where people feel safe. 5. Tactically, terrorism has basic forms. These include: bombing, arson, hijacking, assault, kidnapping, taking hostages, and disruption of services. 6. Terrorists use force multipliers to increase their attacking power. Force multipliers include technology, transnational support, media coverage, and religious fanaticism. FOOD FOR THOUGHTThink about the last time you saw a television report on a terrorist event. What went through your mind? If the context of the event changed, would you have viewed it differently? If you had a definition of terrorism, would it have changed your view of the event? Does the event you recall fit only the tactical typology? If not, is there another system that would allow you to classify the act? What tactic did the terrorist(s) use? Did force multipliers play a role? Walter Laqueur, The New Terrorism Bruce Hoffman, Inside Terrorism BOX 1.1 Definition of Terrorism Jenkins and Laqueur: Illegitimate force used against innocents for political purposes Livingstone: Warfare on the cheap Crenshaw: Politically illegitimate attacks on innocent targets Herman: Government repression Schmid: Combat against symbolictargets BOX 1.2 Official Definitions of Terrorism Even governmental bodies have several definitions of terrorism. State Department: Title 22 of the United States Code section 2656f(d) contains the following definitions: The term "terrorism" means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience. The term "international terrorism" means terrorism involving citizens or the territory of more than one country. The term "terrorist group" means any group practicing, or that has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism. Source: 1999 Patterns of Terrorism. FBI: The FBI defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a Government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." The FBI further describes terrorism as either domestic or international, depending on the origin, base, and objectives of the terrorist organization. Source: http://www.fbi.gov/publish/terror/ terrusa.html. Vice President's Task Force: Terrorism is the unlawful use or threat of violence against persons or property to further political or social objectives. It is usually intended to intimidate or coerce a government, individuals or groups, or to modify their behavior or politics. Source: Vice President's Task Force, 1986. United Nations: A TERRORIST is any person who, acting independently of the specific recognition of a country, or as a single person, or as part of a group not recognized as an official part or division of a nation, acts to destroy or to injure civilians or destroy or damage property belonging to civilians or to governments in order to effect some political goal. TERRORISM is the act of destroying or injuring civilian lives or the act of destroying or damaging civilian or government property without the expressly chartered permission of a specific government, thus, by individuals or groups acting independently or governments on their own accord and belief, in the attempt to effect some political goal. Source: http://www.inlink.com/~civitas/mun/ res9596/terror.html. Defense Department: Terrorism is the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives. Defense Intelligence Agency: Ter- rorism is premeditated, political violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine state agents, usually to influence an audience. State of Nature–– No Rules State of Nature–– No Rules Limited Concentional War Unlimited Concentional War Figure 1.1 Spectrum of Conflict Figure 1.2 Tactical Typology of Terrorism BOX 1.3 Force Multipliers in Terrorism Rule of thumb: The larger the group, the larger its level of activity. 2. Transnational support Technology Weapons enhancement allows a small group to operate on a higher level. Terrorists may use technology in their attack or attack a technological target. The two newest threats are cyberterrorism and weapons of mass destruction. Transnational Support Groups and individuals operating with foreign support bases may have a higher level of activity. Media Coverage can enhance the aura of the event. Many terrorist events are "made-for-TV" dramas. Twenty-four-hour news coverage leads to sensationalist fillers. Religion Religious fanaticism has changed the structure of modern terrorism. Relig-ious terrorists are not constrained by social norms because they feel they answer to a higher power. (c) 2002 Wadsworth Group, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc.
Imagine: You are a guest in a Roman Catholic environment, down in Peru 1631. From behind a choir enters the church in procession, carrying the statue of the Holy Mother Maria, mother of God and they sing this beautiful song. It's not a wonder that so many people became Catholic in these days. This song 'Hanacpachap cussuininis' is attributed to JUAN PÉRES DE BOCANEGRA (1598-1631). After the conquest of a large part of 'the new world'(Middle and south America) in the 16th century mainly by the Spaniards the Roman Catholic church wanted to convert the native people. Several monastic order settled in the villages. Priests learned the local language and used the local music to bring there message. This is one of the first polyphonic songs of this region. Lyrics (one of many versions) in the original Quechua language Hanaq pachap kusikuynin Yupay ruru puquq mallki Diospa rampan Diospa maman Yuraq tuqtu hamanq'ayman Lyrics in English a thousand times shall we praise you. O tree bearing thrice-blessed fruit, O hope of humankind, helper of the weak. hear our prayer! Attend to our pleas, O column of ivory, Mother of God! Beautiful iris, yellow and white, receive this song we offer you; come to our assistance, show us the Fruit of your womb! Choir: Capella Ducis ('s-Hertogenbosch, The netherlands) Flute and drum: Quercus quartet ('s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands) Conductor : Frans van de Loo location: St. Lambertuskerk, Torenstraat 1, Rosmalen, The Netherlands (Holland). Date: May 25th 2013 Rode NT4 > Sony PCM D50 (unprocessed). Microphone in front of the church. Thank Harke from Capella Ducis for the permission to upload this recording (CC BY-NC 3.0) of me to freesound.org. I hope many of you like it. When you use this sound NON-COMMERCIAL it would be nice if you spent a voluntarily donation to freesound. Remind that this is not a must. You are free to skip this request. You always have to credit/attribute Capella Ducis, Quercus quartet, me (klankbeeld) and freesound.org in your work if you use this sound. (you can use the DIRECT link to this song for that) Do not use an indirect link. Do not 'just simply copy/past' this somewhere on the internet in any form!! When you use this sound it would be nice if you spent a voluntarily donation to freesound. YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO CREDIT/ATTRIBUTE me (klankbeeld) and freesound.org in your work if you use this sound. Do it like this: sound from http://www.freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/ Do not use an indirect link. Please log in to comment
“The University of Cambridge (legally The Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, also known as Cambridge University) is a collegiate research university in Cambridge, United Kingdom. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s fourth-oldest surviving university, as well as one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 semi-autonomous constituent colleges and over 150 academic departments, faculties and other institutions organised into six schools. All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. Cambridge does not have a main campus, and its colleges and central facilities are scattered throughout the city. Undergraduate teaching at Cambridge is organised around weekly small-group supervisions in the colleges – a feature unique to the Oxbridge system. These are complemented by classes, lectures, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further supervisions provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided predominantly centrally. Displaying courses from: All Faculties No courses found!
When we think about adapting humanity to the challenges of climate change, it’s tempting to reach for technological solutions. We talk about seeding our oceans and clouds with compounds designed to trigger rain or increasing carbon uptake. We talk about building grand structures to protect our coastlines from rising sea levels and storm surges. However, as we discuss in Nature Climate Change, our focus on these high-tech, heavily engineered solutions is blinding us to a much easier, cheaper, simpler and better solution to adaptation: look after our planet’s ecosystems, and they will look after us. Biting the hand that feeds us People are currently engaged in wholesale destruction of the systems that shelter us, clean our water, clean our air, feed us and protect us from extreme weather. Sometimes this destruction is carried out for the purpose of protecting us from the threats posed by climate change. For example, in Melanesia’s low-lying islands, coral reefs are dynamited to provide the raw building materials for seawalls in an attempt to slow the impact of sea-level rise. In many parts of the world, including Africa, Canada and Australia, drought has led to the opening up of intact forest systems, protected grasslands and prairies for grazing and agriculture. Similarly, the threat of climate change has driven the development of more drought-tolerant crops that can survive climate variability, but these survival abilities also make those plant species more likely to become invasive. On the surface, these might seem like sensible ways to reduce the impacts of climate change. But they are actually likely to contribute to climate change and increase its impact on people. Sea walls and drought-tolerant crops do have a place in adapting to climate change: if they’re sensitive to ecosystems. For example, if storm protection is required on low-lying islands, don’t build a seawall from the coral reef that offers the island its only current protection. Bring in the concrete and steel needed to build it. How ecosystems protect us Intact coral reefs act as barriers against storm surges, reducing wave energy by an average of 97%. They are also a valuable source of protein that support local livelihoods. Similarly, mangroves and seagrass beds provide a buffer zone against storms and reduce wave energy, as well as being a nursery for many of the fish and other marine creatures that our fishing industries are built on. Intact forests supply a host of valuable ecosystem services that are not only taken for granted, but actively squandered when those forests are decimated by land clearing. There is now clear evidence that intact forests have a positive influence on both planetary climate and local weather regimes. Forests also provide shelter from extreme weather events, and are home to a host of other valuable ecosystems that are important to human populations as sources of food, medicine and timber. Forests play a key role in capturing, storing and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere, a role that will likely become increasingly important in avoiding the worst of climate change. Yet we continue to decimate forests, woodlands and grasslands. Northern Australia is home to the largest savannah on earth, containing enormous carbon stores and influencing both local and global climate. Despite its inherent value as a carbon store, there has been discussion around whether these northern regions might be opened up to become Australia’s new food bowl, putting those extensive carbon stories in jeopardy. Cheaper than techno-solutions In Vietnam, 12,000 hectares of mangroves have been planted at a cost of US$1.1 million, but saving the US$7.3 million per year that would have been spent on maintaining dykes. In Louisiana, the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 led to an examination of how coastal salt marshes might have reduced some of the wave energy in the hurricane-associated storm surges. Data have now confirmed that salt marshes would have significantly reduced the impact of those surges, and stabilised the shoreline against further insult, at far less cost than engineered coastal defences. With this data in hand, discussions are now beginning around how to restore the Louisiana salt marshes to insulate against future extreme weather events. US foreign aid in Papua New Guinea has also encouraged the restoration and protection of mangroves for the same reason. Instead of turning cattle to graze on native grasslands and savannah during times of drought, farmers struggling to sustain livestock in marginal areas could instead be funded to farm carbon and biodiversity by restoring or preserving these ecosystems. This might involve reducing the number of cattle, or in some cases even removing cattle entirely. Australia is very well-informed about the carbon value of its many and varied ecosystems, but is yet to fully put that knowledge into practice. The cost of adapting to climate change using largely technological solutions has been put at a staggering US$70-100 billion per year. This is small change compared to current global energy subsidies estimated by the International Monetary Fund for 2015 at US$5.3 trillion per year. Protecting ecosystems reduces the risk to people and infrastructure, as well as the degree of climate change: a win-win. There is no doubt that technological solutions have a role to play in climate adaptation but not at the expense of intact functioning ecosystems. It is time to set a policy agenda that actively rewards those countries, industries and entrepreneurs who develop ecosystem-sensitive adaptation strategies.
Micro Thermoelectric Generators Scientists who are desperately trying to put electronics into your body have developed a power source that works off of body heat. Thermoelectric generators create electricity when a temperature difference exists between the two ends of a circuit that are made from two types of metal, and they have been around for decades. The heat to electricity ratio they produce is usually too small for most electronics, but California-based Thermo Life Energy has developed a smaller, more powerful version that could make thermoelectric generator use worthwhile for charging batteries in microelectronics. The generators are only 9.3 millimeters in diameter, which is an ideal size for use in wireless sensors and electronic body implants. Energy from body heat? That's what we're doing now? Just when I start focusing on creating energy from urine, I have to throw everything out the window and focus on body heat. Great. What am I supposed to do with all those gatorade bottles in my basement?
Novaya Zemlya, an island group in the Arctic Ocean belonging to Russia and forming part of Archangel Oblast. The name means "new land." It is north of European Russia and lies between the Barents Sea on the west and the Kara Sea on the east. Novaya Zemlya consists of two large islands and many small ones. It extends to the northeast nearly 700 miles (1,100 km) and has an area of about 35,000 square miles (91,000 km2). The islands are mountainous and much of the area is permanently snow-covered. Vegetation is of the tundra type, consisting mainly of stunted shrubs, moss, and lichens. There are foxes, lemmings, bears, some wolves, and many birds in the breeding season. Whales, walruses, seals, and water birds are found along the coast. Little was known of Novaya Zemlya until the Dutch explorer Willem Barents visited there in 1594 and wintered at Ice Haven in 1596-97. Beginning in 1869 the islands were visited by many Arctic explorers. In 1877 the Russian government started small settlements on the islands. After World War II weather stations were established on Novaya Zemlya, and the area was also used for nuclear testing.
When Do Babies Hold Their Own Bottle? (Plus Tips To Help Them Do It) When will you finally be able to go hands-free? Is it safe to give my baby honey? One of the most common questions first-time mothers ask their doctors, pediatricians, other moms or google on the Internet. With all the mixed information and old wives’ tales about the benefits of honey, it is baffling for moms to determine whether or not to introduce their child to honey. And if so, then when? Here, we will answer all your queries and dispel any myths as well as talk about the concerns and dangers of giving babies honey too soon. The magic number is one year (12 months). Giving your baby honey before one year of age is not recommended or advised, warns BabyCenter’s toxicologist and food scientist Charles Santerre, as it can lead to infant botulism, which can be fatal. Infant Botulism is a potentially fatal disease that is caused when babies ingest certain bacteria that produce dangerous toxins in the body. A baby’s digestive system is still not fully developed and hence cannot tolerate certain kinds of bacteria. Honey is a known source that contains spores of a bacterium called Clostridium Botulinum which can develop in a baby’s digestive system, causing this rare but potentially deadly illness. These spores are, however, harmless to adults and older children (over the age of one year). If your baby shows signs of infant botulism, see a doctor or go to the emergency room immediately. If possible, take a sample of the food (honey or food containing honey) to the doctor. Infant botulism can be treated (and baby often makes a full recovery) if diagnosed and treated quickly. Sometimes, baby might require assistance with breathing (mechanical ventilation). Some believe it depends on how the food in question has been made and processed, while others avoid any foods containing honey till baby is at least a year old. The spores in honey that lead to infant botulism are difficult to kill, and are only terminated at extremely high temperatures. Hence baking or cooking with honey at home is a definite no, since the temperature of heat produced is not high enough to kill the spores. The mixed opinion is with regards to commercially manufactured foods that contain honey, such as ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, certain types of bread, baby foods and corn syrup. While Babycenter states that these commercially produced foods are safe for babies to consume, since they have been produced at temperatures high enough to kill the spores, Kidshealth.org and some child health experts warn that because the spores are so heat-resistant, there could still be a small risk of contracting infant botulism. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization advise that honey should not be added to food, water or formula that is fed to infants younger than 12 months of age. This also applies to honey in baked or processed food goods. In my opinion: play it safe and avoid products with honey until your baby is at least one year old. The risk – although small – is not worth taking! Besides, it is better not to offer your baby sweetened foods which can lead to a preference for sugary foods later. While mothers might be aware of the dangers of feeding honey to their infants, many are often confused about whether they themselves can eat honey, if they are breastfeeding. Can the honey be transferred to the baby through breast milk, leading to infant botulism? The website infantbotulism.org states that it is indeed safe for a breastfeeding mother to consume honey, as it is not transmitted through breastfeeding. A word of caution, however: always wash your hands thoroughly after consuming or being in contact with honey. This will prevent having honey on any surfaces that could come in contact with your baby’s mouth. These are some common mistakes most first-time mothers make, as far as honey is concerned. Remember, where your precious baby is concerned, it is always advisable to play it safe. Keep your honey away from the honey till he or she is a year old. If you're going to have a new baby coming into the house soon, I highly recommend getting a copy of my free eBook: "57 Ways To Save Money As New Parents"! It's full of great ways to save money and it's totally free. If you're interested, you can get your copy below!