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The Large Hadron Collider is the most complex machine ever built by humankind and it is probing into deep quantum unknown, revealing never-before-seen detail in the matter and forces that underpin the foundations of our universe. In its most basic sense, the LHC is a time machine; with each relativistic proton-on-proton collision, the particle accelerator is revealing energy densities and states of matter that haven't existed in our universe since the moment after the Big Bang, nearly 14 billion years ago. NEWS: $7 Billion Large Hadron Collider Shut Down by Weasel The collider, which is managed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is located near Geneva, Switzerland. With the countless billions of collisions between ions inside the LHC's detectors comes a firehose of data that needs to be recorded, deciphered and stored. Since the 27 kilometer (17 mile) circumference ring of supercooled electromagnets started smashing protons together once more after its winter break, LHC scientists are expecting a lot more data this year than what the experiment produced in 2015. "The LHC is running extremely well," said CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology Frédérick Bordry in a statement. "We now have an ambitious goal for 2016, as we plan to deliver around six times more data than in 2015." ANALYSIS: LHC Has Found a Bump: Exotic Physics or Just Noise? And this data will contain ever more detailed information about the elusive Higgs boson that was discovered in 2012 and possibly even details of "new" or "exotic" physics that physicists could spend decades trying to understand. Key to the LHC's aims is to attempt to understand what dark matter is and why the universe is composed of matter and not antimatter. In fact, there was already a buzz surrounding an unexpected signal that was recorded in 2015 that could represent something amazing, but as is the mantra of any scientist: more data is needed. And it looks like LHC physicists are about to be flooded with the stuff. Central to the LHC's recent upgrades is the sheer density of accelerated "beams" of protons that are accelerated to close to the speed of light. The more concentrated or focused the beams, the more collisions can be achieved. More collisions means more data and the more likelihood of revealing new and exciting things about our universe. This year, LHC engineers hope to magnetically squeeze the beams of protons when they collide inside the detectors, generating up to one billion proton collisions per second. ANALYSIS: Particle Collider Spits Out Tiny Drops of Primordial Goo Add these advances in extreme beam control with the fact the LHC will be running at a record-breaking collision energy of 13 TeV and we have the unprecedented opportunity to make some groundbreaking discoveries. "In 2015, we opened the doors to a completely new landscape with unprecedented energy. Now we can begin to explore this landscape in depth," said CERN Director for Research and Computing, Eckhard Elsen. The current plan is to continue proton-proton collisions for six months and then carry out a four-week run using much heavier lead ions. So the message is clear: Hold onto your hats. We're in for an incredible year of discovery that could confirm or deny certain models of our universe and revel something completely unexpected and, possibly, something very exotic.
Healthy blood is essential to the survival of every human being, regardless of race, culture, background or economic status. What is it? This sticky red fluid circulates in our veins and arteries, acting as the body’s transport system and a defense against infection. Blood also helps the body repair itself by sealing damaged blood vessels and healing injuries with clots. The average-size adult has about 10 pints of blood. What is in it? The basic contents of blood include red blood cells, which carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body; white blood cells, which help the body fight and prevent infections; platelets, which allow blood to clot and plasma, the fluid part of blood that carries substances such as proteins, fats, glucose and salts. Blood and African-Americans Like all other Americans, many African-Americans deal with medical situations that require blood transfusions, or the transfer of fresh blood from donors to patients. However, there are medical challenges that are more prevalent in the African-American community. These problems include Sickle Cell Disease, which can cause anemia, strokes or damage to the lungs and kidneys; high rates of lupus (a disease that destroys the immune system and affects one in every 250 Black women) and a limited number of available donors for bone marrow transplants. Experts say that now, more than ever, African-American blood donors are needed to help address these challenges. “African-Americans have subtle differences in red blood cell proteins, making it more appropriate for a donation to come from someone with a similar ethnic background,” said Dr. Michael F. DeBaun, a professor at the Washington University School of Medicine and a nationally recognized researcher of blood’s impact on the health of African-Americans. It is possible for an African-American patient to match his/her blood type with a donor from any racial or ethnic group. A match, however, is more likely to come from a relative or a donor with the same ethnic and racial background. “Every two seconds someone in the U.S. needs blood,” said Gail McGovern, president of the American Red Cross, “But demand for blood transfusions is growing faster than available blood donors.” McGovern noted that blood donation is a safe and simple process that involves registration and a quick medical checkup, the actual donation procedure and refreshments for the donor. The entire process usually takes no more than an hour. “We encourage all Americans to donate,” McGovern said. “Blood cannot be manufactured, it can only come from generous donors.” For more information about the importance of blood to your health and blood donation, visit ww.givelife2.org.
At times, autism can make social interactions challenging for people on the spectrum. But what if a simple smile or a good laugh could help bridge that gap? Research shows that smiling and laughter can have significant benefits for people with autism, helping them develop social skills and communicate more effectively. In this blog post, we'll explore the science behind the power of smiling and laughter for people with autism. We all know that smiling and laughter can make us feel good, but did you know that they also activate specific regions of the brain responsible for processing emotions and social cues? For people with autism, these regions may not function as strongly, leading to difficulties in recognizing and responding to social cues. However, research has shown that when people with autism are exposed to smiling and laughter, these regions can become more active. This increased activation can lead to improved social skills and communication, making it easier for people with autism to connect with others. In the next section, we'll explore the benefits of smiling and laughter for people with autism in more detail. For people with autism, social situations can often be fraught with stress and anxiety. However, the simple act of smiling and laughing can help reduce these negative emotions. In addition to lowering stress and anxiety, smiling and laughter can also help people with autism develop social skills and improve communication. By engaging in playful activities that promote smiling and laughter, such as games or jokes, people with autism can interact with others in a more relaxed and enjoyable way. In the next section, we'll discuss some strategies for encouraging smiling and laughter in people with autism. Social interactions can be challenging for people with autism, but smiling and laughter can help improve these interactions in several ways. One benefit of smiling is that it can make a person appear more approachable and friendly, which can encourage others to initiate conversations or interactions. For people with autism who may struggle with initiating social interactions, a smile can be a powerful tool for breaking the ice. In addition to making people appear more approachable, smiling and laughter can also help put others at ease. People with autism may feel anxious or stressed in social situations, but seeing someone else smile or laugh can signal that everything is okay and help reduce those negative emotions. This can create a more relaxed and comfortable environment for social interactions to take place. Finally, smiling and laughter are contagious! When one person smiles or laughs, it often leads to others doing the same. For people with autism who may struggle with understanding social cues or nonverbal communication, this contagious effect of smiling and laughter can provide valuable feedback about how they are being perceived by others. It can also create a positive feedback loop where everyone involved feels happier and more connected. Overall, the benefits of smiling and laughter for improving social interactions cannot be overstated. By encouraging these behaviors in themselves and others, people with autism have an effective tool for developing their social skills and connecting with those around them. Encouraging smiling and laughter in people with autism can be a challenge, but there are many strategies that can help. One approach is to incorporate humor into therapy sessions, such as using funny stories or jokes to help build social skills and communication. Another strategy is to engage in playful activities that promote smiling and laughter, such as playing games or watching comedy movies. It's also important to encourage family members and caregivers to use humor in their interactions with people with autism. By creating a positive and lighthearted environment, people with autism can feel more comfortable and connected with those around them. In the final section, we'll look at some examples of how smiling and laughter have helped people with autism. Humor can be a powerful tool in helping individuals with autism engage in therapy sessions and improve their communication skills. Here are some strategies for incorporating humor into therapy sessions: Visual aids, such as cartoons or memes, can be a great way to introduce humor into therapy sessions. Using these aids not only promotes laughter but also helps individuals with autism understand social cues. Playing games that require turn-taking and social interaction can also promote humor. For example, playing "Simon Says" or "Red Light, Green Light" can help individuals with autism understand social rules while engaging in playful activities. Using funny stories or jokes that relate to the individual's interests can help build rapport and promote engagement. It's important to use appropriate humor that is not offensive or inappropriate. Therapists should model humorous behavior by laughing at appropriate times and using positive reinforcement when the individual engages in playful behavior. This helps create an environment where humor is encouraged and valued. By incorporating these strategies into therapy sessions, individuals with autism can develop their social skills while having fun and feeling more comfortable in social situations. Smiling and laughter have been known to have positive effects on people's well-being and mental health. But did you know that the science behind smiling and laughter has shown it to be particularly beneficial for people with autism? In this article, we'll explore the research behind why smiling and laughter can be so helpful for people with autism. The science behind smiling and laughter for people with autism is clear - it has numerous benefits for their well-being, development of social skills, reduction of stress and anxiety, and improvement of communication skills. By incorporating more humor and playfulness into interactions with people with autism, we can help them live more joyful and fulfilling lives. Social isolation is a common experience for individuals with autism, as they may struggle with social interactions and have difficulty making connections with others. This can lead to feelings of loneliness, which can have negative impacts on their mental health and well-being. Research has shown that social isolation can increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues in people with autism. Creating a joyful environment is essential for everyone's well-being, but it can be especially beneficial for people with autism. Smiling and laughter are powerful tools that can help create a positive and engaging environment, promoting social interactions and reducing stress and anxiety. In this article, we'll explore how we can create joyful environments for people with autism through smiling and laughter. Creating a joyful environment for people with autism through smiling and laughter is essential for promoting their well-being, development of social skills, reduction of stress and anxiety, and improvement of communication skills. By incorporating playful activities, encouraging positive social interactions, creating a safe and comfortable space, and modeling positive behaviors, we can help people with autism live more joyful and fulfilling lives. Yes! Smiling and laughter have numerous benefits for people with autism, including reducing stress and anxiety, improving social skills, promoting positive interactions with others, and even improving communication skills. There are many strategies you can use to encourage your child to smile and laugh more. Incorporating humor into daily activities, playing games or watching comedy movies together, using visual aids like funny pictures or cartoons, and modeling positive behaviors like smiling and laughing yourself are all effective ways to promote these behaviors. Not everyone on the autism spectrum will find the same types of humor funny. It's important to experiment with different types of humor to see what resonates best with your child. You can also try explaining jokes or using visual aids to help them understand the punchline. While laughter is generally beneficial for people with autism, it's important to be mindful of individual needs and preferences. Some individuals may become overstimulated by too much noise or excitement, so it's important to monitor their reactions and adjust activities accordingly. It's important to remember that every individual on the autism spectrum is unique. If your child isn't interested in certain activities, try experimenting with different approaches until you find something that resonates with them. It may also be helpful to consult a therapist who specializes in working with individuals on the autism spectrum for additional guidance. In this blog post, we've explored the power of smiling and laughter to help people with autism develop social skills, communicate more effectively, and reduce stress and anxiety. By activating specific regions of the brain responsible for processing emotions and social cues, smiling and laughter can help people with autism break down barriers that may hinder their ability to connect with others. Strategies for encouraging smiling and laughter include incorporating humor into therapy sessions, engaging in playful activities, and encouraging family members and caregivers to use humor in their interactions. It's important for parents, caregivers, and therapists to recognize the value of smiling and laughter for people with autism and to actively incorporate these elements into their interactions. By doing so, we can create a more positive and joyful environment that promotes social connection and overall well-being. Let's spread joy through smiling and laughter, one interaction at a time.
Example 1. A company markets an eight week long weight loss program and claims that at the end of the program on average a participant will have lost 5 pounds. On the other hand, you have studied the program and you believe that their program is scientifically unsound and shouldn’t work at all. With some limited funding at hand, you want test the hypothesis that the weight loss program does not help people lose weight. Your plan is to get a random sample of people and put them on the program. You will measure their weight at the beginning of the program and then measure their weight again at the end of the program. Based on some previous research, you believe that the standard deviation of the weight difference over eight weeks will be 5 pounds. You now want to know how many people you should enroll in the program to test your hypothesis. Example 2. A human factors researcher wants to study the difference between dominant hand and the non-dominant hand in terms of manual dexterity. She designs an experiment where each subject would place 10 small beads on the table in a bowl, once with the dominant hand and once with the non-dominant hand. She measured the number seconds needed in each round to complete the task. She has also decided that the order in which the two hands are measured should be counter balanced. She expects that the average difference in time would be 5 seconds with the dominant hand being more efficient with standard deviation of 10. She collects her data on a sample of 35 subjects. The question is, what is the statistical power of her design with an N of 35 to detect the difference in the magnitude of 5 seconds. Prelude to the Power Analysis In both of the examples, there are two measures on each subject, and we are interested in the mean of the difference of the two measures. This can be done with a t-test for paired samples (dependent samples). In a power analysis, there are always a pair of hypotheses: a specific null hypothesis and a specific alternative hypothesis. For instance, in Example 1, the null hypothesis is that the mean weight loss is 5 pounds and the alternative is zero pounds. In Example 2, the null hypothesis is that mean difference is zero seconds and the alternative hypothesis is that the mean difference is 5 seconds. There are two different aspects of power analysis. One is to calculate the necessary sample size for a specified power. The other aspect is to calculate the power when given a specific sample size. Technically, power is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the specific alternative hypothesis is true. Both of these calculations depend on the Type I error rate, the significance level. The significance level (called alpha), or the Type I error rate, is the probability of rejecting H0 when it is actually true. The smaller the Type I error rate, the larger the sample size required for the same power. Likewise, the smaller the Type I error rate, the smaller the power for the same sample size. This is the trade-off between the reliability and sensitivity of the test. In R, it is fairly straightforward to perform a power analysis for the paired sample t-test using R’s pwr.t.test function. For the calculation of Example 1, we can set the power at different levels and calculate the sample size for each level. For example, we can set the power to be at the .80 level at first, and then reset it to be at the .85 level, and so on. First, we specify the two means, the mean for the null hypothesis and the mean for the alternative hypothesis. Then we specify the standard deviation for the difference in the means. The default significance level (alpha level) is set at .05, so we will not specify it for the initial runs. Last, we tell R that we are performing a paired-sample t-test. library(pwr) pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/5,power=0.8,sig.level=0.05,type="paired",alternative="two.sided") Paired t test power calculation n = 9.93785 d = 1 sig.level = 0.05 power = 0.8 alternative = two.sided NOTE: n is number of pairs pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/5,power=0.85,sig.level=0.05,type="paired",alternative="two.sided") Paired t test power calculation n = 11.06276 d = 1 sig.level = 0.05 power = 0.85 alternative = two.sided NOTE: n is number of pairs pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/5,power=0.9,sig.level=0.05,type="paired",alternative="two.sided") Paired t test power calculation n = 12.58547 d = 1 sig.level = 0.05 power = 0.9 alternative = two.sided NOTE: n is number of pairs Next, let’s change the level of significance to .01 with a power of .85. What does this mean for our sample size calculation? pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/5,power=0.85,sig.level=0.01,type="paired",alternative="two.sided") Paired t test power calculation n = 16.46151 d = 1 sig.level = 0.01 power = 0.85 alternative = two.sided NOTE: n is number of pairs As you can see, the sample size goes up from 11 to 17 for specified power of .85 when alpha drops from .05 to .01. This means if we want our test to be more reliable, i.e., not rejecting the null hypothesis in case it is true, we will need a larger sample size. If we think that we want a lower alpha at 0.01 level and a high power at .90 then we would need 15 subjects as shown below. Remember this is under the normality assumption. If the distribution is not normal, then 15 subjects are, in general, not enough for this t-test. pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/5,power=0.9,sig.level=0.01,type="paired",alternative="two.sided") Paired t test power calculation n = 18.30346 d = 1 sig.level = 0.01 power = 0.9 alternative = two.sided NOTE: n is number of pairs Now, let’s now turn our calculation around the other way. Let’s look at Example 2. In this example, our researcher has already collected data on 35 subjects. How much statistical power does her design have to detect the difference of 5 seconds with standard deviation of 10 seconds? Again we use the pwr.t.test function to calculate the power. We enter the first mean as 0 and the second mean as 5 since the only thing we know is the difference of the two means is 5 seconds. In terms of hypotheses, this is the same way of saying that the null hypothesis is that the difference is zero, and the alternative hypothesis is that the mean difference is 5. Then we enter the standard deviation for the difference and the number of subjects. Again we specify the onesamp option since the design is a paired-sample t-test. pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/10,n=35,sig.level=0.01,type="paired",alternative="two.sided") Paired t test power calculation n = 35 d = 0.5 sig.level = 0.01 power = 0.5939348 alternative = two.sided NOTE: n is number of pairs This means that the researcher would detect the difference of 5 seconds about 59 percent of the time. Notice we did this as two-sided test. Since it is believed that our dominant hand is always better than the non-dominant hand, the researcher actually could conduct a one-tailed test. Now, let’s recalculate the power for one-tailed paired-sample t-test. pwr.t.test(d=(0-5)/10,n=35,sig.level=0.01,type="paired",alternative="less") Paired t test power calculation n = 35 d = -0.5 sig.level = 0.01 power = 0.6961194 alternative = less NOTE: n is number of pairs You have probably noticed that the way to conduct the power analysis for paired-sample t-test is the same as for the one-sample t-test. This is due to the fact that in the paired-sample t-test we compute the difference in the two scores for each subject and then compute the mean and standard deviation of the differences. This turns the paired-sample t-test into a one-sample t-test. The other technical assumption is the normality assumption. If the distribution is skewed, then a small sample size may not have the power shown in the results, because the value in the results is calculated using the method based on the normality assumption. It might not even be a good idea to do a t-test on a small sample to begin with. What we really need to know is the difference between the two means, not the individual values. In fact, what really matters, is the difference of the means over the standard deviation. We call this the effect size. It is usually not an easy task to determine the effect size. It usually comes from studying the existing literature or from pilot studies. A good estimate of the effect size is the key to a successful power analysis. - Related R Commands - pwr — R package for power analysis. - pwr.t.test — Sample size and power determination. - D. Moore and G. McCabe, Introduction to the Practice of Statistics, Third Edition, Section 6.4.
Page 5 of 7 Conditions That May Coexist With Pediatric ME/CFS (co-morbid conditions) The child or adolescent may have concomitant disorders "that do not explain fatigue, and are, therefore, not necessarily exclusionary: (a) psychiatric diagnoses such as school phobia, separation anxiety, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, depressive disorders." Also, a child with pediatric ME/CFS may also concurrently have fibromyalgia and/or multiple food and chemical sensitivity. See the full pediatric definition for further concomitant illnesses. Differential Diagnoses with Pediatric ME/CFS Often pediatric ME/CFS is misdiagnosed as a psychiatric or behavioral disorder. These disorders include depression, anxiety, and school phobia—among others. However, a child or adolescent may actually have these disorders rather than pediatric ME/CFS. It is critical for the diagnosing physician to determine if the child or adolescent actually has pediatric ME/CFS (even if these psychiatric or behavioral disorders coexist with the illness), or if the child does not have pediatric ME/CFS but is suffering exclusively with a psychiatric and/or behavioral disorder. Psychiatric and Behavioral Diagnoses and ME/CFS First, it should be noted that "somatization disorder that meets the DSM-IV criteria is rare in this age group", i.e., children and adolescents. Depression: The pediatric criteria makes clear that depression of any diagnostic category may be a symptom of, or even co-exist, with childhood or adolescent ME/CFS. Depression is less common in childhood as opposed to adolescence, and symptoms may be different in the two age groups. Since symptoms of depression may co-exist with ME/CFS, the diagnosing physician must conduct a careful evaluation of the "differing developmental presentations...Inquiring about hobbies and leisure activities is important in distinguishing depression" and pediatric ME/CFS. Those with the physical illness will likely have abandoned their hobbies and leisure activities. Much of the concomitant depression in ME/CFS comes from "underlying frustration as a result of losing control rather than a negative self-image." Falling behind in school with no recognition of their illness and with no extra help or support—and thereby having to struggle to catch-up—will often lead to depression and anxiety. Moreover, the isolation and loss of friendships and peer activity can lead to depression. One primary way to differentiate between ME/CFS with depression, as opposed to a separate depressive illness, is to look carefully at symptoms. Depression itself is unlikely to cause multiple symptoms such as sore throats, swollen lymph nodes, fevers, etc. If a diagnosis of depression better explains the child's fatigue and symptom patterns, then depression may be the appropriate diagnosis as opposed to ME/CFS. School phobia and separation anxiety: When these conditions predate the fatigue and other symptoms, it is possible that the child does not have ME/CFS and the symptoms are better explained by either of these diagnoses. "Children with school phobia may be differentiated from children with ME/CFS in that the former typically feel ill in the morning but recover once allowed to remain at home from school...In contrast, children and adolescents with ME/CFS would experience symptoms not only at school, but in other settings." Those with school phobia only would not usually have symptoms on weekends or school holidays. The definition also contains a short discussion as to whether the child might be exhibiting symptoms due to family dysfunction as opposed to ME/CFS. A child with symptoms clearly aimed at holding a family together would not be diagnosed with ME/CFS—however a child truly ill with ME/CFS might be living in an unhealthy family system.
At the exact hour when the presidency transferred hands, the Obama administration's climate and energy webpages became some of the first casualties of the new Trump administration. In their place is an "America first" energy plan, which talks at length about tapping fossil fuel resources in the U.S. but makes no mention of climate change or renewable energy. Investing in the latter will be crucial to avert catastrophic changes to the world. In fact, the only mention of clean energy is of "clean coal technology," which has thus far proven to be impossible at the scale needed to combat climate change. There is a lone reference to protect "clean air and water," but with no specifics. Moreover, by failing to consider renewable energy as part of its plan, the Trump administration could actively contribute to sullying the air and water not just in the U.S., but around the world. The plan also explicitly states that it will eliminate the Climate Action Plan and Waters of the U.S. rule, both of which are executive orders that have been used to help curb carbon pollution. RELATED: Trump's EPA Nominee Rejects Scientific Consensus on Climate Change The Trump administration claims that eliminating these rules will help increase wages by $30 billion over the next seven years, a number that comes from a December 2015 report put out by the conservative think tank Institute for Energy Research. Economists from around the world, however, have strongly recommended that climate action would save trillions of dollars in losses. Trump's plan also calls for tapping $50 trillion in shale, oil and natural gas reserves, an action that would likely bring the world perilously close to eating through its carbon budget and causing climate change impacts to spiral out of control. The changes to the White House website are just the first volley of what portends to be an all-out war on climate science and clean energy under the Trump administration. Reports indicate that important metrics for gauging both the impacts of climate change and costs are at risk of disappearing. At the Department of Energy, offices that deal with clean energy technology are also reportedly on the chopping block. That stands in contrast to Obama, who put a heavy emphasis on his climate change and clean energy legacy. He implemented the Clean Power Plan, signed the Paris Agreement and made the case for a world that runs on renewable energy. That stands in stark contrast to Trump, who has denigrated climate findings and vowed to undo most of Obama's work on climate change. That means what's happening on Day 1 may just be a sign of what's to come over the next four years. WATCH: Breaking Down How Donald Trump Won the US Election
The University of New Brunswick is completing two case studies focusing on culture and language revitalization efforts of three Indigenous individuals. The first person, a student of UNB, will be the subject of a graphic story book created for junior high/senior high readers. It will depict the student’s life successes and challenges and her sources of strength including elders, her language, culture, and other First Nation students. The student is a Mi’kmaq woman from Nova Scotia and a recent M.Ed. graduate of UNB who wrote her M.Ed thesis on the revitalization of the Mi’kmaq language. The second case study is centred around two Wolastoqev Elders from New Brunswick who have been extremely active in language revitalization and the preservation of culture in Wolastqev communities. Their stories of overcoming racism and bias in school and life are inspiring and moving. They have agreed to participate in the creation of a documentary about their lives and the role of elders, ceremony, language, and traditions as foundational in their lives and their work as ‘language warriors”. Dr. Ann Sherman, Dean of Education at University of New Brunswick
Business Understanding:- Propaganda is a method of correspondence used to control or impact the assessment of gatherings to help a specific reason or conviction. Throughout the hundreds of years, purposeful publicity has appeared as work of art, movies, discourses, and music, however it’s not constrained to these types of correspondence. The first major task is to classify the data into either of these two categories i.e.. Propaganda or Non-Propaganda. In order to do the following we have to undergo the process of text cleaning, understanding the text. Its very important to understand the text document on which we are working. The second and the final task is to identify the particular sentence in each document which supports whether or not the sentence is Propaganda or not. Each row of the file provides information about various news related details followed by its corresponding news number and the type(Propaganda or non-propaganda ). The data provided was in a text format delimited by spaces and tabs. We had to find a way in order to split the data and form a data frame which consists of the following columns. The data has lots of fillers which had to be removed and some rows where news_numbers and type were missing. Some important decisions had to be taken with respect to what has to be done to those missing data. Task 2 :- The data was spread among different text and label files. The procedure was to merge all the files in a sequence. We had used the command prompt to perform this task of merging using the following code. ‘for %f in (*.labels) do type “%f” >> c:\Test\output_file.txt ‘ This code would check for ‘labels’ and merge them together and vice versa for text files. This code has to be run from the path where the files are present. Exploring the training data these words seems to be dominating when we had filtered for type==’Propaganda’. We can clearly see ‘american’,’nation’,’country’,’people’ and etc frequently occurring words along with ‘one’ and ‘said’. This image displayed above is free from tense and other stopwords. They have been taken care by the nltk package using stemming and stopwords filtration. Data Preparation:- As discussed on the previous step, the data has to be cleaned. In order to clean the data we had to remove the fillers using the NLTK stop words filtration. Later on we tokenized the data using the word_tokenizer from the nltk package. The next important step was to lemmatize/stem the data to remove the tense from the words and normalize the words. Once the data was prepared we had to apply a function called CountVectorizer which converts a collection of text documents to a matrix of token counts. This implementation produces a sparse representation of the counts using scipy.sparse.csr_matrix. The third and the final step is to prepare the data for fitting into the various machine learning models. The data had to be separated into train and test. Which then would be fed into the model. we can use the stratified sampling to handle the highly imbalanced training data set to avoid the model biasing towards predominant “Non Propaganda Class”. Modeling:- Various classifications models were build in order to classify the data, there were promising results from Passive Aggressive Classifier, Support Vector Machine , Neural Network MLP , Logistic Regression , XGBoost, the best and the optimal algorithm among these three was XGBoost. Even though it was a time consumption process the results were promising. XGBoost has capability to handle the imbalanced dataset by using the parameter “Scale_Pos_weight”.we can do threshold probability throttling to increase the sensitivity by sacrificing the reasonable specificity. Evaluation:- This process is kind of tricky for the train data set provided, as the data was highly imbalanced, the dependent feature/variable had imbalanced classes. So the accuracy score would not be an optimal scoring technique. We had to depend on F1 Score. List of External Libraries Used. - sklearn.feature_extraction(To Perform CountVectorizer) - sklearn.model_selection (To perform Train Test Split) - sklearn.preprocessing (To Perform Label Encoding) - from sklearn.linear_model (Passive Agrasssive Model) - import xgboost as xgs (XGBoost) - from sklearn.model_selection import GridSearchCV (To Fine tuning the models) - from sklearn.neural_network (MLP Approach) - from sklearn.ensemble (Bagging and Trees) - from nltk.stem (To perform Stemming) - from. nltk.word_tokenize (To perform tokenize function) The Test Scores :- NB- Multinomial NaiveBaysian MLP- Neural Networks Task 1 output:- task1output Task 2 Output:- task2output Python Code for Text Cleaning and Building Models:- Task3:- task_3 Pred
Map Source: People Group location: IMB. Map geography: ESRI / GMI. Map design: Joshua Project. \|People Name:\|\|Berber, Canary Islands\| \|Christian Adherents:\|\|85.00 %\| \|Online Audio NT:\|\|Yes\| \|Affinity Bloc:\|\|Arab World\| The first settlers on the Canary Islands came around 1,000BC. They are ethnically related to the North African Berber peoples. The culture and language of the Canary Islands is Spanish. Like the other ethnic groups native Spain, the Canary Islands Berber are Roman Catholic. Many are secularized, but the Catholic Church is still the place to be married and buried. The Canary Islands Berber need a Christ-centered theology. As it stands, they look to a religious institution or to themselves to find life’s answers. Pray for the Canary Islands Berber to have enough spiritual hunger that they seek and find the living Christ. Pray for Canary Islands Berber disciples to make more disciples. Pray for a spiritual revival to deeply affect the Catholic Church in Spain.
2 weeks 4 days Submitted by Patricia Cleary on Fri, 07/03/2009 - 21:54 Yesterday we got a little tour of the dynamic positioning unit of the ship. The Chief Mate Terry Skinner told us about the 12 thrusters that get used during drilling operations to hold the ship in place. The ship also points the bow into the winds to stabilize it. The instrumentation panel is very impressive and they have a back-up instrument for everything, just in case anything goes wrong. I asked Terry Skinner about what parts of his job make him think, "I can't believe I am doing this!" and he told me about measuring the dry weight of the ship. When the JR went under rennovation, a lot of things needed tallying so that it would be buoyant once it got out of the dock. One important measurement for achieving buoyancy is knowing the dry weight of the vessel. So, on this big scientific vessel, someone has to go around and weigh every single thing contained in the ship (from the cabinets and bunks and instruments down to boxes of bolts in the machine shop). The weights have to be logged and their position measured in the ship, so that the center of gravity can be determined. Terry says it takes him about 3 weeks to do such a job. I can barely imagine how much work that would be. His favorite part of working on the JR is going into and out of ports. I hope Terry will be having a good day tomorrow, as we will be landing in Victoria soon, and I don't think there is any call for a dry weight measurement of the ship anytime soon...
During the Devonian period (417 ~ 360 mya) one of the most important changes in the history of life on earth took place. It was during this time that backboned animals began to venture out of primordial bodies of water and onto terra firma, begetting a line of vertebrate land dwellers that eventually led to amphibians, reptiles, and mammals such as ourselves. While we are descendants of the first backboned creatures to venture onto dry land, the first land vertebrates looked nothing like us. Indeed, they had a bizarre, otherworldly appearance, and resembled something of a cross between a fish and a salamander. Their fossil remains have been discovered in Devonian period rocks, many of which are located in northern Canada. For those of you who are interested, here is a link to the Wikipedia page for the Devonian period:
Agonistic Memory: Introducing a Dialogic Way of Remembrance in a Museum Environment A report by Tatiana Fernández-Maya (firstname.lastname@example.org) International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture (Giessen) On one corner on the left, there is a stone sculpture featuring the head of a young soldier with a metallic helmet. This monument is called The Unknown Deserter. Just on its left, on the side wall, hanging a little higher than the soldier’s head, there is a black and white picture of a firing squad shooting a soldier, a deserter (see fig. 1). Seen together, these two objects represent one of the contrasting moments that can be seen at Krieg.Macht.Sinn. War and Violence in European Memory, the temporary exhibition at the Ruhr Museum in the city of Essen (Germany), open to the public from 12th November 2018 to 30th April 2019. The exhibition is mainly intended for a German public, only some longer texts are also available in English (this should be taken into account as a limiting factor of this review written by a non-German speaking author). Fig. 1: On the right, The Unknown Deserter; on the left, a photo of a deserter being shot. Krieg.Macht.Sinn. is part of the EU-funded project UNREST (http://www.unrest.eu/), collaboratively created by curators of the Ruhr museum in association with researchers from various universities involved in the project with the aim to apply an agonistic model of memory in a museum environment. In their article “On Agonistic Memory” (Journal of Memory Studies 9.4 (2016): 390–404), Anna Cento Bull and Hans Hansen identify two main trends of memory: cosmopolitan and antagonistic. Cosmopolitan memory refers to a process of transformation of national memory practices by the influence of globalized moral standards. Mainly shaped by the memory of the Holocaust, this kind of memory strongly promotes compassion for victims of human suffering. However, it tends to depoliticize and moralize the historical context, preventing a critical evaluation of the complex conditions under which human beings become perpetrators of atrocities. On the other hand, antagonistic memory is closely related to group identity and based on a nostalgic and heroic narrative of the past, showing a clear-cut division between innocent victims and guilty perpetrators. In the current European context, both modes of remembrance have failed to prevent the rise of instrumentalized memory practices promoted by neo-nationalist movements. As an alternative, Cento Bull and Hansen propose an agonistic mode of remembering which is built upon Chantal Mouffe’s critique of political cosmopolitanism (On the Political. London 2005). An agonistic approach to memory understands conflict and violence as depending on particular socio-political circumstances. It avoids moral categories and rejects hegemonic narratives of the past, which opens a space to understand the complexities of perpetratorship and, at the same time, allows all parties involved in a conflict, not just victims, to be heard. While this model recognizes the importance of passions within the political arena and memory discourses, it suggests that those could – and should – be oriented to collective solidarity rather than just compassion for victims. Furthermore, agonistic memory proposes a dialogic approach to memory relying on multiple perspectives; but, contrary to Habermas’ model of communication, an agonistic dialogue would not be consensus-oriented but open-ended. Precisely these concepts of agonistic memory are the theoretical basis of Krieg.Macht.Sinn., which attempts to reflect on the contradictory nature of the phenomenon of war and the changing culture of its remembrance. The exhibition is divided, although not explicitly, into four sections: war, bombings, genocide and flight and expulsion. As a direct entry to the memory of the First World War, the poem In Flanders Fields marks the beginning of the exhibition tour. After that, one strategy used by creators of the exhibition to introduce what they consider “diametrically opposed opinions about the same events” (UNREST: War Exhibit at the Ruhr Museum in Essen. http://www.unrest.eu/work-packages/wp6/wp-6b/ 2018, accessed 11.01.2019) is to present objects grouped into contrasting clusters. For instance, two different accounts of personal experiences during the First World War are displayed one next to the other (see fig. 2). One glass cabinet contains the book Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, his war diaries, the basis for his novel, and a war trophy he brought home from war: a helmet from a British officer killed by Jünger in battle. Jünger’s book gives a realistic account of his experience on the front line without questioning the meaning of the war. In the adjacent showcase, visitors can observe an early manuscript of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front. The book, written by Erich Maria Remarque, describes the extreme conditions and terrors of German soldiers on the battlefront. Fig. 2: From left to right: Ernst Jünger’s diaries, two editions of Erich Remarque‘s novel, and Jünger’s book and war trophy. Another well developed agonistic moment is the contrasting interpretations, in separated historical moments, of the day of surrender of the German army on 8 May 1945, also known as Stunde Null (zero hour). A screen shows a video of Richard von Weizsäcker’s speech in 1985; this speech marks the remembrance of Stunde Null as liberation day in Germany. Not far away, pictures of suicides of German citizens during the last days of the war portray the very same event as a national defeat. Employing unusual proximity to evince opposing narratives and to generate a critical reflection is not always successful. Take the section on genocide, for instance (see fig. 3). Next to an introductory text about the changes in Holocaust remembrance culture in Germany, there is an image of an exhumation site in Srebrenica, where human bodies are openly exposed. Close to a recent picture of a military event with the Turkish President Recep Erdoğan hangs a poster of an aid campaign for Armenian refugees dating from 1917 in London. The poster shows a drawing of an Armenian couple; the woman looks sad, in despair. The shocking images in this section fail to trigger a response beyond compassion; the Erdoğan picture is not strong enough to activate a questioning about what is shown in this section. There is a link missing to connect the events, or the link is so subtle that the emotional response veils it. It that sense, the whole section presents features of a cosmopolitan use of memory. Fig. 3: From left to right: old poster of a campaign to help Armenian refugees, exhumation site in Srebrenica, and objects recovered after air raids with pictures of bombing destruction. Similarly, as part of the bombing section one can see calcined objects recovered after air raids and old pictures of cities destroyed by bombs. Rather than engendering a contradiction or a questioning, the visual force of those objects tends to generate compassion for the victims portrayed in them (see fig. 3), giving some cosmopolitan taste to this part of the exhibition. Certainly, agonism does not intend to reject notions of cosmopolitan memory but rather to extend them in a more pluralistic and dialogic way. Thus, it is not surprising to find traces of a cosmopolitan approach in the part of the exhibition devoted to genocide. Moving to the end of the exhibition, the section on flight and expulsion exposes movements of refugees across history and some objects on how the social mood has changed about it, like newspapers with the headlines Flüchtlingen helfen! (Help refugees!) and Angst! (Fear!). In the same place, visitors can find a singular arrangement: a life jacket from a refugee boat, a Syrian police cap, and an ISIS fighter‘s uniform (see fig. 4). Those objects appear quite intriguing; they could easily be interpreted as representing a dichotomy between those who flee and those who cause the fleeing, which is clearly antagonistic. Moreover, the life jacket, the police cap and the ISIS uniform are in the same glass box hanging at similar height but clearly separated from one another by glass walls; this again seems like an antagonistic positioning between victims and perpetrators, but the layout could also represent three distinct but equally relevant and legitimate narratives of the Syrian conflict. Such an apparently agonistic interpretation is problematic because 1) it brings to the table the ethical limits of the agonistic model; and 2) it clashes with the moral constraints of visitors tempted to distinguish between innocent and guilty sides and to reject the perpetrators’ account. This part of the exhibition shows how hard it is to move away from moral interpretations, more so in ongoing conflict settings where strong antagonistic passions are still in the air; it is even more difficult to articulate a memory discourse around events happening in the present time. Fig. 4: Set of objects on the Syrian conflict. Materializing agonistic ideas of memory within a museum context presents a great challenge, due not only to the inherent difficulties of translating concepts into real objects but, more importantly, because of the theoretical burden of such an enterprise. Cosmopolitan and antagonistic modes of remembering are descriptive models – they describe how memory is practiced. Contrarily, agonism is a prescriptive model suggesting how memory should be practiced. Surely, there is a difference between how events are actually remembered and how their memory should be approached; in the case at stake, such difference could affect how the exhibition is perceived and how far visitors’ reflexivity could be catalysed. Despite having many features of a cosmopolitan memory exhibit, Krieg.Macht.Sinn. has managed to present some interesting agonistic moments. Notwithstanding, it is not always clear what new perspectives or voices are being added or what they think was missed before. For instance, the collection of objects on the Syrian conflict is quite intriguing in that respect – one could ask what are the multiple voices to be heard there? What does the ISIS paraphernalia stand for within this exhibition? The question here is not really about the absence or presence of certain voices in this particular exhibition, rather about the applicability of an agonistic mode of remembering. For Chantal Mouffe, agonism does not perceive the other as “an enemy to be destroyed, but [as] an “adversary”, i.e. “somebody whose ideas we combat but whose right to defend those ideas we do not put into question” ( “Deliberative Democracy or Agonistic Pluralism.” IHS Political Science Series 72 (2002), p. 15). Still, political agonism is not an anything-goes model of antagonism; it requires some grounding, “[a]n adversary is an enemy, but a legitimate enemy, one with whom we have some common ground because we have a shared adhesion to the ethico-political principles” (ibid.). Since one of the foundations of agonistic memory is to recover the ethico-political dimension of memory discourses, those shared principles mentioned by Chantal Mouffe are also relevant for memory practices, as they establish the limits of applicability of an agonistic approach to memory. Precisely what this exhibition has accomplished is to expose their own theoretical limits in practical terms. Most visitors leave the museum struggling with the presence of certain objects, many questions are left unanswered, mirroring the open-ended dialogic approach inherent to the agonistic way of remembrance. Copyright 2019, TATIANA FERNÁNDEZ-MAYA. Licensed to the public under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
Those on the left of the political spectrum argue that many of the world’s problems are caused by big business exploiting the poor. Those who support a free economy, meanwhile, lay many of the world’s problems at the door of public debt, high taxes or government regulation simply not allowing a thriving entrepreneurial economy. Both sides of this debate tend to be agreed, however, that little good and much harm comes from a cosy relationship between big business and big government which exploits the people to the benefit of corporate and state interests. This is a rather inauspicious starting point for considering whether the Davos meeting of the world’s political and business elites will bring about useful change. In political circles, there is much talk of poverty, inequality and the 1 per cent. But the big news of the last generation is the number of people who have actually been lifted out of grinding poverty as a result of continued globalisation. Recent improvements in living standards of the world’s poorest people are unprecedented. Many parts of Asia have grown at extraordinarily rapid rates, and Africa is not only growing more rapidly and more sustainably than at any time in the post-war period, but inequality seems to be falling too. It is true that much more needs to be done. The right policies, for example, would ensure that India grows as rapidly over the next two decades as China has in the past two. This doesn’t require grand pledges of aid or other action agreed at the Davos talking shop. In India, 40 per cent of food rots before it gets to market because of poor supply chains and petty bureaucracy, a situation that will only end when the economy liberalises. A change in domestic policy is required. The necessary reforms will be homegrown and not determined in European ski resorts. There are also changes to the world’s trading system that would help poorer countries. Within Africa, there is very little trade between the different nations – intra-African trade represents just 10 per cent of the continent’s total trade, and the bureaucratic obstacles can be formidable. A recent Brookings Institution Report described one African border crossing where up to 15 different government agencies bogged things down in paperwork and procedures. The removal of trade barriers – especially in relation to agricultural goods – imposed by rich countries against poor countries would also be of great help. But there are already forums in which these things should be dealt with, including the World Trade Organisation. Insofar as inequality is a major problem that needs to be addressed, one wonders what a meeting of a group of the world’s most privileged people will achieve. To some extent increases in inequality, especially within countries, are an inevitable result of the process of globalisation that has improved the living standards of so many very poor people. Let’s take an example. Compare Kevin Pietersen with Sir Leonard Hutton. Both were leading cricketers of their generation. Globalisation - for example of television sport and the brand of the India Premier League - means that Pietersen can extract the value from his services worldwide from anybody with a television through a complex network of commercial enterprises. Hutton was confined to the earnings he could extract from minor promotional work and playing cricket (more or less confined to England) and being watched only by those who turned up at the ground. But now consider the person serving the coffee at the Oval cricket ground. This is a job where there is no global brand for the worker to leverage. The skills are not specialist (you can increase the supply of people serving coffee but there is only one Kevin Pietersen); indeed, migration increases the pool of people who can do the coffee server’s job. These changes are beneficial. Many, many more people can watch Kevin Pietersen than could watch Sir Leonard Hutton. The Indian public as well as the British are better off. Some gain more than others and Kevin Pietersen gains much more than anybody else. The same is true for global entrepreneurs. Their brands such as Google and Microsoft enrich us all but they enrich some more than others. Enriching us all While not wishing to reverse the changes brought about by globalisation, politicians can ask themselves what changes would both move policy in the right direction and help the least-well-off who may, in developed countries, have benefited relatively less from greater freedom to trade. The answers may vary from country to country, but in the UK they are pretty clear. Here are three policies that would greatly decrease living costs for the poor: a huge liberalisation of planning laws; the abolition of the Common Agricultural Policy and other trade restrictions in the EU; and a reconsideration of green policies that increase energy bills. But don’t expect these policies to come out of discussions among the international business and political elites in Davos. Helping the worst-off requires solutions which do not seem to be on the agenda of the global elites. An earlier version of this article was published on The Conversation.
1. The TCA cycle involves the oxidation of acetyl CoA to CO2 and H2O Net yield per one turn of TCA cycle: 1. 3 NADH (3 X 3 = 9 ATP) 2. 1 FADH2 (1 X 2 = 2 ATP) 3. 1 ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation Total = 12 ATP (If we consider 1 NADH = 2.5 ATP and 1 FADH2 = 1.5 ATP, Net yield = 10 ATP) 2. By the end of the TCA cycle, all the carbon atoms in glucose are completely oxidized to CO2. 3. If an mRNA is mutated, the corresponding protein is not produced. 4. The enzyme reduces the activation energy required for the reaction to occur by increasing the effective concentration of substrates. 5. Active site (Substrate binding site) 6. The enzyme is recycled at the end of the reaction 7. Most enzymes CAN reverse the reactions that they run Get Answers For Free Most questions answered within 1 hours.
The primary objective of this study is to reconstruct the phylogeny of the hentzi species group and sister species in the North American tarantula genus, Aphonopelma, using a set of mitochondrial DNA markers that include the animal “barcoding gene”. An mtDNA genealogy is used to consider questions regarding species boundary delimitation and to evaluate timing of divergence to infer historical biogeographic events that played a role in shaping the present-day diversity and distribution. We aimed to identify potential refugial locations, directionality of range expansion, and test whether A. hentzi post-glacial expansion fit a predicted time frame. Methods and Findings A Bayesian phylogenetic approach was used to analyze a 2051 base pair (bp) mtDNA data matrix comprising aligned fragments of the gene regions CO1 (1165 bp) and ND1-16S (886 bp). Multiple species delimitation techniques (DNA tree-based methods, a “barcode gap” using percent of pairwise sequence divergence (uncorrected p-distances), and the GMYC method) consistently recognized a number of divergent and genealogically exclusive groups. The use of numerous species delimitation methods, in concert, provide an effective approach to dissecting species boundaries in this spider group; as well they seem to provide strong evidence for a number of nominal, previously undiscovered, and cryptic species. Our data also indicate that Pleistocene habitat fragmentation and subsequent range expansion events may have shaped contemporary phylogeographic patterns of Aphonopelma diversity in the southwestern United States, particularly for the A. hentzi species group. These findings indicate that future species delimitation approaches need to be analyzed in context of a number of factors, such as the sampling distribution, loci used, biogeographic history, breadth of morphological variation, ecological factors, and behavioral data, to make truly integrative decisions about what constitutes an evolutionary lineage recognized as a “species”. Citation: Hamilton CA, Formanowicz DR, Bond JE (2011) Species Delimitation and Phylogeography of Aphonopelma hentzi (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae): Cryptic Diversity in North American Tarantulas. PLoS ONE 6(10): e26207. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0026207 Editor: Dirk Steinke, Biodiversity Insitute of Ontario - University of Guelph, Canada Received: March 15, 2011; Accepted: September 22, 2011; Published: October 12, 2011 Copyright: © 2011 Hamilton et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by the American Arachnological Society (AAS) (2009) Vincent Roth Fund for Systematic Research (http://www.americanarachnology.org) to C. Hamilton; NSF REVSYS #DEB0841610 “Systematics and taxonomy of the tarantula spider genus Aphonopelma (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Theraphosidae)” (http://www.nsf.gov) to J. Bond. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. “The recognition of the reality of species is the key to explaining organic diversity” The spider genus Aphonopelma, the only genus of tarantula known to North America, is distributed throughout the southern third of the United States, west of the Mississippi River to California and down into the Central American Neotropics. Despite the charismatic nature of the group (large bodied and “hairy”), the taxonomy of Aphonopelma has received comparatively little attention and has been largely reliant upon sparse and sometimes poorly defined morphological data. Historically, three major efforts – have been undertaken to evaluate the taxonomic status, morphological character variation, and relationships of Aphonopelma, none of which employed an explicit phylogenetic approach. Unfortunately, much of the past descriptive work was based on only one or two specimens, and generally lacked consideration of the wide range of intraspecific variation noted within group. Morphology-based phylogenies of tarantulas and other related mygalomorph taxa seem to signal widespread problems in homoplasy among morphological characters –. Also, the quantitative or meristic features often used to evaluate relationships among these taxa may be problematic , . Not surprisingly, many arachnologists have lamented the present state of theraphosid taxonomy due to the morphological characters employed for diagnostic use , , –. Raven considered the family Theraphosidae a “nomenclatural and taxonomic nightmare”. Accurate delimitation of species boundaries is especially important in taxa where one or more morphological characters are uninformative or are in conflict. Hebert et al , suggest traditional taxonomy in morphologically conserved groups can lead to incorrect identifications and may fail to recognize cryptic taxa. Because many of the described tarantula species in the United States can be difficult to differentiate based on morphological characteristics alone, molecular data may prove to be an additional source of characters to evaluate taxonomy, species delineation, and to uncover cryptic species in this charismatic yet understudied group. The objective of the study presented herein is to reconstruct the phylogeny of the hentzi species group and sister species across Aphonopelma taxa distributed in the eastern portion of the southwest United States, using a set of mitochondrial DNA markers that include the animal “barcoding gene” , . We then employ these data, through the testing of multiple species delimitation techniques – DNA tree-based methods, a “barcode gap” using percent of pairwise sequence divergence (uncorrected p-distances), and the GMYC method – to consider questions regarding species boundary delimitation. Subsequently, we evaluate timing of divergence events for these delimited species to infer historical biogeographic events that have played a potential role in shaping the present-day diversity and distribution. The use of tree-based methods for species delimitation recognizes “species” as historical lineages and has been shown to be effective when used in conjunction with uncorrected p-distance data outlined in Hebert et al , and in a number of other studies –. We have chosen to make use of mitochondrial genes, as we are particularly interested in addressing the efficacy of cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) and ribosomal large subunit (16S) as species identification tools in both known and unknown groups within the genus Aphonopelma and other theraphosid taxa , , . Mitochondrial genes have long served as preferred markers for phylogeographic and species-level phylogenetic analyses because of the speed with which they evolve -- mutations may reflect real substantive changes in metabolic pathways (e.g. cell respiration), leading to hybrid breakdown , . As is the case with many understudied groups, we presently lack sufficient nuclear markers in mygalomorphs that would allow us to address divergence, coalescence, or gene-tree/species-tree issues. Surprisingly, very little information is known about the overall genetic diversity and population structuring of tarantulas throughout their range , , . Aphonopelma individuals possess traits that differ markedly from araneomorph spiders and other arthropods. Related burrowing mygalomorphs (e.g., trapdoor spiders in the genus Aptostichus) are thought to have very limited dispersal ability, as evidenced by clustering of individuals within habitat patches and by extreme structuring of populations at a genetic level , –. Because theraphosids do not “balloon” from the maternal site (a common form of dispersal where spiderlings will release strands of silk and ride air currents away from their natal site) their limited dispersal abilities, long life spans (15–30 years), indeterminate growth, and delayed sexual maturity (4–7 years to reach maturity) make them especially vulnerable to factors such as habitat destruction and stochastic processes , , –. The Aphonopelma hentzi species group The first tarantula described from the United States in 1854 was Aphonopelma hentzi . The type specimen is believed to have been collected in southwestern Oklahoma , with the A. hentzi range extending from southwestern Missouri, through southern Kansas, southeastern Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, encompassing all of Oklahoma, the northern half of Texas, western Arkansas, and northwestern Louisiana , . Smith coined the term “Aphonopelma hentzi complex” which included: A. arnoldi Smith, A. baergi Chamberlin, A. clarki Smith, A. coloradanum (Chamberlin), A. echinum (Chamberlin), A. gurleyi Smith, A. hentzi (Girard), A. hollyi Smith, A. odelli Smith, A. waconum (Chamberlin), and A. wichitanum (Chamberlin). Murray conducted an unpublished study of the hentzi species complex using a combination of genetic and morphological data. Her study redefined the intraspecific variation within the group, revealing that A. hentzi appeared to be a single wide-ranging species with extensive morphological variation, while hypothesizing the species exhibits high ecological plasticity throughout its wide distribution due to the diverse habitats where it can be found. Previously, it was proposed that A. hentzi dispersed northwards after the Pleistocene's Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as it tracked a desert-like ecosystem expansion into Missouri glade habitat (the northeastern-most area of its distribution) around 8,000–4,000 years ago . We therefore predicted and tested the hypothesis that A. hentzi experienced a recent, rapid range expansion following the LGM, dominating new open northern niches after spreading from postglacial refugia in Texas' Colorado River Basin. Historically, the Colorado River cuts a path through the heart of Texas where today it appears to represent an area of species transition; a region north of which no other Aphonopelma species, except for A. hentzi, are thought to be found (Figure 1). The history of many lineages in the south-central United States (a region with 20 nominal tarantula species) has undoubtedly been complicated by repeated vicariance, extinction, and subsequent dispersal/expansion events. A comparative phylogeographic analysis of the North American Aphonopelma may lend insight into how the numerous glacial cycles of the Pleistocene affected the biodiversity of this region. Colored circles represent sampling localities and correspond to species from the phylogenetic tree in Figures 1 & 2. The dark grey region represents the defined Colorado River Basin. Light red shading represents a generalized distribution map for A. hentzi. The dotted line circle corresponds to the ten independent PhyloMapper runs representing the area of hypothetical ancestral hentzi populations. In an effort to sample the breadth of the A. hentzi species complex (defined above) distribution and phylogenetic diversity, we sampled 147 specimens from across Texas and the southwest United States from 15 sites visually identified as suitable habitats within the Colorado River Basin (hereafter referred to as CRB) in central Texas and 41 localities north, south, and west of the CRB. In reference to the hentzi complex, specimens were collected from areas near to and including five of the eleven type localities, as well as from across the breadth of the known distribution . Outgroup individuals were collected from an assortment of western US material (California and Arizona), which in morphological work by Prentice and in preliminary molecular data was shown to be sister to this material, yet highly divergent. We attempted to collect ≥3 individuals at each site, per Wiens and Penkrot , though it was not always possible for localities where individuals were rare. We generally tried to collect adult females and mature males, but also included immature spiders if adults were not available in sufficient numbers (Table S1). Adult females are easily recognizable based on the morphology anterior to the epigastric furrow. Mature males are sexually dimorphic, possessing pedipalps modified as copulatory devices, (palpal bulbs). Juveniles were identified via morphology (when possible) or their sequences were “blindly” added to the analysis and later confirmed via simple association of DNA sequence similarity with identified adult specimens collected at or near the same locality. Each previously described species (A. hentzi, A. moderatum, A. armada, A. anax) was noted to be morphologically recognizable ex invicem. Specimens were collected from state lands with permission from Texas Parks & Wildlife or from private lands with permission from the landowner, preserved in 80% ethanol, and assigned a unique voucher number. At the conclusion of our studies, specimens will be deposited in the American Museum of Natural History, California Academy of Sciences, and Auburn University Museum of Natural History collections. Tissue samples were taken from specimens using the technique of inducing limb autospasy of leg III on the right side of the spider . In response to pressure, the limb will detach and the muscles will contract to prevent hemolymph loss. Genomic DNA was extracted using the Qiagen DNeasy Tissue Kit™ (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). The concentration of the extracted DNA was quantified by using spectrophotometry (NanoDrop ND-1000, Thermo Scientific, Wilmington, DE) or through gel electrophoresis. Legs were preserved in 100% ethanol or RNAlater™ (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) and stored at −80°C. Muscle tissue was extracted from the leg by making a small incision on the ventral face of the femur and then cutting out ∼25mg of tissue. DNA amplification was performed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the mtDNA “barcoding” gene regions CO1 & ND1-tRNA(Leu)-16S. PCR and direct sequencing primers are listed in Table 1. Unincorporated dNTPs, primers, and other impurities were removed using ExoSAP-IT (USB Corporation; Cleveland, OH) prior to sequencing with an ABI 3130 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Bio-systems, Foster City, CA) using the ABI Big Dye Terminator version 3.2 Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit. Sequencing products were purified using Sephadex G-50 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). All sequences were manually edited using the program Sequencher (ver. 4.1.2, Genecodes, Madison, WI). Mitochondrial DNA sequences were deposited in GenBank under the accession numbers JF803303 – JF803422 and JF907056 – JF907175 for COI and ND1-16S respectively (Table S1). Alignment and Phylogenetic Analyses Sequences were aligned with MUSCLE version 3.6 using default parameters, followed by minor adjustments in MESQUITE version 2.73 . The uncorrected pairwise genetic distances (p-distances) for these taxa were calculated in PAUP* 4.0b10 then averaged for each defined species group in Excel (Microsoft Corporation, Santa Rosa, CA). The computer program Kakusan 3 was used to determine the appropriate model of DNA substitution by Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). Each gene region was partitioned by codon position; separate models were chosen for each. Maximum Likelihood (ML) analyses were carried out in RAxML-7.2.8 for the individual datasets, as well as the concatenated dataset, using the rapid-hill climbing mode. Parameters for the analyses incorporated the GTRGAMMA model of evolution based on 100 random addition sequence replicates; branch support values were computed via 100 non-parametric bootstrap replicates. MrBayes ver. 3.1.2 – was used to infer the phylogeny using the models of DNA substitution indicated by BIC. The analysis of the concatenated dataset comprised eight Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) chains run for 15,000,000 generations. Trees were saved to file every 100 generations. Conservatively, topologies in the first 20% of the posterior distribution were discarded as burn-in following visual inspection in the program Tracer v1.5 . The two independent runs were considered to have converged when the standard deviation of split frequencies value was <0.01. Clade posterior probabilities were computed from the remaining trees. The reported likelihood scores for all topologies post burn-in were computed using the “sump” command in MrBayes. Trees prior to burn-in and convergence were discarded using the “sumt” command. A 50% majority-rule consensus tree was produced. Trees were rooted by outgroup comparison using highly divergent sister taxa from the western United States. Aphonopelma hentzi haplotype network To precisely estimate relationships among closely related haplotypes within the A. hentzi lineage, we employed statistical parsimony using the computer program TCS 1.21 to create a haplotype network, with a 95% confidence level. Calculating how derived populations were on average, the number of mutational steps of each haplotype from the ancestral haplotypes was counted. The “ancestral” haplotype was identified by its internal position within the network, the number of lineages branching out from this position, and by the frequency of the haplotype within the analysis. Derived haplotypes are connected to the remainder of the network by one connecting branch . Because our markers were mitochondrial and thus linked, we produced a single network using the concatenated dataset (which included missing data from 5 shortened ND1-16S sequences, 4 shortened CO1 sequences, and ambiguities in 6 specimens). Delimitation of Species Boundaries First, we applied a method that combines the approach described by Wiens and Penkrot with a barcode gap metric. The Wiens and Penkrot method delineates species using molecular phylogenetics and evaluations of lineage isolation that assume no gene flow occurs or can occur between species. Originally, the method suggested integration with Templeton's Nested Clade Analysis , but NCA has been shown to suffer from some problems particularly when applied to highly structured populations and species (a situation for which it was never intended). Instead, we used a combination of their tree-based method with a traditional DNA barcoding method, the “barcode gap”. Once a phylogeny had been inferred, species groups were identified based on clade exclusivity combined with our morphological knowledge of the previously identified species (A. hentzi, A. moderatum, A. armada, A. anax), and then a “barcode gap” was set at 6%, which was greater than the greatest intraspecific uncorrected p-distance (see Results). Second, we employed the Pons et al ‘generalized mixed Yule coalescent’ method for species delimitation (implemented in R (http://www.R-project.org/) using the ‘splits’ package (SPecies LImits by Threshold Statistics, http://r-forge.r-project.org/projects/splits/) on a gene tree dataset of 76 non-identical haplotype taxa. This quantitative method provides a test of species boundaries by attempting to measure the degree of mtDNA genetic clustering by detecting a threshold value at the transition from interspecific to intraspecific branching patterns. The likelihood of the model, that separate coalescent clusters are nested within the tree, is compared to a null model for which the entire sample is derived from a single species. Nodes prior to the transition point are considered to be cladogenetic events that split species and subsequent nodes reflect coalescence within a species with the goal of delimiting independent evolutionary clusters. For the analysis, all identical haplotypes were first removed from the ML tree to render the tree fully dichotomous using the computer program TreeEdit to resolve all zero branch lengths. The ML tree for our concatenated dataset was converted to ultrametric in R using the ‘chronopl’ command in Ape (Analyses of Phylogenetics and Evolution) , which implements the penalized likelihood (PL) method developed by Sanderson . The ML tree was linearized with an arbitrary root set to 1, the default. Both the single threshold and multiple threshold models were performed on the dataset. The modified multiple threshold model allows for the speciation-coalescent transition to vary across the phylogenetic tree. The GMYC model calculates, as part of its output, a confidence interval (CI) that corresponds to the number of clusters within 2logL units of the ML estimate. Tests of Neutrality & Population Expansion The demographic histories for the A. hentzi clade and the “northern” hentzi group (defined here as all specimens north of the Colorado River) were tested using Tajima's D , and Fu's FST , , where negative values indicate population expansion or historical bottleneck . Both statistics and their significance were assessed using 10,000 samples simulated under a model of constant population size in Arlequin 220.127.116.11 . This method has been previously used to track post-Pleistocene population expansions from refugia –. Estimating divergence times No study to date has attempted to estimate divergence dates or rates of mtDNA evolution within the Theraphosidae. Obtaining estimates of divergence are generally based upon known historical events, geologic or fossil, which can be used as calibration points for a taxon-specific mutation rate estimate (determined from local molecular clock rates). For this study no such fossils are available, so we were forced to confront this problem using a two-pronged approach in hopes of converging on the most plausible mtDNA rate of evolution in this group of spiders. In order to tackle this problem, we use a mygalomorph substitution rate estimate of 4% to evaluate the correspondence with dating events that likely occurred during the Pleistocene. Alternatively, we estimate substitution rates using historical biogeographic events for calibration of cladogenesis among and between species across the tree. The later approach serves only as an internal check as it represents certain circularity with respect to the hypotheses we wish to evaluate, which are related to how Pleistocene glaciation events shaped the present day distribution of the Aphonopelma genus. Past studies of arthropod divergence times have traditionally used the 2.3% standard insect clock , however we employed a 4% pairwise divergence per million years (a rate estimated from 16S) determined from a study of a related mygalomorph genus, Aptostichus . Node ages for species and population divergence were estimated from the concatenated data set using the computer program BEAST v1.6.1 . For population divergence estimation within A. hentzi, specimens were assigned to one of four biogeographic-based groups within the larger species group: one group comprising all hentzi representatives (denoted as h in Table 2), a group of all the specimens within the CRB and everything to the north (hCR), a group representing all specimens north of the Colorado River (hCRN), and a northern group representing every specimen north of the CRB (but not including the CRB) (hN). With the exception of the hentzi clade, monophyly was not enforced on these biogeographic groups in the BEAST analysis. The BEAST run for the fixed clock analysis comprised 120,000,000 generations, sampled every 1000 generations, using a 4% fixed molecular clock, assuming a Yule speciation model for the tree prior, with unlinked substitution models (using the same models chosen for the Bayesian analysis – see Results), and default options for all other prior and operator settings. In order to ensure convergence and correct effective sample size (ESS), two chains were run (one for 80,000,000 and one for 40,000,000) then combined using LogCombiner v1.6.1. Convergence was assessed by inspection of the trace plots and the effective sample sizes using Tracer v1.5. Burn-in was set to remove 20% of the total trees sampled. TreeAnnotator v1.6.1 was used to sum the trees, after burn-in, for the 50% majority-rule consensus ‘maximum clade credibility tree’ with ‘mean heights’ for the node heights. For comparison, we estimated the mean rate of evolution across the tree by calibrating nodes/groups using historical biogeographic events (but see comments above). BEAST was run for 100,000,000 generations, sampled every 5000 generations, assuming a Yule birth-death speciation model for the tree prior from a randomly generated starting tree, with unlinked substitution models (using the same models chosen for the Bayesian analysis – see Results), and a normal distribution prior for all tmrca (calibration) nodes. To ensure convergence and correct ESS, 2 chains were run (50,000,000 each) and then combined. Convergence, burn-in, and the summing of trees were carried out the same as above. The hentzi nodes that were calibrated (h, hN, hCRN, hCR) were set at dates presumed to be important not only to hentzi populations but to other similar splits seen across the tree: h = 1.8 million ybp +/− 0.1 (95% interval of 1.964−1.636) set for the start of the Pleistocene; hCR = 0.500 million ybp +/− 0.180 (95% interval of 0.796−0.204) set for the middle Pleistocene glacial extent into Kansas , ; hCRN = 0.018 million ybp +/− 0.003 (95% interval of 0.0229−0.013) set for the LGM; hN = 0.006 million ybp +/− 0.00125 (95% interval of 0.0080−0.0039) set for the 8,000−4,000 ybp spread into Missouri as proposed by Janowski-Bell (Table 2). Ancestral Population Reconstruction To assess the geographic locations of ancestral Aphonopelma nodes (hypothetically representing the MRCA) and potential historical paths of gene flow, we employed the likelihood method implemented in PhyloMapper1b1 to test a priori hypotheses regarding Pleistocene refugia in Texas. PhyloMapper takes a known phylogeny with branch lengths and the geographic localities of all individuals represented at the tips of tree, using a spatially-explicit random walk model of migration, to calculate the likelihood of observing the haplotypes sampled at their current geographic locations, given the geographic coordinates of clade ancestors and the dispersal distance of the species . PhyloMapper analyses were carried out on the concatenated dataset using the default settings of 10 replicates of smoothing and 100 replicates for optimization after setting the focal clade. Both the rate smoothing and optimization parameters require replicates be run in the analysis because the nonparametric rate smoothing procedure uses a hill-climbing approach and entrapment in a local optimum is possible . We randomized the PhyloMapper approach by replicating the analysis 10 times in order to independently arrive at an average historical distribution and likelihood score for the A. hentzi ancestral population. Summary of Sequence Data and Genetic Variation We sampled sequence data for 120 individuals comprising 2051 base pairs (bp) of a concatenated data matrix consisting of aligned fragments of the mtDNA gene regions CO1 (1165 bp) and ND1-16S (886 bp). Primer fidelity across taxa was not always consistent in CO1, consequently some specimens have slightly truncated sequence lengths. Base frequencies for the combined dataset: A = 0.26417, C = 0.13909, G = 0.19785, T = 0.39890; uncorrected base pair frequencies appear homogenous (X2 = 52.229166, df = 357, p = 1.0). The data set contains 687 variable sites, 592 of which are classified as parsimony-informative characters. The complete data set contains 76 unique haplotypes, 27 of these sampled from the A. hentzi clade (Table S1; Figures 1 & 2). A statistical parsimony network shows 10 haplotypes represent the “northern” group, 13 in the “southern” group, with 4 being shared (2 within their group and 2 between groups). The most common haplotype is shared across 13 specimens (12 “northern” and 1 “southern”) (denoted by large box; Figure 2). Minor reticulation connects a small group of specimens, potentially due to missing data and ambiguities. The total nucleotide diversity, π, in the A. hentzi clade is 0.009552 (+/− 0.004809) (Table 3). Specimens sampled from across the A. hentzi distribution are represented in a haplotype network. Black objects represent haplotypes designated as “southern” haplotypes (south of the Colorado River) and white objects represent “northern” haplotypes (north of the Colorado River). The * denotes the APH0909 haplotype, the only “southern” haplotype represented in the most commonly shared haplotype box (proportionally separated between “northern” and “southern” haplotypes). Phylogenetic Analyses & “barcode gap” Species Delimitation Based on the analysis in Kakusan, the following models of DNA substitution were used: CO1: codon 1 = HKY85 + Gamma, codon 2 = GTR + Gamma, codon 3; ND1: HKY85 + Gamma for all codon positions; tRNA-Leu: K80 + Gamma; 16S: GTR + Gamma. Three independent Bayesian analyses, as well as Maximum Likelihood (ML), were run on this unlinked dataset: the ND1-16S region individually, the CO1 region individually, and the concatenated matrix. In each independent analysis, as well as the concatenated dataset, each species clade was recovered as a strongly supported monophyletic group (posterior probability = 1.00; ML bootstrap ≥95%) (Figure 3). The ML analysis conducted in RAxML on the concatenated data set recovered a tree with a –log likelihood value of 12530.41. Along with the highly supported relationships, the topologies of all three analyses were indistinguishable. All putative species clades are separated by >6% interspecific pairwise divergence (the “barcode gap”) (Table 4). Only two species pairs were under 7% pairwise divergence; A. hentzi – A. moderatum (6.84%) and A. armada – A. sp. nov 1 (6.82%). Both of these species pairs consist of species that are clearly morphologically identifiable from each other. The average intraspecific divergence was <3% for all putative species clades. The highest intraspecific divergence was seen in the hentzi clade where the most southern specimen (and most basal in the clade), APH0933 from the Big Bend National Park area, was ≤5.7% divergence from the other hentzi specimens. Strikingly, there is only 0.16% divergence found within the “northern” population of A. hentzi (all specimens north of the Colorado River), while there is 2.6% in the “southern” group (all specimens south of the Colorado River). The key (inset) references the seven species delimited in this analysis by species name (Red = A. hentzi; Orange = A. moderatum; Blue = A. anax; Yellow = A. armada; Pink = A. sp. nov 1; Brown = A. sp. nov 2; Green = A. sp. Carlsbad Green). These colors and species combinations are consistent throughout the figures. A. hentzi population designations are highlighted by light grey boxes. Outlined boxes around species names denote members of the hentzi cryptic species group. A thickened branch denotes species clades with Bayesian posterior probabilities of 1.00 and ML bootstrap values ≥95%. Support for major nodes with Bayesian posterior probabilities of 1.00 and ML bootstrap values ≥95% are denoted by the star symbol. Western United States species comprise the outgroup. Based on the highly supported monophyly of these species clades, combined with the pattern and amount of genetic divergence seen in the “barcode gap” data, we postulate there may be as many as seven species in the eastern portion of the southwest United States (New Mexico east through Texas, Oklahoma, eastern Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana) (Figure 1). This group consists of A. hentzi, A. anax, A. armada, A. moderatum and three potentially undescribed species (A. sp. nov 1, A. sp. nov 2, and A. sp. Carlsbad Green – we are unsure at this time whether the latter is previously described but unrecognizable or is a new species) (Figures 3 & 4). Sampled species consist of A – A. hentzi; B – A. anax; C – A. moderatum; D – A. armada; E – A. sp. Carlsbad Green; F. A. sp. nov 1. A. sp. nov 2 is not pictured. Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent species delimitation A comparison of the performance between the single and multiple threshold models revealed that the two methods were not significantly different from each other (X2 = 1.87539, df = 9, p = 0.9932862). Consequently, the results of the single threshold model are those we discuss. The GMYC model provided a significantly better fit to the data than the null model's hypothesis of the entire sample being derived from a single species with uniform branching (p = 0.0189) and indicated a total of 16 independent coalescence groups within the focal taxa (13 clusters plus 3 singletons - singletons constitute a cluster given more population representatives). The total GMYC analysis, including the outgroup, is represented by 14 ML clusters (CI = 14–16) and 23 ML entities (CI = 21–27) (Figure 5). GMYC clusters delimited from the single-threshold model are highlighted and grouped according to their defined species. A total of 13 independent coalescence groups plus 3 singletons (singletons constitute a cluster given more population representatives) were delimited for the ingroup (14 total ML clusters; CI = 14–16). The data revealed strong geographic structuring and phylogenetic gene tree clustering in all putative species groups except A. hentzi. Species and color combinations correspond to those represented in Figure 1. Delimited GMYC clusters (A. armada, A. sp. nov 1, A. moderatum, A. sp. nov 2, and A. sp. Carlsbad Green) were largely congruent with species clades defined by the tree-based methods and the “barcode gap” (Figures 3 & 5; Table 4). Exceptions included the A. anax species clade that was split into two clusters, corresponding to a previously observed phylogenetic split between the northern (those populations at or above the Colorado River) and southern populations (populations at or below the Colorado River), as well as the A. hentzi species clade splitting into nine clusters and singletons. The analysis of the tree topology for the “northern” group of A. hentzi indicates a lack of significant population structuring (Figure 3). We explored the demographic history of A. hentzi further by analyzing Tajima's D and Fu's FST to evaluate if this species experienced rapid population expansion and subsequently dispersed north in the recent past. The data revealed significant negative values for Tajima's D in the A. hentzi species clade (D = −2.03906; p = 0.00330) and the “northern” group of A. hentzi (D = −2.13833; p = 0.00360), indicating a rapid expansion of mtDNA haplotypes (Table 3). Ramos-Onsins and Rozas showed Fu's FST to be a very powerful test in detecting past range expansion, especially for large sample sizes. The A. hentzi species clade exhibits a Fu's FST of −2.12372 (p = 0.26460), while the northern group of A. hentzi was −3.98188 (p = 0.05230) (Table 3). These results are significant for the northern group, though by a small margin with the p-value of 0.05. An increase of a wider range of sampling from more of the northern populations than is reported here may continue the trend and increase significance. Our dual approach was taken due to the unavailability of fossil date calibrations. This allowed us to test hypotheses pertaining to whether the Pleistocene played a major role in lineage splitting events for this group of spider. Analyses were carried out first by fixing a molecular clock and attempting to match cladogenetic events to geologic dates. We then calibrated historical biogeographic dates onto nodes and groups of specimens, allowing us to test whether these events and the associated estimated mtDNA substitution rate matched our preferred mygalomorph rate hypothesis. Although a number of studies , – used the general arthropod molecular clock of 2.3% pairwise divergence per million years for mitochondrial genes in insects and arachnids, first employed by Brower , to test our hypotheses we preferred to use a rate previously derived from the same infraorder of spiders, the trapdoor genus Aptostichus ; also used recently by Cooper et al . Fixed clock (4%) divergence dates for population fragmentation and subsequent expansion of the “northern” designated A. hentzi (hN, hCRN, hCR) were estimated at 237,000 ybp (95% CI = 294,900−183,200 ybp). The split of all extant A. hentzi populations was determined to correspond to 925,000 ybp (95% CI = 1,099,800−753,800 ybp) and around 1.75 to 1.25 million ybp between the A. hentzi lineage and the A. moderatum lineage (Table 2; Figure 6). To assign dates to population-splitting events within the A. hentzi lineage and assess the importance of these historical events on cladogenesis across the whole tree, a fixed molecular clock at 4% was applied in BEAST to evaluate how this mygalomorph rate of evolution relates to the events of the Pleistocene. Population splits within the A. hentzi clade (northern vs. southern) are predicted to have originated around 237,000 ybp (294,900−183,200), represented by the light red box. The Pliocene/Pleistocene/Holocene time frame is displayed at top, years from present on the bottom, with The Last Glacial Maximum designated by the grey box. The bars correspond to 95% confidence intervals. Based on node calibrations using historical biogeographic events hypothesized to have played a role in lineage divergence we obtained an unusually high substitution rate estimate of 14.2% per MY. These node calibrations and resultant rate estimate places the split of all extant A. hentzi (h) populations at 1,710,400 million ybp (95% CI = 1.913−1.512 million ybp), the hCR and hCRN populations at 16,230 ybp (95% CI = 22,042−8,840 ybp), and the hN populations at 8,640 ybp (95% CI = 10,789−6,477 ybp) (Table 2), with the A. hentzi lineage and the A. moderatum lineage splitting around 2.5 to 1.5 million ybp (Figure 6). The dates inferred from the 4% Aphonopelma mtDNA reflect population fragmentation and species divergence occurring during the Pleistocene and back into the Pliocene, supporting the hypothesis that the events within this time period played a significant roll in the population fragmentation across Aphonopelma. With the 4% rate seemingly more logical and consistent with other similar studies , going forward we will discuss the results associated with this mygalomorph rate of substitution. Additional cladogenetic events are worth noting and appear to be timed with the same historical events that affected A. hentzi. At the same time that the southern A. hentzi haplotypes were fragmented, ∼500,000 ybp (4%), two other species exhibit significant population splits; the A. moderatum lineage possesses a deep fragmentation of the western and eastern populations, and a northern group of A. anax (also found within the CRB) was isolated from its sister clade of southern haplotypes, building up considerable mtDNA divergence (Figures 3 & 6). During the same relative time period that A. hentzi and A. moderatum split (∼1.6−1.5 million ybp (4%)), two other important branching events occur across the tree; the A. anax lineage split from the A. sp. nov 1/A. armada ancestor, and the A. sp. Carlsbad Green and A. sp. nov 2 lineages split (Figure 6). Ancestral Population Reconstruction Attempting to reconstruct ancestral population localities gives us a quantifiable approach from which to assess the likelihood that the ancestral node of definable A. hentzi clades, were found within given areas. Ten independent runs were carried out in an attempt to test the hypothesis that the ancestral hentzi populations were pushed back to or below the defined CRB, the apparent transition and fragmentation region for the A. hentzi haplotypes before they spread north during multiple range expansions. Of the 10 runs, all predicted the ancestral population to have occurred in or below the CRB. This hypothesized range of the ancestral population extends from the area around Colorado Bend State Park southwest to the Big Bend National Park area (L = −365.5) (Figure 1; Table 5). These findings support the hypothesis that the Colorado River Basin was a region of mtDNA haplotype fallback and that central and south Texas was an area of numerous Pleistocene refugia where A. hentzi may have persisted before expanding its range northward. We used inferences of phylogenetic relationships and divergence times for a morphologically homogeneous group of spiders to identify the historical events that shaped the evolutionary history of North American tarantulas. With the principal aim to reconstruct the mtDNA lineage history and species boundaries of the A. hentzi species group and its sister species in the North American tarantula genus, Aphonopelma, we identify potential refugia locations, directionality of range expansion, and test whether the past climate oscillations impacted tarantula diversity and distribution. Our data indicate Pleistocene habitat fragmentation, retraction, and subsequent range expansion events shaped contemporary phylogeographic patterns within Aphonopelma, particularly A. hentzi post-glacial expansions and dominance of open northern niches. Intraspecific molecular phylogeographic approaches have been used in the past to identify possible Pleistocene refugia based on the patterns of genetic variation , –. The results of the phylogenetic and species delimitation analyses presented here (combined with divergence dating, population expansion rate, and ancestral population reconstruction) show a consistent pattern of past population fragmentation and range expansion that likely occurred during the Pleistocene. New northern niches were opened numerous times during this period allowing A. hentzi to dominate and rapidly spread from postglacial refugia in and around Texas' Colorado River Basin. Across the tree, we observe a number of divergence events that occur around this same time period (Figures 3 & 6). These findings support the hypothesis that events during the Pleistocene shaped Aphonopelma diversity and distribution in the southwestern United States. Our use of this phylogeographic approach allows us to interpret the evolutionary relationships of these tarantulas and evaluate how the numerous glacial cycles of the Pleistocene affected the biodiversity of this region, while providing an opportunity to uncover previously unknown “cryptic diversity” in the region. DNA tree-based methods, in conjunction with the implementation of a “barcode gap” (uncorrected p-distances), and the GMYC species delimitation method consistently recognized a number of divergent and genealogically exclusive groups. These various methods used in concert provide an effective approach to dissecting species boundaries in this spider group; as well they seem to provide strong evidence for a number of previously undiscovered and cryptic species (Figures 3 & 5). The phylogenetic analyses uncover three major lineages of Aphonopelma found in Texas: one closely related group including A. anax, A. armada, and A. sp. nov 1, a second closely related group including A. hentzi, and A. moderatum, and a third group comprising the highly divergent A. sp. nov 2 and A. sp. Carlsbad Green (Figures 3 & 4). All putative species clades are separated by >6% genetic pairwise divergence (Table 4). The two species pairs most closely related to each other, according to p-distance, hentzi-moderatum and armada-sp. nov 1 are both 6.8% divergent from their sister species. While only slightly higher than the 6% “barcode gap”, the species within these pairs are clearly morphologically identifiable from each other. Such a distinct pattern of reciprocal monophyly is recognized as strong evidence for a lack of gene flow. With genealogical exclusivity, as defined by Velasco where “each member is more closely related to anything else in the group than to anything outside it” consistently seen across the tree, we propose that seven species are delimited in this analysis, two of which are new to science (A. sp. nov 1 and A. sp. nov 2). The number of species inferred from the phylogeny and “barcode gap” data corresponds largely with the GMYC analysis. The method, used by a number of authors , , -, correctly delimited a priori species groups in five of the seven species previously delimited; A. anax and A. hentzi comprise lineages designated as multiple clusters (species) by the GMYC method. This reveals strong geographic structuring and phylogenetic gene tree clustering in all putative species groups except A. hentzi (Figure 5). Of the seven species, the two cryptic species were found to be sympatric with A. hentzi along parts of its southern distribution. Previously recognized as A. hentzi, A. sp. nov 1 and A. sp. nov 2 are clearly not conspecifics, as evidenced by high genetic divergence and deep phylogenetic relationships between the three (Figure 3). These three species make up a hentzi cryptic species group. The observed case of species non-exclusivity highlights poor taxonomic and identification methods used in the past. Misidentification of taxa can have serious consequences in the literature affecting our knowledge of nature's patterns and processes . Past ecological and behavioral research was thought to have been carried out on A. hentzi , A. echinum (part of the hentzi complex) , and A. steindachneri (historically misidentified as residing in Texas when it is a California species) , but in reality may represent findings for different, highly divergent species (A. sp. nov 1 or A. sp. nov 2). Studies of several mygalomorph spiders have likewise revealed “cryptic species” based on evidence from extreme intraspecific population structuring , , , , . The discovery within this analysis of two “A. hentzi-like” spider species comprising genetically divergent lineages was not necessarily surprising, but confirms the notion that cryptic species are a global phenomenon throughout the entire infraorder Mygalomorphae. The A. hentzi lineage was sampled from a previously defined distribution representing one species in an attempt to evaluate the range of morphologic, genetic, and demographic breadth contained within what was previously the hentzi species complex. The GMYC clustering clearly separates this lineage into many independently evolving groups despite a lack of any apparent barriers to gene flow among populations. This lack of geographical exclusivity in the A. hentzi clustering (6 clusters and 3 singletons) appears to be an artifactual remnant of multiple refugia located in central and south Texas during the Pleistocene. Most haplotype clusters contain individuals from within the defined CRB, with only one comprising individuals solely from south Texas (Del Rio and Comstock), as well as two singletons from SW Texas (Big Bend and Black Gap). Such a pattern could indicate cryptic species within the A. hentzi lineage as a consequence of secondary contact or sympatric speciation. However, it is our opinion (based on the data) that these patterns are more likely an artifact of Pleistocene refugial structuring of haplotypes. Likewise, the A. anax lineage contains GMYC identified clusters separating the northern and southern populations. This splitting, which appears to be a Pleistocene fragmentation artifact as well, occurs in the northernmost area of the A. anax range where “north” and “south” haplotypes overlap in the CRB but are not shared. The detection of intraspecific GMYC clusters representing previously isolated populations, and therefore erroneously delimited species, has been found in other studies . That being said, the clustering found herein is consistent with the PhyloMapper ancestral locality reconstruction that predicted the ancestral region for the A. hentzi clade to have originated southwest of the defined CRB, an area where A. hentzi can be found sympatric with southern and western species (Figure 1). It is often thought that populations which become restricted to refugia will often diverge or go extinct through changes in population size due to stochastic events, leading to a lower genetic diversity in the newly colonized areas (as seen north of the Colorado River), lower than in the parental populations remaining in the glacial refugium , something we feel is present in our data. The lack of phylogenetic resolution in the A. hentzi clade, combined with short branch lengths and highly divergent southern haplotypes indicate a recent divergence from an ancestral area. The comb-like pattern of a number of the northern A. hentzi populations on the tree, linked with the widely distributed closely related haplotypes, population-expansion analyses, and ancestral population reconstruction, support a rapid expansion from refugia within or near the CRB. The large degree of genetic divergence between the southern and northern A. hentzi groups suggests that the ancestral populations built up high genetic diversity throughout an area from central to southwestern Texas during Pleistocene fragmentation events. The Pleistocene and its effects Glacial cycles are hypothesized to have transformed a number of North American taxa by shifting species distributions, niches, and population sizes, causing frequent and repeated extinction. As a consequence, large numbers of plants and animals are thought to have experienced a general downward shift in latitude and elevation, occupying a distributional range very different than the one in which they are found today , –, , –. Repeated colonization events during glacial cycles reduced the levels of genetic variation in more recent northern populations, often through population bottlenecks , . Hewitt , found that if southern populations exhibit considerable haplotype richness in comparison to the lower diversity in northern populations then this southern richness is the result of persistence in refugia and the accumulation of variation over several glacial cycles, while the northern diversity has been caused by rapid postglacial expansion and colonization –. According to Rowe et al , if ancestral and derived haplotypes do not overlap then ancestral haplotypes should be found close to the origin of range expansion, whereas derived haplotypes are more likely to be found at the leading edge of the range expansion. With a much larger amount of genetic variation maintained south of the CRB and little variation found to the north – i.e. the expanding populations, our findings are consistent with these hypotheses, that the CRB was an A. hentzi haplotype fallback zone, a species and genomic transition region, as well as the origin of range expansion. Potential refugial sites and subsequent range expansions for desert flora and fauna have been predicted to have occurred a number of times in the Chihuahuan Desert region of northern Mexico and southwestern United States , , , . Based on multiple lines of evidence (i.e., paleoclimatic and packrat midden), the Pleistocene climate oscillations in the Chihuahuan Desert (an area of high extant Aphonopelma abundance) suggests that desert vegetation (pinyon-juniper woodlands, a shift from the juniper woodlands and juniper grasslands of the upper peripheries of today) was strongly restricted in southern Texas during the wetter and cooler pluvial periods , caused by a southward deflection of the jet stream in the presence of the continental ice sheet . If populations were able to persist in northern refugia, north of the Colorado River, it would have been in areas of isolated, protected topography that provided suitable stable microclimates. In order to test our divergence and biogeographic hypotheses, we employed a combination of the fixed clock rate (4%) previously derived from the mygalomorph genus Aptostichus , as well as estimating the rate of substitution by calibrating the tree with geologic dates. Our calibrated rate estimation was estimated to be 14.2%, a rate that seems nonsensically high, leading us to predict that splitting events across the tree are older than this rate analysis and that these calibration points are not appropriate for these nodes/groups of specimens. Divergence dating estimates the fragmentation and subsequent expansion of the “northern” designated A. hentzi (hCR, hCRN, and hN) to have occurred around 237,000 ybp (4%) or 8,640 ybp for hN (14.2%), 16,230 ybp for hCR and hCRN (14.2%) (Table 2). Using a calibration date from the Middle Pleistocene limit for the extent of the glaciers (800,000−250,000 ybp), where the glacier ranged south into Kansas stopping in the area east from Topeka to Kansas City , , seemed a particularly important event for this group of spiders. This event, the most southwestern distribution of the Pleistocene glaciations in North America, likely played a significant role in the distribution and survival of theraphosid spiders in this region. Combined with the circularity of the 14.2% rate analysis, this outcome leads us to conclude that the “true” rate, or most reliable, will be found to reside around this 4% rate of substitution. Based upon this notion, all discussion of results will be in reference to this mygalomorph rate. The shifting climatic oscillations of the Pleistocene appear to have contributed to the structuring and fragmenting of a number of populations not only within the A. hentzi lineage (which possesses an extant range across southern Kansas), but also across the species in this region. Additional cladogenetic events of note support the hypothesis that the Pleistocene played a significant role in the population fragmentation across Aphonopelma. The split of all extant A. hentzi (h) populations was predicted to have occurred around 925,000 ybp, with the A. hentzi lineage and the A. moderatum lineage splitting at 1.5 million ybp (Table 2; Figure 6). Significant population splits between western and eastern A. moderatum lineages, and northern and southern populations of A. anax, appear to be timed with the same historical events that affected A. hentzi (∼500,000 ybp). During the same relative time period as the A. hentzi and A. moderatum split, the A. anax lineage split from the A. sp. nov 1/A. armada ancestor, and the A. sp. Carlsbad Green and A. sp. nov 2 lineages split (∼1.6−1.5 million ybp) (Figures 3 & 6). Based upon the amount of genetic divergence within A. hentzi, it seems plausible that the southern populations were highly fragmented and separated from each other, as well as from the northern populations, for a considerable period of time. Due to the number of haplotypes shared among populations in the CRB and throughout the northern extent of the hentzi range, the northern populations were likely to have been fragmented in refugia, periodically coming back into contact thereby reintroducing gene flow during the interglacials. Haplotype sharing most often occurs among the A. hentzi populations from within the CRB and populations to the north (Figure 2), indicating that these haplotypes likely dispersed north later in the Pleistocene, dominating the landscape throughout north Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and SE Colorado. The expansions and retractions of the glaciers during the Pleistocene and an expansion of the prairie biome to the north allowed refugial populations and southern distributions (particularly A. hentzi) to expand their ranges and reintroduce gene flow. Often referred to as “The Texas Brown tarantula”, this non-descript name belies the truly impressive biology and interesting evolution of this spider lineage. This species' history begins to take shape via multiple lines of evidence -- a story of divergence in allopatric Pleistocene refugia with subsequent range expansion into sympatry. The data presented herein gives the clearest and most accurate formulation to date of the evolutionary history and current genetic composition of this group of North American spiders. Barriers to gene flow and geographic distance are important factors determining a species' history by restricting interbreeding opportunities. Bond et al hypothesize that the biggest contributing factor to speciation in some groups of mygalomorphs may depend more on the restriction of gene flow rather than ecological specialization. This supposition, supported by Peterson et al , concludes that speciation may be predominantly a vicariance event with ecological differences developing much later; a similar pattern seemingly playing out not only in A. hentzi, but potentially the whole of Aphonopelma affected by the Pleistocene. Seldom can we delineate species based solely on molecular data. DNA barcoding has had many proponents and opponents since its origination , , –, –. And while the use of a DNA “barcode” can be employed to help unravel the “species” problem, this approach and the approach of DNA taxonomy, is likely ineffective when used alone. For example, understanding whether GMYC clusters correspond to real “species” is critical to the proposition that DNA barcoding, or any single marker approach, can be effective for use in species identification. As Ahrens et al points out, the extent of population sampling is a fundamental element in the GMYC species delimitation approach because the abruptness of the transition point between cladogenesis and coalescence greatly depends on the number of branches near the tip of the tree (defined as the amount of within-species genetic variation that is quantified). We doubt that the GMYC approach correctly splinters A. hentzi or A. anax into multiple species (Figure 5) but instead represents an artifact of Pleistocene interactions (described above). Having been previously confirmed as the dominant species found throughout central and north Texas, the tree-based and barcoding approaches substantiate the suspicions of Murray -- that A. hentzi is one species that consists of a very large distribution and high ecological plasticity (both relative to other tarantulas in the US), instead of the historically proposed 11 species (Figure 1). Such a conclusion reflects our opinion that while purely molecular based approaches to species delineation appear to work well in this group of spider, these methods are limited and that more synthetic approaches incorporating additional knowledge about life history, population structure, morphology, and spatial distributions are required to make truly informed decisions about what constitutes an evolutionary lineage recognized as a “species”. The rapid northward spread of A. hentzi identifies a trait of particular interest for future research in this group. Multiple co-distributed taxa that are restricted in range being found next to a widespread species with apparent gene flow and haplotype sharing has been found among other mygalomorphs; Antrodiaetus unicolor , Aptostichus atomarius , and Myrmekiaphila comstocki and M. foliata . The high amount of apparent gene flow and mtDNA haplotype sharing among some A. hentzi populations clearly reveals that while males disperse quite well throughout their localized distribution, female dispersal is considerable -- a phenomenon considered to be relatively rare in mygalomorphs. Is there a dispersal disparity between A. hentzi and the other Aphonopelma in this region? What behavioral or ecological advantages does A. hentzi possess which allow it to disperse quickly, thereby dominating open niches and potentially excluding other species? Are there differential dispersal rates between males and females? While the rate of dispersal and gene flow is unknown, sampling of nuclear loci and microsatellite data will help answer these questions. Deciphering this information will also help us to understand the evolution of theraphosid dispersal, which is poorly known but critical to understanding how species colonize new areas, and how intraspecific cohesion can be maintained across broad distances. Because tarantulas are long-lived, low vagility ectotherms, and take a number of years to reach maturity, they have a high potential for population subdivision -- making them ideal subjects for evaluating the role that dispersal and isolation play in speciation pattern and process. Moreover, heightening conservation concerns for this group, like in other mygalomorphs , due to human development, habitat destruction, and increased pressures as a consequence of the pet trade, highlight the need for accurate taxonomy, phylogenetic relationships, and classification and revisionary studies. An understanding of the evolutionary relationships of North American tarantulas, and their associated ecological factors, may help mitigate future population and species extinction. Specimen and sequence information for haplotypes used in this study. (Sex designation: F = subadult or adult female; M = subadult male; MM = mature male; juv = juvenile) We thank Xavier Atkinson, Ashley Bailey, Michael Brewer, Dr. Paul Chippindale, Christian Cox, Dr. Jeff Demuth, Dr. Brian Fontenot, Ray Gabriel, Nicole Garrison, Eve Hamilton (my dog), Dr. Brent Hendrixson, Mike Logan, Dr. Stuart Longhorn, Dr. Robert Makowsky, Dr. Jesse Meik, Dave Moellendorf, Dr. Anna Papadopoulou, Tom Prentice, Eric Reynolds, Josh Richards, Dr. Corey Roelke, Coleman Sheehy, Andrew Smith; Chad Spruill, Sky Stevens, Jeff Streicher, Lynn Swafford, Rick West, Texas Parks & Wildlife, all those who donated specimens, their time, knowledge and expertise, moral support, or allowed me to collect on their land, and the two anonymous reviewers who significantly improved this analysis and manuscript. Conceived and designed the experiments: CAH DRF JEB. Performed the experiments: CAH. Analyzed the data: CAH JEB. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: CAH DRF JEB. 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Most people seem to accept that genetic analysis can show us how closely related two people are, such as for paternity testing, but some have a more difficult time accepting that genetics shows us how closely related to other animals we are, and even to plants and all other life. Why might that be? It is not surprising that all animals and plants have the majority of their genes in common. The sugar oxidised by the same mechanism to release their energy. Analysis of genetic similarity showed that plants were the first to diverge from a common stem and that animals and fungi evolved later from a common ancestor similar to single celled eukaryotes. Our hands contain bones almost perfectly like-for-like with the bones in the flat paddle of a dolphin's fin, and with a horse's front legs, and a bat's Wings. These are analogous structure- they perform similar functions. Get Answers For Free Most questions answered within 1 hours.
Experiment board with basic circuits for electricity and electronics: circuit components, Ohm's law, Kirchhoff's laws, rheostat and potentiometer circuits, two way switching, charging and discharging curves of a capacitor, inductive effects in DC and AC circuits. Simple semiconductor circuits for determining diode characteristics, rectifier circuits, filter factors. The board contains: 13 0.5 W resistors ranging from 100 Ohm - 100 Kiloohm 1 Potentiometer, 1 Kiloohm 3 Filament lamps, 12 V 2 Slide switches 5 Capacitors (2 x 1 µF, 1 x 100 µF [bipolar], 1 x 1000 µF) 5 1 A rectifier diodes 1 Zener diode 1 Red light emitting diode 1 Neon fluorescent light 1 Transformer, 12 V The components can be interconnected via 2 mm sockets using jumpers and experiment leads. Six 2 mm/4 mm safety socket adapters are provided for connecting 4 mm experiment leads. Includes 10 jumpers and 10 leads (5 red and 5 blue) with 2 mm plugs, 20 cm long, plus 8 V AC/500 mA mains power supply. Dimensions: approx. 233x160 mm²
The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE From National Book Award finalist David I. Kertzer comes the gripping story of Pope Pius XI’s secret relations with Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. This groundbreaking work, based on seven years of research in the Vatican and Fascist archives, including reports from Mussolini’s spies inside the highest levels of the Church, will forever change our understanding of the Vatican’s role in the rise of Fascism in Europe. The Pope and Mussolini tells the story of two men who came to power in 1922, and together changed the course of twentieth-century history. In most respects, they could not have been more different. One was scholarly and devout, the other thuggish and profane. Yet Pius XI and “Il Duce” had many things in common. They shared a distrust of democracy and a visceral hatred of Communism. Both were prone to sudden fits of temper and were fiercely protective of the prerogatives of their office. (“We have many interests to protect,” the Pope declared, soon after Mussolini seized control of the government in 1922.) Each relied on the other to consolidate his power and achieve his political goals. In a challenge to the conventional history of this period, in which a heroic Church does battle with the Fascist regime, Kertzer shows how Pius XI played a crucial role in making Mussolini’s dictatorship possible and keeping him in power. In exchange for Vatican support, Mussolini restored many of the privileges the Church had lost and gave in to the pope’s demands that the police enforce Catholic morality. Yet in the last years of his life—as the Italian dictator grew ever closer to Hitler—the pontiff’s faith in this treacherous bargain started to waver. With his health failing, he began to lash out at the Duce and threatened to denounce Mussolini’s anti-Semitic racial laws before it was too late. Horrified by the threat to the Church-Fascist alliance, the Vatican’s inner circle, including the future Pope Pius XII, struggled to restrain the headstrong pope from destroying a partnership that had served both the Church and the dictator for many years. The Pope and Mussolini brims with memorable portraits of the men who helped enable the reign of Fascism in Italy: Father Pietro Tacchi Venturi, Pius’s personal emissary to the dictator, a wily anti-Semite known as Mussolini’s Rasputin; Victor Emmanuel III, the king of Italy, an object of widespread derision who lacked the stature—literally and figuratively—to stand up to the domineering Duce; and Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, whose political skills and ambition made him Mussolini’s most powerful ally inside the Vatican, and positioned him to succeed the pontiff as the controversial Pius XII, whose actions during World War II would be subject for debate for decades to come. With the recent opening of the Vatican archives covering Pius XI’s papacy, the full story of the Pope’s complex relationship with his Fascist partner can finally be told. Vivid, dramatic, with surprises at every turn, The Pope and Mussolini is history writ large and with the lightning hand of truth. ISBN 10: 081298367X The Smithsonian Institution has entered affiliate agreements with the companies listed in our holiday shop, and earns a fee for every purchase made from following any link from these gift guide pages and making a purchase on the affiliate site. This fee helps fund Smithsonian’s activities. All products on the Smithsonian.com Store are sold through affiliates. All returns, defects, or inquiries about products should be directed to the affiliate. The Smithsonian is not responsible for and has no control over affiliate transactions. Please note that these vendors operate independently of the Smithsonian and may have their own privacy policies. When you visit their websites, you leave our Website and no longer will be subject to our privacy and security policies. The Smithsonian is not responsible for the privacy or security practices or the content of other sites, and such links are not intended to be an endorsement of those sites or their content.
Who was St. Francis of Assisi, the namesake of the new pope, the first Jesuit and non-European elected to that position? Francis was born in the Middle Ages when the middle class was coming into being, said the Rev. Michael Zielke, pastor of St. Stanislaus Basilica in Chicopee, and a member of The Order of Friars Minor Conventual, commonly known as the Conventual Franciscans. The Order of Friars Minor Conventual is a branch of the order of Catholic Friars founded by Francis in 1209. The order assumed the “spiritual leadership” of the parish, established by Polish immigrants in the late 1800s, early in the 20th century. Francis’ father was a wealthy cloth merchant who often traveled to France, and when he was away, Francis was born; his mother named him John. His father did not like the name and renamed him Francis in honor of France. “He wanted him to be a knight,” Zielke said. After he was taken prisoner during a military engagement for the town of Assisi, Francis got sick in prison and began “to get the inclination the Lord wanted him to do something else,” the priest said. Eventually he embarked on an itinerant preaching ministry, took vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and founded a religious community. He did not own property, which was the way people at the time made a name for themselves. “If you owned a lot of property, you’d get more concerned about property than serving the Lord,” Zielke said. Francis wanted the brothers in his community to focus on being Christ to others — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, for example. St. Francis considered himself to be a brother to everyone and found God’s life in all creation, making the environment worthy of respect. Zielke said in keeping with the spirit of St. Francis, he does not own a car or a home and lives in community with other Franciscans. “In my life, Francis calls me to simplicity, to the core values” of “wanting to walk in the footsteps of the poor, crucified One,” Jesus. Pope Francis’ focus on charity, compassion and social work has drawn attention as has his simplicity of lifestyle. He decided not to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, but to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been since the beginning of the recent conclave that elected him. He reportedly enjoys the residence’s community atmosphere where he lives among other clergy. He also decided to celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a Rome juvenile detention facility, instead of in St. Peter’s or the Basilica of St. John in Lateran as is traditional, and washed the feet of 12 of the young detainees, who were from different faiths and nationalities. It was the first time a pontiff included females in the rite that commemorates Christ’s washing of the feet of his 12 male apostles the night before he was crucified. According to press reports, the pope told the inmates that everyone, including him, had to be in the service of others. “It is the example of the Lord. He was the most important but he washed the feet of others. The most important must be at the service of others,” he said. He also insisted on paying his hotel bill in person after his election as pope, and rode in a van back to the hotel with other cardinals. As Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergogli of Buenos Aries, Argentina, he took public transportation and lived in an apartment instead of the archbishop’s grand residence. “Both Francises aren’t telling us to choose one or the other,” Zielke said of those who are wealthy and those who are not, “but to see Christ in everyone.” “The Holy Spirit inspired the cardinals to elect Francis to remind us to go back to what is important,” he added, explaining that what is important is “how we are called to follow Christ and to mirror Christ” and reflect his compassion and mercy. As cardinal, the new pope had chapels and missions built in poor areas and sent seminarians to serve them. “Christ is calling us all to holiness,” Zielke said. The pope chose the name Francis “to remind us that we all have gifts and talents” that should be used in service of God. “The Lord is calling us to be faithful, and when we use our gifts for the Lord and give honor to the Lord, we build up his body which is the Church,” he added. What do he and other members think of the fact the pope selected the name of the founder of their order? “It will be a good challenge for us to live up to our name,” Zielke said.
Nothing could be more different from the atmosphere of the Copenhagen climate change conference than the atmosphere in which the Cancun conference is being conducted. Last year’s hope of reaching a “legally binding commitment” to reduce emissions seems to have been almost completely abandoned and the circumspect goals of the Cancun conference are as far away from the grand ambition of Copenhagen as can be imagined. The entire project of preventing or mitigating global warming rather than adapting to it seems to be being quietly abandoned. If this is so, then it is extremely important that responsibility for the adoption of a policy which has fruitlessly dominated the international environmental agenda for eighteen years and involved the wasteful expenditure of billions of dollars be sheeted home. Blaming the signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Copenhagen Accord for a failure to reach a legally binding agreement to reduce emissions is a complete red herring. Those involved in the climate change negotiations must be held responsible for the fact that they did reach a legally binding agreement, but it was one to allow an increase in global emissions. The developing countries are now being blamed for failing to give emissions reduction priority, but the Framework Convention explicitly gives them permission not to do so. Article 4.7 reads: “The extent to which developing country Parties will effectively implement their commitments under the Convention … will take fully into account that economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and overriding priorities of the developing country Parties.” To spell it out: this provision expressly gives increasing emissions in pursuit of economic growth an overriding priority over reducing emissions. The legal position is perfectly clear. The Kyoto Protocol changed nothing. Its reference in Article 10 to the “common but differentiated responsibilities” of the developed and the developing countries was explicitly made conditional on acknowledgement that it did not create any new commitments for the latter and was explicitly subject to Article 4.7 of the Framework Convention. This is to say, the common but differentiated responsibilities were mere verbiage, and the Protocol failed to impose any concrete reductions responsibility whatsoever on developing countries. Much has been made of the inadequacy of the cap the Protocol placed on the developed countries. It is not acknowledged that no cap of any sort was placed on the developing countries, and this meant that no cap has ever been placed on the global growth of emissions. Kyoto was bound to fail, and, indeed, agreed the way it would fail. At Copenhagen, some attempt was made to force the developing countries to agree binding emissions reductions. As this was a complete departure from what had been agreed over the entire course of previous climate change negotiations, it was rightly forcibly rejected, and the developing countries’ notifications to the ad hoc Copenhagen Accord could not be clearer about this. China’s notification expressly states that any steps China may take “are voluntary in nature and will be implemented in accordance with the principles and provisions of the [Framework Convention], in particular Article 4, paragraph 7.” The effective abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol at Cancun makes it urgent to reverse the steps taken under it, which are failing as they were bound to do, before they cause yet more immense waste. But, even more importantly, the policy making process which yields such farcical and wasteful results must be abandoned and the first step must be the complete reform of the UNFCCC Secretariat. David Campbell is a Professor at Durham Law School, Durham University.
‘Let us take the word Dada,…It is just made for our purpose.The child’s first sound expresses the primitiveness, the beginning at zero, the new in our art’ – the Dadaist christening Non Art (Richardson, T and Stagnos, N 1974: 109) Portraiture is one of the most important genres in western art history in that through it great figures in history were captured.The aim of this essay is to view four Dada portraits in terms of how they show 1. Sociopolitical realities 2. Gender Expectations’ codes of convention and 3. The role of spectator. The artworks that this essay will discuss have been produced between 1915 – 1920. Portrait of Tristan Tzara When we look at this work we are confronted by an arrangement of organic shapes, one on top of the other building the composition of the work. There is no reference to the human face. However we are drawn to the medium itself and how it has been manipulated to depict Tristan Tzara (1886 – 1963). According to Richard Huelsenbeck, Tristan Tzara was one of the Zurich artist members who founded Dada in 1916. Hugo Ball, Hans (Jean) Arp (1887 – 1966), and Marcel Janco ( 1895 – 1985 ) were the other members of this group (see Chipp, HB. 1968: 377). According to Tristan Tzara ‘In art, Dada reduces everything to an initial simplicity, growing always more relative. It mingles its caprices with the chaotic wind of creation and barbaric dances of savage tribes (Chipp 1968: 386). This is indeed true of figure 1. The composition is simple and it looks like anyone who is not an artist might have produced the artwork. In 1942, in a lecture entitled ‘Abstract Art, Concrete Art’ Jean Arp highlighted that: 1Concrete art (Abstract art) wishes to transform the world. It wishes to render existence more tolerable. It wishes to save men from the most dangerous of furious madness: vanity, it wants to simplify man’s LIFE. It urges man to identify with nature (see Jean Arp, ‘Abstract Art, Concrete Art’ca. 1942 Cited in Chipp (1968:391) The key word here is ‘nature’. In the Portrait of Tristan Tzara the shapes which represent Tristan Tzara recall forms which can be liken to algae, rock formation or even plant leaves. Observe the gaping shape towards the right. If we bring one of the questions raised at the outset of this essay, the one that concern socio political references I think that the work is devoid of such references, it is rather a personal account. It is a personal account in that, though its title alludes to an important figure in the Dada movement’ it is an abstract rendition of its subject matter or, to use Arp’s term, it is Concrete. One cannot easily make out the image that the work is depicting, it is the title of the artwork that affords the viewer the opportunity to fathom that it is a portrait and also the viewer’s schooling in modern art movements can afford the ability to make the connection as to who Tzara is. The portrait then, as unrealistic as it is, terms of abstract art, which strives to save, free man and simplify his life, it represents Tristan Tzara. This artwork which was conceived during World War I is devoid of gender expectations. The role of the spectator is to ponder what the work is trying to show. The spectator is propelled towards a deeper questioning of what art should be and the form it should take especially bearing in mind the western tradition of art making. Chipp points out that Dada was an attempt to free the artist from traditional views of the arts to form a conception of art as a moral and social phenomenon (1968: 380). According to Lynton, Francis Picabia (1879 – 1952) and Marchel Duchamp (1887 – 1968) arrived in America in 1915 as a visitor from Paris about two years after 1913. The year when the exhibition 2The Amoroy Show challenged the American art world and infuriated press and public (1980: 125), but now what does Tableu Dada tires to communicate. A monkey rack-doll is positioned in the center of the picture plane. We must bear in mind that this work is an illustration, however in this essay we are looking at it from a perspective of it being an artwork. Lynton points out that Dada was not an art movement. It exposed itself primarily through words, often through several journals that issued from Zurich, Berlin, New York, Cologne, Moscow and other places (1980: 126) In the work Tableau Dada the monkey-doll is bordered by the words ‘portrait of Paul Cézanne, portrait of Renoir, Portrait of Rembrandt as well as the words ‘natures mortés’, it could be that Picabia is making a mockery of western art history’s greatest contributors. We know that Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919) pioneered impressionism, Paul Cézanne (1839 – 1906) was a leading figure in post-impressionism and that Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606 – 1669) was a prominent 17th Century Dutch artist. Thus viewed against this knowledge the artwork Tableau Dada acquires a heighten connotation as it ridicules the importance of these artists through mockery. Let us bear in mind that [sic] the Dadaist suggested that reality was too elusive and incoherent to be formally represented (see Bradbury and Mcfarlane ed. 1991: 292) Dadaism was consequently a nihilistic movement, particularly distrustful of order and reason, a challenge to polite society, a protest against all prevailing styles in art, it was, in fact, anti art (Fleming, 1974:374). With this work, Tableu Dada, the role of spectator is to think critically about what the artwork concerns itself; the work propels the spectator towards this criticism, a criticism which centers on the significance of Cézanne, Renoir and Rembrandt. Bradbury and Mcfarlane maintains that it was the impact of the First World War which persuaded poets (and artists) of the younger generation to the fact that [my italics] that western culture was mortal and had been touched in its foundations; that the victor countries had suffered a debacle in ideas and ethics as dramatic as that of the regimes, aristocracies and frontiers among the defeated (Bradbury and Mcfarlane 1991: 293). Max Ernst – Self Portrait Unlike the first two artworks discussed above this work is a self portrait. After a triumphant series of lectures in the provinces and in Czechoslovakia, followed by a climatic international Dada Fair in the Capital in June 1920 Berlin Dada went into decline and by 1922 it was no more. The decline of Dada was also witnessed in as well Cologne in 1922. It was here where [sic] in 1919 and 1920 Max Ernst, Johannes Baargeld and Hans Arp were instrumental in pioneering the spirit of Dada (see Bradbury and Mcfarlane 1991: 297). Max Ernst (1891 – 1976) dominated Cologne Dada movement. Ernst had studied philosophy not art nearby-Bonn. He had been in contact with Marc Chagall (1887 – 1985) in 1911 and with Hans (Jean) Arp, (1886 – 1966) in 1914 (see Lynton, N 1980: 144) This artwork is a photomontage, the word which originated from Groz-Rearfield who worded in a UFA film company (Lynton 1980:138). In this portrait Ernst gaze towards his left (that is the right hand side of the picture). He is wearing a tuxedo. Another figure is positioned at the bottom side of the picture plane, glad in a bridal dress. Consideration of the right scale of the two figures represented in this work has not been acknowledged in that the female figure is quite small in relation to the groom, represented by the image of Ernst himself. Considering the scales of the portrayal of Ernst figure against that of the bride represents a prevalent theme in western art history; that is the dominance of man over woman. If we take the smaller image as to be representing a female figure by virtue of its position in the picture plane and size if compared to that of the artist the female as a counterpart to that of Ernst becomes subordinate. Actually the image representing the woman can be that of a man. It is the dress that anchors the figure towards a feminine identification. This feminine figure interferes with the image representing the portrait of the artist. The Bride Stripped Bare of Her Bachelors According to Norbert Lynton The Bride Stripped Bare of by Her Bachelors, even (Large Glass) is painting in the tradition of Botticeli’s Birth of Venus and Titians Assumption of he Virgin. Lynton highlights that a note among Duchamp’s published document says The bachelors serving as architectural base for the bride, the latter becomes a sort of apotheosis of virginity (1980: 134) This work was began in a yea later after the war had started an it was completed about five years after the war ended. For Marcel Duchamp Dada was an extreme protest against the physical side f painting. It was a metaphysical attitude…it was a way to get out of a state of mind to avoid being influenced by one’s own immediate environment, or the past. To get away from clichés – to get free (Chipp 1968: 392). What does one make of the work? the work does not refer to a person, I have deliberately included the work in this essay due to what the work’s title refers to – the bride and her bachelors. Although Lynton points out that the theme is sex, I will like to propose a counter and state that the work is a metaphor for Europe, especially in the inter war years. Europe in this work is personified as the bride and the bachelors are her warring countries. The bachelors at a heightened level are the aristocratic, bourgeoisie and imperialists who manipulated the progress of Europe through war. Therefore The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors is a metaphor for the First World War. The Dadaist agreed that: 1) The war had been primarily Germany’s making. 2) Dissociation from the so called civilized cultural Grandeur of Society by means of acts and objects create in opposition to western civilization. 3) All art, even the Avant Garde of yesterday and especially Expressionism was condemned as part of the war machine (Lynton 1980: 24) The last work discussed in this essay attests to this point. Dada stood against western civilization on all spheres especially the Visual Arts. To address its dissatisfaction with western civilization it took the Visual Art as its point of departure. With reference to Duchamp’s Bride stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, the artwork discussed in this essay succeed to show how Dada tackled sociopolitical realities. Gender expectation codes of convention is illustrated by figure 3 and figure 4 in how the female body has been used. In terms of figure 3, the ideal, it can be deduced from the Dadaist agreement, is to destroy one of the genres of western, portraiture, to make it undesirable. With Figure 4 the female or feminine characterization is given to mechanics which are designed to be used. Thus this demonstrates that Dada an ideology it gives women a subordinate role. Moreover Dada stances in its questioning of what constitutes the art object it arouses questions of validity concerning western art to the spectator. Bradbury, M and Mcfarlane, I (eds). 1991 Modernism 1890 – 1930. Hammondsport: Penguin Chipp, HB (Comp). 1968. Theories of Modern Art: A source book by artists and critics. Los Angels: UC Press Fleming, W. 1974. Art and Ideas. Holt, Rhinehart and Winston, Inc. New York 1. A term originally synonymous with the broadest sense of the word Constructivism. Used particularly from about 1930 onwards to describe the geometrical aspect of abstract art, it was exemplified by De Stil and continued in the abstraction Création group, the artwork being a distillation of the balance of the forces in nature. In 1948, the Movememnto Arte Concretá was founded in Italy: Its members included Magnelli, Capogrossi, Osvaldo Licini (1894 – 1958) and Atanasio Soldati (1896 – 1953): the group around Fontana pursued a parallel course (See Charmet, R and Brunyate, R (ed.) 1972: 55). 2. The Armory Show was an exhibition in New York (17 February, 1913) intended to introduce Modern Art to America. Sponsored by the newly-formed ‘Association of American Painters and Sculptors, it was organised by Walt Kuhnand Arthur Davies and called ‘International Exhibition of Modern Art’. That first showing at 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue, decisively influenced American Art. Although American works pre-dominated 9Most of them highly conservative) the European selection has the more lasting impact. There was a survey f French art from Ingres and Delacroix to the Impressionism; a very large section was taken up by the Symbolists (particularly Rëdon) and Pos-Impressionists; there was also a large collection of work by Henry Rousseau. Most of the contemporary art movement such as Fauvism, Cubism and Orphism represented, but not Futurism. The Fiercest discussion centered on the work of Picabia and on Duchamp’s Nude Descending a Staircase. (See Charmet, R and Brunyate, R (ed.) 1972: 55). Figure 1. Jean Arp. Portrait of Tristan Tzara. 1916. Relief of painted wood, 20 ⅛ X 19 ¾ X 4 in, Estate of the artist: On loan to the Musée d’ Art et d’ Histoire, Geneva. (Lynton, N 1980: 128) Figure 2. Francis Picabia. Tableu Dada. 1920. Illustration from Cambale, published in Paris Dimesnions not available. (Lynton, N 1980: 125) Figure 3. Max Ernst. Self Portrait. 1920. Photomontage, Dimensions not available. (Chipp, HB 1968:373) and Figure 4. Marcel Duchamp. The Bride Stripped Bare of Her Bachelors , even (Large Glass). 1915 – 1923. Oil and lead on glass 108 ¼ X 69 in. Philadelphia Museum of Art (Lynton, N 1980: 135) © Mmutle Arthur Kgokong 2010
In school and in everyday life, we sometimes experience rejection by classmates, or we might see someone being excluded from an activity. What do excluded individuals feel? How does the brain process information about being socially excluded? In the past few decades, psychologists and social neuroscientists have investigated the influence of social exclusion on our mind, brain, and behavior. Social exclusion is a complex and ambiguous phenomenon, and therefore, we process information about it dynamically and often cope with it flexibly. In this article, I have described the dynamic effects of social exclusion on our mind, brain, and behavior by developing a model of what happens in the brain and the actions people take upon experiencing social exclusion. What is Social Exclusion? Social exclusion refers to the experience of being socially isolated, either physically (for example, being totally alone), or emotionally (for example, being ignored or told that one is unwanted). When someone excludes you, you probably feel bad or even experience “painful” feelings. Why does social exclusion cause these feelings? One possibility is that human beings are social animals, and we have been selected by evolution to live together with others. Social exclusion tells us that social relationships are threatened or damaged, and therefore, exclusion tells us there is a crisis, by causing aversive feelings. Previous research by psychologists (people who study the mind and behavior) and social neuroscientists (people who study the neural, hormonal, cellular, and gametic mechanisms underlying social interaction and behavior) has revealed much about what happens during and after social exclusion. Before beginning to explain how social exclusion dynamically affects our mind, brain, and behavior, I would like to briefly introduce the mystery of social pain—defined as the painful feeling caused by social exclusion. The Pain of Social Exclusion We often use the term “painful” to describe the feeling we have when we are being excluded. The question is, why do we use this word to describe what we feel, even though we do not have actual physical injury or pain? Using the concepts, “pain,” or “painful” to describe the feeling of being excluded or rejected by others is common across languages. I live in Japan, which is probably very far from where you are live. In Japan, I use the word “pain” to describe my feelings when I end a relationship with a lover or a friend, or when my parents exclude me. It is quite possible that you also use a similar word to describe your feelings under similar circumstances. Prior social neuroscience studies have shown that similar areas in the brain are activated when we experience physical and social pain. Scientists have often used the Cyberball task to study social pain in the laboratory . In this task, participants play an online ball-tossing game with two or three other players, in which the other players might exclude the participant by throwing fewer tosses at him or her. In one study, participants played this game while inside a brain scanner called a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner. The fMRI can identify brain regions that become active when an activity is being performed. When the participants experienced social pain during the game, an area of the brain called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) became activated . The dACC is also known to activate when we experience aversive feelings of physical pain, suggesting that social and physical injuries are similarly processed by the brain (see Figure 1). We could use this evidence to conclude that physical and social pain are identical. But, it is possible that the relationship between physical and social pain is more complex. We know there are some similarities between physical and social pain. For example, both physical and social pain might be caused by distressing experiences. But the relationship between these two kinds of pain might be more complicated, because the dACC is also known to play an important role in certain other feelings, such as surprise. When someone excludes you, you might feel social pain as well as surprise (“I did not expect this to happen! Why are they excluding me?”). But some other studies have suggested that dACC activity in response to social exclusion is not merely due to surprise, and that the dACC’s main role is in processing pain. Therefore, current evidence is more supportive of the idea that social exclusion directly causes social pain. As you can see, these ideas are still under study! Researchers are now investigating the degree of similarity in the way the brain processes physical and social pain, as well looking at what the dACC actually does when the brain responds to social exclusion. Dynamic Processes in Social Exclusion We dynamically interpret and process information about social exclusion, because of the ambiguity and complexity of social exclusion. Just imagine the Cyberball game: You have been looking forward to playing the game, but when it starts, the other two players do not throw balls at you. You wait and wait hoping that the situation will change, but the game ends without you getting any balls. How would you feel during the game, and how would your brain respond to this situation over time? We have previously proposed an “intrapersonal and interpersonal process model of social exclusion” that describes what happens to our minds, brains, and behaviors during and after social exclusion (see Figure 2). When we are excluded, we detect, appraise, and regulate the aversive impact of social exclusion. Detection and appraisal are associated with an “alarm system,” which signals that there is a problem requiring our attention . Both detection and appraisal have been explained by using the analogy of a smoke alarm. An alarm works by detecting smoke (detecting that something is wrong or abnormal) and by ringing (sending out a warning to bring attention to the problem) when a fire occurs. These functions of the alarm help us to notice that a fire has occurred and that there is a need to take action. The warning sound is discontinued when there is no abnormal smoke. During social exclusion, we need to detect the event that threatens a relationship (detecting that something is wrong or abnormal) and appraise how painful it is (pain is the warning sound). Both systems are associated with the dACC and evoke social pain. There is another area of the brain, called the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC), that is known to reduce social pain. The VLPFC helps regulate the sound of the alarm so that it does not become too loud. The loudness of the alarm (the amount of social pain) changes with time during social exclusion, based on the degree of threat associated with the exclusion. Thus, it seems that we continuously detect, appraise, and regulate social pain during social exclusion. Another method of investigating how the brain reacts to social exclusion is by using event-related brain potential (ERP), which is a family of brain waves. fMRI is ideal for observing brain regions that are associated with social exclusion, whereas ERP has the advantage of identifying cognitive processes related to social exclusion on a very fast timescale (milliseconds, which are 1/1,000 of a second). By using both fMRI and ERP techniques, we can know what happens in the brain in response to each step of social exclusion (such as each ball throw, for example) on a very fast timescale, as well as how the brain responds to the complete social exclusion experience (from the beginning to the end of the experience of social exclusion). Like the fMRI studies, ERP studies have also shown that social exclusion causes processes of detection, appraisal, and regulation. Detection in response to social exclusion cues is associated with N2 components (approximately 200 ms following exclusion cues), the appraisal is associated with P3 components (approximately 300 ms following exclusion cues), and the regulation is associated with slow wave component (approximately 600 ms following exclusion cues). In addition, both fMRI and ERP studies have revealed that brain regions and processes related to detection, appraisal, and regulation change over time. More specifically, excluded individuals show increased detection and appraisal processes (e.g., dACC) at the beginning of social exclusion, whereas the regulation process (e.g., VLPFC) becomes stronger during the later stages. These findings suggest that the brain does not have just one simple way of processing social exclusion—the brain responses change over time. What should you do if you hear the alarm bells ringing without stopping? How we cope with social exclusion is known to be situation dependent. Excluded individuals enhance their social monitoring system (SMS) to determine how to behave. More specifically, excluded people become highly attentive to how other people might be feeling and thinking. The brain regions that are associated with understanding thoughts and beliefs of others (the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and temporoparietal junction) and cognitive processes related to attention (ERP component called the P1), and facial recognition (ERP component called the N170) are known to be involved with the SMS. This system helps excluded people to navigate social environments. Excluded people decide how they should behave based on SMS. If there are cues of social acceptance, such as opportunities to build new relationships and the smiling faces of others, excluded people behave prosocially, which means behaviors performed with intention of helping others and being included by others. Prosocial behavior helps to reduce social pain by helping the person to feel connected. On the other hand, excluded people might also behave aggressively if there are cues indicating social threats (e.g., excluders and peers of excluders). Behaving aggressively helps to protect them from further social exclusion. If a person is so socially excluded that there are no other people in his or her life, how does the excluded individual cope? It is known that excluded people in such situations sometimes use mental representations associated with feelings of connectivity, such as memories of family members and favorite TV characters, to temporarily reduce their social pain. Thus, excluded people cope flexibly depending on the situation. Social Exclusion as Stored Experiences So far I have described how a single instance of social exclusion affects our mind, brain, and behavior. How would these processes change if social exclusion is long-lasting and repeated? We can speculate about this by investigating individual differences in attachment anxiety and avoidance, both of which are related to the history of social exclusion . Attachment anxiety is the degree to which people are concerned about being excluded by others who are close to them. Anxious-attached individuals often have early social experiences of unexpected social exclusion, in which their parents or caregivers flooded them with affection in one moment and rejected them in the next. Attachment avoidance, on the other hand, is the degree to which people avoid closeness and intimacy with others. People with attachment avoidance have often experienced chronic social exclusion by caregivers who have not helped them to feel comfortable and accepted. It has been demonstrated that attachment anxiety leads to increased dACC activation in response to social exclusion. Individuals with attachment anxiety want to connect with others but feel nervous when doing so. Therefore, social exclusion signals a stronger crisis in such individuals. On the contrary, avoidant attachment results in decreased dACC activity in response to social exclusion, because avoidant individuals have experienced much social exclusion, and as a result, alarm signals are no longer informative. So, we can see that past social exclusion experiences affect the way a person will respond to new episodes of social exclusion. Chronic social exclusion might also change how people behave after being excluded. One study suggested that chronic social exclusion is one of the causes of school shootings that occurred in the US . It is possible that social exclusion damages our ability to control impulsive behaviors including aggression. It is also possible that people who are frequently excluded tend to see ambiguous actions of other people as hostile, even if those actions are not hostile. So, long-lasting and repeated social exclusion might also have the potential to change a person’s interpretations about how others feel, think, and behave. These changes might result in violence and damaged relationships, which could result in crimes and jail sentences in the worst cases. In this article, I have described how social exclusion affects our mind, brain, and behaviors. Because social exclusion is an ambiguous and complex phenomenon, we process it dynamically. The dynamic processing model of social exclusion is useful because it provides information about brain regions related to social exclusion and cognitive processes that occur in response. Is there anyone you know who is sensitive to social exclusion, or who is overaggressive after social exclusion? By using the framework described here, we can examine and understand the processes causing such people to respond strongly to social exclusion. This understanding could be used to help develop ways to improve people’s responses to social exclusion, including reducing overreactions to exclusion that can lead to violence. What can you do for your friends, if you see that they are being excluded by someone? If your friends are being excluded, help them to the best of your ability by taking kindly with them and empathize by saying, for example, “I know how painful it is.” Such support, in fact, has the potential for helping excluded individuals feel less pain and to behave less aggressive. We hope that you were able to learn about the effects of social exclusion on our mind, brain, and behavior by reading this article. Our hope is that social exclusion will cease to exist in the future as a result of getting to know how aversive it is, and as a result of understanding how excluded individuals react. Conflict of Interest Statement The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. This work was supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (15J07499) from the Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences. Original Source Article ↑ Kawamoto, T., Ura, M., and Nittono, H. 2015. Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes of social exclusion. Front. Neurosci. 9:62. doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00062 ↑ Williams, K. D., Cheung, C. K., and Choi, W. 2000. Cyberostracism: effects of being ignored over the Internet. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 79:748–62. doi:10.1037/0022-3522.214.171.1248 ↑ Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., and Williams, K. D. 2003. Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science 302:290–2. doi:10.1126/science.1089134 ↑ Kawamoto, T. 2017. “Hurt feelings,” in Learning Social Psychology from Daily Episodes, eds J. Taniguch, T. Soma, Y. Kanemasa, T. Nishimura (Tokyo: Hokujyu-Shuppan) 104–105. ↑ Kawamoto, T., Ura, M., and Nittono, H. 2015. Intrapersonal and interpersonal processes of social exclusion. Front. Neurosci. 9:62. doi:10.3389/fnins.2015.00062 ↑ Eisenberger, N. I., and Lieberman, M. D. 2004. Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends Cogn. Sci. 8:294–300. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.05.010 ↑ Chester, D. S., Pond, R. S. Jr., Richman, S. B., and DeWall, C. N. 2012. The optimal calibration hypothesis: how life history modulates the brain’s social pain network. Front. Evol. Neurosci. 4:10. doi:10.3389/fnevo.2012.00010 ↑ Leary, M. R., Kowalski, R. M., Smith, L., and Phillips, S. 2003. Teasing, rejection, and violence: case studies of the school shootings. Aggress. Behav. 29(3):202–14. doi:10.1002/ab.10061
The box model The box model is one of the most fundamental elements of CSS, and yet it's often one of the most common mistakes I see made when debugging other people's code. If you don't get your layout right, then it's incredibly hard to get anything else on your website to look the way you want it. I'm going to go through the basics of the main display types, the box model as it relates to each of these, and how to use these to their fullest. So what makes up the box model The box model it all the layout properties of an HTML element. It consists of margin. While it doesn't directly include the position and the offset of an element, depending on the values, these can have an effect on how the other aspects of the box model behave. A good representation of this can be found in the "metrics" section of chrome's web-inspector. The Basics: height/width, padding, border I'll start with a statement that's pretty bold, if you're struggling with the box model, until you fully understand it, here's a good rule of thumb: Give your element layout in the horizontal ( border - choose one) and vertical ( border - choose one). The problem occurs when you give an element more than one of these, say width: 50%; padding: 10px; not an unreasonable thing to want to do. While this may look like it would render okay, here's where the confusion lies: the width is calculated at 50%, the box is drawn, and then any border that needs to be applied is added on to the outside of that box. There are a couple of way you could get around this: one would be to adjust the numbers. Obviously this only works when both values are in the same unit, but sticking with the same example, you could do something like width: 48%; padding: 1%; which would stop things flowing over, but to my mind is still broken. While all modern browsers will render this in the same way, some older browsers won't handle this in quite the same way. My suggestion for fixing this would be with the use of an inner-div. While this does leave you with a bit more markup than originally intended, it means you can simply apply your constricting width to the outer div ( width: 50%) and then all of the padding you want to the inner-div without having to worry about the layout being broken, as the default width settings of auto will take care of everything. NB: for a third alternative see below: A new box model. The main thing that decided how an element interacts with the box model is its display type. Every HTML element with have a default display type, text elements like <em> will be inline, whereas more structural elements like <p> will have a default of block. If you're working with the layout of an element, then it pays to know what type it is by default, so you can know if it needs changing to suit your needs in each situation. While there are a few other options for the display property in CSS, I'll be focusing on what I consider to be functionally the three main types: block first as it's the element that follows the box model to the full, it is for all intents and purposes display: box. As the traditional flow of a webpage is from top to bottom rather than from side to side, a block element with an automatic width (either not specified, or set to auto) will take up as much horizontal space as possible on the page, without breaking its bounds. It's width will only change from this if it is otherwise specified. I'd like stress at this point that width: auto; and width: 100%; are not the same thing, and if you don't need to set a width, don't, it will make your life a whole lot easier, as mentioned before this will take care of any border you may choose to add on. Inline elements are at the completely the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to the box model. You can not apply margin, or vertical padding to any element set to display: inline, you can however give an inline element width of the element comes from the the text (or other elements in some cases) that are inside it. Unlike box elements, inline elements are the minimum width they need to be. The height of an inline element comes solely from the line-height of the element. By default the line-height is directly related to the font-size of the same element, but this can also be inherited from the line-height of the element's parent, or be overwritten on the element directly. Multiple inline elements together, behave as the name suggests, they stay inline until the line is full, and then wrap onto the next, in the same way that words in a text document would. There's no box drawn around the element in a square, it's a far more fluid layout than that. line-height is commonly used as a method of centering text vertically, by setting it to match the height of the parent element. More recently a third main display type has been introduced, and as a result isn't supported in some older browsers (though there is a known workaround for IE7). As the name suggests, inline-block takes on some of the properties from the display type, and others from block elements, you can set all the elements of the box model ( margin etc), but the sizing of width: auto; behaves differently with block elements take up as much space as possible when set to inline-block elements take more after inline elements and take up as little space as possible, only becoming full-width when there is sufficient content inside to fill the space. Also like inline elements, multiple inline-block elements can flow on the same horizontal line together. One thing to note if you plan to use this inline-block ability for some kind of grid layout, inline-block takes on the white-space directly before and after it, in the same way that an inline element would (I'll be exploring ways around this later on). A new box model While I have detailed the ins and outs of the situation for the box model, and some of the pains you may encounter when trying to give an element width as well as padding, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. A new way of approaching the box model has been detailed: box-sizing: border-box. I'll start by covering the compatibility of this new property, you will need to prefix is to support some older versions of webkit and firefox, and it doesn't work in IE7. There is a polyfill for it, but it's far from comprehensive and doesn't work if you're building a responsive site. border-box behaves like a lot of people (myself included) think things should work. When you set a height), that is the amount of space that element will take, any padding will happen inside of that width, and save you from breaking your box model. Personally I have found this to be incredibly useful on form elements, on small devices, when i want my form input to be 100% wide but still have a nice comfy 5 or so pixels padding around the text. Fun face: seems like IE5 had it right all along. So that's a basic overview of the box model as things stand at the moment. There are some new developments coming as flex-box becomes accepted as standards across more browsers (and we can stop supporting some of the older ones), but for now, that's the box-model.
Increasing the energy efficiency of your home can save you money, help the environment, and enhance your comfort, but how do you decide which improvements are the most beneficial and cost-effective? Completely revised to incorporate the latest developments in green technology, The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings is the definitive resource for consumers who want to better their home’s performance while reducing their energy bills. Well-organized and highly readable, The Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings begins with an overview of the relationships between energy use, economics and the environment. Updated and expanded chapters focus on specific aspects of any home, such as heating and cooling, ventilation, electronics, lighting, cooking and laundry, and provide helpful explanations for each, including: - Energy use characteristics - Comparisons between available technologies - Cost-effective repair and replacement options - Step-by-step guidance for finding the right equipment. This comprehensive resource is packed with tips on improving existing equipment and guidance for when and why to invest in new purchases, as well as a reminder to check local government and utilities for purchase or retrofit grants or incentives. It is a must-read for anyone concerned about reducing both their energy bills and their environmental impact. Bulk discounts are available for orders of 10 or more copies. For assistance with ordering, please contact Michael Goldstein at mgoldstein(at)homeenergy.org or 510-984-1179
The discovery of fluorescent proteins has revolutionized experimental biology. Whereas the majority of fluorescent proteins have been identified from cnidarians, recently several fluorescent proteins have been isolated across the animal tree of life. Here we show that biofluorescence is not only phylogenetically widespread, but is also phenotypically variable across both cartilaginous and bony fishes, highlighting its evolutionary history and the possibility for discovery of numerous novel fluorescent proteins. Fish biofluorescence is especially common and morphologically variable in cryptically patterned coral-reef lineages. We identified 16 orders, 50 families, 105 genera, and more than 180 species of biofluorescent fishes. We have also reconstructed our current understanding of the phylogenetic distribution of biofluorescence for ray-finned fishes. The presence of yellow long-pass intraocular filters in many biofluorescent fish lineages and the substantive color vision capabilities of coral-reef fishes suggest that they are capable of detecting fluoresced light. We present species-specific emission patterns among closely related species, indicating that biofluorescence potentially functions in intraspecific communication and evidence that fluorescence can be used for camouflage. This research provides insight into the distribution, evolution, and phenotypic variability of biofluorescence in marine lineages and examines the role this variation may play. Citation: Sparks JS, Schelly RC, Smith WL, Davis MP, Tchernov D, Pieribone VA, et al. (2014) The Covert World of Fish Biofluorescence: A Phylogenetically Widespread and Phenotypically Variable Phenomenon. PLoS ONE 9(1): e83259. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0083259 Editor: Diego Fontaneto, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Italy Received: September 28, 2013; Accepted: October 31, 2013; Published: January 8, 2014 Copyright: © 2014 Sparks et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: This work was supported by the American Museum of Natural History, City University of New York, National Science Foundation grants DEB-0444842, IOS-0749943, and DEB-1258141 to JSS, MCB-0920572 and DRL-1007747 to DFG, DEB-0732642 and DEB-1060869 to WLS, DEB-1257555 and DEB-1258141 to MPD, WLS, and JSS, National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants U24NS057631 and R01NS083875 to VAP and National Geographic Waitt Grants #W101-10 to DFG and #W214-12 to JSS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The primarily monochromatic blue spectrum that characterizes large areas of the photic ocean provides a unique filtered-light environment for visual organisms. Compared to the terrestrial environment, marine organisms reside in a spectrally restricted visual domain. The red, orange, yellow, and green components of sunlight are selectively removed with depth resulting in a narrow, near-monochromatic, band of blue light between 470 and 480 nm . Spectrally restricted illumination in the ocean provides unique lighting conditions for organisms to exploit fluorescence to produce visual contrast and patterns. In the marine environment, biofluorescence is highly prevalent in cnidarians (particularly Anthozoans) , and also in a ctenophore , copepods , mantis shrimp , amphioxus and some fishes . In addition, the photosynthetic apparatus associated with chlorophyll fluoresces red and provides a background of biofluorescence in areas of high algal growth on coral reefs. Biofluorescence results from the absorption of electromagnetic radiation at one wavelength by an organism, followed by its reemission at a longer and lower energy wavelength, visually resulting in green, orange, and red emission coloration in marine organisms. Biofluorescence signaling has previously been reported in butterflies , parrots , spiders , and flowers , as well as a deep-sea siphonophore . In scleractinian corals, biofluorescence has been suggested to function in photoprotection , antioxidation , regulation of symbiotic dinoflagellates , photoacclimation , visual contrast , and coral health . Whereas insight into the evolution and function of biofluorescence has greatly enhanced our knowledge of coral biology, little to nothing is known regarding the impact of biofluorescence on other organisms that thrive in coral-reef habitats, particularly those with advanced visual systems that could readily exploit fluorescent coloration and contrast. Investigating the evolution of biofluorescence across marine fishes is particularly appealing because they are visual animals, many of which possess yellow intraocular (lenses or cornea) filters , which function as long-pass filters and could enable enhanced perception of biofluorescence in the ocean. Worldwide, there are more than 8,000 species of fishes that inhabit coral reefs. Many reef fish species are known for their striking color patterns, whereas many others are cryptically patterned and appear well camouflaged. However, nearly nothing is known regarding the evolution or function of fluorescence in fishes. Only recently has a fluorescent protein, a novel fatty-acid-binding protein, been isolated from a vertebrate, a Japanese eel . Here we report, for the first time, that biofluorescence is widespread throughout the tree of life for fishes, and it appears particularly common and phenotypically variable in marine lineages, especially cryptically patterned, well camouflaged coral-reef lineages. Our findings identify a widespread and previously unrecognized evolutionary phenomenon that provides new insights into the evolution of marine fishes and the function of light and visual systems in a marine environment, as well as providing a framework for the discovery of additional novel fluorescent proteins. Research, collecting and export permits were obtained from the government of the Bahamas, from the Ministry of Fisheries and Ministry of Environment, Honiara, Solomon Islands, and from the Department of Environment, Cayman Islands Government. This study was carried out in strict accordance with the recommendations in the Guidelines for the Use of Fishes in Research of the American Fisheries Society and the American Museum of Natural History's Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Fishes were collected via SCUBA, using both standard open circuit systems and closed circuit rebreathers, via the application of rotenone and quinaldine to a targeted variety of shallow to deep (mesophotic) habitats in each sampling location where collecting was permitted. Taxonomic field surveys of biofluorescence in marine fishes were conducted during the following expeditions: Little Cayman Island, January 2011, working out of the Central Caribbean Marine Institute; the Exumas, Bahamas, May 2011 and December 2011, at the Perry Institute for Marine Science on Lee Stocking Island; and a taxonomically comprehensive survey conducted at numerous localities in the Solomon Islands (June–July, 2012 and September 2013). In addition, we have supplemented these field studies with specimens available in the aquarium trade and by imaging specimens at aquariums after hours (e.g., Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, Mystic, CT; Birch Aquarium, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA). All collected specimens were placed on ice to preserve coloration and digitally imaged upon return to shore using Nikon D300s, D7000, or D800 DSLR cameras affixed with either a 60 or 105 mm Nikkor macro lens under white light. Fishes were subsequently scanned for fluorescence using bright LED light sources equipped with excitation filters and observed using emission filter glasses/goggles. All fluorescent fishes were then imaged (Fig. 1) using the “Fluorescent Macro Photography” protocol outlined below. A, swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum); B, ray (Urobatis jamaicensis); C, sole (Soleichthys heterorhinos); D, flathead (Cociella hutchinsi); E, lizardfish (Synodus dermatogenys); F, frogfish (Antennarius maculatus); G, false stonefish (Scorpaenopsis diabolus); H, false moray eel (Kaupichthys brachychirus); I, false moray eel (Kaupichthys nuchalis); J, pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus); K, sand stargazer (Gillellus uranidea); L, goby (Eviota sp.); M, goby (Eviota atriventris); N, surgeonfish (Acanthurus coeruleus, larval); O, threadfin bream (Scolopsis bilineata). The list and phylogenetic distribution of biofluorescence across cartilaginous and bony fishes presented in Figure 2 and Table S1 are the result of this survey work, and they also include data from that specifically examined red fluorescence in some shallow, reef-associated fishes. In addition, we have summarized other accounts of biofluorescence in fishes from the popular literature (underwater photography magazines and websites) and available on the internet. Family-level tree showing evolutionary relationships of ray-finned fishes inferred from maximum likelihood analysis of 221 species and six (one mitochondrial, five nuclear) genes. Note: Not all biofluorescent lineages are shown due to sampling limitations (see Table S1, Fig. S1). Emission spectra were collected using an Ocean Optics USB2000+ miniature spectrometer (Dunedin, FL) equipped with a hand-held fiber optic probe (Ocean Optics ZFQ-12135). Excitation spectra were achieved during illumination with a band-pass filter (450–500 nm, Omega Optical, Inc., Brattleboro, VT, or Semrock, Inc., Rochester, NY). Emission spectra were recorded by applying the fiber optic probe to specific anatomical parts of the individual fish specimen exhibiting biofluorescence. This was repeated several times for each specimen to ensure the accuracy of measurements. Fluorescent Macro Photography Individual fish specimens were placed in a narrow photographic tank and held flat against a thin plate glass front. Fluorescent macro images [7360×4912 (Nikon D800); 4928×3264 (Nikon D7000); 2180×1800 pixel (Nikon D300S)] were produced in a dark room by covering the flash (Nikon SB 600, SB 800, or SB910) with interference bandpass excitation filters (Omega Optical, Inc., Brattleboro, VT; Semrock, Inc., Rochester, NY). Longpass (LP) and bandpass (BP) emission filters (Semrock) were attached to the front of the camera lens. A variety of excitation/emission filter pairs were tested on each sample to elicit the strongest fluorescence emission: excitation 450–500 nm, emission 514 LP; excitation 500–550 nm, emission 561 LP. A majority of the DNA sequence data used in this study is from , but additional sequences were obtained from many studies –; the GenBank accession numbers for these sequences as well as our added GenBank accession numbers (KF768155-KF768177) can be found in Table S2. Mitochondrial and nuclear genes were aligned using the program MAFFT v6.0 with default parameters . The phylogenetic analysis presented herein had a total of 5,238 base pairs including: one mitochondrial gene (cytochrome oxidase I, 812 bps), and five protein-coding genes (glycosyltransferase gene, 732 bps; myosin heavy chain 6 alpha gene, 737 bps; pleiomorphic adenoma protein-like 2-like gene, 659 bps; recombination activating gene 1, 1403 bps; zic family member protein, 890 bps). For each maximum likelihood analysis, the dataset was partitioned by individual gene fragments. A model of molecular evolution was chosen by the program jMODELTEST v.2.1 with the best fitting model under the Akaike information criteria (AIC) for each individual gene partition assigned, including: cytochrome oxidase I (GTR+I+Γ), glycosyltransferase (GTR+ Γ), myosin heavy chain 6 alpha (GTR+I+Γ), pleiomorphic adenoma protein-like 2-like gene (GTR+I+Γ), recombination activating gene 1 (SYM+I+Γ), and zic family member protein (GTR+I+Γ). Maximum likelihood analyses were performed in GARLI v2.0 . Ten separate analyses were conducted, and the tree having the best likelihood score is presented here (Fig. S1, Fig. 2) to evaluate evolutionary relationships. The results presented in this study are based upon ichthyofaunal surveys conducted during multiple expeditions to the Caribbean and tropical Western Pacific (2011–2013), analysis of living aquarium collections, and previous observations of biofluorescence from the literature. Biofluorescence is phylogenetically widespread and phenotypically variable in both cartilaginous (Chondrichthyes: sharks and rays) and bony (ray-finned: e.g, eels, lizardfishes, gobies, flatfishes) fishes (Figs. 1, 2, Table S1). We find biofluorescence to be most common and morphologically variable in cryptically pigmented and patterned marine lineages, including true eels (Anguilliformes), lizardfishes (Aulopiformes), scorpionfishes (Scorpaenoidei), blennies (Blennioidei), gobies (Gobioidei), and flatfishes (Pleuronectiformes) (Figs. 1, 2), groups that generally appear well camouflaged in the reef environment. With our initial surveys, we have already identified 16 orders, 50 families, 105 genera, and more than 180 species of biofluorescent fishes, and we have reconstructed our current understanding of the phylogenetic distribution of biofluorescence for ray-finned fishes (Fig. 2, Table S1). We show that besides red fluorescence previously reported in shallow reef-associated fishes (e.g., , ), marine fishes also commonly exhibit green fluorescence, or combinations of green and red or orange fluorescence in unique, species-specific patterns (Figs. 1, 3). Biofluorescent patterning in fishes ranges from simple red, orange or green eye rings to striking, complex, species-specific patterns of interspersed fluorescent elements, frequently comprising multiple colors, on the head, jaws, fins, flank, and ventrum—and even bright fluorescence of the entire body (e.g., chlopsid eels; Fig. 1). Considerable interspecific variation in fluorescent emission patterns are recorded for members of the lizardfish genus Synodus (Fig. 3) and the goby genus Eviota (Fig. 1L, M), even among closely related species that appear nearly identical under white light (Fig. 3A, B). Top panel: Interspecific variation in fluorescent emission pattern (from top: lateral, ventral, and dorsal views) in two congeneric and sympatric members of the lizardfish genus Synodus. A, S. synodus. B, S. saurus. Bottom panel: Interspecific variation in coloration and pigmentation pattern under white light (top: lateral; bottom: dorsal) in same two congeneric and sympatric members of the lizardfish genus Synodus. A, S. synodus. B, S. saurus. We find biofluorescence to be widespread across cartilaginous and bony fishes, and we show that this evolutionary phenomenon is most common and phenotypically variable in cryptically colored and patterned marine fishes, such as eels, lizardfishes, blennies, scorpionfishes, gobies, and flatfishes (Figs. 1, 2). The repeated evolution of biofluorescence combined with phenotypically variable coloration (green, orange, red) and patterns in fishes may suggest a previously unrecognized role in communication, including mating behavior as has been observed in parrots . Fluorescence may be exploited in fishes to produce visual contrast and patterns in otherwise cryptically patterned or camouflaged species that blend in well on the reef in shallow sunlit waters. A few instances of green biofluorescence have also been reported in deepwater (500–600 m) catsharks (Scyliorhinidae), lizardfishes (Aulopiformes: Chlorophthalmidae), and an unidentified ceriantharian (Cnidaria) –. The presence of biofluorescence in these deepwater taxa that spend their lives primarily in the dark, beyond the reach of the high-energy blue light necessary for excitation of fluorescence, is curious from a functional perspective. Biofluorescence in these taxa potentially represents the ancestral condition in lineages whose shallower water relatives also exhibit biofluorescence (Figs. 1, 2). Some bioluminescent (production and emission of light through a chemical reaction) deep-sea organisms have previously been shown to exhibit biofluorescence through a coupling of both bioluminescent and biofluorescent systems. A heavily studied example is the crystal jellyfish (Aequorea victoria) in which the bioluminescent system (aequorin) produces blue light that directly excites green fluorescent protein (GFP) to emit green light , likely via a Förster energy transfer process . In another example, the deep-sea loose-jaw dragonfish (Malacosteus) emits red light through biofluorescence via the absorption of blue bioluminescent light produced by the fish, which is reemitted by a chlorophyll-like compound as red light and is hypothesized to aid in predation . In addition, some deep-sea siphonophores also utilize bioluminescent light to excite red biofluorescence . Shallow water bony fishes generally exhibit good color vision –, a result of living in a visually complex environment; in contrast, fishes occurring in deeper water exhibit limited color vision due to a simpler (blue-shifted) visual environment. Recent evidence indicates that sharks and rays also exhibit color vision –. Many of the fishes we find to exhibit biofluorescence (Figs. 1, 2), such as sharks, lizardfishes, scorpionfishes, labrids (wrasses), and flatfishes, also possess yellow intraocular filters . Yellow intraocular filters in the lenses and corneas of certain fishes function as long-pass filters, thus enabling the species that possess them to visualize and potentially exploit fluorescence to enhance visual contrast and patterns that are unseen to other fishes and predators that lack this visual specialization. It has been hypothesized that some polarization sensitive cephalopods communicate via “private” polarized light signals that allow them to simultaneously remain camouflaged to predators and exploit a “hidden” communication mechanism between conspecifics . Cephalopods possess a rhabdomeric visual system that enables detection of linearly polarized light and they are able to produce polarized skin patterns using iridophores , whereas many of their predators (marine mammals and some fishes) are not sensitive to the polarization of light . Likewise, fishes that possess the necessary yellow intraocular filters for visualizing biofluorescence could be exploiting a similar “hidden” light signal for a similar functional role. We found that biofluorescent patterning was especially prominent in cryptically patterned fishes, and that many of these lineages also possess yellow long-pass intraocular filters that could enable visualization of such patterns (Figs. 1, 2). In recent years, biofluorescence has also been found in patchy occurrences in some copepods and mantis shrimp (phylum Arthropoda) , amphioxus (phylum Chordata) , and a species of comb jelly (phylum Ctenophora) . Biofluorescence has been shown to enhance signaling in the mantis shrimp, Lysiosquillina glabriuscula, a species identified to have a complex system of color visualization . Additionally, there have been reports of fluorescence signaling in butterflies , parrots , spiders , and flowers , as well as in a deep-sea siphonophore . The phylogeny presented in Figure 1 indicates that biofluorescence is phylogenetically widespread and phenotypically variable across ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) in terms of the diversity of patterns observed (Figs. 1, 3), emission spectra (Fig. 4), and intensity. We observed distinct variation among lineages and pronounced interspecific variation in emission patterns in closely related taxa that otherwise look nearly identical under white light. For example, closely related lizardfish species within the genus Synodus exhibit fluorescence patterns that are notably more distinct than their pigmentation patterns appear under daylight/white light (Fig. 3). Considerable interspecific fluorescent pattern variation is also observed across species in the goby genus Eviota (Fig. 1L, M) and for chlopsid eels (Anguilliformes: Chlopsidae; Fig. 1H, I). Our observations indicate that flatfishes exhibit distinctly different fluorescent patterns on their sighted and blind surfaces (fluorescence on the sighted side being primarily red (Fig. 1B), whereas the blind side generally fluoresces green), which is intriguing given that flatfishes are well known to flash their blind sides to each other during mating rituals. Individuals of some other species were found to exhibit both alternating red and green fluorescent patterns (e.g., Fig. 1K), whereas in other lineages, only the larval forms were observed to fluoresce (e.g., Fig. 1N, acanthurids). Such observations in combination with pronounced interspecific variability in fluorescence emission pattern in otherwise similarly patterned taxa suggest that intraspecific communication is a function of biofluorescence in marine fishes, as has been shown in other organisms with complex visual systems (e.g., ). In addition, certain marine fishes (e.g., , ) spawn synchronously surrounding the full moon. Moonlight illumination in shallow ocean waters could potentially provide the appropriate excitation energy for green and red biofluorescence in fishes, and as a result, species-specific biofluorescent patterning may provide an added layer of species recognition during the spawning phase, when fishes are particularly vulnerable to predation. Key to species sampled: Ray (family Urotrygonidae, genus Urobatis); Eel (family Chlopsidae, genus Kaupichthys); Scorpionfish (family Scorpaenidae, genus Scorpeana); Goby (family Gobiidae, genus Eviota). In addition, we present evidence that some fish lineages might be utilizing fluorescence as a means of camouflage in specific marine environments (Fig. 5; Videos S1, S2). Red and far-red biofluorescence is a ubiquitous feature of photosynthetic organisms due to the properties of chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigment complexes. The photosynthetic apparatus associated with chlorophyll fluoresces red and provides a background of biofluorescence in areas of algal growth. Apart from photosynthetic organisms, red biofluorescence also occurs due to fluorescent proteins . In two species of red biofluorescent scorpionfishes that we imaged, individuals were observed residing on top of a patch of red fluorescing algae (Fig. 5A). We also recorded a bream (Scolopsis) with green fluorescent patterns on its nape swimming within a green fluorescing Acropora coral outcrop (Fig. 5B). It would appear that under fluorescent conditions, these species are particularly well camouflaged in the specific environments in which they were imaged. (A) A red fluorescing scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis papuensis, perched on red fluorescing algae. (B) A green fluorescing nemipterid (bream), Scolopsis bilineata, near a green fluorescing Acropora sp. coralhead. In summary, the widespread nature of biofluorescence in both cartilaginous and bony, ray-finned marine fishes, coupled with the presence of yellow intraocular filters in many biofluorescent lineages that would permit the visualization of fluorescent emissions, is intriguing. Biofluorescence is most prominent and phenotypically variable in cryptically patterned, well-camouflaged lineages (Figs. 1, 2) that otherwise blend in with their surroundings. Coupled with observations of notably distinct fluorescent emission patterns among closely related species (including sister species) that otherwise strongly resemble each other under white light/daylight (Figs. 2, 3), suggests a intraspecific communication/species recognition function. Conversely, we observed species that appear to blend in with their surroundings under fluorescent lighting conditions (Fig. 5), and that could theoretically exploit biofluorescence as a means of camouflage to either avoid being detected by potential prey or to elude predators. Based on these data, the possibility exists that marine fishes are using biofluorescence for a variety of functions, including communication (species recognition, mating), predator avoidance, and potentially even prey attraction/predation. The broad phylogenetic distribution of biofluorescence across bony fishes is consistent with its repeated independent evolution, and its importance in the diversification of marine fishes remains to be explored. As Johnsen justly notes, the field of biofluorescence is wide open for study and there have been far too few studies to date, most of which have focused on cnidarians. With the recent discovery of a novel fluorescent protein from a vertebrate , we expect that biofluorescence in marine fishes will be the subjects of many future studies, from the level of proteins to whole organisms in their environment. Maximum likelihood topology of the evolutionary relationships of ray-finned fishes inferred from the analysis of 221 species (representing more than 145 families), with six gene fragments (one mitochondrial, five nuclear). Biofluorescent fishes known to date. Taxa are listed alphabetically by Order (column 1), Family (column 2), and Species (column 3). Columns 4 (red) and 5 (green) contain filled circles corresponding to the observed color of fluoresced light. Column 6 gives AMNH catalog numbers. Taxa indicated with an * are not included in the phylogenetic reconstruction (Fig. 2). Supplementary video to accompany Fig. 5A showing a red fluorescing scorpionfish, Scorpaenopsis papuensis, perched on red fluorescing algae in its natural habitat. Video captured with a Red Epic video camera at night in the Solomon Islands. We are grateful to Ray and Barbara Dalio and the Dalio Family Foundation, Fabio Amador and Dominique Rissolo of the National Geographic Society/Waitt Program, Zipolo Habu Resort and Dive Gizo, Solomon Islands, Perry Institute for Marine Science, Lee Stocking Island, and Central Caribbean Marine Institute, Little Cayman Island, for providing facilities, boats, submersibles, and logistical support. 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Kennecott proposes to dispose of treated wastewater as part of a nickel and copper sulfide mining operation within the Yellow Dog Plains of northwestern Marquette County. EPA notified the company that any underground disposal system at the mining site must comply with the requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act's federal Underground Injection Control (UIC) program before construction and operation. The Safe Drinking Water Act is intended to protect underground sources of drinking water. The UIC permitting process for the underground disposal system is EPA's only direct regulatory role in the Eagle mine project. EPA is conducting a technical evaluation of the permit application and supporting documents and expects to issue a draft decision before the end of the year. EPA will accept public comments and hold a public hearing when the draft decision is announced. A copy of the permit application and more information about the Eagle mine project and the underground injection control program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/region5/water/uic/kennecott/index.htm. U.S. Fish and Wildlife requests EPA delay on Kennecott mine The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has requested the EPA to determine whether habitat for the endangered Kirtland warbler and threatened Canada lynx occurs in areas that could directly or indirectly be affected by Kennecott's Eagle Project. According to the USFWS, "Kirtland's warblers utilize young, dense stands of jack pine that are interspersed with treeless openings," and requested the EPA to conduct a survey of male Kirtland's warblers, in late Spring, 2009, if potential habitat is located in the area.Although key indicators suggest the area as suitable habitat for both species and were acknowledged in Kennecott's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the company did not consider the project as potentially affecting Kirtland warbler or Canadian lynx habitat. According to the DEQ, Kennecott conducted only 7 months of the legally-required 2-year flora and fauna study. . . Read more on SaveTheWildUP. Editor's Note: This information is courtesy SaveTheWildUP.
We may soon see the end of animal testing on cosmetics and drugs. In a recent study, an international team led by Kings College London and the San Francisco Veteran Medical Center has successfully developed the first lab-grown outermost skin layer: the epidermis. Researchers hope this new lab-grown epidermis will be used as a more cost-efficient alternative to testing our favorite makeups and topical treatments. The discovery could also go as far as helping to develop new therapies for both rare and common skin disorders. The team of researchers was able to grow an epidermis in a laboratory with the same permeability as real skin, using human stem cells called pluripotent stem cells, according to the press release. The human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are able to produce an unlimited amount of pure keratinocytes. These are the cells found in most abundance on the outermost layer of the skin. The pure keratinocytes are then used to create a laboratory grown skin. The skin was grown in both high and low humidity environment to ensure that the permeability was up to par and able to both protect the body from losing moisture and prevent the entry of chemicals, toxins, and microbes. “We can use this model to study how the skin barrier develops normally, how the barrier is impaired in different diseases and how we can stimulate its repair and recovery,” Dr. Theordora Mauro, leader of the SFVAMC team, explained in the press release. The endless supply of genetically identical laboratory-grown skin samples can be used in replace of animals, which are not only less reliable but also the source of a great deal of controversy. The skin can be grown to mimic a variety of different skin types and sensitivities, which may provide an everlasting source for commercial testing. The use of animal testing for cosmetics received a lot of attention last year when Jacqueline Tride, a 24-year-old performance artist, spent 10 hours in a London shop window being "tortured" in methods similar to those used in animal testing. This was part of an animal rights campaign by the UK-based cosmetics company Lush and Humane Society International. “I hope it will plant the seed of a new awareness in people to really start thinking about what they go out and buy and what goes into producing it,”Traide told the Daily Mail. Source: Petrova A, Celli A, Jacquet L, et al. 3D In Vitro Model of an Functional Epidermal Permeability Barrier from Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Stem Cell Reports. 2014.
A "shaky" solar eclipse in space was captured by one of NASA's sun-gazing spacecraft. The agency's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) caught the eclipse on camera on Sunday (Oct. 30). SDO's footage of the partial solar eclipse shows the sun appearing to have tremors, but the shivering wasn't due to worries about Halloween. "Instead, the shaking results from slight adjustments in SDO's guidance system, which normally relies upon viewing the entire sun to center the images between exposures," NASA officials wrote in a statement. The moon passed across the sun’s face for about an hour, between 3:56 p.m. and 4:56 p.m. EDT (1956 to 2056 GMT), during Sunday's eclipse, which was visible from SDO's vantage point in Earth orbit but not from the ground. At peak coverage, the moon obscured about 59 percent of the sun. "The moon's shadow obstructs SDO's otherwise constant view of the sun, and the shadow's edge is sharp and distinct, since the moon has no atmosphere which would distort sunlight," NASA officials said in the same statement. SDO's images were taken in extreme ultraviolet light, which is invisible to human eyes. In these images, the sun is colored red. While SDO happened to be in the right spot for Sunday's eclipse, the primary goal of the spacecraft's $800 million mission involves helping scientists learn more about the sun's variable activity. SDO's data could lead to better "space weather" predictions for Earth, NASA officials have said. When the sun is extremely active, huge eruptions of solar plasma known as coronal mass ejections can slam into Earth's atmosphere, spawning geomagnetic storms that can disrupt power grids, satellite navigation and other infrastructure humans depend on. These storms can also ramp up the northern and southern lights. SDO launched in February 2010.
Astronomers have detected the magnetic field of a galaxy located a whopping 5 billion light-years from Earth. "This finding is exciting," Sui Ann Mao, an astronomer from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, said in a statement. "It is now the record holder of the most distant galaxy for which we have this magnetic-field information." Mao led the team that made the find. The researchers used the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, a radio telescope network in New Mexico, to detect and characterize the magnetic field of the distant galaxy. [Top 10 Strangest Things in Space] They found that the field is similar in strength and configuration to that of the Milky Way, even though the scrutinized galaxy is 5 billion years younger than our own. "This means that magnetism is generated very early in a galaxy's life by natural processes, and thus that almost every heavenly body is magnetic," study co-author Bryan Gaensler, a professor at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, said in the same statement. "The implication is that we need to understand magnetism to understand the universe." Measuring the magnetic fields of other galaxies that are at different distances from Earth and are different ages can help astronomers better understand how cosmic magnetism evolves, study team members said. Since a faraway magnetic field can't be detected directly, astronomers rely on observations of the magnetic fingerprint left on light passing through the field. This imprint is also known as Faraday rotation. The astronomers discovered a quasar — an incredibly bright galactic core powered by a supermassive black hole — located beyond the galaxy being studied, along the same line of sight. As the bright light from the quasar passes through the galaxy's magnetic field, it picks up the Faraday rotation fingerprint, providing astronomers with the information they need to learn more about the field's strength and direction, the researchers said. "Nobody knows where cosmic magnetism comes from or how it was generated," Gaensler said in the statement. "But now, we have obtained a major clue needed for solving this mystery, by extracting the fossil record of magnetism in a galaxy billions of years before the present day.” Their findings were published today (Aug. 28) in the journal Nature Astronomy.
What Is Myelopathy and How Does it Occur? Myelopathy describes any neurologic symptoms related to the spinal cord and is a serious condition as it can cause permanent spinal cord injury. This occurs from pressure on the spinal cord from spinal stenosis, a disc herniation, and [PS1] bone spurs. Myelopathy is a very serious condition that if untreated can lead to significant and permanent nerve damage including paralysis and death. Symptoms may affect one’s gait and balance, fine motor skills including dexterity, grip strength, and bowel and bladder function. It can impinge nerve roots and cause radiculopathy to create pain, weakness, or sensory changes in either arms or legs. Positional sense of both arms and legs may be affected making it difficult to use arm and hands and to know where you are placing your feet as you walk. - You may notice your handwriting change. - You may walk differently and have difficulty balancing, frequently stumbling or falling. - You may drop items and have difficulty performing fine motor tasks such as buttoning your clothes, clasping your jewelry or even typing. - It can alter your bowel or bladder function; you may lose a sense of needing to urinate or be unable to hold your bladder and have incontinence. Any of these symptoms are important to recognize and require urgent medical evaluation. Surgery is warranted in cases of myelopathy. Multiple surgical procedures exist to treat stenosis and depend on your specific pathology. All share the surgical goal of relieving pressure on the spinal cord. If you suspect you or a family member suffers from this condition, please contact Virginia Spine Institute for an initial consultation. This is a cervical MRI. The white arrow points to stenosis in the neck. The white color in the spinal cord (normally dark grey) signifies myelomalacia, or bruising of the spinal cord.
16 Mar The New Space Race There’s a new space race and we all need to be paying attention to it. In recent years, we’ve seen private space exploration become a popular topic. With companies like SpaceX trying to successfully explore space as private citizens, it was only a matter of time before a new space race started. This one isn’t like previous space races. It’s competitive, sponsored by companies, and has a huge reward for the winner. Google Lunar XPRIZE and the Rise of the Modern Space Race XPRIZE is a competition based company that is on a mission to find innovative ways to solve the world’s biggest challenges. XPRIZE believes that everyone has the power to be creative, entrepreneurial, and inventive. It’s when we come together as a global community and put those skills together that we can creatively and innovatively solve the most pressing problems we face. One of the most recent XPRIZE competitions is the Google Lunar XPRIZE. It’s the modern day space race with 5 teams competing to be the first private group to land a spacecraft on the moon, create a robot that travels 500 meters on the moon’s surface, and transmit HD video and images back to Earth. The Google Lunar XPRIZE Competitors There are five teams competing in the space race. The teams are from Israel, the US, India, Japan, and an international team. They are all competing for the prize money. Comprised of engineers, entrepreneurs, and innovators, these teams are up against some fierce competition and some fierce space conditions. In order to succeed at landing on the moon, the teams will have to overcome huge issues. The Issues Teams Are Facing In Space The first challenge is actually getting their robot on the moon. Teams must actually build a spacecraft that has the ability to travel through space and successfully land a robot on the moon. Once there, the robot has to travel 500 meters and needs to transmit HD video and images back down to Earth. As if those were’t big enough challenges to overcome, the teams and their robots will be facing moon dust. While it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, moon dust is comparable to tiny shards of glass. The moon dust will stick in seals, jam equipment, and obstruct access to solar power. In addition to the dust, teams will also be up against cosmic rays which can cause equipment to shut down, send the robots off course, and negatively impact the quality of images and videos. Exploring Space Like an XPRIZE Team Want to explore space with your classroom like an XPRIZE team? Now you can! With help from StratoStar, you and your entire classroom can send a high-altitude weather balloon to the edge of space. You’ll design an experiment to send up with the balloon, track the balloon’s progress, and analyze the experiment when it lands back on the ground. Get started today! Contact StratoStar
Pregnancy does not increase risk of Hodgkin lymphoma recurrence Pregnancy does not increase the risk of relapse among women successfully treated for Hodgkin lymphoma. This according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology. Hodgkin lymphoma is a cancer that originates in the lymphocytes (white blood cells). It affects 160 people in Sweden every year. Unlike other types of lymphoma, a high proportion of patients develop Hodgkin lymphoma in their 20s and 30s. Many women wish to become pregnant following treatment. Prognosis is very good; a previous study from the same research group at Karolinska Institutet estimated that 5-year relative survival for women diagnosed up to age 50 in Sweden was close to 95 percent. The present study included 449 women between the ages of 18 and 40 diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma between 1992 and 2009. The study investigated whether women who had responded successfully to treatment and subsequently became pregnant ran a higher risk of relapse than women who did not become pregnant. The study was conducted to alleviate concerns expressed by patients and some doctors and midwives, since the topic had not previously been rigorously examined. “We know that a suppressed immune system or certain inflammatory conditions increase the risk of developing Hodgkin lymphoma,” says researcher Caroline Weibull, biostatistician and doctoral student at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, “and since pregnancy affects the immune system, we wanted to see if there was a statistical correlation between pregnancy and risk of relapse.” Within five years of giving birth Among the 449 women in the study, 144 women gave birth during the follow-up period. In total, 47 women had a relapse but only one woman experienced a relapse within five years of giving birth. The results of this study therefore provide no evidence that pregnancy increases the risk of relapse in women who have been successfully treated for Hodgkin lymphoma. “The risk of relapse is at its highest during the first two or three years of diagnosis,” says Dr Ingrid Glimelius, oncologist at Akademiska Hospital in Uppsala and a researcher affiliated to both Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Medicine (Solna) and the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University. “At the same time, treatment of the primary disease and a possible relapse can cause premature menopause and, at worst, infertility. Survivors of Hodgkin lymphoma need to consider a range of factors when deciding about future reproduction. However, given the results of this study, the risk of pregnancy-associated relapse does not need to be considered. The study was financed with grants from the Swedish Cancer Society, Karolinska Institutet’s strategic research area in epidemiology (SfoEpi), the Swedish Society of Medicine and the Swedish Society for Medical Research. Pregnancy and the risk of relapse in patients diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma Weibull CE, Eloranta S, Ekström-Smedby K, Björkholm M, Kristinsson SY, Johansson ALV, Dickman P, Glimelius I Journal of Clinical Oncology, online 14 December 2015, doi:10.1200/JCO.2015.63.3446
Shaped by disaster It took over 15,000 men to build the ship. The ship Titanic was 882½ feet (269m) long, 92½ feet (28m) wide, weighed over 53,000 tons (53,800t) and had 11 decks. The Titanic cost $7.5 million to build, well over $123 million today. The Titanic’s top speed was 24 knots (which she never reached) which is equivalent to 28 miles per hour (45kph). She was considered unsinkable. The Titanic was originally to have 64 lifeboats on board but they were reduced to 20. Titanic set sail carrying some 2,200 people -- millionaires, immigrants, 13 honeymoon couples and an eight-man band that played to the bitter end -- and lifeboats for just over half of them. In the end 712 were rescued; the rest drowned or froze in the water. "It was the biggest ship in history, filled with celebrities of that time," Anna Turja memoirs She was 18 years old when she boarded the Titanic in Southampton, England, as a steerage (third class) passenger on her way to America. To her the ship was a floating city. The main deck, with all its shops and attractions, was indeed bigger than the main street in her home town. The atmosphere in third class was quite lively: a lot of talking, singing, and fellowship. She had two roommates on board who were also young Finnish women. One was married, traveling with two small children; the other traveling with her brother. But in steerage, the men were kept in the front part of the ship, the women in the rear. Late that Sunday night, she felt a shudder and a shake. Shortly thereafter, her roommate’s brother knocked on the door and told them that “something was wrong,” that they should wear warm clothing and put on their life jackets. Their little group started heading for the upper decks. A crew member tried to keep them down – ordered them back – but they refused to obey, and he didn’t argue with them. She clearly remembers, however, that the doors were closed and chained shut behind them to prevent others from coming up. The others of the group continued up to a higher deck, “where it will be safer,” they said, but out of pure curiosity and chance she remained on what turned out to be the boat deck. She thought it was too cold to go up further, and she was intrigued by the activity and by the music being played by the band. she didn’t fully understand what was going on because she did not know the language. Eventually a sailor physically threw her into a lifeboat. In the Lifeboat Her lifeboat was fully loaded when it was launched; it was not one of the ones that got caught up in the cables. They immediately rowed away from the ship, fearing that they would get sucked down with it when it went under. The sailors were so well trained, she was sure that they would have capsized had it not been for the expertise of the oarsmen. She heard loud explosions as the lights went out. Her lifeboat was so full that as she held her hand on the edge of the boat her fingers got wet up to the knuckles. For the first five or ten minutes in the water they had to beat people off who were trying to get into the boat. They were in the lifeboats for eight hours. Though the night was a “brilliant, bright night,” they had to burn any scraps of paper they could find -- money or anything else that wouldn’t cause a flash fire -- so that the boats could see each other and stay together. Her most haunting memory was that of the screams and cries of dying people in the water. Every time she would get to this part of the story she would start crying. “They were in the water, and we couldn’t help them.” The people were wonderful. They gave up their blankets and coats, anything that could help. She kept looking for her roommates, but she never saw either of them again. As the Titanic slipped beneath the North Atlantic, London-born Lucy, Lady Duff Gordon, a dress designer with chic shops in London and New York City, turned to her secretary aboard lifeboat No. 1 and said, "There is your beautiful nightdress gone." Lucy's ill-timed comment, uttered over the screams of 1,500 victims stranded in the water, J. BRUCE ISMAY, who sketched the first plans for Titanic on a dinner-party napkin, told Captain Smith to rev up the engines to arrive in New York early for publicity's sake --. The chairman of the steam line, then 49, escaped in one of the last lifeboats, leaving behind a shipload of passengers, his butler, his secretary and his reputation. "There were no more passengers on the deck," he insisted later. "Unsinkable" -- Molly Brown. Loaded into lifeboat No. 6 (capacity:65) with 24 women and two men, Brown, in a black-velvet, two-piece suit, argued fiercely with Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who refused to return to the wreck site for fear survivors in the water would swamp the boat. To fight the bitter cold, Brown taught the other women to row and shared her sable coat. And when Hichens dismissed a flare fired by an approaching ship as a "shooting star," Brown threatened to throw him overboard (although not, as in the 1964 movie musical bearing her name, while waving a pistol). Once in command, she ordered the women to row to safety. Ida Straus refused at least two opportunities to escape the sinking Titanic, choosing instead to die with her husband of 41 years, Isidor, a well-known philanthropist who owned Macy's department store. News that the couple had shared their fate came as no surprise to their six children and many friends. "When they were apart, they wrote to each other every day," says Joan Adler, director of the Straus Historical Society. "She called him `my darling papa.' He called her `my darling momma.' " For years they had even celebrated their different birthdays on the same day. As the Titanic went down, Ida, 63, resisted the pleas of officers to climb into a lifeboat, insisting instead that her maid take her place and handing the young woman her fur coat. ("I won't need this anymore," she said). She was finally cajoled into boarding the second-to-last lifeboat, only to clamber out again as Isidor, 67, stepped away. Last seen clasped in an embrace, Ida and Isidor are memorialized in a Bronx cemetery with a monument inscribed, "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it." A shipload of people – suddenly their lives were interrupted. Both those who died and those who lived were shaped in those moments. Existing character was revealed. For those who lived, their lives would forever be changed in one manner or another. The Lord is at work in each person’s life molding them for ministry. Everything that occurs in life is used by the Lord to transform a person into the image of Christ and to equip a person for ministry to others. This sovereign working of God is part of how he is ‘graced’ for ministry. The gigantic/titanic changes most often occur in the midst of great disaster.Disappointments, disasters, and defeats are significant moments that the Lord uses to transform and equip. As an example, God used even David’s disappointments, struggles, sins and defeats to make him into one who had one of most profound ministries of any OT character. Shaped by the disaster of his life, He led the nation of Israel as her greatest king. He continues to minister to us as the author of most of the Psalms. The lessons he learned continue to teach us today. Many of those lessons were learned in the midst of pain and disappointment. Some of those disasters were of his own making (consequences of sin). Some disasters of which he was innocent. But God used both types of disaster to shape David, grow his trust in the Lord, and impact countless lives. He does this in our lives as well. I. Shaped in disastrous circumstances A. Undeserved trouble (NKJV) Psalm 18 1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David The Servant of the Lord, Who Spoke to the Lord The Words of This Song on the Day that the Lord Delivered Him from the Hand of All His Enemies and from the Hand of Saul. 1. Unfair situation 2. Did what was right 3. Received intense trouble in return – pursued / attempts to kill / forced to flee into isolation / and lived there B. Unimaginable pain (NKJV) Psalm 18 4 The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress C. Forced to trust God (NKJV) Psalm 18 1 And He Said: I will love You, O Lord, my strength. 2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. … 6 … I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; D. Experienced the incomparable God 1. He worked //// For me!! (NKJV) Psalm 18 6 … He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the Lord was my support. 19 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. 20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. E. Made Him known to others (NKJV) Psalm 18 46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. … 49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name. 50 Great deliverance He gives to His king, And shows mercy to His anointed, To David and his descendants forevermore. F. Fresh expectation for life (NKJV) Psalm 18 27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks. 28 For You will light my lamp; The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. 29 For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall. 30 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. 31 For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? II. Shaped in personal failure A. Learned sin devastates 1. Great sin psalms – from this major cause (NKJV) Psalm 51 1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David When Nathan the Prophet Went to Him, After He Had Gone in to Bathsheba. (NKJV) Psalm 38 2 For Your arrows pierce me deeply, And Your hand presses me down. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5 My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. 6 I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. (NKJV) Psalm 38 7 For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart. 9 Lord, all my desire is before You; And my sighing is not hidden from You. 10 My heart pants, my strength fails me; As for the light of my eyes, it also has gone from me. B. Learned sin can be forgiven (NKJV) Psalm 51 1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— C. Learned God desires the heart (NKJV) Psalm 51 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. D. Learned restored lives can help others (NKJV) Psalm 51 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. 16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—
Soccer Drill Demonstration Make two teams of 6. The coach is the pitcher. He stands in a 5 x 5 yard area 10 yards from the wickets (5 cones in a row). Position one cone 10 yards from the wicket. The pitcher passes the ball from the mound in the direction of the wickets (line of discs). The batter must kick the ball and then run around the base, back to the wickets. He must be ready to face the next pitch which is delivered as soon as the pitcher receives the ball, passed back from the outfield. The batter continues to bat until he is bowled out (the pitcher knocks down the wicket) or caught by an outfielder. Continue until all batters on the team are out. Keep the ball low by keeping your head and knee over the ball on contact. Strike the ball with the laces.
Contact lens can monitor glucose Published 17/01/2014 \| 03:42 Google has unveiled a contact lens which could end the ordeal of millions of diabetics who jab their fingers up to 10 times a day to test their blood sugar. The prototype, that monitors glucose levels in tears, is one of several medical devices being designed by companies to make glucose testing for diabetics more convenient and less invasive than the traditional finger pricks. Google says it will take at least five years to reach consumers. The lenses use a minuscule glucose sensor and a wireless transmitter to help those who are among the world's 382 million diabetics who need insulin keep a close watch on their blood sugar and adjust their dose. The contact lenses were developed during the past 18 months in the clandestine Google X lab that also came up with a driverless car, Google's web-surfing glasses and Project Loon, a network of large balloons designed to beam the Internet to unwired places. But research on the contact lenses began several years earlier at the University of Washington, where scientists worked under National Science Foundation funding. Until yesterday their work had been kept under wraps. "You can take it to a certain level in an academic setting, but at Google we were given the latitude to invest in this project," said one of the lead researchers, Brian Otis. "The beautiful thing is we're leveraging all of the innovation in the semiconductor industry that was aimed at making cellphones smaller and more powerful." American Diabetes Association board chairman Dwight Holing said he was pleased that creative scientists were searching for solutions for people with diabetes but warned that the device must provide accurate and timely information. "People with diabetes base very important health care decisions on the data we get from our monitors," he said. The device looked like a typical contact lens when Mr Otis held one on his index finger. On closer examination, sandwiched in the lens are two twinkling glitter-specks loaded with tens of thousands of miniaturised transistors. It is ringed with a hair-thin antenna. "It doesn't look like much, but it was a crazy amount of work to get everything so very small," Mr Otis said at Google's Silicon Valley headquarters. It took years of soldering hair-thin wires to miniaturise electronics, essentially building tiny chips from scratch, to make what Mr Otis said is the smallest wireless glucose sensor made. Other non-needle glucose monitoring systems are also in the works, including a similar contact lens by Netherlands-based NovioSense, a minuscule, flexible spring that is tucked under an eyelid. Israel-based OrSense has already tested a thumb cuff, and there have been early designs for tattoos and saliva sensors. A wristwatch monitor was approved by the FDA in 2001, but patients said the low level electric currents pulling fluid from their skin was painful, and it was buggy. "There are a lot of people who have big promises," said Dr Christopher Wilson, chief executive of NovioSense. "It's just a question of who gets to market with something that really works first." Palo Alto Medical Foundation endocrinologist Dr Larry Levin said it was remarkable and important that a tech firm like Google was getting into the medical field and he would like to be able to offer his patients a pain-free alternative from either pricking their fingers or living with a thick needle embedded in their stomach for constant monitoring. "Google, they're innovative, they are up on new technologies, and also we have to be honest here, the driving force is money," he said. Worldwide, the glucose monitoring devices market is expected to be more than 16 billion dollars (£9.8bn) by the end of this year, according to analysts at Renub Research. The Google team built the wireless chips in clean rooms and used advanced engineering to get integrated circuits and a glucose sensor into such a small space. Researchers also had to build in a system to pull energy from incoming radio frequency waves to power the device enough to collect and transmit one glucose reading per second. The embedded electronics in the lens do not obscure vision because they lie outside the eye's pupil and iris. Google is now looking for partners with experience bringing similar products to market. It declined to say how many people worked on the project, or how much the firm has invested in it. An early, outsourced clinical research study with real patients was encouraging, but there are many potential pitfalls yet to come, said University of North Carolina diabetes researcher Dr John Buse, who was briefed by Google on the lens last week. "This has the potential to be a real game changer," he said, "but the devil is in the details." Among those is figuring out how to correlate glucose levels in tears as compared with blood. And what happens on windy days, while chopping onions or during very sad movies? As with any medical device, it would need to be tested and proved accurate, safe, and at least as good as other types of glucose sensors available now to win US government approval. About 35 miles from Google in the beach town of Santa Cruz, high school football coach and university senior Michael Vahradian, 21, who has been pricking himself up to 10 times a day for the past 17 years, said: "I remember at first it was really hard to make the needle sticks a habit because it hurt so much. "And there are still times I don't want to do it; it hurts and it's inconvenient. When I'm hanging out with friends, heading down to the beach to body surf or going to lunch, I have to hold everyone up to take my blood sugar." Karen Tank, who left her career as an economist to be a health and wellness coach after her Type 1 diabetes diagnosis 18 years ago, is also encouraged that new glucose monitoring methods may be on the horizon. "It's really exciting that some of the big tech companies are getting into this market," she said. "They bring so much ingenuity; they're able to look outside the box." Press AssociationFollow @Independent_ie
You are viewing the article What’s the difference between AAA (3A) and AA (2A) batteries? Which one is good to use? at Lassho.edu.vn you can quickly access the necessary information in the table of contents of the article below. Many electronic devices today use batteries to operate with two common types of AA batteries and AAA batteries. So what are these batteries, which devices are suitable for and what is the difference between 2A and 3A batteries, see this article to better understand! AA batteries (2A) The AA battery (2A battery) is a standard sized single cylindrical dry cell battery with a length of 49.2 – 50.5mm (1.94 -1.99 in), including a button at the top of the battery, and a diameter of 13.5 – 14.5mm. (0.53 – 0.57 inches). AA batteries include a single charge battery that can be a primary (disposable) battery or a rechargeable battery multiple times. The exact terminal voltage and capacity of an AA size battery depends on the chemistry of the battery. Currently, this type of battery is often used for portable electronic devices or specialized devices such as wall clocks, computer mice, cameras, remote controls, children’s toys, .. Some AA battery brands of reputable brands you can refer to include: Philips, Panasonic, Sony,… 4 AA alkaline batteries Philips LR6P4B belongs to the type of 2A battery commonly used for watches, radios, battery-powered keyboards, … AAA battery (3A) AAA battery (3A battery) is a standard size, dry cell battery commonly used in portable electronic devices. In particular, AAA batteries will be smaller than AA batteries with a length of 44.5mm (about 1.75 inches) and a diameter of 10.5mm (about 0.41 inches). AAA batteries are good for products that require a lot of power and are used for a number of electronic devices including: remote controls, MP3 players, digital cameras, hearing aids,… Some AAA battery brands belong to long-standing, prominent manufacturers that you can refer to when choosing to buy such as: Panasonic, Philips, Energizer, … Panasonic R03NT-2B Manganese 2 AAA batteries are 3A batteries commonly used for remotes, digital cameras,… Compare AA and AAA batteries \|Battery type\|\|AA batteries\|\|AAA battery\| Popular battery capacity levels: 700mAH , 900mAH , 2300mAH ,… The battery capacity is larger than AAA batteries. Popular battery capacities: +/- 175 mAh , +/- 900 mAh , +/- 2300 mAh ,… Battery capacity is smaller than AA batteries. Length from 49.2 – 50.5mm (1.94 -1.99 inches). Diameter 13.5 – 14.5mm (0.53 – 0.57 inch). Length 44.5mm (about 1.75 inches). Diameter 10.5mm (about 0.41 inch). \|Equipment used\|\|Used for electronic devices that consume a lot of energy such as: wall clocks, control devices, computer mice, cameras, …\|\|Used for electronic products, or small devices with low energy consumption such as: remote controls, MP3 players, digital cameras, hearing aids,…\| \|Price\|\|Price from 10,000 – 45,000/2 tablets (price updated on 11/02/2023, may change from time to time).\|\|Price from 10,000 – 45,000/2 tablets (price updated on 11/02/2023, may change from time to time).\| What kind of battery should I buy? Use AA batteries when You should choose to buy AA batteries when you: - Need to be used for common everyday devices such as: TV remote, air conditioner control, wall clock, … - You want to use a battery with a high capacity, long life at a cheaper price. 2A battery with large capacity, durable use time Use AAA batteries when You should prioritize buying AAA batteries when you: - Needed for small devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, hearing aids,… - You want to use a battery with a small charge, suitable for some special equipment, that requires little power. 3A battery is recommended when you need to install it for small, low-power equipment This article helps you understand a few more facts about AA and AAA batteries, as well as the differences between them. Hope this information will help everyone in the process of using electronic devices every day! Thank you for reading this post What’s the difference between AAA (3A) and AA (2A) batteries? Which one is good to use? at Lassho.edu.vn You can comment, see more related articles below and hope to help you with interesting information.
Project Management Ethical Issues Melwin Fernandes 200083225 Ethics and Other Management Issues (CIS 485) Duncan Jeffries Project Management Issues What is Project Management? Project management is the discipline of planning, organizing, and managing resources to bring about the successful completion of specific project goals and objectives. It is often closely related to program management (Wikipedia). A project is a temporary endeavour, undertaken to meet particular goals and objectives, having a defined beginning and end, usually to bring about beneficial change or added value. The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast to, which are repetitive, permanent or semi-permanent functional work to produce products or services. In practice, the management of these two systems is often found to be quite different, and as such requires the development of distinct technical skills and the adoption of separate management. The primary challenge of project management is to achieve all of the project goals and objectives while honouring the preconceived project constraints. Typical constraints are scope, time, and budget. The secondary challenge is to optimize the allocation and integration of inputs necessary to meet pre-defined objectives. Project Management Approach There are a number of approaches to managing project activities: 1. The Traditional Approach: A traditional phased approach identifies a sequence of steps to be completed. 2. Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM): It is a method of planning and managing projects that puts more emphasis on the resources (physical and human) needed in order to execute project tasks. . Extreme Programming: It is used in combination with the process modeling and management principles of human interaction management. 4. Event chain methodology: It is another method that complements critical path method and critical chain project management methodologies. 5. PRINCE2: It is a structured approach to project management 6. Agile Project Management: It is based on the principles of human interaction management are founded on a process view of human collaboration. Project Management Development Stage Project development includes a number of elements: five stages and a control system. Regardless of the methodology used, the project development process will have the same major stages. Major stages generally include: ? Initiation ? Planning or development ? Production or execution ? Monitoring and controlling ? Closing The Use and Misuse of Security Technology The misuse of security Technology is one of the main issues in project management. There are a large number of people over the world with very little or no knowledge of security technology which is why certain projects fail. It is a subject which is under discussed but in today’s world with relatively low cost, trusted, security technology is readily available and easy to use. It has become a culture among people who are not sufficiently educated with the tools of security technology as it is easy to use and has somewhat become a fashionable trend. Some consider technology to be bad for the society. People have to understand that this is only because of its misuse. Technology does not threaten the society, instead it is humans who are the users who use technology to threaten society. So technology itself is not at fault. In the field of information, technology has increased the speed, quantity and communication with co-workers and clients. Advancements in technology have also contributed to work being completed at home which imbalances their work and life. Lost revenue and productivity has become a reason for an increased need and demand for surveillance techniques to monitor employees. Employers have resorted to creating separate computer security departments or divisions to deal with both the internal and external threats. All companies weather large or small have the pressure to maintain access to critical information in order to run the business and remain competitive. A corporation with hundreds of offices and thousands of employees would have the same pressure of holding critical information as any other small enterprise. A comprehensive data protection solution is going to involve a lot of consideration and contingencies. There are many things can go wrong with your data and you need to be able to respond to them. There are many companies that have opted to purchase solutions from different vendors to fully address these challenges but can be an extremely expensive approach in terms of acquisition, integration and ongoing management costs. There have also been companies who decided the cost is too high and taken their chances, which is an approach that has often resulted in disaster. In the business world today, the loss of important data can cause significant damage and lead to the demise of your business. The same complex and expensive solutions as the major players in your industry can be cost-prohibitive and unnecessary. Software and People in Project Management The most comprehensive software solution for assessing security of web application, network systems, end point systems and email users is CORE IMPACT Pro. It allows you to take security testing to the next level by safely replicating a broad range of threats to your organization’s sensitive data and critical infrastructure. You gain extensive visibility into the ause, effect and prevention of data breaches, enabling you to drive effective risk mitigation enterprise-wise. Impact enables you to safely assess an organization’s security posture against the attack methods that jeopardize data today. Exploitation of network defenses in operating systems and services, client applications that run on desktop systems, attacks on employees, contractors and other end users via social engineering, manipulation of web applications to access backend data via cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection and remote file inclusion techniques only. It allows you to utilize penetration testing to assess your information security in such an integrated, comprehensive, in-depth andseamless fashion. CORE IMPACT Pro gives confidence in your security infrastructure by enabling you to validate network vulnerability, end-user threat response and web application exposure on a regular basis. You not only identify but also distinguish critical network vulnerabilities from false positives, identify where your organization is at risk from social engineering threats such as spam, validate security exposure in web applications. With all this you can intelligently plan, prioritize and execute policy adjustments, ensuring cost-effective use of security and development resources while improving overall security posture. Next-generation data protection, or NGDP, is a term that describes a large number of disk-based backup and recovery technologies, including disk-to-disk (D2D), virtual tape library (VTL), snapshots, continuous data protection (CDP), remote office backup consolidation (ROBC), bare machine recovery (BMR), disaster recovery (DR), wide area file services (WAFS) and others. The Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack It integrates to provide organizations with a complete data protection, archive, and retention and recovery solution. It also extends disk-based, block-level incremental data capture to a repository in another location, sending changed blocks of data over a WAN or Internet connection. Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack was designed to be bandwidth efficient to help minimize the impact on other applications that rely on WAN and Internet links. It can be set individually for each location to meet specific needs of the business while avoiding unnecessary costs in bandwidth and storage.. The features also include data differencing (sending only the changes from the previous job run), compression, bundling of small files to help reduce TCP/IP overhead, bandwidth throttling and multi-threading. There have been a wide variety of industries who have taken Tivoli Storage Manager FastBack to improve backup and recovery performance across a diverse set of support tasks. It helps organizations: Reduce server backup times from hours or days to a few minutes. • Reduce server volume restoration times from hours or days to a few minutes. • Increase backup frequencies from once per week to multiple times per day, without disrupting operations. • Enable rapid recovery of granular Exchange objects that are typically too difficult to recover. With next-generation data protection and recovery solution set at mid-market prices, these solutions can help companies reduce operational risk and costs, increase productivity and resiliency, and improve levels of service. It delivers a common foundation for managing both business and technology requirements and is designed to quickly address most pressing service management needs to changing business demands. The Tivoli portfolio is backed by world-class IBM Services, IBM Support and an active ecosystem of IBM Business Partners. Project Management Software It is a key tool in your effort to consistently finish projects on time and within budget. It allows you to do the critical steps Project Managers must do efficiently. There are a number of benefits that Project Management Software can provide such as spotting problems before it’s too late to fix them, optimizing the use of resources so you can finish early, updating the plan each week so you know where you are and updating everyone’s schedule when things change. These are the basic tools that every Project manager should have. Ideally Project Management Software provides managers with time-saving scheduling and analysis tools as well as archive data for use on future projects. Unfortunately Project Management trainings do not include practical skills in using Project Management Software nor the value that comes from archiving data on every project. Tasks like scheduling skills to optimize the use of resources to finish as early as possible and project software to identify problems early are best done with Project Management Software which otherwise can waste a considerable amount of time if done manually. With the appropriate Project Management Software, tracking actual performance in terms of hours of work and completion dates builds a database for estimating on the next project. Practically, there are far too many Project Managers who do not have the training or the tools to optimize their schedule or make efficient use of their resources resulting in projects that are guided by guesses. Project Management Software does not make the managers more effective, it just makes them more efficient. Project Management Software does not teach you how to define scope, communicate to the Project sponsor but just lets you accomplish these tasks more efficiently. There are three general classes of software available: Statistical Software: To blend in one direction with relational database software such as Oracle or Sybase. • Mathematical Software: MATLAB in the other direction exhibits not only statistical capabilities flowing from code for matrix manipulation, but also optimization and symbolic manipulation useful for statistical purposes. • Visualization Software: Overlaps to some extent with software intended for exploratory data analysis. The user interfaces common range from command line to graphical user interfaces (GUI) to hybrid drag and drop system interfaces. The Statistical Analysis System is available on PC and UNIX based platforms, as well as on mainframe computers. This modern database technique with queries is very easy to use and also accomplished easily. System for Statistical Analysis among the products are for management of large data bases, time series and most classical statistical problems including multivariate analysis, linear models (as well as generalized linear models), and clustering; data visualization and plotting. Users with a need to write an applications program using a matrix language, the product SAS/IML provides the ability to program using matrices as objects. SAS is to a large extent an industry standard statistical software package. The demand for students with SAS skills is greater than with skills other than statistical packages. Other statistical of the same general vintage as SAS are MINITAB, BMDP and SPSS. All of these systems began as mainframe systems, but have evolved to smaller scale systems as computing have evolved. MINITAB Inc was formed more than 20 years ago around its flagship product, MINITAB statistical software. MINITAB Statistical Software provides tools to analyze data across a variety of disciplines, and is targeted for users at every level i. e. Scientists, business and industrial users, faculty, and students. It has broadened the scope of its products to include quality control, designed experiments, chemo metrics and an array of general statistics from the original software that helped faculty to teach basic statistics. MINITAB is available on the most widely-used computer platforms, including Windows, DOS, Macintosh, OpenVMS, and UNIX. BMDP features a comprehensive library of over forty statistical routines and has set the standard for high-end statistical analysis software. It has its roots as a bio-medical analysis package from the late 1960’s and each statistical routine has been thoroughly time-tested based on the most advanced algorithms available. Current versions come in several flavors including the BMDP New System Personal Edition. The Professional Edition combines the full suite of BMDP Classic for PCs Release 7 statistics with the powerful data management and front-end data exploration features of the BMDP New System Personal Edition. SPSS Software products run on most models of all major computers and statistical analysis can now be done on the desktop. It is a multinational software company that provides statistical product and service solution for survey research, marketing and sales analysis, quality scientific research, government reporting and education. e SPSS products are a modular system and includes SPSS Professional Statistics, SPSS Advanced Statistics, SPSS Tables, SPSS Trends, SPSS Categories, SPSS CHAID, SPSS LISREL 7, SPSS Developer’s Kit, Exact Tests, Teleform, and MapInfo. S-PLUS is a supported extension of the statistical analysis language. It was originally developed at AT;T Bell labs manufactured and supported by the Statistical Sciences Corporation, now a division of Mathsoft. Some of the code has been contributed by prominent individuals from the academic and industrial communities. MATLAB is an interactive computing environment used for scientific and statistical data analysis and visualization. The basic data object in MATLAB is the matrix with functions for basic data analysis and graphics which are text files that the user can read and adapt for other uses, giving the ability to create their own M-files functions and script files, thus making MATLAB a programming language. The most useful capability is the tool available for visualizing data. It also provides Handle Graphic and there is a considerable amount of contributed MATLAB code available on the internet. The above descriptions of statistical software cover the most well-established commercially available software packages and among them the most extensively used mathematical packages is MATLAB. MINITAB is used in the educational community for introductory courses. BMDP and SPSS find users among communities in which they originated respectively the biomedical and social sciences community. Mainstream applied statisticians tend to use SAS more extensively whereas on the other hand S-plus seems to be a package that is highly regarded among the more research oriented particularly those interested in computational statistics. JAVA is a programming language which represents an extension of the World Wide Web capabilities. Basic documents on the web are constructed using HTML, in the sense that once the server delivers the HTML text to the browser, the server has done its job and the static text is interpreted and displayed by the client’s browser. It is a fully distributed, object oriented programming language which allows for creation of a fully interactive web-based system. The data and tools can be sent to the clients’ browser and allows attributes and methods to be linked together. In particular, JAVA allows applets, small applications or subroutines, to be created and transmitted across the web just as static HTML documents are now transmitted. JAVA is intended to be a secure system although security problems do exist with present implementation. However, access to local data is restricted and the JAVA is a secure environment. JAVA has been declared as is related to statistical data analysis software of the future because it is a practical implementation of a new paradigm in distributed computing. It allows not only the distribution of text and multimedia but also of computing applications and data. It is a response to the enormous popularity of the World Wide Web and under this framework, new statistical, data analytic and other methodologies could be made available and tried out by practitioners in other research fields on their own data and their own computer. Considering the possibility of extending the web in a natural way to acquire data in the same way we acquire human-consumable information, new mechanisms must be sought to provide for the distribution of that data. Best Practices in Project Planning Project managers deal with sponsors who are organizational levels above them and sign their paychecks so Project Managers can’t really argue about the best way to do the project. Having data to quantify the impact of changes and model alternative ways of solving problems gives them much more credibility to give their executives a solid data on which to make their Project decisions rather than having due dates and budgets plucked out of the air. The ethical issue and its consequences, its resolution and its effect on Management In project management, timing is everything. Justifying, Planning, Activating, Controlling and Ending it the right way is the key to a successful Project. It is a disciplined process and a full circle project management that holds every development project together. The project plan, schedule, budget, resources, risk, scope, motivating the players and launching all project activities with communication play a very essential role in project management. It must be constructed in a way that reaches a busy, important audience with the right amount of the right information, a strategic marketing entity in a tight package that must be backed up with well-researched facts and figures that speak directly to the needs, goals, and problem-solving missions of the business. Present them with the business case report and explain it via a well-crafted, well-rehearsed presentation, accompanied by the sponsors. Starting off with a strong solid foundation of research and a creative solution to a business need do the utmost to obtain approval and present justification for the project. Plan Project produces the detailed project plan, project schedule, project organization, and resources. The approved project plan includes understanding the potential risks and the actions that are necessary to manage them. The goal of every project is to drive it to a successful and appropriate conclusion. Controlling a project is imposed not to create a bureaucratic layer, but to ensure that the project proceeds to its planned and scheduled ending. The activity of the project rests with the Project Manager. He controls, monitors, makes decisions ensuring that the project proceeds as planned taking corrective actions when necessary. End Project tasks archive the project materials and release the project resources for use on other projects. Conclusion Project management and project planning processes can contribute to an organization’s survival and success, while the absence of project management and project planning processes can lead to an organization’s demise. This helps in developing the concept for the project, which in turn is used to secure approvals to proceed to the execution phase of a project. Collectively these five steps form the life-cycle phases of project management, and all steps require adequate attention to ensure that a project is adequately managed. Costs, time-frames, quality targets, and other relevant factors are very essential while considering the planning process. Project management ensures that organizations are able to achieve strategic initiatives that extend beyond normal operations through a recognized process, thus aiding organizations in fulfilling strategic objectives such as new product development, process re-engineering, organizational change or financial growth. In conclusion, project management is needed within organizations to support temporary endeavors that create unique products or services.
Diabetic Diet (cont.) In this Article Comment on this Vegetables give you vitamins, minerals, and fiber. They are low in carbohydrates. Examples of vegetables include: How much is a serving of vegetables? If you have more than one serving at a meal, you can choose a few different types of vegetables or have two or three servings of one vegetable. Print out this chart. Then fill in the blanks with how many servings of vegetables to have at meals and snacks. What are healthy ways to eat vegetables? Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 6/12/2014 Viewers share their comments Diabetic Diet - Experience Question: Please describe your experience with a diabetic diet. Diabetic Diet - Medicines Question: As a patient with diabetes, how do you manage your diet and taking medications? Diabetic Diet - Exercise Question: Describe your exercise regime, how you work it into your schedule, and when you eat. Diabetic Diet - Fruit and Vegetables Question: Incorporating fruits and vegetables into a diabetic diet is important. How do you make it work? Diabetic Diet - Meat and Protein Question: Describe how you add meat and other proteins into your diet to manage diabetes.
grid computing, the concurrent application of the processing and data storage resources of many computers in a network to a single problem. It also can be used for load balancing as well as high availability by employing multiple computers—typically personal computers and workstations—that are remote from one another, multiple data storage devices, and redundant network connections. Grid computing requires the use of parallel processing software that can divide a program among as many as several thousand computers and restructure the results into a single solution of the problem. Primarily for security reasons, grid computing is typically restricted to multiple computers within the same enterprise, but a number of scientific projects—including SETI, CERN's Large Hadron Collider, and the study of protein folding—have utilized computers volunteered by individuals and connected to the Internet. Grid computing evolved from the parallel processing systems of the 1970s, the large-scale cluster computing systems of the 1980s, and the distributed processing systems of the 1990s, and is often referred to by these names. Grid computing can make a more cost-effective use of computer resources, harnessing computer microprocessors when they otherwise would be unused, and can be applied to solve problems that require large amounts of computing power. See A. S. Tanenbaum and M. van Steen, Distributed Systems (2001); F. Berman, G. Fox, and A. J. G. Hey, Grid Computing (2003); A. Abbas, Grid Computing (2003). The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. See more Encyclopedia articles on: Computers and Computing
Within a degree course dissertations are heavily weighted and thus vitally important to your final result. Handing in a mediocre attempt can be the difference between a 2:1 and a 2:2 or a 2:1 and a First. As your dissertation is usually the only independently set question, your grade isn’t simply based on covering the basic points or how you present your work. What topic or question you choose and what your work adds to the subject area is also critically important. No lecturer is expecting you to come up with completely new theological theories, but they will expect your literature to add to what is already out there. To help you to prepare for your religious studies dissertation, this article makes suggestions of topics on which to base your dissertation. Modules in world religion cover all aspects of traditions from around the world. Studies can be on belief systems as niche as the Samurai or as mainstream as Catholicism. The focus is on fully exploring and gaining new insight into the highly diverse nature of faith. Ideas of how to specify an area on which to research for a religious studies dissertation are suggested by the following titles: Religious history is the study of belief systems throughout time. The subject pays particular attention to which religions were dominant and which religions have had a historical impact on cultures throughout time. It will often involve close examination of all literature and culture from a specific era in search of religious references. Although the institution that you study in may have bias or emphasis to a particular faith, studies in this area are not restricted to mainstream religions such as Christianity or Islam. Religious history is a key component to how the human race has evolved through time. A religious studies dissertation in this area will create many areas of research for you. Some are suggested below. As the heading suggests, this topic focuses on how religions operate in the contemporary world. This might be questioning whether a faith is applicable to modern day dilemmas, or how a faith is portrayed by the media. This is a particularly important study for those wanting to continue their study in theology to post graduate levels, as academics are increasingly questioning the relevance of religion to modern day life and making this a focus of religious discussion. For topics suggestions for your religious studies dissertation, see below. Religious ethics or religion and ethics is concerned with understanding the morality of religion, how it applies to every day life and key moments throughout history. If you are looking to base your religious studies dissertation in this area, the following topic suggestions may help you. Philosophy of religion is concerned with logical arguments for and against the existence of a superior being and for and against the potency of religious faith. The objective is to question all aspects of religion to ascertain whether religion can be philosophically justified as a possibility. The following are just some of the topics you could discuss for your religious studies dissertation. Religious mythology is concerned with the myths and religious stories that accompany the various religious factions across the world. You will often be asked to offer interpretation and fresh insights into what such literature means to believers. This topic focuses on the role architecture plays in the realm of religion and within religious communities. To effectively study this topic you need to look beyond the physical aesthetics of a building and attempt to understand what buildings symbolise for those following a religious faith. With many religious buildings around the world, a religious studies dissertation in this area will provide you with many research possibilities. Worship and ritual is concerned with the physical and spiritual rites people of religious faith use to honour their principles and their deity. Within this subject you may study life changing ceremonies such as weddings and funerals or simple methods of connecting with a deity such as meditation or chanting. Factors still prominent in modern society, a religious studies dissertation on one of the following topics could be very intriguing. Religion and politics examine the relationship between these two discourses and their impact upon one another. For further topic suggestions for your religious studies dissertation, see the examples below. Copyright © Insta Research Ltd. All rights reserved. All forms of copying, distribution or reproduction are strictly prohibited and will be prosecuted to the Full Extent of Law.
Sign To Learn Redleaf Press • In Stock • 60554 Everyone is talking about signing with infants. Sign to Learn is the first complete introduction to appropriate sign language curriculum for young hearing preschoolers. In this unique resource, teachers will learn how to integrate American Sign Language (ASL) into their classrooms to enhance academic, social, and emotional development, as well as to introduce children respectfully to deaf culture. Appendixes include a thorough ASL illustration index, sample letters to families, and a resource list for further reading. 208 pages.
Surah Takwir Ayat 4 in Arabic Text Here you can read various translations of verse 4 And when full-term she-camels are neglected When the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended; when the ten-months pregnant camels shall be abandoned, And when the pregnant she-camels shall be neglected; And when the camels big with young are abandoned, And when the (she-camels) ten-months with young are untended, when pregnant camels are abandoned, Quran 81 Verse 4 Explanation For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Takwir ayat 4, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir. (81:4) when the ten-months pregnant camels shall be abandoned, 4. This was by far the best way of giving an idea of the severities and horrors of Resurrection to the Arabs. Before the buses and trucks of the present day there was nothing more precious for the Arabs than the she-camel just about to give birth to her young. In this state she was most sedulously looked after and cared for, so that she is not lost, stolen, or harmed in any way. The people’s becoming heedless of such she-camels, in fact, meant that at that time they would be so stunned as to become unmindful of their most precious possessions. The tafsir of Surah Takwir verse 4 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here. Please refer to Surah Takwir ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 14. Quick navigation links
The three main treatment options for bone fractures are: - Open reduction, and internal fixation- this involves a surgery to repair the fracture-frequently, metal rods, screws or plates are used to repair the bone, and remain in place, under the skin, after the surgery. This procedure is recommended for complicated fractures not able to be realigned (reduced) by casting, or in cases in which the long-term use of a cast is undesirable. - Open reduction, and external fixation- this involves a surgery to repair the fracture, and placement of a external fixation device on the limb with the fracture. This device is an external frame which supports the bone and hold it in the correct position while it is healing. This technique is generally applied to complex fractures that cannot be repaired using open reduction, and internal fixation. Update Date 5/9/2015 Updated by: C. Benjamin Ma, MD, Professor, Chief, Sports Medicine and Shoulder Service, UCSF Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, San Francisco, CA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
Open Educational Resources Report: Most Educators Aware of OER, Don't Understand OER Licensing A new report examines who the decision-makers are in curriculum adoptions and finds that a sizable percentage of schools have chosen open educational resources in the last three years. Most school districts, 77 percent, have made at least one full-course curriculum adoption decision in the last three years, according to a new report from the Babson Survey Research Group. Teachers are most likely to have a role in those decisions, according to the results, with 93 percent of respondents saying they are decision makers and another 6 percent saying they have a role in offering advice. District-level administrators, by contrast, came in second, with 75 percent of respondents naming them decision makers and 19 percent saying they have a role in offering advice regarding full-course curriculum decisions. Principals rounded out the top three, named decision makers by 73 percent of respondents and advisers by 18 percent. The survey of more than 500 district decision makers was designed to shed light on how districts make full-course curriculum adoption decisions and to what degree respondents are aware of open educational resources (OER) and have adopted them. "The stated level of awareness of the terms and concepts of OER among K-12 district decision makers is very high," according to the report. "However, that awareness does not extend to knowledge of open licensing. Nearly three-quarters of respondents say that they are aware of OER, but if we count only those who are also be aware of Creative Commons licensing, this drops to only one-third." Other key findings of the report include: - Two-thirds of all districts represented in the survey indicated they are of at least one full-course OER curriculum; - 37 percent of respondents said they have considered adopting one or more OER curriculum; - 16 percent of respondents have actually adopted an OER curriculum; - Larger districts, defined as those with more than 2,500 students, were most likely to have engaged in full-course curriculum decisions, at a rate of 84 percent; - Mathematics was the most common subject of such decisions, at 59 percent, followed by English language arts at 44 percent, science at 29 percent and history and social studies at 19 percent; - Selecting new material to meet changing standards was cited as the most common reason for change, at 69 percent; - The top three factors cited as "very important" or "critical" in an adoption decision were comprehensive content, the ability to work with existing technology and cost; - In districts with high rates of poverty, cost was twice as likely, at 52 percent, to be cited as a critical consideration as in districts with low rates of poverty, which cited cost only 26 percent of the time; - Most districts making full-course curriculum decisions are replacing materials that are 6-10 years old; and - 22 percent of districts with high child poverty rates reported having adopted OER curricula, while only 10 percent of districts with low child poverty rates said the same. "Districts often have only a vague understanding of the specifics of the term 'open educational resources' and of specifics of licensing, but they are well aware of open full-course curriculum products, even if they remain somewhat fuzzy on what makes them 'open,'" said Jeff Seaman, co-director of the Babson Survey Research Group, in a prepared statement. To access the full report, visit onlinelearningsurvey.com. Joshua Bolkan is contributing editor for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org.
By Cynthia Saver, MS, RN The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the burden of nurses’ daily work in many areas, including forcing them into situations where they feel moral distress. Failure to manage this distress appropriately can affect nurses’ wellbeing and cause them to leave the profession. But applying strategies to help prevent moral destress or resolving moral distress in a positive way can benefit both nurses and organizations by promoting optimal patient care and reducing staff turnover and the risk of litigation from clinical errors. What is moral distress? According to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) tool “Recognize & Address Moral Distress”, moral distress occurs when someone “knows the right thing to do, but constraints, conflicts, dilemmas, or uncertainty make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action.” Moral distress differs from burnout, which refers to physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion caused by workplace stress, and it differs from compassion fatigue, which is physical, mental, and emotional weariness related to caring for those in significant pain or emotional distress. Causes of moral distress Various situations, usually related to values conflicts, trigger moral distress. Examples of these situations include continuing what the nurse feels is unnecessary treatment for a patient or witnessing inadequate pain relief because a provider fails to order adequate medication. Many external factors can constrain or stop nurses from acting in the way they wish, thus contributing to moral distress. According to the AACN tool, unit-level factors include inadequate staffing, ineffective communication, working with incompetent colleague(s), bullying, and lack of a healthy work environment. Organization factors include inadequate staffing, lack of resources, pressures to decrease costs, hospital policies, hierarchy of power, ineffective communication, and financial limitations. If not addressed, these factors can lead to the disturbing effects of moral distress. Effects of moral distress Moral distress affects both individuals and organizations. In individuals, it can produce symptoms that are emotional (frustration, anger, anxiety, guilt, sadness powerlessness, withdrawal), physical (muscle aches, headaches, heart palpitations, neck pain, diarrhea, vomiting), and psychological (depression, emotional exhaustion, loss of self-worth, nightmares, reduced job satisfaction, depersonalization of patients) in nature. Repeated episodes of moral distress that aren’t resolved can accumulate as “moral residue,” with nurses ultimately experiencing burnout and leaving their jobs—or even their careers. Job attrition causes organizations to incur turnover costs. More importantly, unresolved moral distress can negatively impact the quality of patient care, potentially leading to adverse patient events. This not only affects an organization’s reputation in the community, but it could result in greater liability exposure from errors. What should you do if you are experiencing moral distress? Identify the source. The source may be a patient care issue, a policy problem (such as how family member meetings related to end-of-life issues are held), a lack of collaboration among team members, or something else. Conduct a self-assessment. Self-assessment begins with determining the severity of the distress. The Moral Distress Thermometer, developed by Wocial and Weaver, is used for research, but also can be helpful for clinicians. The thermometer asks you to rate your distress on a scale from 1 to 10 and includes descriptions (mild, uncomfortable, distressing, intense, and worst possible) to help with the process. The results will give you a sense of how urgently you need to act, and you can use the tool to track changes in your distress over time. The second component of self-assessment is determining your readiness to act. The “4A’s to Rise Above Moral Distress,” published by AACN, suggests asking yourself these questions: - How important is it to you to try to change the situation? - How important would it be to your colleagues/unit to have the situation changed? - How important would a change be to the patients/families on your unit? - How strongly do you feel about trying to change the situation? - How confident are you in your ability to make changes occur? - How determined are you to work toward making this change? The AACN publication contains a rating scale, but you also can simply reflect on whether you feel you are ready to act. Listing the risks and benefits of taking action may be helpful in making your decision. Keep in mind that in some cases the law will compel you to take action. For example, your state likely has laws requiring you to report child or elder abuse. Failure to do so leaves you open to legal liability. You’ll also need to consider if the standard of care is being violated. In these cases, failure to speak up can make you the target of a state licensing board complaint, or a target in any a lawsuit related to patient harm that occurs as a result. Develop a plan. Once you decide to take action, consider when you will act, who will be involved, and what resources are available to you. For example, you may want to gather facts and share your concerns with a trusted colleague to ensure you have a sound plan. Your plan should include self-care, as this will be a stressful time. Resources to help you in assessing the situation and developing a plan include the ANA Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements, your state board of nursing (when a practice issue is involved), the ethics consulting service in your hospital, and your organization’s employee assistance program. Make the case. Share your concerns with the appropriate person(s). Present the facts in a calm, respectful way. Consider timing and location—unless the situation is urgent, you’ll want to bring up the issue privately. Following the chain of command is important, particularly if your concerns aren’t being acknowledged. For example, if a physician isn’t listening to your concerns about lack of sufficient pain medication, you’ll want to involve your immediate supervisor. If your supervisor does not take action, move up to the next level. In the case of non-clinical issues related to an individual team member, you may need to speak to a human resources representative. Document. Document your conversations, including whom you spoke with, the information conveyed, and the response. If related to a patient situation, record the information in the patient’s health record. If you are dealing with a problem with a team member or organizational policy, you should keep a personal record, so you can trace the steps you took. Nurses, units, and organizations play a role in preventing moral distress and addressing it effectively should it occur. Nurses can enhance their moral resilience (see Moral distress strategy: The 4 Rs) and participate in professional development activities such as continuing education programs on ethics. The AACN tool identifies strategies for units and organizations. Units can identify ethics champions for peer support, create a committee to address common areas that cause distress, and establish a mentoring program for new staff. Organizations can provide resources to support staff (for example, an ethics consulting service), provide education on topics such as debriefing, adopt zero-tolerance policies for all forms of violence, and offer programs that improve staff well-being. Ultimately, the goal should be to create a healthy work environment. AACN has identified six standards for a healthy work environment: skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision-making, meaningful recognition, appropriate staffing, and authentic leadership. A healthy work environment improves nurses’ psychological health, job satisfaction, and job retention; it also results in reduced patient errors and patient mortality. Ideally, nurses and leaders should work together to establish a health work environment that supports nurses in many ways, including providing adequate staffing and a mechanism for dealing with ethical dilemmas, so moral distress is reduced. Nurses and leaders should also partner to ensure that those experiencing moral distress have the resources needed to address the situation. AACN. Recognize and address moral distress. 2020. www.aacn.org/clinical-resources/moral-distress. American Association of Critical-Care Nurses Ethics Work Group. The 4 A’s to Rise Above Moral Distress. Aliso Viejo, CA: American Association of Critical-Care Nurses; 2004. American Nurses Association. Code of Ethics with Interpretive Statements. 2015. www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/code-of-ethics-for-nurses/coe-view-only. Hilton L. 4Rs strategy offers a fresh perspective to confront ethical challenges. Nurse.com. 2020. www.nurse.com/blog/2020/09/15/4-rs-strategy-offers-a-fresh-perspective-to-confront-ethical-challenges. Rushton CH. Cultivating moral resilience. Am J Nurs. 2017;117(2 Suppl 1):S11-S15. Rushton CH. Moral resilience: a capacity for navigating moral distress in critical care. AACN Adv Crit Care. 2016;27(1):111-119. Rushton CH. Building moral resilience to neutralize moral distress. Am Nurse Today. 2016;11(10). Rushton CH, Turner K. Suspending our agenda: considering what will serve when confronting ethical challenges. AACN Adv Crit Care. 2020;31(1):98-105. Ulrich B, Barden C, Cassidy L, Varn-Davis N. Critical care nurse work environments 2018: findings and implications. Crit Care Nurse. 2019;39(2):67-84. University of Kentucky Moral Distress Project. 2020. http://moraldistressproject.med.uky.edu. Wocial LD, Weaver MT. Development and psychometric testing of a new tool for detecting moral distress: the Moral Distress Thermometer. J Adv Nurs. 2013;69(1):167-74. Cynthia Saver is president of CLS Development, Inc., in Columbia, Md. Disclaimer: The information offered within this article reflects general principles only and does not constitute legal advice by Nurses Service Organization (NSO) or establish appropriate or acceptable standards of professional conduct. Readers should consult with an attorney if they have specific concerns. Neither Affinity Insurance Services, Inc. nor NSO assumes any liability for how this information is applied in practice or for the accuracy of this information. This risk management information was provided by Nurses Service Organization (NSO), the nation’s largest provider of nurses’ professional liability insurance coverage for over 550,000 nurses since 1976. The individual professional liability insurance policy administered through NSO is underwritten by American Casualty Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, a CNA company. Reproduction without permission of the publisher is prohibited. For questions, send an e-mail to email@example.com or call 1-800-247-1500. www.nso.com.
Post-operative PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) By Liz Lockhart It is estimated, by a recent survey, that a quarter of medical patients with heart disease or cancer and people who have had major surgery meet the criteria for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Some studies suggest that this figure is even higher. CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE PTSD HELP - FREE FOR MILITARY AND THEIR FAMILIES Should health professionals talk to patients about this more? Or should the subject be avoided? One clinician writing on psychcentral.com says that she always suspects that she is treating someone with PTSD when they tell her about a frightening hospital experience, without going into detail. Or, she says, that they may describe some aspect of what they experienced with their illness with the bland detail someone might use to describe a trip to the shops. In other words, emotion is often absent from the discussions of trauma in people who have PTSD until someone becomes flooded by feelings and then they cannot shut them off. The criteria for PTSD as set out in the DSM IV (4th ed., American Psychiatric Association, text revision 2000) is: - A traumatic event that involves actual or threatened death, or the threat of physical integrity to self or others and the person’s response to that event was intense fear, helplessness or horror - At least one symptom of re-experiencing of the event, such as intrusive memories, nightmares, a sense of reliving the event, and/or psychological distress when reminded of the event - Three or more symptoms of avoidance, such as avoidance of thoughts, feelings or reminders of the event, inability to recall aspects of the event, withdrawal from others, emotional numbing, sense of foreshortened future – and - Two or more symptoms of increased arousal, such as insomnia, irritability, concentration difficulties, hypervigilance and exaggerated startle response. From this list of symptoms we can see that avoidance is a key symptom of PTSD. It helps sufferers to function if they avoid talking about or thinking about traumatic events. It prevents them from becoming overwhelmed by their emotions. Unfortunately avoidance carries a price. People can feel misunderstood, lonely and isolated. The avoidance of memories can take a lot of energy. Avoidance can itself create unpleasant feelings. This could be one of the reasons why people with PTSD can sometimes drink too much or self-medicate in other ways. Very often, people who have developed PTSD as a result of surgery or illness, appear not to want to talk about their feelings. Healthcare professionals need to recognise that injuries and operations can be very traumatic mentally as well as physically and treat the 'whole person'. PTSDsufferers need to feel in control of the situations and circumstances in which they talk about these traumatic experiences. Avoidance perpetuates fear and as we become more and more aware of PTSD in all it's forms (not just confined to service persons), we must surely educate health professionals on how best to spot and treat it before it becomes a life long battle. For further information or help with PTSD please see the following links
No, people didn’t always sleep on what we would call a bed, and many people today still have never slept on a bed! Perhaps half of the world sleep on piles of rugs, or on mats or cushions. The beds used by the ancient Egyptians looked very much like couches, and were used during the day to sit on. The beds of the ancient Greeks and Romans also doubled as couches. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages that beds began to look the way they do today. Some beds in the Middle Ages were completely surrounded by curtains. These curtains, including one on top of the bed that was called a tester, held in heat and made the bed much warmer. King Louis XIV of France owned 413 beds.
Since ancient times herbalists have relied upon the notion that the shape, appearance, color and habitat of a plant reveal its purpose. Simply stated, plants look like the disease or organ that it helps to balance. This principle is known as the Doctrine of Signatures, according to Traditional Western Herbalism. Learn how this time-honored wisdom is useful in helping you select the right herb for certain conditions. This eye-opening class will detail how to detect various plant signatures. We will plan to spend the whole time outside looking at plants and finding the clues they give us which reveal their medicinal uses. By learning this technique, you will be amazed at your ability to figure out possible matches.
\|\|Dr. Hyun Jung Kim The presentation addresses the challenge in improving the key scientific component metrics of Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) associated with active tuning filter components (ATFCs). The team at NASA LaRC, working with collaborators, developed an ATFC, an all-solid-state tunable filter, based on a Phase Change Material (PCM) which can operate across the visible and infrared spectrum. Optical filters are critical components in a plethora of NASA Earth and Space science missions. The challenge: The optical filter wheel, when combined with multiple Fabry-Perot filters are used for many NASA missions including SAGE-IV and SCIFLI (Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery). Conventional Fabry-Perot filters offer discrete, static passbands, thus requiring laser filter wheels to accommodate many individual filters. The filter wheel has moving parts, has slow response times and/or provides limited spectral resolution. Our solution: The ATFC is a single-component tunable filter which has the advantage of a robust and continuous tuning bandwidth, allowing for a single component to replace the multiple filters required by the filter wheel. Our major advances include: • A new design concept marrying two distinct physical phenomena: PCM and extraordinary optical transmission are independently well-known. However, by combining their specific benefits in a single novel design, unexplored capabilities have been demonstrated. • Continuously tunable, reversible, operation across the spectral band of interest: The utilization of optically switched, partially crystalline phases of PCM allows for a near continuum of states over the MWIR waveband. • Spectrally agnostic, robust design: A straightforward design modification permits operation from the visible to the MWIR spectral bands, with no major design modifications required; the design is spectrally agnostic. • High transmission efficiency and narrowband performance: Our devices have unrivalled optical performance characteristics. • Real-time thermal imaging using our filters: Using a conventional IR-camera, real-world applicability is shown through tunable multispectral thermal imaging. Future direction: The reduction in volume and weight of the ATFC will enable an instrument to fit within a SmallSat configuration, freeing up available space for other components and reducing the overall cost of the payload. Therefore, the ATFC would become a central component for future Earth science measurement instrumentation. Additionally, the ATFC is applicable to wider multi-and hyper-spectral imaging; from applications in chemical sensing, astronomy, radiometry, and biomedical diagnosis. In the presentation, customizable wavelength filters and their applications will be discussed as well as the future direction of the technology. The team: Mr. Scott Bartram, Mr. Stephen Borg, Dr. Matthew Julian, and Dr. Calum Williams comprise the team. The team acknowledges support from the NASA LaRC FY19 and FY20 CIF/IRAD Program.
Plans are moving ahead for a copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, a type of mining new to the state, but in other parts of the world similar mines are polluting rivers and lakes. The old LTV mine north of Aurora, on the eastern edge of Minnesota's Iron Range, is a bleak, windswept place, ringed by piles of waste rock. They look like flat-topped pyramids, about as high as a 20-story building. Eight years ago, the mine closed and the company went bankrupt, and now the hills are covered with grasses and young trees. LaTisha Gietzen watched as workers cleaned up the land where the old pellet plant has been torn down. Gietzen is Vice President for Public, Environmental, and Governmental Affairs at PolyMet Mining. PolyMet plans to use some of the 60-year-old buildings, and the expensive machinery in them, to coax copper, nickel and other metals far more valuable than taconite out of the rock. "It's a huge asset for the state to have," Gietzen said. "To be able to reuse this existing infrastructure is an excellent opportunity for all of us." PolyMet bought the buildings, the railroad track, and the electric substation. Six miles to the northeast, PolyMet wants to dig in a 4,300-acre tract of forested land for copper, nickel, and the precious metals platinum, palladium, gold, and cobalt. The U.S. Forest Service owns that tract of land, but PolyMet owns the minerals beneath the surface. The two are negotiating a land exchange, in which PolyMet would add comparable acreage to the Superior National Forest in exchange for the piece with high mineral value. Geologists have known for years that those metals are there, locked up in a formation called the Duluth Complex. Now, the rise of robust economies in the developing world means there's profit to be made in extracting and purifying them. Half a dozen other exploration companies have staked out claims along the geological formation. The minerals to be mined are used for everything from batteries to catalytic converters to artificial joints. But this kind of mining is different from iron or taconite mining. The valuable minerals are part of sulfide rock. When that rock is brought to the surface and exposed to air and water, the sulfur in the rock links with hydrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid. That means water that runs off the piles of waste rock can be so acidic that nothing can live in the streams or wetlands where the water flows. The acid water can also pull heavy metals such as arsenic and manganese out of the ground it flows over, further contaminating the water. The U.S. EPA calls acid rock drainage an "enormous environmental problem," and said the industry has only developed "rudimentary" techniques to control it. At the PolyMet site, LaTisha Gietzen said the mine is designed to keep a lot of the sulfur out of the environment. She said PolyMet will actually use some of the sulfur as fuel. "It's important for us to collect the sulfur, because it's tied to the metal, we use the sulfur as a fuel for the process and collect and produce the metals," Gietzen said. But there will be a lot of waste rock. PolyMet plans to process 32,000 tons of ore a day. The waste will be piled up in hills covering several hundred acres next to the mine pit. Gietzen said, even though most of the rock has very low amounts of sulfur in it, the company will put all the waste rock on synthetic liners and capture the water running off the piles, and treat the water to remove the heavy metals. "And that's only part of the treatment," she said. "You do that while you're in operation, and then you put a heavy-duty cover over it to eliminate the water coming in contact with the rock." It's hard to picture a liner that could withstand the pressure and sharp edges of tons and tons of rock. "But it's just like a landfill," Gietzen said. "You drive heavy machinery and push garbage into landfills that are similar to what we're doing with our stockpiles." Still, PolyMet predicts that some amount of acidified water will escape and enter the groundwater system that feeds wetlands and rivers for miles around, all the way to Lake Superior. The company said that water will meet state standards for drinking water. But Len Anderson, a retired biology teacher, said a drinking water standard for humans doesn't mean much to the fish. Anderson has made it his life's work to clean up the St. Louis River. His canoeing maps detail the watershed that could be affected by the PolyMet mine -- from the Partridge River and the Embarrass River, 100 miles down the St. Louis River to Lake Superior. These waters have a lot of mercury in them. Elemental mercury, the kind you played with in high school chemistry lab, doesn't cause much of a problem. But bacteria living in the water can convert that mercury to an organic form, called methyl mercury, and that's when it gets into the fish. Fish advisories warn that children and pregnant women shouldn't eat certain kinds of fish in the St. Louis River and Lake Superior. Len Anderson said the sulfate in the acidified water is just what the bacteria need to convert more mercury to the methyl mercury form. "If you give them that extra shot of sulfate, you're going to get an extra shot of methylation," Anderson said. "And that's why the higher the dose upstream, the more damage it does downstream." Sulfate is also bad for wild rice. Anderson said in his canoe trips he's seen healthy stands of wild rice upstream from the old LTV mine, and stunted growth below it. He said that would only get worse with the higher sulfate runoff from a copper-nickel mine. Minnesota has never had a copper-nickel mine, but the state does have a little experience with the kinds of problems they create. Just north of the area where PolyMet plans to mine, there's a place where LTV used to mine taconite. It's right on the edge of the same Duluth complex formation that PolyMet wants to exploit. LTV unearthed some sulfide rock and pushed it aside as waste. For decades, the Dunka mine has been leaching acidified water and toxic metals. LTV's bankruptcy has complicated efforts to clean it up. Len Anderson and other critics say that's just the kind of experience they don't want to see repeated. "Across the world this type of mining creates a legacy of acid mine drainage and heavy metal seepages," Anderson said. "This company has no experience, and the state of Minnesota has none." He said the DNR's Lands and Minerals division is used to taconite operations, which pose a far smaller threat to the environment than sulfide mining. "Lands and Minerals are gung-ho for metallic sulfide mining, but they have no experience except for Dunka, which they have screwed up royally," he said. The Dunka mine was developed in the early 1960s, before stringent rules were in place. Since then, the current owner has capped the waste rock with plastic liners, and built wetlands to treat the water running off the piles. The DNR says the wetlands do pretty well at capturing most of the contamination. The Environmental Impact Statement is being written by the Minnesota DNR and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Several cooperating agencies have commented on various drafts of the document. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has said it would like more information about financial assurance -- that's a requirement that PolyMet set aside money to cover any clean-up needed after the mine closes. The EPA also pointed out that the study only documents mitigation for about two-thirds of the damage to wetlands that would occur with the mine. Scientists for the Fond du Lac, Grand Portage, and Bois Fort bands of Ojibwe have expressed concerns about the impact of possible sulfate pollution on wild rice. They also question how long the water might need to be contained and treated after the mine closes. The DNR said details about the financial assurance requirement and mine closure won't be known until later -- when PolyMet applies for permits to begin mining. The DNR said the Environmental Impact Statement is not designed to figure out whether the mine can be done without harming the environment. Rather, it lays out the possible harms, and outlines some ways to prevent or lessen them. The draft of the environmental review of the project is expected Friday. The public will have a chance to comment on the study. The normal comment period is 45 days, but many groups have requested more time. Editor's note: Because of editing/transcription errors, the mine's processing capacity was incorrect, and a paragraph was omitted from an earlier version of this story.
Why use Fuel Additives for Marine Engines? Fuel additives for gasoline or diesel marine engines can significantly reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs and extend marine engine life. Typically there is no difference between fuel used onboard your vessel and fuels used in the automotive industry. Yet marine engines operate at much higher RPMs and loads than car or truck engines. Detergents and performance additives built into the automotive fuels are typically not effective enough to maintain a clean fuel source free of deposits and prevent premature wear on marine engines. Using the appropriate quality fuel additives will provide the performance and engine protection marine engines need. Fuel contaminants and deposits will reduce power. Sediments constrict fuel flow, clog filters, and score piston linings. This problem is aggravated at sea. Rougher seas work against the engine; the motion will slosh particles from the tank bottom into the fuel pickup. Heavy conditions are the most likely times for a dirty fuel problem to rear its ugly head. Preventative maintenance is the easiest cure. Liquid fuel additives are available which combat dirty fuel and engine wear by adding more detergents, stabilizers and water dispersants to keep you reliably powering through all conditions. Fuel treatment is easy preventative maintenance anyone can perform. From biocides to inhibit algal growth in diesel tanks to octane boosters or stabilizers for winterizing gasoline, these simple measures will go a long way to maintaining optimum performance in your engine. Fuel stabilizers are a good start since fuel typically sits longer on a boat than a car. Hard starts and engine knocks are symptoms which result from gasoline octane loss or cetane loss for diesel. These are a result of fuel oxidation and phase separation. Visible dark sludge settles with time to the fuel tank bottom. With the transition to E-10 gasoline, phase separation is accelerated. The increased ethanol attracts water and strips hardened sediment within the fuel system, sending these deposits downstream to your engine. You could compare the benefits of fuel stabilizers to vitamins for your body. Your engine survives without it, but benefits are proven over consistent long term use. Stabilizers slow the aging, i.e. oxidation, of fuel, which lead to problematic symptoms. Additives like Biobor JF eliminate growth of harmful slime-producing fungi that clog filters and pipelines, attack rubber fuel system components and whose waste products aid in the corrosion of metal surfaces. This can be used in diesel fuel and light oils such as transmission fluid. An exciting new product is Star Tron, which protects by actively fights growth with enzymes. These enzymes work for you to eat dislodged sludge and deposits. Racor offers Conditioner Plus for either diesel or gasoline. This diluted multifunctional additive cleans and protects, improving combustion and fuel economy and lowering exhaust emissions. MDR Stor-N-Start Fuel Stabilizer works well with inboard and outboard engines, as well as with any engine that sees significant storage time. These products all have stabilizing qualities. More than one additive may be used in a tank, but be sure to read the instructions for compatibility and follow recommended quantities, as too much is not always better. If you are already experiencing symptoms such as engine knocking and frequently clogged filters, fuel tank cleaning may be in order. MDR offers a product called Water Probe Indicator to detect the presence of water in your gas or diesel fuel tank. Should there be detectable amounts, products such as MDR E-ZORB Water Remover can help. StarTron again uses enzyme technology to pioneer a fuel tank cleaner. This eats sludge and sediment in older tanks. Should these fail to help, fuel polishing by looping fuel through a filtration system and back to the tank is a more costly but aggressive approach.
It’s called “Double Camera”. Really, two cameras are put in one. \|The Root of TLR camera It is said that the root of TLR camera is such a two-store-house camera as shown in the left figure. Cloud Camera (Image) This is so-called the prototype of TLR camera. Around 1880, a staff of the meteorological observatory near London came up with the idea to build the mirror inside the camera to take a picture of cloud. That was when the camera employed the mirror in it for the first time. Twin-Lens Graphics (Image) Sophisticated body associated with Graflex! \|TLR camera in America Around 1840, Daguerreotype had started to be manufactured in New York. Then, as the large-size TLR camera appeared in Europe, it was exported to America little by little, and around 1900, manufacturing was started there, too. Perhaps this is the largest TLR in the world The famous 8×10 Gowlandflex, shown above and affectionately known as “The Beast”. At nearly three feet tall, it was not very practical for most kinds of shooting. Seven were made and sold. The last one sold in 2005. On the right is a Rollei copy to show scale. Owning a Gowlandflex puts you in an exclusive club whose members include the most famous portrait and glamour photographers of both this century and the 20th century. Annie Liebovitz, Josef Karsh,Dennis Manarchy, John Huet, Arthur Grace, David Raccuglia, Arthur Elgort, and Mark Laita all use or used Gowlandflexes. Any Gowlandflex TLR camera found is likely to be a rare collector’s item in the near future. There are hundreds of Gowland camerasworking today, and hundreds more hiding somewhere, perhaps in an attic or the back room of a camera store. Peter sold at least 600 Gowlandflex twin lens 4×5 cameras alone. Because Peter keeps everything in his life as simple as possible, he made and continues to make all of his cameras with simplicity in mind. No gadgets to break, no frills to fumble with, and no reading required to use them. “I can’t help it. I like to work in the shop. I don’t think many people are interested in film cameras anymore. I do notice that people who do contact printing purchase my 5×7 cameras more lately. I need to sell all of the cameras so that I can relax more with my wife” In this world of computers, waiting hours on hold and searching endlessly for someone who knows about their own product, you’ll find that Peter still answers the phone himself quite often. Peter’s cameras are still made the old fashioned way – with care, passion and a personal enjoyment for making things. You can see a lot of history related to Peter on this site, but please remember that Peter is not history. In a couple more years, the cameras will be all sold out here. If you get one, you’ll have many years to make history yourself and explore the rich creative art of photography. Peter’s Notes about the Gowland SLR I have designed around 30 cameras, but never one with a reflex shutter. My 4×5 Graflex had a large mirror, that had to move up, before the large focal shutter could expose the film. Even at fast shutter speeds, there was time delay, that made it impossible to record action, like a horse jumping over a fence. By the time the the shutter worked, the horse was on the ground. If one wanted to use strobe or flash, one had to use a 5th sec. to give the mirror time to “move out of the way” allowing the shutter to drop down. The large mirror had to move up, and the large rear shutter had to move down. Slow and heavy parts. I asked myself, why not use a thin 2″ mirror, set at 45 degrees next to the lens, and move from left to right, with a faster shutter speed, around 1/50 second? In using the Gowland SLR, the image passes through the lens to a small mirror shutter, is reflected up to larger mirror and back to ground glass, when the shutter is released, the small mirror moves right, allowing image to pass through the three shutter parts back to film. During this 1/50th part of a second, flash contact is made, center shutter part moves to the right, closing the opening. When both top shutter parts are moved to left for re-cocking, light cannot pass through lower opening. With this unique design, it is necessary to keep the lens and small mirror close together. Rather than moving the lens for focusing, the ground glass and film are moved as one. The camera is built around a 240-250mm lens. Film movement of 4 inches permits close focus of three feet to infinity. For special close work a shorter lens might be used. For example, 210mm can be used from two feet to eight-and-a-half feet. Longer lenses, providing they are telephoto, can also be used. 360mm Tele-Xenar gives large head portraits with focus range of five and-a-half feet to twenty-four feet. When top shutter parts are moved back, with knob on left side, shutter is ready for the next shot.
Is Newgrange a representation of an ancient U.F.O? 123>Jaxerback posted:9/3/2013 8:17:30 PM Newgrange,Ireland,thought to be about 5,000 yrs old.Apart from the alignments on the winter solstice,why was this impressive monument built...and who built it..and for what purpose? The main-stream theory would have us believe that it was a tomb for the leaders of the day,however only a relatively small number of remains were found in situ. Why did they make the monument circular?Why is Stonehenge circular?Why are modern day crop circles still turning up? White quartz stone was used for the outside of the monument..the same stone that was used for the casing blocks on the great pyramid...there is a connection. Could all these ancient accomplishments be attributed to an alien intervention? Or were our ancient ancestors just very clever? http://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe-opinion-guest-authors/newgrange-and-boyne-valley-monuments-advanced-lunar My crazy theory is that all these circular and pyramidal monuments were built to represent the UFO'S that ancient people saw in the sky..and we are still seeing them...bobprin posted:9/4/2013 6:21:50 AM Good theory, don't forget the medicine wheel in montana. Personally, I think all these structures are related and that they are far older than believed.Jaxerback posted:9/7/2013 11:16:12 PM Upon reflection it makes perfect sense why the ancients should have put such veneration on the circle.They relied on both the sun and the moon as we do but to a greater extent.The cycles of the celestial bodies were magical,supernatural in fact,and,as a result they were probably worshipped as Gods.We see today the power that "faith" can wield.It can inspire great achievements and destroy without mercy at the same time. It could also be UFO's though.bobprin posted:9/8/2013 5:28:05 AM Maybe, but I think that the sun and moon are so common in occurance that there really isn't any need to build a monument to something you can point at and see. Again with the circle, it is too common. What wasn't common were disc shaped craft decending from the sky. Has anyone tried to check astrological alignments with crop circles? Keep in mind that the ancient monuments we see today are the ruins of what once was.Jaxerback posted:9/9/2013 8:37:34 PM There probably was a reason to build a monument to something you could actually see and know for certain actually existed. As opposed to the thousands of massive cathedrals,churches,mosques that were and still are being built for invisible "Gods!".bobprin posted:9/10/2013 6:32:28 AM Well we know that all those cathedrals and such were built to attract the money that even kings would contribute because of superstition and ignorance. So lets think for a minute. Moving massive blocks of stone. How? Why don't we know how it was done? We know how many things were done in ancient times. Fire building, weapon making, animal husbandry, etc etc. But we don't know how to move massive blocks of stone. Something that important and clever would almost certainly have been passed down just like arrowhead chipping. Perhaps because man didn't do it.gary107 posted:9/10/2013 9:15:23 AM The Egyptians claimed the food energy that allowed the ancient workers to move those stones came from the wheat they would sell to others at a price. Human hairs have been found inside those stones suggesting they were poured on site. The energy to build New York City comes from Iowa corn, we can give you a good price on our excess production, that is how we built the bridge to the Moon when we went there.gary107 posted:9/10/2013 9:15:24 AM The Egyptians claimed the food energy that allowed the ancient workers to move those stones came from the wheat they would sell to others at a price. Human hairs have been found inside those stones suggesting they were poured on site. The energy to build New York City comes from Iowa corn, we can give you a good price on our excess production, that is how we built the bridge to the Moon when we went there.gary107 posted:9/10/2013 9:15:24 AM The Egyptians claimed the food energy that allowed the ancient workers to move those stones came from the wheat they would sell to others at a price. Human hairs have been found inside those stones suggesting they were poured on site. The energy to build New York City comes from Iowa corn, we can give you a good price on our excess production, that is how we built the bridge to the Moon when we went there.Jaxerback posted:9/12/2013 9:22:43 PM I believe that a lot of ancient monuments were created using "poured blocks".It is the only way it makes any sense.gary107 posted:9/12/2013 9:54:06 PM but what of the myths of slave instead of farm labourers? you bring into question the holy script of some people. I, myself, believe that the Moses myth was not real and it was just a clever effort by Egyptian priests to make a buffer state between Egypt and Assyria by creating a new sort of Semite by trimming off a little skin. I never explained these suspicions to my 97 year old Jewish uncle who died earlier this year. there is much in the way the historical record is written that does suggest this is what occurred.LincolnGenghis posted:9/12/2013 11:42:27 PM There are more secretive agendas hidden in the old testement than just that. Allot of the old testament is a cryptic piece that was ripped off from the sumerians. Allot of the charactors in the book I believe are more figurative in nature then real. There is a larger hidden message in that lore. There are some historical gems hidden in that book in plain sight also.gary107 posted:9/14/2013 2:01:13 PM what are the other secretive agendas and cryptic writing you suggest?LincolnGenghis posted:9/14/2013 7:15:30 PM When you dig into some areas of the old testament there are most definately some odd things in there. in genesis you have a fairly accurate description of the Big Bang, the earth forming , the seas , animals and man. It is actually accurate in that it is basically the same order of things that scientists today would agree with. although it is a simplistic piece, the original writer had it right. Another weird thing that seems to be gathering some traction recently with researchers is that the bible has various references to neandertals in it. Yeah I know its a head scratcher but I think there may be some validity to the theory when I started to look into it. Jacob and Esau and also Cain and Able in the theory are not single specific individules but rather a metaphor for modern humans and neandertals. going back into the old testement with that in mind and starting to plug that Idea into various stories yields some very strange posibilities. It kind of leads to another spectulation. What actually is original sin and how can all of us be born with it? I know the short answer on that goes back to adam and eve and eating off the tree of knowledge. Blahh blahh blahh. There is another possibility that original sin was the wiping out of an entire race by us and our treachery. Maybe the metephorical tree of knowledge was not really a tree and stood for a race of people. Canabilism would certainly rank up there as a bad sin. :)Jaxerback posted:9/14/2013 10:56:06 PM http://www.learning-mind.com/new-theory-claims-humans-were-designed-by-aliens/bobprin posted:9/15/2013 8:45:51 AM Interesting, but no details. The thought that dna code resembles some form of language is not new. There was a statement made in the article when the dna code was first discovered. I did not know that kaskastan had scientists, learn something everyday.gary107 posted:9/15/2013 1:51:17 PM it was part of the former Soviet Union and far enough away from Moscow that should anything go wrong... Let us put the A-bomb project out in New Mexico... that kind of reasoning.scardycat posted:9/15/2013 3:13:30 PM Ya no when I was in one of the mental hosp. they actually had bible study. as I believe in god & jesus I stayed. I fell a lot of the stories r metaphores(if I spelled that rite I will shit my pants) a lot of people take the bible word for word. I think there's a lot more to it. I really want to read the bibleJaxerback posted:9/15/2013 3:25:34 PM Good news!You wont be shitting your pants.LincolnGenghis posted:9/15/2013 3:25:39 PM I just find it funny that people can jump right from A to Z in their logic without having a systematic chain of evidence that fills in everything in between.The true devil is in the details and the very notion of being able to say with any reasonable accuracy that we were created by aliens is just not there for now. And on the flip side of that the current model hypothesis of evolution is actually kind of falling apart more everyday with new findings and dates shattering existing statements. Basically there is something missing from both the alien camp of thought and the conservative evolution camp of thought. Me I have always been interested in B through Y because that is where the real truth will be found. I think we have a far more remarkable past then anyone would believe and it would not necessarily have to involve Aliens or the Current model Hypothesis of evolution. From a pure science or courtroom approach neither of those two sides actually have the evidence necessary to prove their cases. I do like great brainstorming Ideas though that are outside of the box. But they really can't be used to absolutely prove something without hard data to back them up. Great for speculation purposes though. I love weird stuff. :) Please log in or become a member to add a post.
One of the most fundamental requirements of a civil society is the rule of law which means that the people must follow the law of the land irrespective of his or her status or position in the society. In the modern world, the developed countries feel proud that their society is governed by the rule of law while most developing countries like India feel ashamed that their society does not have the rule of law. The developed countries are the role model for the underdeveloped countries, where the rule of law is still a distant dream. Societies that follow rule of law are often considered more civilized as there is much more order in the society. Everything in such societies appears to be in order. The roads are clean, lawns and parks are well-maintained, government officials work in the office, trains and public transports run on time. Further, there is virtually no corruption in public offices. People are well paid, deliver better efficiencies and keep everything neat and clean. These societies appear perfect to the people of other parts of the world, who often wonder why they can’t be like them. All societies need laws for their existence. Even though the laws may be different in each society, yet there are some basic principles that are common to all laws of the world. These fundamental principles are equality, fraternity, justice, and liberty. The Indian constitution, for example, incorporates these goals in the preamble to the constitution which seek to secure for all its citizen’s justice, liberty, equality and to promote among them the spirit of fraternity. These principles are so universal in nature that they find the place in every civilized society of the world. It is the matter of great surprise that in reality, the outcome of the rule of law is just the opposite. The more civilized a society is, the more is the inequality among its population – more injustice to the have-nots, less liberty due to strict enforcement of law and more hatred among the citizens based on race, caste, and religion. What goes wrong in the implementation in the so-called rule of law? Law of Nature Indian thinkers in the Vedic period, i.e. around 3000 years before the birth of Christ, discovered that the universe does not perform its functions at random but follows certain laws. These were called “Rita” or the universal laws or principles that guided the universe. The progress of man can be largely attributed in understanding these basic principles of nature and exploiting them for the benefit of the human race at the cost of the rest of the creations. The laws of man, therefore, run contrary to the laws of nature as they are human-centric and not designed for all the creations of God or Nature. One of the basic differences between man-made laws and the laws of Nature is that the laws of nature are spontaneous as they require no effort in implementation. For example, in a natural piece of earth like a forest, the earth produces trees, plants, fruits and vegetables spontaneously without any need for watering or breeding. Nature itself provides timely rain and fertilizer to the new plants. The forests and the mountains are covered with greenery and beauty, which is purely natural since it comes without any effort. On the contrary, the man-made creations like parks, trees, plants are artificially made. They too may look as beautiful as the natural ones, yet they cannot survive without regular effort on the part of man. Imagine a park, which is not maintained for a few months, or a house not cleaned for months. It will lose all its beauty and soon be filled with dust and weeds. No building or modern gadget can survive without external effort from man. However, all natural creations are able to survive on their own and maintain their existence; and enjoy their life without any external support. The laws of nature are just as they treat every species (and not only man) with equality. In a jungle, every species gets its due share of food, air, and water which enable them to live a dignified life without being dependent on any other creation. Nature makes no distinction between one special and the other as all species are the children of the same God. However, in the man’s world, every other creature is killed if it is not useful for man. They can survive only if they can be useful for man. Thus man’s world does not treat any other creature of nature with respect and does not provide them any right to equality, liberty, justice or fraternity. He cleverly usurps this universal law and makes it applicable only to human beings. For all other lesser species, he has created a man-made law, calling it ‘the law of jungle’ or ‘the survival of the fittest’ which justifies his domination over the weak creations. The fact, on the contrary, is that the laws of the jungle are far more just and equal for all species than the man-made law. Most men are not concerned about the way they treat the lesser animals as they feel that ‘the survival of the fittest’ theory is more logical than the laws of nature. However, they forget that every principle created in the universe has to be applied on them also and that they may not always be a beneficiary. Man-made-laws do not stop with animals but they soon spread their wings to encompass human beings, too. This is where conflicts between man and man start that gives rise to hatred and wars. Man feels the pinch when the law of jungle is applied against them and the law of nature is denied to him. He is hurt when he is treated like weeds by the society. Weeds: The Undesirable Plants of Nature? One of the most interesting creations of the natural world is the weed. Weeds are undesirable vegetation in the kingdom of plants. Weeds are defined as any plant that is not valued by the human society and usually tends to overgrow or compete with valued flora. Weeds are the plants which are considered by human beings as unattractive, undesirable, or troublesome. In the natural world, man has to continuously fight against weeds to make their artificial plants survive. Weeds grow automatically and if the artificial gardens do not have the support of the man, it is soon overpowered by weeds and the whole field or garden becomes full of weeds. Weeds are created by Nature (God) as no human effort is required to grow them. They are, however, so powerful that man has to continuously guard his creation against these weeds, lest all creation of the civilized society is destroyed. Weeds are as undesirable to man in the world of plants as criminals in the human society. Criminals: The Necessary Evil for the Civil Society Similar to weeds in the natural world, there is a growth of criminals in civilized societies. Who are these criminals? Why do they grow? Whether the criminals are healthy people or are they mentally ill as often thought by the civilized world? Criminals are defined as the people who commit the crime. Crime is defined as an act that is a violation of the criminal law that is punishable by law. Crime is usually considered an evil act and criminals are often seen as evil created by Devil, out there to destroy the civilized citizens, the children of God. There are many similarities between criminals and weeds. Criminals grow automatically in every society and the society has to work hard to weed out these criminals. Criminals like weeds are so powerful and competitive that they have the power to defeat the civilized people. They are, therefore, fought jointly by the society. Yet in every society, there is the crime and there are criminals. We are used to looking criminals as the evil that is unnecessary just like weeds. Yet if God (Nature) is the creator of all, then everything in this world must have been created with a purpose. “What could be the purpose of creation of criminals?” We wonder. Criminals are, as a matter of fact, creation of the civilized world. In an uncivilized world, there would be no law, so there can be no violation of a law and hence, no criminal. If we wish to understand the utility of criminals in the civilized world, we must imagine the world of nature without weeds. In such a world, all plants will have to be grown by the man with artificial watering – canals, tube-wells, and other irrigation systems used for agriculture. In all certainty, man will grow only such crops and plants that are useful to man and the rest of the species would surely not survive in the man’s world. Further, man’s energy is limited and with all his effort, he can hardly take care of a minuscule part of the world by artificial plantation, so the rest of the physical world would be without plants and so without oxygen and other animal life and eco-system. This will soon lead to the end of the world including the human being. The role of criminals is similar to the role of the weeds. Imagine the world without crime i.e. everyone follows the law of the land without questioning. It will only provide status quo in the world. Kings will always be kings and only their children or loved ones can become kings. Poor will always be poor. Kings will frame more inhuman laws that would give them more powers. The less fortunate people would die out of hunger and poverty as they won’t break the law and the state will have no obligation to feed them. Thus the world without criminals would be a place where people will die due to inaction, boredom, and cruelty. Such an ideal world, indeed, would be the most inhuman and most undesirable to mankind. Thankfully, people called criminals automatically grow in every civil society as soon as man creates laws to govern it. The laws of man are always challenged by them since they are mostly against the laws of nature i.e. equality, justice, liberty and fraternity. States always have to face opposition from such people who break the law and are known as criminals. They may have an ugly appearance as weeds but they only provide oxygen to the society for its life. Thus in posterity, people recognize them not as criminals but as heroes. The Path of Heroism While man hates criminals, he worships the heroes. He can lay his most valuable possession i.e. his life on a single call from his hero. Who are these heroes? Are they law-abiding civilized people or the law-defying criminals? Take the example of Mahatma Gandhi in the modern world. He was perhaps the biggest criminal in the time of the British rule in India and he was jailed many times on charges of being waging war against the state. He spent more than 15 years in jail for his various crimes. Yet the people of India call him ‘Father of the Nation’ and love him more than any civilized person on the earth. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in jail, yet he is a national hero not only for South Africa but for the entire world. In history, we can find numerous examples of great people who have broken the law and having been punished for their criminal acts. The list includes people like Christ, Prophet Mohammad, Socrates, and Galileo. Yet it is these people who changed the history of the world and they are rightly worshiped as heroes by the masses even after their death. How many people have you ever known who have become heroes without breaking the law and committing crimes in their time? Perhaps none. Heroes are created not by following the law but by breaking the law. Rule of Divine Law It is not always good to follow the law blindly as it provides order and rule of law in the society but kills the humanity as the implementation of most of the man-made laws are against the natural laws. Man-made laws are often disguised under the cover of natural laws like equality, justice, liberty, and fraternity yet they serve just the opposite purpose. Most people see the letter of the law but fail to grasp its spirit. One must understand that breaking man-made laws is one of the fundamental requirements of all civil societies if it contradicts the natural or divine laws. Thus every person who breaks the law need not be a criminal. One must go deeper into the facts before declaring a law-breaker to be a criminal. The key distinction perhaps would be to see if he is breaking the law for the interest of the humanity or for his own selfish end. Is it need-based or greed-based? There lies the distinction between good and evil, between a true criminal and a hero. One who is breaking a law for others or to fight injustice is a hero and not a criminal. A poet said, “Jo lade die he that, Sura to” (One who fights for the weak is the real hero).
On Sunday 15 July 2018 a new memorial commemorating those from the city and county of Kilkenny who were killed during the First World War was officially unveiled at 1.50pm by Charles Flanagan TD, Minister for Justice and Equality. The committee to establish the memorial was founded in 2011, and the memorial has been developed with the assistance of Kilkenny County Council. It commemorates 827 men from Kilkenny killed in the course of the First World War. The listing of names is based on research by Tom Burnell, Niall Brannigan, John Kirwan, and William Murphy. It is the only public memorial to the dead of the war in Co. Kilkenny, and It is located in the Peace Park, St Michael Street, Kilkenny, along the River Nore. The memorial wall is made from Kilkenny limestone and was sculpted by P. Molloy and Sons of Callan, Co. Kilkenny. The memorial was opened by Minister Charles Flanagan TD and the service, to which members of the public were invited, incorporated musical performances and wreathlaying. Learn more about the Kilkenny Great War Memorial and explore the listings of Ireland’s war dead on Ireland’s Memorial Records.
to make intense or more intense. to make more acute; strengthen or sharpen. Photography. to increase the density and contrast of (a negative) chemically. to become intense or more intense. - in·ten·si·fi·ca·tion, noun - de-in·ten·si·fy, verb, de·-in·ten·si·fied, de·-in·ten·si·fy·ing. - o·ver·in·ten·si·fi·ca·tion, noun - o·ver·in·ten·si·fy, verb, o·ver·in·ten·si·fied, o·ver·in·ten·si·fy·ing. - self-in·ten·si·fied, adjective - self-in·ten·si·fy·ing, adjective - un·in·ten·si·fied, adjective Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023 How to use intensify in a sentence Her militancy intensified during her complex relationship with Walter Heaton, a married, British, self-described revolutionary socialist to whom she gave a lot of money.‘The Woman Who Stole Vermeer’ revisits the strange tale of a British heiress who became a notorious art thief \| Katharine Weber \| November 20, 2020 \| Washington Post Some experts lauded the idea of shifting to remote learning, saying the pandemic has intensified.Montgomery County urges private schools to consider move to all-virtual learning \| Donna St. George \| November 20, 2020 \| Washington Post As covid-19 surges nationwide, the debate over school reopening has intensified.Schools are not spreading covid-19. This new data explains why. \| Emily Oster \| November 20, 2020 \| Washington Post It’s a trend that may well intensify as Apple silicon ushers in the next era of Macs. Courtship behaviors begin in January or February, when hormones intensify the owls' calling and give it an amorous spin.Three love stories about birds that will delight your heart \| Laura Erickson \| November 6, 2020 \| Popular-Science And Demme, by barely indicating the visual presence of the audience until the end, intensifies the closed-off, hermetic feeling.The Stacks: Pauline Kael's Talking Heads Obsession \| Pauline Kael \| November 22, 2014 \| THE DAILY BEAST Indeed, in conflict situations the rhetoric around honor often intensifies. You know, as we got closer to the end and ready to do it, the scrutiny intensifies and the conversations with the network happen.The Shocking ‘Fargo’ Finale: Creator Noah Hawley Breaks Down the Epic Bloodbath \| Kevin Fallon \| June 18, 2014 \| THE DAILY BEAST An escalation of seems inevitable as the ideological competition on all sides intensifies and grows ever more emotional. Political pressure intensifies further when cities run out of water. The work as a whole seems to me to have considerable merit, and the interest of the music rises as that of the drama intensifies. To place white by the side of a color heightens or intensifies the tone of that color.Color Value \| C. R. Clifford Unconsciously it intensifies him to a superlative degree, and inspires him with an awe of itself that becomes sacred to him.Islam Her Moral And Spiritual Value \| Arthur Glyn Leonard The contrast intensifies the light that shines from the love of Mary, and deepens the darkness of the traitor's sin.Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of Matthew \| John Monro Gibson We would not, of course, deny that the repetition of the thought in a changed form intensifies the rhythmic expression.Elements of Folk Psychology \| Wilhelm Wundt British Dictionary definitions for intensify to make or become intense or more intense (tr) to increase the density of (a photographic film or plate) - intensification, noun Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Soccer Drill Demonstration Place 5 cones across the middle of the area, 10 yards in from each sideline. Play 4 vs 4. The ball is not allowed to travel through or over the discs. The object of the game is to get the ball wide in the near side of the field and attack the flanks of the attacking area. Although the ball is not allowed to travel over the discs, players may make runs over the discs. Create space on the flanks by drawing defenders from the attacking space. Diagonal runs, blind-side runs and overlapping runs should be encouraged to exploit space. Supporting players must get forward to meet the crosses in to the prime scoring area. Decrease the number and width of the discs in the area. Players can pass the ball through the discs if they play a 1-2 combination to do so. Drill tags: flanks, width, wings
Addictive behaviors often begin in adolescence and can involve substances or rewarding behaviors. One prominent substance-based addictive behavior among adolescents is vaping, while internet gaming represents a prominent behavioral addiction among this age group. Despite the fact that vaping and gaming initiation often occurs when youth are in school, research is limited with regard to school counselors’ experience addressing these two potentially addictive behaviors. Thus, we analyzed data from 221 high school counselors and found 81% reported working with a student with a gaming issue in the previous year. Similarly, 81.4% reported working with a student with a vaping-related issue in the previous year. The majority of participants (70.1%) reported that gaming issues have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although prevalent, roughly half of school counselors (50.7%) categorized internet gaming as a mild concern compared to other issues. Alternatively, 42.5% of participants said vaping was a moderate concern, on par with other issues, and 14.5% said vaping was a major concern, more than other issues. Among the school counselors in our study, 24.4% reported feeling moderately or very competent addressing student issues related to gaming and 33.5% reported feeling moderately or very competent addressing student issues related to vaping. Implications for school counselors are discussed. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution. Buy single article Instant access to the full article PDF. Price excludes VAT (USA) Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. American School Counseling Association. (2019). The ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs (4th ed.). Author. American Society of Addiction Medicine. (2019). 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International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (11th Revision). https://icd.who.int/browse11/l-m/en Wyman, P. A., Rulison, K., Pisani, A. R., Alvaro, E. M., Crano, W. D., Schmeelk-Cone, K., Keller Elliot, C., Wortzel, J., Pickering, T. A., & Espelage, D. L. (2021). Above the influence of vaping: Peer leader influence and diffusion of a network-informed preventive intervention. Addictive Behaviors, 113, 106693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106693 Yesilyurt, F. (2020). Gaming duration and preferences: Relationships with psychiatric health, gaming addiction scores and academic success in high school students. International Education Studies, 13, 111–119. Conflict of Interest The authors declare no competing interests. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. About this article Cite this article Giordano, A.L., Morey, A.W., Kim, I.K. et al. School Counselors’ Experiences with Student Vaping and Internet Gaming: a Report from the Field. Int J Adv Counselling 45, 441–457 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10447-023-09518-z
Recently declassified sources of Soviet Military Archives give a better insight into the attempted escape of the German-Hungarian defenders of Budapest on February 11th 1945. Estimates have put the number of Germans who attempted to escape the siege at around 20,000-22,000. Most of them ended up being captured, wounded or killed. The siege of Budapest of 1944-1945 and its tragic finale – the so-called “breaking-out” [of Buda] – is a very popular and well-researched topic of modern Hungarian history. Several books and articles have been published not only in Hungarian, but in many other languages as well. However, the research of this period was difficult until the very recent years – as the Russian Military Archives (more precisely the CAMO) did not allow anybody to research the classified materials. Because of that, research findings were quite asymmetrical, mostly based on German and Hungarian archive sources and reminiscences, but lacked the other half: the Soviet point of view. January 27, 2020 -
My last infographic segment will assess the impact of full-fat dairy consumption on cancer risk. Is consumption of full-fat dairy harmful or beneficial in cancer prevention? Does the sourcing of full-fat dairy matter such as choosing grass-fed and organic? These questions will be explored today! I wrote several posts previously on dairy consumption and health. Today I delve further into the topic with an infographic discussing the scientific evidence behind full-fat dairy vs. low-fat dairy consumption. In part 1, I will introduce the full-fat vs. low-fat argument. I will also discuss the health benefits of consuming high-fat dairy and type 2 diabetes. Enjoy! Today I’d like to talk about the implications of high-fat dairy on cardiovascular health compared to low-fat intake. Today, I am going to discuss one reason why full-fat dairy products may be better than low-fat dairy products. I am going to focus on the aspect of sugar content, inflammation, and type 2 diabetes in this post, but will focus on other aspects, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, in my next posts! For as long as I can remember (and I haven't been around too long now), meat has always been the culprit of most diseases popping up and increasing in the U.S. My mother used to always tell all her friends how she only ate white meat because red meat gives us heart disease. My mom is a doctor so when I was a little girl I thought everything a mother said, and a doctor especially, was right. So I followed suit and only ate chicken and sliced turkey, forgoing beef and pork. (But we are Greek so once or twice a year we would eat some lamb). When it came to eating dairy, however, it was a different story. Dairy has always been good in our household and most others. It’s full of calcium and important for growing bones, my mother told me. But after watching Forks Over Knives this past week, a documentary about eating a plant-based diet that forgoes animal and dairy products to reduce disease, it made me wonder if I should forego those food groups. Below I will outline my thoughts and why I ultimately have decided to keep animal products and dairy in my diet.
In a time of segregated pools, Mr. Rogers asked a black singer to play a police officer. The two shared a foot bath with each other on television and sang a song about the many ways to say I love you. Francois Clemmons said he felt an authentic connection with Mr. Rogers, and that Mr. Rogers was intentional and conscious about the episode’s purpose and design. If black lives mattered, this kind of relationship would be the driving force behind policing today. Officers would look like their communities, and white allies would authentically acknowledge, welcome, and listen to people of color. Back in 2010, Prince chided Beyonce for her lack of musical knowledge, but was impressed that she understood something about Mixolydian scales and Egyptian styles, WTF. Basically he thought she was quite talented and gifted, but her longevity and survival depended on learning a lot more. I’m not much of a Beyonce fan, and had no interest in Lemonade. The brouhaha over “Formation” is incredibly complex, but not enough to tempt me to listen or buy the album. Visually, the video is fascinating and brilliant, transgressive and offensive. The general invisibility of trans artist Big Freedia, the politics of colorism and authenticity in the deep In connection with a previous post about Irish cops, here’s an interesting read from the Zinn History Project on erasing Irish-American History, for St. Patrick’s Day: The Real Irish American Story Not Taught In Schools. In the 1800s, the Irish were New York City’s “ghetto thugs” and unwelcome “illegal aliens” (ugly words), much the way we think of people of color today. When they were required to defend the North in the Civil War, to risk life and limb for black slaves that most considered subhuman, well, that just added insult to injury. Irish and other impoverished immigrant males in New York City started the Draft Riots in the 1860s to protest. During that time, the New York police force was heavily populated by Irish. By the end of the 19th century, 70% of the New York police force were If you reject the idea of white privilege, please move on, because you will find nothing here to suit your purpose. The flurries of “criming while white” stories merely scratch the surface of illustrating white privilege. These stories just point out a double standard. They don’t show much beneath the surface about the structural racism that support double standards. Consequently, when the hashtags stop trending, our country faces the sad possibility of a memory wipe. White people have the luxury of forgetting. That’s white privilege, the privilege of forgetting and obliviousness. Profiling and police brutality, as overt examples of racial injustice, are tangible and concrete things. Although The latest viral police profiling confrontation is a black man, Brandon McKean, getting stopped by a Michigan cop for walking with his hands in his pockets in freezing cold weather. McKean’s video adds another example to the multitude of stories that are coming to white people’s attention about how police profile, harass, and brutalize people of color. What’s different in this case is that the police department defended itself with a counter-video on Facebook, demonstrating that McKean edited his version to make himself appear in a good light.The introduction of new media technology, which started changing the game with videos and Rodney King in 1992, Bring Back Our Girls As the tragic spectacle of 276 kidnapped Nigerian girls receives international attention, I can’t help but feel sick to my stomach thinking about Nigerian Scams, and the context in which they arise, in the deepest Hunger Games kind of way. As celebrities stride red carpets in stunning pink, carrying bold posters for the cause, I want to root for “our girls” much the way I cheered for Katniss to save Rue in a mediated extravaganza, a spectacle the state designed to distract me from world poverty, hunger, slave labor, and mass slaughter. Hollywood is filled with the scandalous objectification of little Sixty years ago the Supreme Court handed down the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Until around 2005 or so, give or take a year, the East Baton Rouge Parish school system operated under a federal desegregation order, one of the longest running orders in the country. Today, Baton Rouge Community College continues to receive entering freshmen educated under that order. Due to the cult of self esteem, the best of these students have been told throughout their education that they can succeed, that they are smart, that they have a future. In college classrooms over time, these students demonstrate facility with logic, organization, and critical thinking. Even though they
Cattlemen's Day, 2007; Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station contribution; no. 07-179-S; Report of progress (Kansas State University. Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service); 978; Beef; Cattle; Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH); CIDR; Ovulation Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the difference between gonadotropinreleasing hormone (GnRH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) given at the beginning of a timed AI protocol and their effects on fertility. In Experiment 1, beef cows (n = 672) at six different locations were assigned randomly to treatments based on age, body condition, and days postpartum. On day −10, cattle were treated with GnRH or hCG and a progesterone-releasing controlled internal drug release (CIDR) insert was placed in the vagina. An injection of PGF2αwas given and CIDR inserts were removed on day −3. Cows were inseminated at one fixed timed at 62 hr (day 0) after CIDR insert removal. Pregnancy was diagnosed at 33 days (range of 32 to 35) after insemination to determine pregnancy rates. For cows that were pregnant after the first insemination, a second pregnancy diagnosis was conducted 35 days (range of 33 to 37) after the first diagnosis to determine pregnancy survival. Pregnancy rates were reduced by the hCG injection compared with the GnRH injection (39.1 vs. 53.5%). In Experiment 2, cattle were assigned randomly to three treatments, balanced evenly across the two treatments (GnRH vs. hCG) applied in Experiment 1. Cows were injected with GnRH, hCG, or saline seven days before the first pregnancy diagnosis of cows inseminated in Experiment 1. At the time of pregnancy diagnosis, cattle found not pregnant (n = 328) were given PGF2αand inseminated 56 hours later. A second pregnancy diagnosis was conducted 35 days (range of 33 to 37) after the second insemination to determine pregnancy rate at the second AI. Injections of GnRH, hCG, or saline had no effect on pregnancy rates of cows already pregnant to the first insemination. Pregnancy rates after second insemination in cows given an injection of hCG or GnRH, however, tended to be reduced. Percentage of cows pregnant after two timed inseminations exceeded 60% without any need to detect estrus. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Burns, M.G.; Buttrey, B.S.; Eborn, D.R.; Larson, J.E.; Lovaas, B.J.; Lamb, G.C.; Stevenson, Jeffrey S.; and Olson, K. C. "Evaluation of human chorionic gonadotropin as a replacement for GnRH in an ovulation synchronization protocol before fixed-time insemination," Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports:
Google announced that TCP BBR, a new congestion-control algorithm that it has used to improve network throughput from google.com and YouTube by about four percent globally (and by more than 14 percent in some countries), is now also available to its Google Cloud Platform users. The general idea here is to improve on the existing congestion-control algorithms for internet traffic, which have been around since the 1980s and which typically only take packet loss into account (when networking buffers fill up, routers will discard any new packets). These algorithms decide how fast a given device should be sending data into the network to avoid overloading it. When these systems realize that some of the data packets don’t make it to their final destination, they start sending the data more slowly, which ideally reduces the amount of congestion. There are all kinds of algorithms for working out the details of how exactly to do this (and how to speed up again over time), but at their core, they all tend to follow the same patterns. BBR, which stands for “Bottleneck Bandwidth and Round-trip propagation time,” takes a different approach. It doesn’t just look at packet loss but also at how fast the network is actually delivering data. “For a given network connection, it uses recent measurements of the network’s delivery rate and round-trip time to build an explicit model that includes both the maximum recent bandwidth available to that connection, and its minimum recent round-trip delay,” Google explains. Using this data, BBR then decides how fast it wants to send its data. The result of this is an algorithm that can send more data at any given time (without incurring losses), especially on long-haul links. Google says one of its benchmarks showed a 2,700x increase in throughput rate, but that’s obviously an edge case and a synthetic benchmark. The company first publicly talked about BBR in a paper last year and has since open-sourced the protocol. Google has also contributed it to the Linux kernel TCP stack.
This week, when President Obama announced his new plan to address climate change largely through new regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, he sang the praises of technological progress, arguing that in the past, regulations spurred innovation that in turn helped the economy (see “Obama Orders EPA to Regulate Power Plants in Wide-Ranging Climate Plan”). But it’s not clear that regulations alone will prompt enough innovation to solve climate change. “If you’re going to do this regulatory effort, there has to be a parallel effort in the technology innovation process if you’re really going to maximize your ability to reach these goals,” says Henry Lee, director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In any case, it is clear that the new plan represents a major scaling back in ambition since the beginning of the president’s first term—a change prompted by a struggling economy and a divided Congress. In the 2009 stimulus bill, the administration called for and got tens of billions of dollars to research and demonstrate new energy technology. But Obama’s 2014 budget asks for only a modest increase in R&D spending—and even that will have a difficult time making it through Congress. Further, the regulatory scheme he’s proposed for limiting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants is far smaller in scope than the economy-wide cap-and-trade legislation he once pursued. Regulations, along with international treaties, have certainly had a powerful impact in the past, prompting a rapid phaseout of ozone-destroying CFCs, for example (see “Remembering the Montreal Protocol”). But addressing carbon dioxide emissions is a far larger, more difficult problem. And several factors will limit the scope of the carbon-emissions regulations Obama is pushing forward under the Clean Air Act. That in turn will limit how much innovation they prompt. The process for developing regulations under the Clean Air Act could make it difficult to achieve large reductions in carbon dioxide levels. The specifics of the proposed regulations—including how much carbon emissions are to be reduced, by what means, and at what rate—will be determined through a series of proposals, comment periods, meetings with utilities and other stakeholders, and, no doubt, legal challenges. Altogether this process could weaken the regulations or even block them, and it will almost certainly delay their implementation until well after President Obama has left office, perhaps to be replaced by someone who doesn’t favor them. “If I know that there is a market that the government is going to create for low-carbon options, and that that market is going to be sustainable, there’s thousands of different entrepreneurs who will find thousands of different options. But if I don’t think that demand is going to be there, if I think that demand is fairly fickle, that it depends on which party wins the 2016 election, I’m not going to put my money into this,” Lee says. Lee thinks at least some utilities and suppliers will assume that some level of carbon-emissions regulation will be implemented. Yet even so, the tendency of the industry is to make modest changes, such as improving efficiency or switching from coal to natural gas, rather than to take a risk on new technologies. “One would have to expect very stringent emissions limits for there to be strong incentives to develop radical alternatives,” says Gregory Nemet, professor of public affairs and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Incremental changes could be fine for meeting near-term emissions goals in the United States, but they may not be enough to reduce emissions by 80 percent worldwide, as some scientists say we must do to avoid dangerous global warming. It may be necessary to develop new kinds of nuclear power plants, for example. Or to capture carbon dioxide from power plants and bury vast volumes of it underground (see “What Carbon Capture Can’t Do”). Ultimately, it’s uncertain how the regulations will affect technology development. “I can’t guarantee that if you put the carbon-emissions regulations in place that this will have a huge effect of inducing or stimulating new power technologies,” Lee says. “It might. It will certainly have some effect. But how much? I don’t know.”
Difficult economic times often take a toll on mental health, and Minnesotans Thursday had the chance to learn more about their status during National Depression Screening Day. Research shows that recessions are often closely accompanied with an increase in suicide rates. The organizers see the free event as a way to draw more attention to mental health problems, especially those brought on during a rough economy. So far, Minnesota has not seen its suicide rates rise since the beginning of the economic downturn. Mental health advocates say that could indicate the state is doing a good job of reaching out to residents in crisis. But they also say suicide is a deeply complicated situation that's rarely explained by just one event. The suicide rate in Minnesota has held steady at around 11 suicides per 100,000 people from 2007 through 2009. The rate for 2010 is not yet verified, but the Minnesota Department of Health said preliminary numbers show last year held around the same with around 11.3 suicides per 100,000 people. Suicide numbers are not available for the first half of 2011, but the agency's suicide prevention and mental health coordinator Phyllis Brashler doubts there will be much change. "Do I expect to see a huge spike in our suicide numbers? Not really," Brashler said. MANY RISK FACTORS Brashler is aware of the national research that shows that suicide rates often go up during recessions, particularly those that result in a sustained, high rate of joblessness. But the increases in suicides are typically small compared to the rise in unemployment, she said. "There are many different risk factors and protective factors when we're talking about suicide. Not everyone who loses a job is going to choose to end their life," Brashler said. "It's about figuring out what that mix of potential contributing factors is and that's going to be different for every individual. But certainly unemployment can play a part in that." “Not everyone who loses a job is going to choose to end their life ... But certainly unemployment can play a part in that.”Phyllis Brashler Most cases of suicide are associated with an underlying vulnerability such as substance abuse, exposure to trauma or a history of mental illness or suicide in the family. Brashler said about 90 percent of suicide victims have a mental illness, such as depression. Typically, they've also dealt with a near-term crisis which can include a health emergency or the loss of a relationship, a home or a job. Dr. Dan Reidenberg, executive director of the group Suicide Awareness Voices of Education or SAVE, said someone who commits suicide has lost hope. As the current economic situation continues, he worries that Minnesota may yet see an increase in suicide rate. "The longer it continues for everyone, the greater concern I have that more and more people are going to get to that place of complete hopelessness," Reidenberg said. "Anybody who is struggling with depression and then they reach this place of hopelessness is at really significant risk of suicide." REACHING OUT FOR HELP Barb Erickson, a nurse who answers calls for Hennepin County's mobile crisis intervention team known as the Community Outreach for Psychiatric Emergencies, has noticed that more people are calling their crisis line, and a change in the mix of callers. "I think that we are hearing from more middle class people that wouldn't normally be needing our services and they're losing houses and losing jobs, and families are falling apart," Erickson said. That doesn't mean that they're on the verge of suicide. Program supervisor Dan Lontkowski said in the past year, the percentage of calls related to suicide has remained fairly constant. Rather, he thinks the increase in overall calls may be a good sign that more people know that they can reach out for help. "The taboo of talking about suicide is very gradually decreasing," Lontkowski said. Christin Crabtree of Saint Paul wishes she had known what to do for her dad 14 years ago when he threatened to kill himself. Crabtree, now 31, had just recently accused her father of sexual abuse and he was facing a criminal court hearing on the matter. He was also battling alcoholism. "His life was already really difficult and what happened with me, with the truth coming out, was just one more thing and he really felt ashamed," Crabtree said. Crabtree made her father promise that he wouldn't commit suicide. But it wasn't enough. Two days later one of his work colleagues found him dead in his garage with his vehicle running. Since his death, Crabtree has struggled with depression. But she said she has gone out of her way to get help. "Suicide is not something that I personally consider an option for me at all," she said. "I feel like if I hadn't done the work that I needed to do then, maybe I would be more like my father and in that kind of state of crisis." People sometimes avoid asking a depressed friend or family member if they're contemplating suicide for fear that they'll give them the idea. But mental health experts say research has shown that it is safe to ask that question. They say it shows empathy and recognition of that person's pain. For a person who responds that they are suicidal, experts say it is crucial to get help for them immediately and to not leave them alone, even for a moment.
Inner workings of the brain I Posted June 28, 2010; 10:00 a.m. Using two-photon microscopy in the laboratory of virologist Lynn Enquist, Stephan Thiberge, manager of the imaging facility in the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, and graduate student Andrea Gransted visualized pseudorabies virus particles moving in neurons growing in a tissue culture dish. The protein shells, or capsids, which surround the viral DNA can be seen because they carry a fluorescent protein that glows when illuminated by the laser in the microscope. These glowing capsids move rapidly in the axons suggesting how they can be used to follow the wiring patterns in the brain. Read more.
Tech moves fast! Stay ahead of the curve with Techopedia! Join nearly 200,000 subscribers who receive actionable tech insights from Techopedia. A designated router is a hardware piece playing a particular role in wireless networking. It is most frequently used as part of an Open Shortest Path First or OSPF link-state routing protocol for IP networks. Systems like OSPF involve a designated router or DR and designated backup router or BDR. Experts describe the designated router as the chosen path for multiple routers on a multi-access network segment. Using testing processes like a neighbor discovery process and various types of IP messaging, a designated router can be chosen. Elaborate systems for link-state routing will help to identify which types of routers can be designated or backup-designated, and which routers may not receive a designation. OSPF is a very common type of implementation for quick network convergence. It competes with other models such as IS-IS, or Intermediate System to Intermediate System, a routing protocol for a set of physically connected hardware.
Son of Joash and father of Azariah (II Kings, xv. 1); came to the throne about 795 B.C. As soon as his kingdom was established he slew the murderers of his father (II Kings, xiv. 5), but contrary to custom permitted their children to live. Very early in his reign he fitted out an army to reconquer Edom, which had rebelled during the reign of Jehoram (II Kings, viii. 20-22), his great-grandfather. Amaziah achieved a great victory over the Edomites, and slew 10,000 (the chronicler, II Chron. xxv. 11, 12, says 20,000) of them. He carried home and set up the gods of Seir (II Chron. xxv. 14) as objects of worship. His brilliant victory over Edom inflated his pride, and he challenged to a combat Jehoash, grandson of Jehu, king of Israel (II Kings, xiv. 8-14). The latter's disdain and scorn for Amaziah are embodied in the stinging parable of the thistle and the cedar (II Kings, xiv. 9). In his resentment, Amaziah rushed into a disastrous battle at Beth-shemesh, and a humiliating defeat overtook his army and the land. The king was captured, 400 cubits of the wall of Jerusalem broken down, the city, Temple, and palace were looted, and hostages carried to Samaria. It is not known how long Amaziah survived these disasters, but the reconstructed chronology of the kings of Judah would reduce his twenty-nine years' reign to fourteen or fifteen years. He, like his father (II Kings, xiv. 19, 20, xii. 20, 21), was the victim of assassins, apparently bent upon putting out of the way one who had brought upon the land such dire disasters.I. M. P.—In Rabbinical Literature: Moses ibn Ḥabib, in his work, "Darke No'am" (ed. Rödelheim, 1806, p. 6b), gives an alleged epitaph of Amaziah's general, found in Morviedro, Valencia. It is as follows: ("Raise your voice in bitter lament, for the great chief whom God hath taken"); then follows something illegible; and at the end, ("to Amaziah"). The epitaph, probably authentic, and belonging to some one of the name of Amaziah, gave rise to the belief that it referred to the "great chief" Amaziah.L. G.
As the end of the Australian school year quickly approaches I have found myself once again writing reports for each of my students. Giving each student a progress report is something that I had not considered in my private studio until I expanded my teaching practice into schools and was required to write reports every 6 months. I now do this in my private studio as well, with very positive results. There are great benefits for students, parents and teachers that come from taking the time to reflect and report on student progress. Some of the benefits include - - Reports give parents valuable feedback and insight into the process of learning an instrument. This often enables parents to assist their children in undertaking more focused practice sessions. - Reports highlight student achievement (performances, exams, competitions). - Reports allow students to reflect on how far they have progressed in the past 6 months. - Reports give teachers an opportunity to reflect on student progress and assess the areas that need attention in the next phase of learning. There are many formats and ways of reporting. I have designed a report template that has some check boxes at the top, followed by an area to list student achievement and participation, and a section at the bottom of the page for general comments. The first section of the report consists of check boxes showing the general level of achievement for various elements of playing, including technique, posture, organisation, practice, aural skills, tone production and note reading skills. The second section of the report allows me to list activities in which students have participated, including concerts, competitions, exams and accompanying. The final section of the report allows for general comments. In this section of the report I always begin with a positive comment on the student’s progress, then I comment on areas that need focus and attention in the future, and once again end with a positive comment. I would love to hear how other teachers use reporting in their studios. Please feel free to leave a comment below.
Infiltration, soil moisture, root rot and nematode populations after 12 years of different tillage, residue and crop rotation managements Sayre, Ken D. MetadataShow full item record The objective of this study was to compare till and zero till systems in terms of their impact on water infiltration, soil moisture content, root diseases and nematode populations. Using a 12 year trial with 16 different treatments, results indicated that no till systems with residue retention were the highest yielding, but there was increased disease and nematode populations in the zero till systems. However, no till systems with residue retention had a lower incidence of disease and pests than no till without residue retention. The researchers point out that while increased root disease may have impacted crop performance, the additional gains to water infiltration and soil moisture content more than offset this to increase yields.
Tech moves fast! Stay ahead of the curve with Techopedia! Join nearly 200,000 subscribers who receive actionable tech insights from Techopedia. Semantics in IT is a term for the ways that data and commands are presented. Semantics is a linguistic concept separate from the concept of syntax, which is also often related to attributes of computer programming languages. The idea of semantics is that the linguistic representations or symbols support logical outcomes, as a set of words and phrases signify ideas to both humans and machines. In general, semantics involves using specific words and labels. For example, a semantic network uses words to represent elements of a network. These types of semantics are geared more toward human audiences than toward a machine interpretation. In computer programming, a discussion of semantics may include the semantics of computer commands. Again, the semantic representation of words associated with controls, values and other corporate branding concepts, works on a logical basis. With that in mind, if a programmer uses words that don’t make sense to the computer, this may be characterized as a "semantic error." Programmers may talk about "semantic structure" for either commands or elements of code that represent objects. Other core issues with semantics involve the difference between machine language, which is not easily interpreted by humans, and upper-level programming languages that use common human semantics. These must then be translated down to machine language, often to a binary representation. That task of interpretation is at the core of how computers and humans work together on project outcomes.
James focuses on "bitter envy." If "envy" is desire for what another has, "bitter envy" must mean a person wants something so much that he is angry and hateful over it. Bitterness is a child of anger and resentment. Satan takes great delight in burdening our hearts with these harmful emotions. Unprovoked or quick-tempered anger is a hallmark of our modern cities, which resound in the night with the bark of gunfire and the howl of sirens. Bitter envy takes jealousy to the next step by adding resentment and anger, and from it emerges words that stab, cut, tear down, refute, and diminish. We use these to reduce the stature of another so we may seem to stand taller. A talebearer or gossip only wants his listener to think less of another so that he might think more of him. We can be envious because another sinned and "got away with it." We can envy those who have more, whom we feel do not deserve it. Envy often springs up when we receive unwarranted correction and someone else, who deserves it, does not. We can feel envy when one receives attention we desire for ourselves or when we fail to receive hard-earned recognition. Envious words are bitter words: They are pointed and sharp, but their target is subtle. On the surface, they may even sound righteous, but in reality, they manipulate thinking in the speaker's favor. Test: Do our words build or burn? If we build our stature by burning another's, we are standing on a platform of ashes that will crumble and topple us anytime. Only after I was gossiped about repeatedly did I began to see my own words of envy expressed. How foolish it had made me look, trying to stand taller on a pile of ashes!
ANHALT, former German state, now part of the Land of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; until the 12th century part of the duchy of Saxony, later becoming an independent principality. Jews living in the towns of Bernburg, Aschersleben, Koethen, and Zerbst in Anhalt are mentioned in sources from the 14th century. Communities existed in the first two towns during the 15th century when the rabbi of Aschersleben was Isaac Eilenburg, mentioned in the responsa of Israel Isserlein. No further Jewish settlement in Anhalt is recorded from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th. Afterward, the mercantilist policies of the absolutist regime encouraged Jewish traders and financiers to settle in the principality. They formed a well-to-do group which soon engaged in cultural activities. Hebrew printing presses were established in Koethen in 1621. Moses Benjamin Wolff, the court Jew, set up a Hebrew press in 1695 in Dessau (which was active till 1704) as well as in Koethen and Jessnitz where Israel b. Abraham, who was a proselyte, was active for many years. He printed Maimonides' Code with commentaries (1739–42) and his Guide of the Perplexed with the standard commentaries in 1742. In 1742 too, Benjamin Moses Wolff 's son Elijah restored his father's press for one year, producing the Sifra and the Jerusalem Talmud, Seder Mo'ed. In the period of Enlightenment Moses (1775–1814) established a Hebrew press in Dessau; David (b. Moses) Fraenkel printed there the first Judeo-German monthly Sulamith (1806–33). A synagogue was built at Dessau in 1687. The characteristic relationship of this period between the German princes and the rich Jews they patronized, a mixture of exploitation, oppression, and socializing, was also found in Anhalt. Thus, permission was given to build a synagogue in the famous gardens of Woerlitz, and a Jewish wedding was held at the palace. Anhalt Jewry played an important role in the Enlightenment ( ) and acceptance of German culture. Moves toward Jewish emancipation were initiated in the community of Dessau early in the 19th century. In 1804 the "body" tax levied on Jews was abolished in Anhalt, and Jews were required from 1810 to adopt surnames. Full political rights were granted in 1867. In 1831 the civil authorities appointed chief rabbi of Anhalt, contributing half of his salary. Prominent among Anhalt Jews were the philosophers Hermann Heyman Steinthal , the historian Isaac Marcus *Jost , the theologian Ludwig , and the mathematician Ephraim Solomon Unger. The Jewish population, numbering 3,000 in 1830, decreased to 1,140 by 1925. The synagogues of Anhalt were burned in November 1938; the 1,000 Jews still living there were murdered during World War II. E. Walter, "Die Rechtsstellung der israelitischen Kultusgemeinden in Anhalt" (Dissertation, Halle-Wittenberg, 1934); German Jewry (Wiener Library Catalogue, Series no. 3, 1958), 35; M. Freudenthal, Aus der Heimat M. Mendelssohns (1900), passim. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: B. Bugaiski (ed.), Geschichte juedischer Gemeinden in Sachsen-Anhalt (1997); J. Dick (ed.), Wegweiser durch das juedische Sachsen-Anhalt (1998).
El-11 Franklin's Bell (Lightning Warning Device) Published: Tuesday 14 March 2006 - Updated: Thursday 31 March 2011 To demonstrate Benjamin Franklin's lightning warning device. - Van de Graaff generator - Franklin's bell apparatus (as in diagram) Click on pictures to enlarge. The bell apparatus is placed beneath the Van de Graaff dome. Starting the generator simulates a storm passing overhead. The high voltage present rings the bells.
We may now treasure what Italian migrants gave white Australia, but the relationship was fraught from the get-go. Over the next few months, we will be confronted with a number of military commemorations. In October there will be the 75th anniversary of Hellfire Pass and the Thai Burma Railway of WWII; a month later, the centenary of the First World War Armistice. 2018 is the year for war remembrances. For some reason though, I haven’t heard the Minister for Defence pay tribute to the Italians who were forcibly deported from Australia in 1918 under orders from the Italian Consul-General and at the point of an Australian gun. Nevertheless, there were hundreds of them, and they served at the front during the last, most dangerous months of the First World War, despite the fact that Australians had just voted against forcing men to fight in the war. But apparently, that didn’t matter for aliens. Let me explain. Before WWI, most Australians weren’t too fond of Italians. They were called “the Chinese of Europe”, “knife wielding mafia agents”, and especially the unions were very much against their presence. Unions were afraid that employers would take advantage of the (often unorganised) Italians and would give them jobs that were lesser paid, so forcing out white Australians. Nevertheless, in 1911 there were 6,719 Italians in Australia, 5,543 of them young men. They were mainly working in the fishing industries in South and Western Australia, on the cane fields in Queensland and in mining in NSW, Broken Hill in particular. Then, after the Italo-Turkish war of 1911 and 1912, more Italians came, and in 1914 there were over 10,000 of them living in Australia. Although they were European, they were not considered white, so often they had to do the Dictation Test that was part of the White Australia Policy. But until the war broke out there weren’t enough people to work in the industries, so border officials regularly turned a blind eye. That didn’t mean the Italians were welcomed. A 1904 Royal Commission on the employment of foreigners on the goldfields had decried their “unclean habits”. And in 1913 the Sugar Cultivation Act came into effect in Queensland, which said you could only work in the sugar cane industry if you could speak English and were white. Similar Acts were quickly also introduced for the fishing and mining industries in South Australia. Then the war broke out in 1914 and a few things happened almost at the same time. Especially in Broken Hill, big mining contracts that had been agreed with Germany were cancelled. Some smaller mines closed, others started working with half their workers. People were now squeezed and took it out on their Italian colleagues. From 1916 onwards, the Italians became part of the War Precautions (Alien Registration) Regulations. This meant that they were forced to report at the local police station on a regular basis and had to keep the authorities up to date of their whereabouts. The rules also said that their wives were now also aliens, even if they had been born in Australia. So were their children. But in a way they were lucky. From the start of the war, German-Australians were picked up and interned in prisoner-of-war camps, to be deported at the end of the war. Italy had been neutral at the start of the conflict and that made Australians suspicious. Only when the country chose the side of the allies in 1915 were the Italians in Australia (many of whom had been naturalised) more or less accepted as fellow-travellers – in Broken Hill especially, because here the Italian miners had been active members of the Amalgamated Miners Association. Broken Hill was frontier country. Isolated, insulated, and heavily unionised. That was necessary, too, because conditions in the mines were atrocious, with hundreds of men dying underground. For example, in 1913 alone 29 people were killed. They were not allowed to see their wives and children before they were deported, to serve at the front. A lot of them disappeared there, never to be heard from again. So Broken Hill didn’t mind its Italian brothers too much, although even here the unions were quick to make sure Australian workers had preference in filling the few remaining jobs available. In Canberra, the Italians had become a difficult dilemma as well. Their Consul-General, Emilio Eles, had told the Australian Minister for Defence that he didn’t want his countrymen to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. He wanted to keep them in his back pocket, so to speak, for when the situation in Italy would turn really bad. Then he could help his country, he thought, by sending the Italian-Australians home to fight. This really annoyed Prime Minister Billy Hughes. He had serious trouble getting Australians to sign up to fight and he had heard that one of the reasons men weren’t enlisting was because they were afraid that the Italians would take their jobs (and their wives) the second they embarked on a ship to the European war theatre. So the Italians were in Hughes’ way. And that became even more of a problem when the Australians voted against conscription in two subsequent referenda. At the start of 1918, the Italian Consul-General came to Hughes’ aid. He told him that the Italian government wanted to repatriate the Italians who lived in Australia, and asked Hughes if he could help him round up the men. The PM was delighted and offered the use of the AIF to arrest them, guard them at detention camps and deport them to the Italian front. Now something interesting happened. Although the Australians had not been fond of the Italians, especially the labour movement was afraid that forcibly conscripting the Italians would mean that Hughes was getting ready to do the same to Australians – even though they had voted “no” in the two referenda. This was just after the Great Strike, where Australians had proven that they were sick of the war. Sick of the lack of food, sick of the politicians ignoring them, sick of the censorship, sick of the fact that Hughes had a large extra contingent of police and military to spy on protesters and beat them up or arrest them. Particularly for the unions and the Labor Party, the treatment of the Italians felt like the thin edge of the wedge: “Italians deported, Australians next”, one of the newspaper headlines read, and that was the fear of a lot of people. So in 1918 union members went on strike. There were protest meetings, and flyers and leaflets were printed and handed out in large numbers. The International Workers of the World wrote a letter to the Italian Consul-General, calling what was happening “undemocratic”. There was an Italian female deputation to the PM, and several Labor members of Parliament protested, although their speeches were censored in Hansard. In the mean time, the Italian Consul-General, accompanied by the AIF, was touring the country, rounding up Italians, often at gunpoint. He had been given the names of the men through the Alien Registration Act, and Hughes helped him out some more by censoring any opposition to what was happening. All men born between 1874 and 1899 were called up, but by May 1918 only a handful had stepped forward. Now the Consul-General felt forced to let them know that they would be considered “guilty of desertion” if they didn’t turn up, at risk of six years’ gaol. And he warned them that even men who had been naturalised, and were therefore officially British subjects (there was no Australian citizenship yet), were also required to travel to the front. Also on The Big Smoke - When white Australians fought against the Maori for control of their land - Australia, our land girt by official racism? In Broken Hill, many Italians escaped, assisted by the Labor Member for Sturt, Percy Brookfield, who felt they should not be “shanghaied out of Australia and into the trenches”. A colleague, James Mathews, the Labor Member for Melbourne Ports, described the police raids on Italian clubs as “a system of terrorism…a disgrace to us”. And William Finlayson, the Labor Member for Brisbane, angrily told Parliament of seeing Italians “who had travelled all night from Broken Hill in unlighted carriages and under military escort, being lined up on the platform and marched off under armed escort to be deported later on for military service overseas”. He thought only the worst insult was in order here: it was, he said, “a sight that might be expected in Prussia”, and he warned that “if the policy of compulsory seizure and deportation can be applied to Italian citizens, then the same violence may be perpetrated on other citizens”. The local Labor Member for Broken Hill, Michael Considine, who had been a miner and active union member himself, also tried to stop the deportations from happening. But to no avail. On the night of the 22nd of May, a large contingent of police and military dragged Italian men in Broken Hill out of their houses and from their workplaces. They were not allowed to see their wives and children before they were put on a train to Adelaide, where they were locked up in a camp at Broadmeadows and not long after, deported, to serve at the front. A lot of them disappeared there, never to be heard from again. Their wives and children didn’t know whether they were still alive, and had to be kept from starving by the unions. Not long after, the war was over, and soon the short-lived solidarity was over. In the mid-1920s, sugar produced by Italian farmers in Queensland was called “black sugar”, and the union imposed a boycott on the transportation and crushing of sugarcane grown by Italians. When the Melba Opera Company was rumoured to want to engage a group of Italian singers, the Actors Federation protested and got its way. For a while there, racism had taken a backseat. Now, White Australia was back with a vengeance.
Seasonal Health Concerns Through rain, snow, sleet or 90-degree temperatures, something else is delivered to our homes as regularly as the mail: seasonal health hazards that affect the family dog. Depending upon the time of year, your dog is likely to suffer from certain medical problems. The winter months bring exposure to the cold weather, dangerous plants -- like poinsettias -- and potentially hazardous foods, such as chocolate. On the other hand, from late spring through early fall, fleas, ticks and other parasites attack. Here's how you can make sure your mental calendar is on the alert for your pup's seasonal health issues: Avoid long-term exposure to the elements Dogs left in freezing temperatures for too long can develop frostbite in their ears and paws. How much exposure they can take depends on the breed -- hairless or small dogs can succumb to cold weather in minutes, while a thick-coat breed may be able to sleep in the snow, Peterson says. You can help by trimming the fur around your dog's pads so that ice and snow won't stick and clump. You can also towel off your dog's feet so that they dry quicker. Also, consider investing in an ointment to keep pads from cracking. During summer, your dog should not be left in the car when temperatures rise above about 70 degrees. Be careful when taking your pet for a walk on asphalt or the beach in high temperatures. Touch the surface yourself to make sure it won't burn the dog's paws. Ready yourself for allergies and pests in the spring and summer When you start sneezing because plants are blooming, be aware that your canine companion may be an allergy sufferer, too. "Dogs can develop allergies to the same things people can, so seasonal pollens are common causes," Beaver says. Some clues: your dog may start to scratch, lick or bite its body. Or it may shake its head frequently or rub its snout along the carpet. Treatments include allergy medications and baths with shampoos that contain soothing oatmeal and/or aloe vera. Flea allergies are among the most common in dogs, particularly in summer when fleas are most active. Also active in the summer are ticks, which can cause illnesses, such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Fortunately, flea and tick medications are available to prevent infestations. Consult your veterinarian for advice. Watch what your dog eats during holidays You may need to avoid certain foods during Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa or other seasonal celebrations. Your dog's diet also should be monitored. "Dogs often get into very fatty foods like gravy, turkey fat, etc. and can develop pancreatitis," says Dr. Bonnie V. Beaver, BS, DVM, MS, DACVB, who teaches in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences at Texas A&M University. This inflammation of the pancreas, a gland behind the stomach that helps with digestion, can result in vomiting in mild cases or it can be life threatening. Beaver says you should also be aware that some holiday foods that you might cherish may be poisonous to dogs. These questionable foods include chocolate, macadamia nuts, raisins and grapes. Deck the halls -- with limitations When breaking out the icicle lights and plastic Santa, be aware that some holiday decorations are harmful to pets. "People need to look at what their decorations are throughout the house," says Lisa Peterson, spokesman for the American Kennel Club. "Are they within the dog's reach?" Dogs will zone in on new decorations. Poinsettias, mistletoe, holly and other plants can be poisonous and/or harmful to dogs, Peterson says. But you also need to watch out for the Christmas tree. Don't let them drink the water, which may contain additives or plant foods. And avoid low-lying decorations -- particularly glass -- which may look like a chew toy to a curious pup. See your vet for checkups Every pet should have a check-up at least once a year. "As they get older, the frequency should increase to twice a year and be more intense, such as monitoring blood work," Beaver recommends. During a checkup, you and your veterinarian can discuss preventative care, such as vaccinations against infectious diseases (such as rabies and distemper), or medications to fight flea infestations and heartworm. Heartworm is a parasitic roundworm spread to dogs through mosquito bites. In the Sun Belt, dogs need to be given medication year-round; time it for the first of the month or put a sticker on your calendar as a reminder. In Northern climates, at an annual spring check-up, dogs can be tested for heartworm and started on a seasonal dosage of medication.
Yikes! If you have been to the grocery store lately, surely you have noticed the rising food prices. Up and down the aisles, prices are soaring for basic staple foods such as meat, milk, fruits and vegetables. The U. S. Department of Agriculture estimates that retail food prices will rise as much as 3.5 percent this year, the largest annual increase in three years. Even with this increase, it’s still possible to feed your family healthy meals without breaking the bank. Below are some tips to help you save money by getting organized and creative! The more you plan, the more likely you are to succeed. So before you head to the store, be sure to make a game-plan. Each week, plan your meals for the next 7 days by actually sitting down and deciding what you’ll have for dinner each night. This will: - simplify and limit what you buy at the grocery store - force you to check your pantry and refrigerator to see what you already have on hand so you don’t overbuy - make you more likely to check in-store specials to reduce your cost - reduce unnecessary stress of figuring out meals daily - decrease the likelihood of eating out, which often means spending more money, and eating higher calorie foods. - Buy fruits and vegetables in season. They’ll be less costly and taste better, too. Fresh produce is good, but frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are also nutritious and often cost less. Keep in mind frozen and canned produce are picked and processed at their nutritional peak. - Check the unit price tag to calculate possible savings of buying different brands or quantities. The unit price is displayed on the shelf below each food product. It can be a very useful tool in comparing different brands and sizes of the same brands to know which is the better buy. - If you have the freezer space and shelf space in your kitchen, buy in bulk. Purchasing large sizes of frozen vegetables, potatoes, and meat items can save you money. - Skip convenience foods. Walk right past anything that has already had some type of pre-cooking or preparation done – frozen dinners, instant oatmeal, instant rice, and pre-cut vegetables are some examples. These items will always cost you more than what you can make from scratch. - Buy beans! Whether dried or canned, beans are one of the most economical sources of protein and fiber you can find. They also have no cholesterol and are low in calories. - You can save money on milk if you buy the largest size you can use within 4 to 5 days. Buying milk in smaller sizes such as quarts or pints will cost more than buying a gallon or half-gallon size. Another money saver is buying instant nonfat dry milk. You can extend the quantity of milk by mixing powdered milk half and half with fresh milk for drinking. - When buying cereal, put down the sugar-coated cereals and opt for whole-grains. Whole-grain cereals will give you more of a nutritional bang for your buck. Store brand cereals that are often identical to higher-priced name-brand cereals will also cost less. - Check the dates on food. “Sell-by” tells the store how long to display the product for sale. “Best if used by” is a recommendation for best flavor or quality – not a purchase or safety date. “Use-by” is the date recommended for the use of the food item while at its best quality. Keep it Simple! - Choose one day during the week when you have extra time to make (or grill) large batches of food that can be frozen into smaller amounts to be used throughout the week. These can easily be thawed or defrosted in the microwave on busy days, preventing you from spending money on eating out. All you have to add are side dishes such as fruits, vegetables or grains to complete the meal. - Eat any leftover food for lunch or dinner the following day, or incorporate them into casseroles, soups or salads. - If you have the time, sun and space, plant a garden. Whatever food you grow yourself will be an education for the family, have a greater, fresher nutritional value and cost less than what you will pay for it at the grocery store. - COOK! Make as much food as you can from scratch. Doing so costs less than the same item already made at the grocery store – and it usually tastes better too! Remember, it pays to be organized. The better prepared you are, the more time and money you will save while feeding your family healthy, fresh-tasting, delicious meals!!
Carinthia and Lower Austria 2013 State elections were held in the Austrian states of Carinthia (Kärnten) and Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) were held on March 3, 2013. The Carinthian state legislature (Landtag) has 36 members elected to five-year terms in four constituencies through proportional representation with a 5% threshold. The Lower Austrian landtag has 56 members elected to five-year terms in 21 constituencies corresponding to the state’s district and cities, the threshold is 4%. In Carinthia and Lower Austria (along with Burgenland, Styria and Upper Austria), the state government is formed on the basis of the Austrian proporz principle, where each party which won over 10% of the vote receives seat(s) in the state government in proportion to their share of the vote. Although all major parties govern in coalition and hold seats in the state government, there may be unofficial working agreements/unofficial coalitions between parties in the state government to form an absolute majority in the legislature and government, leaving a smaller government party as a de facto ‘opposition’. The state governor (Landeshauptmann) is elected by the state legislature, and often comes from the largest party in the legislature and government. Carinthia is a largely alpine state in southern Austria, the state capital is Klagenfurt. Historically, the state’s main industries included agriculture, forestry, manufacturing and mining. Today, the state’s economy is more reliant on tourism, electronics (Philips and Seimens have large operations in the state) and engineering. Carinthia has the second largest Protestant population in Austria after Burgenland, representing 10% of the population. Some rural areas in the state resisted the Counter-Reformation which nearly wiped out Protestantism in modern-day Austria. Of lesser demographic significance but of far more political significance is a small Slovene minority in Carinthia, concentrated in the south of the state between the Karavanke mountain range (the modern border between Austria and Slovenia) and the Drava river. In the nineteenth century, about a third of the Carinthian population was Slovene; in the 2001 census, the official figure was 3% (Slovene minority groups claim that the data is flawed and underestimates the minority). Events which took place in Carinthia immediately after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 have had a major effect on the state’s contemporary political tradition. In 1918, Yugoslavian troops invaded the predominantly Slovene region between the Karavanke and the Drava river, forcing the German-Austrian state government to flee Klagenfurt. After armed clashes between both sides, the Entente powers stepped in to arbitrate a ceasefire. The parties involved agreed to hold a plebiscite in the predominantly Slovene region of the state to resolve the issue. In a 1920 plebiscite in the majority-Slovene ‘Zone A’, 59% of voters chose to remain part of Austria – a significant number of Slovenes, particularly those in the Klagenfurt basin, voted to remain with Austria rather than join the new Yugoslav state. Despite the resolution of the issue, the armed conflict between Carinthia and Yugoslavia in 1920 (Kärntner Abwehrkampf) has played a major role in forming the state’s contemporary political traditions, by breeding pan-German nationalism and anti-Slavic/anti-Yugoslavian sentiment. Since the days of the Austrian First Republic in the interwar period, Carinthia has been a hotbed of (pan-German) nationalism. During the interwar years, the pan-German national liberal Landbund, which had a strong base with Protestant farmers, often placed second with decent results. However, during the interwar era and during most of the post-war era, Carinthian politics were dominated by the Social Democrats (SPÖ), strong in the state partly because of its industrial and blue-collar nature. The SPÖ won the most votes in every state election between 1945 and 1999, and even won over 50% of the vote between 1970 and 1984. The longtime SPÖ Governor, Leopold Wagner (1974-1988), was very popular with Carinthian voters because of his populist and nationalist (often anti-Slovene) positions, which often put him at odds with the federal leadership of the SPÖ. However, throughout the post-war era, the Freedom Party (FPÖ) – an erstwhile national liberal party (which welcomed a lot of former Nazis) which has since become Austria’s leading far-right party – was much stronger in Carinthia than in the rest of the country. It always won double digits (in the low 10s between the mid-1960s and 1984). Since the 1980s, Carinthia has gained national and even international prominence as the stronghold of the Austrian far-right. Jörg Haider, associated with the FPÖ’s right-wing/pan-German camp, gained control of the Carinthian FPÖ in 1983 and went on to gain control of the federal FPÖ in 1986 (defeating Norbert Steger, who had been the party’s unsuccessful liberal leader since 1980). Under Haider’s leadership, the FPÖ shifted rightwards, away from its erstwhile classical liberalism and emphasizing nationalist, Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant positions. This new rhetoric propelled the FPÖ to new heights, beginning in Carinthia. Under Haider, the party increased its support from 11.7% to 16% in the 1984 state election. In the 1989 election, the FPÖ won 29% in Carinthia and became the second largest party ahead of the conservative ÖVP. Haider was able to become governor of Carinthia through a deal with the ÖVP. He was, however, forced to resign in 1991 after his controversial appraisal of the Third Reich’s “employment policies”. In 1994, the Carinthian FPÖ increased its support to 33%. In 1999, the party placed first with 42% (against 33% for the SPÖ) and Jörg Haider became governor again. At the same time, the FPÖ reached its peak federally (second placing with 27% in the 1999 federal election) and entered the federal government in a coalition with the centre-right ÖVP. Federally, cabinet participation proved unpopular with the FPÖ’s party and caused great strains on the party. In the 2002 federal election, its support dropped to 10% although it remained in government thereafter. In 2004, Jörg Haider won another term as governor in his Carinthian stronghold, with the FPÖ winning 42.5% against 38% for the SPÖ (the ÖVP’s support collapsed to barely 11.6%). However, in 2005, after an internal row in the FPÖ, Haider left the party and founded his own party – the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ), as an ostensibly more moderate version of the FPÖ. The FPÖ, now led by Heinz-Christian Strache, won the battle for control of the far-right against the BZÖ – the former won 11% against only 4% for the latter in the 2006 federal election. However, in the 2008 federal election, Haider took the helm of the BZÖ’s federal list and led the party to 11% nationally (the FPÖ won 17.5%) – and 39% in Carinthia. Haider was killed in a car accident 13 days after the election, in October 2008. Running on a platform of upholding Haider’s legacy, his successor as governor, Gerhard Dörfler, won an unprecedented landslide victory for the BZÖ in the 2009 state election. The BZÖ won 44.9% against 28.7% for the SPÖ. In December 2009, as the federal BZÖ under Josef Bucher took a ‘hard liberal’ turn and adopted very liberal on economic and fiscal issues (while remaining Eurosceptic), the state BZÖ under governor Dörfler and state leader Uwe Scheuch split from the federal BZÖ and formed an alliance with the federal FPÖ. The state BZÖ became the Freedom Party in Carinthia (FPK), associated to the FPÖ as a ‘sister party’ like the CDU/CSU relationship in Germany. The federal BZÖ under Bucher later refounded their own state branch, led by Bucher. Two events marked Austrian (and Carinthian) politics in 2012: corruption scandals and the emergence of a new political party. At the federal level, all major parties – the governing SPÖ and ÖVP but also FPÖ – have been hit by corruption scandals which have eroded their support and credibility. The FPÖ’s support declined from about 27% in spring 2012 to 20-23% today, in part because of corruption scandals involving party members (Martin Graf, a president of the federal legislature, allegedly swindled an old woman). These corruption scandals, some of which date back to the ÖVP-FPÖ government, include cases of bribery, kickbacks, money laundering and trading insider information. In Carinthia, corruption scandals led to early elections this year. Senior FPK, ÖVP and SPÖ state politicians – including Governor Dörfler, former FPK leader Uwe Scheuch and a former ÖVP leader – were named in various corruption cases. Scheuch was forced to resign as FPK leader in August 2012 following revelations that he had partook in a kickback scheme to profit from the sale of state-owned bank Hypo Alpe Adria in 2007. Dörfler is cited in a case involving the use of public funds by the BZÖ state government to send out a large mailer to all Carinthian households during the 2009 election These corruption scandals have facilitated the rise of a new party in Austrian politics. Frank Stronach, an Austrian-born businessman who moved to Canada when he was only 18 and later founded Magna International, a hugely successful Canadian auto parts company. Stronach ran for the Canadian Liberal Party in the 1988 federal election (but was defeated) and his daughter Belinda served as a Conservative (later Liberal) MP in the Canadian House of Commons. Frank Stronach returned to Austria in 2011-2012 (where he always maintained a foothold and local notoriety) and entered politics last year with the creation of a new party, ‘Team Stronach’. Stronach’s new party has a right-wing, pro-business platform – it supports a 25% flat tax and other pro-business policies (critics contend he wishes to dismantle Austria’s popular welfare state). Stronach wants Austria to leave the Euro and return to the schilling, but on other European issues it tends to be more favourable to European integration. Unlike the far-right, Stronach is not anti-immigration. However, with his right-wing, mildly Eurosceptic and anti-corruption image, Stronach has been able to eat into the far-right’s reservoir of protest voters, left a bit disillusioned following FPÖ/FPK corruption scandals. Stronach’s party recruited cadres from the BZÖ, SPÖ and ÖVP. Team Stronach’s top candidate in Carinthia was Gerhard Köfer, a former SPÖ MP. These two state elections were Stronach’s first electoral test before the federal elections in the fall. The Carinthian electoral campaign was marked by the corruption scandals which hurt the FPK but also the SPÖ and ÖVP – the only party with seats in the legislature who were ‘spared’ were the Greens. The campaign also saw a bitter battle between the FPK and Bucher’s BZÖ. The BZÖ ran a notably overwrought and overdramatic campaign, likening FPK governor Dörfler to past dictators (Ceausescu, Ben Ali, Mubarak) calling on voters to “liberate” Carinthia from the corrupt (and awfully dictatorial?!) FPK. The ad concludes in style with the famous image of US soliders raising the flag on Iwo Jima during World War II – except that they’re raising the Carinthian flag in the ad. Turnout was 75.15%, down 6.6% since the 2009 election. The final results are as follows: SPÖ 37.13% (+8.39%) winning 14 seats (+3) > 3 ministers FPK 16.85% (-28.04%) winning 6 seats (-11) > 1 minister ÖVP 14.40% (-2.43%) winning 5 seats (-1) > 1 minister Greens 12.10% (+6.95%) winning 5 seats (+2) > 1 minister Team Stronach 11.18% (+11.18%) winning 4 seats (+4) > 1 minister BZÖ 6.40% (+6.4%) winning 2 seats (+2) Pirates 0.99% (+0.99%) winning 0 seats (nc) Others 0.95% (-3.44%) winning 0 seats (nc) It was a monumental for the entire far-right edifice and the powerful FPÖ/BZÖ/FPK machine which Jörg Haider had masterfully built since 1983. The FPK, heir to the state BZÖ which had won a big landslide (with 45%) in the 2009 election running on Haider’s legacy, was trounced at the polls and won only 16.9% of the vote. The 2009 election had come as a major surprise since all polling had shown a close race between the BZÖ and the SPÖ; many felt that the polls would be wrong again this year and that the FPK could place first again – the last batch of polls had shown the SPÖ ahead (31-32%) but the FPK not very far behind (25-26%). The polls were indeed wrong again. Except that they were wrong in the other direction: badly overestimating the FPK at the SPÖ’s expense. The SPÖ came out much stronger than originally predicted, with 37% of the vote – up over 8 points on its disastrous 2009 result – and, for the moment, regaining political domiance in its old Carinthian stronghold. Furthermore, with the addition of the Greens’ 5 seats, the left (SPÖ-Greens) have an absolute majority (19 seats). They will likely form an unofficial coalition with the ÖVP, which would give them a two-thirds majority and the ability to do away with the Proporz system. It was an unmitigated and unprecedented disaster for the FPK and the whole Austrian far-right. The FPÖ’s national troubles were, it is true, were worsened in the state by the corruption scandal which has badly hurt the FPK. The result was a shellacking for the FPK, which lost 28 points – the largest loss for the far-right in any Austrian election – compared to the BZÖ’s 2009 landslide victory. Corruption was one of the biggest issues in the campaign. Indeed, according to SORA’s exit poll, 73% of voters said that ‘fighting corruption’ was very important, making it the second most important issue behind jobs. The Greens – the only party in the old legislature which did not get tied up with the corruption scandals – and Stronach were those who gained the most from the focus on corruption. The BZÖ’s hilariously overdramatic campaign focusing on corruption likely helped them save face, taking 6% and 2 seats (they missed out on a third seat, which went to the Greens, by one vote on the final count). The ÖVP did not do all that well, but it was a decent result for the party. The ÖVP had been hit particularly badly by the corruption scandal, to the point that the ÖVP’s leader in the state was forced to resign and was replaced by a new leadership which managed to clean up the ÖVP’s image a bit before the elections. Stronach won 11.2%, more or less in line with what the polls had predicted. Should this be considered a good start for a new party, or should it be seen as a sign that Stronach will not be more than a footnote in Austrian politics? The question seems to have divided observers and commentators. It is clear that Stronach will not win a national breakthrough this year, unless something important happens; if Stronach was expecting to revolutionize the country’s politics and score a phenomenal breakthrough, he was clearly wrong. Austrian politics are relatively stable, political ascension take place over time and not overnight, and even if there’s much discontent in Austrian politics the country is not in a state of crisis which would favour the phenomenal emergence of a brand new party (unlike in Italy). Similarly, if observers and commentators were looking on Stronach to be a top contender in this year’s federal election with a strong chance at actually winning, they were mistaken – it was clear from the beginning that while Stronach had (and still has) much potential, he would not be able to rival the dominant ‘SPÖVP’ this year. Therefore, there would be reason for Stronach and his supporters to be pleased: 11% is a good result for a new party. SORA’s exit poll revealed interesting information. Only 29% of the BZÖ’s 2009 voters backed the FPK this year, with 23% not voting at all (explaining the huge decrease in turnout) and 22% voting for the SPÖ – not all that surprising in Austrian politics given how the SPÖ and far-right fight for the same blue-collar electorate. 11% of the BZÖ’s 2009 voters turned to Stronach this year; about half of Stronach’s voters voted for the BZÖ in 2009. The Stronach party also gained some substantial support from non-voters (21% of its voters did not vote in 2009) and the SPÖ (18% of its voters supported the SPÖ in 2009). The Greens, according to SORA, gained ground by taking votes from basically every corner. Only 29% of its voters this year had voted for them in 2009 – 19% had supported the BZÖ in 2009, 18% had backed the ÖVP and 16% voted for the SPÖ. These gains compensated for fairly substantial loses to other parties – while 62% of those who voted Green in 2009 did so again this year, SORA reports that 19% voted for the SPÖ instead, another 19% did not vote this year and 10% (?!) even voted for the FPK on Sunday. According to the exit polling, the average Stronach voters seems to be a young (under 30) or middle-aged male, who probably voted for the far-right parties in the last state election. For a party led by an 80 year old man, Stronach has turned out surprisingly popular with younger males: he won 20% of the under 30 vote, and with males under 30 he was only one point behind the SPÖ for first place (at 23%). Stronach’s support declined with age: 11% with those aged 30 to 59, only 6% with those over 60. This demographic profile is not dissimilar to that of the far-right: the FPÖ has tended to do very well with younger males, and less so with women or seniors. The major difference between Stronach and the far-right seems to be that while the far-right does very well with blue-collar workers (32% for the FPK vs 36% for the SPÖ) and poorly with pensioners or white-collar employees, Stronach’s support is not markedly stronger with any social category (although he does not do well with pensioners) – he polled 13% with blue and white-collar voters alike. It can be inferred that Stronach gained a lot of votes from young voters (primarily males) who had flirted with or voted for the far-right in the past. Unsurprisingly, younger voters are always more likely to form the ‘protest vote’ element of any far-right party than the ‘ideological hardcore’ element. ‘Control of maladministration’ was the most common reason given by Green and Stronach voters to explain their vote. 59% of Green voters and 69% of Stronach voters said that controlling maladministration (a reference to corruption, obviously) was a factor in their vote; in both cases, this reason placed far ahead of all other explanations and it also placed much higher than with other parties’ voters. You can explore the results by municipality on a map here. The SPÖ did well in Klagenfurt, Villach and Wolfsberg – the state’s largest cities – although it did not do as well in Spittal. The FPK did very poorly in both Klagenfurt and Villach, falling third behind the Greens in both cities. In general, the SPÖ did best in the south and east of the state, particularly in towns with a large Slovene minority population or in old blue-collar towns. The FPK and the far-right performs best in small mountainous communities in the north and west. Lower Austria is a large state located in northeastern Austria. It is the second most populous state in the country after Vienna, a city-state which is entirely surrounded by Lower Austria. The state is economically and politically diverse; Vienna’s influence is very perceptible in the areas surrounding the city, and the region located directly south of the capital, the Industrieviertel, is an urbanized and industrialized region. One of the largest cities in that region is Wiener Neustadt. The area around the state’s administrative capital, Sankt Pölten, is also rather industrial. Outside a few isolated industrial centres, the rest of the state has historically been a predominantly agricultural region – with a large wine growing industry. At the federal level, Lower Austria tends to be a closely disputed between the SPÖ – which does very well in the Industrieviertel, Wiener Neustadt, Viennese commuterland to the northeast of the city and Sankt Pölten – and the conservative ÖVP – which polls extremely well in the more rural Catholic areas in the western half of the state. However, at the state level, Lower Austria has been thoroughly dominated by the ÖVP since 1945 – it has won the most votes in every state election and has always held the governor’s office. Its worst result in a state election was 44% (in 1993). Since 1992, the governor of Lower Austria has been the ÖVP’s Erwin Pröll. Pröll has governed with an ÖVP absolute majority since the 2003. In the 2008 election, the ÖVP won 54% against 25.5% for the SPÖ, marking the worst result for the SPÖ. Erwin Pröll has remained exceptionally popular throughout his 20 years in office, and is rather influential at the national level. His nephew Josef Pröll was the leader of the national ÖVP and Vice-Chancellor between 2008 and 2011. By virtue of his absolute majorities, Erwin Pröll is also a very powerful governor who has managed to run Lower Austria as his own personal fiefdom, the detriment of his ‘allies’ in the state’s Proporz government. His opponents claim that he is a quasi-dictator and intolerant of criticism. A fifth successive term in office for Erwin Pröll was never in jeopardy in this election. The SPÖ is weak and increasingly irrelevant. The FPÖ had a prominent but poor top candidate, 2010 presidential candidate Barbara Rosenkranz. Team Stronach’s top candidate was Frank Stronach himself. Turnout was 70.75%, down 3.76%. ÖVP 50.80% (-3.59%) winning 30 seats (-1) > 6 ministers SPÖ 21.59% (-3.92%) winning 13 seats (-2) > 2 ministers Team Stronach 9.83% (+9.83%) winning 5 seats (+5) > 1 minister FPÖ 8.21% (-2.26%) winning 4 seats (-2) Greens 8.04% (+1.13%) winning 4 seats (nc) Others 1.53% (-1.20%) winning 0 seats (nc) In contrast to Carinthia, Lower Austria’s election was unremarkable and boring. It was the customary landslide for Governor Erwin Pröll’s ÖVP and the increasingly customary shellacking for the SPÖ (which won its worst result ever again). The FPÖ, hurt by its poor standing nationally and its poor local candidate, lost fairly substantially. In the 2008 election, it had recovered a bit (10.5%) from the drubbing it suffered in the 2003 state election (4.5%) but still fell short of its record, 16.1% of the vote in the 1999 state election. The Greens, meanwhile, won their best result to date. Team Stronach did not do as well in Lower Austria as it did in Carinthia (this was not a surprise), likely because it was not boosted by corruption scandals like those which had destroyed the credibility of the Carinthian far-right. The exit polls were rather boring as well. In Lower Austria, most of Stronach’s vote came from those who had not voted in 2008 (39% of his 2013 electorate) but also from the FPÖ (21% of his electorate), ÖVP (18%) and SPÖ (14%). The FPÖ held only 43% of its 2009 voters, 21% voted ÖVP and 19% went to Stronach. The drop in turnout seems, mostly, due to 2008 SPÖ and Green voters not showing up. Unlike in Carinthia, the Stronach vote did not show any correlation with youth; but it did show a very strong gender gap: 14% with men and only 5% with women. It performed best with young males but also males over 60. You can explore the results by municipality here. The SPÖ only won a handful of towns, and the ÖVP basically won every major city in the state – even traditional left-wing strongholds such as Sankt Pölten or Wiener Neustadt. Stronach did particularly in Viennese commuterland, which is where he lives. The next elections in Austria, before the federal elections on September 29, will be early state elections in Salzburg (in May).
By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent SEATTLE (Reuters) - For Joe Cohen, a GlaxoSmithKline research scientist who has spent 24 years trying to create the world's first malaria vaccine, Tuesday, October 18, 2011 goes down as a fabulous day. "There were many ups and downs, and moments over the years when we thought 'Can we do it? Should we continue? Or is it really just too tough?," he told Reuters, as data showing the success of his RTS,S vaccine were unveiled at an international conference on malaria. "But today I feel fabulous. This is a dream of any scientist -- to see your life's work actually translated into a medicine ... that can have this great impact on peoples' lives. How lucky am I?" Final stage clinical trial data on RTS,S, also known as Mosquirix, showed it halved the risk of African children getting malaria, making it likely to become the world's first successful vaccine against the deadly disease. While scientists say it is no "silver bullet" and will not end the mosquito-borne infection on its own, it is being hailed as a crucial weapon in the fight against malaria and one that could speed the path to eventual worldwide eradication. Malaria is caused by a parasite carried in the saliva of mosquitoes. It kills more than 780,000 people per year, most of them babies or very young children in Africa. Cohen's vaccine goes to work at the point when the parasite enters the human bloodstream after a mosquito bite. By stimulating an immune response, it can prevent the parasite from maturing and multiplying in the liver. Without that immune response, the parasite re-enters the bloodstream and infects red blood cells, leading to fever, body aches and, in some cases, death. Although Cohen's scientific work has been largely in Belgium, where he runs a GSK laboratory, the final-stage trials of RTS,S were conducted in Africa, where malaria hits hardest. With GSK working in partnership with the non-profit PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the trials became Africa's largest-ever medical experiment as the vaccine was tested in around 16,000 children across seven countries. Cohen said that if all goes to plan, RTS,S could be licensed and rolled out by 2015. As he looks back at the vaccine's long, slow development, the bearded 68-year-old molecular biologist laughs at how naive he was when he first agreed to take on the task. It was April 1, 1987 when his boss at the drug company, then called Smith, Kline & French, asked him to be head of the malaria vaccine research program, just after an early-stage experimental vaccine and failed a test. "Unfortunately, it was not a great success. Only one volunteer out of the several that were vaccinated was actually protected. So, after quite a bit of optimism, there was then quite a bit of soul searching," Cohen said. "I did not actually know much about malaria, apart from about the enormous medical burden it represented. But I felt I was taking on an enormous scientific challenge, and that was exciting for a relatively young scientist." Having come from academia and post-doctorate studies into what he said were "sometimes esoteric questions" of molecular biology, he was also attracted by the prospect of doing something "very meaningful" in terms of global health. Getting on for a quarter of a century later, Cohen said he had "never dreamed it would take this long." He was also careful to underline that this was a first step, as well as a world first. GSK, MVI and several other research groups and drug firms are already working on next generation vaccines and on other ways of making malaria shots they hope will better the roughly 50 percent success rate of RTS,S. "The work is not over, that is for sure," Cohen said. (Editing by Dan Lalor)
The New York City subway is full of secrets, from abandoned platforms to hidden tunnels. But there’s one secret about the subway that’s nearly impossible to scope out, even though it’s probably part of your daily commute. Did you know that numbered and lettered trains in New York City are different sizes? The reason has to do with the consolidation of the three railroad companies that once formed the MTA in the 1900s. Originally, the MTA consisted of three railroad companies: the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and the city-owned Independent Rapid Transit Railroad (IND). However, they were all taken over and consolidated by the City in 1940—are their sizes haven’t changed. The IRT, whose magnificent former powerhouse you can still see today, was a private organization managed by August Belmont. At the time, the City had an arrangement now called “Contract One,” in which the City kept the line’s ownership but delegated construction and operations to IRT. Construction on this subway started in 1900, with service beginning in 1904. The route followed the 4-5-6 train routes of today from City Hall to 42nd street, then verging west into the shuttle line we have today, with stops at Grand Central and Times (then “Longacre”) Square. Then, it turned north along the path of today’s 1-2-3 train lines until 145th street and Broadway. At the same time, a Bronx route was created and at first linked to the 3rd Avenue El, and finally to the subway in 1905. Three years later, the line was extended via “Contract Two” to Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. In addition, the IRT leased the Manhattan Railway elevated lines for 999 years through their operational contract with the City. The second company, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit (BMT) controlled the Brooklyn elevated lines starting in 1915. In 1913, the city began working on the “Dual Contracts,” which allowed it to build more lines operated under the IRT and BMT. The lines were completed around 1920, with the new Flushing and Astoria lines having trains operated by both the IRT and BMT. NYC Subway explains: “The Dual Contracts IRT lines were the Seventh Ave (south from Times Square) and Lexington Ave (north from Grand Central); the Jerome, White Plains Road and Pelham Bay Park branches in the Bronx, and the Brooklyn lines beyond Atlantic Ave. The BMT lines were the Broadway Subway and Nassau Street Subway in Manhattan, the 14th St.-Eastern District line from Manhattan to Brooklyn, and Fourth Ave., West End, and Culver lines in Brooklyn. Connections were also made to the company’s Sea Beach and Brighton Beach lines.” An existing remnant of the IRT subway. Image via Wikimedia Commons user Delaywaves Finally, the City established the Independent Subway (IND) in the 1920s as a way to create a subway that was “independent of manipulation by the IRT and BMT,” with the City’s Board of Transportation itself starting the operations. As the first subway system run by the city, the IND also had one elevated component over the Gowanus Canal. NYC Subway specifies: “The IND lines were the 8th Avenue and 6th Avenue trunk lines in Manhattan, the Queens Boulevard subway in Queens, the Concourse subway in the Bronx, the Fulton Street subway in Brooklyn, the Brooklyn/Queens Crosstown, and the line in Brooklyn via Smith/9th Sts. to Church Avenue. Certain IND lines underpinned existing IRT and BMT elevated lines with the intention of eventually replacing them.” Timeline of the IND’s opening dates. Image via Wikimedia Commons user SPUI In 1940, after the BMT and IRT went bankrupt, the City took them over. Most of the elevated lines were closed by then, and a gradual “unification” occurred, as shown by the creation of free transfer points between divisions in 1948, as well as a smaller number of points running between IND and BMT lines in 1954. For instance, the Chrystie Street connection linked the BMT’s Manhattan Bridge lines with the IND’s Sixth Avenue lines. In 1953, the state created the New York City Transit Authority, now the MTA New York City Transit, as a separate public organization to operate and manage all subway, bus, and trolleys owned by the city. Image via Wikimedia Commons user Adam E. Moreira On paper, the city no longer uses the names “IND, BMT, and IRT. This is because in 1967, these subways became the “A Division” (aka IRT lines), “B-1 Division” (BMT lines), and “B-2 Division” (IND lines). However, the occasional long time New Yorker or subway operator will occasionally use the term for the sake of nostalgia, or perhaps to show off their expertise. Today, BMT and IND trains are longer and wider than those from the IRT lines. Accordingly, a BMT/IND train also can’t fit into a tunnel made for IRT trains. However, an IRT train is able to fit into a BMT/IND tunnel, although it is not safe due to its narrower size. Here’s a list that matches current subway lines with their old rail companies (via NYC Subway). Notice that all the numbered trains were operated by IRT, and are thus narrower than lettered trains, which were operated under IND and BMT. - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Grand Central Shuttle: IRT - A: IND from 207th Street to the tunnel portal between Grant Avenue and 80th Street/Hudson Street. - B: IND from 205th Street to Broadway-Lafayette. BMT from the Manhattan Bridge to Coney Island. - C: IND from 168th Street to Euclid Ave. - D: IND from 205th Street to Broadway-Lafayette. BMT from the Manhattan Bridge to Coney Island. - E: IND from Van Wyck Blvd. to World Trade Center. - F: IND from 179th to Church Ave. tunnel portal. BMT from Ditmas Ave. to Coney Island. - G: IND along entire length. - J/Z: BMT from 121st St. to Broad Street. - L: BMT along entire length. - M: BMT along entire length. - N: BMT along entire length. - Q: IND from 47th-50th Streets to Broadway-Lafayette. BMT from Manhattan Bridge to Brighton Beach. - R: BMT from 60th Street Tunnel to 95th Street. - S (Franklin Shuttle): BMT along entire length. So there you have it. The trains from the different lines aren’t the same sizes. Although it’s a small secret compared to the many others the subway holds, it’s a fact that might be fun to ponder the next time you switch between lettered and numbered trains!
Development of Sponges from the Class Hexactinellida Schmidt, 1870 - Alexander V. EreskovskyAffiliated withDepartment of Embryology Biological Faculty, Saint-Petersburg State University Email author Representatives of the class Hexactinellida, commonly called glass sponges, are very variable in shape. They may be tubular, cup-shaped, lumpy, branching, or lobulate (color plate III); only encrusting forms are lacking. Hexactinellid sponges have silicate triaxial spicules or their derivatives. Typically, spicules are represented by hexactins, with three axes crossing at regular angles. A loss of one or more rays results in pentactins, tetractins (stauractins), triactins (tauactins), and diactins; rarely, monactins also occur (Fig. 2.1). The axial filament of the spicule resides in a quadrangular cavity. Spicules are divided into micro- and macroscleres; the latter, often fused together, form rigid skeletal lattices (Fig. 2.2). Dense spongin or nonspicular skeletons do not occur. Living tissues of glass sponges are syncytial and consist of the dermal and the atrial membrane, the internal trabecular reticulum enclosing cellular components of the sponge, and flagellated chambers (Figs. 24, 25). Separate nucleated cells, which are situated in syncytial pockets or capsules, may be connected by specialized contacts, porous plugs. Large eurypilous flagellated chambers are organized according to leuconoid type. All glass sponges are ovoviviparous, with the trichimella larva. - Development of Sponges from the Class Hexactinellida Schmidt, 1870 - Book Title - The Comparative Embryology of Sponges - Book Part - pp 37-46 - Print ISBN - Online ISBN - Springer Netherlands - Copyright Holder - Springer Science+Business Media B.V. - Additional Links - Industry Sectors - eBook Packages - Author Affiliations - 1. Department of Embryology Biological Faculty, Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia To view the rest of this content please follow the download PDF link above.
2 Physical Science Tutorials These Physical Science tutorials are written by experienced educators, all of whom also offer private tutoring lessons. Get the Physical Science help you need, whether through these tutorials or through private tutoring lessons. This document presents a step-by-step approach that you should find helpful in solving problems typically assigned in engineering and science courses. The approach is illustrated with a few examples. One of the most diagnostic properties of minerals is their hardness. This is determined by a minerals ability to scratch another rock, or on the other hand, a minerals ability to resist scratching. The softest minerals can be scratched with your fingernail, minerals a little harder can be scratched with a penny, minerals harder than…
To mark Halloween, NASA has released a spooky image of what it describes as a “ghostly cosmic hand.” It actually shows MSH 15-52, a cloud of energetic particles that resembles a human hand. Chandra first observed the pulsar PSR B1509-58 in 2001, with scientists quick to notice how its pulsar wind nebula (MSH 15-52) bore a striking resemblance to a part of the human body. Pulsar wind nebulae form from intense winds of particles and jets of matter flowing away from the poles of a pulsar, which is a highly magnetized and rapidly rotating collapsed star. The bright white spot near the base of the palm is the pulsar itself and is located around 16,000 light-years from Earth. NASA’s newest X-ray telescope, IXPE, has studied MSH 15-52 for just over two weeks, which is the longest period of time it’s spent observing any single object since its launch in December 2021. “The IXPE data gives us the first map of the magnetic field in the ‘hand’,” said Roger Romani of Stanford University in California, who led the study. “The charged particles producing the X-rays travel along the magnetic field, determining the basic shape of the nebula, like the bones do in a person’s hand.” Commenting on the research, co-author Josephine Wong, also of Stanford University, said: “We’re all familiar with X-rays as a diagnostic medical tool for humans. Here we’re using X-rays in a different way, but they are again revealing information that is otherwise hidden from us.” Astronomers are using X-ray images like this to find out more about how objects like this form in deep space. - NASA project turns images of space into music you can play - Spot the space station with this new NASA app - NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will soon make its first flyby of an asteroid - Meet the new NASA communications system that’s hitching a ride in today’s Psyche launch - NASA calls off Thursday’s launch of Psyche asteroid mission
such material could be provided at physicians' offices, which would also help facilitate provider-patient communication. Although the strengths of the educational programs of certain managed care organizations have been significantly enhanced, most such organizations have limited or suboptimum educational and outreach efforts in terms of emerging infections. Managed care organizations have the responsibility to educate providers regarding their critical role in accurate infectious disease reporting. Managed care organizations should invest in educational efforts on emerging infections and initiate partnerships with buyers to identify key educational program opportunities and increase the level of awareness of emerging infections beyond antimicrobial resistance. The workshop participants recognized that managed care organizations could have positive impacts on education efforts. The guidelines developed by AAHP for the participation of member plans in research and demonstration projects is one example of the way in which coordinated efforts to develop and implement guidelines have been successful. In addition, several plans have collaborated in their efforts to identify problems and change physician behavior, for example, in the prescribing of antibiotics. The access to large numbers of physicians, patients, and families through managed care could be useful in other education and outreach efforts. However, not all managed care organizations have the same capability to participate in educational and outreach programs. Continued action and investment by NIH and CDC will be important to broadening the base of cooperation. In contrast, several characteristics of managed care could have a negative effect on education and outreach efforts. Primarily, infectious diseases are often a health concern among the populations that are not covered by managed care organizations. Biased enrollment into managed care organizations often results in managed care physicians having less exposure to emerging infections, and the nature of their practice gives them fewer opportunities for consultation with specialists and reduced incentives for continuing education in the current diagnosis and therapy of infections diseases. Panelists at the workshop felt that there was a need for increased investment in education and outreach for all health professionals in the area of emerging infections and the closely related area of antimicrobial resistance. NIH, CDC, and the pharmaceutical industry are pursuing multidisciplinary approaches to educating medical and public health professionals, but more programs are needed. Major purchasers of managed care also have an important role to play in
Some of the smallest creatures in the sea are also some of the most influential. Plankton, a group of microscopic marine organisms that includes bacteria, amoebas and snail larvae, among other things, prop up the base of the oceanic food chain. Every sea creature, from clownfish to whales, ultimately depend on plankton for food. Now, a new study that peers into a past before human influence shows climate change has upset the distribution of plankton across the globe. The finding has implications that could ripple up to affect nearly all of marine life the researchers say. Most studies that look at how climate change is impacting the oceans show rising temperatures are forcing marine life to change where they live. But the majority of these studies use data collected only after World War II. This means they lack a pre-industrial baseline for comparison, said Lukas Jonkers, a paleoceanographer at the University of Bremen in Germany, who led the new research. To find this baseline, Jonkers examined plankton fossils from foraminifera buried in the seafloor. Foraminifera are single-celled zooplankton. The animals come in a huge variety of shapes — stars, twisting cones, coils that resemble snail shells and circular blobs. But they all have a hard outer shell. Once buried in the seafloor, the shells remain well preserved. By examining these fossils, scientists can tell what plankton communities looked like before climate change affected ocean temperatures. Jonkers and colleagues assessed more than 3,000 foraminifera communities from sediment samples that chronicled hundreds or thousands of years of seafloor history. The samples encompassed ecological regions and water temperatures from across the globe. The scientists then compared the pre-industrial plankton fossils to modern plankton communities that they caught in moored, funnel-shaped traps. The investigation revealed the species that make up modern foraminifera communities differ from their pre-industrial counterparts everywhere in the world, Jonkers said. “I never expected the results to be so clear,” he said. The plankton had shifted toward the poles, with a median distance of over 350 miles, though the distance differed greatly between communities. What’s more, past and present foraminifera communities were most different from each other where temperatures had changed the most, the researchers report Wednesday in the journal Nature. “What this means is that in general plankton species have shifted … to such a degree that their distribution is now systematically different from before significant human influence,” Jonkers said. Plankton are the foundation of the food supply in the oceans. Every marine organism, including the shrimp, crabs, lobsters and fish we eat, depends on plankton communities. The new findings raise questions about how marine ecosystems will respond to the changing conditions. “Species all shift range at difference paces and they now need to build new interaction networks, within species, but also with their new environment,” Jonkers said. “But at the moment, we don’t know if they can adapt fast enough to ongoing climate change.”
16th Century German playing Cards. Time period: 16th Century. Players: Game dependant. Product Dimensions: 6.2cm width x 9.5cm length x 2cm depth. This is a replica of a so-called ‘satirical’ deck of cards by the German artist Peter Flötner c.1540. It has traditional German suit symbols; the Knave and Queen of French-suited decks are represented by the Ober and Unter of each suit, and there are no Aces. Such decks of 48 cards were used primarily for the early trick-taking game Karnöffel, the earliest recorded card game. The game was popular among the lower classes, and the naughty and satirical scenes depicted reflect this. The rules for Karnöffel are included. The backs are blank as was common on early cards; and cards are not coated or laminated.
Cattlemen's Day, 1995; Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station contribution; no. 95-357-S; Report of progress (Kansas State University. Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service); 727; Beef; Feeder steer; Prices; Feeder steer characteristics; Breeds Data on feeder steer characteristics, breeds, and prices were collected in 1986/87 and 1993 at Kansas and Missouri feeder cattle auctions to identify changes in buyers' preferences for various breeds. Results from models of feeder steer price/characteristics indicate that the relative value of many breeds changed over time. Relative to Hereford steers, Angus, Hereford x Angus cross, Continental cross, and low percentage Brahman steers all gained in price from 1986/87 to 1993. Longhorn Cross steers' price declined relative to Hereford steers over the same time period. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Brazle, F.K.; Mintert, J.R.; Sartwelle, J. III; Bolze, R.P. Jr.; and Schroeder, Ted C. "How the price of different breeds of feeder cattle has changed over time," Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports:
this is our Journalist Report on sol 6. Miho XO crew191 MARS is a harsh, (and) cold world. MDRS is a harsh, (but) cool time tunnel 🙂 The First Shower and The First Coolness MARS atmosphere is about more than 100 times thinner than Earth’s. And without a “thermal layer”, MARS can not retain any heat energy. On average, the temperature on MARS is about minus 80 degree Fahrenheit (equal : minus 60 degrees Celsius). And the next question is, why we “able” to feel cold? Two thing that make me interested to find the answer of this question, first we feel cold because of Iron Level in our body, means that Iron is a critical part of the blood. It helps red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body, ensuring each cell can function properly. Equally, iron deficiency can impact this process, and it is believed that this can lead to feeling cold all the time. A scientific study aimed to identify the relationship between iron levels and body temperature. Other reason is Heat Transfer. , and remember that there are three ways that heat can transfer: conduction, convection and radiation. How we can know that we have a feeling about things HOT or COLD then? “Hot” and “cold” are relative terms that we can use to compare how things feel when they have more or less of a certain kind of energy we call heat. Our Commander, Yusuke Murakami : took the first shower in the 2nd day of the mission, with “out of service heater” 🙂 Cold as hell he said, Like a… “Mars ain’t no kind of place to raise your kids; in fact it’s cold as hell” sang the legend Elton John : “Rocket Man”!, and although the song was released in 1972 — four years before our robotic machine from earth was the first successful landing on MARS Planet. Once Again, MARS was our long period of the imagination on science fiction history before crazy scientist create a rocket. And MARS Isn’t as Earthlike as it might look. MDRS is on Desert, And Fact that ; In that way MARS is like an Earthly desert; even after a blisteringly hot day the temperatures can plummet at night, leaving an ill-prepared camper shivering beneath the cold glow of starlight. Except on MARS, where the Sun is only 50% as bright as on Earth and the atmosphere only 1% as dense, the nighttime lows dip to Arctic depths. Our experience here on MDRS took us into one journey of other side of imagination about MARS look like, and perhaps one project from Wataru Okamoto ; DIY machine called PM2.5 – a measurement instrument as for : Environmental Monitoring System will make complete. And in this mission, he can tell us about Calculation of Mass Concentration in the air and develop from Stand Alone instrument into wider range type of measurement tools that we can explore more to be aware about our environment. “Deserts on Earth have very extreme temperature ranges,” says Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Scientist, Ashwin Vasavada. “So if you take a desert on Earth and put it in a very thin atmosphere 50% farther from the Sun, you’d have something like what we’re seeing at Gale Crater.” Then we are here ! 🙂 So, how cold is space? That’s a nonsense question. It’s only when you put a thing in space, like a Space Ship, rock, MDRS space suit, or an astronaut, that you can measure temperature. To the next our curiosity ; Are we ready for the COLD WORLD up there? MDRS is one of the option to test and to learn how to stay and focus on the rules and practicing MARS space protocol. Lots of impression and keep us warmer with those chaotic and activities. Like we sucked up into an alternate Time Tunnel 🙂
The Census results are in and the suburbs are now poorer than the cities in America (http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2011/09/rapid-growth-suburban-poor/190/). Cities, long a popular destination for immigrants because of their affordability and access to culturally-specific amenities (churches, schools, grocery stores, etc.), are no longer an option for many immigrant groups because of their much higher costs. Suburban America now takes in more immigrants than urban America with some localized exceptions like New York and San Francisco. (Redefining urban and suburban America: evidence from Census 2000, Vol. II) (Part of this is no doubt immigrants following suburbanizing industries but the disconnect between low-skill wages and city prices surely is significant.) [Chicago’s a really great place to study social changes geographically because of its spokes and (half)circle model that makes patterns easy to recognize in top-down views.] If what we think we know about cities being an engine of social exchange and integration and the geographic form of suburbs (auto-oriented, low density, large backyards, few parks, etc.) contributing to isolation, we should be able to measure these effects on immigrant populations moving out of cities because of high rents. Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone could provide the basic framework of the studies. In that book, which documented the decline of indicators of social capital in America since World War II (bowling league participation is the titular example), the subject was the American public, in general. American immigrant populations, arriving in a land with unfamiliar institutions and with a limited command of English, ought to especially rely on social networks to navigate their new country. What kind and how these social networks develop in urban hinterlands could support or challenge many commonly held beliefs about the urban origins of social change.
What are Branched-Chain Amino Acids? Branched-Chain Amino Acids are essential amino acids. They provide the body with energy, repair damaged tissue, and promote muscular growth. Branched-chain amino acids are a group of three amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Our bodies cannot produce these amino acids on their own so they must be consumed in food or supplements. Branched-chain amino acids are used by our bodies to produce energy and to repair cells that have been broken down by exercise or illness. Branched-chain amino acid deficiencies can lead to fatigue, muscle loss, depression, and impaired brain function. This occurs because when we lack BCAAs our muscles break down for energy instead of breaking down fat as they should be doing. Branch-chain amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are essential for muscle repair and protein production. They can help boost physical performance by ensuring an adequate supply of energy is available to muscles. Branch-Chain Amino Acid BCAAs Benefits and Uses The benefits and uses of BCAAs stems from their ability to help provide energy for workouts. BCAA supplements also have a variety of other potential benefits, such as aiding in muscle loss prevention and helping with mental focus. Studies have found that taking BCAAs before working out has been shown to increase performance in muscle building by up to 20%. And taking it before bed increases muscle recovery by up to 30%. These are three specific essential amino acids that can be found in food products such as eggs, fish, dairy, and soy. BCAAs for Weight Loss, Exercise, and Muscle Gain BCAAs are foundational to your muscle growth and repair because they help with the synthesis of protein. They also increase the rate of fat breakdown so they are helpful for those looking to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. The benefits of BCAA supplementation have not been researched extensively but there is some promising evidence that show these supplements may contribute to the prevention of exercise-induced muscle injury and strength loss. How to Use BCAAs Correctly The takeaway from this section is that taking BCAAs before and after exercise has been shown to have great benefits. Users have reported increased strength and muscle gains in addition to fat losses. The BCAA in the market come in many forms such as capsules, powder, or pills and they can help you reach your fitness goals faster. Some company also provide BCAAS in the whey protein powder which easily digestable. What Can Happen if You Overconsume BCAA Supplements If you overconsume BCAA supplements, it can lead to stomach upset and some other side effects like nausea. Some people are taking BCAA supplements for the wrong reasons. For example, they might be taking it to help them lose weight or as a recovery drink after a workout. However, this isn’t the primary purpose of BCAAs. They should only be consumed in the morning and after workouts. Branched chain amino acids are protein based supplements that are used to help athletes and the average person maintain a healthy metabolism. Athletes use BCAA supplements because it helps promote protein synthesis, which leads to more lean body mass. Branched-chain amino acids can help improve muscle protein synthesis, reduce muscle damage and promote muscle growth. This diverse family of amino acids is found in many common foods, but it is often recommended to supplement with BCAAs to ensure adequate levels. A BCAA supplement can be taken post-workout or throughout the day to get an extra boost of recovery and help you reach your fitness goals. Potential side effects However, it is important to note that there are some risks associated with BCAA supplementation. For example, they can decrease the body’s ability to absorb iron, which is a concern for people who have low iron levels already or those who do not consume enough animal protein in their diet. Conclusion: The Benefits of Branched Chain Amino Acids We can conclude that Branched Chain Amino Acids are necessary for athletes as they help them to recover quickly from intense workouts. They also help to maintain healthy muscle tissue and blood sugar levels, among other benefits. Note: Please take expert advice before taking any supplement or medication.
Note: This was not the actual study setup. But it's still cute. Credit: GorillaAttack / Shutterstock Most pet owners know that dogs are masters at the art of getting humans to obey their wishes, whether it’s a trip outside or retrieving a tennis ball that rolled under the couch. For decades, researchers have assumed that dogs’ imploring gazes were a brilliant problem-solving strategy: “I’ll just get the human to do it.” But a new study suggests that dogs may have become so dependent on human cues that they give up easily when confronted with a challenging problem. For instance, in a 2003 experiment, researchers challenged dogs and wolves with an impossible puzzle: a tasty treat trapped in a box, with no way to remove it. While the wolves kept trying, the dogs quickly gave up and looked to the nearest human for help. “This has traditionally been interpreted as the clever, socially advanced, response to this problem,” wrote researcher Monique Udell and her colleagues, but they say it could also be a sign that dogs are less persistent and less independent problem-solvers than wolves – especially when there’s a human available to ask for help. Or maybe dogs are just better at knowing when they’re barking up an impossible tree. Udell and her team reasoned that if looking to humans for help really was a brilliant strategy for tackling unsolvable problems, then dogs shouldn’t resort to it when facing a puzzle they could actually solve. Solving the Puzzle To test that, the researchers presented a puzzle box containing a treat to 10 pet dogs, 10 shelter dogs, and 10 wolves raised by human caretakers. It was a much easier puzzle than the 2003 task; during a test run, an eight-week-old puppy solved the puzzle. Each dog or wolf had two chances to solve the puzzle: once in a room by themselves, and once with a familiar human standing a few feet back, looking at the box but not interacting with the animal. Although dogs and wolves all showed interest in the puzzle box at first, wolves were much more persistent than dogs. They spent more time looking at the box and more time in contact with it, physically working on the puzzle. And 80 percent of the time, the wolves solved the puzzle and got the treat. Dogs, on the other hand, didn’t stick with the task, and they sought help more quickly. When there was a human in the room, the dogs spent more time looking at the human, and less time working on the puzzle box, compared to wolves. Not surprisingly, the dogs had a much lower success rate: only about 10 percent. Looking to Humans But when researchers gave the dogs a third chance to solve the puzzle – this time with active encouragement from a human – they showed much more interest in the puzzle. Dogs with human encouragement spent more time looking at the box and more time in contact with it than they had when the human didn’t get involved. Udell and her colleagues published their results in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, and they say it’s a sign that dogs aren’t using human cues as a clever way to get around otherwise impossible challenges. Instead, it appears that dogs are generally less persistent and more dependent on human cues than wolves. That makes sense, since dogs have spent thousands of years evolving to get along with humans, and most modern dogs spend their lives depending on humans for food, water, toys, and access to the outdoors. “Instead of human-like behavior, pet dogs instead demonstrate behavior that is liked by humans – they look to us for guidance and in many cases show a childlike reliance on our actions,” said Udell. “In the long run this may be the best strategy for dogs, especially if behaving this way can lead to greater success in human homes and better relationships with their owners over their lifetime.” That’s a strategy that has worked out pretty well for the species. But along the way, it may have also cost them their independence.
\|Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)\| \|Servings: 3-4 servings\| \|Amount per serving\| \|% Daily Value\| \|Total Fat 0g\|\|0%\| \|Saturated Fat 0g\|\|0%\| \|Total Carbohydrate 5g\|\|2%\| \|Dietary Fiber 0g\|\|1%\| \|The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.\| Frozen grapes make a refreshing and healthy snack you will find absolutely surprising and delightful. You'll still get that familiar grape flavor. But when frozen, grapes take on a texture that is almost like a sorbet. Indeed, this frozen grapes recipe is almost like little sorbet nibbles! - 1 large bunch of seedless grapes (red or green) Wash grapes and pat dry with a paper towel. Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Place grapes on paper towels, trying to leave some space between them. Freeze until firm. Eat frozen. Don't let the grapes thaw — they may become mushy. Important: Grapes of any kind can pose a choking hazard for children ages 3 and under.
The Threat of Smallpox A little over two decades ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the official eradication of smallpox, the deadliest disease in recorded history, responsible for an estimated 300 to 500 million deaths in the past century. This past summer, however, eight Russian children acquired a form of the virus after playing with ampoules of smallpox vaccine they found in a garbage dump outside of Vladivostok. Though the children did not contract full-blown smallpox, the incident reveals the threat still posed by the virus. As security in facilities holding vaccines and remaining live samples of the virus continues to deteriorate, the danger of smallpox has resurfaced. For many centuries, smallpox was a widely accepted fact of life. In 1796, Dr. Edward Jenner discovered the first effective smallpox vaccine. In 1967, using modern smallpox vaccines and increasing global health coordination, the WHO began its campaign to eradicate the disease. By 1980 the WHO declared smallpox to be officially eliminated. The deadliness of smallpox is due in large part to its high fatality rate--even with medical care 30 percent of those who contract smallpox die from it. But smallpox also possesses other properties that contribute to its lethality. Its incubation period is relatively long: full-blown symptoms develop only 12 to 14 days after infection, giving the virus ample time to spread unchecked and unnoticed. Highly durable in cold, dry weather, the virus can survive in open air for more than 24 hours in winter conditions. With its ease of delivery, rapid transmission, and long incubation period, smallpox is the ideal biological weapon, capable of being used by terrorists or rogue states alike and suitable for both complex ballistic missiles and simpler devices. A terrorist previously vaccinated against the virus could easily release it into a public area using a simple aerosol can. Officially, the smallpox virus currently exists in only two places: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia; and Vector, a former biological weapons factory located in Siberia. The virus's continued existence--and the threat of potential release--has caused contentious debate from the day of the announcement of its eradication. Since 1986, when the WHO Executive Committee on Orthopox voted to destroy all remnants of smallpox, the virus has enjoyed numerous stays of execution. On June 20, 1999, the last date set for eradication, the WHO decided to postpone action until 2002 "for the purpose of further international research into antiviral agents and improved vaccines, and to permit high-priority investigations of the genetic structure and pathogenesis of smallpox." Opponents of the preservation of smallpox fear that as long as eradication is postponed, there is the possibility of unintended proliferation. Yet, as many observers note, the hidden motive for postponement may arise for much more disturbing reasons. According to estimates of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a public-policy institute focusing on security issues, more than 10,000 Russian biological and chemical warfare experts--many of whom have access to the smallpox virus--present a risk of deliberate proliferation. Some Russian scientists earn a mere US$ 100 per month. If offered the proper financial incentives, these scientists could easily supply the virus to an interested party. Similar clandestine deals may already have occurred. US intelligence reports released in 1999 and 2000 purportedly cite several countries, including North Korea and Iraq, as possessing strains of the virus and possibly the means to use it. A KGB report released publicly in 1993 made first mention of the likelihood that North Korea had acquired the virus. Independent reports from US intelligence offices have found that samples of blood from North Korean soldiers showed signs of recent vaccination for the virus, implying that North Korea was preparing its troops for a possible offensive deployment of the virus. …
Performance Management: In the First of Two Articles, Ian Janes Analyses the Principles Underpinning the Types of Decision-Making Scenarios to Be Found in the New P2 Paper Janes, Ian, Financial Management (UK) Decision-making is a big part of most accountants' jobs. They regularly have to take, or provide the information for, key business decisions, both on a day-to-day basis and for the longer term. This is also true of candidates studying paper P2, which requires many fundamental choices to be made. Probably the most crucial element in decision-making is the cost-benefit analysis, where we take into account the cost and revenue implications of the options open to us. It's important to recognise that making decisions on a financial accounting (absorption) costing basis is likely to be inappropriate, because the fixed cost element may not be affected by a particular course of action. Instead, many decisions are based on contribution. The measurement of this (contribution per unit equals the selling price per unit minus the variable cost per unit) is really a form of marginal or cost-benefit analysis that's used when you're faced with choices such as selecting which products to make if there's a shortage of resources, or deciding whether to accept or reject a sales order. More generally, if the benefits of doing something will exceed the costs, the decision should be to go ahead and do it, but many benefits and costs are difficult to quantify. For example, we can all appreciate that working a few hours' overtime costs us some leisure time in order to earn some extra money. Harder to measure is the less tangible benefit of getting the job done balanced against the cost of, say, feeling more tired. Fortunately, the decision-making problems you will encounter in the P2 exam will focus on the variables that we can measure and analyse more easily. Let's consider how we can use contribution analysis to solve a problem concerning scarce resources, which is a scenario that's regularly examined. Obviously, for most companies in most situations, market demand will be the limiting factor on operations--businesses will do their utmost to ensure that they have the resources to make a sale. But what if there's an unavoidable short-term lack of, say, skilled labour or a particular component? The key concept here is that the most beneficial production plan will be made when we prioritise production in such a way that the contribution per unit of the scarce resource is maximised. Consider company X, which provides three different services, denominated as units of service for ease of analysis (see table 1, previous page). If labour hours are a limiting factor, then the provision of services needs to be prioritised. Note that any fixed costs are not relevant to the decision, providing that all three services use the same central facilities. The incorrect response would be to state that BL501 is the best service to provide at 60 [pounds sterling] contribution per unit; then SJ301 at 48 [pounds sterling] per unit if resources allow; and, lastly, GS365 at 40 [pounds sterling] per unit if there are any hours left. This is the answer of a weak candidate. In a multiple-choice objective test question it would undoubtedly be included as one of the incorrect options. The correct response is to consider the contribution per labour hour. That makes GS365 the service to prioritise, because it gives the best return (cost-benefit trade-off) of 33.33 [pounds sterling] per unit per labour hour. Next in line is S J301 (12 [pounds sterling]) and only then, if resources allow, BL501 (10 [pounds sterling]). If you're still unconvinced that GS365 is the top-priority service, suppose that there are only 60 labour hours available. In this time company X could provide: 20 units of GS365, giving a contribution of 20 x 40 [pounds sterling] = 800 [pounds sterling]; or 15 units of SJ301, giving a smaller contribution of 720 [pounds sterling]; or only ten units of BL501, giving a contribution of a mere 600 [pounds sterling]. Of course, there may not be demand for 20 units of GS365. …
Porcupine tend to be one of the misunderstood animals that live around Alberta, but are truly one of our staff favourites. Numerous urban myths surround them, leaving people in fear of these quiet, gentle creatures. Porcupine are Canada’s second largest rodent, with the beaver being the largest. We most often think of rodents, like mice, breeding often and having large litters but interestingly porcupine multiply very differently. Females breed in a rather vocal, interesting breeding dance and are then pregnant for 7 months and deliver only one “porcupette”. Twins are considered very rare. These adorable little babies are fully developed with teeth and quills at birth. They are not carefully nurtured by the female and are often weaned by the age of 10 days. They spend the summer following the female and learning from her behaviour. They are covered in 30,000 hollow, modified hairs called quills that are their only protection from predators. They can’t shoot these quills but do have a flat, strong tail covered in the largest of the quills that can strike an attacker with lightning speed, giving the illusion that they shot the quills. They are not filled with air so it does not help to cut a quill before pulling it from your dog’s face; it really makes the quill harder to grip and pull out. Porcupines love to eat the inner bark of trees, dandelions, and other vegetation. If they are “loving” your plants or trees you can use a spray that can be purchased at any garden store, Bobbex, to protect your yard. This spray needs only to be reapplied every three months so is very long lasting and effective for porcupine and others like hare, deer, and voles. Porcupine are hunted by such predators as Coyote, Cougar, Bear, Wolf, Fishers, and Great Horned Owls.
STARLIGHT, Pa (Aug. 28) Sharp, frequently acrimonious exchanges broke out at the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization encampment here between Jewish and Negro teenagers during an overnight human rights program arranged by the BBYO and several Negro civil rights and youth organizations. The occasion was the visit to the encampment of 34 Negro boys and girls representing the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Black Power Militant Union and the YMCA Association of the Philadelphia-Camden area. According to Jerry Diggs, an official of the Camden, N.J. branch of the NAACP, the confrontation produced ‘a measure of mutual understanding and at least a few (non-physical) scars.” The problem under discussion was urban violence and the Jewish young people, many of them the sons and daughters of merchants whose businesses had been damaged or destroyed in recent ghetto riots, sharply attacked black “anti-social behavior.” The colored youth responded in kind. But a consensus report later drawn up by six white and six Negro participants agreed that the root cause of urban riots was injustice and discrimination practiced against black people by white society as a whole. Urban violence will end when poverty and anti-Negro oppression are ended, the report said. It also suggested that whites who sincerely want to help black people do so anonymously because Negroes are resentful of the “great white father” role assumed by some of their benefactors.
Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) 875 Ellicott Street Buffalo, NY 14203 - (716) 748-2000 - Map & Directions Stroke Care Center at the Gates Vascular Institute What is a Stroke A stroke or “brain attack” is the sudden interruption of blood flow to the brain. Because blood vessels deliver nutrients and oxygen to the brain, the lack of blood flow causes brain cells to die. Types of Stroke An ischemic stroke can be caused by a sudden blockage of one or more blood vessels leading to or within the brain. The blockage can be due to a “thrombus.” A thrombus occurs when a blood clot forms within the blood vessel. Another form of blockage is caused by a blood clot that forms in a different part of the body such as the heart, neck or legs and travels to the brain. This type of blood clot is called an “embolus." In general, blood clots, whether a “thrombus” or “embolus,” are formed when fatty substances form cholesterol deposits in the lining of blood vessel walls. This condition is called atherosclerosis. Ischemic stroke caused by an embolus is more common than that caused by a thrombus. A hemorrhagic stroke is caused by the rupture of weakened blood vessels in the brain. Blood then accumulates and compresses the surrounding brain tissue. Weakened blood vessels can be caused by longstanding high blood pressure or cerebral aneurysms. An aneurysm is a weak or thin spot on a blood vessel wall. These weak spots may be present at birth or may be the result of atherosclerosis. Aneurysms develop over many years and usually do not cause problems until they rupture. There are two types of hemorrhagic strokes: - Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH): Bleeding occurs from blood vessels within the brain itself. Poorly controlled blood pressure is the most common cause of this type of hemorrhage. - Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH): Bleeding occurs when blood vessels just outside the brain rupture. Patients with SAH usually experience the worst headache of their life. C) Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or Mini-Stroke A TIA occurs when blood flow to certain parts of the brain are cut off for a short period of time. Symptoms usually last less than one hour but not more than 24 hours. TIAs should be treated seriously, as they are warning signs that a stroke may follow.
The Hubble Space Telescope got off to a rocky start back in the early 90s, but it’s been a real trooper ever since. After more than 25 years, it’s still capturing stunning photos of far-away astronomical objects and advancing human knowledge. It can also take a peek at objects in our own solar system. Both Saturn and Mars have swung close to Earth recently, and Hubble got some new images. Saturn was in opposition to Earth on June 27, and Mars is sliding that way now. When a planet is in opposition to Earth, it means that planet, Earth, and the sun are aligned. During this time, the planet is as close as it gets to Earth, and it’s fully illuminated by the sun from our perspective. Hubble is designed to look at much more distant objects that are much brighter than planets, so opposition is the best time to get images of the planets with Hubble. In the new Saturn image, Hubble managed to spot six of the planet’s 62 known moons: Dione, Enceladus, Tethys, Janus, Epimetheus, and Mimas. Astronomers captured the image on June 6, a few weeks before the planet was in full opposition. It was still just 870 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) from Earth, which is a mere stone’s throw for Saturn. Saturn was near its maximum tilt toward Earth, so the rings are on full display. You can even see the hexagonal cloud structure around Saturn’s north pole. Hubble turned toward Mars on July 18th, so again this was a few weeks prior to opposition. The planet was still plenty close for some excellent Hubble snapshots, though. This is an exciting time to take a look at Mars, too. The planet is currently experiencing a global dust storm that obscured some of the details. However, this provides an opportunity to study Mars’ dust storms, which are still poorly understood. Hubble spotted both of Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, which can be seen toward the bottom of the image. There are visible clouds over the south pole, and the northern polar ice cap is clear as day. The vast rust-colored haze covering most of the planet is the dust storm, but there are a few notable features still visible. Schiaparelli Crater, Hellas Basin, and Terra Meridiani are all visible near the middle of Mars. You can expect plenty more photos of Mars as it reached opposition on July 31. Astronomers Capture First-Ever Birth of a Planet Astronomers have captured the birth of a planet on photo for the very first time. Upgraded Very Large Telescope Captures Neptune in Stunning Detail You can actually make out cloud patterns on Neptune with the upgraded VLT, which is something even Hubble can't do. Chinese Scientists Want to Capture a Small Asteroid and Land it on Earth Space agencies have successfully studied asteroid and comets up close on several occasions, but capturing one for mining is also in the works. A group of Chinese scientists is looking to go a step further.
In a potential win-win finding, a Florida professor has discovered how to turn greenhouse gases into clean energy. It could could significantly reduce greenhouse gases linked to climate change, while also creating a clean way to produce energy, said University of Central Florida assistant professor Fernando Uribe-Romo. The process involves triggering photosynthesis in a synthetic material called metal-organic frameworks that breaks down carbon dioxide into harmless organic materials, the university said. “This work is a breakthrough,” Uribe-Romo said. “Tailoring materials that will absorb a specific color of light is very difficult from the scientific point of view, but from the societal point of view we are contributing to the development of a technology that can help reduce greenhouse gases.” The findings are published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry. Uribe-Romo develop an artificial photosynthesis process similar to the way plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and sunlight into food, according to the university. But instead of producing food, Uribe-Romo’s method produces solar fuel. Scientists have been researching this method for years but have had trouble using visible light to trigger the process. Ultraviolet rays have enough energy to allow the reaction in common materials such as titanium dioxide, but UVs make up only about 4 percent of the light Earth receives from the sun, the university said. The visible range — the violet to red wavelengths — represent the majority of the sun’s rays, but it has been difficult to find materials that pick up these light colors to create the chemical reaction that transforms CO2 into fuel. Uribe-Romo used titanium, and added organic molecules that act as “light-harvesting antennae.” The chemical reaction transformed the CO2 into two reduced forms of carbon, formate and formamides which are also solar fuel, and in the process cleaned the air. “The goal is to continue to fine-tune the approach so we can create greater amounts of reduced carbon so it is more efficient,” Uribe-Romo said. He envisions putting conversion stations near power plants. “The idea would be to set up stations that capture large amounts of CO2, like next to a power plant,” he said. “The gas would be sucked into the station, go through the process and recycle the greenhouse gases while producing energy that would be put back into the power plant.” Uribe-Romo wants to see if the other wavelengths of visible light may also trigger the reaction with adjustments to the synthetic material. If it works, the process could be a significant way to help reduce greenhouse gases, according to the university. Source: University of Central Florida
(MENAFN- Caribbean News Global) WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao (UNESCO) - On the occasion of the First International Day against Violence and Bullying in Schools, including Cyberbullying, the Curaçao National Commission for UNESCO celebrated the day under the theme 'Together against Bullying in school'/'Huntu kontra Bullying den skol'/ 'Samen tegen pesten op school'. During UNESCO's 40th General Conference in 2019, the 193 Member States of UNESCO unanimously agreed to celebrate the day on November 5. Adopting an innovative way, respecting the biosecurity measures to prevent the spread of the novel corona virus, the Honorable Eugene Rhuggenaath, prime minister of Curaçao and chair of the National Commission of Curaçao, minister of education, science, culture and sport handed out an anti-bullying toolkit to Schoolboards at a drive-through. The two schools, J.W.Th. Schotborghschool and Kolegio Don Sarto, both part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet) took part in this one-day event. The anti-bullying toolkit "E Kuenta di Fuerte" (The Story of Fuerte (Strong)" was developed as part of the project "Break the Silence: Say NO to Bullying" within the UNESCO Participation Programme 2018-2019 through a collaboration between the Curaçao National Commission for UNESCO, the J.W.Th. Schotborghschool and IamSynergized, who worked on the toolkit and also held workshops and training sessions for teachers, students and parents on how to deal with bullying. The toolkit is based on the Story of Fuerte, an inspiration from the Dutch version "Het Verhaal van Sterk" (The Story of Fuerte). The Story of Fuerte (strong) leads us into the world of Fuerte, his family and friends. Themes such as compassion, determination, unity, developing one's talents, giving and receiving respect, finding solutions, accepting others as they are, loving one's neighbour, country and friends. The toolkit consists of five storyboards, a teacher's manual with assignments, an assignment book for the students, a card game about talent and quality and an audio story. The material is easy to use to motivate children to talk about topics that are not easy to discuss. The topics usually relate to the social-emotional area, which concerns the intellectual area of a child. This toolkit aims to empower students to defend themselves against being bullied by others and for teachers and parents to recognize signs of a child being bullied by others. The aim of the toolkit is for each child to feel strengthened and more resilient because they recognize their talents and know that once they are in the community, they can achieve more than alone. It offers teachers the opportunity to talk to their students about the above-mentioned topics in order to create a positive and friendly pedagogical atmosphere in the school. Empowered and resilient children are less inspired to bully others and more likely to stand up for their peers. MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.