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Venepuncture is the process of puncturing a vein with a needle. Intravenous cannulation is the process of inserting a plastic tube into a peripheral vein in order to access the circulatory system. Both venepuncture and intravenous cannulation are extremely common in almost all healthcare settings.. In the context of primary health care, the rate of venepuncture continues to rise. Access to procedures requiring short term IV cannulas are also on the rise in primary health care. Whilst some Aboriginal health service clients have ready access to specialist phlebotomy services, many do not. For any clinician required to perform these procedures, skill and competency must be developed and enhanced on an ongoing basis. This module is one of a series of 5 on venepuncture and cannulation. The 5 modules are: Caution: Prior to undertaking venepuncture and cannulations, clinicians should check local policies and access the appropriate practical training and competency assessments. Only those deemed competent should perform venepuncture or cannulation. © 2020 – Aboriginal Medical Service Education 24/7 At the end of this module participants will be able to:
Inclusive Training Practices: Empowering Minorities in your Organization Typically, staff development models include elements of learning theory and leadership. In a rapidly changing diverse work and school environment, this model specifically aims to include minority employees in the training process. A staff development model that does not reflect the demographics of the organization would be ineffective. There are three dimensions to the model: (1) Staff Development Intents (Sergiovanni and Starratt, 1988), (2) Levels of Staff Development (Wiles and Bondi, 2000), and Minority Empowerment (Cummins, 1986). The Intention of Staff Development is to provide an opportunity for employees to know, apply and integrate new ideas into their work (Sergiovanni and Starratt, 1988). Employee knowledge is only one step in the process in becoming a productive part of the organization. In most organizations specialized information, policies, standards, and technology are taught in separate trainings. This model proposes to present knowledge in an integrated form. Every training and/or mentoring session should integrate information, policies and technology together. After introducing new knowledge, employees need to apply that knowledge to the rest of their job in a holistic manner. Finally, the intention of staff development is to provide tools for future growth (Sergiovanni and Starratt, 1988). This model utilizes five levels of staff development; each level representing a wider community of colleagues (Wiles and Bondi, 2000). This comprehensive plan provides leadership and support at every level of the organization. This training model also incorporates Jim Cummins’ (1986) empowering minorities’ framework. Cummins describes an empowering school environment as one that includes minority students in the curriculum and minority community members in school activities, reciprocates shared knowledge and advocates students through authentic assessment (Cummins, 1986). This training model proposes to actively include employees and community. Using a combination of the theories mentioned above, this presentation will introduce a new model of staff development that will encourage your employees to think critically, utilize technology and improve their effectiveness in your organization. Keywords: Model, Minorities, Organization, Learning Styles, Inclusion, Reciprocity, Community, Assessment Dr. Maria Sanelli Associate Professor, History Department, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
Earlier this week, a video clip surfaced in which Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said, in the context of talking about sanctions on Iran, that "Leading up to World War II, we cut off trade with Japan. That probably caused Japan to react angrily." Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post reported on the video, accusing Paul of attributing U.S. involvement in World War II to American provocations. Paul’s office rushed to respond, claiming his words were taken out of context. What the historical record clearly shows is that U.S. sanctions had a very limited impact on Japanese behavior and objectives. The evidence does not even support the more limited contention that sanctions made Japan particularly angry. The fact of the matter is that Japan was determined to dominate all of East Asia and could not tolerate America standing in its way. Japan’s brutal war of aggression began long before Pearl Harbor, with the occupation of Manchuria and invasion of central China in the 1930s. Still, it is necessary to recount the historical record in greater detail, since there is a scattered contingent on both ends of the political spectrum that mistakenly insists sanctions were responsible for Pearl Harbor—and will lead to war with Iran or Russia today. In the spring of 1940, after Hitler’s armed forces shocked the world with its rapid demolition of the French military, the deterrence of further Japanese aggression became a priority for both Britain and the United States. Tokyo rapidly signaled that it would exploit Allied setbacks in Europe by demanding that the United Kingdom close the Burma Road, China’s principal means of importing critical supplies. The British gave in, sensing correctly that Washington was not ready to join them in resisting Japan. Although President Franklin Roosevelt had signed a proclamation in July limiting the export of oil, the State Department restricted only the export of high-octane aviation fuels, which rendered the sanctions ineffective. According to Robert Dallek, the leading historian of Roosevelt’s foreign policy, "this loophole in the President’s proclamation was an open secret in the administration [and] Roosevelt had no desire to close it," lest he provoke Japan. U.S.-Japanese tensions simmered until the spring of 1941, when Japan signed a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union, which complemented the Japanese, and the Communist, alliance with the Germans and Italians. Now Japan sought to determine whether it could persuade the United States to accept its hegemony in East Asia. Thus began an intense series of diplomatic exchanges, through which Washington and Tokyo hoped to avoid a conflict that would divert attention and resources from greater concerns—for Washington, the war in Europe; for Japan, the war in China. As a prelude to negotiations, Secretary of State Cordell Hull informed Japan that any agreement would have to rest on mutual support for four principles, the first of which was "respect for the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of each and all nations." Although negotiations would continue until the final weeks before the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hull’s position made clear the depth of the divide between the American and Japanese visions for Asia. Japan intended to rule its neighbors, which the United States considered dangerous and intolerable. Along with his four principles, Hull sent Japan a prospective agreement known as the Draft Understanding. The Japanese responded in early May 1941. Hull met frequently with Adm. Kichisaburō Nomura, the Japanese ambassador in Washington, while the State Department prepared the official American reply, delivered in late June. "Washington’s proposal made [Japanese Foreign Minister] Matsuoka angry," writes Forrest Morgan, a political scientist at RAND Corp. By this point, deeply involved in the defense of Britain, the United States wanted a Japanese commitment to avoid hostilities in the Pacific theater even if America found itself at war with the Nazis. In effect, the United States was asking Japan to abrogate a key provision of its alliance with Germany. In addition, America wanted a pledge that Japan would not pursue further expansion in Southeast Asia, a region the Japanese considered essential to their sphere of influence. The German assault on the Soviet Union in June 1941 abrogated the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and secured Japan’s northern flank, freeing Tokyo to focus on its southward advance. In July 1941, Japan informed the Vichy government in France that it would take all of Indochina by force if France did not give Japan rights to build air and naval bases there, which could serve as a launch pad for further expansion. The French yielded. Roosevelt was furious. He stated plainly to Nomura that the United States would cut off the supply of oil to Japan if it were determined to follow "the policy of world conquest and domination which Hitler was carrying on." Roosevelt then offered to guarantee the neutrality of Indochina if Japan would refrain from occupying it. His offer was refused. On July 26, while Japanese forces were spreading out through Indochina, Roosevelt issued Executive Order Number 8832, freezing Japanese assets in the United States. Trade came to a standstill, including exports of oil. The historical record makes it clear that sanctions were a response to serial Japanese aggression. They were not an American provocation. Although deeply troubled by the loss of American oil, Tokyo responded with a new diplomatic initiative, designed once again to secure American acceptance of Japanese hegemony in East Asia. The Japanese even sought to arrange a personal meeting between Roosevelt and their prime minister, Prince Fumimaro Konoe. In his September 1941 reply to Konoe, Roosevelt preconditioned a meeting on Japanese acceptance of the four principles that Hull had elaborated in April. Konoe maintained that Japan had no objections to the four principles, yet a month of detailed exchanges made it clear that the two countries had fundamentally different visions of what entailed a just and secure order in Asia. Konoe then resigned, passing the premiership to his war minister, Hideki Tojo. Discussions continued but Tojo offered no meaningful compromise. On Dec. 1, the emperor authorized war against the United States. It remains difficult to explain the Japanese decision to attack the United States, since internal documents provide clear evidence that Tokyo recognized the tremendous strategic advantages of the U.S. economy. For Americans familiar with the intense antiwar and isolationist sentiment of the era, the logical move for Japan would have been to occupy British and Dutch possessions in Southeast Asia, including the oil-rich East Indies. It would have been extremely difficult for Roosevelt to make the case for defending European colonial possessions without a direct threat to U.S. territory. The historian Michael Barnhart argues that Tokyo’s deficient understanding of American politics led it to believe that a series of rapid, devastating victories, like the one at Pearl Harbor, would strengthen the antiwar movement and break the Americans’ will to fight. Morgan, on the other hand, places greater emphasis on Japanese culture and the ideology of emperor worship as the causes of reckless behavior. What can be said with confidence is that American sanctions were not a significant cause of Japanese expansionism. The conflict between the United States and Japan arose out of profound disagreement about Japan’s imperialist objectives. Japan felt entitled to what the United States considered dangerous and deeply immoral. Today, clear thinking about sanctions is essential to counter Moscow’s aggression and Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. One lesson to learn from U.S. sanctions on Japan is that sanctions are a tactical consideration, which may pale in comparison to ideology and strategic objectives as potential causes of war. Another lesson is that even those sanctions threatening an adversary’s key resources may have little deterrent or punitive value in the absence of potent, well-placed military forces. What we know of Vladimir Putin and Ali Khamenei’s respective ideologies and objectives is not encouraging. Yet the United States has the ability, if it has the will, to confront them with deterrent forces that can prevent war while sanctions take their toll.
The discovery could have important implications for the treatment of cancer, birth defects and numerous other diseases and disorders. Gorbsky's findings appear in the April 13 issue of the journal Nature. "No one has gotten the cell cycle to go backwards before now," said Gorbsky, who holds the W.H. and Betty Phelps Chair in Developmental Biology at OMRF. "This shows that certain events in the cell cycle that have long been assumed irreversible may, in fact, be reversible." Cell division occurs millions of times each day in the human body and is essential to life itself. In the lab, Gorbsky and his OMRF colleagues were able to control the protein responsible for the division process, interrupt and reverse the event, sending duplicate chromosomes back to the center of the original cell, an event once thought impossible. "Our studies indicate that the factors pointing cells toward division can be turned and even reversed," Gorbsky said. "If we wait too long, however, it doesn't work, so we know that there are multiple regulators in the cell division cycle. Now we will begin to study the triggers that set these events in motion." The findings may prove important to controlling the development and metastasis of certain cancers. It also holds promise for the prevention and treatment of birth defects and a wide variety of other conditions. "Dr. Gorbsky's results provide elegant proof that the cell cycle must be precisely controlled," said Dr. Rodger McEver, OMRF vice president of research. "Now he and his lab can work toward developing innovative methods to probe and better understand the complex process of cell division." Gorbsky heads the Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology Research Program at OMRF and holds both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton University. He is also adjunct professor of Cell Biology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and a member of the OU Cancer Institute. His research focuses on mitosis and cytokinesis, the processes involved in cell division, and he has earned international recognition for his work in the area of chromosomal movement and cell cycle control. The current research project, done in collaboration with scientists from the University of Virginia Medical School, was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. High-resolution digital images of the cell division process, as well as of Gorbsky, are available upon request. Celebrating its 60th birthday in 2006, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and curing human disease. Its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. It is home to Oklahoma's only member of the National Academy of Sciences.
There are many statements in Nicholas of Cusa’s sermons that emphasize the importance of faith in those who receive the body and blood of Christ in Holy Communion. This is likely due to his early education among the Brethren of the Common Life, but it also relates to his peculiar brand of Platonism. Therefore, this faith is best signified by means of the visible form of bodily food, which expels weakness and furnishes strength—as do, basically, the wheaten bread and the wine. Hence, take cognizance of the fact that in the power of the bread and the wine—[a power] that expels the weakness of the flesh’s ravenous hunger and that brings strength, or renews strength, (things which happen with respect to the outer man)—faith sees the power of the Word working similar things in the inner man. And that which nature ministers to the outer man by means of visible food, faith by means of invisible Food (which is the Word of God) obtains in the inner man (which is invisible), (Sermon CLXXXIII).
It is high time to understand that chlamydia is a sexual health complication that shows some oral symptoms. There is no doubt to say that a person can observe signs of chlamydia on mouth and nose as well. And it is also possible to transfer disease symptoms to another healthy body via oral sex as well. However, oral chlamydia symptoms are not so common among patients as like genital chlamydia; but yes, it can happen if you don’t be careful. Medical health professionals reveal that Chlamydia is a curable Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) that is mainly caused by bacteria named Chlamydia Trachomatis. In a woman, Chlamydia can have a major impact on the cervix of the woman including urethra whereas in men, it affects rectum. Note that, these bacteria mainly attack cells present in the mucous membranes that are usually not covered by skin. The areas may include urethra, vagina, the lining of the eyelid, etc. But when we talk about oral chlamydia, instead of the genital one, it has a major impact on mouth, throat and even nose as well. Chlamydia that has a major concern with throat is often known as a mouth infection, and some symptoms of it may also make it appear like tonsillitis. This infection cause development of some white spots on the back portion of the throat that cause difficulty in swallowing. How is it possible to get Chlamydia in mouth or nose? When a person is involved in oral sex with a person, who is already suffering from chlamydia, the risk of disease transmission increases. Note that, oral sex includes using lips, mouth, or tongue to cause stimulation of vagina, penis, and anus of another partner. Studies reveal that the risk of getting STD via oral sex usually depend upon the type of sexual activity performed, and on the type of infection, the person is already infected with. Generally, oral chlamydia transmission can happen if: - You are involved in oral sex with a person who is already infected at its penis area. - You are making oral sexual contact with a woman that is infected by Chlamydia Trachomatis in the urinary tract or vagina area. - You are doing sex with a partner who is living with the infected The strange fact is that the opposite is also true. The genital chlamydia can also occur from a person who is already suffering from oral chlamydia symptoms. The cases include: - You are having oral sex on the penis with your partner who is suffering from oral chlamydia symptoms or have an infected - You are making oral sexual contact with the vagina of your partner who is already in trouble due to chlamydia in the throat. In this case, the transmission can also occur to urinary tract or vagina as well. - You are having oral sex on anus from chlamydia affected partner; it can show symptoms on rectum as well even if your partner has chlamydia in the throat. This infection can also get transmitted to other parts of the body like mouth, nose, and eyes, etc. via fingers as well. Besides these sexual activities, medical health professionals also report few other reasons behind this sexually transmitted disease leading to infection on mouth and nose area. Professionals also reveal that poor oral hygiene such as gum diseases, bleeding gums, tooth decay or oral cancer, etc. also increases the chances of oral chlamydia contagious infection. In most cases, it happens when the immune system is not able to fight against oral hygiene infections and chlamydia symptoms. Signs and Symptoms of Oral and Nose Chlamydia Most medical health reports reveal that Chlamydia lives like a silent infection in most people. In fact, around 50% of men and 75% of women do not show any specific symptom of this disease. However, in other cases, the person may show signs even within one to three weeks after getting infected. Males and females generally have similar kind of symptoms for oral and nose chlamydia, but few gender-specific symptoms can be observed as well. The major impact of oral chlamydia is seen on cell lining and throat area. Most patients report a sore throat or pharyngitis, and it may last for several days. The level of discomfort may vary person to person; when it has a major impact on the throat, a person usually face difficulty in swallowing. A sore throat is generally accompanied by low-grade fever, and people may also have swollen lymph nodes on the neck area. But in general, most people infected with oral chlamydia do not show any recognizable symptom; however, nose chlamydia may have few. Some of the most common symptoms associated with oral and nose chlamydia are listed below: - It may cause some painless sores on the mouth area. - Can develop cold sores around the mouth. - Person can also suffer from tonsillitis like symptoms. - Many patients also report redness with some white spots that resemble strep throat. - It can also lead to the dry and scratchy throat. - Some ladies also experience fever, nausea and eye irritations. How to Treat Oral and Nose Chlamydia? Testing of the nose and oral chlamydia is usually done by swabbing the affected area. If you have developed some sores around the nose or in the throat region, doctors will swab them to collect samples for an oral chlamydia test. These samples are tested to know about the presence of the virus. The great news is that it is possible to treat this STD with the help of some antibiotics. However, if you are infected, it is important to follow some expert rules for your sexual life until the virus is completely out of your body. In case if you keep on ignoring the disease symptoms so long, the chlamydia infection may go from mild to severe condition, and it may cause a huge impact on your life. With time it starts causing more damage to the body, and it may be irreversible as well. Hence, it is important to start oral chlamydia medication on time. Possible Home Remedies for Oral and Nose Chlamydia It is the most commonly used natural spice due to its awesome anti-viral and antibiotic properties. The best way to fight against symptoms of chlamydia is to eat 3-4 cloves of garlic every day; prefer to consume them before your meal. The natural chemicals of garlic are capable enough to clear the infection and can also kill the bacteria present in your body. However, in case if you are not in a condition to eat raw garlic, prefer to add few cloves to your meals. Some of you may also prefer to consume the garlic capsules that are also powerful enough to reverse the oral and nose chlamydia symptoms. It is a perennial herbal plant that is popular as a top-rated remedy for treating chlamydia symptoms. It helps to clean the immune system so that it can initiate fight against disease bacteria. Prefer to include sage tea to your routines, and it will naturally add care to your overall health. Simply take around 50 mg leaves of sage, crush them and then put into 250 ml boiling water. Let it stay on the stove for at least 3 to 4 minutes and enjoy the delicious taste of this tea. Make sure you consume these doses without adding milk or sugar to your tea. Sage tea is medically trusted solution to treat chlamydia symptoms, and it is extremely safe as well. Echinacea is one of the most useful natural herb containing various antimicrobial properties that are capable enough to strengthen your immune system. Whether you prefer to consume it in the form of tincture or a capsule, echinacea is effective enough against symptoms of Chlamydia in all cases. This herb works like a tonic for your immune system and also helps to clean the lymph so that pathogens can be taken out of the body. Echinacea can be consumed in the form of capsules, tinctures, tea but don’t add milk or sugar into it. This herb multiplies the production of white blood cells inside the body so that symptoms of chlamydia can be avoided for long future as well. Here is another powerful herb that age ability to fight chlamydia bacteria in your body. It is known for its potential agent named as berberine that helps to improve the production of white blood cells inside the body while killing the bad bacteria. This herb helps to improve the ability of immune system to deal with chlamydia infection, and it makes it possible with is impressive anti-intermittently and anti-microbial properties. Most patients prefer to consume goldenseal in the form of a tea, and it can be consumed two times in a day. Medical health professionals reveal the top-rated secret to treat chlamydia, and it is just altering your diet to a healthy schedule. Although, diet does not make any direct connection with Chlamydia, it can help you to prevent the worsening of bacteria. Improved diet also leads to better performance of immune system so that you can enjoy better health. Also, a healthy diet is helpful in faster recovery of chlamydia symptoms. Professionals advise adding kale, chlorella, alfalfa, wheat grass and barley grass to your routine diet. Yogurt can work as an effective probiotic against chlamydia symptoms. Few other alkalines forming food items and fiber-rich meals such as nuts, seeds, grains, and beans are also essential to deal with oral and nose chlamydia symptoms. Fresh fruits and vegetables can improve your immune health, but it is advised to look for sugar-free juices. It is important to keep your body well hydrated, especially during the chlamydia infection. Prefer to avoid fast food, junk food, while fat dairy, canned food, butter, red meats, caffeine, and alcohol. We all know neem for its awesome antibacterial properties and the great news is that it is effective enough to alleviate nose chlamydia symptoms as well. Many medical health experts prefer to give neem ingredient-based creams to apply to sores caused by oral and nose chlamydia. Patients can avail great results of using neem creams even without two to three weeks. Along with these creams, patients can also consume neem in the form of a tea that is effective enough to treat the throat problem. It is a powerful anti-bacterial agent that can protect your body from chlamydia bacterial infection while boosting its immunity as well. Saw Palmetto has rich antibacterial and antiseptic properties; it is often recommended to deal with urinary tract infections. Many cases of chlamydia have been observed to avail fast relief with routine consumption of this herb. Note that, saw palmetto acts like a rich source of phytosterols and fatty acids along with several bacterial properties that are capable enough to heal the infected tissue in your body. The great news is that saw palmetto can treat mild and even severe chlamydia symptoms as well. Olive Tea Extract: It has rich oleuropein content that is well known as a powerful agent for killing bacteria and fighting against inflammation. Olive tree extract can improve immune health while making your body more active and free from disease symptoms. You can find olive tea extract in various forms, a salve, powder, liquid concentrate, capsules, and dried tea leaf. It helps to kill off the bacteria while enriching anti-bacterial protection for your body. Some people also prefer to use olive tree extract orally to deal with oral and nose chlamydia. It can be rubbed on the affected areas to avail fast relief, prefer to repeat the process at least 3 to 4 times a day. Turmeric must be the essential spice in your kitchen, but most people are still unaware about its real potential. Turmeric has rich anti-oxidants that help to deal with most infections and bacteria attacks in the human body. Turmeric works like a most useful antiseptic to treat the visible symptoms of oral chlamydia. At the same time, consuming turmeric in routine is quite helpful for the health of immune system. People affected with chlamydia nose symptoms can consume turmeric in different forms, at least 3 to 4 times a day.
On September 24, Governor Brown signed bill AB 1371, better known as the “Three Feet for Safety Act,” which will require motorists to give at least three feet of space when passing a bicyclist on the road in California. The law also states that drivers must slow down and pass only when it will not endanger the bicyclist. When I spoke with Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, he said a reasonable speed is what is required of drivers to pass, but he said that that speed hasn’t been determined as of yet. Drivers must slow down and only pass when reasonably necessary. Bicyclists, by law, are allowed to ride in the middle of a lane, sometimes angering motorists. “Sharrows” — the image of a bicycle with arrows above it painted in white onto our city streets — have popped up all over San Diego; they are meant to point out to motorists that a bicyclist is allowed to be in the middle of the road. Colliding with a bike from behind is the cause of 40 percent of all fatalities between a bicyclist and a motorist, according to calbike.org’s website. While the law will not take effect until September 16 of 2014, the website further states that motorists who violate its provisions now will still be fined for illegal passing. This will entail a $35 base fine, plus the fee, which would bring the total to $233. The base fine will increase to $220 if a collision occurs, causing bodily harm to the bike rider. “The law is [for raising] awareness,” Hanshaw said, “a tool to calm down aggressive driver behavior.”
Back to school with digital security Presented by ESET Summer is in full swing, but school season is right around the corner. Young people are easy targets for both digital and physical theft, so it’s important to ensure your data and devices are secure at school and at home. Even if you’ll be using the school’s computers, there are steps you can take to make your data safer. 5 tips for protecting devices at school If you’re using your own desktop, laptop or smartphone, there are two things to be concerned with: physical theft and information theft. There are a few things you can do to minimize the odds of both types of theft and mitigate the damage if either does occur. 1. Minimize the target Don’t leave your laptop or phone unlocked and unattended, whether you’re at home or in public – these items are easily grabbed when you’re not looking. And when you take your laptop with you in public, it’s best to carry it in a bag that doesn’t advertise what’s inside; laptop sleeves or carriers let people know exactly what you’re carrying. These days, many messenger bags, backpacks and purses are designed to cradle your devices stealthily in a separate padded section. 2. Minimize the damage Installing an antitheft app will help you track down your device, should it be lost or stolen. And if the files on your device are encrypted, even if someone gets access to your computer, he or she won’t be able to profit from your information. 3. Beef up your security Physical theft is not the only way to lose your information. Malware and phishing are becoming increasingly common on mobile devices. To protect yourself from phishing, make sure you’re using different passwords for all your different accounts, and pick a strong password for each. Using a password manager can help make this an easier task. Once you’ve got a good password, protect it: Don’t share it with others and don’t enter your password into sites you’ve visited via links in email or instant messages. 4. Avoid sketchy apps To protect yourself from malware and data-leaking apps, install only apps that are highly rated by lots of reviewers, from reputable app stores. Be sure to scan those apps with an anti-malware product before installing. 5. Be cautious on public Wi-Fi You can never be entirely sure who’s sharing the network with you on public Wi-Fi, so be extra careful whenever you use it (like at school or at your local coffee shop). Use Virtual Private Network (VPN) software so that your web traffic will be encrypted – it’ll help keep people from eavesdropping on you electronically. Securing your child’s data at home It’s not just when you’re out and about that data can get lost, so it’s important to protect your child’s data at home as well. If you keep records that contain your child’s Social Security number on your machines, it is important to encrypt those files as you would your own sensitive data. When children’s identities are stolen, it can often go undetected for years. You can periodically check your child’s credit history as you would your own, to detect any unexpected activity. Use a firewall and anti-malware suite to help protect your home machine from unwanted intruders who would try to steal your and your children’s data. We may feel that the information of kids is of lesser value than that of adults, because kids may not yet have juicy financial data like credit card numbers or banking credentials. Ultimately, your age doesn’t matter – your data and identity are valuable to cybercriminals, and correcting the problems caused by loss and theft is a huge pain. Protecting your data now will help you avoid those headaches down the road. For more tips go to enjoysaferinternet.com
How do plants adapt to their environment? Im doing a project, and I need to know how plants adapt to the environment that they are in. I need some detail if possible please. Im not some idiot who knows nothing about Geography, but I just need different ideas ASAP. Thanks so much
In this evolutionary process new species sometimes branch off from older ones and the history of life forms a tree-like pattern—an evolutionary tree. Indeed, the one figure in Darwin’s book, shown below, was that of such a pattern. As evolutionists further elaborated on Darwin’s idea in the twentieth century the concept of an evolutionary tree became increasingly foundational to the theory. This figure below from a leading textbook [George Johnson, Jonathan Losos, The Living World, Fifth Edition, McGraw Hill, 2008.] is typical. As the textbook explains: Today scientists can decipher each of all the thousands of genes (the genome) of an organism. By comparing genomes of different organisms, researchers can literally reconstruct the tree of life. The organisms at the base of the tree are more ancient life-forms, having evolved earlier in the history of life on earth. The higher branches indicate other organisms that evolved later. Evolutionists have even developed a Tree of Life Web Project, shown below, that provides information for each species and how the different species are related in the evolutionary tree: And as more genome data have become increasingly available evolutionists naturally assumed it would be feasible to derive a comprehensive evolutionary tree: Once universal characters were available for all organisms, the Darwinian vision of a universal representation of all life and its evolutionary history suddenly became a realistic possibility. Increasing reference was made to this universal, molecule-based phylogeny as the “comprehensive” tree of the “entire spectrum of life” [13, 14, 15, 16, 17]. A key corollary of this evolutionary tree concept is that the different traits of the species agree and point to the same tree. Various evolutionary effects may cause occasional differences between the trees, but roughly speaking, if different traits are used to reconstruct the evolutionary tree, they should produce similar trees. There may be some evolutionary “noise,” but different traits should mostly agree. In the early twentieth century blood immunity studies provided just such confirmation. The results provided a new trait that could be used to judge the similarity and difference between different species. When the results were found to agree with the previously established evolutionary tree based on visible traits, evolutionists hailed the findings as new proofs of evolution. Similarly, evolutionists hailed similar confirmations in the molecular sequence data that were discovered later in the century. Here is evolutionist Jerry Coyne’s summary from his recent book Why Evolution Is True: Creatures with recent common ancestors share many traits, while those whose common ancestors lay in the distant past are more dissimilar. The “natural” classification is itself strong evidence for evolution. [p. 9] Strong evidence indeed. Evolutionist David Penny made the point that this evidence provides a means to falsify evolution. The philosopher Karl Popper had argued evolution is not falsifiable, but for Penny this evidence proved Popper wrong. Penny showed how different proteins, compared across different species, lead to similar evolutionary trees. If they hadn’t, Penny argued, evolution would be false. Now, thirty years after Penny cited the congruence of different evolutionary trees as a prediction that could falsify evolution, it is not controversial even amongst evolutionists that the prediction is false. The plethora of new DNA and protein sequence data have provided a steady stream of incongruent evolutionary trees. These trees strongly conflict with the trees based on other sequence data, or with the consensus evolutionary tree. And the disagreement is far beyond evolutionary “noise.” As one evolution wrote: Phylogenetic incongruities can be seen everywhere in the universal tree, from its root to the major branchings within and among the various taxa to the makeup of the primary groupings themselves. Another paper admits that “the more molecular data is analysed, the more difficult it is to interpret straightforwardly the evolutionary histories of those molecules.” Or as one evolutionist succinctly put it, “Life is not a tree.” Here is how other evolutionists explain the evidence: Darwin claimed that a unique inclusively hierarchical pattern of relationships between all organisms based on their similarities and differences [the Tree of Life (TOL)] was a fact of nature, for which evolution, and in particular a branching process of descent with modification, was the explanation. However, there is no independent evidence that the natural order is an inclusive hierarchy, and incorporation of prokaryotes into the TOL is especially problematic. The only data sets from which we might construct a universal hierarchy including prokaryotes, the sequences of genes, often disagree and can seldom be proven to agree. Hierarchical structure can always be imposed on or extracted from such data sets by algorithms designed to do so, but at its base the universal TOL rests on an unproven assumption about pattern that, given what we know about process, is unlikely to be broadly true. Evolutionists are not sure just what the data mean, but even they agree that different traits, across different species, often do not produce congruent evolutionary trees. And the difference is not mere “noise.” How do evolutionists deal with this falsification? David Penny, the evolutionist who cited the congruence of different evolutionary trees as a prediction that could falsify evolution now has a different story. Penny now reveals that congruent trees never really were a prediction of evolution. After all, Darwin was not nearly so keen on promoting the evolutionary tree concept as he was descent with modification. In fact, according to Penny, the new evidence “enriches our understanding of evolution.” Likewise, another paper argues that perhaps the evolutionary tree was more of a heuristic than a prediction. And as usual evolutionists appeal to a spectrum of explanatory devices to correct the narrative. The most prevalent of these epicycles is the horizontal gene transfer (HGT), a term that encompasses several known mechanisms by which genes can transfer between organisms such as bacteria. In fact, if evolution is true then HGT must have been one of its key players. As one paper explained, HGT “has emerged as a central force in the evolution of many different prokaryotes.” But under evolution, HGT must also have been important in the evolution of eukaryotes: and now cases of HGT in eukaryotes are emerging at an increasing rate and account for many adaptively important traits So HGT is now a key mechanism of the evolutionary process. It can do what the old mechanisms could not. In fact, one must wonder how this powerful mechanism knows when to send which genes where. For the various versions of HGT are incredibly intelligent. For instance, consider the HGT process of transformation in which DNA from the extracellular environment is imported into the cell via what one paper describes as “a complex process” involving a small army of protein machines. Then there is the HGT process of conjugation in which the DNA is transferred via cell-to-cell contact. A bridge-like connection is constructed between the two cells through which helpful DNA is transferred. And the donor cell has the molecular machinery to verify that the receiving cell does not already possess the donated DNA. And the DNA includes genes critical in the conjugation process. The DNA to be sent over is nicked and unwound so a single strand can be threaded through the bridge connection. Gone are the days of simple mutations creating so much of the biological world. They were reminiscent of those swerving atoms of the Epicureans. And like those swerving atoms, they are prima facie incapable of creating biology’s wonders. Beyond this obvious failure, much more than mutations are required to explain biology’s patterns. The evolutionary tree is out and networks, or webs, or some such, are in. And a new set of mechanisms, such as HGTs, are the brains behind the creation. But epicycles are not free. In this case, the marshalling of HGTs as the explanation for biology’s patterns and success raises the question of where these complex mechanisms came from in the first place. According to evolutionary theory, evolution created the incredibly complex HGTs which then facilitated, yes, evolution. Do they seriously expect us to believe this? Religion drives science, and it matters.
The Homestead Act, May 20, 1862 The notion that the United States government should give free land titles to settlers to encourage westward expansion became popular in the 1850s. During that time the U.S. House of Representatives passed numerous homestead bills but southern opposition in the Senate prevented enactment. In 1860, during the 36th Congress, the Senate narrowly passed a homestead act but President James Buchanan vetoed it and the Senate failed its override attempt. When the 37th Congress convened for its brief summer session in 1861, now without members from seceded states, it was preoccupied with Civil War-related legislation. The House took up briefly the homestead issue in December but postponed further consideration of it until the following February. The House finally passed the Homestead Act on February 28, 1862 by the large margin of 107 to 16. The act worked its way through the Senate until May 6, 1862 when it passed easily by a vote of 33 to 7. After a few minor changes in conference committee—which both houses agreed to without controversy—Congress sent the final legislation to President Abraham Lincoln who signed the act into law on May 20, 1862. The Homestead Act encouraged western migration by providing settlers with 160 acres of land in exchange for a nominal filing fee. Among its provisions was a five-year requirement of continuous residence before receiving the title to the land and the settlers had to be, or in the process of becoming, U.S. citizens. Through 1986, when the last claim was made in Alaska, the Homestead Act distributed 270 million acres of land in the United States making it arguably one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation in American history. If you have problems viewing these images please contact firstname.lastname@example.org.
Fraud includes corruption and mismanagement, illegal transactions, public security, money laundering, funding for terrorism, and Internet protection. The identification of fraud, enforcement, or protection needs to be the primary goals. Fremont, CA: As technology continues to become more advanced, frauds and cybercrime continue to rise. It is getting increasingly difficult to identify, track, and prevent fraudsters. Fraud identification in today’s world requires a systematic approach for matching data points with suspicious activities. Fraudsters are continuously developing new techniques, and it is vital to keep up with these evolving strategies. Some steeps to consider for detecting and preventing fraud: • Companies should collect, integrate as well as bring into the research phase all forms of usable data in various networks or divisions. • Transactions, risk patterns, social networks, and more need to be continuously tracked, and behavioral analytics need to allow decision-taking in real-time. See Also: Top Fraud and Breach Solution Companies • It is better to use modern techniques for building defense strategies. Fraud includes corruption and mismanagement, illegal transactions, public security, money laundering, funding for terrorism, and Internet protection. The identification of fraud, enforcement, or protection needs to be the primary goals. Since technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning have become increasingly popular, manual processes combined with large data sets as well as compartmental analysis are being automated. Digitalization comes with both opportunities and risks. Companies need to learn how to prevent risk and fraud scenarios as well as how big data and analytics can reduce digital fraud. Governments are heavily investing in the battle against waste, fraud, and violence. And modern detection methods are no longer suitable. Insurance companies are facing more problems with agents and client gaming. When fraudsters become smarter with their digital techniques, they know how insurers are utilizing analytics and AI to prevent them.
Carbohydrate is an essential nutrient that is an excellent source of energy (measured as calories) for the body and is the preferred fuel for the brain and nervous system. All forms of carbohydrate increase a person's blood sugar level, depending on the amount of carbohydrate in the food. Carbohydrate comes in two forms: starch and sugar. Starch (complex carbohydrate) is found in foods such as breads, cereals, grains, pasta, rice, flour, legumes, and vegetables. Foods high in starch provide longer-lasting energy than simple carbohydrates. Sugar (simple carbohydrate) is found in foods such as fruits, juices, milk, honey, desserts, and candy. Foods high in simple sugar provide quick energy. Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine & Rhonda O'Brien, MS, RD, CDE - Certified Diabetes Educator How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
- Last updated: - 01 Jul 2019 In December 2017, council adopted the Sunshine Coast Council Local Government Area Biosecurity Plan (the Biosecurity Plan) in accordance with the requirements of the Queensland Government Biosecurity Act 2014. The Biosecurity Plan establishes a framework to support a cooperative and coordinated management approach that focuses available resources at the highest risk invasive plants and animals in order to deliver the most effective outcomes. The Biosecurity Plan identifies: - 287 invasive plants and animals in the Sunshine Coast local government area - 88 of these invasive plants and animals as priorities - catchments as the management unit, including the coastal environment (beaches, dunes and adjacent lands) as its own separate management unit - five management responses based on the effectiveness of available control measures and the known abundance of each invasive species known to occur in each management unit - threats on our local government border, from within broader Queensland and on the Queensland border - 11 strategic actions to guide stakeholders in the development of their tailored biosecurity implementation plans.
Tiger Hillstream Loach Balitora lineolata Valenciennes, 1846; Sewellia songboensis Nguyen & Nguyen, 2005 lineolata: from the Latin linea, meaning ‘line’, and -ola, the latter a suffix used to indicate small size. Type locality is given as ‘Cochinchine’, which presumably refers to the region of Cochinchina encompassing the country’s southern portion. Rainboth (1996) reported it to occur in the Khone Falls on the Mekong River in Laos, close to the border with Cambodia, and it can apparently be found in some hill streams of that area. Colour and patterning may vary somewhat depending on collection locality though all possess the same basic characters. Restricted to shallow, fast-flowing, highly-oxygenated headwaters and tributaries characterised by stretches of riffles and runs broken up by pools or cascades in some cases. Substrates are normally composed of bedrock, sand and gravel with jumbles of boulders, and while riparian vegetation is often well-developed aquatic plants are typically absent. The most favourable habitats contain clear, oxygen-saturated water which, allied with the sun, facilitates the development of a rich biofilm carpeting submerged surfaces. During periods of high rainfall some streams may be temporarily turbid due to suspended material dislodged by increased (sometimes torrential) flow rate and water depth. Maximum Standard Length 55 – 65 mm. Aquarium SizeTop ↑ The water must be clean, well-oxygenated, and ideally turn over 15-20 times per hour so we suggest the use of an over-sized filter as a minimum requirement plus additional powerheads, airstones, etc., as necessary. Aged driftwood can also be used but avoid new pieces since these usually leach tannins that discolour the water and reduce the effectiveness of artificial lighting, an unwanted side-effect since the latter should be strong to promote the growth of algae and associated microorganisms. Exposed filter sponges will also be grazed, and some enthusiasts maintain an open filter in the tank specifically to provide an additional food source. The latter are particularly useful as their leaves tend to attract algal growth and provide additional cover. Since it needs stable water conditions and feeds on biofilm this species should never be added to a biologically immature set-up, and a tightly-fitting cover is necessary since it can literally climb glass. While regular partial water changes are essential aufwuchs can be allowed to grow on all surfaces except perhaps the viewing pane. Temperature: Can tolerate higher temperatures provided its oxygen requirements are maintained but for general aquarium care a value of 20 – 24 °C is recommended. pH: 6.0 – 7.5 Hardness: 18 – 179 ppm Much of the natural diet is composed of benthic algae plus associated micro-organisms although insect larvae are probably taken on an opportunistic basis. Home-made foods using a mixture of natural ingredients bound with gelatin are very useful since they can be tailored to contain a high proportion of fresh vegetables, Spirulina and similar ingredients. If unable to grow sufficient algae in the main tank or you have a community containing numerous herbivorous fishes which consume what’s available quickly it may be necessary to maintain a separate tank in which to grow algae on rocks and switch them with those in the main tank on a cyclical basis. Such a ‘nursery‘ doesn’t have to be very large, requires only strong lighting and in warmer climates can be kept outdoors. Gastromyzontids are often seen on sale in an emaciated state which can be difficult to correct. A good dealer will have done something about this prior to sale but if you decide to take a chance with severely weakened specimens they’ll initially require a constant source of suitable foods in the absence of competitors if they’re to recover. Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑ In terms of behaviour Sewellia spp. are perhaps the most dominant of the ‘sucker belly’ group of loaches though they’re not generally aggressive towards dissimilar-looking fishes. Potential tankmates include small, pelagic cyprinids such as Tanichthys, Danio, Devario, and Rasbora, stream-dwelling gobies from the genera Rhinogobius, Sicyopterus, and Stiphodon, plus rheophilic catfishes like Glyptothorax, Akysis and Hara spp. Some loaches from the families Nemacheilidae, Balitoridae and Gastromyzontidae are also suitable but others are not so be sure to research your choices thoroughly before purchase. Similarly-shaped, less bold gastromyzontids such as Gastromyzon or Hypergastromyzon spp. tend not to compete well for food and territory, however, and if the latter resources are limited even members of relatively robust genera such as Pseudogastromyzon may struggle to impose themselves. Other benthic species may also be outcompeted, especially those inhabiting similar parts of the tank like Annamia, Formosania, Homaloptera, Liniparhomaloptera and Vanmanenia. Such combinations are best attempted only in larger, well-structured aquaria where space is not an issue. In the wild Sewellia spp. tend to occur in quite large aggregations so buy a group of 6 or more if you want to see their most interesting, natural behaviour. Dominance battles are entertaining to watch and often take place in a belly-to-belly stance with both fish raising their bodies from the substrate in a near-upright position. The purchase of several fish will also reduce the likelihood of a particular subdominant individual(s) being singled out, and make the group less nervous of activity outside the tank. The most obvious external characteristics are the shape of the head and body when viewed from above, with females having a comparatively broad body and a snout running almost continuous with the pectoral fins. Sexually mature males also develop rows of soft, raised tubercules on the anterior portion of the first 5-6 pectoral-fin rays which have been referred to as ‘fences’ in the hobby, plus additional rows on the dorsal surface of the head. Initial reports mostly described recovering fry that had been sucked into external canister filters in hill stream-style arrangements such as that described above (see ‘Maintenance’), or discovery of small numbers surviving in mature community set-ups. However subsequent experiments have shown that they can be bred in numbers in very simple quarters using groups of adult fish. Perhaps the most important aspect in a controlled breeding attempt is provision of a suitable, mature substrate. A large grade of rounded river gravel is best as the many nooks and crannies created allow eggs to develop within without being eaten by the adults and provides refuge for the fry until large enough to escape predation. Spawning can apparently be triggered by raising the temperature to 77-78.8°F/25-26° for a period before conducting a cool water change although in many cases simply performing the latter has proven enough. Courtship is initiated by the male and involves fluttering displays and chasing of the female. When a female appears receptive the behaviour of the male changes to include circling of his potential partner, mouthing of the dorsal surface and pushing of his head into her body, seemingly in an attempt to dislodge her into open water. In one experiment an adult pair of S. lineolata was provided with an open bowl filled with gravel and woollen mops within which the fish spawned suggesting that in nature spawning may be an opportunistic affair dependent on environmental conditions to an extent. The pectoral and pelvic fins are also relatively short to begin with meaning the young are unable to cling to surfaces in the same way as adults, instead spending all their time on or within the substrate. The adults seem not to predate on the fry once they’re around 5 mm or so in length and they can be left together should you wish. In community aquaria filtered by external units care should be taken when performing filter maintenance as fry can often be found inside. S. lineolata was first recorded by Diard over 150 years prior to its ‘rediscovery’ in the early-1990s. It became available to the aquarium trade in the mid-2000s and swiftly established itself as one of the more popular balitorids in the hobby due to its attractive body markings and ease of breeding. It’s also sold under the names ‘reticulated hillstream loach’, ‘Vietnamese hillstream loach’ and ‘gold ring butterfly sucker’. It’s difficult to confuse with any other member of the genus as it possesses a striking series of 3-5 dark stripes on the body, and is further distinguishable by the following combination of characters: posterior portion of paired fins with 1-2 well-defined, concentric bands; origin of pelvic-fin below origin of dorsal-fin; origin of pectoral-fin posterior to corner of mouth; pelvic-fin reaching origin of anal-fin; small elevated patches of soft, fine tubercules on pectoral fins of males; tubercules on simple pectoral-fin ray not enlarged; absence of cavity around mouth and no skin-fold between oropectoral membrane and ventral surface of head; 38-49 lateral line scales. Prior to the mid-1990s S. lineolata was the only species in the genus but an upturn in surveys of freshwater fauna in Vietnam and Laos has resulted in the discovery of various new taxa, several of which remain undescribed. He considered the larger-growing representatives with relatively short pelvic fins (S. elongata and S. diardi) to belong to his new subgenus Diardichthys. Freyhof and Serov (2000) found S. marmorata and S. patella to exhibit a combination of characters applicable to both subgenera, however, thus Diardichthys is currently considered a synonym of Sewellia. The genus is diagnosed by the following combination of characters as per Freyhof and Serov (2000): depressed head and body and compressed tail; greatest body depth at dorsal-fin origin; greatest body width at end of pectoral-fin base; entire ventral surface of paired fins, head and body forming an adhesive disc extending to end of pelvic fin; one simple and 19-26 branched pectoral-fin rays, one simple and 18-21 branched pelvic-fin rays; pectoral fin extending beyond pelvic-fin origin; last two pelvic-fin rays not exposed ventrally, but reflexed dorsally and adpressed to side of body, forming a pelvic valve together with a thick fleshy flap on posterior part of pelvic-fin base (where pelvic fin attaches to side of body); gill opening smaller than eye diameter, covered by a vertically oblique, biconvex membranous flap; gill opening entirely above pectoral-fin base; mouth very small, strongly curved; rostral cap continuous with upper lip; upper jaw overhanging lower jaw; two pairs of short rostral barbels and one pair of maxillary barbels; rostral barbels with medially expanded papilliferous bases, partly adjacent or overlying to cavities of ventral surface of head; these cavities not connected to each other; bases of two anterior barbels fused; rostral barbels connected laterally with a small skin-fold to head; maxillary barbel short and filamentous, with a few small papillae. Sewellia spp. have specialised morphology adapted to life in fast-flowing water; the paired fins are orientated horizontally, head and body flattened and the last two pelvic-fin rays combine with a fleshy flap on the base of the fin to form a ‘pelvic valve’. These features form a powerful sucking cup which allows the fish to cling tightly to solid surfaces. The ability to swim in open water is greatly reduced and they instead ‘crawl’ their way over and under rocks. The family Gastromyzontidae is currently considered valid as per Kottelat (2012). It contains a number of genera which had formerly been included in several families and subfamilies, most recently Balitoridae, of which the most well-known in the aquarium hobby include Beaufortia, Formosania, Gastromyzon, Pseudogastromyzon, Hypergastromyzon, Liniparhomaloptera, Sewellia, and Vanmanenia. - Cuvier, G. and A. Valenciennes, 1846 - Bertrand, Paris: i-xix + 2 pp. + 1-505 + 2 pp. Histoire naturelle des poissons Tome dix-huitième. - Freyhof, J., 2003 - Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 14(3): 225-230 Sewellia albisuera, a new balitorid loach from Central Vietnam (Cypriniformes: Balitoridae). - Freyhof, J. and D. V. Serov, 2000 - Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters 11(3): 217-240 Review of the genus Sewellia with description of two new species from Vietnam (Cypriniformes: Balitoridae). - Kottelat, M., 1990 - Pfeil, München: 1-262 Indochinese nemacheilines. A revision of nemacheiline loaches (Pisces: Cypriniformes) of Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and southern Vietnam. - Kottelat, M., 2012 - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 26: 1-199 Conspectus cobitidum: an inventory of the loaches of the world (Teleostei: Cypriniformes: Cobitoidei). - Kottelat, M. 1994 - Zoologische Mededelingen (Leiden) 68(1): 109-112 Rediscovery of Sewellia lineolata in Annam, Viet Nam (Teleostei: Balitoridae). - Müller, A., 2010 - Amazonas 29: 44-49 Flossensauger der Gattung Sewellia Teil II - gezielte Nachzucht von Sewellia lineloata. - Rainboth, W. J., 1996 - FAO, Rome: 1-265 Fishes of the Cambodian Mekong. FAO Species Identification Field Guide for Fishery Purposes. - Roberts, T. R., 1998 - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 46(2): 271-288 Systematic revision of the balitorid loach genus Sewellia of Vietnam and Laos, with diagnoses of four new species. - Serov, D. V., 1996 - Datz 1996(3): 190-193 Gebirgsvietnam: Natur, Menschen und Fische. - Strozyk, F., 2010 - Amazonas 29: 38-43 Flossensauger der Gattung Sewellia Teil I - Haltung und extensive Vermehrung.
Mathura (located south of Delhi) was one of the great places of production for many centuries just like Gandhâra (located in the region of Peshawar, Afghanistan today - use of black shale). These centers continued to produce numerous sculptures regardless the successive empires: Shunga dynasty (185-72 BC), Gupta dynasty (320-499 AD) which represents an artistic peak. The Gupta Empire was located in the north of present-day India and the Buddhist religion was dominant: artistic characteristics will be found mainly in the evolution of Stupa architecture and sculptures of Buddha wearing a halo and Bodhisattvas with a recognizable style whether they are sculpted alone, sitting, standing or in scenes on bas-reliefs . There are two main styles from the Gupta era: Sarnath and Mathura. Sarnath: the Buddha is represented in a very refined style, wearing transparent clothes not pleated (which we often see that the folds at the wrists or at the legs in the sitting position), the head, surrounded by a halo, is surmounted by the typical protuberance, the eyes are half-closed or almost closed: very fine workmanship expressing a state of deep inner peace. Mathura (about 140 km from present-day Delhi to the south): classical form, search for balance, slender form, use of red sandstone, the Buddha appears with a pleated garment, most of the time standing. Transmission of serenity. The sculpture aims to give a representation of the Buddha or Hindu deities but also to transmit a teaching: in low reliefs, the life of Gautama is transcribed with the different stages of his journey, the Buddha is also represented with different attributes: wheel of life…. In addition, many decorative elements are present: animals, Yakshi (the female deities living in the trees) ... During this period, many cave-temples developed, using natural geological resources to develop a characteristic sculpture: we can mention the sites of Ajanta (also famous for its murals), Ellora (4-7 ° AD) . The development of current Hinduism As the Gupta period came to an end, the domination of Buddhism declined: Jainism and Hinduism took off, leading to a strong development in the construction of places of worship, and creativity in modes of expression developed very quickly. Indeed, during this period, the Vedic religion was profoundly transformed to become the Hinduism practiced today. Previously only the Brahmins (the priests) held the knowledge and transmitted it to the faithful: they were the intermediaries with the gods, officiated during rites (offerings ...), were the guardians of knowledge ... From this time develops a new way: Bakhti or devotion: the relationship with the gods becomes much more direct, the gods also intervene on earth notably Vishnu through his many avatars (Krishna, ...). The famous epics including Ramayana, Mahabharata are written and widely disseminated. India becomes sacred: the places where the Gods intervene become the object of pilgrimages…. From the 8th century many stone temples were built all over India to honor the gods: many statues were carved either inside to represent the deities or on the often richly decorated exteriors. Sometimes if the stone is missing, the brick is used, the representations are made in terracotta. These new divine images, the immobile murti (in Sanskrit) or Utsavanurti (mobile statues) testify to this new approach. From there is born an unprecedented creative profusion: new representations and new stories ... Photos: Credit to Parsasi Sutrala.
Published in News Intel claims it can get Stephen Hawking talking Double the current speed Intel claims it has new technology which can increase Hawking’s ability to communicate. Hawking, who suffers from Lou Gehrig’s disease has seen his ability to communicate drop to one word per minute. Intel, which has been providing Hawking with the technology he uses to communicate since the 1990s, developed a computer which was controlled by him twitching a muscle in his cheek. The twitch causes a cursor that moves constantly over a screen of letters and words to stop. However this is very slow, for Hawking who is trying to communicate a large amount of information. Intel thinks it has come up with a system which can get Hawking back up to 10 words a minute by using Morse code. They’ve also given the software Hawking uses better word-prediction and a new character-driven interface. But Intel is not stopping there. It is exploring whether facial-recognition software could be used as a faster way for Hawking to communicate. The key to increasing the speed seems to be getting away from needing Hawking to select individual letters or words. Intel will use a combination of sensors and software to move forward with their context aware systems. They hope this could give our devices a better sense of how and why we use them, and how our needs change with new information. Google Now is an early example of context-aware software.
Site to locate most recent or archive reports for end-of-the-month hydrologic conditions with descriptions, data, charts, and maps giving an overview of water conditions during the month for the state of New York. Methods to depict the connectedness of rock units across fault and fracture zones, allowing us to determine the distribution of geologic units, structural features, and other controlling factors, such as porosity and permeability. Lead page to connect to ground water information on the Nation's ground water resources and ground water activities of the USGS. Includes links to ground-water data, news reports, publications, field techniques, models, programs, and issues. Using a geographic dataset of structures, with more than 5500 structures that were destroyed or damaged by wildfire since 2001, we identified the main contributors to property loss in two extensive, fire-prone regions in southern California. Shows how observations and modeling can help anticipate practical problems in coastal areas when hurricanes arrive. Focuses primarily on areas where people have built houses and roads that may be destroyed during storms.
ON 2 August 1927, on a summer trip in South Dakota, President Calvin Coolidge distributed to reporters copies of a simple message: "I do not choose to run for President in nineteen twenty-eight." He was quietly departing from a presidency that had quietly watched over a country enjoying what seemed to be permanent prosperity, rejoicing in seemingly limitless technological and scientific progress, and enormously proud of its institutions. In Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover—an engineer, businessman, humanitarian, administrator, and in many respects political progressive—the nation saw a figure whose brilliantly successful career embodied its technical and economic talents, its generosity, its mythic story of the poor boy whose hard work brings him fame and wealth. Hoover would be the fitting Republican candidate and successor to Coolidge. The campaign, with Charles Curtis as vice presidential candidate on Hoover's ticket, was all that the Republicans could have wanted. Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York, the Democratic candidate, had the political liability of his Roman Catholicism, which he compounded by appointing a Catholic to be Democratic national chairman. Smith blundered, or at any rate was stubbornly intractable, in his handling of the religious issue. He failed during the campaign to address specifically the fears of those Americans who thought of his religion as alien to the American tradition, and he acted as though any questions about his faith were an affront to be brushed aside. Further, although Smith opposed Prohibition at a time when it was proving itself a failure, this deepened the public perception of him as an eastern urbanite fixed to his Catholic ethnic constituency. Hoover's campaign looked toward an end to poverty, equivocated on Prohibition by calling it an experiment, and promised farmers an agricultural marketing act. But no matter who the Democratic candidate might have been or how the campaign might have proceeded, Hoover had on his side a national prosperity that was irresistible politically. Hoover received 21 million votes, and Smith, 15 million. The electoral vote was divided 444 to 87. Biographies include David Burner, Herbert Hoover: A Public Life (New York, 1979); Joan Hoff Wilson, Herbert Hoover: Forgotten Progressive (Boston, 1975); Martin L. Fausold, The Presidency of Herbert C. Hoover (Lawrence, Kans., 1985); Wilton Eckley, Herbert Hoover (Boston, 1980); and Richard Norton Smith, An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover (New York, 1984). All of these books are being gradually supplanted, at least in matters of detail, by George H. Nash's multivolume life. So far two volumes by Nash have appeared under the main title The Life of Herbert Hoover: vol. 1, The Engineer (New York, 1983), and vol. 2, The Humanitarian, 1914–1917 (New York, 1988). See the following two books by Ellis W. Hawley, the most influential scholar of Hoover studies: Herbert Hoover as Secretary of Commerce: Studies in New Era Thought and Practice (Iowa City, Iowa, 1981) and Herbert Hoover and the Historians (West Branch, Iowa, 1989). Hawley has also edited Herbert Hoover: Containing the Public Messages, Speeches, and Statements of the President , 4 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1974–1977). There are three bibliographies about Hoover: Patrick G. O'Brien, comp., Herbert Hoover: A Bibliography (Westport, Conn., 1993); Richard D. Burns, comp., Herbert Hoover: A Bibliography of His Times and Presidency (Wilmington, Del., 1991); and Kathleen Tracey, comp., Herbert Hoover, a Bibliography: His Writings and Addresses (Stanford, Calif., 1977). Other important monographs include Donald J. Lisio, The President and Protest: Hoover, MacArthur, and the Bonus Riot , 2d ed. (New York, 1994), and his Hoover, Blacks, and Lily-whites: A Study of Southern Strategies (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1985); James S. Olson, Herbert Hoover and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1931–1933 (Ames, Iowa, 1977), and his Saving Capitalism: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation and the New Deal, 1933–1940 (Princeton, N.J., 1988); Gary Dean Best, The Politics of American Individualism: Herbert Hoover in Transition, 1918–1921 (Westport, Conn., 1975), and his Herbert Hoover: The Postpresidential Years, 1933–1964 (Stanford, Calif., 1983); Albert U. Romasco, The Poverty of Abundance: Hoover, the Nation, the Depression (New York, 1965); Craig Lloyd, Aggressive Introvert: A Study of Herbert Hoover and Public Relations Management, 1912–1932 (Columbus, Ohio, 1972); James D. Calder, The Origins and Development of Federal Crime Control Policy: Herbert Hoover's Initiatives (Westport, Conn., 1993); George H. Nash, Herbert Hoover and Stanford University (Stanford, Calif., 1988); and Allan J. Lichtman, Prejudice and the Old Politics: The Presidential Election of 1928 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1979). Important collections of essays include Lawrence E. Gelfand, ed., Herbert Hoover: The Great War and Its Aftermath, 1914–1923 (Iowa City, Iowa, 1979); Lee Nash, ed., Understanding Herbert Hoover: Ten Perspectives (Stanford, Calif., 1987); and Martin L. Fausold and George T. Mazuzan, eds., The Hoover Presidency: A Reappraisal (Albany, N.Y., 1974). Recent works include Louis W. Liebovich, Bylines in Despair: Herbert Hoover, the Great Depression, and the U.S. News Media (Westport, Conn., 1994).
ADD and ADHD Students: Are Often Bright and Even Gifted Violating Newton’s First Law of Motion: Reaching those Challenged by an Attention Immaturity Steven Pavlakis, M.D.*, The Director of Pediatric Neurology and Development, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, refers to attention deficit disorder, with or without hyperactivity, as being an attention immaturity issue rather than an attention deficit. I believe this is an important distinction and, while there is much work yet to be done, it is a significant observation and one that warrants additional research. The Damage Labels Do One of the greatest challenges affecting our children today is the use of labels in our schools, particularly early on, and specifically as they relate to learning disabilities. Once labeled as disabled, average, gifted, and so on, a child is set on a track; and, that track is set in stone. Short of a violation of Newton’s first law of motion, there is little chance to break free of most labels, in many ways they are the academic version of a high school reputation…and they stick in much the same way! Unfortunately, from that point on, the student will be labeled accordingly. For the remainder of his or her academic career, in the original school district, that of the original diagnosis, or as a member of the student body at any other school system he or she might become a part of over the remaining years, the label sticks…the rep sticks! It should be! Just a fresher for those not up on their Newtonian Laws: Newton’s first law of motion states that the velocity of a body remains constant unless the body is acted upon by an external force. (Sir Isaac Newton, Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687) Or, as many have learned it way back in elementary school: Once a body is in motion, it will tend to stay in motion unless acted on my some other, outside force! Once again, as most familiar with the wheels of academia know, particularly in a public setting, those labeled disabled, in any sense, will remain labeled and will receive a different education. Interrupting that motion set by the powers that be is an order of magnitude more difficult than violating Newton’s first law! NOTE: I am not saying that the issue of attention immaturity must be ignored. I am simply suggesting that we be very careful before we assign labels to children in or out of an academic setting. This is a crucial issue and one we will explore in greater detail over the year ahead. For now, suffice it to say that before any sort of a diagnosis is set in stone, IEP developed, and child labeled, possibly for life, we must be very sure of exactly what we are dealing with…in all of its manifestations. Because the issues/challenges have been described, across most academic and medical communities, as learning disabilities may not be, caution must be the watchword. Most significantly, children are being treated with many of the same education strategies and programs that have been traditionally set aside for those diagnosed, and subsequently labeled with, more profound educational issues and challenges. This cannot stand! Ultimately, how we diagnose and treat our students will impact and affect the trajectory of the remainder of their life. The possibility of serious consequences should, at the very least, suggest a level of caution not currently displayed and/or applied in many school systems, public and private, today. Contact us today! If you would like to discuss your child’s options with me, I will be accepting a very limited number of children for the current academic year. Because our program requires a significant time commitment on my part, I can only accept 8-10 students per year. Please contact me for more information. Professor John P. J. Zajaros, Sr. Serving All of Northern Ohio The only time we do not pick up the phone is when we are in session. Please leave a detailed message including: student’s name; school district; academic year; birth year; diagnosis, if any; IEP in place; athletics and/or extracurriculars; and, any additional relevant information. I will return your call as soon as I am free. *Dr. Pavlakis has received a number of awards, has an impressive CV, and his research has focused on cerebrovascular disease in children, metabolic disease in children, and the neuroimaging of children (MR, MRS, and functional imaging).
SETTING THE SCENE The Baltic, like the much larger Mediterranean,1 of which it is in many ways northern Europe’s equivalent,2 is almost an inland sea. Access to the world’s oceans is provided only by three narrow outlets: the Sound between the most easterly and largest Danish island of Zealand (Sjælland) and the southernmost part of the west coast of what is now Sweden, only 5 km wide at its northern end; the Great Belt between Zealand and the second largest Danish island of Fyn;3 and the Little Belt between Fyn and the Danish mainland (Jutland or Jylland). The Mediterranean is divided into western and eastern basins between Sicily and Tunisia. The Baltic is similarly divided into two well-defined main areas: a larger southern basin between the Danish islands and the coasts of ‘Balticum’;4 and a smaller northern arm-the Gulf of Bothnia. These are separated from each other by an almost continuous string of islands between the Swedish capital of Stockholm and the ancient Finnish capital of Turku (Åbo),5 of which the Åland islands (now Finnish) form the central core.
Convertion vs. Conversion — What's the Difference? By Tayyaba Rehman — Published on September 17, 2023 Convertion is an incorrect spelling, while Conversion is the correct form. Conversion refers to the act or process of converting. Difference Between Convertion and Conversion Table of Contents Which is correct: Convertion or Conversion How to spell Conversion? Remember the Suffix: The term "verse" in "conversion" takes the "-sion" suffix, not "-tion." Link with Convert: Start with "convert" and simply add "-sion." Word Family: Think of related words like "diversion" and "inversion" which also end with "-sion." Count the Syllables: "Con-ver-sion" has three syllables. Avoid Extra 'T': There's no 't' in the ending; it's "-sion" not "-tion." Compare with Definitions Convertion is an incorrect spelling of Conversion. Changing from one form or use to another. The conversion of raw materials into products is the essence of manufacturing. Accepting and adopting a new religion or belief. His conversion to Buddhism was a significant turning point in his life. In computing, changing data from one form to another. The software allows for easy conversion of files to different formats. The process of changing or causing something to change from one form to another The conversion of food into body tissues The fact of changing one's religion or beliefs or the action of persuading someone else to change theirs His passion for seventeenth-century literature had led the former atheist to a sudden conversion He insists that real conversion is a matter of the heart A successful kick at goal after a try, scoring two points Gavin Hastings landed one penalty and one conversion (in the context of online marketing) the proportion of people viewing an advertisement and going on to buy the product, click on a link, etc. You'll see better conversion rates for your local advertising if you include your physical address on your website Keeping things simple will improve conversion The action of wrongfully dealing with goods in a manner inconsistent with the owner's rights He was found guilty of the fraudulent conversion of clients' monies The manifestation of a mental disturbance as a physical disorder or disease The act of converting. The state of being converted. A change in which one adopts a new religion, faith, or belief. Something that is changed from one use, function, or purpose to another. (Law) The unlawful appropriation of another's property. The exchange of one type of security or currency for another. (Logic) The interchange of the subject and predicate of a proposition. (Football) An extra point or points scored after a touchdown, as by kicking the ball through the uprights or by advancing the ball into the end zone from the two-yard line or a similar short distance. (Psychiatry) The development of physical symptoms, such as paralysis or sensory deficits, as a response to stress, conflict, or trauma. The expression of a quantity in alternative units, as of length or weight. The act of converting something or someone. His conversion to Christianity The conversion of the database from ASCII to Unicode (computing) A software product converted from one platform to another. (chemistry) A chemical reaction wherein a substrate is transformed into a product. (rugby) A free kick, after scoring a try, worth two points. (American football) An extra point (or two) scored by kicking a field goal or carrying the ball into the end zone after scoring a touchdown. (marketing) An online advertising performance metric representing a visitor performing whatever the intended result of an ad is defined to be. (law) Under the common law, the tort of the taking of someone's personal property with intent to permanently deprive them of it, or damaging property to the extent that the owner is deprived of the utility of that property, thus making the tortfeasor liable for the entire value of the property. The conversion of a horse (linguistics) The process whereby a new word is created without changing the form, often by allowing the word to function as a new part of speech. (obsolete) The act of turning round; revolution; rotation. (logic) The act of interchanging the terms of a proposition, as by putting the subject in the place of the predicate, or vice versa. (math) A change or reduction of the form or value of a proposition. The conversion of equations; the conversion of proportions Changing a miniature figure into another character, usually by mixing different parts, or molding the model's parts, or doing both. The act of turning or changing from one state or condition to another, or the state of being changed; transmutation; change. Artificial conversion of water into ice. The conversion of the aliment into fat. The act of changing one's views or course, as in passing from one side, party, or from of religion to another; also, the state of being so changed. An appropriation of, and dealing with the property of another as if it were one's own, without right; as, the conversion of a horse. Or bring my action of conversionAnd trover for my goods. The act of interchanging the terms of a proposition, as by putting the subject in the place of the predicate, or the contrary. A change or reduction of the form or value of a proposition; as, the conversion of equations; the conversion of proportions. A change of front, as a body of troops attacked in the flank. A spiritual and moral change attending a change of belief with conviction; a change of heart; a change from the service of the world to the service of God; a change of the ruling disposition of the soul, involving a transformation of the outward life. He oftFrequented their assemblies, . . . and to them preachedConversion and repentance, as to soulsIn prison under judgments imminent. An event that results in a transformation A change in the units or form of an expression: Conversion from Fahrenheit to Centigrade A successful free throw or try for point after a touchdown A spiritual enlightenment causing a person to lead a new life (psychiatry) a defense mechanism represses emotional conflicts which are then converted into physical symptoms that have no organic basis A change of religion; His conversion to the Catholic faith Interchange of subject and predicate of a proposition Act of exchanging one type of money or security for another The act of changing from one use or function or purpose to another The act of converting or being converted. The conversion of the building into apartments took months. In sports, an extra point earned. The team's successful conversion sealed their victory. Why is it called Conversion? It's called "Conversion" because it denotes the act or process of converting or being converted. What is the verb form of Conversion? The verb form of "Conversion" is "convert." Which conjunction is used with Conversion? No specific conjunction is tied to "Conversion." It depends on the sentence. What is the root word of Conversion? The root word is "convert." Is Conversion an abstract noun? Yes, "Conversion" is an abstract noun as it represents an idea or process rather than a tangible object. What is the pronunciation of Conversion? Conversion is pronounced as /kənˈvɜrʒən/. Which vowel is used before Conversion? The vowel 'i' is used before 'sion' in "Conversion." What is the singular form of Conversion? "Conversion" itself is the singular form. What is the plural form of Conversion? The plural form is "conversions." Which preposition is used with Conversion? "to" can be used with Conversion, as in "conversion to Christianity." Is Conversion a noun or adjective? "Conversion" is a noun. Is Conversion a countable noun? Yes, you can have one conversion or multiple conversions. Is Conversion an adverb? No, "Conversion" is not an adverb. Is Conversion a vowel or consonant? "Conversion" is a word containing both vowels and consonants. Is Conversion a collective noun? No, "Conversion" is not a collective noun. Is the Conversion term a metaphor? Not inherently, but it can be used metaphorically in various contexts. What is another term for Conversion? A synonym might be "transformation." What is the stressed syllable in Conversion? The second syllable, "ver," is stressed. What is the first form of Conversion? As a noun, "Conversion" doesn't have verb forms. Which article is used with Conversion? Both "a" and "the" can be used with "Conversion," depending on the context. Is Conversion a negative or positive word? "Conversion" is neutral; its connotation depends on the context in which it's used. How do we divide Conversion into syllables? What part of speech is Conversion? "Conversion" is a noun. What is the opposite of Conversion? Depending on context, an opposite might be "stagnation" or "retention." Which determiner is used with Conversion? Determiners like "the," "a," or "every" can be used with "Conversion." What is the second form of Conversion? Same as above. What is the third form of Conversion? Same as above. How is Conversion used in a sentence? "The conversion of the old warehouse into a modern office space was hailed as a stroke of architectural genius." Is the word Conversion imperative? No, "Conversion" is not in the imperative form. How many syllables are in Conversion? There are three syllables in "Conversion." Share Your Discovery Tayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
Any avid gardener knows the frustration of searching in vain for realistic and practical gardening resources. Coffee-table books full of lush images of English country gardens and technical volumes on landscape design are of little use to dirt-under-the-nails gardeners seeking straight answers to questions about planning a cutting garden that really produces. Suzanne McIntire provides a bumper crop of such down to earth help in An American Cutting Garden. Using both common and botanical names, she discusses in depth a wide variety of herbaceous perennials, biennials, annuals, and bulbs, and provides sensible directions for choosing ideal plants. Often illustrating her advice with personal accounts of mistakes and successes, McIntire supplies information on a wide range of topics: the length of stems one might expect from the cutting garden, how many plants are needed of any one kind, when and how to successfully sow seed outdoors, the heat-hardiness of plants, and strategies for coping with the effects of hot summers and cold winters. She also advises on the simple and rewarding “haphazard school” of flower arranging. Special chapters sympathetically address the beginner’s cutting garden, a cutting garden for small spaces and another for shade, and autumn in the cutting garden. A series of invaluable appendices offer instruction for starting seed under lights, a list of plants that self-sow in the author’s garden, and sources for plants. From the earliest pansy (Viola x wittrockiana) to the latest chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum pacificum), a unique section lists hundreds of plants in order of bloom throughout the growing year, enabling both the novice and the experienced gardener to plan for complementary blooms An American Cutting Garden is a real gardener’s gardening book, and will be enormously helpful—even to those who don’t grow flowers for cutting.
How excellent is the Bible! For review: Past Simple Tense – an action that started and finished in the past. "God... spake in time past …" (Hebrews 1:1). Present Perfect Tense – an action started in the past and continues at the time time of writing. "…Hath [has,third person] in these last days spoken by his Son…” Now check out how this understanding of grammar illuminates a text: “…that they may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well” (Gen. 21:30). Abraham, in a dispute with Abimelech over the ownership of this well, makes it clear where he stands. He does not say, ‘I have dug this well’– for “dug” is the past simple tense. It would have told Abimelech he started and finished this action, in the past. It leaves the door open for another to take control. Maybe he dug it (finished in the past), but he then left it. In the interim, another could legitimately claim it. He said “have digged” – an action started in the past and continues to this point. With grammar we see Abraham has not finished the action, the dirt is still fresh and the sweat is still on the his men’s hands. It was not finished in the past, it continues; therefore, another has no right to claim it. So in reproving Abimelech with this type of speech, he leaves him no room for rebuttal. Phicol couldn’t step in and say, ‘yeah, maybe you dug it, but our guys found it, cleaned it, and revived it.’ Abraham made it clear – have digged– he started it before; and the work, his attention to it, continues even until now. The well, without a doubt, is his. It’s a small and precise thing.
"Creon is not your downfall, no, you are your own." -- Tiresias, Oedipus Rex Tragedy, Fate And Hamartia: The most common definition of tragic hamartia is "tragic flaw", but we need to be careful with this term and understand what the Greeks meant by "flaw" and how it relates to a broadly defined sense of "fate": Through hamartia, the tragic hero visits his own fate upon him or herself. In this way, "fate" is transformed from some metaphysical concept -- "the will of the gods," "the divine order of the cosmos" etc. -- to one in which we see our fates as tied to inherent elements of our selves, of our psyches, our own personal characteristics, that ordain our destinies. To put it in a simplistic way, hamartia means "no matter where you go, there you are"; you cannot escape your own personality; there are elements of our selves from which we simply cannot escape, and, for the Greeks, these elements are "inherited" and will sometimes determine the course of our lives. Oedipus has long offered the classic example. At first glance the story seems to argue that we are all bound to an inescapable fate, a destiny beyond our control, and that it is folly to try to escape it, but a deeper reading reveals that it is the very same elements of Oedipus' personality that have made him a hero to the people of Thebes that will ultimately lead to his downfall; in other words, he has led himself to his own undoing. Consider Romeo and Juliet as "star-cross'd lovers" ultimately undone by their own hamartia; although they are somewhat "doomed" by the bigoted Veronese social order, ultimately their own, impatient adolescent passions rush them toward death. If Romeo And Juliet were a medieval Christian play, or if it took place in Hebrew scriptures, we'd probably interpret their hamartia as "sin"; they have not honored the will of their parents and they have violated their communities' morals, so clearly they've been punished by God. But Shakespeare's Renaissance view of tragedy is principally Greek, not Judeo-Christian, and we are left seeing their destructive passions, their youthful, idealistic, impatient love, as tragically beautiful. It is a painful beauty, but it is beauty none-the-less. And this is how we should approach Oedipus; fate, the will of the gods is a metaphor for the workings of both those social and natural forces beyond our personal control and the inescapable elements of our own psyches -- our own selves that both make us heroic and tragic, and thus make us beautiful. ...and "flawed" or, most telling, in Oedipus' and Romeo and Juliet's cases, doomed by ignorance, knowledge and experience. Hamartia And Hubris At this point you've probably guessed the close link between hamartia and hubris, for what makes us great often leads to our own downfall when it is excessive. Youthful passion is a good thing, until it's excessive, and then it can destroy Romeo and Juliet. So too Oedipus' intelligence and obsession with justice and finding the truth -- these are good qualities and they make him a good king, but too much of a good thing is going to lead to some mighty bad stuff. Tragedy is inherently ironic, in the literal term, which is to say that involve an order, a logic, but it is an inverted logic: the events unfold in the opposite manner than intended or expected. Tragedy is always ironic because, if you think about it, hubris is itself inherently ironic: our strengths may cause our downfall; our greatest strengths can be our greatest weaknesses. In tragedy the characters' hamartia often drives them to make ironic choices: contradicting the very values that have driven them in the first place: Oedipus swears he'll punish the offender, when it is of course himself; Romeo and Juliette chase eternal love, which causes their early deaths; Hamlet and Clytemnestra must commit murder to avenge murder, becoming the very thing they loathe; characters committed to truth wind up being forced to lie; those committed to their families wind up destroying them; people rush headlong into death in their quest for safety.... Our brains are wired for logic and seeing and remembering patterns is of great evolutionary value – we remember that when the sun goes down “over there” it will rise again after night on the opposite side of our periphery; we note that spring follows winter and summer spring and we must plant seeds in early spring if we want to harvest food in the summer or fall etc. But life seems to unfold at times with an illogical logic: an ironic, inverted logic, wherein the opposite of what we expected and plans happens, often with the most ironically tragic outcome (witness Oedipus). Thus there is a disjoint between our logical minds and this illogical existence. Tragedy and Celebrity Hubris Remember that these plays are likely, loosely based around actual, historical figures, so in many ways they are an artistic representation of reality. In our culture these same "tragedies" play out nearly identically in the media's treatment of, say, Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe etc etc. Fate As Metaphor Death: It's worth remembering that the word "fatal", meaning "deadly" is rooted in the word "fate". Life is fatal: it ends in death, inevitably. There is no escaping this fact. Thus, each and every life carries a tragic fate: we all fall from a great height, despite all of our greatest efforts. Gilgamesh wrestles with this: he must make his peace with mortality. Achilles wrestles with it. Adam and Eve's ejection is fated and tragic: it seems bound to happen given human nature, and to be human they cannot eat of the Tree Of Life and thus become immortal. Family: Both Greek and Shakespearean drama roots tragic fate in family. It reminds us that although we remain free to determine the course of most of our lives, much of who we are fated to become is tied to the choices our parents, and their parents, and their parents' parents etc. made: the future is inexorably connected to the past: the past determines the future. We Americans like to pretend that we will reap the rewards of our own labors, but how much of who you are was determined by those who chose to emigrate to this country, or live in the town(s) you grew up in? How much was determined by your race or the language that you grew up speaking at home? Or from another, more personal, angle, at some point we must make our peace with who we are: we cannot escape our heritage or those elements of ourselves we find repugnant: tragedy reminds us there is no escape. As teenagers many of us vow to never become like our parents, to make their mistakes and live their dull lives. And then you have your own children and one day look into the mirror to find your father or mother's face staring back at you. Orestes and Oedipus remind us all that there is no escape from who we are, and much of who we is who our pasts -- especially our family -- once were. This suggests we might see hamartia as "layered", like an onion: on the surface, fate seems beyond one's control and "the will of the gods", but dig deeper and we find we will our own fates through our own personalities and character traits, but dig deeper still and we find our character traits were in turn formed largely by luck or inherited via the choices others made: you did not choose your parents; you did not choose your DNA; you did not choose what continent you were born on or in what century you found yourself.... You did not choose your skin color or how others perceive that color; you did not choose to be born, say, to a parent who would be killed in war or to be born to one who inherited tens of millions of dollars and sent you to the best private schools.... In short, fate determines your character, and your character then determines your fate.
A sphere is produced from planar segments, and a pyramid is constructed on each segment; this is called cumulation. The spherical star thus produced is bisected by varying the plot range to establish various sunshine logos. THINGS TO TRY Rotate and Zoom in 3D Wolfram Demonstrations Project Published: April 10, 2008 Embed Interactive Demonstration More details » Download Demonstration as CDF » Download Author Code » More by Author Möbius Strip Made from a Rotating Bar Bolyai Memorial in Marosvásárhely Sándor Kabai and Sándor Horváth Borromean Rings Logo of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Fractal Polygon Tiler Tricolor Yin and Yang Triangular Koch Fractal Surface Elementary Cellular Automaton Egg Browse all topics The #1 tool for creating Demonstrations and anything technical. Explore anything with the first computational knowledge engine. The web's most extensive Course Assistant Apps » An app for every course— right in the palm of your hand. Wolfram Blog » Read our views on math, science, and technology. Computable Document Format » The format that makes Demonstrations (and any information) easy to share and STEM Initiative » Programs & resources for educators, schools & students. Join the initiative for modernizing Step-by-Step Solutions » Walk through homework problems one step at a time, with hints to help along the way. Wolfram Problem Generator » Unlimited random practice problems and answers with built-in step-by-step solutions. Practice online or make a printable study sheet. Wolfram Language » Knowledge-based programming for everyone. Note: Your message & contact information may be shared with the author of any specific Demonstration for which you give feedback. © 2016 Wolfram Demonstrations Project & Contributors \| Note: To run this Demonstration you need Mathematica 7+ or the free Mathematica Player 7EX Download or upgrade to Mathematica Player 7EX I already have
Mudras or gestures involve the whole arm: elbow, hand and fingers in Hindu and Buddhist statuary art. The postures give at first sight a very powerful indication of the meaning of an Indian statue: from the first glance, when one knows the language transmitted by the sages in Hindu sacred art, one knows the metaphysical meaning of the posture taken by the deity or deities: soothing, benevolent, combative, interiorized... Mudras means "seal" or "sign » The gesture of the hands will give us other precious indications and contribute to deepen the teaching given. These gestures are all the more important as deities can have up to 10 arms! It is therefore sometimes difficult, both to decode each gesture but also to understand the overall meaning. Yoga of the hands In Sanskrit, Mudras can come from Mud meaning joy and 'ra' triggering or from mud, bliss and dhra, dissolution. Mudras are very numerous, they are part of the daily practice of some Yogis (in yoga postures, or specifically in hand or finger yoga, in meditation), they are of course found in Indian classical dance and I only propose here the meaning of the most fundamental and most encountered in sculptures (there are more than 50). It is also interesting to note that these gestures can be found in many cultures and religions (see some icons, Egyptian statue postures...) which have used them for millennia. The five fingers of the hand, in the Hindu tradition, represent the five elements of the earth: - the thumb: fire (Agni) - index: air (Vayu) - the middle finger: the ether, the sky (Akash) - the ring finger: the earth (Prithivi) - the pinkie: water (Jala) The mudras taken by the deities thus offer us both a spiritual message and an invitation to yogic practice. The main Mudras : without doubt one of the most well-known, the hand is presented palm in front, fingers up: it is the gesture of protection, of absence of fear. Existence offers us many opportunities to experience fear and during a Sadhâna, a spiritual path, every seeker will have to face many inner fears: this gesture is there to remind everyone that the divinity is present and protects us. Literally reverence to the Self, palm of hands joined in front of the chest, it is a gesture of veneration, of inner greeting: the two aspects that are always at work in the world of form (ying and yang, concave/convex, day/night, left/right...) are reunited in this gesture to form one, synonymous with the absolute. If the palms are placed at the level of the forehead, it is a simple greeting to others (namaskar). literally knowledge: palm upwards in a horizontal position, thumb and index finger joined: union of the Self (the Absolute :the thumb) and the self (the Absolute incarnated in each of us : the index finger). Strong symbol of the wisdom of the divinity. literally energy: the ring and little fingers touch the thumb while the index and middle fingers are taut. It's an energizing mudra. hand raised, index finger pointing to the sky: an attitude that requires vigilance, greater attention and attributed to certain divinity that guards a shrine thus signifying respect to the faithfuls. Under certain conditions, when the deities take on a terrible aspect, it is a threatening gesture, a call to order for some of the faithfuls. open palm, facing down: it is the mudra of the offering, of the gift, of the blessing. Indicates that the divinity gives without counting, everything is available. Dyana mudra or samadhi mudra both hands, elbows resting on their knees, rest one on top of the other, palm facing the sky. Attitude of total contemplation, deep meditation (usually associated with the posture of Padmâsana). Palm towards the interlocutor, thumb and forefinger meet and form a circle: it is the divinity in its role of teacher, from master to disciple; the gesture symbolizes argumentation, explanation of the law, wisdom. The posture, the mudras of the Hindu or Buddhist deity already bring us many elements to understand the sacred message transmitted through the statue but the transmission is also done through other signs such as attributes, mounts ... The Book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning : Eva Rudy Janssen Un et multiple : Sarah Combe Mythes et dieux de l’Inde : Alain Danielou Petite Encyclopédie des Divinités et Symboles du Bouddhisme Tibétain, Tcheuky Sèngué Mudras, L’art de la gestuelle spirituelle, Ingrid Ramm-Bonwitt
The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism Amida[阿弥陀] ( Jpn; Skt Amitayus or Amitabha) The Buddha of the Pure Land of Perfect Bliss in the west. Amida is the Japanese transliteration of the first half of both Amitayus and Amitabha, names referring to the same Buddha that appear in Sanskrit texts and are rendered in Chinese as the Buddha Infinite Life (or the Buddha of Infinite Life) and the Buddha Infinite Light (or the Buddha of Infinite Light) respectively. The Sanskrit word amita means infinite. Amitayus is a compound of this word with ayus, which means life, and Amitabha with abha, which means light. According to the Buddha Infinite Life Sutra, immeasurable kalpas ago, a certain king, delighted with the preaching of a Buddha named World Freedom King (Skt Lokeshvararaja), renounced the throne to follow him. He took the name Dharma Treasury (Dharmakara) and began to practice bodhisattva austerities under the guidance of the Buddha. After examining an infinite number of Buddha lands and pondering for five kalpas, the bodhisattva Dharma Treasury made forty-eight vows in which he pledged to create his own Buddha land upon attaining enlightenment, a land that would combine the most outstanding features of all those he had examined. In the eighteenth vow, he pledged to bring all sentient beings who placed their hopes of salvation with him (Shan-tao, a patriarch of the Chinese Pure Land school, interpreted this to mean calling upon the name of Amida Buddha) to this Buddha land, which he named Perfect Bliss (Sukhavati), except those who had committed the five cardinal sins and those who had slandered the correct teaching. Dharma Treasury completed his practice and became the Buddha Amida. His pure land was established in a part of the universe located "a hundred thousand million Buddha lands to the west" of this saha world. Belief in Amida Buddha spread from India to China. After its introduction to Japan, Honen (1133-1212) was responsible for popularizing it there and establishing the Pure Land (Jodo) school. See also Nembutsu; Pure Land school.
It is extremely easy muddle together the scientific concepts of atoms and elementary particles, and the philosophical idea of atomism, and speak wrongly as a result. The worst example I've ever seen of this, which appears frequently in science textbooks (and which I have mentioned here before), runs something like: "The ancient Greeks incorrectly thought that the atom was an indivisible entity. But modern science has shown that the atom can be further sub-divided." This is such a crass error that it is almost unbelievable that it appears in so many textbooks. To understand what has gone wrong, consider the following analogy: Joe moves to Brooklyn. He has heard reports of "the best bar in Brooklyn," one that has the best drinks at the best prices, served by the best bartenders. He spends a few weeks exploring, after which he dubs Bar X "the best bar in Brooklyn." But couple of months later, he stumbles upon another bar, Bar Y, which has even better drinks at even better prices, served by even better bartenders. He therefore declares, "The best bar in Brooklyn does NOT have the best drinks at the best prices, served by the best bartenders." Obviously, he is making a mistake: what happened is that he is awarded the title "the best bar in Brooklyn" too early. He should have awaited further pub crawling results before naming Bar X the best. And this is just what happened in modern science: when chemists discovered elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, they thought that they had found the indivisible particles that Greek philosophers had discussed. The chemists were wrong. A century or so later it turned out the things they had named "atoms" were not really atomic at all. So what actually happened was the 18th and 19th century chemists had jumped the gun, and awarded the title "the indivisible particles" too soon. They certainly had not "proved" the ancient Greek atomists incorrect! But there are more subtle ways to go wrong on this topic. For instance, physicist Alex Small mingles the philosophical and scientific issues involved, and thus makes a couple of mistakes that, while less egregious than the above textbook gaffe, are errors nonetheless. First, he says of Averroes' defense of Aristotle's idea that the universe must be a plenum, "Ironically, his defense of incorrect science was used to carve out a space in which science could eventually thrive." However, modern science has certainly not proved Aristotle's idea here "incorrect." Yes, modern science relies on the idea of "particles." But, when examined closely, these "particles" appear as probability densities smeared out across space, hardly the atoms the ancient Greek atomists were talking about! But even more apropos here, consider the quantum vacuum: "According to present-day understanding of what is called the vacuum state or the quantum vacuum, it is 'by no means a simple empty space', and again: 'it is a mistake to think of any physical vacuum as some absolutely empty void.' According to quantum mechanics, the vacuum state is not truly empty but instead contains fleeting electromagnetic waves and particles that pop into and out of existence." So, according to this interpretation of quantum physics, Aristotle apparently turns out to be correct: Space is full through and through, with no absolutely empty void. Now, is it really correct to say is that the quantum vacuum confirms Aristotle's idea that space is a plenum? And what's more, does it show that space must be a plenum, which Aristotle argued? Well, to answer those questions, we are going to have to do philosophy: physics can't possibly tell us how to interpret what Aristotle was saying! Small then adds: "However, given the paucity of evidence for atoms during the time in question (my recollection is that evidence for them didn't really come into play until the 18th century) it is hard for me to treat older ideas for or against atoms as no [sic] more than wildass speculation." But, as we have seen the evidence for "atoms" that came into play in the 18th century was not actually evidence for "atoms" in the Greek sense at all: the things that were identified as atoms then turned out to be not atomic! And perhaps we can call all philosophy "wildass speculation," but genuinely philosophical issues can't be resolved by physics, any more than they can be resolved by plumbing or free throw shooting. The ancient Greeks were engaged in sophisticated philosophical speculation about the nature of space itself, and whether it could possibly be a continuum. How the findings of modern physics relate to that speculation, if they do at all, is a philosophical question, one which no field theory or bubble chamber experiment can answer.
The world is constantly changing, and every generation has its own problems to contend with. Our modern times certainly have their own issues, one of them being global warming and climate change. Climate change because of natural and man-made effects is impacting our world in many ways; from glaciers to ocean levels, human habitation to animal migrations, climate change is influencing our world in more ways than we can know now. The environment of animals is being changed to the extent that some of them cannot live in the places they are naturally found. As these environments become less and less hospitable for different species, animals are being forced to migrate to new locations where they may or may not thrive. In many cases, human development has already blocked their way to other suitable environments. Scientists modelled animal migrations based on global climate change patterns and created a map that showed potential future migrations of different species in North, Central, and South America. They studied 2,903 different species of vertebrates in the Western hemisphere and mapped how they would be impacted based on future climate change projections. Some of the map’s data was using present-day information regarding how species have already begun to move, while other parts of the map are projections of where animals may move based on suitable climates near their existing migration routes. The map also uses data compiled by Chris Helm’s global wind map, which would assist with the migration of birds, bees, and other small creatures that migrate through the air. This data allowed the map to be expanded to multiple continents to show the worldwide spread of certain species. According to the animated map, there would be the most movement of species in the south eastern United States and south eastern Brazil. The animated map can help scientists and conservationists detect how climate change is already affecting certain species of vertebrates in the Western hemisphere. They can also use the map to track where they think other species will move and how cities, human developments, and other man made factors will influence future species migrations. Modelling these developments with maps like this can help the future of animal conservation and allow researchers to plan for the protection of species in advance of their changes in environment. Visit: Migrations in Motion – The Nature Conservancy One of the Longest Animal Migrations Learn more about one long distance migrating species, the Rufu Red Knots which fly almost 20,000 miles per year: Longest Avian Non-Stop Flight E7 is a female bar-tailed godwit who has earned herself the distinction of the longest non-stop flight recorded for a land bird. According to scientists at the USGS who tracked E7 using a satellite transmitted that she was fitted with in New Zealand: On March 17, E7 departed Miranda on the North Island of New Zealand and flew nonstop to Yalu Jiang, China. She completed the 6,300-mile-long flight in about eight days. There E7 settled in for a 5-week-long layover before departing for breeding grounds to nest. On the evening of May 1, she headed east out over the Sea of Japan and the North Pacific. Eventually turning east, E7 headed northeast toward Alaska, crossing the end of the Alaska Peninsula. She was on her way to her eventual nesting area on the Yukon-Kuskokwim River Delta in western Alaska. E7 also completed this flight without stopping, covering some 4,500 miles in five days. Researchers then tracked E7 to the coast of the Yukon Delta where she joined other godwits preparing for their return flight to New Zealand.USGS Press Release An embedded Argos satellite transmitter (note dorsally exposed antenna) has been implanted in the bar-tailed godwit “Z0” to aid aerodynamics during the species’ non-stop flights across the Pacific Ocean. From the USGS: “This bird was tracked from her non-breeding area in New Zealand to a spring staging area in the Yellow Sea (10,000 km in 8.8 days, non-stop), then to a breeding area in Alaska (4,200 km in 5.5 days, non-stop), and finally back to Australasia via a trans-Pacific flight (9,800 km in 7.6 days, non-stop).”
November 5-7 was the Bring IT Together Conference in Niagara Falls. Here are some of the most discussed key words. This graph shows how many times these words appeared in presentation write ups. For what it is worth, innovation came up only 18 times at 7% of key words found in session titles and descriptions. I attended 6 totally different sessions on Inquiry I attended six sessions on inquiry and they were all different. In fact, if you were to get all these people and put them in the same room but ban them from using the word inquiry, I bet they would have no idea that they were interested in the same topic. What is counter-intuitive, perhaps, is that each of the sessions was excellent and compelling. But, if each group had a different take on inquiry, then, what is inquiry? I am unsettled by how differently each presenter perceived inquiry. What does it mean that each of these sessions was so completely different? Is this a good thing? Is this a bad thing? What is inquiry in Ontario schooling today? What is inquiry? According to a paper in the Journal of Science Teacher Education by Barrow (2006) and another article in ZDM Mathematics Education by Artigue and Blomhøj (2013) inquiry can be any of the following: - a teaching strategy (teacher posing questions for inquiry) - a set of student skills - knowing about inquiry - being inquisitive and taking action - engaging students - hands on and minds on - manipulating materials - stimulating questions by students - learning to act like professionals in the field Why is inquiry important? From the same articles, the purpose of inquiry can be: - helping students prepare for a world of work and careers - fulfilling a personal need - fulfilling a societal need (critical thinkers) - helping prepare students academically - generating greater awareness - experiencing the discipline like real mathematicians, scientists, sociologist etc. Inquiry as hands on investigations Louise Robitaille and Peter Douglas presented on their classroom work about inquiry-based learning. They have compiled lots of resources here. Peter described spending a couple of weeks going deep into one theme or building project such as go carts. While he keeps his math separate, he lets the students engage in extended periods of creating, building and hands on learning. From what was shared at the session, these two take the perspective that inquiry is about hands on to get the minds on. It seemed like the purpose for inquiry was to engage and fulfill a personal need. Here learning is a bi-product of a busy, unstructured and bustling with activity classroom. The advice was to relax, let go and embrace where the students take you once you have provided a guiding question or a bunch of materials to inspire. Read their session description here. Fabulous session. Lots of honest talk about Peter’s classroom and the wonderful opportunities he provides. Inquiry as a teaching strategy and a mindset Aviva Dunsiger and Jo-Ann Corbin-Harper presented a half day session on inquiry. What a great opportunity to go deep! They brought tonnes of examples of teacher work and student work. They curated resources here and invited participants to crowd source even more information in the documents! Their session was called Inquiry into Action and the description can be found here. With a focus on the new social studies curriculum in Ontario, Aviva and Jo-Ann took inquiry to be a teaching approach that would leave students into thinking and taking action. They saw their role to prompt and provoke. Next, they would guide students to ask their own questions and seek to find answers. They were comfortable with letting students ask questions they did not know the answer to and then made it their mission to support the students in finding out. I love that their was an emphasis on taking action and social awareness. Another impressive session. But, a totally different take on inquiry. It is clear to many, including the thoughtful and nuanced thinker and educator Brandon Grasley, that engaging students can be achieved by inviting and supporting students own questions. His thoughtful blog post on engagement is also, as a side note, another write up on how challenging it is to grapple with these hot words of the day. Then there was Inquiry Based Learning and E-Portfolios in FDK (session description here) by passionate teacher-librarian Ray Mercer. Students dressed up as astronauts and told stories of their learning journeys with the use of technology. His presentation can be found here. He has just received technology to augment inquiry learning with FDK students. I wonder how that might change his approach to inquiry? Learning to act like professionals in the field Inquiry Science Incorporating Technology was a session by secondary teacher Colin Jagoe. The session description is here. Among other things, his students used Minecraft to do investigations to measure force of gravity in a Minecraft world by having Steve jump off towers. Here is an example I found online. Colin presented his student’s work and shared how it was important that he let go and allow students to conduct investigations in contexts that were personally meaningful and interesting, like real scientists! Did he plan the minecraft thing? Apparently not. But did he support it? Yes! Amazingly, his students had done the same thing as a legitimate physics researcher. The only difference? The physics researcher has a PhD and published his findings in a peer-reviewed journal, here. Impressive. Also, another totally different take on inquiry. Inquiry in Ontario? How important is inquiry in Ontario? Below is a chart representing the number of times the word appears in each of the most recent curriculum documents. The mathematics curriculum word count is low. So, I checked problem solving (28 times) and solve problems (83 times). It would seem that problem solving and inquiry are perhaps synonymous. Are they? In closing, I am uncertain about what inquiry is and what it should look like in Ontario.
WHAT IS AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE AND THE AIP DIET BY DR. TARA DUNNE, BS, MA, ND Autoimmune disease - what is it and how can we treat it? I am convinced we have only begun to scratch the surface scientifically of all that is autoimmunity. Autoimmune disease is the condition where the body’s immune system decides it is time to start attacking itself. Instead of attacking unwanted invaders like viruses or bacteria, the immune system starts attacking healthy cells and healthy tissues. Sounds bizarre, doesn’t it? Like something out of a creepy sci-fi movie. But it’s not sci-fi, and it’s happening every day and happening all around us. I can almost bet if you look around your environment wherever you are right now you could probably catch a glimpse of someone suffering from some form of autoimmune condition, even if you’re the only person in the room… Autoimmunity is when the body stops recognizing its own tissues or its own cells as its own, or as “self”. Something shifts or something alters, and the body sets up an immune attack against its own self. In a healthy system, the immune system helps protect our bodies from foreign invaders – bacteria, viruses, parasites, things we are allergic to, etc. But in an unhealthy system, this same immune system becomes a predator and our own bodies its prey. So where does autoimmunity and its associated diseases start? There are a variety of speculations as to where the diseases stem from. Our environment – including exposure to pollution, crappy food, and increasingly high levels of stress – can usually prove to be a starting point. To pinpoint the exact causative factor when so many exist in our environments is tricky to do. But an excellent place to find the affected cells of the immune system remains constant. Your gut walls house 70-80% of our immune cells, so you can bet this is largely where the great battles begin. You’ve probably heard of a “leaky gut” (or “intestinal hyperpermeability”). This is where the cellular gap junctions in the gut lining are not staying bound together tightly enough and their “gaps” widen, causing things that shouldn’t leak from the gut into the bloodstream to do so. The wrong things in the wrong places usually make the immune system go nuts. What causes the widening of the gaps? Things we are allergic or sensitive too, especially in or on the foods we eat. So you can imagine here how having wide gap junctions in our guts, the very place where 70-80% of our immune cells abide, can make us very unwell. For example, gluten causes junction gapping in every single person. But in people with gluten sensitivity, the gaps are larger, causing greater signs and symptoms. Symptoms of autoimmune conditions vary widely. Chronic fatigue, chronic pain, weight gain, brain fog, anxiety, stiffness, bloating, stomach pain – the list can go on and on. Some specific conditions linked to autoimmunity include Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Psoriasis, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves disease Rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus (SLE), Inflammatory Bowel disease (IBD), Type 1 Diabetes, vasculitis, and many others. The chances you know someone suffering from an autoimmune condition are extremely high. How then can we overcome and begin to heal autoimmunity? With so many sources and so many variations of each condition, how do we even know where to start? Well we can take our treatment guidelines back to what we talked about earlier – the gut! Healing the immune system MUST start in the gut and therefore MUST start with addressing the excess inflammation in our guts. Insert the Autoimmunity Protocol Diet (aka the AIP diet). A diet specifically designed to help disengage the immune system from self destruction without turning it off completely. It is essentially a Paleo diet, but with some stricter rules in place to really move towards healing. Because it focuses on the foods we eat, it inevitably can target the exact tissues we want to heal, inflamed leaky tissues of the gut. Here is a list of foods allowed / not allowed on the AIP Diet: - All Vegetables (except nightshades) - Fresh fruit - Healthy fats such as olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, avocados, cultured ghee, pasture-raised / grass-fed animal fat - Bone Broth, Collagen, Gelatin - Grass-fed / pasture-raised meats, wild seafood - Coconut based items, including coconut oil, creamed coconut, coconut butter, coconut manna, coconut aminos, canned coconut milk, shredded coconut - Green Tea, Herbal Teas - Some starches such as arrowroot, tapioca - Some sweeteners such as maple syrup, honey - Fresh and non-seed based dried herbs (basil, oregano, mint, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon) - Vinegars such as Apple Cider Vinegar, balsamic, coconut vinegar, red wine - Fermented / probiotic-rich foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, coconut kefir and coconut yogurt FOODS NOT ALLOWED: - Nuts (including nut butters and nut-based oils) - Seeds (including chia, flax, sunflower, sesame, pumpkin and spices that have seeds like cumin and coriander) - Culinary herbs that come from seed-based spices (mustard, caraway, cardamom, coriander, cumin, dill seed, fennel, fenugreek, nutmeg) - Beans/Legumes (this includes soy) - Grains and pseudo-grains (like buckwheat and quinoa, etc.) - Vegetable oils (best fats to use are olive oil, palm oil, cultured grass fed ghee, lard and coconut oils) - Processed Foods - Sweetener substitutes like stevia and xylitol - Dried fruits - Dairy Products - Gums (like guar gum - commonly found in coconut milk, also make sure to avoid cans with bpa in lining, look for cans that say, “bpa free”) - Nightshade vegetables (potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, seasoning spices like paprika, chili, mustard seeds) The food list above is packed with foods that either increase inflammation in the gut (those foods on the “not allowed list”) or help to heal that gut inflammation (those foods on the “allowed” list). Immunity largely stems from the gut, so treating diseases of the immune system should start there too. The AIP Diet may look challenging to follow, but sometimes it is necessary temporarily to really help reset the immune system. The recommended time frame for embarking on and strictly adhering to the AIP Diet is 6-8 weeks. After that point you can slowly begin to reintroduce “not allowed” foods one at a time and see if your autoimmune signs and symptoms return or not. In a lot of cases, you can slowly start to add back some of the not allowed foods and find your autoimmunity signs or symptoms still stay away. In this case, you’re working towards learning what foods you individually should be “allowed” or “not allowed”. Our health journeys are all unique. Allow yourself plenty of time to heal and reintroduce foods. To view all of the AIP allowed foods in the Pure Feast shop, you can see their collection of AIP foods here. It is always important to make sure you work with a practitioner when embarking on any treatment protocol to be certain you are not overshadowing a different disease entirely or have something that clinical labs could help to differentiate and heal. Dr. Tara Dunne is a licensed naturopathic doctor who received her degree from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. She also holds a master’s degree in Health and Wellness and a bachelor’s degree in Biology. She is passionate about natural wellness and helping people achieve optimal health. Her special medical interests include atypical neurodevelopment, pediatrics and biochemistry. Tara spent several years training under some of the world leaders in these specific topics, and she now uses that training coupled with natural therapies to help people overcome illness and achieve optimal health. She is dedicated to making sure the best possible care, outcomes and information is available to everyone. In a world of health information overload, she's committed to helping people navigate their own personal health journeys. Her other interests include caring for her family, triathlon training and fitness, volunteering for people living with special needs, major league baseball, and cooking.
(No.187) Society before and after the Internet and digital media The modern Internet is over 25 years old. We have generations of people who were born well before it and also those for whom the Internet has been the main tool of education, entertainment and business for their whole lives. To further bridge the gap between different age groups in Internet governance, we bring together active Internet users from varying age groups and backgrounds. Discussion will aim to pinpoint key differences and similarities in how digitally native youth and people, whose period of youth took place long before global networking became mainstream, see the Internet. The focus will be to assess the impact of Internet as a historical and social phenomenon, but topics cover a wide range of questions about education, politics, distribution of information and business such as: What features and services of the modern Internet do today's youth take as self-evident compared to people who witnessed the system evolve? Do the differences reflect serious discrepancies in morals? What can today's digitally native/digitally naïve youth learn about how things were done before the Internet age? What great examples are there to show how Internet has revolutionized economy and education and made things better? Are there topics where young and old alike agree things have gone worse since the introduction of easy, public digital communications? What kind of concepts were imagined before the Internet but really couldn't really be materialized before the current digital era? Why do some people and institutions think of the Internet as a Wild West that is waiting to be tamed while others hold it as a safe haven? Joonas Mäkinen, Board member, Electronic Frontier Finland I have been organizing the Youth Coalition on Internet Governance Dynamic Coalition and related workshops. IGF11 workshop Challenging Myths about Young People and the Internet: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=W... A general statement about YCIG-related events at IGF2011 can be found here: http://www.ycig.org/index.php/2011/10/2011-ycig-statement/ Amelia Andersdotter, MEP, SE (confirmed) Deirdre Williams (confirmed) Ashnah Kalemera (confirmed) John Kampfner, Google (confirmed) Joonas "JoonasD6" Mäkinen, Board member, Electronic Frontier Finland, moderator
The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, or known as Sant’Ignazio Church, is a Jesuit Church that was built in the 1600s with a rich and fascinating history. You can visit Rome many times and still never see everything you may want to see. It is a city packed with more history than you can think of and architecture from all through the ages. Every time you turn a corner in this ancient city you find a new treasure to explore. Of course everyone knows of the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain etc.. I was excited to see deeper into Rome and places I had never heard of too. A tip I shall never forget was The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Seemingly hidden away, not too far Eastwards from the Pantheon this fantastic building has a huge front that tempts many a visitor inside. The original church was attached adjacent to The Roman College (Collegio Romano) and opened in 1551. A very humble looking building to start with. Before long it began to become too small to cater for the 2000 plus students coming to study at the college. So the plan was to build a new church in 1626 especially after the canonization of Ignatius of Loyola. It was finally completed by 1650. I sat on the steps leading up the entrance and just looked up in awe at the architecture. The church architect was Orazio Grassi. The facade is truly mesmerising. However, even all that cannot prepare you for the immense sights inside and the painting work throughout from way on high on the ceiling to below. With 3 chapels on either side the church is internally shaped like a Latin Cross. As soon as you enter you feel the huge grandeur of the place. It was designed to look sumptuous and yes, it certainly does look sumptuous. Extremely high and ornament adorned ceilings. Gilding , statues and ornamented stone in every direction you look. But the one thing that had me in awe was the painted ceiling. 3D Dome Illusion and The Painted Ceiling Andrea Pozzo of the Jesuit order painted the nave ceiling aspects. In all it celebrates the work of Saint Ignatius and the Society of Jesus. You stand in the middle of the church and look up. There you will look up and into what really looks like a dome interior. In fact it is not a dome at all, it is an optical illusion. When the church was built there was not enough funds to build a dome. The great dome (or so you think) that you see above you is actually a flat painting with 3D effect. A trompe l’oeil painting. If you are inside the building and you look at it from almost all angles, it really does look like it is a dome. Every inch of this building inside has such fine beauty and detail. You walk around and around to take closer looks at everything. However then you turn round and see the rest of the place in so many different angles that mesmerised is not a strong enough word to describe the feeling I had. To the left and to the right of the main area there are side chapels that seem to transform you to a whole new great church of their own accord. A top tip is to not just stay in the centre of the building which is where many stop, stay and stare. Wander behind all the pillars and you will find many many treasures for the eyes. And a whole lot more to explore.
Protecting the Environment Rotary shares an interest in protecting our common legacy: the environment. We are committed to supporting activities that strengthen the conservation and protection of natural resources, advance ecological sustainability, and foster harmony between communities and the environment. We empower communities to access grants and other resources, embrace local solutions, and spur innovation in an effort to address the causes and reduce the effects of climate change and environmental degradation. How Rotary makes help happen Rotary members are tackling environmental issues the way they always do: coming up with projects, using their connections to change policy and planning for the future. Rotarians understand that the whole world is their backyard. See what members are doing now to protect the environment. Rotary members pledge to restore the monarch butterfly’s disappearing habitat. Helping the environment Will climate change bring more poverty? Will we be able to stop its worst effects? Former Rotary scholars and peace fellows who studied environmental issues offer their thoughts. How Rotary will help protect our planet The Rotary Foundation will enable our members and their community allies to take action in these ways: in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related causes in the past five years through our support of community economic development and water, sanitation, and hygiene projects - Protecting and restoring land, coastal, marine, and freshwater resources - Enhancing the capacity of communities to support natural resource management and conservation - Supporting sustainable agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture practices - Addressing the cause of climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases - Strengthening ecosystems and communities affected by climate change - Supporting education initiatives that promote behavior that protects the environment - Advocating for sustainable consumption to build an economy that uses resources more efficiently - Addressing environmental justice issues and public health concerns Help spread the word about Rotary’s efforts to protect the environment. What can you do to help communities fight climate change?
Portable Solar Power Systems Imagine being able to recharge your laptop or cell phone while you are away from home. Portable solar power is the solution for anyone who will be away from power outlets when they need to run or charge their electronic devices. This technology harnesses sun energy so that you can enjoy the comforts of home in distant locations. In this article, we’ll explain how portable solar power works and how you can use it to your advantage. How Portable Solar Power Devices Work All portable solar power devices use solar photovoltaic cells which produce electricity when they are exposed to light. They usually consist of panels that contain two layers of different materials, a mobile battery for storage and a light inverter which might be embed inside with the system. When light hits the panel, one of the layers becomes positively charged and the other becomes negatively charged. This produces an electric current. This solar electricity can then be used for anything you want. The amount of electricity a solar cell produces depends on the strength of the sun, how long the solar power device is exposed and how big the size of the solar panels. Some solar cells produce only enough current to power small electronic devices. When you are shopping for portable solar power, you will find that different devices have different "watts" ratings. To select the correct solar device, determine what watt rating you need. To find out how many watts you need, look at the output rating of the adapter. It should tell you how many watts the adapter generates. If it doesn’t contain this information, then it should contain the ratings for amperes (amps) and volts. Remember that bigger solar panels usually supply more wattage and will power your devices more quickly. Some companies sell backup batteries to go with your solar cell. These batteries can sometimes also be charged from a wall socket or from a car charger adapter. You may want to have a solar cell that you can use while you are hiking or traveling, such as a flexible panel that can be carried on your back. This way, you can charge your small equipment or a backup battery while you are busy enjoying yourself. Keep in mind that while a solar cell performs best in bright sunlight, your other equipment usually doesn’t. Portable solar power can make life safer and more convenient when you want to take your family on a vacation to a remote site. Electronic devices are a part of everyday living, so why not take them with you? Portable solar energy is becoming less bulky and more affordable so that consumers can have a reliable source of electricity at any time and in any place. Beebeejump provides portable solar systems Beebeejump is an international company that produces and distributes solar products in Nigeria. With a carefully crafted design, she has designed two portable solar power systems that have made life easy for people. The P1 solar system model is very portable and light. It can be moved anywhere at any time. With a considerable power rating, it can power bulbs and charge phones. It’ battery and solar panel can be moved almost anywhere for use. Also like the P1 system is the S1 model. Although the S1 solar power system is considered portable, it has high rating than the P1 system. At this point, I must say that the solar panel is big, and might not be easily moved around by hand but with an automobile, it can be moved to any location of your choice. The battery in itself is portable and self-sufficient. It can be moved from one place to another, at any time. It can be used to power Tv, decoder, sound system, charge phones, and laptops. With these products traveling or moving to a remote area where there is no access to electricity should not be a problem. You can get the products here.
Capital of the homonymous province, Groningen (Grins in Frisian, Grunnen in Lower Saxon, Groningue in French ; pop. 185,000) is the largest city north of Amsterdam. As it is the only real city in the province, it is often referred by the locals as de stad ("the city"). It is a university town with a few good museums and pleasant canalside streets. Probably inhabited for some 6000 years, the first archeological evidence of a settlement in Groningen itself dates from the 3rd century CE. The town was not mentioned in documents before 1040 though. In the 13th century, when Groningen was an important trade center, and a member of the Hanseatic league since 1253. The city had a strong influence on the surrounding lands and made its dialect a common tongue. The most influential period of the city was the end of the 15th century, when the nearby province of Friesland was administered from Groningen. The city's stadhouder chose to side with the Spanish forces during the Eighty Years' War in 1577. After being captured in 1594, it switched sides, joining the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. The University of Groningen was founded in 1614, initially only for religious education. In 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, the city was bombarded by the troops of the Bernhard von Galen, Bishop of Münster. The city walls resisted, and to this day, this event is celebrated on 28 August, when the city bustles with music and fireworks. The city did not escape the devastation of World War II, in particular the Grote Markt (town square). The town hall dates from 1810 - quite new by Dutch standards. The Vismarkt (fish marquet) is better preserved than its big sister. Noteworthy buildings in the historic centre include the , the Prinsenhof (Princes' court), Martinikerk (Martini church) and Martinikerkhof, the Korenbeurs (corn exchange) and the Sint-Jozefkathedraal (St Joseph's Cathedral). The 97m-high Martini Tower is the city's landmark. It was rebuilt between 1469 and 1482 , after the first 30m-high tower, then the second 45m-tall tower were destroyed by lightning. At the time of its completion, it reached 127 meters in height, making it one of the highest towers in Europe. Its architecture was influenced by the Dom Tower of Utrecht. It has since been damaged by the elements numerous times again. It partial collapsed in 1577, was maintained at 69m, then was repaired to 97m in 1627. The Groninger Museum is considered to be one of the best museums in The Netherlands. Opened in 1994, the building became a well known highlight in the world of art. It was designed by the architects Philippe Starck, Alessandro Mendini and Coop Himmelblau. It mostly hosts collections of Dutch and international modern and abstract art. Other museums in town include the Northern Maritime Museum, the Niemeyer Tobacco Museum, the Dutch Comics Museum, the Graphic Museum and the University Museum. How to get there Groningen is located at the extreme north-east corner of the Netherlands. It is at the junction of the E22 (between Amsterdam and Bremen) and the A28 (from Zwolle and Utrecht). Trains from Amsterdam (2h30min) require a change at Amersfoort. There are frequent direct trains to Leeuwarden (35min), Zwolle (1h) and Utrecht (2h). Ask your travel questions on the Benelux Travel Forum
The garment fabric cutting machine has brought about significant advancements in the textile industry and has numerous advantages over traditional cutting methods. Here are some key benefits: 1. Time and labor efficiency: Garment fabric cutting machines are designed to cut multiple layers of fabric simultaneously, significantly reducing cutting time compared to traditional manual methods. This automation eliminates the need for manual measurement, marking, and cutting, saving hours of labor. The machine can swiftly and accurately cut fabrics, improving overall production efficiency. 2. Precision and accuracy: Manual cutting methods are prone to human errors such as uneven cutting lines, inconsistent measurements, and fabric distortion. In contrast, garment fabric cutting machines employ computer-aided design (CAD) systems to ensure precise and accurate cuts. The CAD technology allows for precise measurements and pattern matching, resulting in consistent and uniform cuts across multiple fabric layers. 3. Increased output and productivity: The capability of garment fabric cutting machines to handle multiple layers of fabric simultaneously significantly increases cutting output and productivity. These machines can cut through stacks of fabric, allowing manufacturers to produce more garments in a shorter time frame. This high-speed operation enables businesses to meet increased demand, reduce lead times, and maximize profits. 4. Versatility and flexibility: Garment fabric cutting machines can handle a wide range of fabrics, from lightweight and delicate materials like silk and chiffon to heavier fabrics like denim and leather. Traditional methods may require different tools or techniques for cutting different types of fabric, adding complexity and time to the process. The versatility of cutting machines streamlines the production process by accommodating various fabric types with ease, eliminating the need for multiple cutting methods. 5. Reduction in material waste: Precision cutting and the ability to stack multiple fabric layers results in minimal material waste. With traditional methods, fabric remnants are more common due to imprecise cutting lines and the need to cut fabric one piece at a time. Garment fabric cutting machines optimize the fabric layout, reducing waste and maximizing the utilization of each roll. This reduction in material waste not only saves costs but also has a positive environmental impact by promoting sustainability in the textile industry. The advancement of garment fabric cutting machines has revolutionized the textile industry by significantly improving efficiency, accuracy, productivity, and quality. These machines offer time and labor savings, precise cuts, increased output, versatility in handling various fabric types, and effective reduction in material waste. Embracing this technology allows textile manufacturers to meet the demands of an evolving market and stay competitive in an industry driven by efficiency and innovation.
Recently, the super-sensitive smoke alarm near our kitchen started squalling in response to a charred bit of something overcooking in a saucepan. I cringed because my 6-year-old was asleep. A champion snoozer, she never flinched. And now, new research scarily shows she’s no exception. Being a deep sleeper is really good in terms of her getting uninterrupted z’s, but it would have been really bad had the smoke alarm heralded true danger. It’s not the first time I’ve wondered whether smoke alarms even do any good when it comes to rousing children. Now an Australian study’s got my answer, and it’s a definitive no. (More on Time.com: You Snooze, You Lose: More Weekend Sleep Cuts Kids’ Obesity Risk) Researchers at Victoria University in Melbourne concluded that 78% of school-aged children slept through a smoke alarm blaring for 30 seconds. The study, published this month in the journal Fire and Materials, asked 79 families to trip their smoke alarm after their child had been asleep between one to three hours. The group of 123 children — the average age was 9 — was split in two according to which children had hit puberty. It was an intentional division: plasma melatonin levels — melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone, helps induce sleep — decrease in conjunction with puberty onset. (More on Time.com: Yawn. Working Moms Awake More Than Dads to Care for Kids at Night) Parents reported that of the 22% of children who awoke, only half identified the noise as a smoke alarm. And only half of those children knew that smoke alarms mean Get Out Now. Younger kids between the ages of 5 and 10 made up 70% of the study participants; they were likeliest to sleep through the alarm. Just over half of 11-to-15-year-olds, or 56%, slept through the din, but 87% of the younger group did. It’s not that smoke detectors aren’t helpful; they’ve been used in homes since the 1960s and have certainly saved lives. But it’s a reminder that the people you may be most concerned about in the event of a fire are least likely to even know an emergency is underway. “Parents should not rely on their children waking to the smoke alarm in the event of a fire and should not assume that they will immediately evacuate if they do wake up to a fire,” says Dorothy Bruck, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychology at Victoria University who researches clinical aspects of sleep/wake behavior. (More on Time.com: Smoking Ban at NYC Apartments? Health Experts Would Likely Approve) Many fire departments are more than happy to make home visits — ours in Raleigh, N.C., did — to help homeowners formulate an evacuation plan. Still, Bruck’s research is a reminder that a plan is no good if it depends on smoke alarms to wake kids up. Parents, consider it a wake-up call.
Pronunciation: (string), [key] —n., v., strung; strung or (Rare) stringed; string•ing. 1. a slender cord or thick thread used for binding or tying; line. 2. something resembling a cord or thread. 3. Physics.a mathematical entity used to represent elementary particles, as gravitons, quarks, or leptons, in terms of a small but finite stringlike object existing in the four dimensions of spacetime and in additional, hypothetical, spacelike dimensions. The theory of such objects (string theory) avoids the many mathematical difficulties that arise from treating particles as points. 4. a narrow strip of flexible material, as cloth or leather, for tying parts together: the strings of a bonnet. 5. a necklace consisting of a number of beads, pearls, or the like threaded or strung on a cord; strand: She wore a double string of pearls. 6. any series of things arranged or connected in a line or following closely one after another: a string of islands; a string of questions. 7. a series of railroad cars coupled together but not constituting an entire train. 8. Journalism.a compilation of clippings of a stringer's published writings, submitted in request of payment according to an agreed space rate. 9. a group of animals, esp. saddle horses, owned or used by one person: a string of polo ponies. 10. (in a musical instrument) a tightly stretched cord or wire that produces a tone when caused to vibrate, as by plucking, striking, or friction of a bow. a. stringed instruments, esp. those played with a bow. b. players on such instruments in an orchestra or band. 12. a bowstring. 13. a cord or fiber in a plant. 14. the tough piece uniting the two parts of a pod: the strings of beans. a. a stringcourse. b. Also called stringer. one of the sloping sides of a stair, supporting the treads and risers. 16. Computers, Ling.a linear sequence of symbols, words, characters, or bits that is treated as a unit. 17. Billiards, Pool. a. a stroke made by each player from the head of the table to the opposite cushion and back, to determine, by means of the resultant positions of the cue balls, who shall open the game. b. Also called string line. a line from behind which the cue ball is placed after being out of play. 18. a complement of contestants or players grouped as a squad in accordance with their skill: He made the second string on the football team. 19. Usually, strings. conditions or limitations on a proposal: a generous offer with no strings attached. 20. Obs.a ligament, nerve, or the like in an animal body. 21. on a or the string, Informal.subject to the whim of another; in one's power; dependent: After keeping me on a string for two months, they finally hired someone else. 22. pull strings or wires, a. to use one's influence or authority, usually in secret, in order to bring about a desired result. b. to gain or attempt to gain one's objectives by means of influential friends, associates, etc.: He had his uncle pull strings to get him a promotion. 1. to furnish with or as with a string or strings: to string a bonnet; to string a bow. 2. to extend or stretch (a cord, thread, etc.) from one point to another. 3. to thread on or as on a string: to string beads. 4. to connect in or as in a line; arrange in a series or succession: She knows how to string words together. a. to adjust the string of (a bow) or tighten the strings of (a musical instrument) to the required pitch. b. to equip (a bow or instrument) with new strings. 6. to provide or adorn with something suspended or slung: a room strung with festoons. 7. to deprive of a string or strings; strip the strings from: to string beans. 8. to make tense, as the sinews, nerves, mind, etc. 9. to kill by hanging (usually fol. by up). 10. Slang.to fool or hoax. 1. to form into or move in a string or series: The ideas string together coherently. 2. to form into a string or strings, as a glutinous substance does when pulled: Good taffy doesn't break —it strings. 3. string along, Informal. a. to be in agreement; follow with confidence: He found he couldn't string along with all their modern notions. b. to keep (a person) waiting or in a state of uncertainty. c. to deceive; cheat; trick. 4. string out, a. to extend; stretch out: The parade strung out for miles. b. to prolong: The promised three days strung out to six weeks. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
- 1 Was the King James Bible the first English translation? - 2 Who wrote the very first Bible? - 3 When was the Bible first written and by whom? - 4 When was the first Bible in English? - 5 Which version of the Bible is closest to the original text? - 6 What is the most accurate Bible? - 7 What is the first Bible ever written? - 8 Where is the original Bible kept? - 9 Did King James change the Bible? - 10 What are the 14 books removed from the Bible? - 11 Was the Old Testament written before Jesus? - 12 Who created the Bible and why? - 13 What is God’s original language? - 14 Who was killed for translating the Bible into English? - 15 What is the easiest Bible to read? Was the King James Bible the first English translation? Whilst Wycliffe’s Bible, as it came to be known, may have been the earliest version of the ‘English‘ Bible, it is the translation of the Hebrew and Greek biblical texts by the 16th century scholar, translator and reformist William Tyndale which became the first printed version of the New Testament in 1525, following Who wrote the very first Bible? According to both Jewish and Christian Dogma, the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (the first five books of the Bible and the entirety of the Torah) were all written by Moses in about 1,300 B.C. There are a few issues with this, however, such as the lack of evidence that Moses ever existed When was the Bible first written and by whom? The Christian Bible has two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is the original Hebrew Bible, the sacred scriptures of the Jewish faith, written at different times between about 1200 and 165 BC. The New Testament books were written by Christians in the first century AD. When was the first Bible in English? The first complete English-language version of the Bible dates from 1382 and was credited to John Wycliffe and his followers. Which version of the Bible is closest to the original text? The New American Standard Bible is a literal translation from the original texts, well suited to study because of its accurate rendering of the source texts. It follows the style of the King James Version but uses modern English for words that have fallen out of use or changed their meanings. What is the most accurate Bible? The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. \|New World Translation\| \|Complete Bible published\|\|1961\| \|Textual basis\|\|OT: Biblia Hebraica. NT: Westcott & Hort.\| What is the first Bible ever written? Along with the Codex Vaticanus, the Codex Sinaiticus is considered the oldest known Bible in the world. Originally more than 1,460 pages long and measuring 16in by 14in, it was written by a number of hands around the time of Constantine the Great. Where is the original Bible kept? The oldest surviving full text of the New Testament is the beautifully written Codex Sinaiticus, which was “discovered” at the St Catherine monastery at the base of Mt Sinai in Egypt in the 1840s and 1850s. Dating from circa 325-360 CE, it is not known where it was scribed – perhaps Rome or Egypt. Did King James change the Bible? In 1604, England’s King James I authorized a new translation of the Bible aimed at settling some thorny religious differences in his kingdom—and solidifying his own power. But in seeking to prove his own supremacy, King James ended up democratizing the Bible instead. King James I of England, 1621. What are the 14 books removed from the Bible? The section contains the following: - 1 Esdras (Vulgate 3 Esdras) - 2 Esdras (Vulgate 4 Esdras) - Judith (“Judeth” in Geneva) - Rest of Esther (Vulgate Esther 10:4 – 16:24) - Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach) - Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremy (“Jeremiah” in Geneva) (all part of Vulgate Baruch) Was the Old Testament written before Jesus? Where does the Bible originate? Archaeology and the study of written sources have shed light on the history of both halves of the Bible: the Old Testament, the story of the Jews’ highs and lows in the millennium or so before the birth of Jesus; and the New Testament, which documents the life and teachings of Jesus. Who created the Bible and why? Traditionally, 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament were attributed to Paul the Apostle, who famously converted to Christianity after meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus and wrote a series of letters that helped spread the faith throughout the Mediterranean world. What is God’s original language? It is variously interpreted as either the language used by God to address Adam (the divine language), or the language invented by Adam with which he named all things (including Eve), as in the second Genesis creation narrative (Genesis 2:19). Who was killed for translating the Bible into English? William Tyndale, (born c. 1490–94, near Gloucestershire, England—died October 6, 1536, Vilvoorde, near Brussels, Brabant), English biblical translator, humanist, and Protestant martyr. What is the easiest Bible to read? The Holy Bible: Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) is an English translation of the Bible compiled by the World Bible Translation Center. It was originally published as the English Version for the Deaf (EVD) by BakerBooks.
What is MySQL? MySQL is an open source, Oracle based Relational Database Management System. It is developed and supported by Oracle Corporation. It is based on SQL i.e., Structured Query Language. What is Database? A Database is an organized collection of data. It supports the storage and manipulation of the data. The concept of a database makes data management easier. A DBMS is a system software used for creating and managing databases. It allows users to access database, and manipulation of the data. MySQL is one of the popular DBMS software. Types of DBMS- There are four major types of DBMS - Hierarchical DBMS- In this type of DBMS, data is represented using a “parent-child” relationship. This type is rarely used nowadays. Example- Windows registry used in Windows XP. - Network DBMS- This type of DBMS supports a “many-to-many” relationship. It results in complex database structures. Example- RDM Server - Relational DBMS- In this type, data is stored in the form of tables, also known as “relations”. This is the most popular type of DBMS used in the market. Example- MySQL, Oracle, etc. - Object oriented RDBMS- As the name suggests, the data is stored in the form of objects. The objects have attributes and methods that define what to do with the data. Example- PostgreSQL. What is Structured Query Language (SQL)? – SQL is the crux of a relational database. It is primarily used for managing and accessing the database. With the help of SQL, you can add, update or delete the rows of the data, modify the databases, and many more actions. We can say that SQL is the language which is responsible for operating the database. SQL commands- These commands are divided into four groups - DDL (Data Definition Language)- As the name indicates, DDL consists of a set of commands used to define the database. It is used to create and modify the structure of the database objects. Example of DDL commands- - CREATE-create a database - DROP-delete from database - ALTER-alter the database - TRUNCATE-delete all records from a table - COMMENT-add comments to the data dictionary - RENAME-rename an object in the database DML (Data Manipulation Language)- It includes the set of commands used to manipulate the data present in the database. Examples of DML commands- - SELECT-retrieve data from the database - INSERT-insert data into the table - UPDATE-update existing data within the table - DELETE-delete records from the table DCL (Data Control Language)- It includes the commands which primarily deals with the controls of the database. Example of DCL commands- - GRANT-allows user’s access privileges to the database - REVOKE-withdraw user access privileges given by GRANT TCL (Transaction Control Language)- It mainly deals with the transactions carries out in the database. Examples of TCL commands are- - COMMIT-commits a transaction - ROLLBACK-rollback a transaction if any error occurs - SAVEPOINT-sets a save point within the transaction - SET TRANSACTION-specify the characteristics of the transaction Some popular features of MySQL are: - - It is free of cost. It is an open source software, so you have nothing to pay. - It is easy to use. You can build and interact with the MySQL with only a few simple SQL queries. - MySQL is compatible to run on various operating systems such as Windows, Linux, Unix, and many more. - MySQL follows the client-server architecture. There is a central database server (MySQL) and multiple clients interacting with the server. - MySQL has the property of scalability. It can handle a huge amount of data, up to 50 million rows or more, Scope- Nowadays, organizations/companies have huge amount of data and they need a person to manage that data efficiently. This work is done by DBA (Database Administrator). The role of DBA is to maintain a successful database environment. He is the one who manages the whole database keeping in mind the security issues. If you have a dream to become a DBA (Database Administrator) then join Tech forest institute for MySQL coaching classes institute Indore . The average salary of DBA is Rs. 9,59,626 per annum, which is worthwhile.
(b. 1582, Mantova, d. after 1622, Roma) Italian painter, baptised in Ostiano, near Mantua and active mainly in Rome, where he was one of the most important of Caravaggio's followers. Giovanni Baglione writes that Manfredi was born in Mantua and stayed with Pomarancio while still a young boy. Manfredi's date of arrival in Rome is uncertain. Registered as living in the parish of Sant'Andrea della Fratte in 1610, he may have been in the city as early as 1603. According to Baglione, Manfredi was very good at painting in others' style. Indeed, he imitated the manner of Caravaggio in the extent that his pictures were mistaken for those of the more famous artist. He specialized in low-life scenes of taverns, soldiers in guardrooms, cardplaying, etc., and it was he rather than Caravaggio himself who was mainly responsible for popularizing this kind of work, particularly with painters from France and the Netherlands who came to Italy. In spite of his contemporary reputation, no works survive that are signed or documented as his, and several of the forty or so paintings now given to him were formerly attributed to Caravaggio, an example being the Concert in the Uffizi, Florence.
- The man-made share of CO2 in the atmosphere is only a maximum of 30% (0-30%). The remainder is related to temperature changes, natural outgassing from the oceans, and to humidity. - The residence time of CO2 in the atmosphere is only 4-7 years, not hundreds of years as falsely claimed by the IPCC Bern model. - Man-made CO2 emissions increased a whopping 350% faster since 2002, yet the rate of CO2 increase in the atmosphere remained steady at ~2.1 ppm/yr, a "strong indication that anthropogenic emissions can not have a significant or even dominant share." - His conclusion: "Because of the saturation effect in the energy absorption of CO2 molecules with increasing concentration and short residence time, the further increase in temperature could be therefore only at most a few tenths of a degree, if at all. However, the known fossil reserves would be exhausted by then." Google translation from German + light editing: Seminar presentation by Professor Murry Salby on 13.3.15 in Essen By Michael Limburg, EIKE Professor Murry Salby, author of two textbooks on physics of the atmosphere, is one of the most renowned atmospheric physicists in the world. His research work began many years ago at the University of Colorado, then Macquarie University in Sydney brought him much scientific and public recognition- up until he made the mistake of publicly calling the climate doctrine into question. From then on he was bullied by many agencies, with baseless accusations marring the funding of his research and was finally "forced to retire" after 56 years of his academic career. Fig. 1: History of change of the total global CO2 concentration per year (green) and only on the surface properties (temperature + humidity dominant parts) induced change in CO2 concentration (blue). Correlation coefficient of 0.93. In contrast to the natural CO2 emissions depend on the "surface properties", do not have the anthropogenic emissions. Graphic M.Salby What was the crime of Murry Salby? Well, Salby had methodically by strict and well supported theoretically by such observations and therefore very well argued that almost 80% of the atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are driven by temperature (outgassing) . Not vice versa. The remaining 20% are driven in the main by the moisture. They both work together on the biosphere and the other sources and sinks of the CO2 cycle. Another important aspect of these results is that the residence additionally injected CO2 is about 4-7 years. Although the IPCC expects some 100 or more years, motivated by, because of the long-term effects, including the call for an immediate stop of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions, but the calculations of Salby (and other such as Humlum et al) agree and not the assertion of the IPCC (Fig 2) That the Global Carbon Budget Project comes to completely different results, shows that the research also on this important aspect to the driver of temperature is far from "settled". Fig. 2: the IPCC for the carbon cycle in Gt C / year. Substituting the values specified correctly correlated results in a residence time of 4.1 years, not hundreds of years. (Fig. 3) Figure V IPCC report Fig. 3: the IPCC Berne model with residence times of hundreds of years (red) vs. Observations (green) and math. Function of the gradient. (Blue). Graphic Salby After these still very new and important results, Salby turned to in his presentation on how high because of anthropogenically induced share of CO2 is the atmosphere and how it could be determined if necessary. This part of the presentation was very extensive and very theoretical, but always starting from the actual observations. The first of these relates to the fact that the anthropogenic CO2 emissions increased by a whopping 350% faster since 2002 than in previous years. Scoffers would say that this is probably an unintended side effect of the Kyoto Protocol, and a bad omen for the upcoming climate conference in Paris. Yes, and that is the point, the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration was total over the same period, constant at the previous rate of 2.1 ppm / year. To Salby this is a strong indication that anthropogenic emissions can not have a significant or even dominant share. Fig. 4: Comparison rise in fossil CO2 emissions generated (above) with the total concentration of CO2 below. Now these two developments he investigated using the known isotopic mixing ratios, and other parameters, and came to the determination that one can only determine the basis of the available data and methods, which currently could be due to the total concentration of the upper limit of CO2 produced by humans. And this limit it to certain complex calculations on the basis by which he led the audience but step by step, with maximum 30%. His conclusion: Because of the saturation effect in the energy absorption of CO2 molecules with increasing concentration and short residence time, the further increase in temperature could be therefore only at most a few tenths of a degree, if at all. However, the known fossil reserves would be exhausted by then. Remains to complete and this was his final note that the anthropogenic CO2 emissions almost 1: (Fig. 5) 1 correlate with the development of the world's population. Fig. 5:. Development of the world's population and CO2 emissions from fossil fuels graphics Salby Unspoken the consequence that no general availability of cheap alternatives to fossil fuels, as you currently may only be provided by nuclear energy, which demanded, reduction of fossil CO2 emissions must lead to a drastic reduction in living standards. And this would have led especially in the poorer countries to a massive increase in the death rate. One or the other listeners felt it perhaps the words of the very famous conservationist and diver Jacques Yves Cousteau recalls, in 1991, was allowed to issue an official UN Brochure . We must "In order to stabilize the planet eliminate 350,000 people per day It's terrible that to say, but just terrible not to say it, " Jacques Cousteau, the UNESCO Courier, November 1991st For the purists among our readers: Salby determines the correlation coefficient = the net emissions increase of CO2 concentration for the temperature, with almost 0.8 and together with the moisture to 0.93.
Our tips for strong & beautiful plants Make sure your plants are exposed to plenty of light Flowering plants require a good deal more light than foliage plants. As a rule, flowering plants need to be placed near a window while foliage plants should be positioned away from direct sunlight. Water your plants as required Flowering plants need to be watered almost every day if they are positioned near direct sunlight. Do not over water your plants and check the potting compost to see if the plants are dry. Do not allow water to stand in the saucer for long and remove any remaining water one hour after watering. As a rule, foliage plants should be slightly dry when watered once or twice a week. Feed your plants with plant food Flowering plants should be fed every time you water them during the summer and once a week during the winter. Foliage plants should be fed once a week during the summer and once a month during the winter. Make sure your plants are healthy The most common problem is the Red Spider Mite that causes the leaves to turn yellow and produces fine, white cobwebs on the underside. If your plants are infested with this mite, it is important to eradicate them. Move the plants away from any window and wash the window frame and pot before introducing new plants. Another common problem is Green Fly on plants. You can also ask your local florists for advice or buy products for treating Green Fly from your local florist. Try not to over water your plants as this will make them more susceptible to disease
Blue whales feed mainly on krill. Whales eat different foods depending on where they live. During the summer months, whales eat about 4 tons of food every day. Blue whales that live in the waters of the waters of Lower California and Mexico are known to eat red crabs. The blue whale is a representative of baleen whales, instead of teeth it has a mustache. The mustache hangs from the upper jaw. They consist of keratin, a material similar to the nails, then turn into thin hairs in the mouth next to the tongue. The whale takes a very large amount of water in the mouth, and then releases it back. When water is expelled from the mouth, the whalebone plates act as a sieve and delay food.
Homoeopathy is a system of medicine based on principle like cures like – SIMILIA SIMILIBUS CURANTURE based on nature’s law of cure. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homoeopathy who was allopathic practitioner before, he discovered homoeopathy in 1976, for rapid, gentle & permanent cure. Only missoin is to restore the sick to health and cure as it is termed by Dr. Hahnemann. Homoeopathy is a system which treats the person as a whole and not only the complain of pt, by considering ‘Totalistic Approach’ as person is single but disease makes the person sick as a whole. one can not consider individual part or system as sick and treat accordingly, and hence pathy treats the sick patient and not the diseased part. Pathy has wonderful power to treat patients from their deviated health and gives excellent results. Shree H. N. Shukla Homoeopathic Medical College, Rajkot has been permitted recently, in August 2016. It now admits 100 students per year. It is affiliated to Saurashtra University. Homeopahahnemannthy is a system of medical practice that originated with the work of the German physician. who as well as being an experienced orthodox physician was also a competent chemist, a good mineralogist and botanist, and an able translator of eight different languages. He discovered that patients with certain diseases could be cured with substances that produce similar toxic effects, e.g. cholera could be cured with a dose of arsenic, scarlet fever with a dose of belladonna etc. He termed this principle ‘similia similibus curentur’ – ‘let likes be cured by likes’, otherwise known as the ‘similia principle’ or ‘law of similars’. Although the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates – the founder of western medicine – was the first one to moot the idea of curing ‘like with like’ more than 2,000 years ago, it was Hahnemann who made this principle into a system of treatment. Quality education along with social outreach program2017 and field work with village adaptation & empowerment program by camps & health awareness drives. Efforts for exposure of students to national & international exposure for carrying out research work. Homeopathy is one of the most popular holistic systems of medicine. The selection of remedy is based upon the theory of individualization and symptoms similarity by using holistic approach. This is the only way through which a state of complete health can be regained by removing all the sign and symptoms from which the patient is suffering. The aim of homeopathy is not only to treat eyes diseases but to address its underlying cause and individual susceptibility. As far as therapeutic medication is concerned, several remedies are available to treat eye diseases that can be selected on the basis of cause, sensations and modalities of the complaints. For individualized remedy selection and treatment, the patient should consult a qualified homeopathic doctor in person. There are following remedies which are helpful in the treatment of diseases: – College has following departments/Facilities. – Class rooms – Department of 1 st B.H.M.S. – Anatomy lab included dissection facility, – physiology & blochemistry lab homoeopathy, – pharmacy lab department of organon of medicine department – homoeopathy materia medica. – Museum – Demonstration section – Library – Staff room – HOD room of each department – Conference room & saparate auditorium with capacity of 500 aided with multimedia facilities. – Sports zone having huge ground in 4 acre of land. OPD – Out Patient Departments OPD Facilities: Cardio Thoracic & Vascular Surgery Spine Surgery Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement Surgery Gynaecology & Obstetrics Nephrology & Renal Transplant Surgery Urosurgery Gastroenterology General Surgery & Laparoscopy Surgery Ophthalmology E.N.T Dietetics General Medicine Physiotherapy Radiology and Lab OPD Registration Process A patient needs to register himself/herself at the main reception in order to avail the out patient facilities offered by Medica Ranchi. Registration takes place round-the-clock and the form for the same is to be filled up and handed over at the counter itself. Please make sure that you provide accurate information in this form. Please carry the registration card for every Hospital visit. Your Patient Registration Number (PRN) is important to make sure that you receive timely services.
Earthworms for a worm habitat farm are one of nature's hardest working composters. Earthworms spend their existence eating decaying organic matter contained within soil, breaking it down and creating ‘castings' which enrich and condition the soil. The presence of earthworms in a garden bed is a great indicator of the health of the soil, as earthworms will only go where there is variety of organic matter to eat. Earthworms kept in a worm habitat or worm farm are an excellent, fun and easy way to reduce your household, school or business waste. A worm habitat provides earthworms with the shelter and environment they need to live happily, reproduce and provide you with rich castings and worm juice to fertilise your garden. All that is needed to grow your worm farm is your food waste and a weekly watering and the earthworms will take care of the rest. The castings and worm juice produced as a result of worm farming will work wonders in your garden – converts have proclaimed that there is no better liquid fertiliser or soil conditioner than that produced by the humble earthworm. An average 60% of landfill waste is organic and easily compostable, however the anaerobic process produces harmful methane gas. Worm farming reduces these emissions, landfill and returns the organic matter to the earth. There is excellent information here about earthworms worm habitat and worm farms and how to minimise your organic waste. what can earthworms in a worm habitat eat? Worms love a variety of organic waste such as: kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, paper, cardboard, teabags, dairy, eggs, eggshells, grass clippings, garden waste, vacuum cleaner dust, hair & much more. Worms will tolerate only small amounts of onion, citrus, wheat, garlic and meats. The amount of food your worms can eat will increase over time – start with small amounts and build up as your worm population grows. One of our new additions to the Biome range is this 240L Wheelie Bin Worm Habitat which is a perfect size for families and small businesses. It comes complete with 1000 worms to get started. [caption id="attachment_4414" align="aligncenter" width="300"] worm habitat 240l wheelie bin[/caption] What sets this worm habitat apart from cheaper tray systems is that it works on a ‘never fill' system making it extremely user friendly. The basics of using this worm habitat are very simple: - Lift the lid and any top covering, scatter food in a layer onto the top, add a little moistened potting mix or soil to cover the layer, and then replace top covering and lid. - Flush the system with water once a week and collect any worm juice from the drainage tap. Check for juice every couple of days, depending upon the level of worm activity you may harvest quite a lot! It can be stored for later use in a cool, dry place. - Once castings begin to accumulate harvest these easily through the porthole. The worm habitat wheelie bin for earthworm farming is very sturdy with wheels for easy moving. It is a user-friendly design with no tray lifting or rotating necessary, and it's so easy to harvest liquid and castings from the bottom tap and portholes. The tap is fitted with an over-flow system to prevent your earthworms from drowning if too much liquid accumulates. For a larger business, school, community garden or restaurant, the 360L Wheelie Bin Worm Habitat would be an ideal size to compost larger quantities of organic waste. There is even a worm habitat for composting dog manure instead of sending it to landfill. Earthworms will happily eat your dog's ‘do' in their worm habitat. This is available in a 140L Wheelie Bin size for dogs. [caption id="attachment_4415" align="aligncenter" width="225"] worm habitat dog manure wheelie bin[/caption] All of our worm habitat systems for earthworms are made in Australia of a high quality construction. Each component of the worm habitat is recyclable at the end of it's life. Each worm habitat comes complete with comprehensive instructions, information, hints and tips to get the most out of your worm farm experience.
The leek belongs to the Alliceae family and is closely related to shallots and onions. Dried specimens of leek have been found in archeological sites of ancient Egypt, owing to the vegetable's long presence. Surviving texts indicate that leeks have been consumed for thousands of years, one of the earliest references being from Mesopotamia. Leeks are very important to Welsh culture because of the legend of King Cadwaladr of Gwynedd, who ordered his soldiers to wear leek on their helmets in order to identify themselves in a famous battle against the Saxons. For that reason, they have long been a symbol of Wales, and they have come to be used extensively in that country's cuisine. As far as the rest of Britain, leeks are just now beginning to find their way back into popular cuisine, having been overlooked for fifty years. Although they can be very tasty, leeks require a fair amount of preparation before they can be consumed. First, the roots must be removed. Then, the tough dark-green outer leaves can be removed if they are spotty or too tough, and then the ends of the remaining leaves should be trimmed. Cut the leek in half and then slice or chop. Place in a colander to wash. From there, leeks can be used in any of a variety of dishes. Leek is a good source of dietary fiber, and regular consumption of leek helps the body to absorb foods more easily. This is important for diabetics because it helps the body rid itself of sugar more quickly. Leeks also help trap and remove harmful substances from the body, as well as contain diuretic properties, which aids in the elimination of water retention. And you'll see personalized content just for you whenever you click the My Feed . SheKnows is making some changes!
Education technologies like personalized learning have tremendous potential to help students learn. To maximize the value of personalized learning, the public and private sectors must increase their investments in training, infrastructure, hardware, and curriculum. Unfortunately progress in each of these areas is uneven. In a recent Chalkboard post, I discussed the potential benefits from broad adoption of personalized learning. A key reason that I remain skeptical about the long-term impact of personalized learning is the lack of bandwidth in the nation’s schools. The available data suggests that school internet speeds continue to rise at a rapid rate, but remain below the levels needed to support broad adoption of personalized learning. The most recent and comprehensive data on school internet speeds is collected by the nonprofit Education SuperHighway (ESH). They analyze school district applications to the Federal Communication Commission’s E-Rate program. E-rate provides funding to schools and libraries to subsidize the cost of internet access. ESH then contacted schools to verify the connection types and bandwidth for the 2015 funding year. Many school districts lack high-speed internet In their 2015 report, ESH finds that schools have made considerable progress. In 2013 the FCC established a minimum bandwidth target of 100 Kbps per student . ESH found that 30 percent of school districts meet that low standard. Over the next two years that figure rose to 77 percent of school districts. Only Wyoming and the single district-state of Hawaii have reached the 2013 goal. Since then the FCC has set the ambitious goal of 1 Mbps per student by 2018. Some schools have already met this lofty standard, but the vast majority have not. Providing high-speed broadband to the communities that currently lack access will require an ambitious effort. Broad swathes of the country remain unconnected to terrestrial broadband options. There are a variety of technologies that could provide access to these school districts, but companies are reticent to offer services in communities with few customers. Governments can fill in the gap but it would require larger subsidies to Internet Service Providers (ISP). The average median bandwidth for states was 220 Kbps per student. States with few impoverished students (lowest quintile) had a high median bandwidth speed (281 Kbps per student). But, states in the top quintile for the number of students in poverty also had an above average school district median bandwidth of 231 Kbps per student. A similar pattern follows for the number of students living in rural areas. States in the lowest and highest quintile for the number of rural students had higher median bandwidth connections than states in the third and fourth quintile. Source for both charts: Author’s Calculation from ESH Compare and Connect K-12 Differences within states The state-level data on broadband speeds mask considerable variation at the district level. For example, in Florida, the median school district broadband speed is 82 Kbps per student and 40 percent of school districts have an average speed of at least 100 Kbps. Escambia County in the panhandle has an average speed of 20 Kbps per student while Glades County in south-central Florida averages 812 Kbps per student. Source: Author’s Calculation from ESH Compare and Connect K-12 One possible explanation is that states with greater numbers of impoverished and rural students have slower internet connections. Impoverished and rural communities do not have the customer bases to attract infrastructure investments from ISPs. However, the number of rural students and the number of students in poverty have weak relationships with the median state bandwidth. The Florida data suggest that bandwidth speeds vary more within rather than across states. Why does this matter? 100 Kbps per student is not fast enough to support personalized learning. State Education Technology Directors Association’s (SETDA) recommends downlink bandwidth speeds of 100 Kbps per student as a minimum. For example, SETDA recommends 250 Kbps per student for online learning. For a bandwidth-intensive platform like Khan Academy they recommend 1.5 Mbps per device. Many districts are far from these targets. Without a clearer view of school bandwidth and peak internet usage it’s not possible to understand the nature of the problem. This presents an additional difficulty to policymakers who seek to address this issue. Is the current 2018 FCC standard of 1 Mbps per student fast enough for every student in the country to take an online standardized exam? There is no research yet that allows for a precise answer to this important question. The last national study of school internet speeds occurred in 2005. The federal government could address this problem by administering a survey about school internet access. This would provide a more detailed picture about peak usage rates and current speeds. If personalized learning and other internet-enabled educational tools are to realize their potential then substantial infrastructure investments in wireless broadband, fiber, and other technologies are needed. Ensuring that every school has the necessary bandwidth is a difficult task because it would require a massive investment from public and private sources. Policy analysts and advocates should take into account this challenge when predicting the adoption and impact of personalized learning. Note: ESH defines Internet Access bandwidth per student as “For Internet access, total bandwidth per district is calculated as the sum of the capacity of all Internet Access connections divided by the total number of enrolled students in the district as reported in NCES data.” The FCC’s 100 Kbps per student standard is based on SETDA’s recommendation.
The site of the Greek 'Leontini' has been identified to the south of present Lentini, in the valley of San Mauro and the two hills that surround it. At the southern outlet of the valley and the hill of Castellaccio the remains of a circle of walls were found , first real core of the city with some remains of a fairly late necropolis (fourth century BC) outside the heart of the city. The Lentini archaeological finds are not numerous, since much of the ancient heritage was lost in the catastrophic earthquake of 1693. The origins of the name Lentini The name of the city, according to ancient testimony, derives from the Greek for lion due to the conformation of the hills, which would represent this mighty animal - Lentini actually stands on three hills, which could resemble a lion. According to other etymologies, the name derives from the Greek "Laòs" ( "People") and "Tìnein" ( "to extend"), meaning a town "very populous". But it is very likely that the first derivation is correct, because the coat of arms shows ears, some fish, a palm tree, a tower embattled, and the pelt of the Nemean lion. The ears refer to the fertility of the soil of Lentini, while the pelt of the lion refers to the legendary stay of Hercules in the city, who remained here for some time and gave the inhabitants, in recognition for honours received, his cloak of lion pelt. The fishes symbolically recall the Lake of Lentini, which Hercules himself constructed in honour of Iola. As for the tower, a legend tells that Hercules built it to mark the superiority of Lentini throughout Sicily. In fact, some old coins on the obverse show the head of a woman and on the reverse a lion next to a tree. According to tradition, Lentini was founded simultaneously with Catania, by some Chalcidian settlers of Naxos, led by Teocle, having chased the “Siculi” from the region in 730-729 BC. It became a rich city and very populous for its fertile land, and it was occupied by the tyrant Panaetius in 609 BC; later by Hippocrates (?-491 B.C.); then by the tyrant of Gela, in 498 BC. It was taken also by Hieron (?-466) and Thrasybulus (V century B.C.), also tyrants of Syracuse. After the fall of Syracuse to the Romans, Lentini also came under their rule - the city of Lentini was sacked by the consul Marcellus in 214 BC. In Roman times Lentini declined significantly and had little political and economic importance. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it underwent various dominations by the Goths, Saracens and Normans. The Norman Count Roger declared Lentini a 'royal city'. Unlike the Roman period, which saw the city in clear decline, Lentini was an Episcopal seat in the Byzantine period. In the Norman period the city developed around the old Cathedral of Santa Maria della Cava (now Piazza Oberdan). In the twelfth century, it was damaged by earthquakes, and the centre was restructured in the Swabian period, when many monasteries settled around the city (Conventual, Carmelites. Observant). Following the earthquake of 1542, Lentini was again severely affected; for this reason, during the reign of Charles V a new centre called “Carlentini” was developed. However, many residents returned to build again on the old site, which, however, was destroyed by the earthquake of 1693. Between the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the city had no particular developments, the economy remained predominantly agricultural; and this activity continues today, alongside the new opportunities opened up by the development of tourism.
The Port of Antwerp-Bruges will be the first in the world to start using a tugboat — vessels that manoeuvre other vessels — powered by combustion engines that burn hydrogen in combination with diesel in a bid to be more climate-friendly. The "Hydrotug," developed by a division of the Belgian shipping company Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB.TECH), is some 12 metres wide and 30 metres long and can store 415 kilograms of compressed hydrogen, eliminating emissions equivalent to 350 cars, and is expected to be operational from 2023 onwards. "Recently, Port of Antwerp merged with the Port of Zeebrugge into one big organisation that aims to reconcile people, climate and economy," Port of Antwerp-Bruges Manager Operations, Rob Smeets, said. "Our common goal is to become carbon neutral by 2050, by walking many different sustainability paths, such as carbon capture and storage, and efforts in hydrogen." The engine of the tugboat, consisting of two BeHydro V12 dual fuel medium speed engines that can run on hydrogen and traditional fuel, will comply with the strictest standard, making them "the most emission-efficient engines on the market," a statement from the port read. "We are delighted that Port of Antwerp-Bruges will be the first user of Hydrotug, the world's largest hydrogen-powered vessel. With this technology, we can significantly improve the air quality in ports and bring hydrogen technology to every port worldwide," CTO of CMB.TECH, Roy Campe, said. A green port The introduction of the Hydrotug is part of a large-scale greening programme for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges fleet. "The unified port cherishes the ambition to become the energy gateway to Europe as a 'green port'. An important role in this is reserved for (green) hydrogen" said President of the Board of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Annick De Ridder, adding that this will help the port excel as the economic engine of Flanders. By 2028, the merged port aims to have the first green hydrogen molecules on its platforms, and is working on a hydrogen pipeline between the two ports and towards the European hinterland to use as much renewable energy as possible. "This hydrotug is a fantastic example of what our sustainable future should look like," Smeets said.
Francalacci et al. reconstructs the phylogeny of European Y-chromosomes based on a huge sample of 1,200 Sardinians. Naturally, Sardinians don't have every haplogroup in Europe or the planet, but with such a huge sample it was possible to find almost everything, minus obvious newcomers such as Uralic haplogroup N. Poznik et al. build a human Y-chromosome phylogeny from 69 male genomes. The main thrust of their paper is to reconcile the "younger" Y-chromosome vs. "older" mtDNA in humans. In my opinion, that ship has sailed with the discovery of Y-haplogroup A00 which now makes the Y-chromosome MRCA of humans ("Adam") much older than the mtDNA one ("Eve"). And, indeed, the fact that the two are of different ages is not particularly troubling or in need of remedy, since for most reasonable models of human origins we do not expect them to be of the same age. Well, unless you believe the latest archaeological models that have early proto-sapiens perfecting their craft by scratching lines and perforating beads in some south African cave before spreading out to colonize the planet in one swift swoop. Haplogroup G is an unambiguously west Eurasian lineage, so the fact that it is basal within F surely has implications about the origins of this most successful Eurasian group. The pattern is not quite clear, however, because the next most basal branch is H, which is unambiguously South Asian, and the next one after that is IJ vs. K, with IJ again being west Eurasian, with most east Eurasians nested within K. But, if we go up the tree, we see the split of C (Asian) vs. F (Eurasian), and further up DE (African+Eurasian) vs. CF (Eurasian). It seems to me that apart from the unambiguous African rooting of the entire tree, the rest of the topology paints a picture of a complex peopling of Eurasia, rather than a simple model of successive founder effects. Another interesting finding of Poznik et al. is the discover of deep substructure within Y-haplogroup A-L419 (bottom of the picture). The authors arrive at the following mutation rate: Using entry to the Americas as a calibration point, we estimate a mutation rate of 0.82 × 10−9 per base pair (bp) per year [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.72 × 10−9 to 0.92 × 10−9/bp/year] (table S3).This is notable for being lower than the directly estimated mutation rate of 1x10-9 of Xue et al. (2009). The usefulness of "archaeological calibration" eludes me, which brings us back to Francalacci et al. who also archaeologically calibrate their mutation rate and find: Considering that our analysis focused on approximately 8.97 Mbp of sequence from the Y chromosome X-degenerated region, this rate is equivalent to 0.53 × 10−9 bp−1 year−1.So, the Francalacci et al. mutation rate is about half that of Xue et al., with that of Poznik et al. being intermediate. The Francalacci et al. rate was calibrated by "the initial expansion of the Sardinian population". Now, whether the current Sardinian population is descended from that initial expansion or from a later successful founder remains to be seen. In any case, using their ultra-slow mutation rate, these authors suggest that: The main non-African super-haplogroup F-R shows an average variation of 534.8 (±28.7) SNPs, corresponding to a MRCA of ~110,000 years ago, in agreement with fossil remains of archaic Homo sapiens out of Africa (7, 18) though not with mtDNA, whose M and N super-haplogroups coalesce at a younger age (13). The main European subclades show a differentiation predating the peopling of Sardinia, with an average variation ranging from 70 to 120 SNPs (Table 1), corresponding to a coalescent age between 14,000 and 24,000 years ago, which is compatible with the postglacial peopling of Europe.I am personally skeptical of all such archaeological calibrations and I'd like to see the mutation rate directly estimated using a well-behaved process (say, a 1,000-year old deep pedigree between two modern males separated by 60 meioses). It seems that there is no escape from mutation rate controversies in human genetics. The most striking piece of data from this paper is the following figure: Going from left-to-right: - R2 in Sardinia! This is extremely rare in Europe and underscores the importance of large sample sizes. It'd be wonderful to study it in the future in the context of, say, South Asian R2 which is much more numerous. - The clear "explosive" expansion of R1b-related lineages - A very deep common ancestry of haplogroups L and T. - Quite deep coalescences within Y-haplogroup J - "Explosive" growth of I2a1a1; this "southwest European" lineage attains its maximum in Sardinia and looks like a clear founder effect. It should definitely be visible in the ancient DNA record of the island. - Fairly deep splits within G2a. It would be interesting to see how G2 compares with Caucasian G1. We now know that G is very old lineage in West Eurasia (being the first split in haplogroup F), but how much of its present-diversity dates back to splits shortly after the haplogroup's appearance? - Finally, the deep splits within African haplogroup E correspond to the likely varied origins of these lineages There's probably much more of interest in these twin papers, so if you notice anything in the supplementary materials, feel free to leave a comment. Sequencing Y Chromosomes Resolves Discrepancy in Time to Common Ancestor of Males Versus Females G. David Poznik et al. The Y chromosome and the mitochondrial genome have been used to estimate when the common patrilineal and matrilineal ancestors of humans lived. We sequenced the genomes of 69 males from nine populations, including two in which we find basal branches of the Y-chromosome tree. We identify ancient phylogenetic structure within African haplogroups and resolve a long-standing ambiguity deep within the tree. Applying equivalent methodologies to the Y chromosome and the mitochondrial genome, we estimate the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) of the Y chromosome to be 120 to 156 thousand years and the mitochondrial genome TMRCA to be 99 to 148 thousand years. Our findings suggest that, contrary to previous claims, male lineages do not coalesce significantly more recently than female lineages. Science 2 August 2013: Vol. 341 no. 6145 pp. 565-569 Low-Pass DNA Sequencing of 1200 Sardinians Reconstructs European Y-Chromosome Phylogeny Paolo Francalacci et al. Genetic variation within the male-specific portion of the Y chromosome (MSY) can clarify the origins of contemporary populations, but previous studies were hampered by partial genetic information. Population sequencing of 1204 Sardinian males identified 11,763 MSY single-nucleotide polymorphisms, 6751 of which have not previously been observed. We constructed a MSY phylogenetic tree containing all main haplogroups found in Europe, along with many Sardinian-specific lineage clusters within each haplogroup. The tree was calibrated with archaeological data from the initial expansion of the Sardinian population ~7700 years ago. The ages of nodes highlight different genetic strata in Sardinia and reveal the presumptive timing of coalescence with other human populations. We calculate a putative age for coalescence of ~180,000 to 200,000 years ago, which is consistent with previous mitochondrial DNA–based estimates.
Sustainable, Ethical & Fair Trade Fashion is one of the world’s most polluting industries, infact it is the second largest polluting Industry in the world and is responsible for creating 10% of the world‘s carbon emissions and producing 20% of the world‘s water waste. When fashion business is done well, it can be transformative for the people behind the product, and for their environment. As a company we only use natural fabrics that are produced from wool and crops that receive no or very low levels of chemicals to grow, use less water and leave less waste during production. We also use natural dyes from vegetables and non chemical dyes on our products. What does sustainability mean to us? An Ethical & Fair Trade Aproach Lower CO2 emissions Create quality garments Pay living wages Another big problem in the fashion industry is transportation, which is polluting the environment. Most garments are made thousands of kilometers away from their eventual destination, often traveling to more than 5 countries before being sold. For this reason, Gracelandic is produced in Europe, close to home. While plant and animal fibers are bio-degradable such as in cold or hot compost, synthetic or man-made fibers are not. The ones that do not biodegrade will tend to end in landfills and the ocean and will become broken down cubes such as microplastics. Natural fibers have a lot of advantages compared to man-made fibers. And with this taken in its full implications comes around to one of the major issues of our time, global warming or climate change. The promotion of the use of natural fibers as CO2 neutral resource will contribute to a greener planet. At Gracelandic, we’re inspired by the potential for a great business to drive value for all. Sustainability to us means generating value in three dimensions (3D) - the “triple bottom line” or our three P‘s - in which people, planet, and profits are considered equally fundamental to business success. Advantages of natural fibers include: Easy care. For instance, silk, linen, and wool are machine washable, extremely quick to dry and thin fibers bounce back into shape meaning that you don‘t need to iron as the products won't crease if it dries in shape. Environmentally friendly. They are biodegradable and renewable. Natural fibers split into animal fibers and plant fibers with the animal fibers composed of proteins and the plant fibers of cellulose. Chemical management. They use vegetable dyes and nonchemical dies on products. Long-Lasting All Natural Fibers All-natural fibers are incredibly strong and can bend over 20,000 times without breaking. This allows your clothes to last for many seasons without losing shape or becoming holey. The lifecycle of synthetic or man-made fibres is different from natural fibres because the natural fiber lifecycle is shaped like a loop. And the synthetic or man-made fiber lifecycle is basically a straight line with some looping via recycling. At Gracelandic, garment construction takes longer. Building pieces that last take time and focus on details. Our average garment takes 20 hours to construct vs. 4 hours at a typical fast fashion production line. Each detail is meant to extend the life of the garment, including hand-stitched detailing and binding on the seams for longevity, and select interior lining for protection if needed. Unlike fast fashion, where an assembly line of dozens of workers work on a single garment, fewer people are touching each piece, which leads to higher attention to detail and quality. This means that our pieces will outlast our cheaper and other non-sustainable counterparts. Ethical & Fair Trade Our slow fashion brand dedicated to ethical and sustainable practices emerged after I read a heart-breaking article on the Rana Plaza tragedy that killed over 1,100 garment workers in Bangladesh and wounded over 2,200 more on April 24, 2013. The incident left consumers all over the world questioning who makes the clothes they wear every day and in what kind of conditions. Documentaries like ’The True Cost’ shine a light on how the fast fashion industry depletes the earth’s resources and leverages slave labor to pass on a cheap cost to the end consumer. The fashion industry is known for its glitz and glam but the reality behind is not so fabulous. Millions of garment workers face, risk, and live in poverty, generally, the working conditions in these production countries are not so good, and child labor and sweatshop conditions can be present due to lack of control of brands and no too little legislation. Consumers are becoming increasingly conscious about their purchases, and channel the power of their vocalized objections to make a positive difference for the people involved in the making of their clothes and goods. Gracelandic is making a central part of its mission to approach fashion in an ethical and transparent way that considers both people and the planet. We hope that sustainability seizes to be a niche, rather than a necessity. Gracelandic turns doing business better into an opportunity, rather than a cost. We support and reward our teams for better practices. How is our Factory Sustainable? Raw materials: They are using only silk, linen, wool, organic linen, organic cotton, and FSC certificated viscose. Certifications: GOTs, OCS certifications for all production lines, Sedex audit reports, Inditex / H&M Audits Less water consumption through new investments: New technologies in the production line, with the help of high pressure, they get fabrics dyed with less water. Water treatment facility and Gas Filter: Controlled and confirmed by local authorities, they always try to do their work with the highest responsibility and lowest impact. Responsibility /Transparency Ethical Workplace: Work hours, hourly rates, and wages of workers are all in balance with government policies and they support their workers to create a happy workplace. Less transport = Less Carbon footprint: Their garment production is built on the second floor of their fabric production. There is no extra transport for raw materials or fabrics. 100% Natural Dyestuff: Recent developments to use 100% nature origin dyestuff in dyeing.
As humans are spreading throughout the world, infectious diseases have been a constant companion such as Bubonic Plague (200 Million deaths), 17th Century Great Plague (3 Million deaths), Plague of Justinian (30-50 Million deaths), etc. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) which was published on 11th January 2020 showing the intensity of Global research and development activity to develop a drug/vaccine against the disease. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Human to human transmission has created a pandemic situation across the world. Pharmaceutical companies play a crucial role in this scenario to provide Drugs/Vaccines/Therapies to treat and tackle the novel coronavirus disease of 2019. This paper consists of the Drugs and Vaccines which are developed, or in the process of development, their current stage of development (clinical trials) with their patent review. Keywords: vaccines, Covid-19, patent Coronavirus was discovered in the early 1960s. The name of the virus comes from the crown-like spikes it has on its surface while the word “Corona” is derived from the Latin word “crown”. Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illnesses ranging from a common cold to more severe diseases. Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously ascertained in humans. Coronavirus is one of the common viruses that can cause infection in your sinuses, nose, or upper throat. Most of the coronaviruses are not dangerous and are present with mild symptoms and are treated easily symptomatically, but it killed 858 people in MERS in 2015 and this was a result of a severe presentation causing respiratory failure . To be more precise, Coronavirus comes under the family of Orthocoronavirinae and is surrounded by an envelope like frame which gives a sense of the single-stranded RNA genome. This document aims at providing an analysis of Drugs/Vaccines/Therapies developed, developing, or under clinical trials to prevent coronavirus disease2019 outbreaks. For more details: Click here
A city in northern India has shattered the national heat record, registering a searing 51C – the highest since records began – amid a nationwide heatwave. The new record was set in Phalodi, a city in the desert state of Rajasthan, and is the equivalent of 123.8F. It tops a previous record of 50.6C set in 1956. “Yesterday (Thursday) was the hottest temperature ever recorded in the country ... 51C in Phalodi,” said BP Yadav, a director of India’s meteorological department, on Friday. Temperatures in northern India regularly hit the high 40s in May and June – the hottest months of the year – but topping 50C is unusual. The record for India is thought to be 50.6C (123F), recorded in 1956 in the northern town of Alwar (pdf). The weather office has issued warnings of “severe heat wave” conditions across large parts of India’s northern and western regions through the weekend. Several hundred people are thought to have died during this year’s heatwave and some areas have banned daytime cooking in order to limit the fire risk. More than a thousand people died during a heatwave in 2015, mainly caused by dehydration in the southern part of the country. India declares a heatwave when the maximum temperature hits 45 degrees Celsius, or five degrees higher than the average for the area in previous years.
In many ways, it will not be as bad as The Coming Global Superstorm or The Day After Tomorrow, but in other ways it could be ten times worse. Scientists Warn of Perilous Climate Shift Within Decades, Not Centuries \|GIANT boulder set in place in The Bahamas the last time we had global superstorms.\| That was 120,000 years ago. Source: Charles Ommanney/The Washington Post, via Getty Images, via The New York Times. Thing is, for the month of February, we've already peeked above the global 1.5 C temperature rise that the COP21 agreed to target to stay below sea-level rise that would be dangerous to the low-lying island and river-delta nations. And the World Meteorological Organization has noted that the extreme temperature rises and the attendant climate-related events at the beginning of this year have shocked scientists around the climate science community, and implied that dangerous climate change has arrived by noting that the events and temps that have just happened have never been seen before in our historical records.The nations of the world agreed years ago to try to limit global warming to a level they hoped would prove somewhat tolerable. But leading climate scientists warned on Tuesday that permitting a warming of that magnitude would actually be quite dangerous.The likely consequences would include killer storms stronger than any in modern times, the disintegration of large parts of the polar ice sheets and a rise of the sea sufficient to begin drowning the world’s coastal cities before the end of this century, the scientists declared.“We’re in danger of handing young people a situation that’s out of their control,” said James E. Hansen, the retired NASA climate scientist who led the new research. The findings were released Tuesday morning by a European science journal, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.The basic claim of the paper is that by burning fossil fuels at a prodigious pace and pouring heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, humanity is about to provoke an abrupt climate shift. "The alarming rate of change we are now witnessing in our climate as a result of greenhouse gas emissions is unprecedented in modern records." — Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization \|The WMO notes a number of extreme and significant climate change related events in its most recent annual report. A series of events that, according to monthly monitoring by NOAA, continued on into a record hot February of 2016. Image source: NOAA. via Robertscribbler.\| And a few days before, Robertscribbler noted that without a fast switch to renewables (hydro, solar, wind) and of course, to conservation, rapid climate change could be imminent: a study done in Australia notes that if we continue to increase the extraction, mining and combustion of fossil fuels as usual, we could reach and blow through in 2030 the 2C limit when the really dangerous climate change -- i.e., the coming global superstorms -- develops. And any related shift in global policy back toward coal, while continuing to build out oil and gas production and consumption based infrastructure would rapidly re-assert the dangerous rates of atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions growth the world has seen over the past few decades. In addition, all current indicators show use of natural gas and oil continuing to expand. And without coordinate reductions in these other two big carbon emitters, a floor will be set on how far greenhouse gas emissions can fall through the, admittedly positive, apparent shift away from coal alone. As the Australian scientists note ... — you can’t really have much hope of a milder impact from climate change unless you rapidly replace all new growth-based infrastructure with renewables (and related non-carbon emitters). Any new fossil fuel based infrastructure is basically making an already bad problem worse. And continued wholesale reliance on fossil fuels locks in catastrophic climate change over very short time horizons. Are we -- that is, the movers, shakers and drivers of our economy -- going to do the switchover necessary to forestall this dangerous climate change? After all, the other side peak oil may not hit until 2030, and we could be at or above the limit of 2C temperature rise since the 1880s, and get cast headlong into the age of the global superstorms, with frontal systems the size of mid-size continents and the strength of Category 5 Hurricanes.
PEOPLE who can’t get a bank account are hit with a “poverty premium” of more than £250 per year in extra fees and charges. Around 1.2million vulnerable and older Brits don’t use a bank – but they have to pay more for services and are missing out on discounts, research found. Customers who can’t pay by direct debit are charged an average of £199 per year more on their energy bills, £26 more on mobile phone bills and £38 extra on their broadband bills. It means they are paying an average £263 extra in total. The research, carried out by digital account provider Pockit, also found people without a bank account were more likely to take out high-interest doorstep loans with loan sharks. Someone borrowing £300 on a credit card would have to pay around £38.85 interest over a year, but the interest on borrowing the cash using a doorstep loan is around £261.60 – or nearly £223 more. Not having a bank account – known as being “unbanked” – can happen when people have a low credit rating, no fixed address in the UK or simply don’t trust banks. Pockit is a prepaid Mastercard which acts like a current account because customers can pay in wages and benefits, and are given a sort code and account number so they can use it for direct debits. It is free to pay in money by bank transfer or to pay using the card in store or online. But it costs 99p per month and charges an extra 99p on top every time customers pay in or withdraw cash or transfer money out of the account. MOST READ IN MONEY Pockit founder Virraj Jatania said: “For many of us, having a bank account is a basic fact of life. Yet the unbanked face a Banking Poverty Premium which can put a real strain on their finances. “From paying more for their energy bills to not being able to shop online, people without a bank account face additional costs and challenges on everyday items we take for granted. “A bank account is a simple yet important step to helping people escape the Banking Poverty Premium and to make the financial system work for them.” We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at email@example.com or call 0141 420 5200
The RACER method Steps in the RACER assessment 1. Map important featuresFirst, we use the best available, most current data to map land or sea features -- like mountains, wetlands, polynyas and river deltas -- that have: - High productivity: exceptional growth of vegetation and animals - High diversity: varieties of living things and habitats This vitality is a source of resilience for the ecosystems and ecosystem services of the wider regions. 2. Assess resilience Next, we test whether these key features will continue as sources of region-wide resilience, despite predicted climate-related changes to temperature, rain and snowfall, sea ice, and other environmental factors important to living systems. The relationship between these changing climate variables and the drivers of ecological vitality is the foundation for RACER’s forecasts of ecosystem resilience to 2100. Turning knowledge to action RACER’s ecosystem-based method equips resource managers and conservationists with new management targets: - Conserving the geographic, climatic, and ecological characteristics that drive ecosystem functioning - Minimising environmental disturbance to places that are - and will be for the remainder of this century - sources of ecosystem resilience in the Arctic. Identifying the sources of resilience for region-wide arctic ecosystems and nurturing them into the future may be the best hope for survival for the Arctic’s unique identity - including its habitats, plants, animals and the ecological services that northern people and cultures depend upon. Recognising that current approaches to managing often-vulnerable arctic habitats and species are not keeping pace with accelerating climate change, RACER instead locates sources of ecological strength. The Circumpolar Arctic Vegetation Map (CAVM) project is an international effort to map the vegetation and associated characteristics of the circumpolar region, using a common base map. This map has been used as the basis for the definition of the terrestrial ecoregions in the RACER project. The marine ecoregions in the RACER project are classified based on the methods of the Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) project.
By definition, administrative agencies are bodies of government vested with authority to implement and direct legislative acts. In United States, these agencies are establishments under the federal constitution, state legislature, United States congress, and local law bodies. Their main aim being to addresses social problems, and management of crisis. How are administrative agencies’ decisions made and challenged? In the recent past, administrative agencies have faced a lot of criticism. Many of these people argue that administrative agencies are acting like a fourth arm of government having powers greater than the ones of judiciary, legislature and executive. The decision of administrative agencies are made in public with the participation of civilians in the decision making process. In challenging the decision of these agencies, a case is filed with the administrative law judge where a trial based on facts will be delivered. Oaths would be administered to the witnesses and verdict given after all the evidence has been reviewed. Buy The Administrative Decisions essay paper online Purpose of administrative law judge for an administrative agency Administrative law judges in United States serves as presiding officers in an administrative trial involving, a party or person affected by a decision made by a government agency, and the agency itself (Administrative Law and Procedure). They are literally speaking the first Trier using facts, and take in to account questionable evidence in order to make factual rulings. They administer affirmations and oaths, regulate the course of hearing, and take depositions, issue subpoenas and rule on the evidence presented. Their decisions can be appealed to the federal agency they hear cases and later to a court of law. What are the processes in challenging a denial of Social Security benefits? Social security benefits in most of the cases are denied (Storm law firm). Thee biggest question is why should this be the case? Is it not easier to just grant the rights before a legal proceeding is carried out? The process of challenging the denial of these e rights involves four steps. Firstly, the aggrieved party files for reconsideration within 60 days of the denial. If the reconsideration is denied, then a request for hearing is placed with an administrative law judge. The judge would help the complainant to update the medical records. “If the rights are denied further then”, this is followed by an appeal for hearing. If the Appeal is not ruled in ones favor, then finally there is filling of a suit in the federal court (Storm law firm, 2011). A final analysis In my view, administrative law judges play a significant role in making sure that courts are not overloaded with unnecessary baggage of cases that could have other wise been adjudicated in administrative agencies. In challenging denial of social security benefits, the administrative law judges are of immense help. Although, most of the time the complainant is not required to appear during the proceeding of the case the judges use facts to rule and social benefits can be granted if the judge finds that they were denied unjustly. Administrative law judges have been effective in regulating the powers of administrative agencies. If a case is resolved in a way that creates disputes, administrative law judges are always there to step in and rule on facts. This acts as a check to the powers of the administrative agencies. A great percentage of denial of social security needs has been occurring in the recent past, these administrative law judges will act as remedies to these injustices. If they do not solve the problems, recommendation for Appeal can always be filed. Administrative agencies will not always be seen as fair in some quarters, but when administrative law judges preside, some fairness is at least expected. What factors must be present to obtain judicial review of an administrative agency action or decision? Several factors re considered before granting judicial review of an administrative agency decision to an aggrieved party or person. Firstly, the person bringing the appeal to have the decision reviewed has to have a legal right to do so. Moreover, the interest that the complainant seeks to protect should be within the interests argued to be with the protected zone. The timing of action should be correct to obtain a judicial review. This mean the plaintiff has to go through several avenues of trying to solve the dispute before bringing the issue to the judicial review. The avenues within the agency must be exhausted before a judicial review is filed! Are courts limited in review of agency action? Yes, the law has given agencies much freedom of action in order to do their work. They have to exercise diligence though making sure that the people’s rights are safeguarded. A court may at times change or dismiss an agencies decision that is considered utterly wrong, but a lot of considerations are taken into account. Most are the times that the courts are not allowed to second-guess discretion of agencies vested up them by the statute. The courts can only check whether the agencies went beyond their powers or whether procedures were followed before arriving at a conclusion (Shane et al). Therefore, unless the agency abused its discretion powers the courts abide by their ruling even if small mistakes were made some of which can not change the decision taken even if considered. Standard/scope of Supreme Court review of FCC vs. Fox Television Stations. The case had been ruled by a commission that prohibited of broadcasting of any indecent material and language. The issue was an extension of the ban had been carried to run from 6 Am to 12 midnight. The commission had went against its decision and allowed some stations to air some indecent material as from 10 pm (Biskupic). The Supreme Court declined to rule on the case and referred it back to the lower courts. There were a remand and a second circuit of the courts of appeal and was able to overrule the decision of the FCC. Since then, the FCC has re-appealed for the case to be heard by the Supreme Court. What can a court review regarding the agency action? This case is still in progress. The courts will review whether the federal communications commission scheme to regulate speech was vague according to the constitution. The Supreme Court will try to review whether the rights of the fox television stations lay within the protected right zone. Moreover, the decision by the second circuit will be scrutinized to see if it followed the rule of law, and whether it was constitutional. Use of concept of ALJs in the two cases By the fact that, the Supreme Court had declined to rule on the case of FCC vs. Fox televisions stations shows that the administrative law judges had a role to play and their verdicts were respected by the court. The fact that FCC decision was overturned by the second circuit court of appeal does not mean that the administrative law judges were unable to adjudicate over the matter. It is only that a lot of interest was vested in it and had been disputed. In the case, of Yellow Freight Sys. Vs. Martin, the administrative law judge had found that, some sections of the constitution were violated in discharging Martin form his duty. The firm had wanted him to drive a truck while sick. The ALJs were effectively utilized. This case went thorough several appeals with yellow freight trying to have the decision to charge it dropped.
From Reno, Nevada, at a meeting of the International Union for Quaternary Research When people made their way from Asia to the Americas, the path they took may have been covered in dung. At the peak of the last ice age, when sea levels were low, a land bridge that’s now submerged in many places connected what are now Alaska and northeastern Russia. Although much of the area was dry more than 50,000 years ago, firm archaeological evidence of human occupation in this region dates to only around 14,000 years ago, says David Rhode of the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev. Recent genetic data supports this timing (see “New World Newcomers,” in this week’s issue: Available to subscribers at New World Newcomers: Men’s DNA supports recent settlement of the Americas). Some scientists have proposed that humans took so long to migrate into this frigid, treeless expanse because there wasn’t any wood for heating or cooking. Rhode and his colleagues, however, contend, people could have burned dried dung. Today, many residents of the Tibetan Plateau use yak dung for almost all of their heating and cooking needs. A single family living in a 10-square-meter tent requires between 25 and 40 kilograms of dried dung per day in the summer and about twice that in the winter, says Rhode. That adds up to about 20 metric tons of dung per year. Although that sounds like a huge amount, Rhode and his team observed one group of Tibetans collect about a quarter-ton of dung from their yak herd’s pasture in just 4 hours. The researchers estimate that one person could gather an entire family’s average fuel supply in less than 1 hour per day. Today’s conditions on the Tibetan Plateau match the cold, arid climate of the ancient land bridge’s tundra. Scientists believe that the region then supported large populations of herbivores such as bison, mammoths, horses, and wooly rhinoceroses (SN: 4/19/03, p. 244: Fertile Ground: Snippets of DNA persist in soil for millennia). Unless there were far fewer of these animals than currently estimated, there should have been plenty of dung available for fuel, says Rhode. If you have a comment on this article that you would like considered for publication in Science News, send it to email@example.com. Please include your name and location.
The British Museum is the largest museum in the UK. It is located in London and has a collection of over 7,500,000 objects from all over the world. The museum was founded in 1753 and is one of the largest and oldest museums in the world. The museum houses many world-famous exhibits such as the Rosetta Stone, the Lewis chess pieces, the Sutton Hoo treasure, the Benin bronzes, the Parthenon sculptures and the Egyptian mummies. You could spend your entire stay in the English capital visiting the galleries, but to make sure you get the highlights, the must-sees, we recommend you get professional guidance from the team of Free Tours we offer here at GuruWalk. The first thing you'll notice about the British Museum is the building itself. The British Museum was Norman Foster's first major public commission and the only one he completed in the city. The building is a dome of glass and steel, reflecting and amplifying daylight. The central space of the museum is an atrium that rises to a height of 60 metres (197 feet), employing a new technique in which pre-stressed concrete was poured in long continuous sections. What about the museum's contents? We could start with the King's Library. The King's Library is a collection of over 26,000 books and pamphlets. In 1757, King George II donated his library to the library. It includes many famous texts of English literature, including a copy of the first edition of Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica and Shakespeare's First Folio. And from here, does the Rosetta Stone ring a bell? The Rosetta Stone is a beautiful artefact that provides an insight into the life of the ancient Egyptians. It has been on display in the British Museum in London since 1802. This artefact is one of the most important discoveries in history and was made when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt and ordered his troops to Alexandria after defeating the Mamluk forces in Cairo. The British Museum also has many other pieces of Egyptian history. The Ancient Egyptian rooms of the British Museum are a must-see for anyone interested in Egyptian history. The museum offers interactive exhibits, many artefacts and some informative videos. Visitors to these rooms can explore the different periods of Ancient Egyptian history on display. They can also gain some knowledge about the people who lived in ancient Egypt and what their lives were like. The same goes for the rooms specific to Ancient Greece or the Mesopotamian cultures of the Middle East. Find other guruwalks in London
The UAE's first mission to the Moon is now scheduled to launch on Sunday, December 11, Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) announced. The Rashid Rover will now lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from a Cape Canaveral space base in Florida at 11:38 am (UAE time). Earlier, the Emirates Lunar Mission launch was delayed two times. The UAE has teamed up with a Japanese lunar exploration company ispace to land the Rashid Rover on the Moon. Weighing 10kg, the rover was built by a small team of Emiratis at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai. The Rashid Rover's landing site will be Atlas crater, on the southeastern outer edge of Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold). Once it lands the Rover will explore the characteristics of lunar soil, the petrography and geology of the Moon, dust movement, surface plasma conditions, and the Moon's photoelectron sheath.
The difference between secure computing and falling victim to online fraud or identity theft often comes down to a dozen or so keystrokes: your password and answers to those security questions that websites figure only a real user would know. In the second of two parts , Scam Alert explores problems with commonly used security questions, and how to create answers to bolster online security. In part one, we looked at ways to create stronger log-in passwords. To add an extra layer of online security and verify a legitimate user who has forgotten a password, many websites now require answers to “secret” questions. Obviously, the classic “what’s your mother’s maiden name?” is a poor choice, since a skilled hacker can find the answer at government offices that post birth records and marriage licenses online. But what about other common offerings: Your pet’s name? Your favorite color? The make or model of your first car? The city where you were born, street where you lived, or name of your high school? Although you may feel secure with such security questions, a recent study by Microsoft Research indicates that answers to such questions are quickly and easily guessed 17 percent of the time. Consider the math • Most people use one of eight choices for their favorite color. • The 15 most common street names are numbers between First and Eighth, or the names of trees (Oak, Pine, Maple, etc.) • For hometowns, there are 20 extremely popular answers—the 10 largest cities or the 10 most common town names: Fairview, Midway, Oak Grove, Franklin, Riverside, Centerville, Mount Pleasant, Georgetown, Salem and Greenwood. • Your high school’s name? A quick check of registrants on Classmates.com can reveal that. • Lists of popular pet names, such as Max, Buddy and Molly, are widely publicized, and any pet name that is known in your neighborhood can be learned by a hacker. So how can you really boost security when given a menu of weak secret questions? Invent obscure answers Websites have no way of really knowing where you were born or your childhood street. So if you choose a geographic question, choose a bogus or altered answer that’s easy to remember: • Pick the hometown of a relative instead of your own. • Use symbols and numbers, such as “At3lan&ta” as opposed to “Atlanta.” • Make it up: Zebulon or Funkytown aren’t foolproof, but they are harder to guess than Cleveland or Seattle. • Instead of using your childhood street name, use that of your grade-school best friend who lived on the next block. • Instead of picking “orange” as your favorite color, use “cantaloupe,” “melon madness,” “autumn dusk” or other hacker-resistant hues. For inspiration (and an easy-to-file answer), get a free sheet of “color chip” samples in the paint department of your local home improvement center. Try to pick your own question Some, but not all, websites allow you to choose your own secret questions. Here are some good ones, according to Mark Burnett, an online security expert and author ofHacking the Code: • What were the first and last names of your first boyfriend or girlfriend? (Avoid current spouses.) • What was the phone number in your childhood home? (Unless it’s also your current number.) • What was your favorite place to visit as a child? (A museum or zoo is stronger than a vacation spot.) Discounts & Benefits Next ArticleRead This
In general terms, coronary artery disease means any illness that affects the heart’s coronary arteries (arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle). More specifically, coronary artery disease often is used interchangeably with coronary atherosclerosis, a build up of fatty deposits and fibrous tissue (plaques) inside the walls of the coronary arteries. Coronary atherosclerosis eventually can cause significant narrowing of the coronary arteries, decreasing the blood supply to portions of the heart muscle and triggering a specific type of chest pain called angina. Also, if a thrombus (blood clot) should form inside a narrowed coronary artery, the result is a myocardial infarction or heart attack, with the potential for significant damage to the heart muscle. Because coronary artery disease means coronary atherosclerosis in most patients, the risk factors for coronary artery disease are basically the same as those for atherosclerosis. Patients must remember, however, that atherosclerosis can affect more than just the coronary arteries. The arterial narrowing and/or damage caused by atherosclerosis is also a significant cause of stroke, aortic aneurysm and poor circulation to the extremities, bowel and kidneys. Although the most common symptom of coronary artery disease is the chest pain called angina, it is possible for patients to have significant coronary artery disease without any symptoms at all. In these asymptomatic (showing no symptoms) patients, the only sign of coronary artery disease may be a suspicious change in the pattern of an electrocardiogram (EKG) recorded at rest or during an exercise stress test (a specialized recording of EKG during exercise). The stress test is able to uncover the coronary artery abnormality because exercise increases the heart muscle’s demand for blood, a demand that can’t be met when the coronary arteries are significantly narrowed. In areas of the heart affected by narrowed coronary arteries, the heart muscle starves for blood and oxygen, and its electrical activity changes. This altered electrical activity is reflected in the patient’s EKG tracing. Unfortunately, some asymptomatic patients with significant coronary artery disease never have the problem discovered. In these patients, the first symptom of coronary artery narrowing may be the severe chest pain of a heart attack. If a heart attack occurs, the patient has a 15 percent chance of dying before receiving medical attention. In most patients, however, the most common symptom of coronary artery disease is angina, also called angina pectoris. Angina usually is described as a squeezing, pressing or burning chest pain that tends to focus either in the center of the chest or just below the center of the rib cage. It also can spread to the arms (especially the left), abdomen, neck, lower jaw or neck. Other symptoms can include: sweating; nausea; dizziness or lightheadedness; breathlessness; or palpitations (often associated with the symptoms of a heart attack). Sometimes, when coronary artery disease produces burning chest pain and nausea, a patient may mistake their heart symptoms for indigestion. Doctors divide angina into two types ù stable and unstable ù based on the symptom pattern and predictability. In stable angina, chest pain adheres to a specific predictable pattern, usually occurring after extreme emotion, overexertion, a large meal, cigarette smoking or exposure to extreme hot or cold temperatures. Symptoms usually last one to five minutes and they disappear after a few minutes of rest. In unstable angina, the symptoms are less predictable and more serious. Patients with unstable angina typically show one of the following patterns: a history of less than two months of angina, with three or more episodes daily; after a period of stable angina, symptoms suddenly become more severe, last longer or develop after less stress or exercise; or angina that begins when the patient is resting. Diagnosing Coronary Artery Disease Your doctor will ask about your family’s history of heart disease, your personal medical history, your current symptoms and any medications you are taking. Your doctor also will try to define the specific pattern of your angina symptoms ù whether your angina is stable or unstable. Your doctor may suspect that you have coronary artery disease based on your medical history and the pattern of your symptoms. To confirm the diagnosis, he or she will perform a physical examination, with special attention given to your chest wall and heart, together with diagnostic cardiac testing. During the physical examination, your doctor will check for signs of chest wall tenderness ù usually a sign of a non-cardiac problem involving chest wall muscles, ribs or rib joints. Your doctor also will use a stethoscope to listen for any abnormal heart sounds. The physical examination will be followed by one or more diagnostic tests either to rule out angina or to determine the presence and severity of any underlying coronary disease.
Pressurized Mechanical Filtration Mechanical filtration is a reasonable approach to filtering out measurable particulates in water. Mechanical filtration can be applied by sand filtration (to about 20 microns) or bag/cartridge filtration utilizing specific micron rated bags or cartridges (typically to 5 to 10 Micron). Mechanical filtration is often coupled with adsorptive media applications as a means of pretreatment to protect expensive adsorptive media from sediment loading in groundwater treatment applications. Mechanical filtration is ideal for applications with low sediment and low variability to influent conditions. Increased sediment loading, very fine particle size or variable influent conditions can contribute to excessive filter backwashing, bag/cartridge filter change outs or decreased adsorptive media life; and may require additional filter aids (coagulant) to achieve discharge targets.
THE Minister for Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg, needs to immediately instigate the following four-step process to restore confidence in the recording and handling of historical temperature data. Step 1 – Instruct the Bureau to immediately: 1. Lift any limits currently placed on the recording of minimum temperatures; 2. Make publicly available the dates on which limits were first set (e.g. minus 10.0 for Goulburn), and the specific weather stations for which limits were set; 3. Advise whether or not the actual measured temperatures have been stored for the weather stations where limits were set (e.g. Goulburn and Thredbo Top); 4. Make publicly available the stored values, which were not entered into the Australia Data Archive for Meteorology (ADAM) – known more generally as the CDO dataset; 5. Clarify, and document, the specific standard applied in the recording of measurements from the automatic weather station (AWS) equipment including period of the measurement (i.e. 1-second or 10-minute average), checks in place to ensure compliance with the standard, checks in place to monitor and correct any drift, and temperature range over which the equipment gives valid measurements. Note to chart: Since the installation of an automatic weather station at Thredbo, there has been a reduction in the number of days each year when the temperature has fallen to, or below minus 10.0 degree Celsius – from an average of 2.5 (1966 to 1996) to 1.1 days (1997 to July 2017). As a matter or urgency, the Bureau needs to explain when the limits were placed on the minimum temperature that could be recorded at this, and other, automatic weather stations.. Step 2 – Establish a Parliamentary Enquiry, through the House Energy and Environment Committee, with Terms of Reference that include: 6. When and why the policy of recording actual measurements from weather stations into ADAM was modified through the placement of limits on the lowest temperature that an individual weather station could record; 7. Scrutiny of the methodology used by the Bureau in the remodelling of individual temperature series from ADAM for the creation of ACORN-SAT that is used to report climate change trends; 8. Scrutiny of the complex area weighting system currently applied to each of the individual series used in ACORN-SAT; 9. Clarification of the objectives of ACORN-SAT, specifically to ensure public expectations are consistent with the final product; 10. Clarification as to why statistically-relevant uncertainty values generally increase, rather than decreases with homogenisation. Step 3 – Establishment of a formal Red Team, setup independently of the Bureau, to formally advise the parliamentary committee mentioned in Step 2. In particular, the Red Team might: 11. Act to challenge, where appropriate, the evidence and arguments of the Blue Team (the Bureau); 12. Provide a genuinely open review environment so the parliamentarians (and public) can hear the counter arguments and evidence, including how homogenisation may have corrupted the official historical temperature record – and incorrectly suggest that every year is hotter than the previous; 13. Suggest lines of argument for the parliamentary committee to consider, and questions to ask. Step 4 – As a government committed to innovation, the Bureau be told to consider alternative and more advanced techniques for the storage, quality assurance and reconstruction of historical datasets, in particular: 14. A two-day workshop be held at which the Bureau’s ACORN-SAT team (currently 2.5 people) be exposed to the latest quality assurance techniques and big-data methods – including the application of artificial neural networks for historical temperature reconstructions as an alternative to homogenisation. In summary – This four-step process must be implemented as a matter of urgency.Incorrect historical temperature data currently underpins the theory of human-caused global warming that has resulted in government policies ostensibly to mitigate further global warming. These policies are costing the Australian economy hundreds of billions of dollars, and forcing-up the price of electricity for ordinary Australian families and businesses. Red Team versus Blue Team exercises take their name from their military antecedents. The idea is that the Red Team provides evidence critical of Blue Team’s methodology (i.e. the Bureau’s temperature data handling and recording methods). The concept was originally applied to test force readiness in the military, and has since been applied to test physical security of sensitive sites like nuclear facilities, and also information security systems. This first appeared on Dr. Jennifer Marohasy’s blog.
Mount Davis is 3,213 feet above sea level which makes it the ___ point in Pennsylvania. Future Perfect Continuous TenseYes-No QuestionDegrees of Comparison Next quiz: Homonyms ___ for me. How to use : Read the question carefully, then select one of the answers button. Tips : If this page always shows the same questions, make sure you correct the question first by pressing the "check answer" button.
Summary and Analysis The book opens with a present tense narration that sets the time, players, and place. It is mid-June of 1863. The Army of Northern Virginia is heading north behind the Blue Ridge Mountains, stealthily making its way to Pennsylvania. The Army of the Potomac is also moving, but slower, a characteristic that has plagued it for a long time. The opposing armies are described, with information on their size, cultural makeup, beliefs, morale, and objectives. Major leaders are introduced, including Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Meade, and Winfield Scott Hancock. Also, the setting is portrayed: hot rainy weather; men feasting on ripening cherries as they march and then suffering the after-effects of this diet; and areas deserted by the local population who suspect the coming conflict. Shaara's style is to the point here, placing the reader clearly in the location and time of the story — right before one of the major battles of the Civil War. His use of the present tense, while differing from the rest of the novel, gives a sense of immediacy to the situation. It is like listening to a newscaster report live on an unfolding crisis. The descriptions of the major leaders are like a news exposé. Using details from their professional backgrounds and bits of gossip from their private lives, Shaara works to build drama and create interest in the characters. The description of the armies reveals their qualities, motivations, and stark differences. The Confederate Army is a united group. The men in it have similar backgrounds, religious beliefs, customs, and language. While they are mostly unpaid, many cannot read or write, and their physical situation is difficult at best — no shoes, worn uniforms, and not enough food — their morale is very high. This is due in no small part to their unified belief in what they are fighting for — disunity with the Union — and their faith in their leader. They view Robert E. Lee with the same reverence they have for their God, and they will follow Lee anywhere. The Union Army is the opposite. They are a conglomeration of very un-unified men fighting for the unity of their country. They come from all walks of life, with different languages, nationalities, religions, and customs. They have seen mostly defeat, their morale is terrible, and they have no faith in their leadership, which changes often. Many are there for their own personal reasons. One can feel in this introduction the increasing frustration in the ranks, and the desire for a definitive and final showdown. The two sides differ greatly in their makeup and morale, but one thing they both agree on: they want to settle things once and for all, right here and now, and go home. Without being told directly, the reader is aware that something powerful, ominous, and fateful is about to happen.
Viscose is a semi-synthetic fibre derived from the cellulose and wood pulp of fast growing trees such as eucalyptus, beech and pine, as well as plants including bamboo, soy and sugar cane - often referred to as a sustainable alternative to polyester or cotton. The uses of viscose lie mainly in the textiles industries; with the creation of garments, as a result of its soft, durable qualities. THE IMPACT OF UNSUSTAINABLE VISCOSE SOURCING Viscose is a significant contributor to the deforestation of the world’s wooded areas. According to research by not-for-profit organisation Canopy, more than 150 million trees are logged annually to be turned into textile fabrics such as rayon and viscose – placed end to end, those trees would circle the Earth a total of seven times. It is expected that between 2013 and 2020, the number of trees being logged every year for the production of viscose will have doubled. Deforestation destroys the habitats of 80% of the Earth’s land animals who live in forests, putting many at risk of extinction. The quality of life of native tribes is also negatively affected by the removal of forested areas. As part of Segura’s Sustainable Sourcing Challenges series, the effects of deforestation for manufacturing purpose have been investigated. You can read more information on this here. During the production of viscose, wood pulp is treated with sodium hydroxide and carbon disulphide before being filtered and spun into thread. The toxics and chemicals released into the air and water during this process are highly polluting; carbon disulphide has been linked to birth defects, coronary heart disease, cancer and skin conditions of those working with the chemical and those living in the local area. In addition to the health concerns raised over the pollution caused by viscose production, there is also risk to livelihoods. Local fishing industries can be destroyed by contaminated water. RESPONSIBLE VISCOSE MANUFACTURING IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN Whilst viscose is used in 7% of viscose clothing manufacturing due to it often being viewed as a cheaper, more durable alternative to silk – it is also used in the production of other household items such as upholstery, bedding and carpets. Viscose is the most dominant method of producing regenerated cellulose, representing more than 70% of the global market; this is because it is possible to manufacture viscose in a closed-loop system, significantly reducing pollution in comparison to current methods. Unlike many other improvements within fashion sustainability, better viscose production methods already exist. A company called Lenzing launched a new viscose fibre called EcoVero, it is a new and improved sustainable alternative to conventional viscose made from wood that is from controlled sources, either FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) or PEFC (Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) certified; as opposed to specially processed wood pulp that stems from irrigation-intensive monocultures. The innovation has “set an industry wide benchmark” by having the lowest environmental impact. Compared to conventional viscose production, the production of EcoVero causes 50 percent less emissions and takes up half as much energy and water in addition to its pulp bleaching being 100 percent chlorine-free.Fashion United Eco-friendly fashion brand Stella McCartney have pledged to source their viscose from sustainability certified Swedish forests. Alongside their NGO partner Canopy, the brand is attempting to protect forests from ending up in viscose; they say that approximately 48,00 football pitches of trees are logged annually for viscose production. Stella McCartney uses a variety of sustainable fabrics including those made from recycled and waste materials. ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE VISCOSE SOURCING A recent Changing Markets report identified one of the key reasons for timely change as the expected increase in demand for viscose – around 5% per year to 2021. It is important that this increase in demand does not increase the level of damage to the environment, the quicker a sustainable alternative can be identified the better. In order to create a fully responsible viscose production cycle, brands must take control of their own supply chains, driving change downwards to their suppliers. By 2030, viscose is expected to make up 8.5% of the fibre market. CREATING A RESPONSIBLE PRODUCTION POLICY Changing Market’s “roadmap towards responsible viscose & modal fibre manufacturing report” suggests creating a responsible production policy, which should include: - Compliance with laws and workplace regulations - Upholding human rights - Guarantee the responsible sourcing of raw materials - Reduced greenhouse gas emissions - Measures to reduce the production of toxic chemicals - Transparent communication of environmental impacts You can read the full list here. With the increased demand for viscose supply, retail and fashion brands are unlikely to stop sourcing it. A Changing Markets petition has started to encourage brands to work closely with their suppliers to ensure that clean technologies are used, and to stop purchasing from producers who fail to comply. Brands and retailers can spend hundreds of thousands of pounds each year on factory audits. However, if they cannot guarantee their audited factories are the ones that make their garments, there is a risk of financial waste. To guarantee the use of compliant suppliers, companies need to map and track their downstream supply chain. Supply chain transparency and proved product provenance gives brands the knowledge and traceability required for compliance and sustainable sourcing. Originally Published 09/10/2018
\|Introducing CensusAtSchool\|\|Former Australian Statistician, Dennis Trewin, talks about the aims of CensusAtSchool and the structure of the project.\|\|02:12\| \|Tailoring the Data to Suit Your Needs\| \|Making Multiple Worksheets in a Workbook\|\|Insert a new sheet into an Excel workbook.\|\|00:54\| \|Simplify the Data\|\|Copy and paste data from an existing worksheet into a new worksheet.\|\|04:12\| \|Working with Data in Microsoft Excel\| \|Create a Summary Table\|\|Format a table used to summarise data.\| \|COUNTIF Function\|\|Use COUNTIF to tally the frequency of a variable.\| \|Draw a Graph\|\|Insert and format a graph using categorical data.\| \|Using the Sort Function\|\|Sort data according to topic and value.\| \|Mean and Median Function\|\|Find the mean and median of numerical data.\| \|Using CensusAtSchool in the Classroom\|\|Construct a scatterplot, remove outliers, add a trend line and remove outliers; and identify possible outliers using conditional formatting. \|Using ABS Census Data Products\| \|Introductory Video for Census Topics\|\|Introduction to the Census topics as well as what is not included in the Census product videos.\| \|Census Product - QuickStats\|\|This video demonstrates how you can search for key summary Census data using QuickStats.\| \|Census Product - Community Profiles\|\|This video demonstrates how to find Census data for your area of interest using Community Profiles.\| Community Profiles allow you to investigate a diverse range of Census topics from six different perspectives. Each profile looks at a different population or respondent location and presents a comprehensive statistical picture of a particular area. Start at the ABS website homepage and click on 'Census Data' on the left hand navigation menu. Find 'Community Profiles' in the body of the page and choose which year’s Census data you want displayed. As with QuickStats and MapStats, search for a geographic area by using one of the above tabs. In this example we will type in a keyword to search for our area of interest. Select a specific location from the results list. Scroll down to view all locations for your search. Let’s select Wyndham Local Government Area. Once a selection has been made, a map of the chosen area appears. Check it is the wanted area. If it is, click on ‘View Community Profiles’. Depending on the area you select, there may be up to 6 types of Community Profiles available: the Basic Community Profile, the Indigenous profile, Time Series profile, Place of Enumeration profile which refers to the location of respondents on Census night, the Expanded Community profile which provides more detailed data than the Basic Community profile, and the Working Population profile. Click on the Downloads tab to find the downloadable files for each profile. Open the profile you want to explore by clicking on the 'Free Download' link. You can choose to save the file to a specified location or simply ‘Open’ the file and save it later. The community profile will open in an Excel spreadsheet with a list of Tables. The tabs at the bottom provide links to further table topics, concepts and definition and individual tables. If you want to know more about this Census product, a separate tutorial on Community Profiles is available from the ABS suite of self-directed learning videos. \|Census Product - Census Tables\|\|This video demonstrates how to find detailed Census data for your area of interest and how to download a Census table.\| \|Key ABS Products for Teachers\| \|Australian Social Trends\|\|A description of some of the main features of the Australian Social Trends publication and where to find it on the ABS website.\| \|Measures of Australia's Progress\|\|How to find the Measures of Australia's Progress publication and a brief demonstration of key features.\| \|Yearbook Australia\|\|How to find the Yearbook Australia series and a brief demonstration of key features.\| \|Consumer Price Index\|\|How to find Consumer Price Index (CPI) on the website and a demonstration of how to access CPI education resources from the ABS Education pages.\| \|Key National Indicators\|\|How to find Key National Indicators on the ABS website and a demonstration of how to access source publications.\| \|National Accounts\|\|A demonstration of the National Accounts themes page and how to find quarterly and annual GDP data.\|
\| Bellingham, Wash. One night on Lummi Island we heard funny noises outside. We went out with a flashlight to look around. In a fir tree by the porch we saw six glowing eyes. They belonged to three raccoons. They were as interested in us as we were in them. They played around for a long time, and we enjoyed watching them. Mr. Eldred, our neighbor across the road, had trouble with raccoons getting into his vegetable garden. They especially like his corn. The trouble was they would take an ear of corn and just eat one or two bites of it and get another ear and do the same thing over and over again. If they had just taken one ear and eaten that, I don't think Mr. Eldred would have objected. This was just too much so he put out a trap to trap them alive. Then he could take them up to the mountain and release them there. They were too smart for him. He didn't catch any, so he tried putting out a radio that played all the time. That made them stop coming. Raccoons have yellow-black fur, black masklike markings across the eyes, and a long black-ringed tail. Their legs are short. Each foot has five toes, and the bottoms of their feet are bare. The small tracks, resembling a human hand in shape, may lead from a hollow tree into mischief. Raccoons are very active at night. They are playful and mischievous. Raccoons are also good swimmers. Raccoons kept as pets have learned to turn on faucets, open latches, turn knobs, and do other things that get them into trouble. They weigh about 20 pounds. They have two to seven babies at a time, born in the spring. If they are still around next summer, I would like to try making friends with them.
Wheat in Terry and Yoakum counties in Texas varies from good condition to very poor. Some acceptable stands were established where irrigation has been adequate and germination was not delayed by blowing sand. Wind storms in January did significant damage to many area fields, with some being disked under to prevent further damage from blowing sand. Now is a good time to evaluate potential weed control measures, nitrogen fertility requirements and insect/mite infestations in wheat being carried to grain. Winter wheat: weed control and fertilization Many winter weeds are still small and in the rosette stage of growth. This is the easiest time to manage these weeds. If these weeds are actively growing and not stressed, lower use rates of herbicides will be effective; whereas once winter weed species bolt (begin upright growth and flowering) they will require increased herbicide usage rates in order to manage them. Marestail, redstem filaree (storksbill) and various mustards (London rocket, tansy mustard, etc) abound in some fields. With the recent moisture, these weeds will bolt and grow rapidly. Many herbicides labeled for use in wheat will control these small weeds. Consider herbicides with some residual control, depending on your rotational plan for the field. A detailed listing of weed control options in wheat is available here: http://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/2011/10/weedguideforwheat08_1.pdf. Fertilization needs in winter wheat should also be evaluated at this time. Hopefully a soil test was collected and producers are following those recommendations. Approximately, one-third of one’s planned nitrogen should have been applied previously, a second third of that should be applied prior to jointing (stem elongation), which generally occurs approximately March 1 (however, jointing may occur up to two weeks earlier or later). I encourage you to evaluate the growth stage your fields are in. A guide to help identify wheat growth stages can be found here: http://lubbock.tamu.edu/files/2011/10/wheatgrowthstages_26.pdf Jointing describes the stage of growth where the wheat stems begin upright growth habit and is the initiation of the reproductive phase of growth. Nitrogen applied after jointing will have little impact on overall yield. As a general rule of thumb, if one did not have a soil test, 1.2 lbs of nitrogen per bushel of yield is generally considered adequate. As mentioned now is the time to apply the second third of one’s total nitrogen, with the last third to be applied later in the season. Irrigation of wheat is approaching a critical stage. While wheat has been growing vegetatively, it will soon begin stem elongation (jointing) and enter the reproductive growth phase. As the crop enters reproductive growth the water demand will increase rapidly. One should monitor soil moisture in order to keep pace with irrigation demand. Brown wheat mite presence has been reported from Mr. Monti VanDiver, Extension Agent- IPM, Parmer and Bailey Counties. Now would also be a good time to scout for mites and greenbugs. Once one notices yellowing in the field due to insects, damage has occurred.
Creating a safe Cayman. Protecting the things that matter. CyKids (Cayman Cyber Kids) is a new programme that takes on the hard issues surrounding cybersecurity and the way we keep our families safe. CyKids first priority is creating awareness on these topics such as the healthy use of devices, protecting your personal information and recognition of malicious and predatory behavior. As Cayman’s network continues to improve technology and connect the island, we have to work together as a community to educate and protect ourselves and our children. CyKids is also building a set of revolutionary new free tools available to anyone in our community that uses cutting-edge new technology in innovative new ways to prevent cyber attacks and protect our kids online. Our mobile phones don’t appear threatening but when we begin to dig into massive amounts of new research, hundreds of red flags begin to pop up. One by one, CyKids aims to address these individual risks and create real solutions, real resources, and real training to provide us with the safest, healthiest and happiest community possible. Here is an overview of some of our priorities: Responsible Social Media Balancing Life with Internet Many of us look back fondly at the “old days before the internet”. Nowadays we are constantly surrounded by new screens doing new things at a faster pace than ever dreamed; and it’s not all bad. Our kids have access to a seemingly bottomless source of information from all over the world with a single click. But how much is too much? New studies are looking at the physical impact that “device addiction” is creating in our lives. Kids today are spending upwards of 7.5 hours a day between their phones, tablets, game systems and television. This almost constant exposure has been proven to cause sleep imbalances, negative behavioral patterns, overstimulation of the nervous system and reduced physical activity. Left unchecked these symptoms can develop into real physical and psychological problems over time. CyKids is passionate about providing the right tools for parents to manage a healthy lifestyle in the age of information.
Pavement Design and Materials January 2008, ©2008 With innovations ranging from the advent of Superpave™, the data generated by the Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) project, to the recent release of the Mechanistic-Empirical pavement design guide developed under NCHRP Study 1-37A, the field of pavement engineering is experiencing significant development. Pavement Design and Materials is a practical reference for both students and practicing engineers that explores all the aspects of pavement engineering, including materials, analysis, design, evaluation, and economic analysis. Historically, numerous techniques have been applied by a multitude of jurisdictions dealing with roadway pavements. This book focuses on the best-established, currently applicable techniques available. Pavement Design and Materials offers complete coverage of: - The characterization of traffic input - The characterization of pavement bases/subgrades and aggregates - Asphalt binder and asphalt concrete characterization - Portland cement and concrete characterization - Analysis of flexible and rigid pavements - Pavement evaluation - Environmental effects on pavements - The design of flexible and rigid pavements - Pavement rehabilitation - Economic analysis of alternative pavement designs The coverage is accompanied by suggestions for software for implementing various analytical techniques described in these chapters. These tools are easily accessible through the book’s companion Web site, which is constantly updated to ensure that the reader finds the most up-to-date software available. 2. Pavement Traffic Loading. 3. Characterization of Pavement Subgrades and Bases. 5. Asphalt Materials. 6. Concrete Materials. 7. Flexible Pavement Analysis. 8. Rigid Pavement Analysis. 9. Pavement Evaluation. 10. Environmental Effects on Pavements. 11. Structural Design of Flexible Pavements. 12. Structural Design of Rigid Pavements. 13. Pavement Rehabilitation. 14. Economic Analysis of Pavement Project Alternatives. A.T. Papagiannakis, PHD, P.E., is the Chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio. E.A. Masad, PHD, P.E., is an Associate Professor at the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University. · Designed specifically for a two-semester, senior level elective sequence on pavement engineering, beginning with materials and finishing with design. · Offers state-of-the-art methods for evaluating existing pavements, including non-destructive methods. · Covers all major paving materials, both concrete and all bituminous (asphalt) materials including Superpave. · End-chapter problems and questions (with separate Instructor's Solutions Manual). · Companion web site offers a list of websites for obtaining pavement-related software and files related to the solved example problems in the book. Pavement Design and Materials (US $165.00) Total List Price: US $320.00 Discounted Price: US $240.00 (Save: US $80.00)
How many hairs usually grow out of one hair follicle or graft? March 12, 2018 \| By Dr. Sangay Bhutia (Hair Transplant Doctor in Delhi, NCR, India) Usually, one single graft or hair follicle may give rise to 1, 2, 3, or 4 hairs (on an average ~2.2 hairs) depending upon the number of hairs present in that graft. The growth of hair on a transplanted area depends upon the number of hair contained in the graft. For more information visit Hairnsenses, the best hair transplant clinic in Delhi.
By Jannine Myers A couple of years ago, when I attended the RRCA Coaching Clinic in Portland, Oregon, one of the questions asked by our instructor was, “How many of you think that the marathon challenge includes both physical and mental strength?” Every hand in the classroom went up, and yet our instructor pointed out a valid observation. We all pay great attention, he said, to our physical training, but very few of us give any thought to psychological training. This is not a write-up about how to develop mental strength, but it will hopefully provide some useful tips to help you mentally prepare on race day: Self-Control is key to a strong performance. Learning to control your thoughts and emotions is difficult, especially if you’re like me and tend to allow negative (nervous) energy to start surfacing during the days leading up to your race. In our coaching class, we were taught that there are several aspects of being able to perform well under a variety of stress-producing circumstances: - being able to accept criticism - not being afraid to fail - maintaining composure under stress - being able to perform to your full potential during competition In order to do these things you need to be able to: - control and channel your emotions - focus your concentration - bounce back from setbacks - deal with negative thoughts Ideally, you want to be able to run with the attitude of an optimist! An optimist will encounter any problems on race day with the view that they can rise above them, rather than be overcome by them. In other words, learn how to turn the obstacles into challenges, or in the words of our instructors, “You can be a winner, or you can be a whiner!” Furthermore, the greatest potential for a best performance takes place in an atmosphere of positive energy. Top performances by successful athletes are often thought to have occurred because the athletes have performed in the zone. The zone is described as a state of mind where an athlete is able to feel completely relaxed and highly motivated. Check out the following characteristics of being in the zone: - Relaxed – your mind is calm and your body is ready to go. - Confident – you don’t let a lapse in performance undermine your belief in your overall abilities; there is no fear because you have done the training and know that you’re capable. - Completely focused – you are oblivious to everything else going on around you, consumed by the moment. - Effortless – your mind and body work together perfectly, making even the most grueling and demanding task seem achievable. - Automatic – there is no interference from your thoughts or emotions; if you think less you will achieve more. - FUN – you feel a great sense of enjoyment! - In control – you feel that you are in control of your emotions; your emotions do not control you! I hope these final tips help to calm your nerves a little and perhaps even lead you to a great performance. But just remember, no matter who crosses the line ahead of you or behind you, you are ALL winners!
The increase of fast food consumption and out of control portion sizes are a player in the increase of animal protein intake. Producing the savory, juicy steaks and pork chops that many people crave requires a lot of animals raised on huge, unsustainable amounts of plant protein. But what would happen if, instead of giving so much of it to animals as feed, we ate the plant protein ourselves? Food scientists are working to make this Earth-friendlier option a palatable reality, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society. Melody M. Bomgardner, a senior editor at C&EN, notes that we need protein, which our bodies break down into essential amino acids, to maintain good health. Low-carb diets and research showing the benefits of protein have boosted the trendiness of this macronutrient. As a result, on average Americans consume more protein than they need. And raising livestock, the major source of dietary protein in the U.S., puts a tremendous strain… View original post 101 more words
The SR-71, unofficially known as the “Blackbird,” is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft. The first flight of an SR-71 took place on December 22, 1964, and the airplane entered service in January 1966. The U.S. Air Force retired its fleet of SR-71s in 1990 because of a decreasing defense budget and high costs of operation. Throughout its nearly 24-year career, the SR-71 remained the world's fastest and highest-flying operational aircraft. Source/ more information: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Photographer Lyle Jansma started creating 360º views of cockpits in 2005, and has documented historic aircraft in several collections, including the Heritage Flight Museum, Museum of Flight, Erickson Aircraft Collection, Evergreen Air & Space Museum, and the National Museum of the Air Force. A full set of his cockpit views is available on the ACI Cockpit360º App for iOS and Android. Keep visiting this site (airspacemag.com/cockpits) as we add to the gallery below.
Compiled by Michael Taylor, 2015 The nineteenth century gave us the wonders of the Industrial Revolution, but also ugly urban landscapes and soulless mechanization. By the end of the century, designers such as William Morris, Eugene Grasset, and Alphonse Mucha were going “back to nature” and creating elegant handcrafted books, artwork, and other decorative objects that wove science with whimsy and brought the beauty of natural forms back into people’s homes. The LSU Libraries’ rare book collections, especially the Laughlin Collection, have a good sampling of book design from this period, providing material for research, instruction, and creative projects. For notable examples of book design from the Arts and Crafts movement, see: Major works on Art Nouveau design that are works of art in their own right include: Outstanding examples of Art Nouveau book design include: For examples of Art Nouveau book bindings, see... Unique / Handmade Bindings: - Catulle Mendès, Hésperus. Original Art Nouveau binding by Salvatore David, 1905. - Charles Nodier, La Legende de Soeur Beatrix. Original Art Nouveau binding by Georges Canape, 1903. - Gyp, Féminies: huit chapitres inédits dévoués à la femme, à l'amour, à la beauté (1896). Binding by Petrus Ruban, 1896. - Anatole France, Clio (1900). Illustrations by Alphonse Mucha. Original binding by unidentified binder, 1900? - Catulle Mendès, Lila et Colette (1885). Binding by Tout (England) with floral endpapers. - Poems by John Keats (1890). Original binding by Riviere & Son, after 1890. - The Poetical Works of John Keats (1862). Original floral Kelliegram binding, ca. 1900. - See also: Alastair Duncan, Art Nouveau and Art Deco Bookbinding: French Masterpieces, 1880-1940. (Middleton Library) Trade / Publishers’ Bindings: Other items of interest: - Le Japon Artistique (1888-91). Journal on Japanese art. Influenced Art Nouveau and Impressionism. - Ver Sacrum (1898-99). Journal of the Vienna Secession. - Die Jugend (1896). Munich magazine of the German Art Nouveau movement (Jugendstil). - Julius Klinger, La ligne grotesque (1907?). A collection of cards with a mirror that can be positioned and moved to create abstract designs.
With Wilhelmina’s marriage to Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 7 February 1901, she and her mother both fervently prayed for healthy children to continue their line. Tragically, Wilhelmina would go on to suffer five miscarriages and only one healthy child was born to Wilhelmina and Henry. At the end of August 1901, the first signs of pregnancy were showing, and Queen Wilhelmina wrote to her mother, “Don’t be frightened when you read in the papers tomorrow that I had to keep to my bed due to stomach issues. You cannot tell anyone, anyone, the true reason, please. I am still very uncertain.”1 It turned out to be a false alarm. But she was a lot more certain a few months later. She reported to her mother in early November, “Now the newspapers are reporting that I am unwell, very interesting.”2 Just a week later, Wilhelmina suffered her first miscarriage. No clear cause could be identified, and both Henry and Emma rushed to be by Wilhelmina’s side. Doctors informed Wilhelmina that she should rest for at least four weeks but that there was no reason to fear that she would not become pregnant again. Nevertheless, Wilhelmina was racked with guilt. She wrote to her mother, “You don’t know how sorry I was to have hurt you, you don’t know, and I think I am very, very ugly. It was all my own evil fault. I won’t write about it any more, loopholes and ‘buts’ won’t make it any better. I just wanted to say that it really messed with my head. Really, little mother, I am saddened by it.”3 Although Queen Wilhelmina made a full recovery, Christmas at court was quite austere that year. The following year, Wilhelmina fell ill with typhoid fever and shortly after that, on 4 May 1902, gave birth to a premature stillborn son. On 23 July 1906, a third miscarriage followed. A fourth pregnancy ended in the birth of the future Queen Juliana on 30 April 1909. A fourth miscarriage followed on 23 January 1912. A fifth and final miscarriage took place on 20 October 1912. The cause of the miscarriages has not been identified, and we’ll probably never know for sure.
The "sleeping dragon" of climate change, an area in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, will have a bigger impact on global warming than previously believed, researchers have warned. Using a new research technique, scientists at UCLA have reconstructed the 1,000 year temperature history of the region to establish what role it has on climate around the globe. Published in Nature Geoscience, the team found that temperatures in the region near Indonesia have changed by between four and five degrees Celsius over the millennium, more than most models estimate. The team also looked at how much ocean temperature affect tropical glaciers in the nearby archipelagos of Borneo and Papua New Guinea. Findings showed the whole region is extremely sensitive to climate change and has warmed considerably since the last ice age 20,000 years ago. Lead author Aradhna Tripati said: "The tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere system has been called a sleeping dragon because of how it can influence climate elsewhere. Most global climate models underestimate the average temperature variations that the region has experienced." "Throughout the region, [glaciers] have retreated by close to a kilometre since the last ice age, and are predicted to disappear in the next one to three decades." Lead author Aradhna Tripati The researchers looked specifically at this area because it is Earth's warmest open ocean region, so temperature changes there can influence climate globally. Examining the calcium carbonate shells of marine plankton for differences in the amounts of carbon-13 and oxygen-18, which show changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide, the team found temperature increase of up to 5C, more than most models previously estimated. Looking at glaciers in the region, the team found a process called entrainment, which involves atmospheric mixing, had not been factored into models before. "We found that the large amount of ocean warming goes a long way to explaining why glaciers have retreated so much," Tripati said. "Throughout the region, they have retreated by close to a kilometre since the last ice age, and are predicted to disappear in the next one to three decades. Previously, understanding this large-scale glacial retreat has been a puzzle. Our results help resolve this problem." Concluding, the researchers say that sensitivity of the western tropical Pacific Ocean to ocean temperatures must be factored into scientific models to predict future climate change.
Want to introduce young people to the world of engineering? This is a great place to start - there's even a book from acclaimed children's author Oliver Jeffers in the mix. For as long as we have problems to solve in society, we’ll need engineers. So it’s crucial that we inspire the next generation to be curious about the world around them, and the role they can play in it. Explaining this to a child may seem like a daunting ask but, thankfully, there are many books aimed at young people doing exactly this in a fun and inspiring way. One engineer found that children can learn a lot about engineering indirectly by examining the intricate paper mechanisms of pop-up books: We have learned a lot about engineering indirectly through excellent pop up books with intricate paper mechanisms.— Claire Lucas (@profclairelucas) July 28, 2021 But, for more help on planting the seed of engineering in the minds of children, here are some great reads. 1. Lift-the-Flap Engineering Written by Rose Hall, illustrated by Lee Cosgrove In our experience, you can’t go wrong with Usborne, and which child doesn’t love to see what’s hiding under a book flap? Lift-the-Flap Engineering is aimed at children aged seven years upwards, but we can’t see why a (careful!) younger child couldn’t have a go with this one. 2. How Was That Built? The stories behind awesome structures Written by Roma Agrawal,illustrated by Katie Hickey Following the success of her book for adults, Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures, Roma the Engineer will be releasing a book for children in September. Roma Agrawal, the award-winning structural engineer who worked on The Shard in London, takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of some of the world’s most amazing landmarks, such as Brooklyn Bridge in the US, the Pantheon in Italy, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the Sapporo Dome in Japan. It features detailed illustrations by Katie Hickey, showing cross-sections of buildings, skylines and close-ups of engineering techniques in action. The book also includes ‘Try it at Home’ sections, which encourage kids to try out their own engineering experiments to learn about the impact of different forces and materials on a structure. 3.Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines Written by Alom Shaha, illustrated by Emily Robertson Written by science teacher Alom Shaha, Mr Shaha’s Marvellous Machines contains simple instructions for ‘building toys which fly, spin, whizz, and pop’. The book provides step-by-step instructions for making 17 'machines' using scrap materials, which enables them to learn to recycle and reuse materials (without mentioning net zero carbon!), while learning about engineering and science. For anyone who can’t get hold of the book, you can access some videos of related projects on the author’s website for free. 4. Rosie Revere, Engineer Written by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts This beautifully-illustrated book often crops up in recommended reading lists, and it’s easy to see why. It’s about a girl, Rosie Revere, who dreams of becoming a great engineer. She secretly makes amazing inventions out of items that have been thrown away, which she hides under her bed for fear of failure. But with the help of her great-great-aunt Rose, she learns to celebrate her creations in all their forms. 5. The Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words Written and illustrated by Randall Munroe For children who like to ask ‘why?’. Author Randall Munroe explains complex ‘things’ using only drawings and a vocabulary of just 1,000 of the most common words in English. The man who created the comic xkcd covers everyday things from bridges (“very tall roads”) to tectonic plates (“big flat rocks we live on”) in Thing Explainer, all in a funny, interesting and easy-to-understand way. 6. Get Kids Into Survey A time-splitting adventure that explores a future without geo surveyors, this comic aims to inspire future geo spatial experts. It follows a gang of four, Maddison, Miles, Setsuko and Kwame, in a world on the brink of chaos because geo surveyors are being wiped out. Who knew surveying could be so exciting! 7. Over the Moon: The Novelization Written by Wendy Wan-Long Shang, illustrated by Netflix Based on the Netflix animated film Over the Moon, the book retells the story with original concept art. Over the Moon is about a smart young girl called Fei Fei, who uses her passion for science – and lots of trial and error - to build a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of a goddess who lives there. Cue the adventure of a lifetime! 8. My Mummy is an Engineer Written by Kerrine Bryan and Jason Bryan, illustrated by Marissa Peguinho Author Kerrine Bryan, an electrical engineer, tells us: “I wrote the book as a way to address biases and misconceptions about engineering, a career I thoroughly enjoy, and believe many others would too if they knew what it really involved.” My Mummy is an Engineer covers a range of engineering fields, including civil and mechanical, and follows ‘Mummy’ on her adventures as an engineer working with her team in the office to visiting a construction site. 9. When I Grow Up Written by Richard Smith, illustrated by Stuart Hinchliff Construction firm NMCN produced the free book, When I Grow Up, to inspire young people to consider careers in the construction industry. The children’s story book takes readers on the journey of twins Harry and Amy, who are thinking about their future jobs as part of their school careers day competition. The story covers a range of engineering activities that demonstrate how the work of the construction industry helps makes many other roles possible. 10. The Lions of Britannia Bridge Written by FJ Beerling, illustrated by Lucy Gilbert This book from Menai Heritage celebrates Robert Stephenson’s famous Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait in Wales. It follows a puzzle-loving girl, Uarda, who wants to become an engineer. To inspire her, her dad takes her to the Menai Strait, where she gets a surprise and makes a friend. 11. What We’ll Build: plans for Our Together Future Written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers "Let's build a tunnel to anywhere, let's build a road up to the moon. Let's build a comfy place to rest, for we'll be tired soon." In the same way that civil engineering provides tangible solutions to intangible problems, this offering from acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator Oliver Jeffers plays on the metaphorical meaning of ‘building’. A story about a parent’s boundless love, What We’ll Build uses examples of structures to illustrate how a father and daughter lay the foundations of their life together.
Background Childhood mortality is a well-known public health issue, particularly in the low and middle income countries. The overarching aim of this study was to examine whether neighbourhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with childhood mortality beyond individual-level measures of socioeconomic status in Nigeria. Methods Multilevel logistic regression models were applied to data on 31 482 under-five children whether alive or dead (level 1) nested within 896 neighbourhoods (level 2) from the 37 states in Nigeria (level 3) using the most recent 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). Results More than 1 of every 10 children studied had died before reaching the age of 5 years (130/1000 live births). The following factors independently increased the odds of childhood mortality: male sex, mother's age at 15–24 years, uneducated mother or low maternal education attainment, decreasing household wealth index at individual level (level 1), residing in rural area and neighbourhoods with high poverty rate at level 2. There were significant neighbourhoods and states clustering in childhood mortality in Nigeria. Conclusions The study provides evidence that individual-level and neighbourhood-level socioeconomic conditions are important correlates of childhood mortality in Nigeria. The findings of this study also highlight the need to implement public health prevention strategies at the individual level, as well as at the area/neighbourhood level. These strategies include the establishment of an effective publicly funded healthcare system, as well as health education and poverty alleviation programmes. - MULTILEVEL MODELLING - DEVELOPING COUNTR - SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGY Statistics from Altmetric.com If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.
It can be overwhelming to be asked to make health care decisions for someone who is dying and no longer able to make his or her own decisions. It is even more difficult if you do not have written or even verbal guidance. How do you decide what type of care is right for someone? Even when you have written documents, some decisions still might not be clear. Two approaches might be useful. One is to put yourself in the place of the person who is dying and try to choose as he or she would. That is called substituted judgment. Some experts believe that decisions should be based on substituted judgment whenever possible, but decision-makers sometimes combine that with another method. The other approach, known as best interests, is to decide what would be best for the dying person. If you are making decisions for someone at the end of life and trying to use one of these approaches, it may be helpful to think about the following: Has the dying person ever talked about what he or she would want at the end of life? Has he or she expressed an opinion about how someone else was being treated? What were his or her values in life? What gave meaning to life? Maybe it was being close to family—watching them grow and making memories together. Perhaps just being alive was the most important thing. As a decision-maker without specific guidance from the dying person, you need as much information as possible on which to base your actions. You might ask the doctor: What can we expect to happen in the next few hours, days, or weeks? Why is this new test being suggested? Will it change the current treatment plan? Will a new treatment help my relative get better? How would the new treatment change his or her quality of life? Will it give more quality time with family and friends? How long will this treatment take to make a difference? If we choose to try this treatment, can we stop it at any time? For any reason? What are the side effects of the approach you are suggesting? If we try this new treatment and it doesn’t work, what then? If we don’t try this treatment, what will happen? Is the improvement we saw today an overall positive sign or just something temporary? It is a good idea to have someone with you when discussing these issues with medical staff. Having someone take notes or remember details can be very useful during this emotional time. If you are unclear about something you are told, don’t be afraid to ask the doctor or nurse to repeat it or to say it another way that does make sense to you. Do not be reluctant to keep asking questions until you have all the information you need to make decisions. Make sure you know how to contact a member of the medical team if you have a question or if the dying person needs something. You may want to get pager numbers, email, or cell phone numbers. Sometimes the whole family wants to be involved in every decision. Maybe that is the family’s cultural tradition. Or, maybe the person dying did not pick one person to make health care choices before becoming unable to do so. That is not unusual, but it is probably a good idea to choose one person to be the spokesperson and the contact person when dealing with medical staff. The doctor and nurses will appreciate answering questions from only one person. Even if one family member is named as the decision-maker, it is a good idea, as much as possible, to have family agreement about the care plan. If you can’t agree on a care plan, a decision-maker, or even a spokesperson, the family might need to hire a mediator, someone trained to bring people with different opinions to a common decision. In any case, as soon as possible after the doctor says the patient is dying, the family should try to discuss with the medical team what approach to end-of-life care they want for their family member. That way, decision making for crucial situations can be planned and does not have to be done quickly. ISSUES YOU MAY FACE Maybe you are now faced with making end-of-life choices for someone close to you. You’ve thought about that person’s values and opinions, and you’ve asked the health care team to explain the treatment plan and what you can expect to happen. But there are other issues that you need to understand in case they arise. What if the dying person starts to have trouble breathing and a doctor says a ventilator might be needed? Maybe one family member wants the health care team to “do everything” to keep this relative alive. What does that involve? Or, what if family members can’t agree on end-of-life care, or they disagree with the doctor? What happens then? Here are some common end-of-life issues like those—they will give you a general understanding and may help in your conversations with the doctors. If we say “do everything,” what does that mean? This means that if someone is dying, all measures that might keep vital organs working will be tried—for example, using a machine to help with breathing (ventilator) or starting dialysis for failing kidneys. Such life support can sometimes be a temporary measure that allows the body to heal itself and begin to work normally again. It is not intended to be used indefinitely in someone who is dying. “Doing everything” does not include medical treatments intended to cure a medical condition, such as surgery or chemotherapy. What can be done if someone’s heart stops beating (cardiac arrest)? CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) can sometimes restart a stopped heart. It is most effective in people who were generally healthy before their heart stopped. In CPR, the doctor repeatedly pushes on the chest with great force and periodically puts air into the lungs. Electric shocks (called defibrillation) may also be used to restart the heart, and some medicines might also be given. Although not usually shown on television, the force required for CPR can cause broken ribs or a collapsed lung. Often, CPR does not succeed, especially in an elderly person who is already failing. What if someone needs help breathing or completely stops breathing (respiratory arrest)? Sometimes doctors suggest using a ventilator (a respirator or breathing machine)—the machine forces the lungs to work. Initially, this involves intubation, putting a tube attached to a ventilator down the throat into the trachea or windpipe. Because this tube can be quite uncomfortable, people are often sedated. If the person needs ventilator support for more than a few days, the doctor will probably suggest a tracheotomy, sometimes called a “trach”. This tube is then attached to the ventilator. This is more comfortable than a tube down the throat and may not require sedation. Inserting the tube into the trachea is a bedside surgery. A tracheotomy can carry risks, including collapsed lung, plugged tracheotomy tube, or bleeding. How can I be sure the medical staff knows that we don’t want efforts to restore a heart beat or breathing? As soon as the decision that medical staff should not do CPR or other life-support procedures is made by the patient or the person making health care decisions, the doctor-in-charge should be told of this choice. The doctor will then write this on the patient’s chart using terms such as DNR (Do Not Resuscitate), DNAR (Do Not Attempt to Resuscitate), or DNI (Do Not Intubate). If end-of-life care is given at home, a special “non-hospital DNR,” signed by a doctor, is needed. This ensures that if emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are called to the house, they will respect your wishes. Without a non-hospital DNR, in many places EMTs are required to perform CPR and similar techniques when called to a home. Hospice staff can help determine whether a medical condition is part of the normal dying process or something that needs the attention of EMTs. DNR orders do not stop all treatment. They only mean that CPR and a ventilator will not be used. These orders are not permanent—they can be changed if the situation changes. What about pacemakers (or similar devices)—should they be turned off? A pacemaker is a device implanted under the skin on the chest that keeps a heartbeat regular. It will not keep a dying person alive. Some people have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) under the skin. This is a pacemaker that also shocks the heart back into regular beats when needed. The ICD should be turned off at the point when life support is no longer wanted. This can be done without surgery. What if the doctor suggests a feeding tube? If a patient can’t or won’t eat or drink, even when spoon fed, the doctor might suggest a feeding tube. While recovering from an illness, a feeding tube can be helpful. But at the end of life, a feeding tube might cause more discomfort than not eating. As death approaches, loss of appetite is common. Body systems start shutting down, and fluids and food are not needed as before. Some experts believe that at this point few nutrients are absorbed from any type of nutrition, including that received through a feeding tube. If tube feeding is going to be tried, there are two methods that can be used. In the first, a feeding tube, known as a nasogastric or NG tube, is threaded through the nose down to the stomach to give nutrition for a short time. Sometimes the tube is uncomfortable. If so, the doctor might try a smaller, child-sized tube. Someone with an NG tube might try to remove it. This usually means the person has to be restrained, which could mean binding his or her hands to the bed. If tube feeding is required for an extended time, then a gastric or G tube is put directly into the stomach through an opening made in the side or abdomen. This second method is also called a PEG tube for percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube. These carry risks of infection, pneumonia, and nausea. Some people try tube feeding for a short time to see if it makes a difference, while keeping open the option of removing the tube if there is no improvement. Talk to the doctor about how the feeding tube could help and how long it makes sense to try it. Refusing food might be a conscious decision—a part of the dying person’s understanding that death is near. The decision-maker should think carefully about doing something that might be against the dying person’s wishes. Should someone dying be sedated? Sometimes very near the end of life, the doctor might suggest sedation to manage symptoms that are not responding to treatment and still make the patient uncomfortable. This means using medicines to put the patient in a sleep-like state. Sedation doesn’t cause a person to die more quickly. Many doctors suggest continuing to use comfort care measures like pain medicine even if the dying person is sedated. Sedatives can be stopped at any time. A person who is sedated may still be able to hear what you are saying—so try to keep speaking directly to, not about, him or her. Do not say things you would not want the patient to hear. What about antibiotics? Antibiotics are medicines that fight infections caused by bacteria. Lower respiratory infections, such as pneumonia, are often caused by bacteria and are common in older people who are dying. If someone is already dying when the infection began, giving antibiotics is probably not going to prevent death but might make the person feel more comfortable. Is refusing treatment legal? Choosing to stop treatment that is not curing or controlling an illness or deciding not to start a new treatment is completely legal—whether the choice is made by someone who is dying or by the one making health care decisions. Some people think this is like allowing death to happen. The law does not consider refusing such treatment to be either suicide or euthanasia, sometimes called “mercy killing.” What happens if the doctor and I have different opinions about care for someone who is dying? Sometimes medical staff, the patient, and family members disagree about a medical care decision. This can especially be a problem when the dying person can’t tell the doctors what kind of end-of-life care he or she wants. For example, the family might want more active treatment, like chemotherapy, than the doctors think will be helpful. If there is an advance directive explaining the patient’s preferences, those guidelines should determine care. Without the guidance of an advance directive, if there is disagreement about medical care, it may be necessary to get a second opinion from a different doctor or to consult the ethics committee or patient representative, also known as an ombudsman, of the hospital or facility. An arbitrator can sometimes assist people with different views to agree on a plan. The doctor does not seem familiar with our family’s views about dying. What should we do? America is a rich melting pot of religions, races, and cultures. Ingrained in each tradition are expectations about what should happen as a life nears its end. It is important for everyone involved in a patient’s care to understand how each family background may alter expectations, needs, and choices. You may come from a different background than the doctor you are working with. You might be used to a different approach to talking about what is happening or making health care decisions at the end of life than the medical staff is. For example, many health care providers look to a single person—the dying person or his or her chosen representative—for important health care decisions at the end of life. But, in some cultures the entire immediate family takes on that role, something American doctors might not expect. It is helpful to discuss your personal and family traditions with your doctors and nurses. Don’t be reluctant to say what you want. Each person—each family—is entitled to the end-of-life care that best matches their beliefs and rituals. Make sure you understand how the available medical options presented by the health care team fit into your family’s desires for end-of-life care. If there are religious or cultural customs surrounding death that are important to you, tell the health care providers with whom you are working. Knowing that these practices will be honored could ease the dying person. Telling the medical staff ahead of time may also help avoid confusion and misunderstanding when death occurs.
July 10th, 2019 What is Phantom Pain? Understanding it will help you better prepare for any symptoms or support your loved ones on their post-amputation journey. Phantom pain is a term used to describe sensations felt by amputees, which may include: burning, tingling, itching, cramping, “pins-and-needles” sensation, stabbing pain, pressure or limb feeling swollen. These sensations can be similar to what a non-amputee feels when his/her foot “falls asleep.” New amputees tend to have frequent and intense sensations several times a day, often for a few hours at a time. As time passes, sensations will generally become less frequent and less intense, and bouts of pain will last for a shorter period of time. Usually phantom pain and sensations will resolve over time, but some amputees may always have some sensations. Phantom Pain can flare up due to stimulation or pressure on the residual limb, back pain, illness, changes in weather, stress, and inactivity. The good news is, Phantom Pain is indeed treatable. The best way to prevent the Phantom Pain is to desensitize the residual limb. Desensitization is important after amputation because eventually, when the prosthesis is fitted, the residual limb will be subjected to forces it was never intended to cope with. Desensitization develops tolerance for the residual limb, and also decreases Phantom Pain symptoms. Wait until your doctor gives permission to begin desensitizing the residual limb. Start with light tapping and touching, and slowly increase pressure as tolerance increases. Next, move on to exposing the residual limb with other materials, such as cotton balls, paper towels, or brushes. Try to do this for 15 to 20 minutes, three times a day, until desensitization is fully achieved. In addition, the use of prosthetic shrinkers can assist with residual limb desensitization. Wearing shrinkers will prepare the residual limb for future prosthetic interventions by reducing scarring and contouring the residual limb for a better prosthetic fit. Numerous studies have supported the benefits of application of gradual compression garments to reduce Phantom Pains. Your doctor will provide you with shrinkers and instructions for best use. While the experience of Phantom Pain can be difficult and confusing for amputees, we hope this information can assist you or your loved one during the recovery process. We are here for you, every step of the way.
Serious Glossary - Lighting Terms Explained If you're not sure what a particular lighting term is - Serious related or otherwise, our lighting glossary will explain. AMD may make your central vision distorted or blurry and, over a period of time, it may cause a blank patch at the centre of what you can see. The High Definition range has been designed specifically with AMD in mind and the light engines project lower than normal levels of the light wavelengths that are unhelpful when you have this condition. Cataracts are a very common eye condition. As we get older the lens inside our eye gradually changes and becomes less transparent (clear). A lens that has turned misty, or cloudy, is said to have a cataract Projecting a strong quality light onto your reading means that much more light makes it through to the retina so you can see more clearly. Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye conditions which cause optic nerve damage and which can affect your vision. Any damage to the optic nerve at the point where it leaves your eye will have a negative effect on the clarity of your view. The amount of light hitting a solid surface from a set distance. A more accurate measure of light output for directional lights than lumens. All our latest lights project a colour temperature i.e the “whiteness” of light as it appears to the naked eye deliberately set at 3,500 Kelvin, which tests have shown to be the optimum level for seeing detail. All our lights, including the LED models have replaceable bulbs and are supplied with one fitted as standard. A measure of light output - the amount of light emitted per watt of energy used. Not accurate for directional lights. CRI (colour rendering index) is a measure of the light source’s ability to render the colours of objects in comparison with true daylight (the sun). Our High Definition is the closest light in our range to natural daylight with a CRI of 99%. This is a low voltage bespoke patented bulb that deliberately mirrors the spectral power distribution of natural light. It is only available in the High Definition Range, draws 35w of power, and is unrivalled in its impact on seeing colour and detail. Strictly speaking LEDs are light engines not bulbs and with the recent advances in LED technology this is the preferred light source for most people with our Alex and Classic models. As well as providing a very high quality of light and being very energy efficient, the LED light engines also have the added benefits of running cool to the touch and lasting for many years. The best reading light we offer. The High Definition light is designed to give the most clarity and superb colour rendition. Fantastic for reading, but also for other hobbies such as artwork, needlework and music. Recommended for those with eye conditions. Our mid-range light, the Alex projects an intense light beam and utilises the latest energy efficient LED technology. Cool to the touch, you can see small print and colours, using just 5w of energy. Our entry level model, the Classic offers a narrow, focused beam suitable for reading smaller books. Now superseded by more powerful models, the Classic is now mostly utilised for bedside reading. The Varifocus incorporates the latest adjustable LED beam-width and intensity technology which means you can easily spread the beam wide or concentrate it narrowly onto a smaller area. Serious Lighting Terms A diffuser is a small frosted glass lens that is placed in front of the bulb resting in the shade of the light. The diffuser increases the spread of light on compatible lights from 18 inches to 30 inches (from a distance of 50cm), while barely diminishing the intensity of the light. A real wood carry handle adds a unique touch to our heavyweight floor lights. The dimmer allows you to adjust the light output to suit your eyes and needs, for example, it helps to reduce glare when reading glossy magazines. On some occasions, depending on ambient lighting and how tired your eyes are, you might need your light at full brightness and at other times not so bright. The deliberately heavyweight base ensures your light is planted firmly on the floor. Built to robust industrial standards, it plants itself firmly for single-hand operation. The lightweight base is designed with a contemporary chic look, and designed to be easier to move and bend. Perfect for limited spaces on the floor, the thin base also slips easily and neatly under low furniture.
Steles like these were clearly related to the more personal aspects of people’s lives, but since they stood in public places, they were also designed to impress passersby. The deceased is probably the seated woman, who holds the hand of one of her relatives. One man rests his chin on his hand, a gesture symbolizing mourning. Chronicles of the Land, Archaeology in the Israel Museum Jerusalem, Dayagi-Mendels Michal, and Rozenberg, Silvia (eds.), The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 2010
The most common types of crane accidents are - when the crane makes contact with live power lines, - when equipment or the load strikes a worker, - when workers or operators fall from the crane, - when the crane tips over, and - when the boom or cable fails. The injuries sustained in these crane accidents are often fatal. Survivors often sustain traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and/or amputations.1 What are the most common causes of crane accidents? Crane accidents are relatively rare worksite incidents in the construction industry. Because crane accidents do not happen very often, it is difficult to compare the frequency of their cause. Moreover, many crane accidents are not reported to Without a full list of the accidents, it is impossible to accurately predict what is most likely to cause one. However, one study found that, of the 571 fatal crane accidents that happened between 2000 and 2009, the most common causes were: 2 \|Cause of crane accident\|\|Percentage of all fatal crane accidents between 2000 and 2009\| \|Worker struck or caught between equipment\|\|12.8%\| \|Worker struck by crane load\|\|12.6%\| \|Crane tipped over\|\|8.8%\| \|Worker crushed during assembly or disassembly\|\|7.2%\| \|Boom or cable failure\|\|6.3%\| \|Worker struck by an object other than the crane’s equipment or load\|\|5.8%\| Non-fatal crane accidents may have different causes. These incidents, however, are less likely to be reported to OSHA. Nevertheless, they often lead to serious injuries. If a crane’s boom or load line makes contact with a live electrical wire, the current can run through the equipment and anyone touching it, causing a potentially fatal electrocution. This is especially dangerous for the riggers who are holding on to a tagline. However, crane operators who try to leave their cab can also get electrocuted. Electrical shocks are most common when the crane is mobile. Mobile cranes are smaller and frequently used in tight settings where overhead power lines pose a threat. If the operator is not careful, they can swing the boom and hit one of these lines. Crane accidents often lead to fatal falls. This can happen in construction situations where the worker is high off the ground, usually securing steel beams for the upper floors of a building. If the worker is not safely harnessed or tied off and the crane jostles the beam they are on, workers can lose their balance and fall. Worker falls can also happen during the assembly or disassembly of tower cranes. Workers struck by crane equipment, load, or other object Crane accidents frequently involve workers getting hit by the crane’s equipment, the load being lifted, or by something else. Most of the victims in these cases are the crane’s riggers. Many of these accidents involve loads that are uneven or that have strange weight distributions. These loads require special precautions and rigging. If there is a rigging failure and one of these loads is not properly attached to the crane, it can fall on the workers, below. Other accidents happened when the crane operator moved the boom before the load was unhooked. This can pose a threat to all of the workers near the spot where the load was supposed to be detached. Cranes can also tip over. Overturning cranes pose a severe threat to both the crane’s operator and to the workers on the ground. Mobile cranes can tip and cause an accident if they are being used on uneven ground and the operator moves the crane. Especially if a load is attached, the weight of the crane can make any ground condition more significant and dangerous than it appears. The unstable ground can also give way with the weight of heavy loads or the crane’s counterweight. This can cause a crane collapse. Workers beneath the crane can suffer severe injuries if the crane falls on them. The crane operator is likely to be seriously hurt, as well, after falling from such a height. Assembly or disassembly of the crane Tower cranes that are assembled and disassembled on the job site also pose a threat to construction workers. At these stages of the construction project, workers are often climbing up and down the crane to bolt the crane parts into place. If a worker slips and is not adequately harnessed, they can fall off the crane. Failure of the boom or cable If the crane’s boom collapses or if its cables fail, the load can drop. In addition to the load, the boom or the cable itself can pose a danger to the workers and outriggers beneath the crane. If the load is heavy or if the hoist has pulled it high off the ground at the time of the failure, the injuries that these accidents produce can be fatal. Who can be held liable? There is a wide variety of people and parties who could be held liable for a crane accident injury. Which one is actually liable will depend on the specific details of the crane accident. Common parties who may be liable on negligence and/or product liability grounds include the: - construction company, - property owner or management company, - crane manufacturer, - crane operator and/or rigger (especially if they are not certified by a nationally-accredited crane operator testing organization), - maintenance worker responsible for inspecting or fixing the crane, or - construction project’s architect or engineer. In many crane accident cases, the cause was human error. Personal injury law allows victims to use vicarious liability to hold construction companies liable for their employee’s negligence on the job. This can happen if, for example, the worker: - is inexperienced using heavy equipment, - has not been adequately trained in crane safety and crane operation, - performs improper crane maintenance, or - fails to operate the crane competently. Victims may also be able to recover workers’ compensation for their injuries if they happened within the scope of work on the construction site. What damages can I get? If you were injured in a crane accident, you could be entitled to reimbursement for your: - medical bills, - lost wages, - loss of future earnings, and - pain and suffering (often the biggest expenses). If you are the spouse of someone injured by a crane, you can seek damages for loss of consortium. Or if your family member died in a crane accident, you can bring a wrongful death claim for funeral expenses as well. Just on April 26, 2023, a jury awarded the family of a victim killed by a 2019 crane collapse in Dallas, Texas, more than $860 million in damages. The majority of it was for mental anguish and loss of companionship.3 Contact an attorney A skilled crane accident lawyer from a reputable law firm can help. By establishing an attorney-client relationship with a lawyer, victims can pursue the compensation they need and deserve. - OSHA Cranes & Derricks in Construction - Center of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) – Cranes Fact Sheet - National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) - See, for example, Crane Collapse: Seventh body found: Seven dead, 24 injured in NYC crane collapse, ABC7 NY (March 18, 2008); Corey Charlton, Horrifying moment that mosque shakes seconds before crane collapse which killed 111 in Mecca disaster, Daily Mail ( ). - Zhao, “Cause Analysis of U.S. Crane-Related Accidents” (2011). Fatal Occupational Injuries Involving Cranes, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Texas Crane Accident Problems Persisted in 2021, Engineering News-Record. - Daniel Tyson, Dallas Jury Awards More Than $860M in Crane Collapse Case, ENR (April 27, 2023).
Date: October 23, 2013 Creator: Nelson, Rebecca M. Description: This report discusses the background of the G-20 (an international forum for discussing and coordinating economic policies) and some of the issues that it has addressed. It includes historic background on the work of the G-20, information about how the group operates, overviews of G-20 summits, major issues that the group is likely to address and the likely effectiveness of the G-20 in the near future. The members of the G-20 include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Contributing Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
10 Tips for Window Safety Keeping Your Home and Windows Safe from Accidents Whether you’re building a new home or renovating a cherished older home, there’s a lot to think about. What are the best types of windows to have in a home with small children? How often should family fire drills be held? What type of glass should you have in windows to help prevent noise penetration and discourage intruders? Some of the most important tips are included below. - Practice home safety drills regularly. Small children tend to “hide” from fire, so make sure children are familiar with escape routes and know how to move quickly out of the home. - For homes with bedrooms on second floors or higher, make sure safety escape chain ladders are under the bed in every room. Practice operating the window with older children and show them how to install chain ladders. (Keeping your windows clean will help them open and operate easier.) - Keep furniture (including cribs), or anything children can climb, away from windows. - If you live in an area prone to active children or potential crime, order windows and doors with laminated glass—at least for the first floor of the home. Two panes of glass are adhered to a durable plastic interlayer, much like a car windshield. So, if a stray baseball hits a window, the glass will shatter, but broken pieces remain adhered to the interlayer, preventing glass fallout inside the home. The plastic interlayer is also puncture-resistant, frustrating potential intruders. - Don’t lean against window screens. They are designed only to keep insects outside – they will not support the weight of a child or family pet. - Looking to protect your home from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays? Request Low E glass in your windows to reduce fading of carpets, furniture and window treatments due to the sun’s harsh rays. - When windows are opened for ventilation, only open windows that young children cannot reach. Simonton offers ventilation locks that allow the window to be partially opened for fresh air while remaining securely locked. - Opening second floor windows can present a greater risk to children and pets. In these areas of the home, consider Simonton Double Hung windows, which have top sash that open down while the bottom sash(closest to the floor) remain closed. - Before ordering replacement windows, make sure to examine the unit’s locking system and operations. Multi-point locks provide more protection against intruders and make it more difficult for curious young children to operate. - If you need to use window guards on the interior of your windows, make sure they are operable and can be easily removed. Practice detaching the guards with children in case they need to exit through a window in an emergency.
Date of this Version University students, particularly those enrolled in natural resources programs, make up one of the smallest, yet potentially most important and influential audiences for wildlife damage professionals. Considering that these students will be tomorrow's natural resources technicians, biologists, and administrators, I feel that it is critical that we provide them factual information about wildlife damage to increase their awareness of potential problems and solutions, and increase their ability to make well-informed decisions. An important aspect of education is accurate audience identification and association. This is not an easy task, however, as today's audience is collectively a moving target. Once primarily rural and agriculturally oriented, it is now increasingly urban. Although I teach in mid-America at one of the nations most prestigious agricultural colleges, 80 to 90% of the students in my wildlife damage courses have urban backgrounds. With this changing environment, individual attitudes have changed, which makes our efforts all the more challenging and essential. We can have an impact on attitudes about wildlife and wildlife damage management (Timm and Schemnitz 1988), but the use of different media and educational strategies will be required to get the message across. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources with a major in Fisheries and Wild life that is administered by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife (FFW). Three of the 7 fish and wildlife faculty (myself, R. M. Case, and R. J. Johnson) share an interest in wildlife damage management, and conduct associated teaching, research, and extension activities. The department was recognized as a national leader in wildlife damage management during a 1989 Cooperative State Research Service (CSRS) Review.
Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I i Abbreviations and acronyms Part One. Guidelines 1.3 Target audience 1.4 Development of guidelines 1.5 Evidence assessment 1.6 Strength of recommendations 2. Recommendations and rationales 2.1 HTC for adolescents 2.2 Adolescents living with HIV: disclosure, adherence 2.3 General service delivery recommendations Part Two. Operational considerations 1. Guiding principles for implementation 1.1 Voluntary testing 1.2 Heterogeneity of adolescents 1.3 Meaningful involvement of adolescents 1.4 HTC minimum standards: the 5 Cs 1.5 Gender issues 1.6 Human rights perspective 1.7 Developmental appropriateness 1.8 Supportive and conducive legal and policy environment 1.9 Legal protection 2. Programmatic experience and lessons learned 2.3 Community-based approaches 2.5 Other important considerations 3. Adapting the guidelines 4. Research gaps ii I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV Annexes available on the WHO web sites: Key terms and definitions PICO questions and references Systematic review: HTC for adolescents Systematic review: ALHIV: Disclosure, adherence and retention in care Annex 5. GRADE notation and language Annex 6. GRADE evidence profiles Annex 7. Evidence summaries and findings Annex 8. Decision-making tables Annex 9. Search strategies Annex 10. Values and preferences: HTC Annex 11. Values and preferences: treatment and care for ALHIV Annex 12. Literature review: Adolescent HIV testing and counselling Annex 13. Literature review: Adolescent ARV service delivery Annex 14. Lessons Learned: Strengthening health services and outcomes for adolescents living with HIV Annex 15. Adolescent consent to testing: A review of current policies in sub-Saharan African countries Annex 16. Implementation plan Annex 17. List of participants: Expert meeting for the development of guidelines on adolescents and HIV, Harare, Zimbabwe, Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I iii These guidelines were produced by the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of HIV/AIDS and Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health in collaboration with the Global Network of People living with HIV/ AIDS (GNP+), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). WHO would like to thank the many individuals who contributed to the development of this document. We wish to especially thank the co-chairs of the Guidelines Expert Group meeting, Sabrina Bakeera-Kitaka and Shaffiq Essajee, as well as the Guideline Development Group (listed below). Rachel Baggaley and Jane Ferguson were responsible for the overall technical coordination of the guidelines development, with the support of Gottfried Hirnschall, Elizabeth Mason and Susan Norris. The guidelines document was compiled by Mary Henderson and edited by Jura Editorial Services; additional technical input provided by Kathleen Fox, Jennifer Hinners, Omar Abdel Mannan, Elizabeth Marum, Katherine Noto, and Amitabh Suthar; Rosewiter Gwatiringa, Nadia Hilal and Claire Ory Scharer provided administrative and logistical support. Guidelines Development Group Academic / research Baylor University – Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative at Texas Children’s Hospital (BIPAI), USA – Edward Pettitt; Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Ibn Rochd, Maroc – Mehdi Karkouri; Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Einstein College of Medicine, USA – Donna Futterman; Instituto de Infectologia, Brazil – Marinella Della Negra; Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA – Bruce Dick; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Biomedical Research and Training Institute, Zimbabwe – Rashida Ferrand; Makerere University, Uganda – Sabrina BakeeraKitaka; Population Council, Kenya – Harriet Birungi; South Africa Medical Research Council and University of Cape Town Adolescent Health Research Unit, South Africa – Catherine Mathews; University College London / University of Zimbabwe – Frances Cowan; University of Malawi – Eric Umar; Witwatersrand University – Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Unit, South Africa – Henry John National programme managers Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, Zimbabwe – Gertrude Ncube; National Department of Health, Papua New Guinea – Nick Mawe Dala Programme implementers, civil society and community representatives Africaid, Zimbabwe – Nicola Jane Willis; Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), USA – Shaffiq Essajee; Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA), South Africa – Alice Armstrong; Fundación Huésped, Argentina – Mariana Vasquez; Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), Netherlands – Adam Garner; Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GYCA), Ghana – Sydney Tette Hushie; HIV/AIDS Alliance, India – Sonal Mehta; International Treatment Preparedness Coalition, Thailand – iv I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV Ed Attapon Ngoksin; Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network – Jaevion Nelson; John Snow Inc/AIDSTAR-ONE, USA – Andrew Fullem; Pathfinder International, USA – Gwyn Hainsworth; Save the Children, Asia Region – Scott McGill; TEMWA, Malawi – Tonderai Manoto; Youth RISE, United Kingdom – Anita Krug Human rights and law Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine – Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) – Jerome Singh US Agency for International Development (USAID) – Global Health Bureau, Office of HIV/AIDS – Vincent Wong UNESCO Headquarters – Dhianaraj Chetty; Regional Support Team for East and Southern Africa – Patricia Machawira UNFPA Headquarters – Mary Otieno; Regional Office, South Africa – Asha UNICEF Headquarters – Susan Kasedde, Luong Ly Nguyen, Pierre Robert; East Asia and Pacific Regional Office – Wing-Sie Cheng; East and Southern Africa Regional Office – Rick Olson; Zimbabwe Country Office – Judith Sherman Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Canada – Jessica Chan; University of California, San Francisco, USA – Ben Ancock, Andrew Anglemyer, Lisa M. Butler, Jane Drake, Tara Horvath (Team Leader), Gail E. Kennedy, Rose Phillips, Jay Rajan, Sarah Royce, George W. Rutherford, Nandi Siegfried, Brett Smith, Gavrilah Wells, Kristen Wendorf; University of Minnesota School of Public Health, USA – Alicen Spaulding; Vanderbilt University, USA – Mary Lou Lindegren University of California, San Francisco, USA – Lisa Butler, Nandi Siegfried Contributors – external to WHO Academic / research The Foundation for AIDS Research, USA – Kent Klindera; Fundacao Ariel Glaser, Mozambique – Paula Vaz; Gillings School Of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, USA – Audrey Pettifor; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK – David Ross; Nossal Institute for Global Health, Australia – Emma Brathwaite; Research Triangle Institute, Asia Region – David Stephens; Royal Tropical Institute, Netherlands – Anke van der Kwaak; Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heridia, Peru – Carlos Cáceres National programme managers Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre – Simon Pierre Niyonsenga Programme implementers, civil society and community representatives FHI 360 – Joy Cunningham; Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) – Georgina Caswell; International Planned Parenthood Federation – Doortje Braeken, Jon Hopkins; SONKE, South Africa – Remmy Shawa Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I v International financing institutions The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – Ade Fakoya US Agency for International Development (USAID) – Ann McCauley Other multilateral organizations UNAIDS Headquarters – Mikaela Hildebrand, Martina Brostrom, Jason Sigurdson UNICEF Headquarters – Rachel Yates; CEE/CIS Regional Office – Nina Ferencic; East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office – Bettina Schunter Contributors – internal to WHO Headquarters Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health – Jane Ferguson, Lulu Muhe; Department of HIV/AIDS – Rachel Baggaley, Raul Gonzalez-Montero, Gottfried Hirnschall, Eyerusalem Kebede Negussie, Julie Samuelson, Nathan Shaffer, Annette Verster, Marco Vitoria; Department of Reproductive Health and Research – Manjula Lusti-Narasimhan Regional Office for Africa Inter-country Support Team for East and Southern Africa – Teshome Woldehanna Desta, Buhle Ncube, Brian Pazvakavambwa Regional Office for the Americas – Matilde Maddelano, Freddy Perez Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean – Joumana Hermez Regional Office for Europe – Valentina Baltag, Lali Khotenashvili Regional Office for South-East Asia – Rajesh Mehta, Razia Pendse Regional Office for the Western Pacific – Zhao Pengfei vi I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV adolescent-friendly health services acquired immune deficiency syndrome adolescent/s living with HIV adolescent sexual and reproductive health U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continuous quality improvement Convention on the Rights of the Child directly administered antiretroviral therapy focus group discussion female genital mutilation Family Health International Global Network of People Living with HIV human immunodeficiency virus HIV testing and counselling injecting drug use low- and middle-income countries loss to follow-up maternal and child health maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health maternal, newborn and child health monitoring and evaluation men who have sex with men opioid substitution therapy President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief Problem / Intervention / Comparison / Outcome provider-initiated testing and counselling person/people living with HIV prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV people who inject drugs randomized controlled trial sexual and reproductive health sexually transmitted infection Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations Population Fund United Nations Children’s Fund United States Agency for International Development voluntary counselling and testing voluntary medical male circumcision World Health Organization youth-friendly health services Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I vii The funding to support this work – including the systematic reviews of evidence, evidence compilation, convening the expert meeting, development, editing, and printing of the draft guidelines – was provided by Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with additional budget support and staff time from the WHO Department of HIV/AIDS and the WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health. We would like to acknowledge the significant financial contribution from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) towards the systematic review and development of Declarations of interest by participants were assessed and found to be insufficient to exclude them from full participation. viii I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV Adolescents (10–19 years) and young people (20–24 years) continue to be vulnerable,1 both socially and economically, to HIV infection despite efforts to date (1). This is particularly true for adolescents—especially girls—who live in settings with a generalized HIV epidemic or who are members of key populations at higher risk for HIV acquisition or transmission through sexual transmission and injecting drug use. In 2012, there were approximately 2.1 million adolescents living with HIV (2). About one-seventh of all new HIV infections occur during adolescence (2). Access to and uptake of HIV counselling and testing (HTC) by adolescents is significantly lower than for adults. Survey data collected from sub-Saharan Africa indicate that only 10% of young men and 15% of young women (15–24 years) were aware of their HIV status. However, access and coverage vary considerably across countries and regions. Between 2005 and 2012, HIV-related deaths among adolescents increased by 50%, while the global number of HIV-related deaths fell by 30% (2). This increase in adolescent HIV-related deaths is due primarily to poor prioritization of adolescents in national HIV plans, inadequate provision of accessible and acceptable HTC and treatment services and lack of support for adolescents to remain in care and adhere to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Total adolescent AIDS-related deaths Total AIDS-related deaths 2 500 000 2 000 000 1 500 000 1 000 000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: Kasedde S et al (3). 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source : UNAIDS (2). 1 This document focuses on adolescents, ages 10–19 years. However, many programmes focus and report on youth, ages 15–24 years. Inconsistency in data collection often leads to overlapping age categories. This problem is compounded by different definitions of “child”, “adolescent”, “young person” and “young adult”. As a result data specific to adolescents often get lost, as the adolescent age group is subsumed in various different age Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I ix Purpose of the guidelines Guidance for HTC and on care for adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) is needed that explicitly considers the range of adolescents’ needs and issues. The World Health Organization (WHO), in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+), has developed these guidelines to provide specific recommendations and expert suggestions—for national policy-makers and programme managers and their partners and stakeholders—on prioritizing, planning and providing HIV testing, counselling, treatment and care services for Scope of the guidelines HIV testing and counselling Previous WHO guidance on HTC has concentrated on supporting provider-initiated HTC (PITC) for individuals, with recent guidance issued in 2011 focusing on HTC for couples and in 2013 on augmenting this approaches with community-based HTC. United Nations guidance specifically addressing the needs of adolescents and their health-care providers has not been developed at the global level, although some countries and organizations (e.g. FHI 360, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and amfAR) have developed guidance for testing young people ages 10–24 years. Access to and uptake of HTC by adolescents (especially those who are members of key populations) is lower than for many other groups, leaving them disadvantaged in terms of seeking and being linked to HIV prevention, treatment and care services. Late diagnosis of HIV infection, resulting in delayed initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), for perinatally infected adolescents is increasingly being recognized as a significant problem. Care for adolescents living with HIV Access to treatment and care for adolescents with HIV also remains inadequate. Following HTC, there are poor linkages to and retention in care for most populations, and ART coverage rates for adolescents are lower than for other age groups. Interventions and support for sustained treatment adherence and retention in care are challenges in many settings, the inability to address these issues has led to treatment failure and the high levels of HIV related morbidity and mortality increasingly being recognised in this group. Addressing these challenges and adapting systems to deliver good quality, effective health care and social support for adolescents are urgently needed. The WHO Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection (hereafter Consolidated ARV guidelines) provides comprehensive clinical recommendations on the provision of ART for all populations (4), including adolescents, and these adolescent HIV guidelines provide complimentary recommendations and operational guidance to support better provision of services to help adolescents remain in care and adhere to ART. Ways to support better adherence to treatment and retention in care for ALHIV, including community-based service delivery and training for health workers and a range of other service delivery recommendations from the Consolidated ARV guidelines are also discussed, with specific consideration given to these for adolescent service provision. x I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV For these guidelines, key populations are defined as those populations at higher risk of HIV (those populations disproportionately affected in all regions and epidemic types, specifically sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who inject drugs). These guidelines specifically address adolescent key populations, i.e. those aged 10 to 19 years. In addition to the groups mentioned above, other adolescents who are vulnerable to HIV include those who are sexually abused and/or exploited and those in prisons and other closed settings. Principles guiding the development of the or mandatory HIV testing of individuals on public health grounds or for any other purpose is a violation of human rights and counterproductive to accessing acceptable testing, treatment and care services as well as retention in care. Therefore, these guidelines do not support it. The heterogeneity of adolescents is recognized and requires flexibility and adaption of services and approaches, in addition to the context and local The meaningful involvement of adolescents, particularly ALHIV, as well as those at risk of HIV infection, is critical for developing and delivering effective and acceptable HTC and HIV treatment and care services for adolescents. All forms of HTC must adhere to the five Cs: Consent, Confidentiality, Counselling, Correct test results and Connections to treatment, care and prevention services. Issues that may be particular to male, female or transgender adolescents must be recognized and addressed when developing, providing, monitoring and evaluating services for adolescents. All services must be provided within a robust human rights framework.1 A supportive and conducive legal and policy environment is essential for effective and acceptable service provision.2 For those under 18 years of age, testing and counselling services need to consider the best interests of the child as well as appropriate and safe referrals to child protection services when children have been abused and are at risk of abuse. Referral to legal/social services is also needed for adolescents aged This guidance highlights issues relating to adolescent consent to HTC. Policies related to age of consent to testing can pose barriers to adolescents’ access to HTC and other health services. While policies on age of consent to HIV testing vary among countries, ministries of health are encouraged to revisit these policies in light of the need to uphold adolescents’ rights to make choices about their own health and well-being (with consideration for different levels of maturity and understanding). The guidelines strongly encourage consideration of ways to strengthen support for disclosure by adolescents. The guidelines consider operational approaches and options and provide a range of programme examples and guidelines principles for implementation. Research gaps identified in the course of the expert meeting and guideline development process are also documented. 1 See CRC, General Comment 4 – http://tb.ohchr.org/default.aspx?Symbol=CRC/GC/2003/4; General Comment No. 15 (2013) – The right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health (Article. 24). 2 A supportive and conducive legal and policy environment is critical for adolescents to access and benefit from HIV testing, counselling and linkage to appropriate treatment and care. The criminalization of HIV transmission, exposure and non-disclosure restricts an adolescent’s ability to access and benefit from a range of essential HIVrelated services. Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I xi 1. HIV testing and counselling, with linkages to prevention, treatment and care, is recommended for adolescents from key populations in all settings (generalized, low and 2. In generalized epidemics, HIV testing and counselling with linkage to prevention, treatment and care is recommended for all adolescents. 3. In low and concentrated epidemics, HIV testing and counselling with linkage to prevention, treatment and care is recommended to be made accessible to all 4. Adolescents should be counselled about the potential benefits and risks of disclosure of their HIV status to others and empowered and supported to determine if, when, how and to whom to disclose. 5. Community-based approaches can improve treatment adherence and retention in care of adolescents living with HIV. 6. Training of health-care workers can contribute to treatment adherence and improvement in retention in care of adolescents living with HIV. The recommendations regarding HTC for adolescents, disclosure, communitybased approaches and training for health-care workers imply significant benefits for all socio-economic and epidemiological contexts and should be considered as global guidance. At the same time, it is recognized that health services in lowresource settings face the greatest challenges in providing services tailored for adolescents and may benefit most from the guidance presented here. Countries are encouraged to consider this guidance in light of the nature of the HIV epidemic in their setting and their national policies, programmes and resources. This guidance is informed by human rights considerations, systematic reviews of the published and gray literature, community consultations with adolescents and health workers, field experience and expert opinion. Published evidence in adolescent populations is, however, limited or lacking and considerable weight is given to expert opinion, to the values and preferences of adolescents and their health-care providers and to the field experience of practitioners. More than 35.3 million people are currently living with HIV, and 2.1 million (5.9%) of these are adolescents ages 10–19 years (1, 2) 1. In 2012, there were more than 6300 new HIV infections each day worldwide (2). Around 2500 of these new cases were adolescents and youth ages 15–24 (2, 5). While most of the approximately 712 new cases of HIV that are diagnosed each day in children under 15 years of age were due to vertical transmission, a small percentage were the result of horizontal transmission, including sexual transmission through sexual abuse or coercion, or early sex (5). Adolescents and young people remain extremely vulnerable to acquiring HIV infection, especially girls who live in settings with a generalized HIV epidemic or who are members of populations at high risk for HIV acquisition or transmission. (See Part 1, Section 2.1.2 for discussion of adolescent key populations.) The last decade witnessed significant progress in scaling up access to HIV treatment and care. By the end of 2012, more than 9.7 million people from lowand middle-income countries (LMIC) were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) (1). Corresponding to this effort, HIV-related mortality has declined. However, global ART coverage is still inadequate at 61%2, and most people living with HIV do not know their serostatus (2). Early diagnosis and treatment can reduce HIV progression and prevent transmission, but adolescents are less likely than adults to be tested, access care, remain in care and achieve viral suppression (6, 7, 8, 9, 10). Although coverage data on adolescents receiving treatment is limited, adolescents’ access to and uptake of treatment is often reported to be lower than for other age groups (11, 12). It is urgent that ALHIV are identified and enrolled in treatment interventions with clear and consistent linkages to care and support. As of 2012, about 630 000 infants, children, and young adolescents below 15 years had been started on ART, representing a 28% coverage rate among children who need paediatric ART (1). This coverage follows increased emphasis on prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes that include early infant diagnosis and early initiation of treatment for infants.3 Over the next decade, these infants and young children with HIV on ART will become adolescents and face the challenges of adolescence as well as those associated with coping with living with a chronic infection, developing relationships and preventing transmission. A substantial epidemic of HIV in perinatally infected adolescents is emerging in southern Africa. These adolescents include both those who were started on ART as infants as part of PMTCT programmes and perinatally infected children who were not started on ART either because their mothers were not reached by PMTCT programmes or they were lost to follow-up and have survived into adolescence without ART (often referred to as slow progressors). Data suggest that up to onethird of infants infected with HIV who are not started on ART are slow progressors with a median survival of greater than 10 years (13). The increasing cumulative number of slow progressors and infants and young children on ART (who must be supported to cope with the challenges of being on long-term treatment) highlights 1 See Annex 1 for a glossary of key terms and definitions. 2 Using the WHO 2010 ARV guidelines. 3 Some countries refer to this as prevention of parent-to-child transmission (PPTCT); the more common term, PMTCT, will be used in these guidelines. Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 3 the importance of urgently addressing the clinical needs of older children and adolescents with HIV (14). HIV is increasingly being recognized as a common cause of acute admission and in-hospital death among adolescents in high-prevalence, generalized epidemics (15, 16, 17). Although rapid expansion of HIV treatment has significantly improved survival, life expectancy and quality of life for people living with HIV (PLHIV), delayed ART initiation remains a challenge in many settings, including high-income countries (18, 19). Previous WHO guidelines recommended ART initiation below 350 cells/mm3, and 42 LMIC had adopted this recommendation in their national ART guidelines (20). WHO now recommends (in the 2013 Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection) initiation of ART for all PLHIV with a CD4 count of 500 cells/mm3 and below (4)1. However, most patients are currently initiated on ART at CD4 counts far below national guideline recommendations. Low CD4 count has a direct adverse impact on HIV treatment outcome and health-care costs associated with management of advanced stages of HIV infection, including hospital admissions. Multiple factors related to health-care delivery systems contribute to delays in ART initiation and poor adherence to ART and retention in care. These include diagnosis of HIV at an advanced stage, poor linkage to and retention in HIV care after testing positive (21, 22, 23) and loss to follow-up (LTFU), which is particularly high in the period between testing and initiation of ART. Additional patient-related factors for delayed initiation of ART include legal and/or familial constraints around disclosure, and lack of emotional and financial support. All of these issues pose potentially greater challenges to adolescents, who experience more actual or perceived barriers to HIV testing and treatment services than the general population. ALHIV can also face challenges in the transition from paediatric services—where parents and guardians commonly have primary responsibility for their care—to adult ART services, where they will need to take much greater responsibility for their own care. In the case of decentralized services, where there may be only one ART service available, the greatest challenge is not a transition from one set of services to another, but rather a transitioning of healthcare responsibilities from parent or guardian to the adolescent. This is generally a longer process during which the adolescent assumes autonomy for specific healthcare activities and decisions, as related to their evolving capacity. 1.1.1 HIV testing and counselling for adolescents HIV testing and counselling (HTC) is an essential component of efforts to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. Regardless of HIV acquisition route, underutilization of testing and counselling services results in late diagnosis; increasing uptake of HTC could lead to earlier diagnosis and more effective care.2 Due to the increasing availability of ART and prevention interventions, early diagnosis can reduce transmission and improve health outcomes, thereby decreasing HIV incidence and HIV-related morbidity and mortality. HTC for adolescents, as for adults, offers many important benefits. Adolescents who learn that they have been diagnosed with HIV are more likely to obtain emotional 1 Also, to reduce HIV transmission to uninfected partners, WHO recommends that HIV-positive partners in serodiscordant couples should be offered ART, irrespective of their CD4 count. 2 Although data is not available, there is thought to be a significant percentage of adolescents who have been tested and know their status and have not been effectively linked to care and treatment and therefore have not initiated treatment when they need it. (G. Hainsworth, Pathfinder, personal communication, 2013). 4 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV support and practice preventive behaviours to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV to others, and more likely to obtain HIV treatment and care, assuming these services are available to them. Early access to care can help them to feel better and to live longer, than if they present for care when their disease is already at an advanced stage. Access to HTC is also important for adolescents who do not have HIV to reinforce prevention messages and facilitate access to prevention services and commodities. Recent data from South Africa suggest that adolescents who had taken a test had a lower incidence of HIV over time compared with those who had not (24). HTC is also an essential component of the package of care included in voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programmes for HIV prevention that are being scaled up in 14 priority countries in sub-Saharan Africa—in which adolescents are a key target group (25). Access to and uptake of HTC by adolescents is significantly lower than for adults.1 Survey data collected from 2005 to 2010 in sub-Saharan Africa indicate that only 10% of young men and 15% of young women (15–24 years) were aware of their HIV status (26). However, access and coverage vary considerably across countries and regions. For example, in Malawi and Zimbabwe data on the proportion of HTC clients who are 15–24 years of age show that they account for approximately 40% of all clients. Of these young clients, approximately 60% are females (R. Olson, UNICEF-South Africa, personal communication, 2013). Because uptake of HTC by adolescents is currently low, and HTC services for adolescents have not been developed in many settings, these guidelines recommend expanding access to HTC for adolescents in different epidemic settings.2 These guidelines also discuss service delivery approaches that have been acceptable and effective in increasing uptake of HTC among adolescents and highlight operational issues that must be addressed for effective implementation of the recommendations. 1.1.2 HIV treatment and care for adolescents living with Modes of transmission Adolescents can acquire HIV infection in two ways—through vertical or horizontal Vertical (mother-to-child) transmission Adolescents living with HIV include long-term survivors of vertical transmission, some who are on treatment, as well as slow progressors (not on treatment). Some of these adolescents are receiving care having been followed through PMTCT programmes. However, a significant proportion has not been diagnosed due to loss to follow-up (LTFU) or poor coverage of PMTCT programmes. Horizontal transmission occurs in two ways: Sexual activity begins during adolescence in most parts of the world, although age and conditions vary greatly. Risks for acquisition of HIV include sex without safe condom use, early coerced sex and sexual exploitation involving coercion and sometimes violence. 1 In countries where adolescents ages 15–19 years are considered adults, they may only have access to HTC in ANC services, which would exclude male adolescents and therefore reduce access for this group. 2 Expanded access includes making existing services more sensitive to the needs of adolescents. Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 5 Non-sexual transmission among adolescents can involve injecting drug use (IDU), traditional practices (e.g. female genital mutilation (FGM), scarification with shared razor blades and traditional treatments requiring cutting of the skin) and certain medical procedures such as unsafe surgical procedures, injections and blood transfusions. There are social and contextual factors that make adolescents vulnerable to HIV infection through horizontal transmission. These factors include: age and sex, gender, social and cultural norms and value systems about sexual activity, location (where the adolescent lives, learns and earns), economic and educational status and sexual orientation. Adolescents who are particularly vulnerable include those from key populations as well as orphans, migrants and refugees, prisoners and other groups that are socially marginalized and discriminated against, and adolescents affected by humanitarian crises. Conflict, displacement and food insecurity all can heighten risk. The HIV epidemic itself also increases vulnerability; for example, adolescents orphaned by AIDS can be more vulnerable to HIV if their circumstances lead them to engage in sex with older and/or concurrent partners for economic or emotional support. Optimal HIV care for different groups of adolescents There are several diverse groups of ALHIV who must be encouraged and able to access ART, care and support, and who will need support to adhere to treatment and remain in care. Optimal HIV care for different groups of ALHIV varies according to mode of transmission, age, sex, gender and social factors. Three broad groups, each with specific needs and challenges, need to be considered. Adolescents infected vertically, diagnosed early and started on ART In 2012, vertical transmission accounted for an estimated 260 000 new infections in children (2). Current efforts to optimize PMTCT programmes will not, on their own, eliminate HIV in newborns. Access to maternal and child health services will need to be dramatically improved, as will prevention measures, such as preventing and treating HIV before pregnancy. Successful early infant diagnosis and links to treatment in some settings has resulted in more than 630 000 children in developing countries being started on ART (1). Intensive efforts will be needed over the next decade to support children with HIV on ART to remain engaged in care and to adhere to treatment as they become adolescents and need to transition to adult services. Health workers, even those experienced in caring for adults with HIV, are often ill-equipped to support the health-care needs of adolescents. In many countries, there is little experience with understanding and providing services for the particular needs of adolescents, and judgemental attitudes toward sexually active adolescents can hamper rapport and subsequent care. A significant proportion of pregnant women are adolescents (approximately 16 million births per year are to adolescents) (27). Adolescent girls with HIV have less access to PMTCT interventions than adult women, and they need improved access to maternal and other types of health care. Adolescents infected vertically, not diagnosed early and not started on ART In generalized epidemics, an increasing proportion of children entering adolescence have acquired HIV infection perinatally and remain undiagnosed (28). These slow progressors have survived into adolescence without being diagnosed and started on ART. They may have chronic medical and developmental delay problems and would benefit from diagnosis and initiation on treatment, as well as long-term care 6 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV Although there has been a significant increase in the provision of PMTCT interventions, many mothers still do not have access to antenatal services or PMTCT. In low- and middle-income countries, coverage of effective antiretroviral regimens for PMTCT reached only 57% in 2011 (2). In sub-Saharan Africa, where 92% of the world’s pregnant women with HIV live, only 59% received ART or prophylaxis during pregnancy and delivery. Even where PMTCT services are in place, they are not completely effective in preventing all vertical transmission of HIV. Furthermore, there is significant LTFU in many programmes, resulting in exposed infants not getting tested, and a significant proportion of perinatally infected children not linked to early care. Without ART, these children often will develop HIV-related symptoms early in their lives, requiring urgent HIV treatment and care. Late diagnosis of HIV infection for perinatally infected adolescents is increasingly being recognized as a significant problem leading to delayed initiation of ART and poor linkages to and retention in care. This can be complicated by the reluctance of some parents to allow children to be diagnosed and/or started on ART for fear of the potential stigma related to implications of their own status or possible revelation of abuse as the cause of infection. In some areas, anecdotal evidence suggests that greater trust in traditional healers and fear of the side effects of ART can cause parents and caregivers to delay diagnosis and treatment for children. Adolescents acquiring HIV horizontally The main mode of HIV transmission among male and female adolescents in generalized epidemic settings is unprotected heterosexual sex (sometimes forced or coerced). A growing body of evidence shows that the experience of sexual coercion is fairly prevalent among young people and is associated with high-risk sexual behaviour thereafter (29). A review of nationally representative surveys in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi and Uganda examined the prevalence of sexual coercion at sexual debut among adolescent females (12–19 years of age) (30). Thirty-eight per cent of girls in Malawi said that they were “not willing at all” at their first sexual experience; girls in Ghana (30%), Uganda (23%), and Burkina Faso (15%) responded similarly. In-depth interviews collected in 2003 with the same demographic found that there are four primary types of sexual coercion: forced sex; pressure through money or gifts; flattery, pestering and threatening to have sex with other girls; and passive acceptance. In many settings, adolescents are also vulnerable to HIV infection through injecting drug use and sexual exploitation—which often involves unprotected heterosexual and homosexual sex (30)—as well as a small number of cases of nosocomial transmission due to unsafe medical practices and procedures, or traditional Diagnosis through expanded access to HTC, with good linkages to treatment and care, will often require different approaches for adolescents infected horizontally than for adolescents infected vertically. These approaches should take into consideration the needs of adolescents who have been infected through early sex or sexual abuse. In many resource-constrained and high-HIV burden settings, limited capacity in health-care delivery systems poses a serious challenge to expansion of HTC, treatment and care services for adolescents. It is essential to minimize inefficiencies across the continuum of HIV care, explore innovative approaches to service delivery, and optimize treatment outcomes through linkages and integration with other services. Additionally, provision of chronic care requires reorganizing service delivery models, which in most settings are designed primarily to provide acute care. Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 7 These guidelines also address support for disclosure by ALHIV to others and, as means to improve adherence and retention, community-based service delivery and improved training for health workers. They recognize the urgency of the need to initiate ART when clinically indicated, to support adherence to ART for eligible ALHIV, and to strengthen the retention of these adolescents in care. Age of consent to testing is also discussed as an issue for consideration when planning and providing services for adolescents. WHO acknowledges the need to give high priority to increased access to HTC for adolescents and to support approaches to improving adherence to treatment and retention in care for ALHIV. These guidelines are intended to: provide recommendations and suggestions for policy-makers and national programme managers, civil society organizations and technical and financial partners on prioritizing, planning and providing HIV testing, counselling, treatment and care services for adolescents in resource-limited settings; support the provision of a comprehensive, accessible, appropriate and acceptable range of services for adolescents along the continuum of care (including testing, counselling, treatment and care and referral to sexual and reproductive and mental health services and community support); complement and include relevant recommendations from the WHO Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection. WHO, UN partners, ministries of health and a wide range of other implementers have recognized the need to highlight the importance of effective and accessible services for adolescents living with HIV, to support adherence to ART and retention in care, and to focus specifically on this neglected population; provide countries and programmes with evidence-based recommendations together with consideration of related implementation issues. It is expected that the guidance will support countries and programmes to accomplish the following objectives:1 1. to provide universal access to HIV testing and counselling for adolescents in generalized epidemics and for adolescents from key populations in all epidemics, with a full understanding of the particular nature, needs and challenges of 2. to improve treatment and care for adolescents living with HIV. It is essential to make it easier for adolescents to start treatment once they have been diagnosed and to help adolescents already on ART to make a safe and effective transition from paediatric to adult services. This objective also recognizes the need to reduce delayed initiation of ART for ALHIV and to support adherence to ART and retention It is anticipated that the accomplishment of these objectives will ensure that adolescents are managing their HIV infection effectively to ensure optimal health and survival, and that they are better equipped to take ownership of their health care and their lives as adults living with HIV. 1 These objectives also relate to the service delivery recommendations from the WHO Consolidated guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs for treating and preventing HIV infection that are listed in Section 2.3. 2 Achievement of Objective 1 will support ALHIV for ongoing treatment and care as well as support HIV-negative adolescents to remain HIV-negative. 8 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV 1.3 Target audience The primary target audiences for these comprehensive guidelines include policymakers and programme managers. A more streamlined, electronic version of these guidelines will be produced for health workers providing HIV prevention and other health services for adolescents in all HIV epidemic settings, including lay counsellors and community health workers. These guidelines are also intended for governments, non-governmental and civil society organizations, donors, HIV advocacy organizations and patient-support groups that address HIV prevention, treatment and care for adolescents. Adaptation of the guidelines is recommended according to the HIV epidemic profile and country-specific cultural and socioeconomic contexts. 1.4 Development of guidelines The WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and the WHO Department of HIV/AIDS led the development of these guidelines in collaboration with UNICEF, UNFPA, UNESCO and GNP+. The evidence assessment for these guidelines included three complementary areas of work—systematic reviews, descriptive reports of community consultations and supplementary literature reviews of published and unpublished studies not included in the systematic review, and programmatic experience. This document presents a synthesis of the findings of that work as well as the expert opinion of the Guidelines Development Group and peer reviewers. 1.4.1 Systematic reviews of the evidence Researchers developed search protocols and undertook systematic reviews of the available scientific evidence. Design of the search strategies employed in the systematic reviews, meta-analyses and GRADE profiles followed methodology described in the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (31). The systematic searches for studies relevant to the PICO questions were conducted online using common electronic databases (see Annexes 3 and 4). The quality of evidence and the strength of recommendations were assessed using the GRADE methodology (32, 33). The GRADE process was used for all of the PICO questions, but it was not possible to develop relevant GRADE profiles for every question because there was a significant lack of GRADE-able research on the topic of adolescents and HTC, adherence to treatment and retention in care. 1.4.2 Values and preferences, literature reviews and Commissioned qualitative work explored the values and preferences of adolescents with regard to HTC and of health-care providers who provide HTC services to adolescents. The full report (see Annex 10) documents findings gathered through workshops in two countries with generalized epidemics and one country with a lowlevel/concentrated epidemic, a multi-regional anonymous e-survey and interviews with selected service providers in the three countries where workshops were conducted. Similarly, a multi-regional anonymous e-survey of ALHIV explored their experiences with ART, disclosure and care and support services as well as their views on the health providers with whom they interact (see Annex 11 for full report). Literature reviews of published and unpublished studies provided additional detail about HTC, adherence to HIV treatment and retention in HIV care. Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 9 Programmatic experience and observational studies have been used to illustrate the operational aspects of the recommendations, highlighting key inputs and processes for improving the access and effectiveness of HTC and treatment and care services for ALHIV. Case studies and programmatic data provide additional detail and value to the guidelines by documenting experiences in real programme and routine care settings, as contrasted with findings from research. They offer some insights into successful implementation of programmes designed specifically for adolescents, explaining why and how they worked and the types of challenges faced during implementation of activities. 1.4.3 Expert consultation and development of WHO convened an expert consultation in October 2012 in Harare, Zimbabwe, to make recommendations regarding HTC, treatment adherence and retention in care for adolescents. Participants assessed the evidence for each PICO question, along with the risks and benefits associated with each possible recommendation, and reached consensus on recommendations. Disagreements were resolved through continued debate and revision of the recommendations to provide additional precision or qualifications not included in the original PICO questions. The final recommendations and advice take into consideration the quality of the evidence, estimated costs, feasibility of implementing the recommendations and the values and preferences of adolescents who represent those whose lives will be affected by the guidelines and of their health-care providers. Following the consultation, the full draft guidelines were prepared and circulated to the Guidelines Development Group and other international experts for comments that were incorporated into the final draft of the guidelines. 1.4.4 Scope of the guidelines Health services in low-resource settings face the greatest challenges in providing services tailored for adolescents and may benefit most from the guidance presented here; however, as it is relevant for all HIV epidemic and economic settings, it should be considered global guidance. Regional and national meetings can be conducted to adapt these global recommendations to local needs, HIV epidemic context and existing services to facilitate implementation. 1.5 Evidence assessment The development of a recommendation is guided by the quality of available evidence. Other factors affect whether recommendations are strong or conditional, especially when available evidence is of insufficient quantity or quality. How to interpret the quality of evidence In the GRADE assessment process, the quality of a body of evidence is defined as the extent to which one can be confident that the reported estimates of effect (desirable or undesirable) available from the evidence are close to the actual effects of interest. The usefulness of an estimate of the effect (of an intervention) depends on the level of confidence in that estimate. The higher the quality of evidence, the more likely a strong recommendation can be made. However, it is not always possible to prepare GRADE profiles for all research on interventions because of a lack of data and information to calculate the necessary risk ratios or because the evidence available to the GRADE methodologists is indirect. 10 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV The GRADE approach specifies four levels of quality of evidence (34), as shown in Table 1. Table 1. Significance of the four GRADE levels of evidence We are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect. We are moderately confident in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different. Our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: The true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. We have very little confidence in the effect estimate: The true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. Values and preferences among the groups of interest for the guidance (adolescents) or views of the Guidelines Development Group based on technical expertise or programmatic experience may differ with regard to desired outcomes, or there may be uncertainty about whether the intervention represents a wise use of resources. Despite clear benefits, it may not be feasible to implement a proposed recommendation in a particular setting. A judgment must then be made regarding the strength of the recommendation. 1.6 Strength of recommendations The strength of a recommendation reflects the degree of confidence of the Guidelines Development Group that the desirable effects of adherence to or implementation of the recommendation outweigh the undesirable effects. Desirable effects may include beneficial health outcomes (e.g. reduced incidence of HIV and reduced morbidity and mortality); benefits from service delivery (e.g. increased uptake of HIV prevention services, improved uptake of and retention in treatment and care services and increased adherence to treatment); less burden on the individual and/or health services; and potential cost savings for the individual, programme and/or health system. Undesirable effects can affect health services, individuals or families. Additional burdens include the costs of implementing the recommendations that programmes, care providers or patients have to bear, such as infrastructure modifications, increased training requirements for providers working with adolescents, relationship difficulties for adolescents receiving a positive diagnosis or legal complications where certain practices are criminalized. A strong recommendation (for or against) is one for which there is confidence that the desirable effects of adherence to the recommendation clearly outweigh the undesirable effects, or clearly do not. A conditional recommendation (for or against) is one for which the quality of evidence is low or may apply only to specific groups or settings; or the panel concludes that the desirable effects of adherence to the recommendation probably outweigh the undesirable effects or are closely balanced, but the panel is not confident about these trade-offs in all situations. Reasons for not being confident can include: absence of high quality evidence, presence of imprecise estimates of benefits or harms, uncertainty or variation regarding how different individuals value the outcomes, small benefits and benefits that may not be worth the Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 11 costs (including the cost of implementing the recommendation). A conditional recommendation is not a recommendation against doing something. Instead, interventions based on these recommendations should be monitored closely and evaluated rigorously. Further research is needed to address the uncertainties and is likely to provide new evidence that may change the calculation of the balance Table 2. Additional domains considered in assessing the strength of recommendations Benefits and risks When a new recommendation is developed, desirable effects (benefits) need to be weighed against undesirable effects (risks), considering any previous recommendation or an alternative. The larger the gap or gradient in favour of the benefits compared with the risks, the more likely that a strong recommendation will be made. If the recommendation is likely to be widely accepted or valued highly, it is likely that a strong recommendation will be made. If there is a great deal of variability or strong reasons that the recommended course of action is unlikely to be accepted, it is more likely that a conditional recommendation will be made. Lower costs (monetary, infrastructure, equipment or human resources) or greater cost-effectiveness will more likely result in a If an intervention is achievable in a setting where the greatest impact is expected, a strong recommendation is called for. 2.1 HTC for adolescents Two topics crosscut all issues addressed by these guidelines: the age of consent to testing and the recognition that adolescents from key populations must be a particular focus for increasing the accessibility and acceptability of HTC services for this age group. The three recommendations on HTC and adolescents are then presented along with a summary of the evidence and a summary of the Guideline Development Group’s discussion and other considerations. The evidence includes the systematic GRADE review of selected studies and the values and preferences obtained from community consultations and the e-surveys with adolescents and service providers. The summary of the discussion at the expert meeting in Harare is complemented by the findings of a review of published and unpublished studies and reports related to HTC and adolescents as well as contributions from peer reviewers. 2.1.1 Consent to HIV testing Health-care decision-making requires individuals to exercise their right to independent decision-making. In most settings, however, adolescents’ rights are limited, although the exact nature of this limitation varies considerably from country to country. In some settings, a regulatory framework on informed consent does not exist, while in other settings, the adolescent’s rights are governed by a AGES OF CONSENT IN SOUTH AFRICA In South Africa, different threshold ages of consent apply to HIV-related services such as treatment, surgery, voluntary medical male circumcision, provision of pharmaceutical drugs, contraception, and HIV testing. Consent for an HIV test on a child (defined in South Africa as an individual who is less than 18 years of age) may be given by (a) the child, if the child is either (i) 12 years of age or older or (ii) under the age of 12 years and of sufficient maturity to understand the benefits, risks and social implications of such a test; (b) the parent or caregiver, if the child is under the age of 12 years and is not of sufficient maturity to understand the benefits, risks and social implications of such a test. Thus, the child’s legal capacity to consent to an HIV test depends upon the child satisfying particular biological (physical age) and cognitive (“sufficient maturity”) criteria. Similarly, other countries consider both biological and cognitive criteria under “stage of development” assessments, and recognize the child’s autonomy if the child demonstrates qualities implicit in a “mature minor” or “emancipated minor” (See Annex 15). While stipulation of different ages of consent and qualifying criteria are intended to protect adolescents, policy-makers must carefully consider whether and how such pre-qualifying criteria could affect their access to health services. To this end, policymakers should review their existing regulatory frameworks governing adolescent health care with a view to ensuring regulatory harmonization and facilitating linkage to care. For example, an adolescent who possesses the legal right to access HTC should have autonomous access to HIV prevention and treatment modalities as part of linkage to comprehensive care. Authorities should also consider especially how to facilitate access to HTC and linkage to care for orphans and vulnerable adolescents, including those living on the streets, adolescents in child-headed households, and particularly vulnerable adolescents from key populations, girls engaged in sex with older men and in multiple or concurrent sexual partnerships, and adolescent girls affected by sexual exploitation. 1 Decision-making tables in Annex 8 summarize the basis upon which the recommendations and suggestions are Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 13 Authorities should also consider the role of surrogate decision-makers in HTC. In some settings only parents or guardians may consent to a child accessing HTC. In contrast, in settings such as South Africa (see box on previous page), a child may self-consent to HIV testing if he or she is 12 years of age and above, or, if under 12 years of age, the child is of sufficient maturity to understand the benefits, risks, and social implications of a HIV test. However, for children under the age of 12 with insufficient maturity to understand the benefits, risks, and social implications of a HIV test, a parent or caregiver must give consent for the test. The recognition of a caregiver as a surrogate decision-maker for children in relation to HIV testing recognizes that the absence of a parent or guardian should not serve as a barrier to a child accessing HTC, if the child has a caregiver (a caregiver is defined in South African law as any person other than a parent or guardian who factually cares for a child). Authorities should also bear in mind their legally binding obligations in respect of children under international law. In particular, Article 3 of the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) states: In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary Article 24 of CRC states: 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health-care 2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: … (b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and health care to all children with emphasis on the development of primary Respecting these obligations entails facilitating adolescent access to HTC and linkage to care. 2.1.2 Key populations In the context of these guidelines, key populations are defined as those populations at higher risk of HIV (those populations disproportionately affected in all regions and epidemic types, including sex workers, men who have sex with men, transgender people and people who inject drugs). These guidelines specifically address adolescent key populations, ages 10–19 years. In addition to the groups mentioned above, other adolescents who are vulnerable to HIV include adolescents who are sexually abused and/or exploited and those in prisons and other closed settings. Sex work by definition involves only adults. The involvement of children and adolescents under 18 in sex work is classified as sexual exploitation by and engagement in 14 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV There has been little explicit focus on the particular needs of adolescents within the groups considered most at risk for HIV. Four groups of adolescents considered to be most at risk for HIV (referred to as adolescents from key populations) are adolescent males who have sex with men (MSM), adolescents who are sexually exploited (and those ages 18 years and over engaged in sex work), adolescents who inject drugs (PWID) and transgender (TG) adolescents (male and female). Other groups of adolescents, especially in generalized epidemics, are also at higher risk of infection. These include adolescents affected by AIDS (orphans and children of chronically ill caregivers) (35), clients of sex workers, the partners of these clients, HIV-negative partners in serodiscordant couples and, in high-prevalence settings, girls who are being sexually exploited by older men or having sex with adolescent MSM (36). Programmes need to find ways to reach out to sexually active adolescents (whose STIs and unintended pregnancies indicate unsafe sexual practices) through tighter integration of HIV screening with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. Programmes also need to take into consideration the differing age-related capacities of adolescent members of key populations to access services. Often there are policy and legal barriers to providing services for young key populations. In some cases certain behaviours and sexual orientations are criminalized, and in other cases restrictive education policies or conditions such as requirements for schools to disclose the HIV status of learners or lack of educators with training to provide counselling or support need to be reviewed and amended. Given their marginalized social position and their reluctance to attend diagnostic and treatment services due to fears of stigma including possible legal consequences, increased access to HTC for adolescents from key populations is a priority in all 2.1.3 Recommendations—HTC for adolescents 1 HIV testing and counselling with linkage to prevention, treatment and care is recommended for adolescents from key populations in all settings (generalized, low and concentrated epidemics). Strong recommendation, very low quality evidence 2 In generalized epidemics, HIV testing and counselling with linkage to prevention, treatment, and care is recommended for all adolescents. Strong recommendation, very low 3 In low and concentrated epidemics, HIV testing and counselling with linkage to prevention, treatment and care is recommended to be made accessible to all adolescents. Conditional recommendation, very low quality evidence All three recommendations pointedly emphasize linkage to prevention, treatment and care. Health workers will likely face greater challenges ensuring adolescents are appropriately linked to services following HIV testing, than they face working with children who are accompanied by caregivers or when working with adult patients—who usually have more ability, experience and maturity to seek out and take responsibility for their care. Any intervention related to counselling, care and support for adolescents must include elements of sexuality education. Furthermore, adolescent sexuality should be treated in a positive, non-judgmental way with all adolescents, regardless of their HIV status (37, 38, 39). Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 15 Expansion of HTC for adolescents will identify greater numbers of horizontally infected individuals; even if many of them do not immediately require treatment, health services will be challenged to make sure that this group consistently accesses prevention, care and support services over the long term. For all ALHIV who are enrolled in treatment, linkage to services for adherence support and for retention in prevention, care and support will be essential. Summary of the evidence The particular characteristics and needs of adolescents often cannot be addressed by applying guidelines based on evidence and recommendations relating to paediatric or adult populations. Furthermore, adolescents themselves are not a homogeneous group. Physical and psychological (cognitive and emotional) development varies among adolescents, and differing social and cultural factors as well as their evolving capacities can affect both their ability to make important personal decisions and their access to services. For these reasons guidance should take into consideration the range of adolescents’ needs and issues. As little research has been conducted related to HTC among adolescents and adolescents living with HIV to date, these guidelines have given considerable weight to expert opinion, the values and preferences of adolescents and health-care providers, and the field experience of practitioners. Systematic review: summary of main results See Annex 3 for the full report of the systematic review related to HTC for preventing HIV transmission and improving uptake of HIV treatment and care in adolescents. Few randomized controlled trials (RCT) were found examining the impact of HIV testing on outcomes important to adolescents and young adults in either generalized epidemic settings or high-risk populations in low-level epidemics. Generalized epidemic settings In generalized epidemic settings there are no randomized trials conducted specifically among adolescent populations. However, indirect evidence, from RCTs conducted among adults, found that HTC is effective at reducing unprotected sexual intercourse with non-primary partners and reducing STI incidence among those at risk for HIV infection. Additionally, enhanced post-test counselling that includes community support agents is effective at improving uptake of pre-ART care among patients With new evidence to support treatment as prevention and the potential of potent antiretroviral regimens to reduce HIV-related morbidity and mortality, more data are needed on the impact of different HTC strategies on HIV incidence and linkage to HIV care for adolescents with HIV. Most data on the effectiveness of HTC are based on a voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) model that includes personalized risk assessment and development of a personalized risk reduction plan for each client. Interventions using brief discussions instead of such personalized counselling need further evaluation. Furthermore, data are needed on the most cost-effective strategies for testing adolescent populations, whether in facilities or in the community. Data are needed also on effective strategies to link adolescents who test positive to HIV treatment and care, and those who test negative to prevention services and commodities. Low-level or concentrated epidemic settings HTC has demonstrated efficacy in generalized settings among adults. In low-level epidemic settings among high-risk youth, sub-analysis of one RCT found that HTC reduced the incidence of STIs among heterosexual adolescents attending STI clinics. This interactive risk reduction counselling includes personalized risk assessment and risk reduction plans. This intervention has not been studied, however, in several important high-risk populations, including young MSM and 16 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV homeless and substance-abusing youth. The applicability of these data to such key populations of adolescents in low-level epidemic settings is unclear; there may be a need for specialized counselling and community outreach due to higher risk behaviours and lack of HIV knowledge. Data from another RCT among youth in community-based substance abuse services support the effectiveness of rapid, oral, point-of-care testing technologies in improving the uptake of HIV, HBV, and HCV testing. This may prove a model for high-risk populations. No studies evaluated the impact of HIV testing among adolescent populations in low-level epidemics on HIV incidence, morbidity and mortality. More data are needed from and about young MSM and other adolescent key populations on the efficacy of HTC interventions on outcomes important to patients and on linkage to care. Quality of evidence In this analysis the quality of evidence from RCTs varied from very low to moderate in generalized epidemic settings and from low to very low in low-level epidemics. The quality of evidence was moderate for the outcome of STI incidence, based on one RCT (40), which was downgraded only for indirectness due to a largely adult population. However, for all other outcomes in both generalized and low-level epidemics, evidence from RCTs was either of low or very low quality, downgraded for imprecision (few participants and events) and indirectness (evidence from largely adult populations, or self-reported behavioural outcomes). Additionally, one study was also downgraded for indirectness, as the population was sick, hospitalized In this analysis the quality of evidence from the observational studies was very low, downgraded for serious study design limitations (no comparator), imprecision (few participants and events), and indirectness (self-reported behavioural outcomes, or evidence from largely adult populations). Values and preferences: HTC A study of the values and preferences of adolescents and service providers facilitated the participation of those who will be most affected by improved access to HTC and to ensure that their perspectives were included in the guidelines development process (see full report in Annex 10). A series of 10 workshops, involving 98 participants (ages 15–24 years) was conducted in the Philippines, South Africa and Zimbabwe. An online survey was also conducted in four languages to ensure a broader geographical representation of the values and preferences of adolescents regarding HTC; 655 respondents from 92 countries completed the survey. Interviews with 16 service providers from various health-care settings in three countries were also conducted. Motivations for and deterrents to testing In community consultations in the Philippines, South Africa and Zimbabwe, young people (15–29 years) reported that, in spite of various barriers to testing, they recognize the benefits of testing and knowing their HIV status, including the autonomy it demonstrates in taking decisions about their own health and survival. They talked about taking control of their lives, the importance of looking after their own health, the need to “take the right steps” when receiving a positive diagnosis and, if the result is negative, being able to get the support and advice that they need to remain negative. Many participants mentioned a sense of responsibility to themselves, their partners, their families and society as a motivation for testing. Starting a new relationship was mentioned as a motivation by 15% of respondents of the survey, and 40% found that being offered HTC while seeking other health services was a useful motivator to testing. One of every six survey respondents indicated that encouragement from others was an important motivation for seeking Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 17 At the same time, a number of participants talked about feeling pressured or required to test by parents or partners, while one participant made a stronger statement about pressure from heath providers: “They don’t treat you if you don’t get tested when you are sick.” The greatest barrier to testing for all participants is fear—of the process, of the result, of their parents’ reactions, of disruption to their educations, of death. Almost 9% of young MSM and who had taken a test reported that they live with considerable fear that their parents will be informed; this was twice the rate of other male respondents. In contrast to findings from other countries, South African participants were very specific about the burden of living with HIV in terms of the changes to one’s lifestyle: having to use condoms, adhere to ART, eat healthy foods and regularly attend clinic. Filipino participants observed, “HTC seems so burdened with negatives”, which can be a considerable deterrent to testing. One of the main deterrents to testing is the potential to experience stigma and discrimination. Workshop participants repeatedly mentioned the expected consequence of being rejected, if the result is positive, by friends, family and the community as a reason for reluctance to seek a test. Concerns about stigma and its consequences were also evident in e-survey responses: 16% of tested respondents listed being afraid of what others may think as a concern when deciding to test. This concern was more evident (27%) for those who identified as MSM. All workshop participants agreed that the lack of testing facilities is a barrier to access. Specific issues included location, costs, long waiting times and limited hours of operation. Some felt that there were not enough health staff and other resources to tend to all those who needed assistance. Regarding access, 27% of online respondents reported that they would like to get tested but did not know where to get tested or had not had the opportunity to test (34%). Only 17% of the 351 online respondents who had taken an HIV test reported referral and linkage to care following the test (regardless of test result), while 70% received no onward referrals and 13% did not answer the question. Adolescents and young adults: improving access to and uptake of HTC for adolescents Workshop participants and survey respondents offered suggestions for improving access to and uptake of HTC by adolescents. They proposed options for consideration at four different levels: Engaging the community. It is important to “captivate young people” in their own environment and to “make testing less scary”. Awareness-raising events and activities can be designed specifically for adolescents in places that are comfortable for them, such as schools, nightclubs, sporting venues and churches. Other suggestions for engaging the community included the involvement of celebrities and peers living with HIV as public role models and advocates for testing. This strategy depends significantly on the availability and accessibility of accurate and complete information and optimal use of social media, libraries and mass communication channels. “Normalization” was often mentioned as an essential step toward increasing understanding and decreasing stigma related to HIV and HTC. The role of health service providers. Adolescents consider it very important to be able to relate to the person providing HTC. In ideal situations this might mean engaging adolescent and ALHIV peers as health educators and HTC providers, thus bridging the gap between adolescents and health services. Above all, there is a need for respectful, accepting, friendly, understanding and supportive providers to encourage adolescents to test. HTC service delivery. Participants in the workshops consider the service environment as very important for adolescents seeking HTC. This includes several components: a youth-friendly atmosphere, flexible hours, separate waiting areas for adolescents, alternative service delivery settings (e.g. schools, 18 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV social centres and mobile services) and the assurance of confidentiality, which might include the option for self-testing. Improvements to the health system. These included increasing the number of testing sites (addressing capacity as well as issues of proximity/rural access), reducing fees and other costs of testing and strengthening referrals from community organizations and rural health clinics. Service providers: improving access to and uptake of HTC for adolescents Service providers recognize that adolescents in many settings can be at high risk of HIV infection, and they consider effective and accessible services for adolescents a high priority. At the same time providers note that policies and services concerning HTC often are not geared specifically towards adolescents, and the needs of this group are underserved. Providers acknowledge that interactions with adolescents are challenging and emotionally draining. They attribute some of this to cultural norms or societal views concerning HIV and sex, the influence of religious restrictions and widespread stigma and discrimination. Many providers also note a lack of appropriate training in specific skills needed for working with adolescents. Additionally, understaffing is considered a problem in many places, preventing providers from spending the time required to address adolescents’ particular needs and often resulting in long queues and waiting times that could discourage adolescents from testing. Expanding access to HTC through decentralization and greater involvement of communitybased organizations could help to alleviate the pressure of workforce shortages in formal health facilities. Adolescent-friendly approaches that are centred on adolescents’ own particular communities could increase the acceptability of services for adolescents, (especially for key populations). This might be easier to deliver through community-based organization than in larger or more formal Many service providers raised the issue of age of consent. Inconsistencies in the practical application of consent laws emerged as significant concerns, even in South Africa where adolescents can get tested at age 12. Some providers noted that age of consent in their facilities was higher than that of the national law, while others admitted acting in defiance of the law “to do what is best for the adolescent”. There are concerns about having to choose between complying with the law and testing an underage adolescent, and facing the possible consequences of either choice. Some adolescents have no parent or guardian, while some seek services with an adult claiming to be their parent. Laws must be clarified and providers must be trained to adhere to laws or official guidelines while acting in the best interest of their adolescent clients. Service providers suggested some strategies for improving access to and uptake of HTC for adolescents, including: education of adolescents to increase awareness and reduce the fear surrounding adolescent-friendly testing environments involving adolescents in the design and delivery of services clarification of legal issues, especially with regard to consent. Summary of the expert panel discussion and other considerations This section documents the key points raised during the discussion on HTC at the expert meeting in Harare as well as feedback and inputs provided as part of the review process. Adolescents are less likely than adults to be tested and less likely to be linked to services if they test positive. Also, HIV-negative adolescents who have been tested Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 19 are frequently not actively linked to prevention services supporting them to remain People responsible for HIV programming need to understand that the changes that take place during adolescence affect: how adolescents understand information; what information and which channels of information influence their behaviour; how they think about the future and make decisions in the present; how they perceive risk in a period of experimentation and first-time experiences; how they perceive sex, which is common during late adolescence; how they form relationships, respond to the social values and norms that surround them, and are influenced by the attitudes (or perceived attitudes) of their peers and others. It will be important for programme managers to ensure that interventions are modified as necessary to reflect the particular range of characteristics of adolescence and different sub-populations within the adolescent population, e.g. younger/older, male/female, and adolescents from key populations. The “ecology” of the adolescent is, for most adolescents, the family and the community. Schools are especially important as educators have an important role to play in promoting HTC. Parents and guardians must be educated and be willing to support their child being tested (and accompanying the adolescent for testing if she or he chooses). The broader community needs a better understanding of the importance of testing as well as the importance of respecting the rights of adolescents, including the right to confidentiality. However, while efforts to enlist the support of parents are important, parents’ involvement is not always beneficial and some adolescents will need additional support. This is especially true for adolescents from key populations who may be estranged from their families and who define their family and community very differently from other adolescents. Testing should not be viewed as an end in itself. There need to be clearly defined linkages to post-test support services for both adolescents with and without HIV. Tracking and monitoring of service provision are also important. Lack of linkages between testing and subsequent care discourages adolescents from seeking HIV testing in the first place. Post-test support is particularly important for adolescents, and standards for quality post-test counselling are needed. The potential adverse outcomes of inadequate or poor quality post-test counselling must be avoided. More guidance is needed on effective approaches to counselling (pre- and post-test), testing, links and pathways to prevention, treatment, care Cost-effectiveness is important to deciding how to implement these guidelines. Expanding access to HTC is the overarching goal, but this does not imply that all adolescents should be tested regularly. Programmes should be informed by context-specific epidemiology to facilitate optimal use of resources. In all settings, HTC should be available to any adolescent who wishes to test. In settings with generalized epidemics, efforts should be made to increase access to HTC for all adolescents, and in all settings priority should go to providing services for adolescents from key populations. In settings with low-level or concentrated epidemics, it is important to understand groups that are disproportionately affected by or more vulnerable to HIV and encourage them to create demand for the uptake of HTC amongst their communities. “Test-for-the-test” risk assessments 20 I HIV and adolescents: guidance for HIV testing and counselling and care for adolescents living with HIV and other screening tools are available to identify adolescents who may be at risk (42). However, some adolescents, particularly those who are homeless or orphans, may have been sexually abused; they may not consider this abuse to be “sex”, or they may be unable or reluctant to talk about it. This can make effective and predictive risk screening difficult. For all who test, consistent follow-up is necessary, including systems to track those lost to follow-up. It is also important to promote better integration of HTC with SRH services, especially for adolescents whose STIs and unintended pregnancies indicate their high-risk sexual behaviour. A better understanding of the extent of forced sexual activity among adolescents is needed, and better linkages between HTC and protection services are needed to refer those who have been the victims of violence and sexual abuse. When HTC uncovers issues of sexual abuse, there must be mechanisms to alert protective services to ensure that adolescents do not return to abusive settings. Offering routine testing in clinical settings in generalized epidemics—that is, provider-initiated testing and counselling (PITC)—is particularly important for 10–14 year old adolescents so as to identify both slow progressors and symptomatic adolescents who have not yet been diagnosed despite clinical contacts. Both groups urgently need to be diagnosed so that they can be linked to treatment and care. However, providers must take care to avoid the misinterpretation of PITC as mandatory testing and to facilitate adolescents’ ability to opt out of testing. Ministries of health need to develop standards, guidance, models, monitoring and supervision protocols and accountability and recourse mechanisms. Consent to testing Studies have shown that requiring parental consent to HTC services might reduce adolescent access because of perceived negative reactions from parents/guardians or health-care providers and the fear of HIV-related stigma (43, 44). Adolescents may opt not to seek care because they want to avoid telling their parents about their health problems and sexual activity (45). Some caution is advised: if the legal age of consent to HTC is too definitive and prescriptive, it may be more difficult for health workers to use their judgment when dealing with individual cases, as many currently do. Furthermore, the advantages of parental involvement and parental consent to facilitate psychological support—that is helpful for treatment adherence and retention in care—must be balanced with the negative aspects of required parental consent when parents/guardians are not supportive or when adolescents fear abuse or other adverse outcomes with regard Current consent policies are a key barrier to uptake of services by adolescents.1 Countries should consider how best to address these issues within their own legal and social context and how, in general, to lower the age of consent for HTC. A range of issues need to be considered, including options for which persons can provide consent on behalf of a minor, e.g. an older sibling or relative.2 Where countries have lowered the age of consent to 12 years (e.g. Lesotho and South Africa), access to and uptake of HTC by adolescents has increased without adverse consequences (South African Ministry of Health, personal communication, 2013). Countries are encouraged to examine their current consent policies and consider revising them to reduce age-related barriers to access and uptake of HTC and to linkages to prevention, treatment and care following testing. 1 See Annex 15 for a review of the current situation with regard to consent in sub-Saharan Africa. 2 In the case of parental death, guardianship is often not legally conferred, but tends to be the head of the household with whom the adolescent is living at that time. Recommendations for a public health approach and considerations for policy-makers and managers I 21 Directness of evidence Some experience with adults regarding expansion of access to HTC could be applicable to adolescents, with appropriate modifications made to adult-oriented services. However, certain issues, especially concerning age of consent, will require careful consideration and policy review to ensure that the needs of adolescents are being met and that their rights are being protected. Benefits of HTC Adolescents are underserved, and changes in the systems that deliver HTC, treatment and care services are needed to prioritize appropriate and acceptable care for adolescents. It is expected that increased uptake of improved services— including linkages to prevention, treatment and care—by adolescents will have benefits for the individual as well as for public health. Increasing uptake of HTC by adolescents Routine PITC, home-based HTC and rapid testing may help to increase uptake of HTC services among adolescents, especially for slow progressors and pregnant adolescents. In low-prevalence settings, where infection is often acquired sexually and is concentrated in key populations, outreach or special venue-based HTC services may better serve these adolescents who may be socially marginalized and have limited access to conventional clinic services as well as potentially facing considerable risk of discrimination and legal consequences. Many adolescent women, who make up a high percentage of the pregnant population, are already being tested in PMTCT programmes.1 Lessons from the successful scale-up of HTC in antenatal care (ANC) programmes can be applied to the development of routine testing programmes for adolescents, particularly in subSaharan Africa (in the Asian context, low coverage of PMTCT and ANC limit these opportunities). Some data suggests that adolescents are more likely to drop out of care after delivery than adult women. This should be addressed through youthfriendly linkages and retention-in-care programmes. PMTCT services often find it a challenge to provide referral and adequate preventive services to adolescents testing negative (G. Hainsworth, Pathfinder, personal communication, 2013). Adolescents consistently indicate preferences for compassionate, friendly, and competent staff; counselling linked with testing and other services along the continuum of HIV care; and rapid testing free of charge. The main barriers to testing include stigma and discrimination, perception of low HIV risk, fear of knowing one’s HIV status and of living with HIV. Approaches to increasing uptake of HTC that require further research include pretest risk reduction education, social networking, computerized testing prompts, adolescent-friendly services, and outreach HTC services accompanied by motivational interviewing. Self-testing kits also may expand options for adolescents who are reluctant to seek any type of HTC services; research will also be needed to determine the effectiveness of this approach with this population. 1 About 16 million women 15–19 years of age give birth each year—about 11% of all births worldwide. See http://
Digital transformation provides many opportunities, however many rehabilitation service providers and healthcare professionals in Europe and elsewhere, struggle using the new digital opportunities. The rehabilitation sector was strongly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Part of the challenges faced by the rehabilitation sector include the lack of technical knowledge, capacities, and didactical competencies in the application of digital rehabilitation. One of the main identified challenges in the adaption of new digital opportunities, is the access to relevant and evidence-based knowledge of which solutions to use or how to include digital rehabilitation into the scope of services provided. The overall objective of the project DIRENE (Competence for the new era of user- driven digital rehabilitation) is to contribute towards the resilience of rehabilitation systems through the development of digital rehabilitation competences of teachers, students and working life professionals. The specific objectives of the project include: 1) developing knowledge in digital rehabilitation for teachers, students and professionals for competence development in digital rehabilitation and, 2) increasing learning opportunities in digital rehabilitation through theory and evidence-based practice. Users of the project: Users of the DIRENE project can be divided in four groups: educators, learners, practitioners and clients/patients. 1) Educators can be lecturers/teachers of students as well as trainers of professionals and communities in any health and social rehabilitation setting, which would also include engineers/technicians. 2) Learners can be students, professionals and peers who are learning or further studying knowledge/skills/behaviour/competency. 3) Practitioners are professionals who provide therapeutic, medical services/ interventions within the rehabilitation process ("service provider"). 4) Clients/patients are all individuals who receive therapeutic, medical services/ interventions within the rehabilitation process ("user of service" / "customer"). This group may extend on their families / relatives and communities. The project is managed by a multidisciplinary team of experts from the Institute of Rehabilitation of the School of Health and Social Studies. European partners of the project include St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences from Austria, University of Health Sciences Bochum from Germany, University of West Attica from Greece ja University of the Balearic Islands from Spain. During this two-year project the objectives will be achieved through developed Discussion papers, Framework, open pedagogical Handbook and a study Module with open on-line learning materials for the use of identified target groups in Europe and beyond. Links to these are provided in the following chapters and under www.jamk.fi/direne/materials. Follow on twitter: @DireneEu Proceed to the next chapter:
They also may perform a physical exam to help determine the cause of the problem. Indication of tests[ edit ] There is usually an indication for a specific identification of an infectious agent only when such identification can aid in the treatment or prevention of the disease, or to advance knowledge of the course of an illness prior to the development of effective therapeutic or preventative measures. Fungi may cause devastating disease in persons whose defenses against infection have been weakened by malnutritioncanceror the use of immunosuppressive drugs. Swine Flu Swine flu is influenza in pigs caused by influenza virus H1N1 strain. More detailed identification techniques involve the culture of infectious agents isolated from a patient. Viruses are also usually identified using alternatives to growth in culture or animals. Fungi Fungi are large organisms that usually live on dead and rotting animal and plant matter. As the number of infected student increases, it become increasingly more likely that an infected student interacts with another student that already has been infected. Diagnosis[ edit ] Diagnosis of infectious disease sometimes involves identifying an infectious agent either directly or indirectly. In order for the students to predict the number of infections after 4 and 5 interactions, students should notice that the number of infections approximately double with each additional interaction. Immunoassays can use the basic antibody — antigen binding as the basis to produce an electro-magnetic or particle radiation signal, which can be detected by some form of instrumentation. The worm attaches to the intestinal wall and produce eggs. Thus, the technological ability to detect any infectious agent rapidly and specifically are currently available. Tuaremia is spread to humans by insect bites and exposure to tularemia infected animal. Food is the vehicle that spreads the germs and causes the illness. Students will be able to see how behavior can effect their risk of getting infected. The most common way for infectious disease to spread is through the direct transfer of bacteria, viruses or other germs from one person to another. Neither of these colonizations are considered infections. Rickettsial diseases can be treated with antibiotics. In contrast to these relatively independent organisms, there are others that cannot exist at all outside the human body. The benefits of identification, however, are often greatly outweighed by the cost, as often there is no specific treatment, the cause is obvious, or the outcome of an infection is benign. The prion causing mad cow disease and Creutzfeldt—Jakob disease invariably kills all animals and people that are infected. Instrumentation can control sampling, reagent use, reaction times, signal detection, calculation of results, and data management to yield a cost effective automated process for diagnosis of infectious disease.Awards Dr. Matthew Golden awarded the Beyond AIDS Nettie Award. Dr. Matthew Golden received the Beyond AIDS Nettie Award for HIV control and treatment. Infection is the invasion of an organism's body tissues by disease-causing agents, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agents and the toxins they produce. Infectious disease, also known as transmissible disease or communicable disease, is illness resulting from an infection. Infections are caused by infectious agents including viruses, viroids, prions. Founded inthe Infectious Disease Association of California (IDAC) is a non-profit corporation providing continuing medical education to medical doctors in California with an interest in clinical infectious diseases. IDAC is affiliated with the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association and is a recognized specialty organization by the California Medical. treating illnesses becomes a part of a patient's overall care, for example, a patient with HIV/AIDS; One of the best strategies for preventing infectious diseases is immunization. If you acquire an infection while in the hospital, the ID specialist will work with other hospital physicians to help direct your care. Infectious Disease. OraSure Technologies is a global leader in infectious disease diagnostics, and our unique infectious disease assays for HIV, HCV, and influenza provide accurate and easy-to-administer testing methods to help healthcare practitioners easily identify infected people. Infectious Disease Services offers comprehensive diagnostic and state-of-the-art treatment options for inpatients and outpatients with acute and chronic conditions in Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin.Download
‘Breath is the life force, it is our first experience, observe its flow’ What is Meditation? Meditation is a practice that trains attention and concentration, builds self-awareness, and nurtures our health and wellbeing. By training our attention we can see we can choose what thoughts we get hooked up in and where our focus is. We can become comfortable with discomfort, allowing difficult thoughts or sensations to be in the background without getting hooked into story. It helps us learn to be more self-compassionate which we can extend out to others. A byproduct of meditation is that it calms the nervous system, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-digest response). It helps us look after our health and wellbeing. There are many different forms of meditation, which can be formal seated or laying practices with a focus (often the breath), and the informal practice of mindfulness. It usually has a point of inward focus, for example the breath, a word or phrase, or a sensation. It is an awareness state, where the mind is calm yet alert, which trains our concentration and attention. Breathing is part of any practice, it is important to be able to sit with the breath, without judgement and observe it under its usual unconscious control before bringing it into conscious control if practicing breath modulation. A common misconception is that you have to be able to stop thinking, this is not the case the mind is meant to think though can become over active and our self-talk in our thoughts may not be helpful. Our language is something we cover in coaching sessions. With practice we can learn to choose which thoughts to interact with and which to allow to pass by, breaking the chain of everyday thoughts and taking the attention to the present moment. Your thoughts can be considered to be like waves in an ocean and can be observed with all their changing tides. How long & how often to practice There are no set guidelines for duration of practice based on current research, one study found a minimum of 10 minutes makes changes in brain function & attention. We learn by repetition, so alongside the longer daily practice it may be helpful to consider using moments of stillness by using short bursts of meditation, maybe a minute whilst the kettle boils or even 30 seconds before a presentation could be helpful. This is also a helpful way to start practicing if you struggle sustaining attention for more than a few minutes. Meditation is like exercise, you start at the level that is right for you and gradually build things up, like exercise it needs daily practice. Meditation can be part of an overall plan to help you manage pain and stress, and ultimately look after your health and wellbeing. Ann integrates meditation into 1:1 physio and coaching sessions. Links to Ann’s meditations on SoundCloud, free for you to use Breath & Body Awareness https://soundcloud.com/user-103516027/breath-body-awareness Golden Thread Breath (extended exhale practice) https://soundcloud.com/user-103516027/golden-thread-breath Compassion Meditation https://soundcloud.com/user-103516027/compassion-meditation Brook & Mountain Meditation https://soundcloud.com/user-103516027/brook-mountain-meditation Loving Kindness Meditation https://soundcloud.com/user-103516027/loving-kindness-meditation
Asking if Job was a real, historical person is something like asking if there really was a boy who cried wolf once too often. It is like wanting to know how old the Good Samaritan was when he came upon the wounded Jew. These questions miss the point. The important thing about the book of Job is the message it conveys: Have faith and trust in the midst of trouble. With that said, R. Potter, O.P., in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, writes: "It is reasonable to hold and there is ample evidence that Job was the name of an ancient patriarch, sage or hero in Israel and in yet older traditions of Mesopotamia and Egypt."
The reform and reshaping of social systems and technological change has tended to reshape my Personal learning environment<br /> The challenge<br />…is not the development of technology per se which poses such a challenge, but the changing ways people are using technologies to communicate, to learn and the accompanying social effects of such use….<br /> Learning is now seen as intermittent, with individuals spending occasional periods of formal education and training throughout their working life.<br />PLEs are based on the idea that learning will take place in different contexts and situations and will not be provided by a single learning provider<br />the idea of a Personal Learning Environment recognises that learning is continuing and seeks to provide tools to support that learning<br />It also recognises the role of the individual in organising their own learning<br />Mario Roche 10760419<br />“the heart of the concept of the PLE is that it is a tool that allows a learner (or anyone) to engage in a distributed environment consisting of a network of people, services and resources.”<br />Stephen Downes, 2006<br />The following slides are the portal to the world, through which I, as a learners can explore and create, according to my own interests and directions, interacting at all times with friends and community<br /> Mario Roche 10760419<br />This was then ….<br />My first PLE<br /> Mario Roche 10760419<br />After my experience in this subject – e Learning <br />The explosive growth of technology, internet and the world wide web is transforming teaching and learning. This is affecting most people at all levels of learning and education.<br /> This is now…… and will be<br />E-zines, e-journals, e-news letters, weblogs & wikis<br />Mario Roche 10760419<br />e Zine...TAFE<br />E-learning Insights<br />A cross-sectoral podcast on e-learning tools, technologies and issues.<br />NSW Learn Scope Blog & Podcast<br />Nick van Dam's Page<br /> Virtual Learning Environment’<br />My Space and Bebo<br /> Mario Roche 10760419<br />It is not just young people who use social software for learning……..<br />..Life long learners do too…<br />Most informal learning is learner driven, problem based, or motivated by interest<br />Google is the most used e-learning application<br />most learning is unaccredited <br /> Mario Roche 10760419<br />TO BE CONTINUED ……………………..<br /> A particular slide catching your eye? Clipping is a handy way to collect important slides you want to go back to later.
Stonehenge is one of the world’s most famous ancient monuments and is visited by people from all over the world. It leads us to ask many questions – what is Stonehenge and why was it built? Why did the Neolithic people position the stones in such a specific shape and pattern? What was it used for? The sun, sky and stars help us to unlock some of these questions, and uncover the mysteries of Stonehenge. Humans have always been fascinated by the stars and the sky, trying to find meaning to the universe and our place in it. Stonehenge shows that Neolithic people also put importance on objects in the sky. Today, we explore the sky by stargazing and using science to understand the secrets of our universe.
Although the human body is able to go for weeks without eating, food is still vital to our own existence. Be it food that you love eating, such as comfort food, snacks, or eating at a high end restaurant, or food that you need to eat for sustenance. Food is food. Food is food as far as our tastes are concerned. But, if the stomachs and by extension, our whole body is involved, food is more than just food. It’s the battery that helps keep our body operating optimally. I said earlier that the body could go weeks without eating and it is true. The body can survive with water alone sustaining it, however, that isn’t a good idea. There is not only the absence of taste it also means that your body has nothing to take in. Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes For those of you who prefer a more visual experience, here is a video review by ReviewsMS’ YouTube channel. To get a comprehensive overview of Digestive Enzymes, you may still want to check out our article below. Enzymes and Digestion Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes If we consume food it is processed in in a manner that the nutrients are useful to the body. This process is what we are all familiar with as digestion. The process of digestion occurs in the digestive system that starts with the mouth, and then ends with waste being deposited in the anus. We are all aware of this. It has been taught in the school since the 5th grade. But, do we actually know what happens inside the stomach? Do we really know how and why food gets digested? If we are talking about digestion, there is another thing that shouldn’t be left out of the topic. Enzymes. These are the primary players in turning food from food into nutrients. The enzymes are also responsible for nearly all biological reactions inside and outside the body. It is safe to say that life isn’t exactly the same without enzymes. And that is if life can even exist in the first place in the first. There are three parts that are the most responsible for providing the body with enzymes. These are the stomach and small intestine and the pancreas. The pancreas is known as an enzyme “powerhouse” in the human body, as it is responsible for the enzymes required to are responsible for breaking down proteins, carbohydrates and fats. You may already be aware of this that there are a variety of types of digestive enzymes that break down different types of food. The pancreas, which is the central organ that we have discussed is responsible for three types of digestive enzymes that are the main ones. They are: - Amylase, which breaks down complex carbohydrates. Also , it is produced in the mouth. - Lipase breaks down fats. - Protease is a protein-breaking enzyme that breaks down proteins. The small intestine is also the source of several major enzymes, which include: - Lactase, which breaks down lactose. - Sucrase which breaks down sucrose. When the body lacks certain enzymes, or if their bodies do not have the capacity to release needed enzymes, they are suffering from a condition called digestive enzyme insufficiency. When someone has digestive enzyme insufficiency is unable to break down certain food items and absorb specific nutrients. In this situation where the body is unable to produce enough lactase in order to digest sugars found in dairy and milk products. Digestive enzyme insufficiency isn’t an illness to be taken lightly. It can lead to an inability to eat and stomach irritation. Symptoms of these can include: - Pain in the belly or cramps - Oily stools - Unproved weight loss. Whenever you feel prolonged symptoms like these, it is advised to consult your physician. However, for lighter symptoms, you can always supplement your digestive enzyme by taking supplements. Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes Vitapost Digestive Enzymes Vitapost Digestive Enzymes is a nutritional supplement that can aid those who have difficulty digesting food or have a shortage of enzymes within your body. It is a carefully chosen blend of enzymes for enhanced digestion and nutrient absorption. Vitapost DIgestive Enzymes aid in food digestion through a formulation of carefully selected enzymes which target the problem or increase what is already in the stomach. It is marketed as an “everyday digestive aid” It is designed to be taken regularly But, it does not mean that it can’t be used to treat or prevent illness or allergies. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes are just an ingredient. It is not a medication and should not be utilized as the same. While digestive enzyme supplements are beneficial to you, but the most effective nutrients for digestion are the ones that are naturally produced by the body. Therefore supplements should only be used whenever needed. Always consult with your doctor prior to taking any kind of supplements. Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes Digestive Enzymes and Work What are they doing? VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Work Let’s face it, the internet and its online stores all over is brimming with digestive enzyme supplements. Some of these supplements contain specific enzymes that digest certain kinds of food items. If you’re having trouble digesting sugar or starch the supplements will give you the enzymes needed to digest starch or sugar. However, Vitapost Digestive Supplements is different. The supplement is formulated with numerous enzymes. This allows the supplement to process different kinds of food. Overall, VitaPost Digestive Enzymes has enzymes that assist in digesting carbohydrates, protein, and other enzymes. Vitapost Digestive Enzymes have also been regarded as catalysts, since they allow chemical reactions take place more quickly. They speed up the process of digestion of food, thus providing the body with a quicker digestion time and the ability to take in the nutrients. The ingredients that are included in the formula of the supplement give it a sense of legitimacy. Vitapost Digestive enzymes is comprised of, you guessed it digestive enzymes which help breakdown the body into nutrients and chemicals that your body requires. When you look at the ingredient lists, you can’t help from thinking that this digestive supplements got all their bases provided. From the usual gluten protein, starches and dairy, to oils, fats grains, even sugar from table, it looks like the VitaPost Digestive Enzyme supplement is ready to digest. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Ingredients When looking to buy supplements, it should be your normal practice to look for what the product is made up of. It could be probiotics, dietary or even digestive enzymes or any other type of supplement that does not transparently reveal the ingredients it contains should not be trusted. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes is not similar to that. In their case, Vitapost Digestive Enzymes clearly placed its list of ingredient front and center. The list can be found on the packaging of the bottle. However, you might notice that there’s a noticeable difference between the usual label of ingredients than what is listed on this products list. For instance, you could find that one ingredient has the unit of DU or HUT instead of the usual grams or kg. The reason behind this has a lot to do with the ingredients that make up the product. Like the name implies, Vitapost Digestive Enzymes contain mostly composed of enzymes. To ensure the sake of transparency VItapost categorizes these enzymes according to the type of food that they breakdown. For instance, if the product is talking of enzymes which break up carbohydrates, like Amylase, it will be in the form of DU. Additionally, as the supplement is composed of enzymes, these ingredients are classified into the types of food they consume. They are classified into three classifications consisting of proteins enzymes carbohydrate enzymes, and various other beneficial enzymes. Protein enzymes are amongst the most hardworking enzymes in the body as they serve multiple roles in the body. Among these functions is breaking down proteins that the body consumes and then converting them into amino acids. The protein enzymes found inside VitaPost Digestive Enzymes include: Protease 1 and 2, Bromelain, Papain, Aspergillopepsin and Peptidase - Proteases 1 and 2 These enzymes are among the most essential when it comes to proteolysis that is the procedure of breaking protein into amino acids. Additionally, they are also used to create new protein products - Bromelain is a type of enzyme that is found in pineapple juice, specifically in the root of the pineapple. For a long time, it’s been used in Asia as a cure for soreness, burns, and pain of muscles, as well as many other conditions. - Papain – Another enzyme that assists in breaking down protein into amino acids as well as peptides. Papain is specifically found and extracted from raw papatay fruit. Apart from breaking down proteins, papain may also help neutralize toxic chemicals in cheeses, meats and nuts. - Aspergillopepsin – A different enzyme which breaks down gluten. In contrast to mammalian pepsin is able to extensively hydrolyze gluten from food into peptides that are short. - Peptidase – They are enzymes that break down gluten. Peptidase are capable of cleaving and often inactivating small proteins. Not only do they destroy proteins, they can also be used to modify the structure of proteins. As the name suggests, Carbohydrate enzymes are enzymes which concentrate on digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. After consumption of carbohydrates they mix into saliva inside the mouth, which is the first step toward the digestive process. Following that, it travels to the stomach and then moves to the small intestine - Amylase – If you consume the starchy food like rice or potatoes, it is amylase that is the enzyme that is mainly responsible for their digestion. Amylase is naturally produced by the pancreas before entering the small intestine. There it assists catalyze transformation of starch into glucose syrups - Glucoamylase – This is also an enzyme that serves similar purposes to amylase. It breaks down starchy foods and converts them into glucose. Both amylase and glucoamylase are produced by the pancreas, it is also made within the mouth. Glucoamylase can also aid in digestion and smoothness as well as helping to avoid many digestive disorders, such as heavyness and bloating, as well as lethargy gas, loose stool. - Lactase is an enzyme that mostly process lactose, a chemical found in milk. An imbalance in lactase could cause a person to be lactose intolerant. Lactase is a enzyme that breaks down sugars in milk into two basic sugars: galactose and glucose - Beta-glucanase – This enzyme is responsible for the hydrolysis of beta-glucans. In general, it breaks down the sugars present in oats and barley, where beta-glucans can be found within the cell walls of microorganisms. - Invertase Invertase Invertase is named after an inverted sugar syrup. The process that creates this substance comes from invertase breaking down sucrose into fructose as well as glucose which were earlier referred to as inverted sugar syrup. In order to aid the protein and carbohydrate enzymes in their function additional enzymes are included in the formula for Vitapost Digestive Enzymes. These enzymes were specifically added to aid in digestion and breaking down a greater variety of foods. From plant-based diets to fatty and oily food items, these enzymes are certain to aid in breaking them down quickly. Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes - Lipase The Lipase enzyme is an important enzyme especially to those who enjoy fatty and oily foods. It is a fact of to know that foods rich in fats and oils, although delicious, can be an irritant to your stomach. This makes the delicious food less satisfying. With lipase, the body will have no difficulty digesting the majority of them. It has also been proven to reduce the feeling of fullness when the enzyme is consumed along with the meals. - Cellulase, Hemicellulase, xylanase, pectinase – This group of enzymes are responsible for breaking down the plant matter that you consume in your diet. They are particularly involved in digestion of the difficult cell walls of plants and the plant fibers that are present in these types of diet. - The Phytase enzyme is among the vital enzymes required to aid digestion. The phytase enzyme is an essential enzyme when it comes to bone health. When phytase is activated it breaks down a chemical called phytic acid. The acid can bind vital minerals that are required by the body such as zinc and iron. With Phytase it is possible for these iron and zinc are released, and are easily absorbed by the body. In addition, Phytase is also used to improve mineral absorption like calcium, and also the zinc and iron. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Dosage, and Utilization As with most supplements on available, it needs the same dosage in order to receive the most benefit out of VitaPost Digestive Enzymes. In this situation it is suggested to take one or two capsules prior to every meal. But, it could be impractical given that one bottle of VitaPost Digestive Enzyme has 60 capsules. The recommended dosage may be a bottle that lasts only 10 days. A good sweet spot is to consume two tablets daily, making sure to use it in the middle of your most heavy meals. Doing so maximizes your usage of the capsule while still permitting your body to function without any supplements. However, the number of times you take each capsule is up to you. Six capsules is recommended to be your limit. More than that may cause adverse effects. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Effects Because it’s an dietary supplement for digestion, VitaPost Digestive Enzymes main benefits are to aid in good digestion. If taken properly they will enable the body to have a more easy and quicker time of absorbing nutrients from the foods you’ve consumed. With good and proper digestion the positive side effects of digestion will be evident. This can include clear skin and less migraines, as well as body pains, and headaches. How your skin appears is a tell of the overall health of your body. Acne-related breakouts could be a sign of something going on inside your body. However the clear complexion indicates that your body is healthy. This is a good sign of a operating digestive system. As a result, a clear skin and a healthy digestive system can also mean less suffering and fatigue. This is due to the fact that migraines, body pains, and headaches are the result of issues underlying to an inflammation of the gut or other conditions. These disorders can be caused by a lack of nutrients when the digestive system isn’t digesting and absorbing your diet very well. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Side Effects With VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Supplements there have been no reported negative side effects. So, it’s safe to consume so long as you adhere to the recommended dosage. But, as with all food supplements, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding a baby, it is advisable to visit and check with your physician. Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes Another point to be aware of to be aware of is the fact that this supplement is made up of dairy, soy, and wheat, which could cause allergies to some people. If you are someone who have allergic reactions to the ingredients listed above, it may be better to look for an alternative product. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Price VitaPost Digestive Enzyme comes in bottles with 60 capsules in each bottle. VitaPost also sells the product in bundles. It is also crucial to know that shipping costs are not free. Therefore, the cost of shipping can be included in the cost list. - 1 bottle: $24.80 Plus $4.95 Shipping - 2 Bottles: $44.80 Plus $4.95 Shipping - Three Bottles $67.20 + $4.95 Shipping - Four Bottles $74.80 plus $4.95 Shipping Buying multiple bottles rather than only one can help you save many dollars and it even saves lots of shipping. By comparing the price, buying the 4 bottle bundle for $74 is just like buying three bottles and receiving one free. If you believe you’ll be using for the VitaPost Digestive Enzyme to treat your digestive issues for a long time, I would recommend just getting the 4 bottle bundle. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes is only available on the official site. It is therefore essential to access them only there. If you purchase the supplements from other sites on the internet could be a scam. Pros And Cons - No prescriptions are required - Made from natural ingredients - The formula offers a wide variety of enzymes that can cover a wide range of food items. - Helps ease mild digestive problems like indigestion symptoms of bloating, heartburn, and stomach pain - It helps the body take in nutrients more effectively. - The high probability of giving you clear skin - Can help ease fatigue and pain - May not be good for those with allergies since the ingredients contain allergens. - It is not recommended for lactating or pregnant females (check with your physician) - It is not recommended for children younger than 18 years old (check with your doctor) - Only online and on the official website. - Lacks a daily consumer intake - It is possible to take in the long-term to maintain effects. My Verdict on VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Digestive Enzyme supplements usually come in two types. You can choose to go with one that is targeted or choose one that is broad spectrum. VitaPost Digestive Enzymes is the latter. Supplements that offer a broad-spectrum, like VitaPost is particularly suitable for those who are looking to boost their digestive health since they are accustomed to eating a wide range of food palette. The broad-range strategy of VitaPost Digestive Enzyme is clear from just by looking at its ingredients list. This is a great thing as the supplement is transparent about what it can deliver and what it isn’t able to provide. They are simply not waste of time. After receiving my bottles, which mind you, just took three days to reach me I was thrilled about launching my digestive supplement regimen. A pleasant aroma welcomed me when I opened the bottle. It was something I did not expect as I was so used to having supplements that smelled too “medicinal”. The pills also are ideal in terms of size. They’re not too large to make people struggle, and not so small that you question whether you’re taking enough. Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes I’m on my 3rd bottle now and have taken the supplement for three months to date (I choose taking two pills each day, which seems like an ideal sweet spot in my case.) I’ve experienced more regular bowel movements and less digestive issues. The effects were not immediate. I believe it was about the third week that I began to notice that my gut was feeling better , and my frequent trips to the toilet became more regular rather than irregular. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be taking supplements in the near future. Of course, that is until I discover something better, but so far I doubt it. Frequently Answered Questions Which Organs Produce Digestive Enzymes Is VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Supplement Legit? Yes, these are legitimate supplements. Naturally, you must buy VitaPost Digestive Enzymes Supplement at the official website to avoid scams and ensure the authenticity of the product. Where should I buy the VitaPost Digestive Enzymes to ensure the authenticity of the company? They are available for purchase on the official site. Be aware that it’s only available at their website. Shopping with other retailers such as eBay and Amazon may net you fake products. How long should I take this digestive supplement? It is possible to take VitaPost Digestive Enzyme Supplement for as long as you want. Vitapost Digestive Enzymes supplement is a nutritional supplement. To continue enjoying its benefits, it is recommended to use the supplement on a regular basis. Similar to that it is possible to stop taking the supplement whenever you want. I’m not a fan capsules, is there an alternative way to take the supplement? Vitapost Digestive Enzymes can only be purchased in capsules, and should be used as such. Crushing, cutting or altering supplements in any manner shape or form is not recommended. Who should not consume VitaPost Digestive Enzymes? Pregnant and lactating women, children under 18 years old and those with allergies should consult their doctors before taking the supplement.