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Presentation on theme: "An Outline of the Constitution"— Presentation transcript: 1An Outline of the Constitution The Constitution sets out the basic principles upon which government in the United States was built.The Constitution is a fairly brief document.The Constitution is organized into eight sections: the Preamble and seven articles. The original document is followed by 27 amendments. 3Three of the Basic Principles 1. The principle of popular sovereignty asserts that the people are the source of any and all government power, and government can exist only with the consent of the governed.2. The principle of limited government states that government is restricted in what it may do, and each individual has rights that government cannot take away.Constitutionalism (govt. must conduct itself according to the Constitution)Rule of Law (Govt. & its officers are always subject to the law and never above it) 4Three Basic Principles 3. Separation of powers is the principle in which the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government are three independent and coequal branches of government. 5More of the Basic Principles Checks and balances is the system that allows the legislative, executive, and judicial branches to check, or restrain, the actions of one another.The principle of judicial review consists of the power of a court to determine the constitutionality of a governmental action.Federalism is a system of government in which the powers of government are divided between a central government and several local governments. 6S E C T I O N 2 Formal Amendment What are the different ways to formally amend, or change the wording of, the Constitution?How many times has the Constitution been amended?What is the Bill of Rights? 7Amending the Constitution The Constitution provides for its own amendment—that is, for changes in its written words.Article V sets out two methods for the proposal and two methods for the ratification of constitutional amendments, creating four possible methods of formal amendment. 8Formal Amendment Process The four different ways by which amendments may be added to the Constitution are shown here: 9Amendments to the Constitution Collectively, the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. They set out many of our basic freedoms. 10S E C T I O N 3 Informal Amendment How has basic legislation changed the Constitution over time?What powers do the executive branch and the courts have to amend the Constitution?What role do party politics and custom have in shaping the Federal Government? 11Informal Amendment Processes Informal amendment is the process by which over time many changes have been made in the Constitution which have not involved any changes in its written word.The informal amendment process can take place by:(1) the passage of basic legislation by Congress;(2) actions taken by the President;(3) key decisions of the Supreme Court;(4) the activities of political parties; and(5) custom. 12Basic Legislation by Congress Congress passing lawsAdding “flesh to the bones” of the ConstitutionEx: Constitution provides for “Supreme Court and any necessary courts”… other courts have been addedEx: Constitution creates the President & Vice PresidentToday over 14 Executive Departments 13Executive ActionPresidential actions have produced a number of important informal amendments, such as the use of the military under the power of commander in chief.An executive agreement is a pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state. 14Court DecisionsThe nation’s courts, most importantly the United States Supreme Court, interpret and apply the Constitution in many cases they hear. 15Party PracticesThe constitution does not create political parties, however we have them todayParties guide much of American governmentParties elect people to run for President, which is not written in the constitution…an example of an informal amendmentCongressional work usually happens along party lines1. Ex) Iraq…Democrats don’t like it, Republicans support it2. However, the constitution does not create political parties or any other of their processes 16Custom Much the same as tradition Not a written rule, but followed much like oneRunning for more than two terms as President prior to the 22nd amendment in 1951Presidents followed it until FDR decided to run for a third and fourth termSenatorial Courtesy – People appointed by the President must be confirmed by the Senate.If the President’s party member(s) from the state involved agree with the appointee, the Senate usually respects their wishes and confirms that person.
(CNN) -- If you discovered water that could be millions or billions of years old, would you taste it? Barbara Sherwood Lollar does it all the time. She's a geologist in the department of Earth Sciences at the University of Toronto, and collaborated with other researchers on analyzing water found in a Canadian mine in Timmins, Ontario. They published the findings in the journal Nature in May, showing that the water is between 1.5 and 2.6 billion years old -- meaning it has been totally isolated for that long. Lollar dipped the tip of her finger in this water and tested it with her tongue. She found the ancient sample "very salty and bitter -- much saltier than seawater." But while this may sound horrifying, geologists often use their own senses in sampling, she said. It's not just for fun: They're working in dark environments with multiple fractures of water, and they know the waters they want to analyze further are the saltiest, as they're likely to be the oldest. "If you're a geologist who works with rocks, you've probably licked a lot of rocks," she said. It takes more than a taste test to figure out how old water is, however. "We can get a sense of antiquity by looking at things like salinity of the water, and more particularly, looking at oxygen and hydrogen in the water molecule itself," she said. Scientists looked at the amounts of noble gases in the water -- helium is one, for example -- and which isotopes were present. These are signatures of the approximate age of water. This research has implications for what life may exist on other planets. "Equally on somewhere like Mars, any life that formed could have found its way into similar pockets of water in the Martian crust, and our work shows that these pockets of water can survive and provide a place for the life to have survived long after the surface of Mars lost its water and became sterile," said Chris Ballentine, professor of geochemistry at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and senior author on the study, said in an e-mail. Miners have known about the presence of deep salty waters for some time in Canada, Finland and South Africa. Mining literature even mentions it in the 1880s -- but it flew under the radar of scientists until recently. At a different Canadian mine, Lollar and colleagues went to investigate these waters. They discovered that the chemistry was similar to the kinds of waters found in hydrothermal vents at the bottom of the ocean. They also saw that the high salinity of these waters was a result of the chemical reactions going on between the rocks and the water. "This results in water that's full of the kind of energy that can support life," she said. In a South African gold mine, Lollar and colleagues found microbial communities at 1.7 miles deep, living off of dissolved hydrogen in these waters. The waters themselves on the order of tens of millions of years old. That work inspired them to return to Canada, to the Timmins mine, because they theorized that even older waters might flow there, based on the age and geology of the rocks. Down in the mine, it's "dark, dusty, very noisy and hot," Ballentine said. The ancient water found there is a natural phenomenon; it's not there because of the mines. "It's just that the mines allow us to get down there and get at them," Lollar said. "They're our equivalent of the deep sea submarines." The waters themselves are flowing, bubbling out of fractures in the rock, or boreholes that intersect with the fractures. The next step is to estimate the age of other deep waters all over the planet, so that they can compare and contrast what they may find in terms of life that lives far underground in these packets of water. They are still in the process of looking for life in the samples from the Timmins mine; working up this data is "painstaking work," she said. Ballentine said the water is not drinkable, but admitted, "the water is crystal clear when it first comes out of the rock and looks very tempting." Lollar is quick to deny full-on drinking these ancient waters -- she's literally just talking about putting the tip of her finger to the tip of her tongue. "It's scientifically too valuable to waste like that," she said.
The steamer's destination was telegraphed from waterwheel to waterwheel, and the villagers stopped out and put to according. This waterwheel is designed to be placed in a flowing stream. Ceramic pipes were made to carry water from the spring to a waterwheel. The source of power, hidden by the curious “log cabin” at the right, was probably a waterwheel. He recommended, incidentally, that a Boulton and Watt steam engine be used to pump water to supply the waterwheel. They are as swift as a waterwheel, each of them past another, one of them to the King's room, the other to the fire. The next morning the girl heard the noise of the waterwheel, and she opened the lattice and looked out of the window. This motor is a waterwheel designed for an ordinary hose faucet. And so on the Monday following the waterwheel was set going and the new machinery began to work. The waterwheel was a technological advance replacing human labor whereby the cloth was fulled.
11Defendant The person against whom a claim is made. In a civil suit, the defendant is the person being sued.In a criminal case, the defendant is the person charged with committing a crime. 12Damages1) The injuries or losses suffered by one person due to the fault of another.2) Money asked for or paid (by a court order) for the injuries or losses suffered. 13Liable Legally responsible. If a person gets injured on a bus while attending a school sponsored activity, the school is held liable for injuries or damages. 14RemedyWhat is done to compensate for an injury or to enforce some right. 15LiabilityLegal responsibility, the obligation to do or not do something. The defendant in a torts case incurs liability for failing to use reasonable care, resulting in harm to the plaintiff. 16SettlementA mutual agreement between two sides in a lawsuit, made before the case goes to trial, that settles or ends the dispute. 17Common LawA system in which court decisions establish legal principles and rules of law. 18Intentional WrongActions taken deliberately to harm another person or his or her property. 19NegligenceThe failure to exercise a reasonable amount of care in either doing or not doing something, resulting in harm or injury. 20Strict LiabilityThe legal responsibility for damage or injury even if you are not at fault. 21DefenseA denial answer or plea disputing the correctness of the charges against the defendant. 22Civil Law All law that does not involve criminal matters. Civil Law usually deals with private rights of individuals, groups or businesses. 23MinorA child: a person under the legal age of adulthood. (usually 18 or 21) 24ImmuneBeing free form or protected from some legal action, such as being sued. 25WaiveTo give up some right, privilege, or benefit voluntarily. 26Class ActionA lawsuit brought up by one or more persons on behalf of a larger group. 27Contingency FeeThe fee paid to an attorney based on the sum awarded to his, her client in a lawsuit. 28Liability InsuranceThe type of coverage or insurance that pays for injuries to other people or damage to property if the individual insured is responsible for the accident. 29ContractA legally enforceable agreement between two or more people. 30PremiumsIn insurance, payments made for coverage. 31MalpracticeFailure to meet acceptable standards of practice in a professional or official position; often the basis for lawsuits by clients or patients against their attorney or doctor. 32Medical CoverageWhen dealing with insurance, that which covers an individual’s own medical expenses resulting from accidents. 33CollisionInsurance that pays for damages caused by an automobile collision. 34DeductibleA paragraph in the insurance policy stating that before the insurer will pay for a loss, the insured must pay a certain amount. For example, if the deductible on a policy is $500 and the accident results in repairs costing $1,500, the insured person pays the first $500 and the insurance company pays the remaining $1,000. 35Comprehensive Coverage The portion of an insurance policy that protects an individual against automobile damages or losses. It does not cover damages or losses caused by a collision. It does cover damages or losses caused by such things such as fire, vandalism, or theft. 36Uninsured Motorist Coverage Insurance that protects drivers from those with no insurance or inadequate insurance. 37Worker’s Compensation Insurance A system of compensating employees who are injured on the job. These benefits are paid no matter who caused the accident or injury. 38No Fault InsuranceA form of automobile or accident insurance in which each person’s insurance company pays a certain share of damages, regardless of fault. 39Exclusive RemedyThe only solution, or compensation available to a plaintiff in a particular legal situation.
Take the bull by the horns. We’ve all heard that before — meaning to deal with something in a direct manner or to confront a difficulty rather than avoid it. While it may sound like a modern, American-esque idiom, it traces its roots as far back at the 18th and 19th centuries. Scottish writer Sir Walter Scott used it in The Journal of Sir Walter Scott in 1828: “Wordsworth has a system which disposes him to take the bull by the horns and offend public taste.” Perhaps no one represents the meaning of this famous idiom — both literally and metaphorically — better than bullfighter Conchita Cintrón. Just two years after the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote in the United States, Conchita Cintrón was born in Chile. Raised in Peru by her Puerto Rican father and Connecticut-born mother, she would grow up to become a world-famous torera, or female bullfighter. She rode her first horse at the age of three, and took formal riding lessons when she was only 11. She trained as a rejoneadora, a bullfighter who rides horseback, and made her professional debut as such when she was only a teenager. Cintrón famously fought as both a rejoneadora and a traditional matadora (on foot) in Peru, Portugal, Mexico, Spain, France, Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, and the United States. But as a female, she often met with resistance and laws designed to keep women from bullfighting. “Her skills were not always welcome. This was, and is, a man’s world. She had been trained as a rejoneadora, in the Portuguese version of bullfighting, and was supposed to stay on her horse. Men went on foot to do their dueling with the bull, and to kill it; this was not women’s work. But Ms. Cintrón found her horse got in the way. “Twos always work better than threes,” she liked to say. In her rejoneadora gear—no flashy suit of lights, but a silk jacket, leather chapped trousers and a wide-brimmed hat—she would slide from her steed and right into the close, bloody dance.” “One late fight, in Jaen in 1950, was especially famous. Women were forbidden to fight on foot in Franco’s Spain, in case they were gored in unseemly ways. (Ms. Cintrón was often injured and twice gored, once in each thigh, but managed to finish off the bull after fainting briefly.) On this occasion, having slipped illegally from her horse, she snatched a muleta and sword from the waiting novillero, raised the sword as the bull charged, and then dropped it, instead caressing the huge black neck as it hurtled past. For this “burst of glorious criminality,” as Orson Welles described it, she was instantly arrested and as instantly pardoned, as the crowd rained down hats and carnations. That final caress, with her delicate fingers, was a gesture only a woman might have thought of making.” — Conchita Cintrón obituary, The Economist, March 5, 2009 Don’t get me wrong. I’m in no way wanting to glamorize bullfighting. But, there is no denying the strength and resilience of this woman claiming her life on her own terms, with such intention and passion. In Conchita Cintrón they called it tener duende, loosely translated from the poetic Spanish meaning to have soul, a heightened state of emotion, expressions and authenticity. Who wouldn’t want to strive for that as we make our way in this world? Life brings us challenges every day — small decisions, big decisions, moments of change and transition, charging bulls. We can cower and ride safely above it. Or, we can get down off our horse and take the bull by the horns! “I have never had any qualms about it….A qualm or a cringe before 1,200 pounds of enraged bull would be sure death.” — Conchita Cintrón, The New York Sun, September 1940 • • •
First World War The airplane quickly became a tool of war, despite the scepticism of Sam Hughes, Canadian Minister of Militia and Defence. Canada did not have its own air force in the First World War but Canadian airmen served with the British Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force (RAF) and The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Of these men, 192 emerged as “aces,” having destroyed more than five enemy aircraft each. W.A. “Billy” Bishop and William Raymond Collishaw topped this list, becoming household names that remain familiar to us even a century later. Second World War Bomber Command and No.6 Group When the Second World War broke out, the RCAF had a total Permanent Force strength of only 298 officers and 2,750 men. But these numbers grew rapidly. By 1943, Canada had its own group within Bomber Command of the RAF, which consisted of fifteen squadrons, flying Lancasters, Halifaxes and Wellingtons. The Bomber Command exhibit retells the story of No. 6 (RCAF) Group and features reproductions of aircraft nose-art painted on original aircraft exteriors. You can even experience a pre-flight briefing in an authentic Second World War Nissen hut. British Commonwealth Air Training Program The British Commonwealth Air Training Program (BCATP) was developed after the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) made it too hazardous to train aircrew in Britain. Between 1940 and 1945, the BCATP trained more than 130,000 airmen from Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand. Enough material was used to construct runways for the program that the same amount of material could have paved a highway from Vancouver to Ottawa. The BCATP had training facilities in over 200 locations across Canada and almost 100 of them were airfields. The museum contains an extensive exhibit of flying centers across the prairies, the programs candidates were taught, and descriptions of different aircraft pilots learned to fly. RCAF Operations Overseas The Battle of Britain was the first campaign that Canadian airmen served in as a solely Canadian unit. No. 6 Bomber Group and other RCAF squadrons of fighters and nightfighters were stationed in Britain throughout the Second World War, in addition to two transport squadrons located in the Far East. First Gulf War The Desert Cats The First Gulf War took place between Aug 1990 and Feb 1991. It was a war waged by a coalition of 35 nations against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait. Personnel from Canadian Forces Europe were deployed during the first week of October 1990 including a squadron of Canadian CF-18 fighter jets tasked with enforcing the embargo against Iraq and flying aerial missions against Iraqi forces on the ground.
The ITCILO in collaboration with the ACCEL Project in Africa is offering this self-guided online training to improve the communicating on child labour. This course will introduce learners to some of the practicalities of preparing and producing a news article on child labour in a compelling and ethical manner. It will also cover child labour concepts and definitions. This course can be completed at your own pace This course blends knowledge on child labour with practical tips on compelling reporting The contents are also available in an easy to download version This self-guided course considers the practicalities of preparing and producing a news article on child labour in a compelling and ethical manner. It is hoped that the course will help to contribute to the drafting and publication of quality news stories on child labour. The course is intended for journalists and anyone involved in communicating about child labour. It is especially targeted at: This self-guided course is organized around a pre course module (normative role of the ILO, international labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work) and three technical modules on reporting on child labour. The pre course module provides an overview of international labour standards and child labour concepts and definitions, whereas the three technical modules on reporting on child labour consist of course notes, case studies to help participants think critically about child labour and periodic knowledge assessments (i.e. quizzes). The contents of the three technical modules emulate the 5 steps of preparing a news report on child labour : understanding the story, finding the story, getting the story, telling the story and follow-up. The course notes are also available in a downloadable format (Articulate Rise). Web resources which can be accessed to research relevant topics covered during the course have been included in each module. Upon completion of the course notes, all of the assessments (quizzes) and the pre and post knowledge assessment test a certificate of completion will be automatically delivered. All learners will also be required to provide feedback on this course by completing the end of training evaluation. By the end of this course the learner will be familiar with the practical aspects of identifying and developing a news story on child labour. They will also be aware of the ethical concerns that may arise during the story identification and preparation phases. This free course is available on eCampus, the ITCILO's online learning platform.
Presentation on theme: "Physical Evidence used to Establish Reference Conditions for the Southwest Jemez CFLR Project In order to set goals that underlie restoration treatments,"— Presentation transcript: Physical Evidence used to Establish Reference Conditions for the Southwest Jemez CFLR Project In order to set goals that underlie restoration treatments, it is essential to know as much as possible about past forest conditions, especially the “reference conditions” that existed before forest structure and function were altered by the disruption of the frequent fire regime as extensive settlement influenced the environment. The “reference conditions” were not unchanging through time, but were sustained across what has been called a “natural range of variability” (Falk1990; Landres et al. 1999). The evidence data that we obtain is not just a point in time reference, but a representation of a range of healthy sustainable conditions that existed for hundreds of years. These conditions enabled the “evolutionary environment” of Southwestern conifer trees – an environment in which tree species, plants and animals evolved and adapted under a frequent fire ecological process. Restoring conditions similar to those of the natural range of variability is more than trying to return to the past; rather, it is a good way to assure the long-term health of these forests into the future. One way to determine reference conditions is to collect evidence data from physical remains of old trees. Trees present before the disruption of the frequent fire regime, that historically regulated the ecological function of these forests, are an obvious source of information about forest structure at an earlier time. While many of the trees standing at that time have either died naturally or been harvested, their remains generally persist for many decades in the arid climate of the Southwest. Searching for and identifying these remains can establish some of the most accurate records of past forest structure and composition. This report documents the types of physical evidence that was utilized to establish the HRV, or historic stand densities, that were associated with the frequent fire regimes that shaped the ecological processes of these forests prior to the on set of expanded settlement activities that disrupted the frequent fire regime. For the Southwest Jemez project we determined 1880 as the date when frequent fire was disrupted. To gather reference information, we randomly located one acre plots (209’X209’) within the sample areas. We then located and tallied all the historic evidence within the plot (stumps, logs, snags and live trees that were determined to be in place 132 years ago). We recorded tree species, but we did not map tree locations within the plot; instead, we made observations about historic tree arrangement. We also made notes on existing stand conditions but did not collect quantitative data on basal area, trees per acre, tree age, etc. We did collect quantitative data related to species composition and tree densities (TPA). This photo shows two pieces of evidence that we incorporated into our data to assess reference conditions; downed logs and cut stumps representing trees that were known to have been in existence in 1880. Downed logs. Especially where fire has been absent, fallen trees can persist for decades on the forest floor. Applying a common understanding of tree decaying concepts, it is possible to identify those trees that were present at the time of the frequent fire regime, in this case 1880 (based on fire history studies done for the area). Even where fires occurred evidence of downed trees were seldom completely eliminated. The dense wood of the tree roots and lower bowl will last for decades and provide a reliable source to re-establish historic structure. Stumps. Most of the Southwest’s large ponderosa pine and Douglas Fir trees were cut during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but in most instances their stumps still persist. Again data indicating diameter, cross-dating tree rings, and applying tree decay factors can establish trees existence at a time prior to the alteration of frequent fire. In addition to determining if a stump qualifies as a tree that was in existence at the time period of interest, we also identify the tree species and look at the historic spatial patterns. In this photo one can see a single stump in the foreground and several evidences in the far ground that were part of a tree group (arrows). It is possible to find evidence of old tree bark in the soil (arrow) that indicates the diameter of the tree. Where fire or other impacts have left only the core portion of the tree stump it is necessary to look at decay factors to verify that the stump in question meets the criteria to be counted. Even when fire impacts the evidence it is rare that all of the stump is destroyed. As in this case both sides of the stump remain. Even when the interior portion has been consumed by fire. Information obtained at a stump, where fire or other elements have not impacted the evidence, can be applied to other evidence in the area. Here the center core of the stump remains along with an exterior portion of the stump and the root system, making it easy to “size” this stump and determine it should be included in the HRV tally. By utilizing this information it was possible to evaluate a near by stump where only the center core was present and conclude that it too should be counted. Another example of a cut tree stump that can be located and utilized as evidence of the historic forest structure, including tree density, species composition, size and structural pattern on the landscape. Live trees. Trees that were shown to have been in place at the time period being evaluated (in the case of the SW Jemez project we used trees that were >132 years old), were also identified and tallied as part of the historic tree structure. Snags. In addition to stumps, logs and live trees we also evaluated snags (arrow), and based on size appropriateness and decay factors included them in the historic tree structure. As with tree stumps, snags can with stand certain elements of fire and continue to provide reference information for long periods of time. This photo shows snags (blue arrows), down logs (orange arrows) and live trees (red arrow), that would be included in the determination of the historic structure. We also evaluated adjacent areas where the historic frequent fire regime structure had not been impacted by logging. This photo was taken at the Monument Canyon Research Natural Area where no historic tree harvest occurred. This area was treated (tree removal) to maintain most of the historic structure. However, not all of the remaining trees in the photo are historic frequent fire regime trees. But this Research Natural Area provides an excellent opportunity to evaluate historic tree conditions. It also provides evidence of how frequent fire regulated stand structure and density. We also looked at areas, outside of our sample plots, that we encountered in the field, where groups of live pre- settlement (pre 1880) trees remained mostly intact (arrows), to evaluate historic tree patterns. By looking for and documenting historical tree evidence it is possible to gain an understanding of the tree pattern, structure and composition that existed when frequent fire influenced the forest. That information can then be compared to existing conditions to evaluate the restoration needs of the forest.
The Monk of Athwa's works (c. 1740), as of now almost all still untranslated, would probably reveal even more passages like this. This passage would be very fitting at the beginning of any scholarly tome devoted to investigating warfare and its effect on society. It is also a good example of the Buddhist theme of impermanence in literature (The end of the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber being another). Here is the passage: "All the kings who have come down in succession from Mahasamatto [Mahathammada] to Samala and Wimala and their successors who have been kings until now, are thousands and ten thousands of generations." "All these kings have sought to escape the dominion of Death. Thus they have done: having become Kings, they have planted defences, they have dug moats, they have raised walls and made firm their battlements, they have furnished swords and spears, bows and arrows, muskets, artillery, and engines of war. They have gathered in provisions and mustered armies. They have beaten out weapons, and that they might get the mastery over Death, they have put forth every effort and used every art. All kings have done this have they not?" "Although these Kings have arranged and planned for their own defence, not one has been able to gain the mastery over Death. Not one has managed to free himself from the power of Death. All rulers have to submit to the power of Death, all of them. Is it not so?" (Source: Monk of Athwa, Slapat Rajawan Datow Smin Ron [History of Kings], translated from the Mon by Halliday, edited by Christian Bauer (2000) The Mons of Burma and Thailand: Volume 2. Selected Articles, Robert Halliday, Bangkok : White Lotus ) The Monk of Athwa: The greatest and most prolific of all Mon authors Many of the Mon language works printed at the Pak Lat Press in the early 20th century were authored by one monk known as the Monk of Athwa. This monk supposedly accompanied others fleeing from Pegu during the interregnum preceding the founding of the Konbaung dynasty (1752-1885)and since the books had been left behind to the ravages of war, this monk set to work rewriting them, mostly from memory interpolating in his own literary style in the process. I've included another quote from a monk of Athwa's work on Burmese oppression over the Mon south in another blog entry. All of the books he wrote can now only be found in rare manuscripts in places like the Myanmar National library in Yangon or the British Library in London. The books he wrote include the Loasiddhi, a book of rules and sayings, the Lik blai bha [Schoolboy’s Book], the Mingala Sutta from the Buddhist Canon of sacred texts, a translation from the Burmese of the poem Parami Kan, the Wan dacit [The Nine Vansas], a collection of works including Buddhawan, Dhatuwan, Mahawan, Rajawan, as well as other legal and didactical works. Halliday indicates that at the time of writing the Bernard Free Library, the predecessor of the Myanmar National Library, had 304 manuscripts in its catalogue, the earliest dating back to 1655. Some of the works predate this date, but they have been copied and recopied, so don’t let anyone tell you that just because a manuscript dates from a relatively recent times it means the book didn’t originate far in the past. It mahave been copied several times, split apart and rejoined with other texts, several times, all producing complexities in the textual genealogies that philology has yet to unravel and figure out. (Halliday in Christian Bauer (ed.) (2000) The Mons of Burma and Thailand: Volume 1. The Talaings, Robert Halliday, Bangkok : White Lotus, pp. 147-152).
Saturday, March 26, 2016 Citations for sophrosyne So why do we continue to set ourselves the Herculean task of total self-denial, abnegation and avoidance instead of practising that other ancient Greek model of sophrosyne--temperance, prudence and self-control? Why cut out when we can simply cut down? They praised the right mean between extravagant extremes, and, of virtues and vices, emphasized the vice of arrogant boastfulness (hubris) which led kings like Xerxes to assume the attributes and lay claim to the qualities that belong only to the gods, and the virtue of self-control (sophrosyne) which kept a man within the limits of good conduct. Origin of sophrosyne Sophrosyne stems from the Greek sṓphrōn meaning "prudent." It entered English in the late 1800s.
Ottumwa WWII era building to become flight museum OTTUMWA (AP) — A nonprofit group in Ottumwa is raising money to turn a 1942 building into a museum to remember thousands of pilots who learned how to fly at the Naval Air Station there during World War II. The group hopes the two-story, 23,000-square-foot former air station administration building can open as a museum in five years, the Ottumwa Courier reported. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places but needs significant repair. Stephen Black and other board members of the Friends of Naval Air Station Ottumwa have devoted countless hours to rehabilitating the former administration building. The roof was recently re-shingled, and the next project will be to remove and rebuild the crumbling concrete steps leading to the entryway's doors and windows, which also need to be replaced. “And we continue to clean, which is our big project,” Black said. “It doesn't have a lot of visibility, and isn't going to for a while.” The Naval Air Station operated from 1942 to 1945 north of Ottumwa on the site that is now the city airport and an industrial park. More than 4,600 pilots completed training at the base, including Richard Nixon and Scott Carpenter, who went on to become the second U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth in 1962. Black, who is collecting stories of those who served or worked at the Ottumwa base, recently visited the 88-year-old Carpenter in Tucson, Ariz. “I told him that any of the guys who came through here were only students for a few months, but he ... interrupted me and said that this (NAS Ottumwa) was important to him,” Black said. “His journey into space started here.”
Health Lessons You Overlooked and May Have Mistook The Dr. Seuss Diet In light of the highly anticipated release of The Lorax on the big screen, we thought we'd look at the lessons Dr. Seuss taught us about diet, fitness, and moderation. He may not have set out to do so, but we all know there's more than meets the eye in each of his classic tales. For instance, Green Eggs and Ham is all about trying new things. In The Lorax, we should take care of our environment, which offers a bounty of healthy foods. In Hop on Pop, we should embrace play time as exercise. See all of these examples and more in the following pages, and be sure to tell us the best health lesson you learned from the good doctor!Next Slide 1 / 8
When the Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire on 17 December 2010, it was in protest at heavy-handed treatment and harassment in the province where he lived. But a host of new studies suggest that a major factor in the subsequent uprisings, which became known as the Arab spring, was food insecurity. Drought, rocketing bread prices, food and water shortages have all blighted parts of the Middle East. Analysts at the Centre for American Progress in Washington say a combination of food shortages and other environmental factors exacerbated the already tense politics of the region. As the Observer reports today, an as-yet unpublished US government study indicates that the world needs to prepare for much more of the same, as food prices spiral and longstanding agricultural practices are disrupted by climate change. "We should expect much more political destabilisation of countries as it bites," says Richard Choularton, a policy officer in the UN's World Food Programme climate change office. "What is different now from 20 years ago is that far more people are living in places with a higher climatic risk; 650 million people now live in arid or semi-arid areas where floods and droughts and price shocks are expected to have the most impact. "The recent crises in the Horn of Africa and Sahel may be becoming the new normal. Droughts are expected to become more frequent. Studies suggest anything up to 200 million more food-insecure people by 2050 or an additional 24 million malnourished children. In parts of Africa we already have a protracted and growing humanitarian disaster. Climate change is a creeping disaster," he said. The Mary Robinson climate justice foundation is hosting a major conference in Dublin this week. Research to be presented there will say that rising incomes and growth in the global population, expected to create 2 billion more mouths to feed by 2050, will drive food prices higher by 40-50%. Climate change may add a further 50% to maize prices and slightly less to wheat, rice and oil seeds. "We know population will grow and incomes increase, but also that temperatures will rise and rainfall patterns will change. We must prepare today for higher temperatures in all sectors," said Gerald Nelson, a senior economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington. All of the studies suggest the worst impacts will be felt by the poorest people. Robinson, the former Irish president, said: "Climate change is already having a domino effect on food and nutritional security for the world's poorest and most vulnerable people. Child malnutrition is predicted to increase by 20% by 2050. Climate change impacts will disproportionately fall on people living in tropical regions, and particularly on the most vulnerable and marginalised population groups. This is the injustice of climate change – the worst of the impacts are felt by those who contributed least to causing the problem." But from Europe to the US to Asia, no population will remain insulated from the huge changes in food production that the rest of the century will bring. Frank Rijsberman, head of the world's leading Cgiar crop research stations, said: "There's a lot of complacency in rich countries about climate change. We must understand that instability is inevitable. We already see a lot of refugees. Perhaps if a lot of people come over on boats to Europe or the US that would wake them up." Asia and Oceania China is relatively resilient to climate change. Its population is expected to decline by up 400 million people this century, easing demand on resources, and it has the capacity to buy in vast quantities of food. But because more and more Chinese are changing to a more meat-based diet, its challenges will be land and cattle feed. Climate change will affect regions in different ways, but many crops are expected to migrate northwards. Crop losses are increasingly being caused by extreme weather events, insect attacks and diseases. The 2011 drought lifted food prices worldwide. Wheat is becoming harder to grow in some northern areas of China as the land gets drier and warmer. In southern China, droughts in recent years have replaced rainy seasons. The national academy of agricultural sciences expects basic food supplies to become insufficient around the year 2030. A new study for US Aid expects most of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand to see 4-6C temperature rises by 2050. The Lower Mekong region of 100 million people, which is prone to weather extremes, could also see rainfall increase 20% or more in some areas, reducing the growth of rice and other staple crops. Many provinces will see food production decline significantly. The number of malnourished children in the region may increase by 9 to 11 million by 2050. Extreme events will increasingly affect agriculture in Australia. Key food-growing regions in the south are likely to experience more droughts in the future, with part of western Australia having already experienced a 15% drop in rainfall since the mid-1970s. The number of record-breaking hot days in Australia has doubled since the 1960s, also affecting food output. Climate change affects agricultural production through its effects on the timing, intensity and variability of rainfall and shifts in temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations. Crops normally seen growing in the south of Europe will be able to be grown further north. This would allow more sweetcorn, grapes, sunflowers, soya and maize to be grown in Britain. In Scotland, livestock farming could become more suitable. At the higher latitudes warmer temperatures are predicted to lengthen and increase the intensity of the growing season. But more CO2 and a major temperature rise could cut yields by around 10% later in the century. Latest EU projections suggest the most severe consequences of climate change will not be felt until 2050. But significant adverse impacts are expected earlier from more frequent and prolonged heatwaves, droughts and floods. Many crops now grown in southern Europe, such as olives, may not survive high temperature increases. Southern Europe will have to change the way it irrigates crops. In Europe's high and middle latitudes, global warming is expected to greatly expand the growing season. Crops in Russia may be able to expand northwards but yields will be much lower because the soils are less fertile. In the south, the climate is likely to become much drier which will reduce yields. In addition, climate change is expected to make water resources scarcer and encourage weeds and pests. In 2011, Russia banned wheat and grain exports after a heatwave. Warming will increase forest fires by 30-40%. This will affect soil erosion and increase the probability of floods. In the Middle East and north Africa, declining yields of up to 30% are expected for rice, about 47% for maize and 20% for wheat. The US is expected to grow by 120 million people by 2050. Government scientists expect more incidents of extreme heat, severe drought, and heavy rains to affect food production. The warming is expected to continue without undue problems for 30 years but beyond 2050 the effects could be dramatic with staple crops hit. According to the latest government report: "The rising incidence of weather extremes will have increasingly negative impacts on crop and livestock productivity, because critical thresholds are already being exceeded." Many agricultural regions of the US will experience declines. California's central valley will be hard hit with sunflowers, wheat, tomato, rice, cotton and maize expected to lose 10-30% of their yields, especially beyond 2050. Fruit and nut crops which depend on "winter chilling" days may have to relocate. Animals exposed to many hot nights are increasingly stressed. Many vegetable crops will be hit when temperatures rise only a few degrees above normal. Nearly 20% of all US food is imported, so climate extremes elsewhere will also have an effect. In 2011, 14.9% of US households did not have secure food supplies and 5.7% had very low food security. Because few crops can withstand average temperature rises of more than 2C, Latin America expects to be seriously affected by a warming climate and more extreme weather. Even moderate 1-2C rises would cause significant damage to Brazil, one of the world's biggest suppliers of food crops. Brazilian production of rice, beans, manioc, maize and soya are all expected to decline, with coffee especially vulnerable. Other studies suggest Brazil's massive soya crop, which provides animal feed for much of the world, could slump by more than 25% over the next 20 years. Two major crops should do well: quinoa and potatoes. Many African countries are already experiencing longer and deeper droughts, floods and cyclones. The continent is expected to suffer disproportionately from food insecurity, due to fast-growing vulnerable populations. Egypt expects to lose 15% of its wheat crops if temperatures rise 2C, and 36% if the increase is 4C. Morocco expects crops to remain stable up to about 2030, but then to drop quickly later. Most north African countries traditionally import wheat and are therefore highly vulnerable to price shocks and droughts elsewhere. A new study of 11 west African countries expects most to be able to grow more food as temperatures rise and rainfall increases. But demand from growing populations may double food prices. Climate change may mean Nigeria, Ghana and Togo can grow and export more sorghum, raised for grain. Temperatures are expected to rise several degrees in regions close to the Sahel. In Burkina Faso, the sorghum crop is expected to decline by 25% or more, but maize yields may improve. Other studies by IFPRI suggest crop yields across sub-Saharan Africa may decline 5-22% by 2050, pushing large numbers of people deeper into destitution. A new UN study suggests climatic conditions in southern Africa will worsen. Climate models mostly predict an increase in annual maximum temperatures in the region of 1 to 2C by 2050. This will favour some crops but shift others to higher ground or further north. Both of Africa's staple crops, maize and sorghum, are expected to be badly hit by increasing severity of weather. Oxfam warns that small-scale farmers in the Horn of Africa will bear the brunt of the negative impacts of climate change. Unpredictable weather here has already left millions semi-destitute and dependent on food aid.
A rational number is a number which can be written as a fraction. The root word is ratio. Definition (Rational Expression) A rational expression is a fraction in which both the top and the bottom are polynomials. Procedure: (Determining the Numbers for which a Rational Expression is Undefined) Set the denominator equal to zero and solve. Any solutions to this equation are numbers that make the rational expression undefined (since you would then be dividing by zero). Procedure: (Simplifying a Rational Expression) 1. Factor the top and bottom of the rational expression completely. 2. Cancel any common factors between the top and the bottom. IMPORTANT: You MUST determine for what numbers the expression is undefined BEFORE you reduce the expression to lowest terms. Simplify. For expressions with only one variable, determine for what numbers the expression is undefined. DO NOT CANCEL PIECES OF THE SUMS! YOU MUST FACTORE BEFORE YOU BEGIN CANCELLING! Watch out for factors that are opposites of one another. If you follow my earlier advice and always factor out a negative number if the leading coefficient is negative, then you should have no real problems with this.
By Silas Nyanchwani My thoughts on Harriet Tubman replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. America is not a perfect society. But one of their strongest distinction is that they are constantly confronting and reexamining their history, reviewing and correcting the mistakes, even though at times change can be painfully slow. The choice of Harriet Tubman, the African-American woman who was an abolitionist during the American Civil War, to replace Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of America and a slave owner is one example of how America continuously addresses its racial problems. History often erases, underplays, and ignores the contribution women make in historical events such as slavery, civil wars, colonization and liberation of countries. Almost all monuments end up honouring the men in retrospect turn out to be genocidal barbarians, I will not mention Churchill or King Leopold. For black women it is even harder. Hollywood for instance often casts lighter-skinned women in roles that represent black historical figures like Tubman. Before Lupita came along, who started deifying, rather unnecessarily, rarely did a truly black woman stand a chance. In 2012, the movie “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”, Tubman was played by Jacqueline Fleming who is half Danish and half- black. She is obviously lighter-skinned than Tubman, who was black in every way. There was some backlash, and it took Lupita to erase some of the guilt away. But not all of us can be fooled. It is one of those things that riles blacks. In complex political situations such as racial problems in America, sometimes change comes in tokenism . Goes to show why the struggle never ends. The American dollar bill carries the portraits of the founding fathers, many of whom who did great things to establish the future superpower, but their legacy is permanently tainted by their slave-ownership. Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were all slave owners. Jefferson even sired a child with a slave. Jackson and Jefferson are particularly regarded as the most offensive. The general public in the West is currently talking about the place of monuments of the aforementioned slave owners and pillaging colonizers like Cecil Rhodes that arrogantly decorate schools, colleges, universities, museums. In a world that now understands their atrocities that still haunt the African continent to date, should they be celebrated? Should they be honoured with schools, scholarships and other legacy things be named after them? In South Africa and London, already there have been demonstrations by students and intellectuals who want the Rhodes statues to be removed from the universities. It has started and I doubt if it will stop until the statues come down. Outside my school Thomas Jefferson stands tall. Authoritatively. There are always murmurs from students, both black and white, about his slave-ownership and whether he deserves such a higher respect at an esteemed institution. Contrary to the popular assumption, generations get smarter, not dumber. And with the internet, it is not going to be possible to revise or erase history from the face of the earth. Bad people will be put in their place. In Kenya, there will come a time when our children will ask us why Kenyatta is buried outside our parliament. Why we have the police manning his grave, when we have so much insecurity in the country. We will ask, was Kenyatta the only man who brought independence to Kenya? 1. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport 2. Kenyatta Avenue 3.Kenyatta National Hospital 5. Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology 6. Jomo Kenyatta Memorial Library (JKML) at University of Nairobi, 8. Kenyatta Primary, 9. Mama Ngina 10. Kenyatta International Conference Centre. And that is just within a 20KM radius of the Nairobian CBD. I won’t mention the many years he has exclusively graced our currency. This kind of bullshit deification will come to an end at one point. We will realise there were other heroes who deserve to be enshrined in our memories. Personally the fact that Bildad Kaggia and Jaramogi are not honoured even with a pavement always boils my blood. Kenyatta, for all his achievements, he did set the country down a treacherous path, from which it will take us forever to recover from. It doesn’t help much what the son is doing. In the future when primitive accumulation of wealth will be not only unthinkable, but intellectually frowned upon, we will change some of these things to reflect a better truth of our past. But to get there, people need to be educated, so as we can stop worshiping foolish thieves pillaging the economy as mothers and families die for lack of basic needs, in 2016. Their only desire is to to build mansions with 50 bedrooms, and stash away billions in offshore accounts. Billions they will never use, since they all die sooner or later. But for those who can think, let us start the discussion of reconciling the past with the future. The truth, whether it is the assassinations of Mboya, JM Kariuki, Ouko, Mbai, Pinto, the Wagalla Massacre, the Molo Clashes, Likoni clashes, Post Election Violence, never goes away. Sooner or later, it always rears its ugly head.
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture has issued the latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans, where the epidemiological effect of flossing was considered “fairly weak.” The announcement comes from a request by The Associated Press, as they solicited proof of the benefits of flossing to the departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, after citing 25 reports that label flossing as a lackluster measure for preventing cavities and gum disease. The claim is based on a study published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews in 2011, where dental floss proved to be unsatisfactory in reducing the incidence of gum inflammation, the first step into developing severe gum disease. No need to feel guilty about not flossing anymore “There is weak, very unreliable evidence from 10 studies that flossing plus toothbrushing may be associated with a small reduction in plaque at 1 and 3 months,” the study reads. Flossing has been advised by the American Dental Association (ADA) for almost 40 years, but the recommendations present in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans must have strong scientific evidence to back them up. These guidelines are updated every five years. The ADA alongside the American Academy of Periodontology referred to other studies that defended the effectiveness of flossing. The problem is that these studies did not last long, and others surveyed very few people after they had flossed only once, besides mostly focusing the research results on the incidence of bleeding and inflammation. Authorities acknowledged the claim’s validity but continued to recommend flossing as a method to avoid plaque accumulation and to remove food and dirt remnants from between each tooth. What will be of dental floss? According to AP, the global dental floss industry is worth an estimated $2 billion, where half of its market lies in the U.S. Reporters confronted industry spokespersons including Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson Associates and cited study results. The officials refused to comment. It all seems to be a ploy where the ADA charges for putting their seal on promoted products. AP writer Jeff Donn asserts that each approved product results in a total of $18,000 going towards the American Dental Association. ADA claims that the program does not lead to profits. AP reporters confronted industry spokespersons including Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson Associates and cited study results. The officials refused to comment. It all seems to be a ploy as the ADA charges for putting their seal on promoted products. AP writer Jeff Donn asserts that each approved product results in a total of $18,000 going towards the American Dental Association. ADA claims that the program does not lead to profits. ADA spokesman Dr. Edmond R. Hewlett stated that both brushing and flossing help get rid of the bacteria related to plaque, although there is still a lack of consistent proof supporting the claim. Studies “assume” this theory, supported by the fact that the toothbrush is never able to reach the in-between crevices of the teeth, being a common location for gum disease and cavities to appear. In spite of the logic on “reaching where toothbrushes cannot” and claiming that floss has some effect on a statistical level, the 2011 Cochrane study claims that “trials were of poor quality and conclusions must be viewed as unreliable.” It also suggests that there was not enough information on measurements that could support the claim that flossing significantly reduced the incidence of gum disease and tooth decay. The study cites time elapsed by the survey as the main issue, as detecting the first stages of tooth decay is hard when it comes to the space between each tooth. Source: Associated Press
This VR opens with a view of the Stutthof gas chamber. In the background can be seen the boxcars that transported prisoners. The large crematorium to the right began operations in 9142. Further to the right can be see the foundations of several buildings in the old camp section. Further to the right can be seen the back of the Fight and Martyrdom Memorial. Through a window in the back of the memorial can be seen ashes and bones of prisoners who lost their lives at Stutthof. Return to Stutthof VR Movie Menu A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida © 2005.
Researchers, students and members of the public are gathering just across the street from the University of Oxford's science buildings to change scientific history. Rather than test tubes or computer models, however, they are armed with stacks of reference material, ready to square up to the online Goliath that is Wikipedia. Welcome to our latest editathon, which brings together people with an interest in improving Wikipedia coverage of a particular subject. In the spirit of Ada Lovelace Day, which helps spreads the word about the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths, today's editathon focuses on women in science. Hosted by Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and IT services, alongside Martin Poulter, JISC's recently appointed Wikimedian ambassador, participants will sharpen up the coverage of individuals, events and resources related to women in science – whether that's writing an article from scratch about Margaret Jennings, one of the Oxford team working on penicillin in the 1930s and 1940s, or simply checking that articles have accurate references. The key factor here is interest rather than experience. Most editathons are open to all regardless of Wikipedia editing skills and many provide editing training for new users. Editathons are growing in popularity with past events covering subjects as diverse as scientific history, English drama and the first world war. This time last year, editors contributed to articles on Mary Somerville, Ida Mann and the Million Women Study, while international Ada Lovelace groups made dozens of other updates. Events like this also train women to be Wikipedia editors themselves, helping them to add their voices and increase the number of female contributors beyond the 'less-than-15%' suggested by recent surveys. We are directly addressing what has been termed as "Wikipedia's women problem" and in doing so, supporting the university's own aims of advancing the careers of women in academia. Oxford isn't the only organisation with an Ada Lovelace Day event – celebrations centre around Imperial College, London – and the impact of international efforts to improve coverage is substantial. The importance of hosting a Wikipedia editathon in a university setting goes beyond the articles it generates. Wikipedia is an enormously important resource: estimates suggest Wikimedia sites are viewed around 365 million times each month. It's useless to ignore it or simply tell students not to use it, yet many teachers and academics seem to harbour an extreme distaste for the site. One of the goals of events like this editathon is to show the academic community that Wikipedia is an extraordinary resource for teaching and learning, bringing together the knowledge of thousands of experts and the opportunity to participate in conversations about how we shape history. Yes, there are those who post false information (though a study in Nature claimed that Wikipedia's accuracy compares to that of Encyclopedia Britannica). But used correctly, Wikipedia can help develop the very skills universities are trying to impart: critical thinking and reasoning, and the ability to convey information clearly – with references. Contextual information like its 'talk' and 'history' pages help students understand how we arrive at historical consensus and, taken as a whole, the site empowers them to participate in that discussion. Wikipedia's open nature not only enables the academic community to edit knowledge (and academics are just the types of experts Wikipedia needs), it also makes it possible for that knowledge to flow outside the university walls. Oxford is no stranger to open practice; its academics have produced thousands of materials under the OpenSpires initiative free for reuse, remixing and redistribution in education worldwide. Wikipedia can be a stepping stone to deeper engagement, and we have experimented with blending Wikipedia content with other open resources. Open content is growing in importance, and JISC's Wikimedian project is providing training to university staff around the country in using Wikipedia, particularly in teaching and impact assessment. If you'd like to get involved or learn more about Wikipedia in teaching and learning, join one of the many Ada Lovelace Day events taking place worldwide. You can also keep an eye on the Wikimedia UK events calendar, which lists upcoming editathons and training opportunities. For a full list of this year's Ada Lovelace Day events, visit findingada.com Liz McCarthy is communications and social media officer for the Bodleian Libraries and special collections librarian for the University of Reading. Kate Lindsay is manager for education enhancement at the – follow them on Twitter @McCarthy_Liz and @KTDigital
by David Greenberg and Rebecca Lubot And it might just set off a constitutional crisis. President Lyndon B. Johnson during the ceremony to ratify the 25th amendment at the White House in 1967. The amendment came about because of succession concerns if the president became incapacitated. The short answer: It's a way, other than impeachment, provided by the Constitution for power to be taken away from a sitting president. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. by Jeff Greenfield No, Democrats—the 25th Amendment won’t save you from Donald Trump. by Ronald L. Feinman With Trump in the White House we face the possibility that the president will prove so incompetent he needs to be replaced. - Brexit will ultimately destabilise Europe, historians fear - The Justinianic Plague's Devastating Impact Was Likely Exaggerated - 'Human, vulnerable and perfect': New Rosa Parks exhibit shines light on civil rights legend - How Charlottesville’s Echoes Forced New Zealand to Confront Its History - Mary Thompson Featured in Article on George Washington's Dog Breeding - China Releases History Professor, But Travel Concerns Persist - Gordon Wood Interviewed on the New York Times’ 1619 Project - Books by Garret Martin, Balazs Martonffy, Ronald Suny, and Kelly McFarland Featured in Article on NATO at 50 - The secret history of women in America, told through their belongings - Irish Archive Recreates Documents Lost in in 1922 fire
Study: Tastes Form in Infancy A new study suggests that our flavor preferences are significantly influenced by the first flavors we taste as infants. Researchers offering infants bitter and sweet milk formulas found that babies can easily get used to a bitter taste if it's introduced in the first months of life. Hear NPR's Michele Norris and Julie Mennella of Monell Chemical Senses in Philadelphia. Copyright 2004 NPR
Cookbook:Whole Wheat Flour Whole wheat flour (also "whole meal flour") is wheat flour that is made from the entire wheat grain. This includes the endosperm, bran and germ. The germ being high in fat, whole wheat flour tends to go rancid (spoiling as butter does) faster than white flour. Keeping it refrigerated will delay this process. Baked goods cooked with whole wheat flour tend to be dark and dense compared to those cooked with white flour. The reason for this is that the particles of bran break up the strands of gluten, lessening their elasticity. Wheat flour has a strong flavor that can greatly change the food it is used in.
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern Games and Decisions by R Duncan Luce and Howard Raiffa by Robert J Aumann A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar Ariel Rubinstein is an Israeli economist who works in game theory. He is a professor of economics at the School of Economics at Tel Aviv University and the Department of Economics at New York University. His books include Economic Fables What is game theory? The way I think about game theory is that it’s a part of economic theory, a set of models and concepts that is supposed to capture the way we think about strategic interactive situations. These are situations when my reasonable behaviour depends on the way that I perceive or believe that the other participants in the situation will behave. I want to get into the shoes of the other player or players – I want to enter their mind. That’s crucial for my decision. It’s not like a situation where I’m trying to decide whether to take an umbrella or not, and all I have to think about is the chance it will rain this afternoon. But I can do it in many ways and I can respond in many ways. What is special about game theory is that until now it has been assumed that when the players respond to the other players they respond rationally. People are presumed to be rational? Yes, classical game theory deals with situations where people are fully rational. In principle we could think about interactive situations where players are not fully rational, but nevertheless take into account or anticipate other players’ behaviour. But the body of knowledge that is known as game theory, at least up to now, has focused mainly on situations where the players are rational. What are the applications of game theory for real life? That’s a central question: Is game theory useful in a concrete sense or not? Game theory is an area of economics that has enjoyed fantastic public relations. [John] Von Neumann [one of the founders of game theory] was not only a genius in mathematics, he was also a genius in public relations. The choice of the name “theory of games” was brilliant as a marketing device. The word “game” has friendly, enjoyable associations. It gives a good feeling to people. It reminds us of our childhood, of chess and checkers, of children’s games. The associations are very light, not heavy, even though you may be trying to deal with issues like nuclear deterrence. I think it’s a very tempting idea for people, that they can take something simple and apply it to situations that are very complicated, like the economic crisis or nuclear deterrence. But this is an illusion. Now my views, I have to say, are extreme compared to many of my colleagues. I believe that game theory is very interesting. I’ve spent a lot of my life thinking about it, but I don’t respect the claims that it has direct applications. “The choice of the name ‘theory of games’ was brilliant as a marketing device. The word “game” has friendly, enjoyable associations – even though you may be trying to deal with issues like nuclear deterrence.” The analogy I sometimes give is from logic. Logic is a very interesting field in philosophy, or in mathematics. But I don’t think anybody has the illusion that logic helps people to be better performers in life. A good judge does not need to know logic. It may turn out to be useful – logic was useful in the development of the computer sciences, for example – but it’s not directly practical in the sense of helping you figure out how best to behave tomorrow, say in a debate with friends, or when analysing data that you get as a judge or a citizen or as a scientist. So the situation of the prisoner’s dilemma couldn’t arise in real life? I didn’t say that. In game theory, what we’re doing is saying, “Let’s try to abstract our thinking about strategic situations.” Game theorists are very good at abstracting some very complicated situations and putting some elements of the situations into a formal model. In general, my view about formal models is that a model is a fable. Game theory is about a collection of fables. Are fables useful or not? In some sense, you can say that they are useful, because good fables can give you some new insight into the world and allow you to think about a situation differently. But fables are not useful in the sense of giving you advice about what to do tomorrow, or how to reach an agreement between the West and Iran. The same is true about game theory. A main difference between game theory and literature is that game theory is written in formal, mathematical language. That has advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that the formal language allows us to be more precise, it allows us to get rid of associations that are not relevant and it allows us to better examine some arguments. The disadvantage of formal language is the level of abstraction, which has two main downsides. First of all, it makes the theory very far away from one minus epsilon of the population. Even among the academic community, most people who claim to use game theory hardly understand it. Secondly, abstraction has the negative side that once you abstract things, you miss a lot of the information and most of the details, which in real life are very relevant. In general, I would say there were too many claims made by game theoreticians about its relevance. Every book of game theory starts with “Game theory is very relevant to everything that you can imagine, and probably many things that you can’t imagine.” In my opinion that’s just a marketing device. Why do it then? First, because it is interesting. And I’m not saying it isn’t useful in indirect ways. I believe that intellectual thinking – philosophy or logic or game theory – is very useful in the cultural sense. It’s part of the culture, it’s a part of our perpetual attempt to understand ourselves better and understand the way that we think. What I’m opposing is the approach that says, in a practical situation, “OK, there are some very clever game theoreticians in the world, let’s ask them what to do.” I have not seen, in all my life, a single example where a game theorist could give advice, based on the theory, which was more useful than that of the layman. There is probably a confusion in the public between the personal abilities of game theorists and the power of the theory itself. The community of game theoreticians contains some brilliant people who have also “two legs on ground”. This rare combination is very useful. People like that can come up with interesting and original ideas. Not everyone – there are brilliant game theoreticians who I would not ask for any practical advice. But the advice of the other, even if it is good, should not lean on an authority. Looking at the flipside, was there ever a situation in which you were pleasantly surprised at what game theory was able to deliver? None. Not only none, but my point would be that categorically game theory cannot do it. Maybe somewhere in a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie story there was a situation where the detective was very clever and he applied some logical trick that somehow caught the criminal, something like that. You know in America there was a programme on CBS, called Numbers, written Numb3rs, with the ‘e’ reversed. Numb3rs wanted to make people curious about mathematics through detective stories. I happened to hear about it because I had done some experimental work with Amos Tversky and Dana Heller, about the game of hide and seek. In one of the episodes they refer to the paper. Of course it was a joke, but the fact that my name was mentioned in such a programme made me very happy. But outside such programmes, I categorically cannot see any case where game theory could be helpful. So if people study it, it should be just for love of the subject? That’s my position about academic life in general. Universities and academic research are not supposed to be useful in a direct sense. I’m not talking about research like in medicine – that’s a completely different story – but I’m talking about social sciences and humanities, which I am more familiar with. The social sciences and humanities, in my opinion, should not have any pretension to be directly useful. We are part of the culture. We are useful as sculptures are. Maybe a sculpture that will be put in Central Park in New York will prove to have a lot of influence on people. So are our models. The case of the computer sciences is interesting. For many years the Israeli computer scientists were criticised because the computer sciences were too abstract in Israel, whereas in other places they were thinking more in terms of practical applications. But I think that people will agree now that the big success of the Israeli hi-tech industry in the last 20 years is also the outcome of the abstract way computer sciences was taught in places like Jerusalem in the seventies and eighties. That created the cultural environment on which the unbelievable success and flourishing of the hi-tech industry of Israel since the 1990s is based. This is a case where abstraction led indirectly to something practical. Of course, I’m not against something practical coming out eventually of abstract studies but it is not the target. Of course I can give you examples where game theoreticians, because they were intelligent, gave good advice – and probably some examples where game theoreticians gave bad advice. By the way, I don’t know enough about it, but it’s very interesting to investigate the role of game theoreticians in the development of American policy on nuclear deterrence. [Thomas] Schelling and [John] von Neumann and many other lions of game theory were connected to this effort. Some people, including [John] Nash, were working for a few months or years in RAND and thinking about strategic situations like that. From a historical point of view, I think it’s interesting whether indeed there was any real effect to game theorists in the 1950s. Now in Israel, again, given the situation with Iran, the question of whether game theory can tell us anything is in the air. I hope that the Israeli government will not consult game theorists regarding its hard strategic decisions. Some of these people you’re talking about come up in the books you’ve chosen, so let’s talk start talking about those. What did you have in mind when you chose this list? Are these the classics of game theory? The first one I chose was the Theory of Games and Economic Behavior, by [John] von Neumann and [Oskar] Morgenstern. There was game theory before von Neumann-Morgenstern, and, as with any field, people are now saying “in 1921 so and so did so and so”. I’m sure at the end of the day, someone will find something relevant also in the Talmud or Greek writings. But von Neumann-Morgenstern was the first comprehensive, systematic attempt to put many game theoretical ideas together. They set up the style, the concepts, some of the basic solution concepts and the level of abstraction. Von Neumann was a brilliant mathematician and Morgenstern was an economist. I imagine if someone else had written the first book – for example a philosopher – game theory could have gone down a completely different path. It’s beautiful to see, the implicit or explicit decisions about the terms and the language. These decisions determined the content and the borders of the field. It’s very difficult to break those borders later. The book does have pretensions. I read from page one: “The purpose of this book is to present a discussion of some fundamental questions of economic theory which require a treatment different from that which they have found thus far in the literature.” It’s an interesting sentence – what does it make us feel? First of all that it’s different, a different set of models than the previous economic models, and that it’s about fundamental questions of economic theory. It was different, we agree on that. It took another 30 years or so for it to be absorbed into the main body of economic theory. So I think this book is definitely on this list of five, because it set the tone and because of its brilliant ideas. Do you still use this book? These days I use it less and less. After JSTOR it became very easy to search in papers and journal articles but books are hard to search. This is changing now. More and more books are available on the web. The more they are searchable, the more we’ll use them again. It’s a book that has been referenced a lot, though I’m sure most of the references are from people who did not open it. I cannot say I use it daily, and if a student comes and tells me, “I want to learn game theory,” it will not be the first book I’d recommend. That would be a more standard book, that teaches the concepts in a didactic way, summarising what was happening over the past almost 70 years. But in the second wave, I would advise him to read the book, especially if he really wants to get into the theory. People sometimes say, “Book X is the bible of a field.” This is not. I don’t actually know any bible of game theory, and probably it’s good that there isn’t one. Because once there’s a bible in the field, it’s very difficult to make a change. A “bible” might be the beginning and the end of a field. Let’s talk about your next book, Games and Decisions. This book is written by another two brilliant people, [R Duncan] Luce and [Howard] Raiffa. The book was written in the mid-1950s, so about 10 years after von Neumann-Morgernstern and of course it’s a book that was influenced a lot by von Neumann-Morgenstern. It’s a less formal book. It’s written beautifully. It’s a book about which I’m always saying to students, “There are many ideas in there that still have not been developed.” Luce and Raiffa were thinking about elements of what we would probably now call modern choice theory. Standard classical choice theory deals with rationality, ways of applying rationality into decision problems. Their mode of thinking is natural, that’s what I like about this book (and much of game theory in general). It’s really on the bridge between natural thinking and formal thinking. Von Neumann-Morgenstern set the formal models, and Luce and Raiffa went one step back. You can see this in the subtitle of the book, Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey. The book is dedicated to the memory of von Neumann, but at the same time they did not shy away from criticising the rationality approach. By the way, von Neumann-Morgenstern was not only the beginning of game theory. There is also a very important chapter about the expected utility model. This is the basic model which is still used by almost everybody in economics regarding decision-making under uncertainty. It’s the foundation not just of game theory, but of almost everything in economic theory which involves uncertainty. Luce and Raiffa criticised this theory and suggested some ideas and alternatives which are followed up 30 to 40 years later. Let’s go on to your next book, a collection of papers by Robert Aumann, winner of the 2005 Nobel prize in economics, and, like you, an Israeli. This collection is interesting for several reasons. Firstly, Bob Aumann is a very special man. I disagree with him about his political views – he is a right-wing person. I disagree with him about his current position on “what game theory is about”. From time to time he expresses views – about politics for example – backed with the authority of the great game theoretician. I don’t like those statements. In spite of this fact, I admire him for his academic work and personality. First of all, there is a beauty in his writing. He’s a master in the way he writes, whatever he writes, and the way he uses formal models to talk about game theory. It’s probably very difficult for someone outside the field to appreciate it, but there is an aesthetic to it. Aumann’s style contrasts the dominating style in current economics. It’s with a lot of – if I may use the word – bullshit, a lot of over-pretensions to be useful. In many current papers in economic theory models are not models, proofs are not proofs. The strive for generality is misleading as every model is not more than a tiny example. Aumann has the ability to use sophisticated mathematical tools more than almost all other game theorists. But he is not tempted. He always tries to think in examples. He’s always striving for the most simple model. Aumann is really a master of using formal models. People ask, “Why is game theory so popular in Israel?” One explanation is Aumann’s charming personality. His role in Israeli game theory reminds me of that of a rabbi in Jewish orthodox communities. Another explanation is the traditions among religious Jews – which have also had an effect on non-religious Jews – of the study of the Talmud. The study of the Talmud is not practical. For example, scholars of the Talmud were studying the question of what to do in the temple place during the entire 2,000 years we were disconnected from Jerusalem. One of the things that is beautiful about the Talmudic thinking is that it’s based on study of examples. The examples are very simple scenarios which demonstrate something deep. I believe that Aumann is influenced by this Talmudic way of thinking. Time to talk about your next book, A Beautiful Mind. This book is completely different. I picked it because when you think about the field you think also about the people who were involved. Of course the story of Aumann, the story of many other people, is interesting, but Nash’s story also has a message. The message is completely separate from game theory, but nevertheless, it happened around the development of game theory. Sylvia Nasar’s book is a brilliant book because she made a deliberate decision not to explain game theory. What she describes is a human drama. Sylvia Nasar was a reporter for the New York Times when she covered the success of the [telecommunications] spectrum auctions in 1994. The auction was described – in my opinion wrongly – by the popular press and by some game theoreticians as the glorious success of the field of game theory, in terms of making it applicable. But in any case, the success was in contrast to the misery of one of its important contributors, John Nash. In case – despite the movie starring Russell Crowe – anyone doesn’t know the story, John Nash suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and spent years just wandering around the campus of Princeton University, where he’d been a graduate student. The story of John Nash is really a human story – I don’t think it sheds much light on game theory. In a field like economic theory the personality [of the author] is not relevant to understanding [the subject matter]. You might not know that Aumann is a religious Jew, you might think he is a Chinese Buddhist, but nevertheless whatever he wrote will still have the same meaning. That’s probably less true about philosophers or writers. That’s both the power and the weakness of formal models. So this book does not help to understand the field better, but it has a human message. It gives hope to people dealing with this terrible mental disease. Because of my involvement in the story of Nash, I came to talk to many people about it, and I feel that the story of Nash gave them a lot of hope. Just to be clear, you feature a bit in the book because you fought to get Nash recognised by the field. I love the line in the book, your response when you fail to get Nash elected to one of these societies: “Ariel had a fit.” I was marginally involved in the story of Nash in a couple of ways described in the book. One was making him a fellow in the Econometric Society. This was at the time I was at the London School of Economics, in the mid- to late 1980s. The other nominating committee members were open-minded, famous economists. Nevertheless, I was outvoted four to one against making John Nash a fellow. It’s just an honour. But his mental state influenced even that. A year after it was, of course, corrected. There’s a big contrast between the attitude to Nash then and now, when Nash is invited to give lectures around the world. His lectures and recovery are important as they give hope to the very large community of people that have family who are sick. He gives an opportunity to people to discuss society’s attitude to mental illness. So I chose A Beautiful Mind as an important human story behind the story of game theory. And his contribution to economics is absolutely central, isn’t it? You use Nash equilibrium all the time. Yes, but it is not that Nash was the first to use Nash equilibrium. People were using the concept before Nash. But he put it into an elegant framework and showed about it whatever he showed. He did a crucial move but I would be very careful not to say, “Without Nash game theory would not develop.” Without diminishing the importance of it, I don’t think Nash contributed much to the discussion of what Nash equilibrium is. So, your last book. You told me it was going to be a surprise. Yes, I promised you a surprise as the fifth book. The fifth book is a book that has not been written yet. That’s the point. The fifth book is a lacuna, it’s a space that has to be filled. The book which, in my opinion, is so much waiting to be written is a book that will criticise game theory. Not from a sociological point of view, not a personality analysis of people like Aumann or Shapley or Schelling or whoever, but a purely intellectual analysis. There is a need for a book that counters the natural tendency of people to find in game theory solutions to problems that in my opinion game theory doesn’t say anything about. I’ve tried to do something small in this direction, in a book – Economic Fables – that has been published in Hebrew. It’s going to be on the web in English very soon, for reading in Google Books. But my book is not more than a call for such a book. I think people still reading this interview would enjoy it a lot. It’s pretty funny – about the bar scene in A Beautiful Mind, for example, and how that’s got nothing to do with any idea of Nash’s. But also, your discussions of experiments, and how a knowledge of game theory would actually make you worse off if you were playing these games in real life. Yes, many of the ideas that we talked about you’ll find in the book. But, again, I’m not recommending my book. The challenge is to take a chapter like my chapter two – which discusses game theory – and develop it into a full book, which will explain the limitations of game theory. This is the missing book. You’ve spent so much of this interview talking about the limitations of game theory. It makes me wonder, what motivated you to become a game theorist in the first place? What attracted you to it? I studied mathematics, though actually I wasn’t so interested in mathematics per se. I had this naive feeling that behind the symbols there was something more, which is connected with life. It’s a little bit like going to a zoo. You see animals, but you don’t think about the animals, you think about situations in life. You think, “Ah! The situation among the elephants is something that I recognise in my personal life.” That may not be the best analogy, but that’s the kind of feeling I had when I was a student. It’s not that I wanted to be practical – I never had the illusion that what I did had any practical value – but I wanted to understand argumentation better. Human argumentation was always something I was interested in. I wanted to be a lawyer. As a child I thought of a lawyer as someone who goes to court, makes arguments in favour of justice and wins over evil. My thinking was that formal models could help in this respect, from an intellectual point of view. And that’s all. If you ask me now whether I would repeat my life in this way, I don’t think so. If I could repeat my life, I would probably follow my unfulfilled dream to be a lawyer. June 6, 2012 Support Five Books Five Books depends on donations to keep going. If you've enjoyed this interview, please consider giving a gift.
\|This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2012)\| \|Architectural style\|\|Fortification, mixed\| \|Town or city\|\|Bač\| The medieval fortress in Bač is known as one of the great fortresses of its time in the Pannonian plain. It was built by the town of the same name to the west, on a small island on the river Mostonga. The Fortress in Bač is known as one of the so-called "Water Towns", because it used to be surrounded by the Mostonga river on all sides, approachable only by the drawbridges. The fortress has a pentagonal basis on which corners are projecting towers. Inside the fort there is another, superior, central (or dungeon defender) tower. The tower has served as an important part of the defense system of the fortress, but also as an observation post. According to some chronicles, Bač was also an Avar fortress (873). It was inhabited by both Avars and Slavs. The Hungarian King Stephen I founded the Bač County, and at the turn of the first millennium Bač was already a well built and fortified town, connected to the Danube by the river Mostonga. During the Árpád dynasty, Bač became not only the ecclesiastical seat of the Archdiocese, but a royal city, where nobles and rulers came to their councils and assemblies. In the twelfth century Bač fortress is first mentioned in written sources. At the head of Bačka county there were governors appointed by the king. Until the Mongol invasion in 1241, the governors were the managers of the area. They collected donations, set up military and civilian commanders. In addition to the governors of the fort there were also lower prefects, judges, and military personnel. Since the twelfth century, the custom of annual royal visits to the fort was established. At the beginning of the fourteenth century a dynasty change occurred in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Hungarian King Charles Robert I (1310–1342) founded the new town (fortress) on Mostonga between the 1338 and 1342, with the quadrangular tower with six floors, important for the defense of the city. There primarily existed eight towers, various chambers of the county manager, a chapel, guard towers, kitchen, well, barn, and various other premises, the remains of which stand today. In the aftermath of the Battle of Mohács from 1526, the city and fort became an Ottoman possession. Dating from this period are also the descriptions of Bač Fortress by Evliya Çelebi, when Bač became a part of the Ottoman Sanjak of Segedin. According to the traveler description, the city was surrounded by a wide circle of trenches filled with water. Surrounding the city was also a developing civilian settlement, which could be entered through the fortress drawbridge gate, named "The Spike". In the time of Rákóczi Rebellion (1703–1711) the fortress was burned, destroyed and abandoned. However, Bač fort still remains the best preserved medieval fortress in Vojvodina. The ruins of the fortress in its present state, consist of a base in the form of an irregular pentagon, four lateral, and one central tower 18 meters high, which is partially reconstructed. In its history the fort underwent various renovation and demolition, and the remains still present a challenge for scientists and tourists alike. \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bač Fortress.\|
First off, there is most certainly a real medical condition called celiac disease. It involves a measurable immune reaction to foods that contain gluten. Gluten is a protein-starch complex (but often described in non-technical and medical writing as just protein) found in some grass seeds, such as wheat, rye, and barley, but not others like rice and corn. It is not found in any foods other than those made from these specific grains. Celiac is apparently found in about 1% of the population. Some medical authorities and lay people also assert the existence of “Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity” (NGCS). As you might expect, this describes people who are sensitive to gluten in some way, but not through the (partially) known mechanism of celiac disease. To quote a BBC article by “Doctor Chris” van Tulleken, “Although many people who do not have coeliac disease claim to suffer gut symptoms like bloating and nausea when they eat gluten – and even other things like “brain fog” and tiredness – these have not been linked to any physiological changes that can be measured and hence used to make a clinical description and diagnosis.” Someone with my background wonders if a claimed syndrome that has such a wide variety of symptoms which correlate to nothing measurable might be a result of pareidolia, the tendency of the human brain to find patterns in noisy data, even when no such pattern is real. Examples of what I have just named “pareidolic diseases” include Morgellon’s Syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, and Candidiasis/Yeast Allergy. They share having relatively common, non-specific symptoms (e. g. fatigue, stomach upset) and not being detectable by any lab tests, even when (as with Lyme disease) there is a well-known, effective test available. Dr. van Tulleken’s “Trust Me, I’m a Doctor” team conducted a study to test the reality of NCGS. The found 60 people, some of whom claimed to experience NGCS, and put them on a gluten-free diet including (experimenter-supplied) gluten-free pasta, but for two weeks (randomly selected?) of the study period, each was given pasta containing gluten instead. The team then analyzed the subjects’ reported symptoms, and also performed lab tests to show inflammation and IgE (antibody) levels. The study was double-blinded, in that neither researchers nor subjects knew in which two week period the subjects were eating gluten until after the study concluded. The subjects acted as their own controls by experiencing both with- and without-gluten diets. The results: subjects did in fact report feeling fewer gut-related symptoms like bloating during the gluten-free weeks. Variation in other symptoms (e.g. tiredness) was not statistically significant. There was also no significant correlation between gluten-free diet and the lab values being measured. Dr. van Tulleken does state in the linked BBC article that it’s likely at least some subjects knew which weeks they were eating gluten-containing pasta. And as he concedes, this can easily explain the slight variation in the digestive symptoms. A weakness he apparently did not realize in his analysis: the two pastas are very clearly made with different recipes. It’s perfectly possible that the gluten-containing pasta that was used has some other difference from the gluten-free one that explains the gut symptomology, perhaps an herb or a preservative that some people are really slightly sensitive to. It’s possible that the gluten-containing pasta just has less fiber (for one possible example), and that the additional fiber in the gluten-free food aided the subjects’ digestion. Dr. van Tulleken doesn’t provide the recipes/brands for the two foods, making it hard to speculate beyond that guess. Also, the subjects were eating food they selected and purchased themselves, aside from the pasta. Since as far as one can tell from the BBC article they weren’t asked to record their consumption, it wouldn’t be difficult for this dietary variation to randomly cause one group to score higher on some symptoms. I’m surprised that Dr. van Tulleken did not report whether the self-diagnosed NGCS sufferers showed greater incidence of gut symptoms than the non-diagnosed. If NGCS is real (and not universal in the population) then a difference between NGCS patients and the rest of the subjects would certainly exist. It is not stated in the article, but I suspect Dr. van Tulleken’s group does not plan to publish these results in a peer-reviewed journal, which seems to me to be disappointing. I’d love to read in more detail about the protocol and results. As published, the results seem completely compatible with NGCS being a pareidolic disease. They are also consistent with NGCS being a real syndrome, but with only a small effect (at least in the experimental circumstances). Note that with its weak protocol and small sample size (n=60) it isn’t strong evidence for anything. I suggest that Dr. van Tulleken’s group or someone else repeat the experiment but with the subjects eating identical diets (entirely supplied by the experimenters, ideally, not just gluten-free with the subjects buying their own food). However, each subject would be required to swallow 10 identical capsules per day. For the “control” period the capsules would contain a non-gluten protein. For the “experimental” period, the capsules would contain gluten proteins. That would make it impossible for the subjects to detect which weeks include gluten from the flavor/texture of their food, and also eliminate the possible effect of other ingredients in the two different pasta recipes. It’s a truism in cognitive psychology and neurobiology that “seeing” is not what happens in the eyes, but what is perceived by the “higher” brain centers. Our perceptual process largely consists of various brain centers removing information from the stream and pre-digesting it so that the decision-making and analysis parts of the brain are not overwhelmed by too much information. For instance, your visual cortex auto-corrects for lighting changes (like a good digital camera, only better) so you don’t even perceive the dramatic color shifting that “really” happens when the sun comes out from behind a cloud. That explains the famous white-and-gold dress that was really black-and-blue … or vice versa? The brain constantly corrects color perception for what it “thinks” (it isn’t really thought) the lighting is, and in this case can be fooled. I just experienced a higher-brain-level version of this illusion. Not as dramatic or reproducible, but interesting. I was looking at the front page of Wikipedia (for today as I write, April 14). The explanation of the featured image refers to scientist and philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. Quick: did you read his last name as “Pierce”? Dr. Peirce’s name was not spelled in the far more common way (as the standard spelling of a word meaning “puncture with a sharp object”). However, practiced readers of English will tend to read it as the standard spelling because we don’t consciously take the time to analyze the spelling of familiar words. We “sight read” by recognizing the overall pattern at a lower (subconscious) level and our consciousness receives only the meaning (and/or sound) of the word. That’s a perceptual illusion, like the dress illusion but from a different brain area. (Meaning-perception takes place chronologically after color-perception.) I had a two-stage experience. I had actually heard of Peirce before, and recognized the name. I also misperceived it as “Pierce”. So my thought process was, “Hey, Wikipedia misspelled his name. I’d better correct it.” At that point, I looked back at it, with my perceptions tuned to perceive spelling instead of meaning, and immediately saw that it was correct in the first place. That brought my normal ability to ignore the shapes and order of the letters when reading to conscious attention, so I blogged about it. I’ve always been fascinated by illusions, but this is one time I was blindsided by one I hadn’t thought about before.
But not everybody had the resources or the opportunities to move out. Views Read Edit View history. So, apparently, it is still spreading. Engaging Cultural Differences. They were also instrumental in community-building by putting an emphasis on celebration. While many staff members in the garden organizations of the early s and s came to community gardening through horticulture, they soon learned that gardening knowledge was secondary to skills in building relationships and social organizing. Success breeds success. The largest urban ecosystem in America provides a dramatic demonstration of EcoTipping Points and feedback loops at work. El Rincon , in the Bronx, sat next door to a methadone clinic, and recovering addicts would stop by to help with work in the garden, such as picking apples. Indian events in the region are illustrative of both Kingdoms practices and the Iroquois grudge against the French. Contact Information rshd uchicago. They were very helpful to these early Garden of Happiness members, as was Green Thumb. A century of community gardening in America. Richard Shweder \| Department of Comparative Human Development \| The University of Chicago The Land-Grant Act of was a piece of legislation which granted to each state some public land. It has been more than a year since Rachael DelTondo, a well-liked year-old teacher, was gunned down in the driveway of her parents' home in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. A Enterprise Foundation report quotes the director of a community development corporation in the Bronx: In , the garden became subsumed into the Brooklyn-Queens Land Trust and got a major boost in support and capacity from Trust for Public Land. He said the bill will also call for creating new penalties for protesters who block highways. Members caring for new gardens had to stay vigilant to prevent more trash dumping or other criminal activities which sometimes continued even after gardens were created. The feedback loops were whirring rapidly as wildcat gardens sprouted far beyond the Lower East Side. Menon, Usha; Shweder, Richard A. In , the city served as the site of the Liberty Party convention and the National Convention of Colored Citizens. It meant taking the time to build relationships, to have celebrations and other social events where those effective working relationships would develop. Proud gardeners display their bounty. They embodied the idealism of the era which was hard to sustain as the movement matured, and Green Guerillas today has evolved to reflect this natural evolution.
Claims based on traditional homeopathic practice, not accepted medical evidence. Not FDA evaluated. Listed below are some homeopathic remedies indicated for Hives. Hives, also called urticaria, are the body's allergic response to a certain stimulus. They are characterized as raised wheals (large roundish bumps) which can be red or pale, itch and appear suddenly. They can also be caused by grief. THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO REPLACE PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL CARE. IF SYMPTOMS PERSIST MORE THAN 3 DAYS, CONSULT A LICENSED PRACTITIONER. PREGNANT OR NURSING WOMEN SHOULD CONSULT THEIR DOCTOR BEFORE USING ANY REMEDY. Burning and swelling which is worse with warmth. Violent itching and burning. Cold alleviates. Buy Apis Mellifica Now This is usually chronic and is worse by exercise and stress. May also be triggered by sun or grief. Buy Natrum Muriaticum Now Burning and itching; blisters develop. Person is very restless. Better with hot applications. Buy Rhus Toxicodendron Now Severe bouts of hives with violent burning and itching worse by bathing and heat; skin and body orifices turn red easily, prone to various skin disorders. Buy Sulphur Now The rash may be caused by a plant or shellfish. Worse with scratching, touching, bathing. Hot shower or compresses alleviates. Buy Urtica Urens Now
The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will celebrate the week with different hands-on educational activities each day. Nearly 1,000 local students will visit the Museum throughout the week, where they will measure their exposure to radiation, simulate a nuclear chain reaction, see how alpha, beta and gamma particles penetrate different substances, demonstrate how electricity is generated in a table top power plant, learn the value of nuclear medicine, and explore the facts (and fiction) of nuclear energy. The week is a national, broadly observed recognition of how nuclear science plays a vital role in the lives of Americans - and the world. Activities during the week are intended to build awareness of the contributions of the nuclear science industry and those who work in it every day. “With the nation’s spotlight on energy generation and a greener environment, it makes sense to recognize the contributions of nuclear power. Other technologies, such as nuclear medicine with its diagnostic and treatment opportunities, are also hugely important to all Americans,” states the Director of the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Jim Walther. “The future career opportunities in science and energy are significant as well. This week provides all of us with more information on these vital topics.” The Web site is http://www.NuclearScienceWeek.org and features a “celebration guide” that includes free tips and tools such as a proclamation template for those wishing to create their own celebration. There are also suggestions for activities each day of the week. Followers can also access news about the week through Twitter, Facebook and a nuclear science week blogspot. National Nuclear Science Week is a partnership between the host organization, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and nuclear industry partners, including the SRS Community Reuse Organization, Nuclear Energy Institute, Entergy, the US Department of Energy, the American Nuclear Society, and the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging. For more information on the Museum, visit www.nuclearmuseum.org or call 505-245-2317.
The Secret To Effective Cockroach Control In Queen Creek June 14, 2021 - Cockroaches There aren't many pests quite as unsettling as cockroaches here in Queen Creek. But did you know that cockroaches aren't just unsightly? They can be dangerous, too. Cockroaches are known to spread harmful disease-causing bacteria and human pathogens. To make matters worse, once they infest a home, they can be extremely difficult to get rid of. Therefore, you need to know the effective and not-so-effective cockroach control methods so that you can eliminate these dangerous pests from your home as quickly and effectively as possible. Identifying Common Area Cockroaches There are thousands of cockroach species in the world. Here in Queen Creek, however, we only need to worry about a select few of them. Our area's three most common cockroach species are German cockroaches, American cockroaches, and Oriental cockroaches. German cockroaches are light brown and feature two dark, almost parallel lines behind their heads. German cockroaches have wings and can fly but rarely do so. American cockroaches are the largest home-invading cockroach in the area. They can grow to over two inches long. These roaches are reddish-brown and feature a pale figure-eight marking on the back of their heads. Both male and female American cockroaches can fly. Oriental cockroaches, sometimes called waterbugs, grow to about an inch long and are shiny black. These cockroaches like to hang out in moisture-friendly areas. They are incapable of flying. Why It's So Hard To Get Rid Of Cockroaches There's an old saying that states the only two things that can survive a nuclear explosion are cockroaches and Twinkies. While we can't speak to the durability of Twinkies, we can confidently say that, no, cockroaches cannot survive nuclear blasts. However, the saying does speak to how difficult cockroaches are to eliminate, especially entire infestations. The reason cockroaches are so hard to get rid of is their ability to adapt and survive in a number of environments and climates. They can eat many household products, including pet food and even soap, to survive. Cockroaches can also hide in almost any room in a house. They can live under appliances, behind wall voids, and in any small crack or crevice that you might not think to look in. Overall, cockroaches are survivors, and getting rid of them on your own is not easy. The Pitfalls Of DIY Cockroach Control Cockroaches are dangerous and hard to get rid of. Therefore, we cannot recommend DIY cockroach control methods as most of them aren't all that effective, and worse, can be harmful to your family or pets. DIY sprays typically kill a few cockroaches but do not address entire infestations. Moreover, these sprays are often toxic which can harm other people or pets living in the home. In addition, many DIY methods require extensive knowledge about cockroaches to use them effectively. However, most regular people do not possess this knowledge and cannot use these products effectively. Unfortunately, if a DIY product doesn't eliminate the entire infestation, that means the threats posed by cockroaches still exist. Therefore, you need a surefire cockroach control solution. Effective Cockroach Control Methods For Your Queen Creek Home If you are dealing with a cockroach infestation in your Queen Creek home, don't attempt to get rid of it on your own. Instead, contact the professionals here at Quell Pest Control. Our certified pest technicians possess the experience and expertise needed to eliminate cockroach infestations effectively in Queen Creek. Furthermore, we will also work with you to help prevent future infestations. So give us a call today to learn more about our effective approach to cockroach control.
Everyday Behaviors that are Common Causes of House Fires Nobody wants to wake up or come home to their house burning down because a house fire can destroy a home and everything in it within such a short period of time. While house fires generally happen with little or no warning, most fires are preventable as they may be caused by certain behaviors that many homeowners are unaware can actually increase the risk of fires. Some of the most common causes of house fires include these behaviors which makes awareness of these behaviors and home fire safety practices very important among homeowners. The following are common behaviors that are among the top house fire causes that you should avoid to prevent house fires. Putting Electrical Appliances Too Close Together Most electrical appliances generate some level of heat and major appliances need a lot of power to operate. Putting too many appliances in the same area can greatly increase the risk of an electrical fire or a fire caused by the heat emitted from the appliances. You should make sure that all of your major appliances are spaced throughout the home so that the emitted heat from each appliance can dissipate and it is also important to make sure each appliance has its own plug directly into the wall to reduce the risk of electrical fires. Leaving Cooking Food Unattended The leading cause of house fires is unattended cooking and even though just about every list of fire safety tips includes this risk, it remains the most common cause. Many homeowners think there is no harm in walking away from the stove for a few minutes while cooking but a fire can start in just a few seconds if cooking food is left unattended. You should always be vigilant when cooking to reduce this risk and try to avoid cooking methods such as frying that are more likely to cause fires. Excessive Use of Extension Cords and Power Strips Extension cords and power strips handle a lot of electricity which makes them a potential fire risk if they are used improperly. You should avoid connecting multiple extension cords together because this will overload the cords and increase the risk of a short circuit which can cause a fire. It is important to remember that extension cords are meant as a temporary solution only. Power strips should also be used with caution as not every power strip has surge protection. Make sure each power strip has its own outlet and do not daisy-chain multiple power strips together only to plug them into the same outlet. Using Damaged Cords You should always check electrical cords around your house to make sure that none of them are damaged or worn out. Damaged cords are more likely to cause an electric shock and if the outside coating of the cord is worn out, the heat it generates can cause a fire through direct contact with flammable material. Checking for and replacing damaged worn out cords can help prevent house fires. Leaving an Appliance on in an Empty Home If you leave your house for any amount of time, make sure your electrical appliances are turned off. A single malfunction when you are away can very quickly turn into a large fire that will consume your home. One of the few appliances that is deemed safe to leave on in your empty home is a crockpot because they do not generate enough power or heat to be a serious fire risk. Failing to Clean the Dryer Lint Trap Excess lint in the dryer is the second leading cause of house fires after unattended cooking. Cleaning the lint out of the trap on the dryer only takes a few seconds and establishing a habit of cleaning out the lint trap with every use will greatly reduce the risk of a fire. You should also check the dryer hose annually to make sure it is clear of lint and debris. Unattended Lit Candles Many people like to light candles in their home to create a certain mood or because they enjoy the smell but it is very important that you do not forget about a lit candle or leave it unattended. Just one candle can cause a major fire and all it takes is for the candle to get knocked over or the flame to get too close to something flammable. Make sure to put your candles in sturdy holders away from anything that can possible catch fire and always blow them out before leaving the room or the house. Failure to Clean Chimney If you have a fireplace in your home that you use regularly, cleaning out your chimney is very important for preventing house fires. An oily residue known as creosote builds up in your chimney when you use the fireplace and this substance is very flammable. A big enough creosote build-up in your chimney greatly increases the risk of a chimney fire so make sure to have your chimney inspected and cleaned annually if you like to use your fireplace. The risk of a house fire in just about every home is very real and even though many homeowners may believe that their homes are safe, the common behaviors listed above can actually be putting your home more at risk. These everyday behaviors are among the leading causes of house fires because they are so common and it is important for homeowners to realize the danger in these behaviors and avoid them to help prevent house fires. However, even with the best home fire safety habits, a fire can still be started by something out of your control and when this happens, a fire damage restoration specialist is needed to get your home restored. Avoiding these behaviors that increase the risk of a fire is the best form of protection.
Catalans have said during growing public protests that their industrialized region is being hit harder than most by austerity measures aimed at avoiding a national bailout like those needed by Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus. Madrid has traditionally said that simplifying the state's financial model by excluding overall costs such as defense only creates a distorted image of how taxation and spending are distributed. A rising tide of Catalan separatist sentiment was spurred when Rajoy failed to agree to Mas' proposals to lighten Catalonia's tax load and 1.5 million people turned out in Barcelona on Sept. 11 for the largest nationalist rally in the region since the 1970s. These growing economic concerns have combined with a longstanding nationalist streak in Catalonia, which has its own cultural traditions that were harshly repressed by the military dictatorship of Francisco Franco from the end of Spain's Civil War in 1939, to Franco's death in 1975. One of the most potent symbols of the divisions distancing Catalonia and the country's capital city can be seen in the bitter rivalry between the Barcelona and Real Madrid soccer clubs. In recent years grassroots groups have held unofficial referendums on independence in towns throughout the region, while some small villages have gone to the extreme of declaring themselves "free Catalan territories." Catalans are viewed by most Spaniards as thrifty, hardworking people, and most -- not least many Catalans -- have been shocked by how their regional debt has swelled to 42 billion euros ($54.4 billion) of the staggering 140 billion euro debt ascribed to all of Spain's regional governments. The economic crisis has highlighted the high cost of running Spain's 17 semi-autonomous regions alongside a central government. The Catalan government has had to ask for a 5 billion euro ($6.5 million) bailout from Spain like other indebted regions. Mas' government counters that each year it contributes 16 billion euros ($21 billion) more than it gets back from Spain. It also complains that important infrastructure projects needed to revive Spain's sick economy are being left unfunded. Even so, many people feel they are both Catalan and Spanish, and are wary of the idea of trying to divide the country.
Interviews: Uncovering a Mayan Massacre Researchers in Guatemala have found evidence of a 1,200-year-old massacre in an ancient city called Cancuén, the capital of one of the richest kingdoms of Maya civilization. The discovery, deep in the jungle of highland Guatemala, provides a snapshot of the Maya civilization as it began to collapse. A team led by Arthur Demarest, a professor of anthropology at Vanderbilt University, has uncovered dozens of skeletons buried in an old reservoir in the ruins of a royal palace located in Cancuén. "When they started excavating (the site), the archaeologists started hitting bones, and then more bones, and then more bones, and we then began to realize that the entire bottom half of this swimming pool was filled with human bones," Demarest says. Precious adornments found near and on the skeletons -- including jade, carved shells and jaguar-fang necklaces -- led the team to conclude that the people massacred had been nobles. Finding evidence of the slaughter was like stumbling upon "a critical moment in the collapse of Maya civilization," Demarest says. "It tells us that in 800 AD, this great center of trade -- very strategically placed to control all the trade in the Western trade route -- was attacked." The attack itself didn't cause the Maya's collapse, Demerest says. But it did occur in the same historical time period during which the entire Maya civilization began its decline. The bigger mystery, Demarest says, is who perpetrated the massacre. He says there are many suspects -- including soldiers from other Maya city-states. Demarest and his co-workers have spent years digging at the site, searching for relics that might help explain Maya culture. The National Geographic Society has provided support for the research. As part of an ongoing series of interviews for Radio Expeditions, a co-production of NPR and the National Geographic Society, Alex Chadwick talks with Demarest about his research team's latest finds in the Petén jungle region of Guatemala. Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
What are the health benefits of playing football? Football is probably the most popular sport in the world and is played in virtually every nation on the planet. A team game, it involves 11 players on either side who are allowed to use their feet, legs, head and torso to control and pass a ball with the aim of scoring goals. The game involves running, sprinting, jogging and quick reactions. The game is continuous with each half lasting 45 minutes and as such, is perfect for keeping fit and cardiovascular health. All ages and abilities can get involved in football, with the sport also accessible for people of different heights and sizes. Football is a great sport for kids who are just starting out with physical activity and might not yet have high levels of endurance but still want to get involved in team games. Football is suitable for men and women, girls and boys and all can play along the same rules of the game. Playing football is a lot of fun which might explain its global popularity. It’s also a great total workout with multiple health benefits that include: - Improves cardiovascular health and helps to increase aerobic capacity - Improves muscle tone and decreases body fat - Increases strength, endurance and flexibility - Boosts muscle and bone strength - The sudden shifts between high and low intensity activity during a game is beneficial to health Here are some further benefits from playing football: - It is relatively safe as it’s considered a non-contact sport on the whole - It helps to teach co-ordination - Fosters a spirit of teamwork, sharing and group responsibility - Teaches you how to act fast and make quick decisions - A fun way to meet new people with similar interests - It’s more fun and motivating to exercise with friends - Encourages greater concentration, self-discipline and tenacity - A great opportunity to combat stress and promote better feelings of self-esteem and confidence. - Needs little equipment and can be played in a garden or public park - Easy to learn and play for fun for both beginners and the more experienced - A truly international sport If you’re planning to play football, you can choose to play either recreationally or competitively. You don’t need a large number of people or a field necessarily. It can be as simple and easy as a friendly kickabout in just about any available space. An impromptu game of football can be played on streets, gardens or beaches and all you need is a ball. To keep in shape, why not incorporate some new Soccer Training Drills into your warmup? Visit https://www.sportplan.net/drills/Soccer for more information. Players can choose to join a local club and play in a more competitive way through organised competitions and leagues. You can also play football is some indoor sports centres in competitions that use smaller team sizes. In preparing to play football, the following is always good advice: - Always warm before doing any form of exercise - Keep your fitness levels up over time so you can play well and avoid fatigue or injury - Stay well hydrated and always have plenty of fluids on hand while you play - Depending on your physical condition and age, don’t overdo it - Always wear the recommended protective clothing Football is ideal for keeping fitness levels maintained and promotes strength, endurance and health. Get involved and see how good football can make you feel!
Be careful what your dog or cat is playing with. Sometimes they will eat it. Many times they ingest things that get caught in their intestinal tract and you don’t necessarily know it. If this obstruction does not pass or get removed surgically, you will have a dead pet. Some signs that something is wrong are vomiting and diarrhea and lethargy. Of course, there are other reasons that animals do these things, but if it continues, you definitely want to have your pet examined by a veterinarian Some of the things your dog might ingest are coins, strings, rubber bands, batteries, cat litter, sharp objects, tampons and toys. Cats are smaller and often ingest smaller things like ribbon, string and yarn. These things that get ingested can obstruct the system, and nothing or very little can pass through the stomach and intestines. Sometimes what’s ingested can be sharp and puncture the intestines. Sometimes a string can get tangled around the tongue and swallowed at the same time. As the body is struggling to push it through, the intestines can fold up like an accordion and the string can wrap around the intestines. All of these things sound dreadful. If the condition isn’t recognized and treated, the tissue can become necrotic (dead) and create infection in the animal, eventually leading to a septic condition, which will kill the animal. Puppies and kittens are most prone to ingesting things. Kittens love to play and chase string and yarn, and if you are not watching, they can ingest it. If you are there to supervise, these things can be fun to play with. However, when you are not there, always put string, yarn and ribbon away where neither the kitten nor your children can get at it. There are lots of toys you can get at your pet store that your kitten or cat can play with safely. If you’re not sure of what to get, ask for help at the pet store. Be sure to not get anything that hangs where they can get themselves tangled in it and hang themselves. Puppies want to chew everything in sight. Many toys and make-shift toys should only be played with when you are there to supervise. There are things your dog can chew on safely like bully sticks, very large raw bones from the butcher or the pet store. Do not give your dog a small bone or a bone that has been cooked. Cooked bones splinter easily and can cause damage to your dogs intestines. Most dogs can’t chew through Kongs, but some can. Kongs with peanut butter in them can entertain your dog for hours and keep him from getting bored and chewing up things he shouldn’t be chewing. It is important as a pet owner to note what your pets are playing with and what they may have ingested. It is also important to notice if they are pooping and peeing and what kind of an appetite they have. Vomiting is also a tell-tale sign that something isn’t right. It is important to get your pet to a veterinarian if your dog isn’t feeling well. Please take good care of your furry friends, and you can enjoy them for many years and give them a good life, as well. Cheryl Wicks is the executive director of Sammie’s Friends. The shelter can be reached at 530-471-5041.
1.12.1 Predict how wholesome behaviors can have an effect on well being status. 1.eight.9 Look at the potential seriousness of injury or sickness if engaging in unhealthy behaviors. health education england london Info, guidance, and assets about Private, Social, Health Training in colleges. To ensure that a candidate to sit down for an exam they should have either a bachelor’s, grasp’s, or doctoral degree from an accredited institution, and an official transcript that shows a major in well being education, Community Well being Training, Public Health Schooling, or College Health Education , and so on. As part of our response, now we have consulted with young folks which might be both at the moment at college, or who’ve not too long ago left school, and have lived experience of psychological well being points. Expertise-primarily based health schooling enhances the standard of the content material of schooling, by addressing points relevant to the lives of learners. Well being training builds students’ knowledge, expertise, and constructive attitudes about health. The Institute is a recognised professional association offering a spread of membership choices to these engaged within the apply of Well being Schooling and Well being Promotion. One of the predominant duties of well being schooling is to tell about lifestyles and behaviours that stop individuals from numerous illnesses. Access to well being services by means of direct care or referral providers permits for management and management of continual ailments and provision of emergency services. A healthy faculty surroundings ensures that the design and structure of the college atmosphere is optimal, protects students from organic or chemical agents damaging to health, and enhances the psychological, emotional, and social tradition of the college. certified health education specialist (ches) areas of responsibility three.2.2 Establish methods to locate college and community well being helpers. Mental, intellectual, emotional and social health referred to an individual’s ability to deal with stress, to accumulate abilities, to maintain relationships, all of which kind resources for resiliency and impartial living. 2.5.4 Describe how the school and neighborhood can assist private health practices and behaviors. 2.12.9 Analyze how some health risk behaviors can affect the likelihood of partaking in unhealthy behaviors. Thus, it is very important develop extra environment friendly methods to promote youngsters’s health, for instance by including complementary interventions to high school well being training from other sources. 2.12.2 Analyze how the tradition supports and challenges well being beliefs, practices, and behaviors.
Inflammation is a vital part of our immune system, signalling the body to repair damage and defend against foreign invaders, such as viruses and bacteria. But chronic inflammation is the root cause of many illnesses including heart disease, arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, obesity and asthma. However, a healthy diet and lifestyle can help keep inflammation under control. Have a Cuppa Consider swapping one of your cups of tea or coffee for a cup of green tea instead. Green tea leaves are packed with natural antioxidants and polyphenol compounds, which can help reduce free radical damage to stop further inflammation and fight off disease. Avoid the Hanger Opt for fibre-rich snacks with some protein when the urge strikes – i.e. veggies and hummus or apple slices and peanut butter. Avoiding filling up on sugar and refined carbs is key to preventing peaks and drops in blood sugar, which in turn cause inflammation. Go to Bed Routinely getting six hours or less sleep triggers inflammation – even in healthy individuals – which research suggests increases risk for metabolic issues that can lead to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and heart disease, as well as dementia and Alzheimer’s. Oh Honey Honey! Manuka honey is the powerhouse of honeys, and while it can be eaten like a regular honey it is commonly used to boost your immune system. This is due to its high anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties which fight bacteria and viruses. Loaded with minerals, enzymes and antioxidants, take a daily spoonful to keep the nasties away. Consider a Fast Intermittent fasting has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects. An easy way to start is by beginning with a 12-hour fast. This means if you finish dinner at 7pm, then you don’t eat again until 7am the next day. Studies suggest regular intermittent fasting may reduce heart disease risk and improve insulin sensitivity, brain health, and inflammatory bowel disease. No matter how healthy your diet, low-grade inflammation isn’t going away if stress levels run continuously high. Science shows that a simple meditation practice – along with other mind-body approaches such as yoga reduce markers of inflammation. And you don’t need to meditate for hours; even just five or 10 minutes a day can be beneficial. The Spice of Life Evidence suggests that incorporating garlic, as well as herbs and spices like turmeric, cinnamon, cumin and ginger decreases inflammation that could eventually lead to heart disease, brain degenerative conditions and respiratory issues. Consider having the occasional dry spell, and opt out of alcohol. While you don’t have to abstain forever, cutting out alcohol temporarily can help calm down existing inflamation in your body. Be Good To Your Gut Taking a probiotic, or consuming probiotic-rich foods – such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, miso, or kimchi will reap huge benefits. Evidence has shown strengthening the gut’s microbe barrier is one of the cornerstones to reducing inflammation long-term.
Algorithm Study provides tools and resources to augment the traditional study of algorithms. It includes implementations of common and less-common algorithms in a variety of languages and visualization tools to help in gaining a deeper understanding of the algorithms. The algorithm implementations are each accompanied by a discussion of the asymptotic ("big O") run time and memory limits of the algorithm. Some implementations include discussion of how the algorithm or data structure is commonly used and comparisons with similar algorithms or data structures. All implementations have test cases that exercise their functionality. The visualization tool, Algorithm Visualizer, displays what happens as various algorithms do their work. Validate Saudi ID is a PHP class that can be used to validate Saudi resident identifier numbers. It takes a resident identifier number and calculates a checksum to verify whether it may be a valid number. It returns either 1 (for Saudis), 2 (for non-Saudis), or FALSE (for invalid numbers). JRainbow is a program that generates Rainbow tables for the MD5 and SHA-1 hash algorithms. These tables then can be used for a Rainbow attack to retrieve hashed passwords. Up to 8 digit password rainbow tables are supported. The tables use a textual format. Six variations of alphanumeric and special character sets are supported. You can choose how many times to hash the input before storing it in the table. php mudnames is a PHP class that can generate random names for characters used in role playing games such as multi-user dungeon (MUD) games. Although the names do not mean anything, they sound very much like typical names of characters that you often see in this kind of game. It can retrieve text data from one of several dictionary files. The dictionary data is used to generate random names based on selected capabilities and used particles. TSPSG is intended to generate and solve "travelling salesman problem" (TSP) tasks. It uses the Branch and Bound method for solving. Its input is a number of cities and a matrix of city-to-city travel costs. The matrix can be populated with random values in a given range (which is useful for generating tasks). The result is an optimal route, its price, step-by-step matrices of solving, and a solving graph. The task can be saved in an internal binary format and opened later. The result can be printed or saved as PDF, HTML, or ODF. TSPSG may be useful for teachers to generate test tasks or just for regular users to solve TSPs. Also, it may be used as an example of using the Branch and Bound method to solve a particular task. nedtries is a portable in-place bitwise binary Fredkin trie algorithm that allows for near constant time insertions, deletions, finds, closest fit finds, and iteration. It is approximately 50-100% faster than red-black trees and up to 20% faster than O(1) hash tables. It provides implementations as C macros, C++ templates, and as a C++ STL compatible associative container.
Anti-nuclear groups, including some local ones, wrote to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday asking it to require distinctive visual dye markers on normal, permitted radiation emission releases. The groups say the coloring, similar to that used in natural gas and propane odor markers, would make radiation releases easily identifiable to protect the public. The groups also want NRC to require that the public be alerted via news reports -- like pollen alerts -- to each release of radiation from venting, fuel transfers or any other accidental, intentional or incidental release of radioactive emissions to air, land or water. "We put odor in gas and hear pollen counts on weather reports for our protection, but when it comes to radiation emissions from nuclear power plants, we don't know when, where or how much," said Gretel Johnston, a Scottsboro, Ala., member of the Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation and the Bellefonte Efficiency & Sustainability Team. Both groups signed the Dec. 11 letter, which included two other requests: that stored nuclear waste be moved as quickly as possible from pools at nuclear plants to safer dry cask storage, and that nuclear plants be phased out. NRC spokesman Joey Ledford said nuclear regulators will review the requests. "Individuals or groups are always able to ask the NRC to revise its regulations or create new ones. If such a request has a solid technical or scientific basis for showing why the change or new regulation could enhance safety, the NRC would consider whether to start a formal rulemaking process on the change," he said. Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman Ray Golden said officials with the utility, which operates three nuclear plants in the region, have not seen the letter and had no comment. The letter notes that radioactive emissions are released daily somewhere in the United States -- from power plants and nuclear fuel manufacturing and storage facilities to nuclear fuel railway and highway transports and nuclear weapons facilities.
Conversation in Belper about accent, dialect and attitudes to language. The British Library Board acknowledges the intellectual property rights of those named as contributors to this recording and the rights of those not identified. Legal and ethical usage » Is part of (Collection) BBC Voices Recordings Hitchcock, John, 1943 Aug. 16- (speaker, male, retired), Hitchcock, Stephanie, (speaker, female, Smedley, Mary, (speaker, female, semi-retired manager of North Mill Visitor Centre), Williams, David, 1950 May 27- (speaker, male, teacher) Ramroop, Marsha, 1976 May 16- (speaker, female) [00:00:00] Speakers introduce themselves. Discussion about their accents, local area, changing accent in different situations/when talking to different people, Derbyshire dialect, relationship between dialect and class, influence of television on speech. Mention how his childrens speech changed after going to university. Discussion about attitudes towards regional accents, importance of intelligibility of speech, Belper accent, how your accent changes depending on what you do in your life.[00:12:05] Discussion about their family backgrounds, anecdotes about people changing speech depending on who they are talking to. Discussion about Belper, how river divides town. Belper accent, accents and class associations, how attitudes towards regional accents have changed over time, people self-consciously over-correcting their own speech, how his attitude towards his own speech has changed as he has got older.[00:13:43] Discussion of words used to describe PEOPLE AND THINGS. Mention words used to mean father, way to differentiate between maternal/paternal grandmothers. Comment that only one woman in Belper wore make-up when he was young. Remark that in north Derbyshire moggie means mouse rather than cat. Mention use of causey to mean pavement. Discussion about local pronunciation of certain words.[00:23:04] Discussion of words used to describe EMOTIONS. Comment that his speech has changed since he moved away from local area. Mention features of local speech. Anecdote about being unable to understand local mans accent. Comment that their pronunciation of some words dont match with their spelling. Remark on multiple meanings of some words used locally.[00:33:44] Discussion of words used to describe ACTIONS. Description of games played as children.[00:42:10] Discussion of words used to describe CLOTHING. Description of 86 year old mothers life.[00:47:30] Discussion of words used to describe PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES. Mention advantages of being left-handed in certain practical professions. Description of kaylie: type of sweet eaten as children.[00:59:43] Discussion of words used to describe WEATHER AND SURROUNDINGS. Description of rooms in various houses in past, watching television in past. Discussion about use of swear words and attitudes towards swearing, pit language. Comment that rude expressions are modern because people didnt use them in past. Anecdote about mother being furious at brother for swearing.[01:26:12] Discussion about use and meaning of various local words, local pit language used by coal miners underground. Anecdote about his wife being able to understand spoken Danish because of its similarity to broad Cumbrian English. Speakers re-introduce themselves. All four interviewees are passionate about being from Derbyshire. Recording made for BBC Voices project of a conversation guided by a BBC interviewer. The conversation follows a loose structure based on eliciting opinions about accents, dialects, the words we use and people's attitude to language.
The Vietnamese Mekong delta is subsiding due to a combination of natural and human-induced causes. Over the past several decades, large-scale anthropogenic land-use changes have taken place as a result of increased agricultural production, population growth and urbanization in the delta. Land-use changes can alter the hydrological system or increase loading of the delta surface, amplifying natural subsidence processes or creating new anthropogenic subsidence. The relationships between land use histories and current rates of land subsidence have so far not been studied in the Mekong delta. We quantified InSAR-derived subsidence rates for the various land-use classes and past land-use changes using a new, optical remote sensing-based, 20-year time series of land use. Lowest mean subsidence rates were found for undeveloped land-use classes, like marshland and wetland forest (~6–7 mm yr−1), and highest rates for areas with mixed-crop agriculture and cities (~18–20 mm yr−1). We assessed the relationship strength between current land use, land-use history and subsidence by predicting subsidence rates during the measurement period solely based on land-use history. After initial training of all land-use sequences with InSAR-derived subsidence rates, the land-use-based approach predicted 65–92% of the spatially varying subsidence rates within the measurement error range of the InSAR observations (RMSE = 5.8 mm). As a result, the spatial patterns visible in the observed subsidence can largely be explained by land use. We discuss in detail the dominant land-use change pathways and their indirect, causal relationships with subsidence. Our spatially explicit evaluation of these pathways provides valuable insights for policymakers concerned with land-use planning in both subsiding and currently stable areas of the Mekong delta and similar systems. To get more details: click here (free download)
A study of standard and new antiepileptic drugs II Epilepsy is a common medical condition. Recently, a number of new anti-epileptic medicines have become available to treat epilepsy. SANAD-2 compared standard and new anti-epileptic medicines for epilepsy to try and find out which are the best. Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and causes repeated seizures. Antiepileptic drugs (AED) are the mainstay of treatment and may have to be taken for life. The ultimate goal of treatment is to maximise quality of life by eliminating seizures at drug doses that do not cause side effects. However, for many patients there is a necessary trade-off between effective seizure control and side effects, which can diminish quality of life. Over the past 20 years, a number of new AED drugs have become available and have been approved for NHS use on the basis of information from short-term studies, but these studies do not provide information about the longer term outcomes. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the AEDs levetiracetam and zonisamide compared with the standard treatments for epilepsy (lamotrigine and valproate). The Royal Preston Hospital (part of Lancashire Teaching Hospitals) was a recruitment centre for this trial. The trial is now closed. Further information about the trial can be found on the trial website.
US Plastic More Expensive To Make, Will Have Higher Carbon Footprint Under Cap & Trade Cleaning up waste plastic before it goes into the ocean. Image credits::Algalita Marine Research Foundation In Europe they commonly make commodity plastics from oil-based feedstock: petroleum naptha from the refinery. In the USA, however, plastic is mostly is made from natural gas as raw material. The chemical industry is not pleased with the current cap and trade provision being voted on in Congress. They anticipate C&T; will drive utilities to burn more natural gas and less coal to generate power (a good thing by most people's reasoning), which means (per the chemical industry argument) higher operating costs, and ultimately customers getting plastic from European instead of US factories. They also seem to be arguing that European plastic makers have a higher carbon footprint per Kg of plastic made (because of the oil feedstock and trans-atlantic shipping). Utilities could also switch to renewable energy instead of all gas. And, Americans could recycle more plastic, thus avoiding all the waste plastic that ends up in the ocean (as pictured). That would lower prices. Bet these two sentences are not in their 'talking points.'From States News via AllBuiness.com ACC: SENATE EPW CLIMATE BILL WILL WEAKEN U.S. COMPETITIVENESS, INCREASE GLOBAL EMISSIONS: "Specifically, we believe the allowance cap and reduction schedules in S. 1733 will put energy-intensive, trade-exposed industries (EITEs) like ours at a competitive disadvantage in global markets. While some allowances are devoted to EITEs, the bill has an undersized cap and steep rate of decline that will make emissions allowances scarce, resulting in high allowance prices. High allowance prices will, in turn, will lead utilities to 'fuel switch' to natural gas to reduce their compliance costs. Because chemistry companies rely on natural gas for heat and power and as a raw material, or 'feedstock,' we will pay more for allowances, fuel, and feedstock. This 'triple whammy' of higher costs will make us significantly less competitive with producers overseas, costing U.S. jobs and increasing global emissions. More posts on plastic and gas prices. Rising Oil Prices Make Plastic Recycling More Valuable Good News: The Cost Of Petro-Plastic Is Sky Rocketing Natural Gas Getting Boxed Out of Climate Bill
by Rashieda D. Gantt, Adjunct Professor A student in my Methods of Teaching Reading in the Content Area: Secondary class asked an unexpected question: “Why do we (content teachers) have to unpack the ELA (English Language Arts) Common Core State Standards (CCSS)?” Prior to the task, I conducted a viewing of The Teaching Channel’s video, Think Alouds: Unpacking the Standards, with Sarah Brown Wessling. While I pondered the question, the course participant continued with a follow-up question, “Why don’t they have experts like you (said instructor) unpack the standards for us?” This teacher, a math teacher, had struggled with the task of CLOSELY reading and unpacking the ELA Common Core Standards. 1) UNPACK the standard by identifying the important words or verbs based on what the students will have to know and do. Rewrite the standard in objective(s) using the Students will (SW) or Students will be able to (SWBAT) language. 2) Explain how would you assess the standard. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source. Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence. Eventually, an ELA teacher responded to the initial question, “Who else is supposed to unpack the standards except those who are teaching the standards?” The course participant, continued to express extreme frustration and feelings of discomfort with the rigor involved with unpacking the ELA standards. He was a master of his chosen content but was astounded by the challenge of breaking down loaded words like quantitatively, evidence and evaluate as non-mathematical terms. He grappled with the goal of making connections between teaching math content and the ELA standards. It was an arduous endeavor to consider. Rewinding the tape a bit, the course is taught with the theme in mind that all teachers are literacy teachers. Starting out, the opening question sparks great discussion, “Who is responsible for teaching reading and writing?” Hands down, everyone usually concludes that all teachers are responsible for teaching reading and writing. The next agenda item involves a conversation around data that reflects the enormous number of college students who are enrolled in remedial courses across the nation. The data speaks to the deficits of student-preparedness as it relates to literacy in reading and writing across contents. Therefore, I ask the enduring/essential question, “If everyone is responsible, then why isn’t it showing in the data? Why is the course, Methods of Teaching Reading in the Content a necessary mandate?” Will CCSS take over where the No Child Left Behind mandates, reading in the content area, left off, replace it by starting over? Unpacking the standards is a shift from incorporating literacy standards across content areas. No worries for you content teachers; the shifts will continue and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) integration courses are on the way.
Mass Communication can simply be defined as a message being sent from a sender to a receiver across a medium. In journalism, we mainly concentrate on the medium itself- whether it's a newspaper, magazine, television, radio, or nowadays the internet. Perhaps some of the most influential times in the history of journalism though has been where the journalist concentrates on the content of the message itself. This time line will be presenting two things. First, what I consider the ten most important moments in mass communication history. Second, by using those ten as a basis, I will be presenting an argument, being that with the advancements in technology and development in language behavior we have come to better understand our roles and responsibility as journalists. Mass Communication really only began with the development of technology. It paved the way for the thinkers, writers and orators to be able to deliver their message. With the development in technology also came the idea of how to control the content and gain the most attention. Eventually we began to gain a better understanding of the importance of responsibility, liability, and credibility. Created by lupine on Dec 15, 2008 Last updated: 03/11/10 at 07:32 PM Tags: Dina Mass Communication Final Top Ten Moments in History Ten Most Influential Moments in the History of Mass Communication has no followers yet. Be the first one to follow. On June 4th 1989, hundreds of civilians were killed in a democratic protest at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. It was after seven weeks of protests (mainly of students) in response to the April 26th editorial in the Communist Party newspaper. The Massacre at Tiananmen Square stands in stark contrast to the Holocaust and Nazi Propaganda of WWII. It was mainly students who led the protests in China, arguing for freedom of the press and democracy. While the only form of press they had was from the Communist Party, they still held opposition and demanded freedom of speech. It is a prime example that our understanding of language and speech has changed drastically over time- to the point where hundreds were willing to put themselves in danger for rights. Another good link: The history of the development of the internet is a little confusing- to start, you have to begin with the development of the computer, which is based on mathematical equations, and so on. It really began with the of the world wide web (www), which came about in the 1980's. The internet is without a doubt an influential development in the history of mass communication. It has changed our way of communicating, and in turn it changes with our behavioral responses. While it has combined both the of groupings and stranger interactions, people are still waiting for the next person who will once again create a program that will break social barriers. The picture above is a map of the areas of the world where internet access is restricted. Want to see a social map of the world? Go here: The Civil Rights movement makes it into my top ten for one reason only: without the media, it would not have been successful, or at least as quickly as it was. While reporters tried to remain objective, Race Beat shows us that in such times, there is no such thing as objectivity. It gained national and international attention because of media coverage, and media was utilized by the protesters in order to create greater effects. Peaceful protests and sit-ins at the lunch counters were encountered with violence- and the media frenzy couldn't ignore it, no more than the world could. Grotte de Lascaux- The Cave of Lascaux in France. On September 12, 1940 a group of boys were wandering the surrounding woods of Montignac, France, and came upon what came to be known as the Grotte de Lascaux. It was later affirmed that the cave paintings were about 17,000 years old- the oldest known cave paintings on earth. It's wealth is measured in pictures- with 1,500 engravings and 600 drawings. Language is a means for communication between people. It has been argued that language behavior first developed with cave paintings, which was then followed by the written word (which in turn led to developments like papyrus and cloth). With language came new social behaviors, which led to the necessity of more permanent and more easily widespread technologies. Prior and during the years of WWII, the Nazi government of Germany utilized propaganda as a means to control the thoughts of the masses. They used all means of media, and it became essential to Nazi Germany. This is an extreme example of propaganda. It shows how effective it can be, to the point of driving an entire nation down a dark and bloody path in history. The Telegraph, which is no longer in use, works by transmitting electric signals over wires between places that translates into a message. The invention itself was not the difficult part of the telegraph- it was the code which would be used. The telegraph was the first invention that took communication through the wires. It is an that eventually led to the television and the internet. At a time when communication was simply done by word of mouth and by hand, it was a large step outside the boundaries of common language behavior. Like the camera, the television wasn't invented at a particular moment in time. It took many people over the years to add to the development of what came to be the television. The television changed mass communication as we knew it. Not only did it bring news right into the persons' living room, but it also became more influential than any other medium prior to the internet. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a moving series of pictures is worth much more. There are two examples of this presented. One: The video which is attached, a Kennedy and Nixon debate which was aired on television, is said to have given Kennedy the upper hand in the elections. It is reported that those that listened to the debates over the radio favored Nixon, whereas those that watched them on the television favored Kennedy. Two: The Civil Rights movement was made more effective when it was aired on the television, rather than written up in a story. This became effective with beatings, demonstrations, and mobs. 'A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words'. In 1826, a French inventor by the name of Nicephore Niepce created the world's first permanent image from a camera. Over time many others contributed to the science and development of creating better images. It has now become a part of our daily lifestyles. In journalism today, stories typically come with photographs and videos. Photographs have been known to have a profound effect on the observer. There is perhaps no greater example that I can think of other than the Civil Rights Movement. When images were taken of beatings at demonstrations, protests at lunch counters, and children attempting to go to school amidst angry mobs, many people were influenced to take action. Parents, students, and those who had similar experiences were influenced more by the images than by the words. The development of the photograph changed the way we approach journalism today. A photograph or a video is considered evidence of a happening or occurrence, and words alone are not effective enough. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution On December 15th, 1791, the newly formed country of the United States became the first country to include freedom of speech into its laws. From a time when free speech was not even considered, when uttering a single sentence could put you in jail, or even put to death, it was a revolutionary step. Since then, it has become a valuable right- a right in which we view as inherent, and even necessary to be guaranteed everywhere. Journalism as we knew it blossomed from this, and while we still continue to struggle with understanding objectivity, responsibility, and the term 'news' itself, we now see it in a new light. The phrase, 'dissenting is patriotic', most likely rose from this. While technology paved the way for mass communication to form and spread, laws were also needed to be put in place in order for it to be seen as an important part in our everyday lives. The first amendment [mostly] guaranteed the protection of the content of the message. As freedom of speech was put into government law, it also carried with it a new level of responsibility. Above image: Makola market in Ghana. 'Trade provides mankind's most significant meeting place, the market.'- historyworld.net Trading as a history is said to have begun sometime around 3000 B.C. in Africa. While advancements in technology has altered our methods in trading, it still exists as a necessary component in our lives. It is considered as one of the reasons why communication developed. Being able to trade takes a considerable understanding of communication. Trading changed communication and social behaviors. It created a greater necessity for different technologies to develop to be able to supply the demand of the masses for means of communicating.
The Purdue OWL site has some helpful exercises to practice paraphrasing. Paraphrasing is not simply rearranging the words of someone else's sentence. Nor is it replacing their words with synonyms. It is taking the gist of their idea and putting it into your own words. IT MUST BE FOLLOWED BY A CITATION. When should you paraphrase: If you are looking at a large amount of material, a paragraph let's say, you do not want to paraphrase line by line. Instead, you want to focus on reading the whole section and take out one main point. Can you summarize that section into one main idea sentence? If your paraphrase is too close to the original content then it is better off to use quotation marks and just use the direct quotation. Original Text from "Irish Immigration." Immigration. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2014: "Their [the Irish's] organizational ability coupled with the large number of Irish living in U.S. cities, made the Irish a powerful political force. They literally transformed politics in American cities by putting local power in the hands of men of working class origin." The Irish changed politics in American cities. Men of working class origin were given local power and because of their organizational ability along with their large numbers living in U.S. cities they became a powerful political force. Acceptable Paraphrase with CITATION: The Irish wielded great political power, particularly in the cities. By empowering the working classes this ethnic group became a powerful and influental voice in politics ("Irish Immigration").
Photo Bullying Statistics Photo Bullying often occurs on social media and based on data from Consumer Reports, more than 1,000,000 children were harassed or threatened on those platforms in 2011. In terms of kids who were cyber or photo bullied, 25% reported that it results in a face-to-face confrontation, while 13% didn’t want to attend school the next day, and 8% were involved in a physical altercation based on something that occurred on social media. The Cox 2014 Internet Safety Survey found that 61% of the teens who reported bullying that year were bullied because of their physical appearance. 95% of teens who use social media also saw cruel behavior, but noted that others ignored it. 55% of those people witnessed this regularly. It’s also worth noting that 21% of the people who responded, said they had joined in on the bullying that was occurring.
What could you think about as you read a nonfiction book? - What is the worldview of the author? Do I share the same worldview or is my view different? Is the author primarily informing me of facts or trying to convince me? Why did the author write this book? - What pictures are being created in my mind by the words in the book? What colours do I see? What sounds do I hear? What sensations do I feel? - What ideas do I think are important to remember? What evidence is there for those ideas? What background knowledge do I have that supports the evidence in this book? What background knowledge do I have that disagrees with the evidence in this book? - What connections can I make to other books I have read? What connections can I make to my own experiences in life? What connections can I make to world events? - How does this book make me see life differently? How will this book cause me to change my own behaviour? - Who will I talk to about what I’ve learned in this book? What facts do I want to memorize so I don’t forget them? Here’s a format you could use for writing about a nonfiction book: I read ___ by ____ (____ , __ ). I chose this nonfiction book because _____ . Before I even started reading, I already knew that ________ . Reading this book, I learned a lot more: __________ . Now I wonder, ________ . This book started me thinking more about _______ . I read A Kid’s Guide to the Brain by Sylvia Funston and Jay Ingram (Greey de Pencier Books, 1994). I chose this book because I hope to become a neurologist, brain specialist, one day and expanding my general knowledge about the brain would help me in the future. This book also had lots of illustrations and fun activities to do that made it more interesting and easier to remember facts. Before I even started reading, I already knew that there were two parts to our brain, a left brain and a right brain. I knew that the right brain was working harder when I was doing something with music, art or creativity and that my left brain was responsible for tasks that require more thinking such as reading, writing and math! Reading this book, I learned a lot more: Our brain started as what we call a “reptilian brain” which control things such as breathing and sleeping. On top of that grew the “feeling brain” that takes care of our body temperature and emotions. Lastly, on the outside we have the “thinking brain” which sets us apart from other creatures, deciding how strong a reaction should be to messages from our feeling brain. Now I wonder, if we started out with just one part in our brain, and now have three, will our brains evolve even more in the future? Or what are our dreams for? Are they highlighting important events of our day, getting rid of unnecessary ideas, or are they just stories of strange images we think about? This book started me thinking more about how we can learn to use our brain more wisely or take it to the full potential it can reach, such as controlling our dreams or hiding our strongest emotions, which I hope to be able to do. (Ilar in grade eight) Here’s another way to briefly tell about a nonfiction book: Did you know that GIVE AN INTERESTING FACT? Did you know that GIVE ANOTHER INTERESTING FACT? TITLE by AUTHOR (publisher, date) tells all sorts of AN EMOTIVE ADJECTIVE SUCH ‘FASCINATING’ facts about TELL THE TOPIC OF THE BOOK. I learned that TELL A FACT and TELL ANOTHER FACT. I discovered that TELL A FACT and TELL ANOTHER FACT. TITLE is a AN EMOTIVE WORD SUCH AS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ book about TELL THE TOPIC AGAIN. Did you know that garter snakes are named after a piece of clothing? Did you know that there are 30 different species of garter snakes? Garter Snakes by Heather L. Montgomery (Capstone, 2011) tells all sort of cool facts about garter snakes. I learned that garter snakes aren’t poisonous and actually make good household pets. I discovered that garter snake enzymes can stun prey and young garter snakes shed their skin four to five times a year. Garter Snakes is a great book about these peaceful reptiles. (Argyle in grade eight) Here’s a third way to briefly tell about a nonfiction book: - Ask a question. - Briefly answer it. - Give a one-sentence summary of the book, mentioning the title, author, and publication details. - Add a few more details about the book. - End with a recommendation. Why do Sikhs remember 1897? Because of the extraordinary courage of some brave men. The Battle of Saragarhi, a graphic novel by Daljeet Singh Sidhu and Amarjit Virdi (Gyan Khand Media, 2012), tells the thrilling true tale of twenty-one riflemen who were stationed at a signalling post in northern India. They were attacked by Afghans and Pathans who greatly outnumbered them. On September 12th of that year, they boldly fought to the death to protect their post. Read this suspenseful story recommended for readers 11 years old and up. (Ramneek in grade 6)
Clark County in the northwestern state of Washington held its first even holiday Styrofoam recycling event in early January of this year. The county believed that close to two hundred and seventy five residents participated and dropped off for recycling over three thousand pounds of Styrofoam. The Clark County Environmental Services offices is responsible for coordinating community recycling events at various locations during the year. This was the first time that a special event was held for Styrofoam – an item that can be recycled but all too often ends up in the trash heading for a landfill. The county estimates that these special events are responsible for collecting up to two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of recyclable materials and hazardous waste items with each individual country event collection approximately three thousand pounds of waste materials for recycling. The Environmental Services Department has made an effort to collect waste materials such as oil because it has value on the re-use market. Other unwanted items such as furniture, textiles and housewares are donated to country social service agencires and not for profit groups. County officials decided to launch the Styrofoam recycling collection event in January due to its high use a packing material for gifts purchased over the holidays. Due to the success, it is expected to become an annual recycling event. WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your town is looking to reduce space and fees paid to landfills, increasing recycling efforts is a way to do it. Does your town make an effort to collect Styrofoam? Maybe they should!
The Korn shell (ksh) is a Unix shell which was developed by David Korn (AT&T Bell Laboratories) in the early 1980s. It is backwards-compatible with the Bourne shell and includes many features of the C shell as well, such as a command history. Advanced KSH Scripting Reference for complex Korn shell scripting. Resources and documentation with multiple versions and source code available for download. KSH Scripting Guide Guide to programming in the Korn shell environment. Public domain Korn shell. Manuals and links to download it. Last update:June 29, 2009 at 2:25:59 UTC
Grade 12 Calculus and Vectors Chapter 9: Equations of Lines in Two- and Three-Dimensions In this chapter we will be mainly developing vector and parametric equations of lines in two- and three-dimensional space. Just as two points or a point and a slope are required to determine a scalar equation of a straigh line, commonly known as the equation of straight line. We will need two points or one point and a direction vector to determine a parametric or vector equation of a line. Moreover, there is a simple relationship between slope, direction vector and direction numbers. Let M = (Mx,My) = (2,4) be a direction vector Then, direction numbers are Mx = 2 and My = 4 And, slope = m = My/Mx= 4/2 = 2 - A vector used to indicate, or point, in the direction of point two from point one. The direction vector may be relocated to the origin of the coordinate system in which point one and point two exist, and because its a vector, by definition it will still hold its importance, or property, as a direction vector. Direction vectors can be expressed as unit vectors, but in many instances that may not be the case. Moreover, the close relationship between direction vector and slope may have lead textbooks to indicate direction vectors with the letter m. Please see table below for a comparison of a line and a vector. - Direction Numbers are the x and y components of a direction vector. Assume a direction vector m, where the tail of the vector is at point a(2,3) and head is at point b(4,6). Therefore, the direction vector would be (4-2,6-3) which is (2,3) pointing from point a to point b (note: this direction vector is not a unit vector as indicated above). As such, the Direction Numbers of direction vector m are 2 and 3. - Parameters are variables used to relate coordinate variables associated with each axis of a coordinate system. When parameteric variables are used, even the independent variables/axes become dependent variable due to the dependency they have on the parameter variable. In the case of a 2-D coordiinate systems, the variable used to indicate a parameter (extra information) would be seen as the third variable (in the system of eqations), yet it would not produce its own axis or show up on any existing axes. \|Time and angles (commonly denoted by letter t and θ, respectively) are the two most common examples of parameters used in many math problems and coordinate systems. As you may have heard, time is commonly considered as the 4th dimension in our space and time jelly/fabric.\| - First of all, parametric relationships are NOT FUNCTIONS, because all such relationships will fail the vertical line test. Such relationships are expressed through parametric equations, or by introducing a new intra-dependent variable, called parameter (some instances may use more than one parameter, as you will see in the next chapter: Equations of Planes). Moreover, in a system of parametric equations only parameters are considered independent variables. Parametric Equations are: 1. system of equations used to describe a relation that is not a function. 2. system of equations used to describe each coordinates (variables assigned to each axis), of a curve or surface using independent variables, know as parameters, and direction vectors. 3. in "(mathematics) a set of equations that defines the coordinates of the dependent variables (x, y and z) of a curve or surface in terms of one or more independent variables or parameters" -- http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/parametric_equation -- [21 Feb 11] - Geometric and Algebraic Vectors - Dot Products and Cross Products - Plotting Points and Vectors in two- and three-dimensions Comparison and contrast of Vectors and Lines \|- Vectors have a definite magnitude\|\|- Lines have infinite magnitude or length\| \|- Vectors have a unique direction\|\|- Lines do not have a unique direction, in fact they have two directions (hence the two arrow heads at either end of each line)\| \|- Vectors can be transformed into different locations and still be considered as the exact same vector as long as the magnitude and direction are not altered during the transformation\|\|- Lines have a definite location (each line have specific x- and y-intercepts), once a line has been shifted or transformed to new location. This new line will not be considered the same line as the previous\| \|- If two vectors are considered to be the same (also referred to as "equal" vectors), both must have the exact same magnitude and direction\|\|- If two lines are to be considered the same (also referred to as"collinear") both lines must have the same slope and y-intercepts. In other words, one line must lie on top of the other line\| \|- Two points or a point and a direction vector are required to determine a vector or parametric equation of a straight line\|\|- Two points or a point and a slope are required to determine a scalar equation of a straight line (or just straight line)\| The Courses we offer - English / French - Mathematics / Statistics - Advanced Functions - Calculus and Vectors - Algebra and Geometry - All Science Courses - Physics / Chemistry / Biology - Anatomy / Pathophysiology / Kinesiology - Thermodynamics / Fluids Dynamics - Pronunciation and Language Help - Computer Science / Programming - CAD / Software and Applications Trainings View all courses and support offered » Programs and Services provided - In-Home 1-on-1 tutoring - Small Group Neighbourhood tutoring - Mentoring / Course scheduling - FREE supplementary Video Tutorials - Extra practice materials - Distant learning assistance - Projects / Workshops / Camps - Science Competitions - Accelerated/Enriched programs - Reinforcement programs See what sets us apart » Tel: +1 647 969 3396 Contact us FORM
Adoption is the process of assuming the parenting for another, and the process permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents. There are different types of adoption with relative and step-parent adoptions being the most common. Most adoptions require background checks, a home-study and notice to the biological parent(s). A typical adoption can be processed in as little as three months, and some adoption expenses are tax deductible. Adoption Myth 1: Adoptive parents are abusive Studies show that adoptive parents are significantly less likely to mistreat their children than biological parents. In fact, since adoptive parents have to submit to extensive background checks, including criminal and child abuse checks, financial reporting, health examinations and court mandated home studies, children who are adopted are assured of safe, secure, and loving homes. Adoption Myth 2: Adopted children hate their birth mothers The majority of adopted children realize as they mature the sacrifice their mothers endured for them. Many realize their mothers could have aborted them or kept them in a difficult, unhealthy living arrangement. Once they realize the opportunities theyve enjoyed and the security and love afforded to them by their adoptive parents, they respect and love their birth mothers for their courageous, unselfish actions. Adoption Myth 3: Adopted children are not well-adjusted Some adopted children may have questions about their heritage and where they come from, but this doesnt prevent them from living happy, successful fulfilling lives. A simple internet search on famous adopted people reveals just how many leaders in the arts, sciences, and business world were or are children of adoption, including a President of the United States and Olympic Gold Medal Winners.
Brushing your teeth for a full two minutes twice a day is extremely important. My kids have been known to go into the bathroom, “brush”, and return to their activity in less than 30 seconds. Either I’m raising the world’s fastest thorough toothbrushers, or I have extremely lazy kids sometimes when it comes to toothbrushing. I’ll let you decide. When my kids were really little, my husband or I would brush their teeth for them. Sometimes it was a struggle, sometimes it went well. Every time we brushed their teeth, though, we couldn’t wait until they could brush on their own. Eventually, we would sit and watch the kids brush their teeth, making sure they were not missing any areas or cutting their brushing time too short. Over the years we’ve tried using a timer, singing the alphabet multiple times, counting slowly to 100 and other tactics to achieve proper brushing times. Now, at 12, 13 and 15, we let them brush on their own, expecting them to do a proper job. Their dad’s a dentist for goodness sake! I do have to say in their defense, their tooth brushing skills have greatly improved over the years. For kids, learning to brush all their teeth correctly is sometimes a daunting task. It’s so easy for them to scrub the chewing surfaces of their teeth and their front teeth quickly, feeling as though they’ve done a smashing job. What about brushing the inside surfaces of their teeth close to the roof of their mouth and their tongue? Or brushing the tooth surfaces next to their cheeks? Or brushing their tongue? Those are all important areas to brush. The best way to teach kids (or adults!) to properly brush their teeth is to start in one quadrant, or area, spending a good 30 seconds brushing all over – top, bottom, inside and outside. For instance, after the upper right teeth are brushed for 30 seconds, move onto the upper left, then down to the lower left, next on to the lower right, and finally the tongue. It really doesn’t matter where they begin, just that 30 seconds is spent on each of the four main areas of the mouth, plus a little extra time for the tongue. Remember parents, kids learn from you too. Let your kids watch you brush your teeth. A lively toothbrushing contest, or brushing your teeth at the same time, is always fun. Leading by example is a powerful form of teaching. If attention is an issue, there is a website that plays cute videos designed to help keep your child focused on brushing for a full 2 minutes. Here’s a link to the website 2min2x.org. I actually recommended this website to my sister recently for my little 2 year old niece. I also found another link to a YouTube video that is engaging and colorful. This Blippi video is a hoot and demonstrates toothbrushing for kids. If you cruise the internet, there is a plethora of great information and videos to help maintain attention while brushing. Another idea to ensure dentist recommended brushing time is to set a timer. I found fun timers for sale at retail stores and on Amazon. I found simple two-minute timers that look a lot like the sand timers in games like Scrabble. A timer on a smartphone would work to track your child’s brushing time too. There are also cute and inexpensive battery powered toothbrushes with timers included in them for children. These can be purchased at retail stores for usually less than $10. The more fun you make proper tooth brushing, the more fun it becomes for your child. Instilling the skills to help take care of a child’s teeth early is key to preventing tooth decay. Give your little one the skills early to maintain a beautiful and healthy smile his or her entire life. Written and submitted by Stephanie Jugovich, mom to 3 kids and employee at Pike Lake Dental Center
Older people in our lives often seem to get shorter with age. This usually happens because of the vertebral discs in the spinal cord coming closer together, but there are other reasons that can contribute. We have a family tradition where each year, on New Year’s Eve, we sit down and go through old albums. I don’t know who came up with it, but I enjoy it deeply. This year, when we were doing this annual ritual, I noticed that my grandmother looks shorter now than in pictures from when she was younger. Of course, it’s just “old age”, but it’s intriguing to question what exactly happens to make us get shorter over time. Recommended Video for you: Does our height decrease with age? The unfortunate answer is “yes”. The height that most of us flaunt during our teens and twenties suddenly decides to leave us behind as we get older. As we age, our height tends to decrease, so we see our parents and grandparents “shrinking”. This loss in height is observed in both males and females and across continents. Aging is universal; so too is our gradual reduction in height. People typically begin losing their height around the age of 30 years (sometimes even 40 years). Every ten years after this age, humans lose almost one centimeter, which roughly translates to about one half of an inch. Thus, we may lose somewhere between 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) of our height as we age. This decrease in height also accelerates with age: the older a person gets, the faster they lose their height. Differences in the reduction of height for males and females Men and women lose height differently. Women lose more inches as compared to males of the same age. It is not just more inches… women also lose height more rapidly than men. Moreover, women lose height more quickly after menopause. The cumulative loss in height beginning from the age of 30 to 70 years was an average of 3 cm for men. However, the same value for women was 5 cm. However, by the age of 80 years, this value changed to 5 cm for men and 8 cm for women. Research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology concluded that the height of men and women decreased with age in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. The difference in heights due to sex were not evident during cross-sectional studies. However, it became clearly evident during longitudinal studies that the women lose their height more rapidly as they age, as compared to men. Also, interestingly enough, for men, the rate of height loss depends on their initial height. This implies that taller men lose height more rapidly. However, this does not apply to women, the study found. Reasons for decrease in height The length of leg bones, the spine, and the skull determine the height of a person. These normally attain their maximum length by the end of adolescence, after which one’s height does not increase. During our ‘adult phase’, the length of the leg bones and skull remain pretty much the same, but the spinal bones tend to play a role in the reduction of height. Our spine is made up of 24 bones, each called a vertebra. These are stacked one above the other and stretch from the back of our neck to our waist. Between each vertebra is a gel-like cushion called a disc. These vertebral discs play an essential role in maintaining our posture. Being cushion-like, they act as shock absorbers and give the back flexibility. With age, the gel-like fluid depletes, causing the vertebral discs to become thinner. As this happens, the vertebrae come closer together, which leads to a person’s reduction in height. Furthermore, as a result of this fluid loss, the back becomes increasingly rigid as we age. The vertebrae may also lose some of their mineral content, making them thinner and smaller in size. The long bones of the limbs also lose their mineral content, but they don’t change their length. The ligaments of the foot start degenerating with age. This arches our foot down. As the foot becomes flatter, our height may reduce slightly. However, this effect is not as pronounced as the change caused by the vertebral discs. The body loses its lean mass muscle with age due to, in part, atrophy or loss of muscle tissue. This condition, technically called sarcopenia, is age-related loss of muscle. The muscle fibers shrink and are replaced at a slower rate. This muscle loss is most prevalent in the torso, making us look even shorter. Can anything be done to stop this reduction in height? Nothing can really push the stop button, but we can decelerate this change. Some habits and lifestyle changes can reduce the decrease in height by an inch or two. - Exercise: This is, by far, the best way to reduce problems related to bones and muscles, and thus indirectly influence your height. A moderate amount of mild exercise should be encouraged. - Good diet: A diet rich in calcium and Vitamin D helps maintain the bones and compensates for the mineral loss by the vertebrae. - Smoking and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol or caffeine must be avoided. A little decrease in height with age is inevitable. It cannot be stopped, but it can be slowed down through appropriate diet, regular exercise, and general avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine.
$NAACP$ complains, school retreats It was the Tyrant Lincoln's favorite tune. Missouri State University interim president Clif Smart has apologised after the local National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter complained about the school’s band performing “Dixie” in Springfield, MO. The reason given for the offence is that the song was played at a site where three Black men were lynched more than century ago. Based on this the NAACP complained and Mr Smart immediately bent to their wishes. He says that the school will no longer play the Southern anthem publicly. NAACP complaint raises questions. Was the lynching of three men the only thing that ever happened in Springfield, MO? Of course not. Does the song glorify violence against Blacks or anyone else? Certainly not. It celebrates the South, where most Blacks in the United States live. And while the song was adopted by Confederates in the 1860s, it was written before Southern secession and the US war against the South and has remained popular with Southerners to this day. Was the Missouri State University band celebrating the lynching of three men a century ago? Absolutely not. And if “Dixie” conjures up memories of or associations with the lynching of three men in 1906, does “The Star Spangled Banner” conjure up associations with the nuking of a quarter million defenseless civilians in 1945, the US genocide of the Plains Indian nations in the late 1800s or most recently the deaths of one million Iraqis? Two can play this game and if songs are going to be banned because of such associations then the rule should be applied evenly across the board. But of course that will not happen. The song “Dixie” is the most recognisable Southern anthem. Banning it is an act of cultural intolerance against the Southern people. Considered in light of the bans elsewhere and removals of Southern symbols and statues throughout the South, it smacks of an effort to eradicate Southern identity and culture. In their hay-day, the Marxists enacted similar bans on the symbols, songs and flags of the cultural groups they ruled over in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in an effort to destroy the national identities of their captive populations. Today’s cultural Marxist movement of political-correctness which has swept across the Southern States certainly bears great resemblance to something “Uncle Joe” and his murderous band of communist criminals would have tried back in the USSR. The goal is to eliminate us as a distinct people and culture.
This is the final part of a 4-part project to build a generic TCP proxy. This proxy will be capable of handling any TCP-based protocol, not just HTTP. In part 3 we finished building a basic TCP proxy that can handle unencrypted protocols. We used this proxy to intercept and inspect plaintext HTTP requests sent by your phone, and it worked beautifully. However, our proxy is still unable to handle encryption, including TLS, the most common form of encryption on the internet. Any app on your phone that demands a TLS-encrypted connection, like a mobile browser connecting to an HTTPS-only website, will refuse to do business with our proxy. We need to show our proxy how to negotiate a TLS connection. In this final part of the project, we’re going to build a fake Certificate Authority. This will help us convince your phone that it should trust our proxy, and help our proxy establish TLS connections with your phone. Let’s start by seeing for ourselves what goes wrong when our basic proxy from part 3 is asked for an encrypted connection. Let’s try to send an HTTPS request through our basic proxy. Change the target hostname in our fake DNS server from part 2 to google.com. Change the hostname in our proxy from part 3 to google.com as well, and set the port that it listens and sends on to 443 (by convention, the HTTPS port). Set your phone’s DNS server to be your laptop’s local IP address (as in parts 2 and 3), then start up both our DNS server and TCP proxy. google.com on your phone. When we performed this trick in part 3 with nonhttps.com, the heist went off without a hitch. Your phone’s browser sent its unencrypted request for nonhttps.com to our proxy, no questions asked, and our proxy forwarded this request to However, Google very sensibly insists on being served over HTTPS. When your phone’s browser finds out that our proxy doesn’t know how to negotiate a TLS connection, it will immediately give up and close its TCP connection with it. The browser will display an error. Let’s solve this problem. Let’s teach our proxy to speak TLS. (If you haven’t come across TLS before or would like a refresher, have a read of my introduction to HTTPS) Let’s start by working out the list of challenges that we’ll need to solve. We’ll begin with the current state of our proxy, and work backwards. This will help us see exactly why each step is necessary, and what would happen if we left it out. We’ll need to reprogram our proxy a little. In our code from part 3, our proxy listened for incoming TCP connections from your phone using the listenTCP method of the twisted Python networking library. twisted has another method called listenTCP both watch and wait for incoming TCP connections, and are conceptually quite similar. Where these methods differ is in how they proceed after they have established a TCP connection with a client. listenTCP immediately starts accepting application-layer data (like an unencrypted HTTP request). However, before listenSSL accepts any application-layer data, it first attempts to perform a TLS handshake with the client. Only once this handshake has been successfully completed does listenSSL start accepting (now encrypted) application-layer data. In order to teach our proxy TLS, we’re going to need to use listenSSL instead of listenTCP. But there’s more to this than just adding SSL to the end of our method call and declaring victory. listenSSL handles the low-level, algorithmic mechanics of TLS handshakes and decryption for us. But in order to do this, it needs to be passed an object representing a TLS certificate and private key as one of its arguments. As we will see, these are easy enough for us to create, but harder for us to get right. Servers use TLS certificates to prove their identity. When a client (like your phone) asks a server (like our proxy) to perform a TLS handshake, the server starts by presenting the client with its TLS certificate. Your phone will refuse to do a TLS handshake with our proxy unless this certificate’s Common Name (a field in the certificate) matches the hostname that your phone believes it is talking to. We will therefore need to be able to generate and use our own TLS certificates, with their Common Names set to the hostname of our target app (like This might sound strange at first. The whole point of TLS is that when a server presents a client with a certificate for api.targetapp.com, the client can be quite certain that it is talking to the real TargetApp and not some dastardly man-in-the-middle. I wouldn’t describe us as dastardly exactly, but if we can generate a certificate for api.targetapp.com from the comfort of our own home then surely this can’t bode well for the security of TLS? However, clients like your phone check more than a certificate’s Common Name when verifying its validity. They also check its “cryptographic signature”. A cryptographic signature is a seal of approval attached to a certificate by some third party, usually a “Certificate Authority” (CA). CAs are secure and trustworthy organizations whose job it is to issue and sign TLS certificates. It is no exaggeration to say that they are collectively responsible for the integrity of encryption on the internet. Before issuing one of its customer with a certificate for a domain or hostname, a CA does due diligence to verify that the customer is indeed the property’s real owner. Once the CA is satisfied, it generates a certificate (and private key) for the hostname, and appends a cryptographic signature to the certificate. The CA creates the signature by using its own private key to encrypt the certificate’s contents. A client can verify that the signature is valid by decrypting the signature using the CA’s public key, and confirming that the decrypted text matches the text of the certificate. Since the signature could not have been generated without access to the CA’s private key - which they keep extremely secret and secure - it is safe to assume that the CA endorses the contents of the certificate. They have been satisfied that the bearer of the certificate (or more accurately, the organization in possession of the corresponding private key) is the true owner of the domain or hostname that it contains. The signature effectively represents a statement like “I, Verisign (for example), assert that this certificate (and the corresponding private key) belongs to the true owner of Clients like your phone only trust TLS certificates that have been signed by a CA that they trust. Your phone decides which CAs to trust using a hard-coded list of root CAs that have been approved by your phone’s manufacturer. For example, the list of root CAs pre-loaded into iOS11 is available online. We can generate a DIY certificate for api.targetapp.com, no problem. But since we are not the true owners of api.targetapp.com (at least I’m not, I can’t speak for you), we will never be able to convince a real, trusted CAs to sign it. And if none of them will vouch for our certificate, your phone will refuse to trust it. We can fix this problem by starting our own root CA called “Robert’s Trusty Certificate Corp” and getting it onto your smartphone’s list of trusted root CAs. One extremely difficult way of doing this would be to set up an actual company, hire a few hundred people to run it, build some extremely secure certificate generation infrastructure, fill in a large amount of paperwork to convince Google and Apple and the rest that we should be entrusted with the online security of hundreds of millions of people, and eventually get our CA’s public key included in your phone’s next OS update. Afterwards you can either continue to work on this TCP proxy project; run your fledgling infrastructure business; or turn rogue and try to empty the bank accounts of everyone in the entire world. The details are left as an exercise for the reader. Since this all sounds like a lot of work, we’ll do something easier. We’ll still generate a root CA certificate for Robert’s Trusty Certificate Corp. Then, rather than going through all the above rigmarole, we will manually add this certificate to your phone’s list of trusted root CAs. This tells your phone to trust other certificates that are signed by Robert’s Trusty Certificate Corp. We’ll use RTCC’s private key to sign our api.targetapp.com certificate, and pass this signed certificate and its private key into our proxy’s When our proxy presents your phone with its freshly signed api.targetapp.com certificate, your phone will see that it is signed by “Robert’s Trusty Certificate Corp”. It will check its internal list of trusted CAs and see that this splendid and reputable outfit is on there. It will happily accept our certificate for api.targetapp.com as valid, and continue negotiating a TLS session before beginning to send its TCP traffic. Note that anyone who got hold of our homemade CA’s private key would be able to use it to sign their own certificates for any hostname they wanted. In the eyes of your phone (and your phone only), these certificates would be legitimate and trustworthy. An attacker would be able to use them to perform their own man-in-the-middle attack against you, allowing them to read your encrypted traffic. You should be careful to keep your CA’s private key extremely safe. You should also be sure to remove your CA’s public key from your phone’s list of root CAs as soon as you are done with this project. Once we have generated a TLS certificate that your phone will trust, we can pass it into our proxy via twisted will handle the rest for us, and our proxy will then be TLS-enabled. In order to teach our TLS proxy about TLS, we will need to: listenSSLfunction, and use listenSSLto listen for incoming TCP connections For reasons that will become clear later, we’re going to test our proxy against www.bbc.com, the website of the British Broadcasting Corporation. This won’t hurt a bit. Libraries for creating and signing TLS certificates are available in most sensible programming languages. It only takes a few lines of code to generate our first certificate for We’ll generate a second TLS certificate for “Robert’s Trusty Certificate Corp”, our homemade root CA. This certificate will be self-signed - signed using the certificate’s own private key. This is because a root CA is trusted implicitly, and doesn’t need anyone else to vouch for it. Now we can sign our certificate for www.bbc.com using our new CA’s private key. This signature will cryptographically encode the statement “Robert’s Trusty Certificate Corp asserts that this certificate belongs to the true owner of Finally, we’ll need to install our root CA on your phone so that your phone will trust other certificates that are signed by it. The safest way to do this is to: -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE------ into a new file called ca.pubas a file attachement to an email account that you can access on your phone There are fancier and less manual ways to install our root CA’s certificate on your phone, but these steps will get you there. We now have everything we need for a TLS-enabled, man-in-the-middle, TCP proxy. We will update our proxy’s startup script so that it generates and signs its own certificate for the target hostname (in our testing, this will be www.bbc.com). We will then pass the signed certificate into our proxy, and start our proxy up. Here’s how this might all be done: As already mentioned, we’re going to test our proxy using www.bbc.com, the website of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). This is because www.bbc.com uses HTTPS, but does not use compression on its response bodies. Using a compression algorithm like gzip drastically reduces the size of the data that a server sends out. However, it also makes testing our proxy more difficult. Our proxy will only ever see compressed HTTP body data in its garbled, zipped-up state. Our proxy does not know how to uncompress the data, and so will not be able to show it to us in its real, human-readable form. But since the BBC does not compress its response bodies (as of August 2018), we can avoid this problem and only ever deal with fat, readable, non-compressed data. Before you test out our TLS-enabled proxy, make sure that: Then start the DNS spoofing script, start the TCP proxy script, and visit www.bbc.com/news on your phone (the www.bbc.com homepage does not use HTTPS, so is no use to us here). You should see the unencrypted plaintext of your HTTP request and response appear in the logs of your proxy! Once you’ve got this working, try it again with www.google.com. The HTTP response headers will still be readable, but since Google does use gzip compression, the response bodies will look like unintelligible nonsense. That’s it. We’re done here. It’s been an arduous and well-written journey, but you’re now able to proxy and inspect arbitrary TCP streams sent by your smartphone. Congratulations. This was a much harder challenge than building a proxy that only handles for HTTP requests. Since we wanted to be able to proxy any TCP stream, not just HTTP requests, we couldn’t make use of any of your phone’s built-in HTTP proxy functionality. As we saw in part 1, if you want to proxy HTTP requests from your smartphone via your laptop, all you have to do is connect the devices to the same network, tell your phone’s proxy to use your laptop’s IP address as a proxy, start Burp Suite, and you’re immediately in business. Life was much harder for us. We had to mess with the very fabric of how directions are given on the internet. We set up a fake DNS server, and used it to spoof the responses to your phone’s DNS requests sent by your phone. This tricked your phone into making TCP connections intended for the target hostname with your laptop instead. We built a proxy that received these connections and forwarded the data from them to our target’s server. It also forwarded any response data from the target’s server back to your smartphone, completing the loop. Your smartphone was none the wiser about what had happened. We also added TLS support. We created our own, fake Certificate Authority and added its public key to your smartphone’s list of trusted CAs. We used its private key to sign TLS certificates that we had generated, and we used these certificates to negotiate TLS sessions between your phone and your laptop. When we were done we removed our CA’s public key from your phone’s list of trusted CAs (didn’t we?), because we are paranoid security experts and we don’t want to get man-in-the-middle-d for real. Future work can be summarized as “make the TCP proxy more like Burp Suite”. It would be very useful to be able save the data that flows across your connections to a file or a database. It would also be handy to be able to replay these requests later. And it would be absolutely fantastic if we could edit them first. Congratulations on completing your proxy. If you have any feedback on this project, both on what worked well and what could be improved, I’d love to hear it.
Basic Assessment, Environmental Impact Assessment, Atmospheric Emission Licences and Air Quality Impact Assessment in the South African Context What is a Basic Assessment (BA)? A Basic Assessment is required in terms of the Listing Notice 1 (GN: 9831) and 3 (GN: 9852) of the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (Act No. 107 of 1998). A Basic Assessment is usually required for smaller scale activities, the impacts of which are generally known and can be easily managed. Typically, these activities are considered less likely to have significant environmental impacts and, therefore, do not require a full-blown and detailed Scoping and Environmental Impact Assessment. Basic Assessment still requires public notification and participation, consideration of the potential environmental impacts of the activity, assessment of possible mitigation measures, and an assessment of whether there are any significant issues or impacts that might require further investigation. In terms of the relationship between the Basic Assessment process and Atmospheric Emission Licences, a Basic Assessment will be required where there is an expansion to existing facilities, and where the expansion will result in the need for a new, or amendment of the existing Atmospheric Emission Licence. The client operates a sawmill and holds an Atmospheric Emission License for its boilers. The client plans to add an additional boiler to increase the facility’s wood drying capacity. As the facility will be expanded, and the existing Atmospheric Emission Licence needs to be amended (due to material changes in the emissions profile), hence a Basic Assessment is required. Click here if you would like to see which Basic Assessment Activities are likely to require an Air Quality Impact Assessment and / or Atmospheric Emission license. What is an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)? An EIA is a thorough, systematic process of identifying, assessing, and reporting potential environmental impacts of a proposed development, while providing sufficient information to aid decision-making related to environmental management as well as measures to mitigate identified negative impacts. The EIA process also involves public notification and participation as well as various specialist reports which will inform the study. An EIA is required when activities described in Listing Notice 2 (GN: 9843), are triggered. Listing 2 are those activities that (due to their nature and/or extent) are likely to have significant impacts that cannot be easily predicted. They are therefore higher risk activities that are associated with potentially higher levels of pollution, waste and environmental degradation. In terms of the relationship between the EIA process and Atmospheric Emission Licences, an EIA is required for the construction of facilities or infrastructure for any process or activity which requires an Atmospheric Emission License. The activities which require an Atmospheric Emission Licence in terms of Section 21 of the Air Quality Act can be found here. The client plans to build a new facility for the purposes of hot dip steel galvanizing. Hot dip galvanizing is a listed activity in terms of Section 21 Air Quality Act (Subcategory 4.22). As the construction and operation of the facility will require an Atmospheric Emissions Licence, an EIA is required as part of the environmental authorisation process. - Expansion to a facility which holds an Atmospheric Emission Licence or requires a new Atmospheric Emission Licence = Basic Assessment - Construction of a new facility which requires an Atmospheric Emission Licence = Environmental Impact Assessment What is an Air Quality Impact Assessment (AQIA)? An Air Quality Impact Assessment is a specialist study which aims to assess the impact of atmospheric emissions from a facility4 on the receiving environment.5 This is primarily achieved through Air Dispersion Modelling (ADM) together with an evaluation of potential impacts against prescribed criteria, including a comparison against National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Air Quality Impact Assessments are often required for Projects that have significant emissions to atmosphere, and the study forms part of the Basic Assessment or EIA process. Example of a Air Dispersion Model Objectives of an AQIA The objectives of an Air Quality Impact Assessment most commonly include: - Assessment of a facility’s compliance with applicable air quality legislation such as NAAQS, odour and dust regulations; - To gain and understand the potential impact of a facility’s emissions on the receiving environment 2; - To propose possible alternatives, mitigation and monitoring measures to minimise potential impacts.
Concussion Guidelines for Community Rugby in Wales These guidelines are to assist all players, coaches, referees, administrators and family members to understand the importance of recognising and properly managing players with concussion. - Concussion is a brain injury - All concussions are serious - Concussion can often occur without loss of consciousness - Players with any signs or symptoms of concussion must be immediately removed from playing or training - Remember – If in doubt, sit them out - Players must not return to play on the same day of any suspected concussion - It is recommended that all players with concussion should be referred to a medical practitioner or NHS 111 - It is recommended that all players undertake a Graduated Return to Play programme - It is recommended that players should not return to full contact sport until cleared by a medical practitioner - Most concussions will recover with physical and mental rest - Concussion can occur without an obvious blow to the head - Recognise and Remove players with suspected concussion to prevent further injury or in rare cases, even fatality Graduated Return To Play (GRTP) The WRU Graduated Return to Play (GRTP) guides the player through the rehabilitation stages following a concussion or suspected concussion. There are suggested activities in each stage which may be used to gradually increase the amount, intensity and/or type of exercise that the player does in order to ensure a safe and successful return to sport. Click HERE to view the WRU Recognise and Remove Guidence video. Click HERE to download Concussion Guidence PDF Other recommended links: This resource has been tagged...
352 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 15 halftones, 3 maps, 7 tables, notes, bibl., index A Transnational History In the mid-nineteenth century, Cuba's infamous "coolie" trade brought well over 100,000 Chinese indentured laborers to its shores. Though subjected to abominable conditions, they were followed during subsequent decades by smaller numbers of merchants, craftsmen, and free migrants searching for better lives far from home. In a comprehensive, vibrant history that draws deeply on Chinese- and Spanish-language sources in both China and Cuba, Kathleen López explores the transition of the Chinese from indentured to free migrants, the formation of transnational communities, and the eventual incorporation of the Chinese into the Cuban citizenry during the first half of the twentieth century. Chinese Cubans shows how Chinese migration, intermarriage, and assimilation are central to Cuban history and national identity during a key period of transition from slave to wage labor and from colony to nation. On a broader level, López draws out implications for issues of race, national identity, and transnational migration, especially along the Pacific rim. © 2015 The University of North Carolina Press 116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808 How to Order \| Make a Gift \| Privacy
MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. physicists say a new study confirms what has long been suspected: Cosmic rays are born in the violent aftermath of supernovas, exploding stars. A research team led by scientists at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory sifted through four years of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope to find the first unambiguous evidence of how cosmic rays -- high-energy particles that bombard the Earth from all directions -- are born. The researchers identified two ancient supernovas whose shock waves accelerated protons to nearly the speed of light, turning them into what scientists term cosmic rays, a Department of Energy release reported Thursday. Scientists have theorized the most likely sources for the protons are either supernova explosions within our Milky Way galaxy or powerful jets of energy from black holes outside the galaxy, but lacked the "smoking gun" evidence for either. "In the last century we've learned a lot about cosmic rays as they arrive here," astrophysicist Stefan Funk said. "We've even had strong suspicions about the source of their acceleration, but we haven't had unambiguous evidence to back them up until recently." Now that the have the evidence, they said, many questions remain to explain both the way cosmic rays affect life here on Earth, and the fundamental processes that control their origins and acceleration. "Astronauts have documented that they actually see flashes of light associated with cosmic rays," Funk said. "It's one of the reasons I admire their bravery -- the environment out there is really quite tough."
Central Croydon railway station \|Opened by\|\|London, Brighton and South Coast Railway\| \|Key dates\|\|Opened 1 January 1868 Closed 1 December 1871 Reopened 1 June 1886 Closed 1 September 1890 \|London Transport portal\| Central Croydon railway station in Croydon, Surrey (now South London), England, was a largely unsuccessful venture by the London Brighton and South Coast Railway to bring trains closer to the centre of Croydon, as East Croydon station was deemed too far from the busy town centre. Then a thriving market town of around 20,000 inhabitants on the southern fringe of London, Croydon was first connected with the railway network in 1839 when the London and Croydon Railway opened a station (now West Croydon) on London Road. Two years later, the London and Brighton Railway opened a station (now East Croydon) on the other side of town. Both stations were a fair distance from the town centre and the local stage coach, previously the dominant mode of transport but now undercut by the railway, sought to create new business by ferrying passengers to and from the stations. This situation prevailed until 1863 when, under pressure to provide a more convenient station, the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) (formed in 1846 by a merger of the Brighton and Croydon companies) promoted the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (Additional Powers) Bill which, amongst other matters, sought authorisation for the construction of a branch from East Croydon to Katharine Street, where a new "Central Station" would be built. The Act passed into law on 29 July 1864 and the LBSCR began purchasing the necessary land, a whole block between the present-day Mint Walk and Katharine Street up to the High Street. The line and station were initially intended to approach Katharine Street at an angle, but a realignment of the route made it parallel with Katharine Street, reducing the amount of land needed. The plot of land to the west of Park Street was purchased for £11,217 and a contract was awarded to Messrs John T Chappell of Steyning to construct the line and station for £4,089. The branch left the Brighton Main Line just south of George Street and curved sharply west, where the Fairfield Halls are today. It passed under Park Lane, through the present-day Queen's Gardens to the site of the Croydon Clocktower and Town Hall. Opened on 1 January 1868, the station was served from platforms 1 and 2 of New Croydon, an extension of East Croydon dealing with local traffic. Initially there were 12 trains per day, to and from London Bridge, but the commercial judgement that created Croydon Central went unrewarded and services ceased after three years, on 1 December 1871. The station was mothballed until 1 June 1886 when, under pressure from the Council, it was reopened. Around this time, the LBSCR sought to improve the usefulness of the branch by extending it under High Street to curve around to the right to join the West Croydon - Epsom line at West Croydon, but this plan, which might have seen it become a viable station, was not realised. The reopening of the station in 1886, renamed Central Croydon, was for London & North Western Railway and Great Eastern Railway (not LBSCR) trains, providing, by all accounts, a generally poor service. The withdrawal of services on 1 September 1890 came therefore as little surprise; it was hoped that the station would give impetus to the development of High Street, but this never materialised and ironically it was only after the demolition of the station that plans for the area could be advanced. Two years before reopening, a "High Street Improvement Committee" had been set up with the aim of carrying out necessary civic improvements such as the widening of High Street and the laying of a tram line, and the station, which occupied the main road frontage, stood in the way. Anxious to rid itself of an unprofitable facility, in 1889 the LBSCR offered the land for sale for £12,500. A figure of £11,500 was agreed on condition that the LBSCR leave in place the retaining walls supporting part of Katharine Street. The Council intended to erect its Municipal Offices, Courts, a Police Station and Library on part of the land, hoping that the presence of public facilities would increase the value of the remainder. By 1890, the necessary agreements and consents for the sale were in place, drawing to a close Central Croydon's short history. The site today The site of the station is occupied by the Town Hall. A short section of landscaped cutting and some of the retaining walls can be seen in the Queen's Gardens. No other trace of the station remains, but a plaque on the retaining wall of the gardens marks its significance. - "Notes from Bob Carr". Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society. October 1992. Archived from the original on 2007-07-07. - "The Queen's Gardens". London Borough of Croydon. Archived from the original on 2008-09-03. - The Queen's Gardens. London Borough of Croydon (Parks Department). June 1983. pp. 6–12. OCLC 36879259. - Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 57. ISBN 1-85260-508-1.
A power supply is an electronic component that handles the task of supplying electricity to an electric load or an object that needs electricity to run. The primary function of a power supply is to convert one form of electricity to another, bridging the gap between electrical supply and electrical load. Because of this electrical conversion, power supplies are sometimes referred to as electric power converters. Power supplies come in varying shapes and sizes. Some power supplies are small and discrete, some are stand-alone, while others are built right into a product along with their electrical load (electronic device or tool). Built-in power supply examples are products such as personal computers, cell phones and other consumer electronics. All power supplies must obtain the energy it supplies, for the load as well as any energy it consumes while performing the electrical conversion task. How your power supply obtains electricity depends on its design, electrical energy can come from many different sources. Some power supplies obtain electrical energy from electrical energy transmission systems, energy storage components like batteries, electromechanical systems, alternators as well as solar power sources. Some sources of electrical power even come from additional power supplies. Another form of Power Supply or Electrical Power Converter All power supplies have a power input that receives the energy from a source. They also have a power output which is designed to deliver the redefined or converted electricity to the load (Unit needing electricity). Most of our Mean Well Power Supplies are built with a power input and output that consist of electrical connectors or hardwired circuit connections. While some power supplies are designed with other I/O systems for external monitoring and control. Here at Power277 we specialize in all types of Mean Well Power Supplies and electric power converters. We’re one of the largest distributors of Mean Well products in the country and are here to answer any questions you might have. If you’re in need of a power supply, we’re your source here in the States. Toll Free: (877) 878-2348 \| Int’l: (001) 702-987-3111 \| Fax: (800) 865-7595 Soon after the new generation Level VI desktop type power supply ~ ENP-120 series (120W) and programmable desktop type battery charger ~ ENC-120 series (120W) of MEAN WELL were released to the market, the ENP and ENC family have received positive responses. In order to further fulfill the application demands for higher wattage, MEAN WELL is pleased to launch the new 180W/240W ~ ENP-180/240 and ENC-180/240 series. The features and the dimensions of these four series follow the ENP/ENC-120 characteristics respectively, accepting 90~264VAC input, built-in active PFC function, standard 7” width, complete safety regulations (UL/CUL/CB/CE/FCC). Furthermore, the desktop power supply ENP family complies with EISA 2007/DoE Level VI, NRCan, EU ErP and CoC Version 5; the programmable charger ENC family provides the programmable function and MCU control that the users, with a personal computer, the smart battery charging programmer SBP-001 and its specific software, are able to adjust the charging mode and parameters on the basis of different battery characteristics. Therefore, the products of these three families are very suitable to be applied to radio system backup solution, land mobile radio system, surveillance system and electric scooter charger applications. ENP/ENC Product Features - Input range: 90~264VAC - Built-in active PFC function - ENP: Complies with EISA 2007/DoE Level VI, NRCan, EU ErP and CoC Version 5 - ENC: Charger for lead-acid batteries (flooded, Gel and AGM) and li-ion batteries (lithium iron and lithium manganese) - 125% peak load capability (ENP only) - Built-in 3 stage programmable charging curve (ENC only) - Working temperature: -30~+70℃ - Fanless design, cooling by free air convection - Built-in temperature compensation function (ENC only) ENP: Short circuit/Overload/Over voltage/Over temperature ENC: Short circuit/Over voltage/Over temperature/ Battery under voltage & Battery over voltage & Battery reverse polarity protection - Comply with UL/CUL/CB/CE/FCC - Dimension (L x W x H): 192 x 178 x 45.5 mm - 3 years warranty IDLC/IDPC-65 Series ~ 65W Plastic Housing/ PCB Type Flicker Free Constant Current Output LED Driver (with PFC) Once the 45W IDLC-45 and IDPC-45 series which with flicker free design of MEAN WELL are released to the market, they have become popular and widely adopted by indoor LED lighting system designers that MEAN WELL decides to raise the output wattage from 45W to 65W and is pleased to unveil the 65W IDLC-65 (plastic housing) and IDPC-65 (PCB type) series. In order to meet the design and the installation requirements of the indoor luminaires, these two series adopt co-design work (like IDLC-45 and IDPC-45 series) that the differences are merely in the appearance and the mechanism. They both have the same electrical specifications like accepting 180~295VAC input, with built-in active PFC function, providing various models with 700mA/1050mA/1400mA/1750mA constant current output and the highest working efficiency up to 89%. They are compliant with UL8750, ENEC EN61347-1,-2-13 and GB19510.1, .14 international safety regulations of LED lighting. The standard product has a built-in 2 in 1 dimming function (12V/50mA auxiliary output are also offered for A-Type models) that the LED luminaire system manufacturers can take advantage of higher flexibility while planning the layout. These two series are very suitable to be applied to the indoor LED luminaires requiring flicker free and low power consumption, such as LED panel lighting and LED flood lighting. View IDLC/IDPC-65 Series LED Driver Specifications ODLC-45/65 Series (45W/65W Plastic Housing Flicker Free Constant Current Output LED Driver with PFC) Soon after two flicker free design indoor LED drivers, the IDLC family (plastic housing type) and the IDPC family (PCB board type) are released to the market, MEAN WELL keeps working on enlarging the product line of flicker free function and is pleased to unveil the new ODLC family (cable type) ~ ODLC-45(45W)/65(65W) series. This product is the co-design work with IDLC and IDPC family— they all adopt constant current output mode, equipped with built-in active PFC function, offer the same electrical specifications for models with identical output wattage, operate with the up to 86% highest working efficiency and comply with UL8750, ENEC EN61347-1,-2-13 and GB19510.1, .14 international safety regulations of LED lighting. The standard product has a built-in 2 in 1 dimming function (the models with12V/50mA auxiliary output are also offered) that give LED luminaire system designers higher flexibility while planning the layout. This product is very suitable to be applied to the indoor LED luminaires requiring flicker free and low power consumption, such as LED panel lighting and LED flood lighting.
Clogged arteries, or in scientist talk, "atherosclerosis," has long been associated with our modern, gluttonous ways, including our propensity for smoking and obesity. Americans, naturally, considered such diagnoses a matter of national pride, an example of their freedom to choose. But according to a recent study, this particular form of heart disease was relatively common thousands of years ago, with roughly one third of the ancient mummies examined showing signs of the disease. The study measured signs of atherosclerosis in 137 mummies, some over 4,000 years old, from places around the world, including Alaska, the American southwest, Peru and Egypt. Of the 137 x-rayed, 47 of of the mummies, or 34%, showed signs of clogged arteries. The fact that the disease was found in mummies from different geographical locations and social classes was significant, according to the study's leaders. Study leader Professor Randall Thompson, of Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, said: "The fact that we found similar levels of atherosclerosis in all of the different cultures we studied, all of whom had very different lifestyles and diets, suggests that atherosclerosis may have been far more common in the ancient world than previously thought. "Furthermore, the mummies we studied from outside Egypt were produced naturally as a result of local climate conditions, meaning that it's reasonable to assume that these mummies represent a reasonable cross-section of the population, rather than the specially selected elite group of people who were selected for mummification in ancient Egypt." He said it is commonly thought that if modern humans could emulate pre-industrial or even pre-agricultural lifestyles, that atherosclerosis would be avoided. "Our findings seem to cast doubt on that assumption, and at the very least, we think they suggest that our understanding of the causes of atherosclerosis is incomplete, and that it might be somehow inherent to the process of human ageing." So is this an excuse to smoke and eat all you want? Because you'll probably get clogged arteries once you're old anyway? Alas, no. Maureen Talbot, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "This small study takes us back in time to give an insight into the heart health of people in the ancient world. "However, we simply don't know enough about the diet and lifestyle of the people studied to say whether behaviour or genetics lies at the root of the heart problems observed. "We can't change the past, but lifestyle choices can help to affect our future. "By eating well, quitting smoking and keeping active, you can help to protect your heart." [BBC/Image via AP]
A flattop grill is a cooking appliance that resembles a griddle but performs differently because the heating element is circular rather than straight (side to side). This heating technology creates an extremely hot and even cooking surface, as heat spreads in a radial fashion over the surface. Flattop grills have been around for hundreds of years in various forms and owe their existence to a number of cultures. The first flattop grills originated in Mexico and Central America for cooking corn dough. These flatop grills were made of clay. With the arrival of Spaniards, the griddles were manufactured of metal materials. Spaniards adopted these grills with the name plancha, which means "metal plate". Food that is cooked a la plancha means “grilled on a metal plate”. For example, filetes à la plancha translates as “grilled beef fillets”. The flattop grill is a versatile platform for many cooking techniques such as sautéing, toasting, simmering, stir frying, browning, blackening, grilling, baking, braising, and roasting, and can also be used for flambéing. In addition, pots and pans can be placed directly on the cook surface, giving more cooking flexibility. In most cases, the steel cooksurface seasons like cast iron cookware, providing a natural non-stick surface. Almost any type of food can be cooked on this type of appliance. In addition to standard barbecue fare like hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages, more delicate items can be cooked on a flattop grill. Omelettes, crepes, paninis, yakisoba noodles, Greek gyros, fish tacos, quesadillas, grilled steak, flatbread, pizza, jerk chicken, crab cakes and sautéed vegetables are just a few examples of the wide range of foods that can be prepared on a flattop grill. Flattop grills, as the name implies, is typically a flat piece of steel but some are slightly convex or crowned in the center which allows excess juices or grease to flow to the outside to be captured and disposed of. Many are powered by natural gas or propane, but there are electric models as well. In addition, there are models made for indoor or outdoor cooking that can be fixed (built-in) or portable (wheeled or free-standing). Flattop grills can be contrasted with open-flame grills, which cook food over a grate with direct or indirect flame. Flattop grills avoid the problem of smaller or delicate food falling through the grate like open-flame grills. In addition, closed-flame flattop grills are more energy efficient because they capture the heat under the steel cook surface rather than letting it escape through the grates into the atmosphere. This design also requires less time to heat up and uses less fuel to cook a meal. Also, flattop grills release less smoke and particulates into the atmosphere because foods and juices are prevented from dropping directly onto burner elements, eliminating flare-ups and reducing smoke. In Cuban cuisine, the famous Cuban sandwich (ham, roasted pork, Swiss cheese and pickles) is traditionally grilled à la plancha. In Chilean cuisine, restaurants grill beef à la plancha and have a long history of cooking seafood on flattop grills. Flattop grills also share some characteristics with Asian cooking, including teppanyaki and Mongolian barbecue. Flatbreads from India (dosa, Paratha, roti and chapati), the Middle East (pita), Africa (injera) and Jamaica (bammy) are traditionally cooked on flattop grills. In restaurants, flattop grills are sometimes used for display, or “front-of-house” cooking, where diners can see, hear and smell the food being cooked in front of them. Unlike butane burners or induction hobs which require additional equipment, the flattop grill can be used as a standalone cooking platform. Display cooking is a notable trend in commercial foodservice, where open kitchens are becoming part of the dining experience, and watching a meal being prepared live-action has become entertainment. A French top stove is similar to a flattop grill, except that it is only used with pots and pans. A large flame underneath the metal plate serves as its heat source, and is directly covered by concentric metal rings. The French top's temperature is usually not changed by its user, instead the user moves his pot or pan to a side or edge of the hot plate for slower cooking.
The Federal False Claims Act imposes penalties upon individuals or organizations that provide false or fraudulent information to the government. Specifically, the Act is aimed at preventing claims where the motivation is to receive property or funds from the United States government. The Act is also sometimes referred to as the Lincoln law because it harkens back to the Civil War. This Act is the federal government’s best tool for preventing government waste due to payments that were fraudulently obtained from the government is numerous areas of business, including: - Health care; - Housing; and Claims under this Act typically related to a service that was overpaid, a service which was never rendered but for which payment was received, or a service that was in some way inferior. The Act may also apply in situations where the government is owed money but the violator takes action to avoid paying the government, such as reverse false claims. The False Claims Act is an example of a qui tam law. In the majority of cases, false claims under the Act are brought by a whistleblower pursuant to the qui tam provision of the Act. Qui tam laws allow private citizens to step into the shoes of the government and to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the government. This means that an individual who reports their employer under the Act is entitled to a percentage of the money which the government recovers in a court of law, typically anywhere between 15 and 25% of the amount of the award. The Act also protects whistleblowers who report their employers from retaliation from those employers. In other words, an employer is not permitted to take any actions against that employee including firing or withholding back wages from the employer who reported the employer. What States Have False Claims Statutes? In addition to the False Claims Act, there are also certain states which have exacted their own version of a qui tam type false claims statute, including: - District of Columbia; - New Hampshire; - New Jersey; - New Mexico; - New York; - North Carolina; - Rhode Island; - Virginia; and The false claims laws in these states also protect whistleblowers from retaliation by their employers. In recent years, many of the states have adopted statutes which specifically provide for whistleblower protections in health care employment settings. It is important for an individual to consult with a local attorney for details regarding the false claims regulations in their state. What is a False Claim? If a company knowingly presents, causes to be presented, or conspires with other individuals to present a fraudulent or false claim for payment from the federal government, that business may be liable for submitting a false claim under the False Claims Act. The government is not required to show that a defendant intended to defraud the government. It is only required to show that the defendant knowingly performed the violating action. It is important to note that, as noted above, states may also have false claims laws. Because of this, a company or business may be potentially found liable under both the state and federal laws. Some of the most common false claims relate to health care. For example, when a pharmaceutical company fails to disclose safety data or engages in illegal off-label promotion, the government may initiate a false claim investigation against that company. Another example may include a situation where a medical office submits a claim for Medicare reimbursement for unnecessary procedures or for tests which were never performed. Nurses who are aware of these false submissions may report these instances to the government and the government may seek to initiate the claim itself. If the government does not initiate the claim, the nurse may seek to prosecute the false claim on their own. What are the Penalties for a False Claim? The penalties and fines for filing a false claim may be quite hefty for a business. Examples of awards that have been received include: A court may reduce the amount of damages which are awarded to the government in certain cases. This may occur if the violator, after becoming aware of the false claim, timely presents all information which was known to them to the government as well as fully cooperates with the government’s investigation. An employee is incentivized to bring a whistleblower claim because they and the individual who is best able to bring to light information which the government would normally not be in the position to discover on its own. In order to recover under the whistleblower provisions, however, it is not sufficient that the employee simply informs the government regarding the fraudulent submission. A qui tam lawsuit must be presented and the plaintiff will recover to the extent that it is successful in recovering from the violator. Following a settlement or a trial with a positive result, an employee may be able to recover between 15 and 30 percent of the amount which is recovered by the government, in addition to attorney’s fees and costs. If an action is litigated by a whistleblower, the potential award is between 15 and 25 percent. If the action is prosecuted by the government, the potential award is between 25 and 30 percent. A court may reduce the amount which is awarded to a whistleblower based upon the level of wrongdoing of the employee as well as whether the employee substantially contributed to the prosecution of the case. As a further incentive to bring this type of claim, a whistleblower is protected from retaliatory actions by their employer. For example, suppose an employee is working on a government contract for the construction of helicopters and discovers that their employer has failed to adequately meet testing guidelines and that those helicopters have failed the required testing. Also suppose that the employer has submitted a claim for payment which asserts that the helicopters have, in fact, passed such tests. If an employee is successful in bringing a qui tam claim and they played no part in knowingly submitting the false documentation, the employee will recover fully to the extent that the government is successful in recovering against the employer. If their employer then retaliates against the employee by demoting or firing them, that employee may seek additional damages, including: - Reinstatement to the same senior status; - Two times the amount of back pay as well as compensation for special damages; - Interest on the back pay; and/or - Compensation for special damages, which may include litigation costs and attorney’s fees. Should I Talk to an Attorney About False Claims Act Penalties? It is essential to consult with an wrongful termination lawyer for any false claims act issues, questions, or concerns you may have. If you believe your employer has engaged in misconduct, you should make a written record which outlines the events, details, and incidents. This information will be used if you file a claim with an administrative agency, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or if you file a lawsuit. Your lawyer will assist you with gathering documentation, filing your claim, as well as represent you during any court appearances. If you are being investigated or prosecuted for a false claim, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney will advise you of your rights, your potential liability, and defend you in court.
A sweeping meta-analysis of data from the United Kingdom Biobank has found a different genetic basis for chronic pain in women compared to men. The results are still preliminary, but to date, this is one of the largest genetic studies on chronic pain to analyze the female and male sex separately. "Our study highlights the importance of considering sex as a biological variable and showed subtle but interesting sex differences in the genetics of chronic pain," says population geneticist Keira Johnston from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Chronic pain conditions are among the most prevalent, disabling, and expensive conditions in public health. In the United States, chronic pain affects more people than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined, and yet it receives a fraction of the overall funding. Even when studies are done, they often overlook underlying sex differences, and that's a huge and detrimental oversight. Compared to men, women are far more likely to develop multiple chronic pain disorders, and yet historically, 80 percent of all pain studies have been conducted on male mice or male humans. This means we know very little about how and why females are suffering more and what treatments can help them best. While there are probably multiple biological and psychosocial processes in this sex discrepancy, the current genome-wide study suggests there's a genetic factor in the mix, too. Comparing gene variants associated with chronic pain in 209,093 women and 178,556 men from the UK Biobank, researchers have attempted to find at least part of the answer in our biology. In the end, researchers found 31 genes associated with chronic pain in women and 37 genes associated with chronic pain in men with barely any overlap. The authors admit some of the differences here might stem from their lower male sample size, but the results are nonetheless intriguing. When researchers tested the expression of all these genetic variants across various tissues from mice and humans, they noticed the vast majority were active in a cluster of nerves within the spinal cord, known as the dorsal root ganglion, which transmits messages from the body to the brain. Several genes in the male-only or female-only list were associated with psychiatric issues or immune function, but only one gene, known as DCC, was in both lists. DCC encodes for a receptor that binds with a protein crucial for the development of the nervous system, especially the dopaminergic system; as well as being a reward center, the latter has recently been connected to pain modulation in the body. DCC is also thought to be a risk gene for the pathology of depression, and DCC mutations appear in those with congenital mirror movement disorder, which results in movements on one side of the body being replicated on the other side. How exactly DCC is connected to chronic pain remains unclear, but the authors say their results support several theories "of strong nervous system and immune involvement in chronic pain in both sexes", which they hope will be used to develop better treatments in the future. If chronic pain is more strongly associated with immune function in women, for instance, the side-effects of immune-targeting drugs may be very different to men. On the other hand, treatments such as chronic opioid use might also have different outcomes. Opioids are known to adversely affect immune function, which suggests they could make things worse and not better for women in chronic pain. For right now at least, these are just ideas. Way more pain research needs to be done and far more of it needs to be conducted among women before we can really begin to understand the real sex discrepancies at play and what we can do about it. "All of these lines of evidence, together, suggest putative central and peripheral neuronal roles for some of these genes, many of which have not been historically well studied in the field of chronic pain," the authors conclude. The study was published in PLOS Genetics.
National Green Week Contests and Prizes! National Green Week is a time to make students aware of important sustainability topics and get them excited to do their part to make a difference! What better way to drum up enthusiasm than with a fun and educational contest? This year, there are three contests available at the national level during Green Week, each with their own great prizes and sustainability focus. Visit our website to learn more about the contests or keep reading. Green in Action Awards. Green In Action Awards are granted to inspiring projects based on GEF’s sustainability themes. Winners are those schools, classrooms or youth groups who have demonstrated their commitment, creativity, or passion for sustainability in their application. Great application materials include photos, videos, essays, or artwork describing your environmental project, weigh-in, activity, community service project, or green team program. There are so many ways to participate and make a difference so show us how you are a champion for sustainability! Submissions will be reviewed and assessed based on creativity, educational value, and potential for sustainability and replication. Winners receive $250 for their school or group and will be featured on GEF’s website. Read the complete contest rules, get project ideas, and view award winners from previous years in the Green in Action section of the website. Water Audit Raffle One winner will receive $250 to put toward math or science supplies and 500 reusable water bottles for their school. Conducting a water audit of your home or school is a great way to understand how much water you use (and possibly waste!) every day. You’ll also identify areas in need of improvement - being aware is the first step in taking action and making a big difference. Use one of GEF’s free water audits, or use your own, and submit a summary of the results or the completed worksheet by May 31 to be entered to win. Read more about the contest in the Sustainable Water Challenge section. Green Classroom Pledge The Green Classroom Pledge outlines simple ways a classroom can have a significant impact on the environment. Although the actions may seem small and insignificant on the individual level, by working together the classroom can have a big collective impact. Students are also encouraged to help their families save energy, waste and water at home by implementing some of the items on the pledge. Have your students sign the pledge and take a picture of the group. Submit it to GEF by April 30 for a chance to win 20 Green Packs for their classroom. Green Packs include a reusable shopping bag, water bottle and snack containers. Find the complete rules and download the pledge in the Green Energy Challenge section. This year, K-5 students in MA, RI and NY are invited to participate in the t-shirt design contest by creating a drawing on an 8.5×11 paper that answers the question: “What’s your favorite way to save energy?” One winner from MA or RI will throw the first pitch at a Red Sox game and will receive $250 for their school and t-shirts with their winning design for the classroom. One winner from New York will receive $250 for their classroom and t-shirts with their winning design for the classroom. Read the complete contest rules in the Green Energy Challenge section. The deadline to receive applications is March 15. Energy Spotlight School Energy Spotlight Schools are those schools or classrooms in MA, RI or NY who make energy a priority. Whether you conduct lessons during class, organize an audit, promote behavior change at school, or tackle a building update, we want you to tell us all about it! If you haven’t started yet, but want to become an energy spotlight school, get started with free lessons, activities, audits and more through the Green Energy Challenge! The winner will receive 100 Green Packs for the school and will be featured on GEF’s website. Green Packs include reusable shopping bags, snack containers and water bottles. Visit the website to learn more and find resources!
ARLINGTON - A University of Texas at Arlington chemistry professor renowned for his innovations in the field of ion chromatography has been awarded a nearly $1.2 million grant from NASA to develop technology that could help pave the way for future human missions to Mars Purnendu “Sandy” Dasgupta will use the funds to develop “An Ion Chromatograph for Extraterrestrial Explorations.” The goal is to create a new system for testing the chemical composition of extraterrestrial soil. Dasgupta’s project was one of eight nationwide to be funded recently by the Astrobiology Science and Technology for Instrument Development grant program of the NASA During past lander missions, examinations of Martian soil have been limited by technology that used ion selective electrodes to probe for specific materials, Dasgupta said. An ion chromatograph, on the other hand, separates and detects ions, which are molecules bearing an electrical charge. The device can look at a broad suite of ions sensitively and identify them with some confidence. “By creating an easily portable and robustly-designed ion chromatograph, we’re hoping to rapidly expand scientists’ knowledge of extraterrestrial geology and geochemistry,” Dasgupta said. Proving organic ions exist in Martian soil could be a first step to identifying organic compounds, the building blocks of life. Past Mars missions have heated soils to look for organic vapors coming from samples. None have been detected. But if the recent finding of large amounts of perchlorate in Martian soil proves correct, that discovery would explain why heating soil never shows any organics - the perchlorate would oxidize “Although we cannot address the issue of neutral organics”, Dasgupta said, “with this machine, we should be able to unequivocally answer if organic ions are present”. Dasgupta plans to use low-pressure open tubular columns in the design of his chromatograph for NASA, making it uniquely designed for storage in the subfreezing temperatures of space when not in use. The columns typically used for ion chromatography are packed with polymer or silica beads and filled with an aqueous solution. They cannot withstand such freeze-thaw cycles. The new device would enable researchers to search for organic compounds in a way that is compatible with the chemistry of the Martian soil and would provide answers to questions about organic compounds on Mars, said Alfonso Davila, principal investigator at the California-based Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe and a collaborator on the project. “If that answer was positive, then the possibility of life on Mars would gain new strength,” Davila said. An ion chromatograph could also detect ions such as nitrate and phosphate in extraterrestrial soil. These are also very important for life and strategically, for human exploration beyond Earth, Davila said. particularly interested in learning more about the presence of perchlorate in Martian soil, an inferential discovery made by the Phoenix lander in 2008. Perchlorate is a naturally occurring and manmade chemical used in rocket fuel and explosives. It is also considered a contaminant that is harmful to human health. Dasgupta also notes that perchlorate can be both a producer of oxygen and an energy source. So, its presence on Mars could benefit future human exploration. Dasgupta is the Jenkins Garrett Professor of Chemistry at The University of Texas at Arlington and the recipient of the American Chemical Society’s 2011 Award for Chromatography. He invented the electrodialytic eluent generator used in modern ion chromatographs as a way to electrically generate high purity alkali hydroxides, thereby making results more reliable. As a first step in the four-year project, Dasgupta will design and build an open tubular ion chromatograph system for Earth-based exploration that weighs three kilograms or less. Researchers from his lab and the labs of his collaborators, including students, will then test the device in the challenging environment of the Atacama Desert in Chile. After that, they’ll refine the machine for use on Mars and other extraterrestrial bodies. on the project include: W. Andrew Jackson, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Texas Tech University; Samuel Kounaves, a professor at Tufts University; and Christopher McKay, a research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett, Calif. Dasgupta’s work is an example of the innovation under way at The University of Texas at Arlington, a comprehensive research institution of nearly 34,000 students in the heart of North Texas. Visit www.uta.edu to learn more.
I recently attended the “Summer School in Practical Survey Analysis” hosted by Oxford Unversity’s Department of Sociology. One session was devoted to examples of good data visualization. The example used to demonstrate a good map is shown immediately below and is taken from this page on the Office for National Statistics website. Many of us felt it would actually serve as an example of poor visualization for reasons that I think are worth mentioning here. Aside from the fact that it is missing a North Arrow and Scale, the map is misleading. The highest category represents areas where between 6.4% to 60.6% of the population are non-white. This range of values grouped together is too large in this context. Additional categories in the data would highlight the exceptional areas and prevent areas with a population of only 7% non-white, for example, being online pharmacy cipro grouped with areas characterised by a population that is over 60% non-white. In addition the spatial units (Administrative Districts) used to plot the data are too course. The Admin. Districts create an impression that the non-white ethnic groups are fairly evenly spread across Central and Southern England, and, aside from London, not clustered in major urban centres as the associated text suggests (ONS, 2004). Reproducing this map with smaller spatial units (such as Super Output Areas) and a greater number of categories for the data would produce a much more accurate picture of the spatial distribution of the non-white population in the UK today. This example demonstrates the importance of a critical eye when viewing all visualizations, no matter how official the publication may be!
May 7, 2016 8th Grade NGSS Project-Based Learning "Science Behind the Music" Unit Josh Pizzica and Anne Sanderfer, 8th grade teachers at Monroe Middle School just created and facilitated their first NGSS Project-Based Learning Unit! Their unit on Waves and Musical Instruments allowed students to discover frequency, pitch, amplitude, and how sound waves travel in an authentic way. The entry event was having a San Jose State University visit their classes to bring musical instruments and to allow students to see how particular instruments were engineered and created different sounds. Students then had about 3 weeks to choose and build their own instruments out of recycled materials. This also gave students a hands-on experience using woodworking tools like saws, drills, and hammers. With their groups, students also created a presentation to teach others about their instrument and the "science behind how it works" at their Musical Showcase. Magnificent work Anne, Josh, and your musical 8th graders!
The British Isles are a collection of islands off the coast of continental Europe. The largest of the islands is Great Britain, the second largest is the island of Ireland, and there are more than six thousand smaller islands, including: the islands of the Hebrides, Shetland, Orkney, the Isle of Man and Anglesey. Although they are not part of the same island chain, the Channel Islands (Jersey and Geurnsey) are also considered to be part of the British Isles. The term British Isles is not used in Ireland due to political objections about the word British being applied to the Republic of Ireland. What next? Find out what the difference is between the terms Great Britain, British Isles and the United Kingdom, or discover some facts about England.
To learn more about William Edgar Geil, click here for the Accidental Ethnographer Resource Center A year ago on Round and Square (25 September 2012)—Academic Autobiography: John King Fairbank-d One very interesting thing I noticed as Rachel Johnson and I were scanning Geil’s Great World-Wide Tour was his tendency to scrapbook. Often times we would find cut out articles from pamphlets or books, but what really draws the eye is the colorful collection of stamps that will occasionally be found pasted in with his documents. There’s no real rhyme or reason to when or where these stamps appear or even where they come from. I’ve seen stamps from Spain, Hong Kong, and from Sarawak. The most interesting (and colorful) of these is the large collection of stamps from Sarawak. Featuring the profile of Sir Charles Brooke, each line of stamps represents a different release of stamps. The five at the top were first printed in 1871 when Charles Brooke became the Rajah of Sarawak. The eight on the second row were first printed in 1899 and were reprints by De La Rue (a well-known printing company that is still around today) of the 1888 stamps (featured on the bottom row). The De La Rue stamps can be differentiated by the lack of the word “revenue” on the later stamp. The readers familiar with this series will easily recognize the next image as it has been featured before. But rather than focus on the words, I’m focusing on the stamp. This stamp is from Spain and features King Alfons XIII on it. First printed in 1889, the exact printing date of the stamp is unknown, but it is interesting to note that 1903 (when Geil pasted this stamp in) was the first year of King Alfons XIII reigning without his mother as a regent. The third (and final example) is a stamp from Hong Kong. Actually 96 Hong Kong cents and not a dollar as marked, this stamp features the head of Queen Victoria. In 2011, this type of stamp caused a big stir when four unusually olive colored stamps sold for 6.4 million Hong Kong dollars (820,000 USD). This stamp is not olive colored, however, and thus not worth anything near that much, but still part of the stamps that were printed in 1896. So what do these unrelated stamps mean? Some are clearly used, yet some are in pristine condition. Geil gives no explanation to the befuddled reader (though this may be because these are his personal notes and not meant for publishing). What we can see though, is someone interested enough in foreign stamps to place them in his personal notes. Perhaps they are reminders, perhaps just 2-D baubles, but Geil certainly knows how to decorate a page! \|[d] Decorated DHS\|
Diseases and Surveillance The Epidemiology division of the health department is responsible for disease surveillance throughout Southeast Utah. The goal of this program is to prevent sickness and death from diseases and environmental hazards, and to monitor diseases to reduce their spread. The division is also responsible for monitoring and responding to potential bioterrorism threats/events, communicable disease outbreaks, epidemics / pandemics, and other unusual occurrences of illness. Communicable diseases, also known as infectious diseases, are spread from a variety of ways such as: breathing in airborne viruses, being bitten by an animal or insect, and/or contact with blood or bodily fluids. The Epidemiology program at the Southeast Utah Health Department works to detect, investigate, and prevent further transmission of communicable diseases in Carbon, Emery, and Grand counties. A large portion of the Epidemiology division is collecting, evaluating, and presenting data on health and environmental concerns in Carbon, Emery, and Grand counties. The Southeast Utah Health Department collects the largest portion of this data from the Community Health Assessment. Every 5 years, the Southeast Utah Health Department conducts a community wide health assessment to understand and evaluate the mental/emotional health of the residents along with their environmental concerns. The full report can be found here. Think you got sick from something you ate? Don’t let it go unknown. Let us know by answering a few questions. We can’t prevent others from getting sick if we aren’t aware of a problem! To report food poisoning, click here. Carbon County ONLY The Southeast Utah Health Department is looking at lead levels in children. Please fill out the bellow survey for the children living in your home. If you answer “Yes” or “Do Not Know” to any of the questions, you are eligible for a free lead test. Call 435-636-1166 to schedule a test! To fill out the quick survey, click here. Prion Diseases (TSEs – Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies) are neurodegenerative disorders that affect humans and animals. These disorders are caused by certain proteins in the brain that fold in unusual ways. Prion diseases develop fast and always result in death. Below you will find the human prion diseases scientists have discovered to date. CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) For detailed information on CJD, click here. vCJD (Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease) For detailed information on vCJD, click here. Fatal Familial Insomnia Hunters and Farmers Bird flu (Avian influenza) is a respiratory disease that affects wild and domestic birds throughout the world. It spreads very quickly by either direct bird-to-bird contact or indirectly through contaminated surfaces. If you own birds whether on your farm or in your backyard, you need to protect your birds from disease. In a single day, bird flu can multiply and infect every bird on your premises! Visit Utah Department of Agriculture and Food here for more information. BSE & CWD BSE is also known as Mad Cow Disease and is found in cattle. Infected cattle are able to transmit the disease to people (vCJD), leading to death of the animal and the person. CWD affects deer, elk, and moose in the U.S. This disease can be found in both free ranging animals as well as captive animals. Below is an up-to-date map of all reported CWD cases in the U.S. Animals will usually present with significant weight loss and stumbling. CWD is always fatal to animals. Chronic Wasting Disease Among Free-Ranging Cervids by County, United States, (Updated January 2022) The State of Utah and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection require certain diseases to be reported to health departments. For the full list of these diseases please click here. To report a disease, please fill out this form. The Southeast Utah Health Department also requires all foodborne illnesses to be reported in order to properly investigate the source. If you have a patient diagnosed with a foodborne illness, please fill out this form. Vaccine Preventable Diseases Childhood vaccinations are essential steps families can take to protect their children from potentially life-threatening diseases. Click here for reference on when your child should be vaccinated. Click on the disease to learn more Chickenpox (varicella) can cause blisters and a fever. The blister rash can spread over the entire body and some children can have as many as 500 blisters. This disease can become series, even life-threatening. Click here for more information. This disease starts out as a sore throat but can cause a thick coating in the back of the nose or throat. Diphtheria can become life-threatening with 1 out of 5 children (those younger than 5 years old) dying. Click here for more information. Hepatitis A /B Hepatitis A is a virus that causes severe liver disease and children can pass the virus to adults around them. The adults exposed to the Hepatitis A virus can become very sick. Click here for more information on Hepatitis A. Hepatitis B also causes severe liver disease and can become chronic. Chronic, or lifelong, hepatitis B can cause serious health complications and liver cancer. Click here for more information on Hepatitis B. Hib disease is caused by a bacteria infection. Babies and children younger than 5 years old are the most at risk of Hib disease and it can cause lifelong disabilities and be deadly. Click here for more information on Hib. HPV (Human Papillomavirus) is a collection of over 150 similar viruses that infect men and women. Every year, these viruses infect around 13 million people, including teens. Some HPV infections will not go away on their own and can cause multiple types of cancers. Click here for more information on HPV. Measles, Mumps, Rubella Measles is a serious lung disease that is very contagious. It causes a rash and fever that can be deadly. In babies and young children, measles can cause deafness, lifelong brain damage, pneumonia, and even death. Click here for more information on Measles. Mumps spreads through coughing and sneezing. There is no treatment for mumps and it can lead to long-term health issues. In serious cases, mumps can cause brain swelling and deafness. Click here for more information on Mumps. Rubella infection is most serious in pregnant women. It can cause miscarriage, or multiple different types of birth defects. Some birth defects include; intellectual disability, liver damage, heart defects, and blindness. Click here for more information on Rubella. Meningococcal disease is any illness caused by the bacteria Neisseria meningitidis. The most common types of infection are meningitis (infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord) and infections of the bloodstream. This disease can progress very quickly with someone going from healthy to ill in 48 hours. Even if treatment is given, 10-15 people out of 100 will die. Click here for more information on Meningococcal Disease. Pertussis, Whopping cough, is a very series respiratory infection that can cause intense coughing fits. Pertussis is most harmful for young children and babies and can be life threatening. Click here for more information on Pertussis. Pneumococcal Disease is caused from a bacteria and can infect the ears, lungs, blood and brain. If it turns serious, it can cause lifelong disability or death. Those most at risk of disease are children younger than 2 years old. Click here for more information on Pneumococcal Disease. Polio is a caused by a virus and can cause serious disabilities and death. The virus can attack the nervous system and cause paralysis. Children younger than 5 years old are the most at risk. Click here for more information on Polio. Rotavirus disease causes severs vomiting and diarrhea and can lead to serious dehydration (loss of fluid in the body). If untreated, this can turn deadly. Click here for more information on Rotavirus. Tetanus is caused by a poison made from bacteria that causes painful muscle contractions. It often causes a person’s mouth and jaw to lock, making it difficult to open their mouth and swallow. Click here for more information on Tetanus.
About This Chapter The First Industrial Revolution - Chapter Summary and Learning Objectives This chapter on European history examines industry and manufacturing growth in the 100-year period from 1750 to 1850. Get started in this chapter with a look at the growth of industry in Britain before moving on to watch the revolution unfold across the globe. You'll find out why this initial revolution took place and learn about some of the social and economic consequences resulting from rapid industrialization. At the end of this chapter you'll be familiar with: - Impact of the revolution - Innovations that started the first industrial revolution - Growth of the working class during this period - Great Britain's major industries of the 18th century \|The Industrial Revolution (1750-1850): Growth & Impact\|\|Analyzes the growth of industry and manufacturing in Britain and around the world.\| \|Causes of the First Industrial Revolution - Examples & Quiz\|\|Describes factors that made Great Britain a logical starting point for the revolution. Discusses technological changes and transportation improvements that characterized this period.\| \|Great Britain Leads the Industrial Revolution\|\|Provides an in-depth examination of industries introduced in Great Britain in the late 18th century.\| \|Urbanization and Other Effects of the Industrial Revolution: Social and Economic Impacts\|\|Describes how the population of Europe became more urbanized and depicts working conditions for factory workers and miners. Discusses the emergence of trade unions, major reforms that took place and the reformers that brought about improvements in working conditions.\| \|The Working-Class During the Industrial Revolution: Growth & Ideologies\|\|Details the growth of urban laborers during the revolution. Looks at the different ideologies that championed the working class.\| 1. The Industrial Revolution (1750-1850): Growth & Impact This lesson will introduce the First Industrial Revolution. We will study the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, some of its major impacts, and its spread throughout the world. 2. Causes of the First Industrial Revolution: Examples & Summary The Industrial Revolution was a period when new sources of energy, such as coal and steam, were used to power new machines designed to reduce human labor and increase production. The move to a more industrial society would forever change the face of labor. 3. Great Britain Leads the Industrial Revolution In this lesson, we will explore the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain. We will look at reasons for Britain's industrial leadership, trends in its industry, and the results of industrialization on British society. 4. Urbanization & Other Effects of the Industrial Revolution: Social & Economic Impacts The Industrial Revolution had a lasting effect on class structure, urbanization and lifestyle. In this lesson, we will learn how the Industrial Revolution changed various aspects of European society. 5. The Working-Class During the Industrial Revolution: Growth & Ideologies In this lesson, we will meet the workers of the Industrial Revolution. We will examine the conditions under which they worked and lived, and we will learn about a few attempts to improve their situation. Earning College Credit Did you know… We have over 95 college courses that prepare you to earn credit by exam that is accepted by over 2,000 colleges and universities. You can test out of the first two years of college and save thousands off your degree. Anyone can earn credit-by-exam regardless of age or education level. To learn more, visit our Earning Credit Page Transferring credit to the school of your choice Not sure what college you want to attend yet? Study.com has thousands of articles about every imaginable degree, area of study and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you. Other chapters within the AP European History: Exam Prep course - AP European History: Overview of the Renaissance - AP European History: Renaissance Philosophy, Art & Literature - AP European History: Reformation Roots & Teachings - AP European History: The Reformation's Effects Across Europe - AP European History: Wars of Religion - AP European History: The Age of Expansion - AP European History: The Rise of Monarchical Nation States - AP European History: English History (1450-1700) - AP European History: The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment - AP European History: 18th Century Powers - AP European History: The French Revolution - AP European History: The Napoleonic Empire - AP European History: 19th Century Revolutionary Movements - AP European History: Unifications of Nation States in the 19th Century - AP European History: Europe 1871-1914 - AP European History: World War I - AP European History: Russia After World War I - AP European History: The 1920s & 1930s - AP European History: The Rise of Fascism - AP European History: World War II - AP European History: Post-War Europe - AP European History: Cold War Europe - AP European History: Integration: Europe after the Soviet Union - Portions of the AP European History Exam - How to Write a Good Essay on Your AP Exam - Developing and Writing Your AP Exam Essay
The magnificent humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is renowned for its impressive leaping displays and for the mysterious 'singing' of solitary males. The robust body is blue-black in colour, with pale or white undersides (6). The flippers may also be white and are the largest appendage of any animal; reaching up to five metres in length (2). On the underside of the mouth are 12 to 36 throat grooves, which can expand when filtering water during feeding (3). Humpbacks have characteristically knobbly heads, covered in many raised lumps ('tubercles') and barnacles (6)(7). There are two blowholes on the back and the spout of water can appear very bushy (6). The spreading tail flukes have a distinct indentation in the middle (8); as the whale undertakes a deep dive it usually arches its back (hence the common name) so that the tail flukes are raised above the water and clearly visible (7). The pattern on the underside of the flukes is unique and can be used to photo-identify and track individuals (3). Also known as bunch, hump whale, hunchbacked whale. Baleine À Bosse, Baleine À Taquet, Jubarte, Mégaptère, Rorqual À Bosse, Rorqual Du Cap. Humpback whales are baleen whales; they have large, sieve like plates of baleen (a similar material to human hair or nails) hanging down from the inside of their mouths which function to filter planktonic organisms from the water (2). Individuals can open their mouths widely, due to the throat grooves, and thus engulf large quantities of water (8). Humpbacks often lunge into a shoal of prey but have also been observed herding their prey into clusters or using a 'bubble net' to effectively trap greater numbers. During this process, a number of whales will circle underwater emitting a continuous stream of air which traps fish in the centre of the ring, the whales then surface up through their 'net' gorging on the contents within (2). During the summer months, humpbacks must feed intensely as they do not feed again during either the migration or the time spent in tropical breeding grounds (8). Males compete for females directly by escorting receptive mates and aggressively defending them, their famous 'song' is also thought to be a form of courtship (8). Solitary males sing highly complex songs that are similar within a population but evolve over successive seasons (8). Calves are born after a 10 to 12 month gestation period, they accompany their mother on the return migration to polar feeding grounds, and studies have shown that individuals return to the same feeding ground consistently year after year (8). Possibly one of the best-known aspects of humpback whale behaviour is their acrobatic aerial display; the most spectacular of which is breaching, when the body of the whale may completely leave the water, returning with an enormous splash (7). Found throughout the world's oceans, humpback whales undertake yearly migrations of thousands of kilometres from summer feeding grounds in polar waters to winter breeding grounds near to the tropics (7). Indeed, individuals feeding south of Cape Horn undertake the longest known migration of any mammal, in order to breed in the warm waters off Colombia and Costa Rica (3). The humpback whale is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1). Listed on Appendix I of CITES (4), and Appendix I of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS or Bonn Convention) (5). The Arabian Sea subpopulation and the Oceania subpopulation are classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1). Humpback whales became one of the major targets of the whaling industry due to their coastal migration routes; it is estimated that over 100,000 humpbacks were slaughtered in the southern hemisphere alone, between 1900 and 1940 (6). Protected from whaling today, these whales are vulnerable to changes in the marine environment and are threatened by pollution and the possible alteration of fish stocks as a result of climate change (8). Humpback whales received full protection in 1966 and have since captured the public's imagination (6). Whale watching tours to see these magnificent animals are popular throughout the world from Alaska to Hawaii and Japan to Australia (2). In the northwest Atlantic particularly, these have worked closely with scientists providing valuable photo identification of individuals that has helped to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding their impressive migration (2). Humpback whales are the most studied of the large whales but little is still known about some aspects of their behaviour and about population dynamics (9), further research and monitoring is therefore needed to safeguard these awe-inspiring acrobats of the sea. Embed this Arkive thumbnail link ("portlet") by copying and pasting the code below.
Nootropics are a brand new type of cognitive enhancing drug, they are not regulated i the US and most are still pending FDA approval. Nootropics also pose no notable side effects (unless stated otherwise) as long as proper dosage instructions are followed. Dihexa is a relatively new drug that has been synthesized for the purpose of treating Alzheimer’s Disease. Developed by researchers from Washington State University, Dihexa has been shown to bolster cognitive function in lab rats with an Alzheimer-like mental disorder. It is extremely popular among the medical community thanks to its unique approach to the disease; whereas most Alzheimer’s drugs impede the progression of the disease, Dihexa repairs the damage in the synapse between neurons. Researchers Harding and Wright worked tirelessly to . By 2012, they had found a way for their compound to cross the blood-brain barrier. Although the FDA has yet to approve Dihexa, Harding and Wright’s hard work has already been vindicated courtesy of the nootropic community’s enthusiasm for and support of the drug. Dihexia, or Dihexa, as it is more commonly known, has been called a “neurogenic wonder-drug” by Nootropix.com. In their comprehensive review of the substance, the drug was said to be ten million times stronger than BDNF, one of the leading medications for new synapse formation. The specific mechanisms of Dihexa are still nebulous at best and little information about the drug is available online or in medical journals. This much is clear: Harding and Wright discovered this wonder-drug’s properties quite by accident. In the course of their usual experimentation into ACE inhibitors and the like, they stumbled upon a sequence of angiotensin that didn’t induce the hypertensive effects of its predecessors. Further exploration found that said angiotensin (Angiotensin IV) pooled inside the hippocampus portion of the brain. This lead to the hypothesis that there was a correlation between Angiotensin IV and memory formation. Armed with a pharmacological grant from the company behind such drugs as Cymbalta and Prozac, Harding and his team were able to develop a multitude of Angiotensin IV analogues for further testing. His hard work parlayed itself into miraculous findings; Ang-IV, as it is known in short form, was able to reverse all impairment across multiple cognitive models of decline. Unfortunately for Harding and Co., funding was pulled when the above-mentioned company was plunged into scandal for failing to warn patients of the potential risks of birth defects when taking Prozac. Lawsuits followed and the project was shelved . Testing wouldn’t resume for some time. In the early-Aughts, the project was picked up and dusted off. It was then that Harding narrowed in on the particular peptides requisite to the precognitive properties of a specific analogue in their experimentation. The analogue, known as Nle-Angiotensin-IV, was altered and a tripeptide sequence was concocted. Additional modification was undertaken and, after some time, they had the analogue now referred to as Dihexa (MM-201). The dimerization process of Dihexa is behind the management of proteins which bind with DNA strands. The growth factor in its activated form yields increased HGF activity and diminishes dimerization. HGF activity, or Hepatocyte Growth Factor, stimulates DNA synthesis and builds up an uptake of hepatocytes, cells that are involved in protein synthesis. Dimerization is a macromolecular complex. HGF activity is responsible for synaptogenic and procognitive activities. In addition to Alzheimer’s, Dihexa has been used to manage depression, improve general long and short-term memory, focus and learning. That said, its primary reputation is as a potent nootropic supplement for those afflicted with AD. It has also been considered as a prospective guard against aminoglycoside toxicity in hair cells. The outcome of this test found that Dihexa provided optimal protection against severe treatment with otoxin. Note; dosage information is only for scientific reference purposes. SARMs Central, does not condone the human consumption or use of this substance outside of a controlled scientific environment (i.e. a lab). Formal testing of Dihexa in human trials has yet to even begin, due to the lack of funding for such research, and anecdotal reports are varied. Users listed dosages everywhere from 8 to 45 mg per day and report a variety of benefits, from increased mental stamina to heightened articulation. Users have reported increases in creative thinking, social intuition, and problem-solving skills. There has also been a fair deal of non-responders who haven’t felt anything at all.
Frederick Francis Liddell Sir Frederick Francis Liddell, KCB, KC, (7 June 1865 – 19 March 1950) was a British lawyer and civil servant. He was born in 1865, the son of Henry Liddell, the Dean of Christ Church; his older sister, Alice, would become famous as "Alice in Wonderland". He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1888 with first-class honours. On leaving Oxford, he was appointed the private secretary to Sir Arthur Gordon, the Governor of Ceylon; after two years, when Gordon's tenure as governor expired, he returned home. In 1891 he became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, a position he would hold until 1906. He won the Eldon Scholarship in 1892 and was called to the Bar in 1894. He entered Charles Sargant's chambers at Lincoln's Inn, and a year later, on Sargant's advice, joined the Parliamentary Counsel's Office, then led by Henry Jenkyns and Courtenay Ilbert. In 1902, he was appointed Second Parliamentary Counsel, and after the 1906 general election played a major part in helping prepare the large amount of new legislation the Liberal government aimed to pass. In 1917 he was appointed First Parliamentary Counsel. Among his major work was assisting the drafting of plans to reform the Territorial Force and create the Royal Air Force, as well as the reorganisation of substantial parts of the criminal law and the law of property, and an attempt to reform income tax. Following Irish independence, he created the legislative framework to rework the statute law affecting Ireland and limit it to the six counties of Northern Ireland. Among his other legal work, he edited the Manual of Military Law. In 1928, he was appointed Counsel to the Speaker, and made a KC the following year. He had intended to retire in 1939, but was asked to stay on with the outbreak of the Second World War; he eventually retired in 1943, but even then remained active, assisting with the overhaul of the Standing Orders relating to Private Members' Business. He became an Ecclesiastical Commissioner in 1944, finally retiring from public life in 1948. He married Mabel Magniac in 1901; the couple had three sons and one daughter. One of his sons, an officer in the Royal Navy, died at sea shortly after the end of the Second World War. His youngest son, Maurice, married Alix Kerr. - Times obituary - Who Was Who
Global warming is one of the issues that human civilization will have to deal with during "The Great Tribulation". There is already awareness of the issue among scientists, as well as the potential implications of climate change on the food supply and arable land. Global warming and climate change were not an issue the last time we were in a Grand Supercycle degree bear market, even during 1770 - 1784 (Supercycle wave (c) of Grand Supercycle wave [II]). It is an issue that we will be facing in the future as a consequence of the excessive use of fossil fuels such as petroleum, coal, and natural gas. The burning of fossil fuels results in the release of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, increasing the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere and resulting in global warming. There has been many warnings from scientists about the implications of staying the course on excessive use of fossil fuels. Even Hollywood has gotten into the fray as well with the release of The Day After Tomorrow in 2004, which imagines destructive weather of unprecedented magnitude unfolding as a result of climate change. Yet, the warnings continue to be ignored by many people and even the Obama Administration didn't make an effort to address the issue when there was an opportunity to do so with a large majority in the House and a filibuster proof majority in the Senate in 2009. Human civilization will end up learning the importance of clean energy the hard way in the coming years and decades, especially in the United States. The implications of global warming has been examined by a number of scientists, such as the article Memorial Day 2030 from Climate Progress. The timing will be affected by an emerging "green technology" industry that will start to take hold after "The Great Deflation" ends, giving rise to the "Green Technology Age" (identified as Supercycle wave (b) of Grand Supercycle wave [IV]) which will start in 2021 and end in 2042. The rise of a green technology industry will slow down the rate that greenhouse gases are accumulated in the atmosphere, which will ultimately affect the timing of when the effects of climate change will start having a substantial impact on human civilization. It will be around 30 years or so before climate change will have a substantial impact on human civilization. We are starting to see some hints of the effects of climate change in the future. Just this year, we got some of the most extreme weather in many decades take place, with the 2011 Mississippi River floods, the 2011 Super Outbreak (of tornadoes), and most recently, the 2011 Joplin tornado. Given the negative social mood that will be present during "The Great Tribulation", food shortages and increasing scarcity of arable land, both caused by climate change, could easily be used as a justification for starting a war. Wars generally erupt during the largest C waves of bear markets of Primary degree and above, and history (going all the way back to 1200 BC) indicates that Grand Supercycle degree bear markets always result in war. The period of "The Great Tribulation", identified as Supercycle wave (c) of Grand Supercycle wave [IV], would be a time when wars over resources would erupt. There is a lot of skepticism about global warming and climate change now, but I predict that a "point of recognition" will take place in 2043, which will take the form of a "Global warming panic". This would be the center of Cycle wave I down during "The Great Tribulation". At that time, it will be impossible for people to dismiss the reality of man made global warming due to the impact of extreme weather that will be unfolding during that time. Look for governments to make some very hard choices about the use of fossil fuels and the use of green technology during the first few years of the next bull market, Grand Supercycle wave [V]. The effects of climate change will remain well after "The Great Tribulation" ends, but with the hard choices that governments will make during 2055 - 2058, the planet's climate will slowly return to normal over many decades during the bull market that will unfold.
In October 2009 a workshop was held on worker safety by the Worker Education and Training Program (WETP), a part of the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Many of the topics raised in the workshop – REACH, Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, and nanotechnology would be issues or hazards familiar to most SafetyAtWorkBlog readers. This report on the workshop, released in November 2009, is highlighted here because it is a very good example of a basic report on a workshop that makes the reader regret that they couldn’t be there. This respond encourages readers to make the extra effort for the next set of workshops – a major benefit of such reports and, sometimes, the main reason. The mention 0f nanotechnology is a good link to two new reports on the issue released by Safe Work Australia on 4 November 2009. Engineered nanomaterials: Evidence on the effectiveness of workplace controls “explores the effectiveness of workplace controls to prevent exposure to engineered nanomaterials.” According to a media release on the reports this report found: - “current control and risk management methods can protect workers from exposure to engineered nanomaterials - enclosure of processes involving nanomaterials and correctly designed and installed extraction ventilation can both significantly reduce worker exposure to nanomaterials, and - a precautionary approach is recommended for handling nanomaterials in the workplace.” The lack of available health effects data has directly led to the precautionary position in recommendations but it is good to see that the hierarchy of controls (old technology) is being applied to new technology. The report gets to a point of recommending a combination of “…controls [that] should provide a robust regime through which nanomaterials exposure to workers will be reduced to very low levels.” The bibliography in this report is also excellent and includes a comparative table of the research reports and papers analysed. Engineered nanomaterials: A review of toxicology and health hazards was a literature review that reports: - “there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that engineered nanomaterials have a unique toxicity. However, sufficient toxicity tests have not yet been conducted for most engineered nanomaterials - nanoparticles tend to be more bio-reactive, and hence potentially more toxic, than larger particles of the same material, and - carbon nanotubes are potentially hazardous to health if inhaled in sufficient quantity.” Nanotechnology is a difficult area of OHS study as there is so much research material coming through that it is (probably more than) a full-time job just to stay current. The literature review into toxicology makes a point that it is important to remember in this field. “A wide variety of in vitro and in vivo experimental protocols have been used to assess biological responses to NPs, some of these yield more useful data for occupational risk assessment than others. Some are potentially misleading.” [emphasis added] The second of these reports was a good introduction to the general issues of health risks but must be stressed that these reports deal with engineered nanoparticle(s) (ENPs) which are defined as “A nanoparticle with at least one dimensions between approximately 1 nm and 100 nm and manufactured to have specific properties or composition. “ Increasing research into any issue almost always leads to a fragmentation of the discipline into subsets. That research into engineered nanoparticles is different from regular nanoparticles needs to be remembered. As the report itself says “…the major thrust of the research is in relation to identifying potential hazards for assessment of occupational safety since working with ENPs is likely to be where most exposure occurs. In contrast to ambient particulate air pollution, where health effects have been observed and research has been aimed at discovering the causative agents and mechanisms, the reverse is true for ENPs.” Tom Phillips AM, chair of the Safe Work Australia Council said , in a media statement, “Safe Work Australia has requested that the National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme undertake a formal assessment of carbon nanotubes for hazard classification to clarify regulation of these nanomaterials. “We have also requested that CSIRO develop guidance for the safe handling and disposal of carbon nanotubes, which will be a useful resource for OHS managers.”
Jar with geometric designs Cyprus, perhaps Kourion about 750-600 BC Unglazed earthenware, made in sections and assembled, covered with buff slip and painted Museum no. 222-1883 The jar, used for storing wine or water, was made in two halves. They were thrown on a potter's wheel and 'luted' together with slip (liquid clay). Cyprus was colonised first from Greece, from 1500 BC, and then from Phoenicia (modern Lebanon). In 709 BC it came under Assyrian control. The refined decoration reflects this cultural mix and the high social status of the jar's owners.
EYFS - Curriculum Learning Page Welcome to our EYFS curriculum learning page. Here you can click on our EYFS long-term overview, to discover the planned learning for both Nursery (FS1) and Reception (FS2) for the whole year. You will find the different the level descriptors for the various age brackets within the EYFS, taken from the updated Development matters, March 2021. The Early Learning Goals are the descriptors that we aim to support the children in achieving by the end of their time in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Click on the home learning tab to see fun & exciting ways in which you can support your child at home. Please have a read of the Welcome meeting presentation by Mrs Adams (EYFS Leader). The FS2 newsletters are posted in 'Our School'- EYFS every week. You can catch up here with has been happening within the class each week. Please find below some useful documents BBC Bitesize Phonics https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z6q3p4j
Maine is changing its signature crop to keep up with the effects of climate change Climate change brings warmer and drier conditions that aren’t conducive for Maine’s most lucrative crop. Scientists and farmers have teamed up to modify potatoes to ensure a steady agricultural future. Maine Public’s Robbie Feinberg reports. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
by Dr. Amanda Childress, PharmD The Basics of Children’s Health Nutritionist for children? As a mom, one of the things you always have attention on is your kid’s health and well-being. Fevers, congestion, runny nose, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation are scary when they happen to be your children. But, they are a typical immune response at times. The body has miraculous healing abilities. Another area where kids cause their parents stress is with school. ADD, ADHD, hyperactivity, poor focus, fatigue, and depression can make learning a struggle. Often Ritalin is recommended by medical doctors to address some of these symptoms. Every day more children are diagnosed with Autistic or Asperger’s Syndrome or Spectrum Disorders. The symptoms of these can affect the entire family. Weight problems, growing pains, puberty, and hormone changes bring additional challenges for teens. How do these problems begin? Many of these problems start in the gut; therefore the GI tract can be compromised at birth. Use of antibiotics, immunizations, formula feeding, and food sensitivities all compound the problem later. Because so much of immunity originates in the intestines, better GI function prevents many illnesses. Many studies link the health of the brain to the health of the intestines. Further, if the intestines are not functioning properly, many nutritional deficiencies can develop because the body will be unable to utilize the food eaten. When should I see a Nutrition Response Testing Practitioner? Children should be on a Nutritional Program from before the day they are born. Moms need to be healthy for the baby to be healthy. How will The Nutritional Healing Center help me? We can support the body as it grows and helps the immune system and nervous system every step of the way. Our child health in Ann Arbor services can make sure that children have adequate vitamins and minerals to keep their body functioning at its best. We can resolve digestive problems, skin rashes, and other common childhood conditions. Our nutritionist for children can recommend good food choices that will create healthy habits to last a lifetime. We can help your child make healthy food choices, along with giving them the support their bodies need with the proper supplements. No guessing! Fill out our online New Patient form to get him or her seen by one of our practitioners.
Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes T2D Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated. Type 2 Diabetes (T2B) is a disease characterized by high blood sugar and insulin resistance. Diet-induced obesity and cognitive decline In humans, a western-style diet with high amounts of fats and carbohydrates eventually leads to metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM). Both metabolic syndrome and T2DM are risk factors in the development of cognitive decline and dementia. When mice are fed a High Fat (HF) diet or a diet with additional Cholesterol and Fructose (HFCF) they become obese in comparison with regular chow fed mice. At Sylics we observed detrimental effects of these diets on cognitive performance of mice, for instance in the Morris Water Maze. Db/db mouse model of obesity Db/db mice are a model of obesity and diabetes. These mice have a deficient leptin receptor, because of a homozygous point mutation in the leptin receptor-encoding gene. This receptor responds to fat-secreted leptin, which plays a key role in regulation of body weight. In depth characterization of the model at Sylics showed profound behavioral impairments related to activity, which makes this model less suitable for cognitive testing in comparison with the the HF and HFCF diet fed models. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the name of a range of conditions caused by a build-up of fat in the liver. This condition is most frequently caused by unhealthy life style and diet and seen in people that are overweight or obese. In approximately 20 – 30 % of cases, this condition progresses into chronic inflammation in the liver (NASH) leading to liver cirrhosis. High amounts of fructose consumption contribute to this condition. Feeding mice with a diet rich in fat and additional Cholesterol and Fructose (HFCF) induces features of NAFLD and NASH, as well as behavioral and cognitive impairments. HFCF diet fed mice show impairments in the reversal stage of the Morris Water Maze. Please reach out to us if you want to learn more about our Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes T2D solutions. We will contact you within 1 business day.
Pass or Fail: Teacher Effectiveness as Prevention In this multi-part series, I provide a dissection of the phenomenon of retention and social promotion. Also, I describe the many different methods that would improve student instruction in classrooms and eliminate the need for retention and social promotion if combined effectively. While reading this series, periodically ask yourself this question: Why are educators, parents and the American public complicit in a practice that does demonstrable harm to children and the competitive future of the country? Retaining or socially promoting a student takes a simplistic approach to education that is outdated and harmful. Finding alternatives to avoid both is imperative and entirely possible in today’s educational climate. Perhaps the most influential alternative to social promotion and retention is effective teaching and teachers who are willing to go the extra mile to make sure students are up to speed. Some teachers may need professional development to help them diversify their approach to meet the instructional needs of lower performing students. Protheroe points to examples like the Metro Nashville Public Schools, who have established a comprehensive program for professional development, supporting veteran and, especially, new teachers who serve in high-poverty areas. The program includes work on the so-called Ruby Payne Framework to improve teacher understanding of poverty. There is also, according to Holt and Garcia, some important training with differentiated instruction and the Dignity with Discipline program. Buena Vista Elementary, which is under the Metro Nashville umbrella, is a striking example of the success of these types of involvements. The school is just a few miles from downtown Nashville, in an area plagued by poverty and underdevelopment. A third of the students are homeless and live in one of the numerous shelters nearby. Violence is common, and almost all of the students receive free or reduced-fee lunches. Despite the inherent difficulties of running a school in such a disadvantaged area, Buena Vista is a vibrant and thriving environment. Every student has a netbook, and there is an iPad for every two students. There are two teachers for every classroom (one is usually a student teacher on a paid placement), as well as a highly qualified phalanx of support staff on call. The principal, Michelle McVicker, is focused on raising the students’ math and language arts skills. She ensures that each student has a goal and knows what he or she is working toward. “You should be able to ask any student what his or her math and reading goals are and get an answer,” she says and demonstrates that she means it by pulling a student out of a classroom and eliciting the answers. In the “War Room,” every student’s goal, as well as their current data status, is captured and posted on a wall, with color charts indicating which ones are still in need of help, from blue (advanced), through green (proficient) and yellow (basic), to below basic (red). Two years ago, Buena Vista was considered a failing school. Nearly every card was in the red zone. McVicker was hired and given free rein to acquire the tools she needed to get the school out of the red. Some of these were technological – as well as computers, classes use Smart Boards and projectors – but she also hired a fresh crew of teachers, commenting: “Because my teachers are all new, they have no bad habits to break.” The majority of the cards in the War Room are now in the green and yellow zone. The turnaround is well under way. Protheroe discusses changes to grouping practices and considers how some schools have moved toward increased use of multiage classrooms, with students of different ages grouped together in the classroom to enable continuous progress rather than have to worry about promotion year to year. Specific strategies include interventions to accelerate learning, such as strategies to help students “double-dose” in reading and math instruction to address the problem associated with providing remediation. Protheroe suggests identifying struggling students and focusing attention on them early, doing whatever can be done to extend learning time, and taking a student’s socio-economic status into consideration when working with them. Beyond these measures, Protheroe also identifies extended learning time as an alternative to retention. Roderick, Engel, and Nagaoka reference the comprehensive evaluation conducted at Chicago Public Schools via the Summer Bridge program. This program found that test scores improved among third, sixth, and eighth graders. The largest gains were among the sixth and eighth graders. A total of ninety hours of instruction were offered at summer school for third through sixth graders: three hours per day for six weeks. Eighth graders received 140 hours of instruction, attending four hours per day for seven weeks. Evaluations also identified several factors that were associated with larger gains, such as assigning students to teachers who had worked with them before. Teachers reported being more likely to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of the individual student since they were better informed of those needs. Researchers studying this and other similar afterschool programs have determined that such systems for additional instruction tend to be more successful when there is a careful assessment of the individual student needs and designing of instruction to address those needs. Afterschool and regular day teachers were better able to support students when they communicated with each other about progress and problems. At the same time, it is also important that the staff at afterschool programs have the knowledge to apply instructional strategies that support the student’s work efforts. Poggi notes that special professional development may well be required to provide this level of knowledge and skill to staff. Interventions to accelerate learning are catalyzed by efforts to increase the effectiveness of teachers and extend learning time. Ultimately, a combination of these efforts proves most successful as a retention or social promotion alternative. Click here to read all my suggestions for alternatives to social promotion and retention.
This data set decribes surface and volume properties of snow and ice to validate radar satellite measurements. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) at 500 and 1000GHz provides information on snow layers and thickness near the surface at two sites on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, one site at Ross Island, and on the landfast and new sea ice in McMurdo Sound. A 50MHz antenna is used to measure total ice thickness ... and the thickness of the ice above the saline layer underneath the ice shelf. Snow density and morphology is measured in snow pits using standard glaciological methods and an infrared camera, as well as an ice corer for depths down to about 8m. Snow stakes were used to measure the annual accumulation on land ice over a one year period. A dust layer is used to quantify the average accumulation over a 5 year period. Stake and GPR measurements suggest a high temporal and spatial variabilty in snow accumulation near Ross Island. A laser ranger on the skidoo and a small unmanned aircraft are used to determine the surface roughness of snow on land ice. For sea ice, the GPR system is used on one north south and two east-west transects to measure snow thickness on ice. Ice drilling is used to determine total sea ice thickness along the transects. A helicopter EM bird is used to measure a grid of sea ice and ice shelf thickness across the McMurdo Sound. Ground measurements validate the performance of the HEM bird in the presence of platelet ice. In 2011 more in-depth research was conducted into sea ice thickness. The subice platelet layer thickness under sea ice was measured in regular intervals at two North-South oriented profiles and four east-west oriented profiles. Holes were drilled at regular intervals into sea ice at measurement sites about 5 km apart. At these holes sea ice thickness and snow depth on top of the sea ice was measured. In between the sites, sea ice thickness was measured using an electromagnetic induction device, and snow on sea ice was measured using a ground penetrating radar system. Ocean temperature and salinity was measured through holes in the sea ice along the ice edge of the McMurdo Ice Shelf within 3 km of the ice shelf front. The response of the sea ice to tidal height was measured at three locations using GPS Stations. At these locations samples of sea ice were taken for geophysical, oceanographic and biological analysis. Water samples were also taken. Sea ice thickness (surface elevation and draft of sea ice) and surface reflectance was measured along ten North-South oriented profiles and eight east-west oriented profiles. This was performed by the HEM bird and the ground measurements validate these results.
Science Social Sciences Linguistics Languages Natural Indo-European Italic Romance Spanish Dialects Asturian This cat should contain all linguistically related material on Asturian (also known as Bable), the native language of the Asturias region in northern Spain and some neighboring zones. Although many regard Asturian as a separate language, its overall similarity to standard Castilian, as well as its very limited use in education, government and the media, justify classifying it as a Spanish dialect. Asturian Religious Texts Images and texts from Asturias, the western part of Cantabria and northern Castilla-Leon, Spain. Euromosaic - Asturian Sociolinguistic survey of the use of Asturian (Bable) as a minority language within the European Union (in the Asturias region of Spain). Collection of links. Bilingual site (English and French). Last update:July 24, 2012 at 12:54:05 UTC
James Sevier Conway \|James Sevier Conway\| \|1st Governor of Arkansas\| September 13, 1836 – November 4, 1840 \|Succeeded by\|\|Archibald Yell\| December 4, 1796\| Greene County, Tennessee \|Died\|\|March 3, 1855 Lafayette County, Arkansas \|Spouse(s)\|\|Mary Jane Bradley\| Conway was born in Greene County, Tennessee and was educated by private tutors and attended public schools. In 1820, he moved to Arkansas where he worked as a surveyor. Conway formed a surveying business with two of his brothers. Conway's company took over the land that would later become the city of Little Rock, Arkansas and he is known as the founder of that city. Conway purchased a large cotton plantation named Walnut Hill in what is now Lafayette County (then part of Hempstead County). In 1832, Conway became the surveyor-general of the Arkansas Territory and served in that position until 1836. Conway became the first elected Governor of Arkansas when it became a state in 1836. His administration focused on developing schools and roads. He established a state military to patrol the western frontier and worked to have a federal arsenal built in Little Rock. He worked to get funding for a state penitentiary. He pushed for the establishment of a state library and university but was unsuccessful. Conway left office in 1840 and returned to his plantation. He continued to be active in public affairs. While living in Lafayette County, Arkansas, Conway met Mary Jane Bradley, who had also migrated with her family from Tennessee. They were married December 21, 1825. They had ten children, five of whom died in infancy or early childhood. Conway was the brother of Arkansas Governor Elias Nelson Conway, brother of Congressman Henry Wharton Conway, first cousin of Senator Ambrose Hundley Sevier and Governor Henry Massey Rector. He was third cousin of Confederate General and Virginia Governor James Lawson Kemper. Death and legacy Conway helped establish Lafayette Academy in Greene County, Tennessee. - "James Sevier Conway (1796–1855)". The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Retrieved August 11, 2012. - "James Sevier Conway". Find A Grave. Retrieved August 9, 2012. - "James Sevier Conway (1796–1855)". The Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved August 9, 2012. - "Profile for Conway, Arkansas, AR". ePodunk. Retrieved August 11, 2012. - Memorial Foundation of the Germanna Colonies in Virginia, Inc. - James Sevier Conway Family - The Conway-Sevier-Johnson Family - Conway Cemetery State Park - Find-A-Grave profile for James Sevier Conway - Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture entry: James Sevier Conway William Savin Fulton as Territorial Governor \|Governor of Arkansas
If you want to propagate your orchid at home, but you don’t know how to do it, don’t worry! In this complete guide, we will explain clearly and simply how to propagate an orchid at home. So that you can get the most out of your orchids. The care of orchids requires certain measures that are indispensable to achieve good flowering and have a healthy plant. For this reason, it is important to know how to propagate an orchid using the appropriate techniques that we will show you in the following content. Table of Contents - Orchid Propagation Method - How to Propagate an Orchid from The Flowering Stem or Flower Stalk (Keikis) - What are Keikis? - How to Get and Plant an Orchid Keiki - How to Propagate an Orchid by Cuttings - How to Propagate Orchids by Cuttings Step by Step - How to Propagate an Orchid by Pseudobulbs or Division - Propagating Orchids by Division Step by Step - Propagate Orchids Phalaenopsis Orchid Propagation Method First, we will explain how the process of orchid propagation takes place in nature: Orchids in nature, propagate sexually but how is this? Very simple, since orchids are plants that grow mostly on trees, in the bark of the same there is a kind of fungus. This fungus is indispensable to carry out the process of symbiosis. These flowers are attracted by a series of insects, which are in charge of transferring the pollen to the stigma of the flower, which corresponds to the gynoecium that receives the pollen. When all this process is done, in the sexual organ of the orchid. It will produce a bulge giving rise to a large number of seeds. Which using the air or fall, will come into contact with the fungus mutually benefiting each other for their vital development. But as in this case, the orchids are not in their natural habitat. We must help it to propagate, this can be done asexually. But how to propagate an orchid, process involves the use of Keikis, coming from the main orchid, that is, the mother orchid. Later we will explain specifically, how to perform asexual reproduction using Keikis. How to Propagate an Orchid from The Flowering Stem or Flower Stalk (Keikis) The asexual reproduction of orchids, using the stem or flower stem is one of the most used methods by orchid lovers. Below, we will explain how this process is carried out: Keikis are produced after the orchids bloom and are manifested on the flowering stem of the mother orchid. How to propagate an orchid by the flowering stem, the Keikis are produced naturally and when we obtain them it is the right moment to make a replica of the orchid we have at home. Although in case we want to make the replica, the small plant is not yet appreciated in the flowering stem. You can stimulate the plant for the growth of the same. This is done after flowering, the flowering stem should be cut, but above the node. So that in this way it is left in the air and begins to grow roots and Keikis. This also has a great influence on the care we take of the plant. For the propagation of orchids using Keikis, the following should be taken into account: It is not advisable to plant the Keikis in another container. Since it will not be apt to carry out the process of development, it is necessary to wait until it is totally strong. What are Keikis? In gardening, the term Keikis is used to designate a small plant, which originates from the main plant. That is, the Keikis in this case of the orchid are the babies derived from the orchid. This is emitted after flowering, on the flowering stem. The keikis will behave as a replica of the mother plant, thus obtaining the same characteristics and even in flowering. For each species of orchid, the keikis will be different. Therefore, it is important to have previous knowledge before propagating it. This method of asexual reproduction is one of the most used and simple to obtain orchids from home. How to Get and Plant an Orchid Keiki Now that you know what a Keiki is, it’s time to learn how to get an orchid Keiki and how it should be planted. So that it can grow correctly and originate that desired orchid at home: As mentioned above Keikis are generated naturally after the orchid blooms, this may occur once or twice a year. To have a successful flowering and thus obtain a Keiki, you mustn’t forget the care you need for the plant: from indirect lighting, use of orchid fertilizer, humidity, and proper watering of the same. If your plant is healthy, you will certainly get the best orchid babies on the flowering stem. If after flowering, you still do not get Keikis, you can cut the flowering stem as explained above and help the appearance and growth of the Keikis. To plant the Keikis from the mother orchid, you must perform the following steps: 1- First, we must make sure that the Keikis meets several standards to be repotting it: it must have at least three accompanying roots of about 1.2″ (3 cm) approximately and it must have 3 adult leaves. This will ensure that repotting it will be a success. 2- After verifying this, it is time to cut the Keikis, how should we do it? With sterilized scissors to avoid contagion and damage to the plant, we will cut the root and knot of the Keikis. This is the correct way to do it. 3- Subsequently, it should be repotted into a separate pot. Although it is advisable to let the Keikis grow where the mother orchid is located. So that it takes care of the correct supply of nutrients that the Keikis will need, until it can survive on its own. 4- It is important to keep in mind that the Keikis should be placed in a place where it receives enough light and humidity for it to grow healthy. How to Propagate an Orchid by Cuttings Another way to propagate orchid is through orchid cuttings. But what are cuttings? They are fragments of the plant used for the reproduction of the same, this is another type of asexual reproduction of vegetative propagation. Propagation by cuttings of orchids is considered one of the easiest and most effective methods to achieve correct propagation. There are several types of cuttings: from buds that occur in spring and are obtained from certain cuts in the plant buds. Also, cuttings from tender branches by cutting the ends of the plants and cuttings that are cut in late summer, when the stems are thick and strong. Orchid cuttings can be obtained from some pruning we do to make the most of it. If you are interested in this method of reproduction to obtain clones of the mother orchid but do not know how to do it. In the following guide, we will explain step by step, how to propagate orchids using cuttings and determine if this is the method you like best. How to Propagate Orchids by Cuttings Step by Step To propagate an orchid by cuttings we must follow the following steps: 1- First of all, you must look for the material that we are going to use to make the cutting. In this case, we will need a more or less deep tray and moss to fill it. 2- Next, with the garden scissors already sterilized we will proceed to cut the stem of the orchid. This should be about 12″ (30 cm) approximately so that we can divide it into several sections. The sections that we cut must have a recent bud of the plant (Garden Scissors Order it here). 3- Later, after placing the moss in the tray we will have to get it until it is humid. In this way, we can proceed to place the cuttings that we have made. The container should be covered and placed in a place where direct sunlight does not reach them. 4- They will be left there for approximately two and a half weeks. Then, they will be moved to increase the temperature of the cuttings. It is important to water them frequently so that they do not lose humidity and grow perfectly. 5- Fertilizers should be used to contribute to their development, this will be done in the first months. If any of the cuttings have been damaged, it is important to remove them, as this could affect the others, damaging the reproduction. 6- When you observe that roots and new shoots have developed, it is time to make a small cut between the stems, separating them. Find a pot to place the new plants in, on a mossy surface. 7- Be sure to use the best substrate, as their growth depends on this. It is important to keep in mind that the sprouts should always be placed upwards. Learn more about Best Soil for Orchids. 8- Locate them in a place where they have lighting and the indicated temperature. Remember to water the small orchids, you can do it about twice a week. Take care to monitor the substrate to know if they are lacking water or if you are drowning them. 9- Use the best orchid fertilizer and that’s it. If everything goes well, they will start to develop perfectly. Learn more about How to Fertilize Orchids. How to Propagate an Orchid by Pseudobulbs or Division Surely you have heard about the propagation of orchids utilizing bulbs. But what are bulbs? Bulbs are called a plant organ that is formed through a rounded shoot and in whose leaves accumulate reserves, that is, in it, several nutrients are stored. This is a form of asexual reproduction used by plants. In this propagation process, the plant shrinks, giving rise to a bulb, and then re-emerges through it. Generally, this process is carried out when the orchid is already several years old and is considered to be very large. Therefore, what we must do is to divide it into two or more plants to be able to propagate them. Propagating Orchids by Division Step by Step Here are the steps to follow to propagate orchids by bulbs or division: 1- First of all, the division of the plant must be done. Then we must take the orchid out of the pot to check the state of its roots. It is important to examine the color of the roots and see if they are healthy to start with reproduction. 2- Next, we must separate the plant into two parts. This should be done from the base to avoid any damage. This is when we will check if the bulbs are found. It is important to keep in mind that to obtain the next flowering and good development, each plant should be divided into 3 bulbs. This is a rule to ensure the success of this method. 3- In addition, both should have a new shoot. Then, the roots that join the plants should be carefully cut and the roots that are rotten or dry should also be eliminated since they will not be beneficial. 4- Afterwards, pieces of bark should be placed in both pots. The new sprout must remain in the center of the pot. Also, make sure that the orchid is completely secure when placed in the pot (Order Bark for Orchids). 5- As the last step, the plants should be soaked for about an hour and a half. After this, it is not recommended to water them frequently and they should be placed in a place where there is not enough light. Propagate Orchids Phalaenopsis The most used species and that most people look for are: The Phalaenopsis called butterfly orchid, which is characterized by having striking colors, 3-leaf blooms, and being more than 60 species. And the Cymbidium was known by many as the boat orchid, which is a genus with approximately 52 species, with long and large spikes where the flowers are appreciated. They are considered to be one of the most sought after because they are easy to grow and the artificial flowering process can be well managed in our homes. But how is the reproduction of both species? In case you don’t know how to propagate Phalaenopsis orchids or how to propagate Cymbidium orchids you simply have to carry out one of the methods explained above. For the Phalaenopsis orchid, you can use the asexual reproduction process of Keikis or sexual reproduction and in the case of the Cymbidium orchid with the bulb or division method. Regardless of the method you use, you will be able to propagate your orchids successfully at home. Follow all the steps and care mentioned in each process. And choose the method with which you feel more confident.
Prescription Drug Abuse The abuse of prescription medications is a public health issue running rampant in the United States, with over 18 million people misusing opioids, central nervous system (CNS) depressants, and stimulants each year. In recognition of Medicine Abuse Awareness Month, the experts at The Good Life Treatment Center are here to shed some light on prescription drug misuse, abuse, and addiction. Commonly Abused Prescription Medications Medication abuse means that an individual is taking a given medication differently than it was prescribed. This includes taking more than a given dosage, taking someone else’s medication, or taking medication for its side effects. The three classes of medication that are most commonly abused include: Opioids are synthetic drugs that were created in a lab, not to be confused with opiates—which are derived from the naturally occurring poppy plant and its seeds. They were created to stimulate the opioid receptors within the brain, which affect the feelings of pleasure and pain. Activating these receptors can affect: - Stress levels - Pain levels - Respiratory rate When it comes to opioids, people aren’t typically using the drug recreationally when they become addicted. More often than not, they were prescribed medication by their doctor to help manage the symptoms associated with chronic pain. Some examples of opioids include: Central Nervous System Depressants Central Nervous System (CNS) Depressants are medications used to treat anxiety, panic disorders, and sleep disorders. This is because CNS depressants increase the activity of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is a chemical that inhibits brain activity. Some examples of CNS depressants include: Prescription stimulants are drugs that are used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. Stimulants increase dopamine and norepinephrine activity within the brain, which reinforce rewarding behaviors. Their main effects include increased: - Energy levels Commonly abused stimulants include: How Treatment Can Help When it comes to addressing prescription drug addiction, it can be more difficult to quit and lead a sober lifestyle compared to other forms of addiction. Oftentimes, a combination of medical assistance, addiction treatment, and therapy is needed in order to achieve long-term recovery. If you still feel apprehensive about seeking help from professionals, here are a few reasons for heading to a treatment program to help you walk the path toward recovery and wellness. It Can Save Your Life About 70,000 Americans die from illicit and prescription drug-related overdose each year. With overdose-related deaths continuing to increase each year, it is important for people struggling with drug addiction to seek the professional treatment they need, as it can become a matter of life and death. You’ll Meet People Who Understand Your Struggle For many struggling with prescription drug abuse and addiction issues, their drug habits may have started off as a legitimate way to combat chronic pain. However, due to the addictive nature of certain medications, proper use can develop into abuse and addiction over time. While this can be difficult for many people in your everyday life to understand the emotional and physical throws of addiction, those you encounter during treatment get it because they’ve gone through it too. Being around professionals and peers who truly understand you can help you to feel less alone on this journey toward sobriety. There’s Nothing to Lose When you feel like you’ve tried everything to overcome your addiction issues on your own, it can seem daunting to seek another course of treatment. However, with a shift in perspective, it can prove to be beneficial. By seeking professional and guided addiction treatment, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. From learning healthy coping mechanisms to supporting your emotional health and getting the medical attention you need—treatment can help bring you the breakthrough you’re looking for. Seeking Help at The Good Life Treatment Center At The Good Life Treatment Center, we’re a different kind of treatment center—we believe in the treatment and recovery of the body, mind, and spirit. We’re committed to working with you to help remove the burdens of shame and guilt that addiction so often brings. We think there’s a better, freer way to live life.
Motivating Reluctant Writers With Journals As a former reluctant student-writer, my papers were often returned with more red pen than black. Now, as a teacher, I'm especially mindful of students who are hesitant to share their thoughts in writing. Over the past 32 years as a teacher, I've seen many students struggle with putting words on the page—for various reasons. Co-teaching in English/language arts, math, science, and social studies classrooms, I work with students who are considered gifted, who are on the autism spectrum, and who read and write several years below grade level. For some, English isn't their first language. Some feel vulnerable and worry about being criticized. Some simply don't know where to begin. To address these challenges in my classroom, I've found that creating structures for regular writing works well. But, above all, journaling is the foundation for all writing in my classroom. Below are some techniques and attitudes that have worked particularly well with my students: At the beginning of the year, I ask students to purchase a notebook, which then becomes their writing journal. We write in the journals starting on the first day of school, and we date and title each post. Throughout the year students love to look back and reflect on the writers they're becoming. The journals are a wonderful reference for educators when writing Individualized Education Plan reports for students with special needs, demonstrating effective progress, or showing a parent how far their child has come. To model the behavior I'm looking for, I write and share along with my students. When I read my work aloud, I will stop and question myself if something doesn't sound right or make sense. The focus is on the writing process, not grammar and spelling. A few years ago, I co-taught with a woman who had a large deck chair in her classroom. I loved this idea and bought another one so we could both sit, teach, and discuss—creating a talk-show-like atmosphere. We then purchased a smaller chair, which we positioned between the two larger chairs. Students who were hesitant to read their writing aloud had the option of presenting in a "teacher sandwich" so they knew they weren't up there alone. To accommodate English-language learners and students with severe dyslexia or written-output difficulties, I adjust the process a bit. I give them several choices: They can record their thoughts orally so I can transcribe them into their journal, which they can share with the class. They can also work with another student or our paraprofessional, who will write down their ideas. Students in my class are used to helping one another out—so the students who volunteer are usually strong and mature writers. A third strategy I use is to tell students, "I'll write a sentence, you write a sentence." Kids often thank me quietly for this. It's difficult to suffer from writer's block while observing classmates writing away furiously. Often they just need help getting started, and then they can continue the process independently. With this structure in place, my next goal is to get the creative juices flowing. Below are some tips to help connect pen to paper. I often use headlines from popular news stories for prompts. For example, in our city of Medford, Mass.—just north of Boston—after a big snowstorm, people often shovel a parking spot and mark it with a lawn chair, trash barrel, or whatever else they can find. The writing prompt might be, "Is it fair to mark your spot after you've shoveled it out?" (The writing prompt would also have accompanying photos from our local paper of folks shoveling out mounds of snow next to an ironing board to mark their hard-earned spot.) One day, I spontaneously asked my students to choose a topic as a class. The sports-loving class came up with, "Who has it the hardest: the coach of the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, or Patriots?" This then became a mini-lesson on point of view. Students have also responded well to writing on the questions, "Should cell phones be allowed in classrooms?" and "Should kids be allowed to have their cell phones on all night?" (This was taken from a story in our local paper about kids losing sleep because they were texting late at night with their phones tucked under their pillows.) Short videos can trigger emotions and then thoughtfulness. Be prepared, though: Kids have lots of opinions on videos, often wanting to spend the entire class period sharing their thoughts. I will, at times, drop my other plans and use this opportunity for kids to write more, and even turn it into a finished opinion piece. Some of my favorite videos: • Radiohead's "All I Need," a split screen of a boy's day working in a factory making shoes and an American boy's day. I might use the prompt, "Describe how the video made you feel, and what parts of your life make you feel lucky. What would you like to tell each boy if you met them?" • Emmanuel Kelly's audition on The X Factor, a mix of interviews and Kelly singing John Lennon's "Imagine." The video prompts the students to describe whom in their lives they are grateful for. • Flocabulary Week in Rap, a short video about the week's current events set to rap music. Free Writing Activities Educationworld.com's Writing Bugs are free, wonderful PDF downloads that can be used as warm-up activities, run off and tucked into your sub folder, or used as prompts for a full, detailed writing assignment. Some of my favorite Writing Bug topics: • Pick two famous people to have as your parents. • If you could interview any U.S. president, who would you choose? (I also prompt students to come up with five questions they'd ask them.) • "If I were principal for the week, I would. …" • If you were given $50,000 but couldn't spend it on yourself, how would you use it? Integrating Class Reading Material Kids, no matter what age, love to be read to, especially from picture books. On the first day of school, I like to read the book First Day Jitters and then have the kids write about their first day of school. After I read The Teacher From the Black Lagoon, I ask students to write about a favorite teacher. I've even had kids turn their reflections into a letter to a teacher who has made a difference in their lives. And as we read novels in class, we use characters and themes from the books in our writing prompts. I might ask them which character they want to be, or which one they'd want to be friends with. As the school year goes on, finding ways to motivate students becomes easier as I get to know them and their strengths. I love watching as students who were hesitant to put their thoughts on paper at the beginning of the year become the students who have a lot to say—and aren't afraid to write it.
A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools, and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. It derives from the Latin reficere "to remake or restore," via Late Latin refectorium, which means "a place one goes to be restored." Refectories and monastic culture Communal meals are the times when all monks of an institution are together. Diet and eating habits differ somewhat by monastic order, and more widely by schedule. The Benedictine rule is illustrative. The Rule of St Benedict orders two meals. Dinner is provided for year-round; supper is also served from late spring to early fall, except for Wednesdays and Fridays. The diet originally consisted of simple fare: two dishes, with fruit as a third course if available. The food was simple, with the meat of mammals forbidden to all but the sick. Moderation in all aspects of diet is the spirit of Benedict's law. Meals are eaten in silence, facilitated sometimes by hand signals. A single monk might read from the Scriptures or writings of the saints aloud during the meals. Size, structure, and placement Refectories vary in size and dimension, based primarily on wealth and size of the monastery, as well as when the room was built. They share certain design features. Monks eat at long benches; important officials sit at raised benches at one end of the hall. A lavabo, or large basin for hand-washing usually stands outside the refectory. Tradition also fixes other factors. In England, the refectory is generally built on an undercroft (perhaps in an allusion to the upper room where the Last Supper reportedly took place) on the side of the cloister opposite the church. Benedictine models are traditionally generally laid out on an east-west axis, while Cistercian models lay north-south. Norman refectories could be as large as 160 feet (49 m) long by 35 feet (11 m) wide (as is that in the abbey at Norwich). Even relatively early refectories might have windows, but these became larger and more elaborate in the high medieval period. The refectory at Cluny Abbey was lit through thirty-six large glazed windows. The twelfth-century abbey at Mont Saint-Michel had six windows, five feet wide by twenty feet high. In Eastern Orthodox monasteries, the Refectory (Greek: τράπεζα, trapeza) is considered a sacred place, and even in some cases is constructed as a full church with Altar and Iconostasis. Some services are intended to be performed specifically in the Trapeza. There is always at least one Icon with a lampada (oil lamp) kept burning in front of it. The service of the Lifting of the Panagia is performed at the end of meals. During Bright Week, this service is replaced with the Lifting of the Artos. In some monasteries, the Ceremony of Forgiveness at the beginning of Great Lent is performed in the Trapeza. All food served in the Trapeza should be blessed, and for that purpose, holy water is often kept in the kitchen. As well as continued use of the historic monastic meaning, the word refectory is often used in a modern context to refer to a café or cafeteria that is open to the public—including non-worshipers such as tourists—attached to a cathedral or abbey. This usage is particularly prevalent in Church of England buildings, which use the takings to supplement their income. Many universities in the UK also call their student cafeteria or dining facilities the refectory. - Adams, Henry, Mont Saint-Michel and Chartres. New York: Penguin, 1986. - Fernie, E. C. The Architecture of Norman England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. - Harvey, Barbara. Living and Dying in England, 1100-1450. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. - Singman, Jeffrey. Daily Life in Medieval Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999. - Webb, Geoffrey. Architecture in Britain: the Middle Ages. Baltimore: Penguin, 1956. - Refectory in Russian Orthodox Convent Jerusalem \|Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Refectory.\| \|Look up Refectory in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.\|
“Do not delay in serving your God. Walk in the way of His contemplation, like beloved daughters, with every humility and love and obedience, without murmuring, without detraction, without envy and similar things, but like young lambs pleasing to the living God.” Saint Elisabeth was an abbess of the Schonau Abbey run by the Benedictines and experienced numerous miraculous visions. Saint Elisabeth was born to a not well known family in the year 1129 in Germany and attended the double monastery of Schonau in Nassau for her early schooling. After graduating, she made her vows as a Benedictine (1147) and was made abbess of the nuns under Abbot Hildelin in 1157. She was very well known for both her piety and her zealous observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict, including practices of mortification. Her miraculous visions first began in 1152 and usually occurred on Sundays, Holy Days, or after hearing stories of the saints. She began to write them on wax tablets and described them to her abbot, Hildelin. Abbot Hldelin told her to begin describing them to her brother, a cleric at Saint Cassius in Bonn by the name of Eckebert. Eckebert served as editor for these writings and then began to help arrange them for publishing under Saint Elisabeth's name. In total there were three books written. The first book was a simple book describing her original and first versions The second, Liber viarum Dei contains admonitions to classes throughout society including both the laity and clergy. She describes threats of judgement against priests who do not protect the flock of Christ, against monks who outwardly take vows of poverty but internally seek out great greed, against the vices of the laity, against the heresy of the Cathari and declares the antipope Victor IV as the one chosen by Christ. The third, the revelation on the martyrdom of Saint Ursula and her companions describes in great detail regarding her martyrdom. It also contains conversations between Saint Elisabeth and different saints and angels. Once after Mass Saint Elisabeth described seeing the Virgin Mary - "I saw my Lady standing beside the altar, in a garment like a priestly chasuble and she had on her head a glorious crown". The sheer volume of letters Saint Elisabeth received from those looking for advice should not be understated. Saint Elisabeth also sent out letters of advice to those in higher positions, including a famous letter to the Archbishop Hillin of Trier for not telling her divine message to the people of Rome. Saint Elisabeth died on June 18th, 1164 and was first buried in the abbey church of Saint Florin. Almost immediately the locals venerated her as a saint and the bones were reburied sometime between 1420 and 1430 in a new chapel that would be destroyed during the great fire of the Schonau Abbey in 1723. Her skull was the only remaining relic saved after Swedish and Hessian soldiers attacked the Monastery and scattered the bones. Her feast day is celebrated each year on June 18th.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) allow electronic systems to sense and control light. For this reason it has begun to be deployed in optical networking equipment, helping it meet the growing demand for faster and better ways to transmit information. One such device is the optical crossbar switch, an essential element in all-optical networks, which uses MEMS micromirrors. However, because MEMS evolved from integrated-circuit silicon processing technology, its developers adopted the materials traditionally used in IC fabrication, such as silicon oxide, silicon nitride, aluminum and even nickel. Unfortunately, all these are very rigid, not very compliant materials. The limited range of mechanical properties severely narrows the design space for silicon-based MEMS devices. In addition, the extreme rigidity of silicon MEMS requires higher voltage to provide the force for mechanical deflection. Spurred by the limitations of silicon-based MEMS in optical networking applications,Solus Micro Technologies has developed a new class of MEMS devices that uses highly compliant polymeric materials as a principal design element. Compliant MEMS (CMEMS) technology employs a soft, rubber-like material called an elastomer (from the words elastic and polymer), which can be stretched as much as 300 percent--as opposed to less than 1 percent for silicon. Accordingly, CMEMS devices require much lower voltages to achieve a given mechanical deflection, and their mechanical range of motion is much larger than with silicon MEMS for equivalent voltages. Another advantage of CMEMS is in the deposition method. Silicon MEMS uses chemical vapor deposition (CVD) techniques, in which "sacrificial" layers are deposited on top of a silicon wafer to create a structure. CVD requires a large, complex, expensive machine. CMEMS technology, on the other hand, uses spin-on deposition to pattern a structure, in much the same way that photoresist is applied in IC fabrication. With this technique, a silicon wafer is placed on a chuck that spins at a high speed, but instead of photoresist, elastomer is deposited, leveling out to form a thin smooth layer on top of the wafer. CMEMS technology employs the same spin-on equipment. All of these factors combine to lower production costs and improve yields for CMEMS components. This is especially important in the optical networking industry, which is deploying denser and higher bandwidths to boost network capacities. This heightens the need for costeffective, higher-performance tunable photonic components that increase network efficiency and reliability. The first components to use the new CMEMS technology will be tunable optical filters, often referred to as interferometers. Used for a variety of optical networking applications--such as optical performance monitors-- tunable filters transmit light of a predetermined wavelength and reflect the non-transmitted light back toward the source. Tunable filters may be achieved using a number of methods, but the most commonly used is the Fabry-Perot-based interferometer, which consists of two parallel partial reflectors (plates) facing each other, with a small gap in between. When the optical path length between the plates is an integer number of half waves, the structure becomes optically resonant, with zero electric field intensity at the boundaries and energy coupled through the filter. To make the interferometer tunable, one of the plates is fixed and the other movable, with the distance between them controlled--typically by piezo forces --to tune the wavelength that will pass through the filter. Although the movable plate is intended to move away in a completely parallel fashion, in actuality it moves with a minuscule tilt error. Controlling this tilt error allows high finesse, which measures how narrow a spectral line can be filtered. In dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems, which transmit numerous wavelengths of light simultaneously over a single optical fiber, high finesse is critical because all these channels are spaced extremely close together. The objective is for the filter to transmit one of these channels but none of the adjacent ones. Accordingly, a very sharp, very narrow filter is required, and the higher the finesse, the sharper the filter. See related chart The first CMEMS tunable filters comprise three layers of micro-machined silicon wafers. The first layer is a silicon substrate with a high-reflectivity dielectric mirror on its interior surface and a high-efficiency anti-reflection coating on its outside surface. The second layer contains the high-reflectivity movable mirror that is the tuning element of the Fabry-Perot. It has a high-reflectivity dielectric mirror deposited on a silicon island that is suspended from a perimeter frame using an elastomer. Three segmented electrodes on the backside of the elastomer layer match up with the electrostatic drive contained on the third and final layer. Voltages applied between the second and third layers control the gap between the first two layers, while the segmentation of the electrodes enables precise adjustment of the tilt. The CMEMS Fabry-Perot tunable filters will include a 45-nanometer version designed to measure wavelength, power and optical signal-to-noise ratio. It is targeted for monitoring either the C or L bands in the telecommunications spectrum.
10 things every chicken owner should know about Marek’s disease Just the mention of Marek’s disease arouses dread in many poultry keepers, but there is a lot of misinformation around which only serves to enhance those fears. Words: Sue Clarke Before science knew its name or what the causative agent was, Marek’s was known by various terms, among them new pullet disease, range paralysis and grey eye. Today we know a lot more about this nasty virus. 1 THESE BIRDS ARE MOST AT RISK It typically affects young birds from about 10 to 25 weeks old and 25% mortality is not uncommon in unvaccinated birds during the rearing stages. Chicks are most susceptible from one-day-old and for the first month of life, however the disease symptoms may not manifest themselves for many weeks, most commonly 10-25 weeks. 2 MAREK’S IS CAUSED BY A HERPES VIRUS The disease was named after József Marek, a Hungarian veterinarian, and is caused by a highly contagious viral disease of the Herpes family. It is primarily only a disease of domestic chickens, although infection has been reported in other avian species and a related Herpes virus found in turkeys which causes no apparent disease in turkeys can be used as a vaccine (HVT) for chickens. 3 VACCINES ARE FAIRLY NEW A vaccine for Marek’s disease has only been available since 1970. Prior to this it was normal for world poultry farmers to have significant losses from Marek’s disease, so almost all commercial laying hens were vaccinated once it was discovered. However, there was a resurgence of the disease in the mid-1980s and a new vaccination programme was developed to cope with new virulent strains. It is now common practice to vaccinate the parent breeding stock of commercial laying birds with a different vaccine to that which is used on their offspring. 4 VACCINES CAN’T WORK FOR THE AVERAGE BACKYARD FLOCK Marek’s vaccine is readily available but it comes in vials with a 1000 dose minimum for one-day-old chicks. Once mixed with the diluent, it must be swirled gently every five minutes, and the bottle must be completely used up within 24 hours of being opened, making use of vaccine by the small poultry keeper virtually impossible. There are a few other restrictions which makes Marek’s vaccinations an unsuitable process for small flock owners. 5 MAREK’S DISEASE IS MUCH MORE COMMON THAN YOU THINK There is a saying ‘if your chicken breathes it has been in contact with Marek’s disease’ so no matter how stringent your cleaning or processes, you can’t stop birds getting Marek’s disease. 6 IT’S A DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR AN INFECTED BIRD Marek’s supresses the immunity of a bird, increasing its susceptibility to other diseases such as coccidiosis. 7 IT IS NOT EGG -TRANSMITTED Marek’s cannot be passed by the mother through the shell. It is shed in skin particles and in cells associated with the feathers. 8 THE DISEASE HAS A LONG INCUBATION PERIOD This can be up to three months or longer, and it can manifest itself in three different ways: 1. Nervous (neurological) – paralysis of the legs/wings,eye lesions. 2. Visceral – tumours of the organs and muscles. 3. Cutaneous – tumours of the skin and feather follicles. The vaccine prevents the formation of tumours but it does not prevent the infection and shedding of the field virus by the chicken. Even vaccinated birds may exhibit other clinical symptoms unless attention is made to good hygiene. It is essential to place the vaccinated day old chicks into a clean environment where there is no challenge by the virus. 9 SOME BREEDS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE Some breeds and even strains within a breed may be more susceptible to Marek’s disease and certain blood groups may also genetically have better resistance, depending on: • the level of maternal antibodies in their system; • their genetic resistance or susceptibility – Silkies and White Leghorns appear to be more prone to Marek’s disease, but some strains will be more susceptible; • the contamination in their environment; • early challenge to diseases like coccidiosis, infectious bronchitis or other immune-lowering conditions. 10 THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE CURE Support your birds with a warm, dry, airy (but draught-free) living area, appetising food (eg, their usual pellets and something high in protein like dog roll or cat food), a vitamin supplement like Poly Aid Plus (see your vet or pet store), and hand-feeding a bird that is paralysed. A small percentage of birds may survive, and if they do they will be immune to Marek’s. MAREK’S DISEASE: 6 SYMPTOMS The clinical signs of Marek’s during an acute outbreak will be signs of depression, with birds standing around looking ‘off colour’. This could be followed by lame or paralysed birds. Mortality may occur with no symptoms at all or there may be paleness, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and dehydration, gasping, or blindness. Note: many of these are also symptoms of other diseases. SPECIFIC SYMPTOMS OF MAREK’S INCLUDES: • Immune suppression and susceptibility to diseases like coccidiosis and blackhead. • Paralysis, notably where a bird will have one leg forward and one leg back, but it may also drag one leg or wing as if it is broken. This may occur between 6-12 weeks old but it’s also seen up until sexual maturity (20-25 weeks). • The nerves to the brain and neck may cause the head to bend under or twist to one side. The virus affects the major nerves to the legs or wings and the bird is unable to flex the muscles. • A condition previously known as range or transient paralysis may also be due to the Marek’s virus. • When the optic nerve is involved the iris may appear to be grey and the pupil becomes distorted and/ or blindness is apparent. This can develop much later in life, especially if the bird has been under stress. • The visceral form which causes tumours, notably the ovary, liver, kidneys or lungs is most usually seen in weeks 10-15. Tumours present in young birds suggest Marek’s disease but in older mature birds are more likely to be caused by another disease called lymphoid leucosis. Tumours on the skin which may appear as bleeding feather follicles that won’t heal may occur in young birds as well. 8 REASONS WHY VACCINES AREN’T A PRACTICAL OPTION FOR BLOCK FLOCKS • Most of the vaccines need to be stored in liquid nitrogen containers until thawed for use. • There is a freeze-dried product which can be stored in the fridge but this may be less effective. • The vaccine is usually in 1000- dose vials. • The vaccine must be mixed with a diluent and once mixed it must be used within two hours. • Vaccines must be used an one-day-old chicks before any contact with other poultry is made. • The vaccine is administered at 0.2ml in the skin on the neck. • All commercially-bred laying pullets (Hyline and Shaver Browns) are vaccinated at one-day-old before they leave the hatchery. • Chicks which have been vaccinated (and this applies to all vaccinated chicks bought from commercial hatcheries) must be kept away from other poultry or possible contamination from dust or feather dander from older poultry for a minimum period of two weeks and preferably six weeks, to allow immunity to develop.
Sainsbury’s Cut Water Use 50% Since 2005 Sainsbury’s has reduced its operational water use 50 percent relative across its stores, against a 2005-06 baseline, employing a number of measures including recycling, leak detection and rainwater harvesting. The water savings equal about 982,500 cubic meters each year, Sainsbury’s says. The UK supermarket chain ramped up its water management efforts over the past year by identifying and eradicating underground water leaks using automatic meter loggers. A leak repaired at one UK store saved the equivalent of 52,710 cubic meters, the company says. The company also fitted new stores with low-flush toilets and pre-rinse spray taps. Rainwater harvesting containers were installed in all new stores and retrofitted units were put at existing stores. Sainsbury’s continues to carry out audits to improve water efficiencies throughout its stores. The UK supermarket chain also became one of the first organizations to achieve the Carbon Trust Water Standard and the first retailer to secure independent certification showing it’s taking action to measure, manage and reduce water use year on year, according to the company. Sainsbury’s, The Co-operative Group and Nestlé announced last month they will cut the supply chain carbon footprint of some of their products following research from the Product Sustainability Forum. An initial assessment of the environmental impact of grocery products analyzed the 50 grocery products with the biggest environmental impact. The production and sale of these products — which include bread, potatoes, bananas and milk — contribute between 21 percent and 33 percent to household consumption of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report. The Co-operative, Nestlé and Sainsbury’s launched pilot projects called “pathfinders,” intended to shrink the supply chain footprint of products with the most GHG emissions, product waste, and water, energy and resource use. Energy Manager News - Commercial Refrigeration Benefits from Efficiency and Environmental Efforts - TechNavio Releases Commercial AC Report - Dubuque Meeting Hears About Energy Audits - Science-Based Targets Inspire a Smarter Investment Strategy in Retail - Missouri Lawmakers Resume Debate on Utility Rate Hikes - Wake Forest Drops Its Residential and C&I Electric Rates - Submissions Now Accepted for Energy Manager Today Awards - New York City Study Conclusion: Benchmarking Works
Watch The Battle of El Alamein - 1 hr 36 min The Battle of El Alamein is a 1969 war movie directed by Giorgio Ferroni. The movie is set during World War II and depicts one of the most significant battles of the North African campaign, fought between the Allied forces and German-Italian forces in the Egyptian desert. The movie opens by introducing the major players on both sides of the war. Frederick Stafford plays General Montgomery, the commander of the Allied forces, and George Hilton plays Field Marshal Rommel, the leader of the German-Italian forces. Michael Rennie plays General Claude Auchinleck, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in the Middle East. The Battle of El Alamein commences with the Nazis advancing into Egypt, seeking to take control of the Suez Canal and ultimately deliver a decisive blow to the Allies. The movie goes on to show the preparations and strategy employed by both sides in the lead-up to the battle. The Allies were aware of the importance of the battle and had prepared underground bunkers that would resist bombs thrown by the enemy. The first half of the movie concentrates on the build-up to the battle, and the second half focuses on the battle itself, which was fought in extreme desert conditions. The battle scenes are realistically recreated, with tanks, artillery, and aircraft all employed in the fight, while the soldiers face dust storms, dehydration, and scorching temperatures of over 50 degrees Celsius. The battle is long and arduous, and neither side is willing to give in. The movie depicts the shifting fortunes of war, with the Germans making some headway, but ultimately beaten back by the Allied forces. The Germans were determined to achieve their objective and launch their surprise attack, but were ultimately defeated after a long, grueling battle. The Battle of El Alamein also focuses on the human stories that emerged from the conflict. The movie portrays the experiences of ordinary soldiers, caught up in the midst of a brutal war. Amidst the fighting, the struggle for survival, and the grief for fallen comrades, there are moments of heroism, camaraderie, and even humor. The movie also depicts the tensions and rivalries between the Allied leaders. Montgomery and Auchinleck did not always see eye to eye, and the movie portrays the complicated power dynamics between the two men. But in the end, they had a shared objective: defeating the enemy and ending the war. The Battle of El Alamein is a stirring and authentic portrayal of one of the key battles of World War II. The movie does lack a certain amount of depth and nuance, and the characters are portrayed in a somewhat one-dimensional way. Nevertheless, it is an exciting and engrossing story of courage, sacrifice, and victory in the face of overwhelming odds. In conclusion, The Battle of El Alamein is a classic war movie that will appeal to anyone interested in military history or epic battle scenes. Its authenticity and realism make it a must-see for anyone interested in this period of history. The film serves as a reminder of the sacrifices made by ordinary people during the war and the crucial importance of victory. The Battle of El Alamein is a 1968 war movie with a runtime of 1 hour and 36 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 5.4.
In this series of posts describing my MSc work for non-specialists, we’ve discussed the standard model for particle physics, how to draw pictures of it, and some of its properties. This week I’ll talk about the Feynman rules for the fundamental particles of the atomic nucleus: quarks, and the gluons through which they interact. The force mediated by gluons is called the colour force (roughly speaking, because quarks come in threes and there are three primary colours, so colour-coding the quarks works pretty well). If we want to sound fancy we can translate “colour-force” into Greek to get, more-or-less directly, “chromodynamics”. So what are the rules for these quantum chromodynamic — or QCD — particles? I snuck one in at the end of last week’s post, where the electron lines in the QED vertex were replaced with quarks, but QCD proper concerns itself with the vertices between quarks and gluons. While QED has just one prettyvertex, QCD has three. (This is one of the reasons that problems in QCD are generally harder to solve than their counterparts in QED.) The first vertex looks somewhat familiar. (Placing a bar over a label indicates an antiparticle.) The other two vertices come about because the gluon carries colour charge (in contrast, the photon is electrically neutral). This means that gluons can interact amongst themselves: One consequence of this is that it’s very easy to produce gluons if energy is available to do so (the way the maths works out, the three-gluon vertex is particularly important for this). In general, the energy required to produce a particle is enough energy to give the particle its mass (using Einstein’s famous E=mc2 equation) plus a little extra to provide the new particle’s energy of motion. But the mass of the gluon happens to be zero, so all that’s needed is that little extra. At sufficiently high energies, this means that one should expect gluons everywhere. This gluons-everywhere situation can be described by a model called the colour glass condensate (CGC). This is what I used in my MSc work, and I’ll discuss it in more detail next week. Before that, let’s talk a little more about Feynman diagrams in QCD. Some features of QCD don’t show up in the pictures until we start doing calculations. For instance, last week we saw that by adding extra vertices (and virtual particles) we can get from A to B in more way than one. How important is each of these diagrams? It turns out that the number of vertices in a diagram has a lot to say about that diagram’s importance. Broadly speaking, for every vertex in a diagram, it’s importance is multiplied by a quantity called the vertex factor. In QED, the vertex factor is very small. Very complicated diagrams, with many vertices, therefore have a very small importance. Of course, other considerations also affect the calculations made for each diagram, but in general we can safely ignore very complicated diagrams — just using the simple ones gives us a decent idea of what’s going on. Unfortunately, things don’t look so pretty in QCD. In QCD, under ordinary conditions, the vertex factor is not small. This means that more complicated diagrams are more important. In theory, an infinitely complicated diagram would be infinitely important (instead of infinitely unimportant, as in QED). This is a problem. To date, the problem has not been solved. Some physicists think this means we need an entirely new theory, not based on Feynman diagrams (and the associated perturbation theory) to describe what goes on inside the atomic nucleus. In this work, I simply avoided the problem. The QCD vertex factor depends on a value called the QCD coupling constant which (roughly speaking) describes the strength of interactions between QCD particles. This turns out to be closely related to the energy involved: The parameter αs determines the coupling constant — and the vertex factor. We see here (by taking lots of measurements and producing the graph) that αs decreases as the energy goes up. That means, if energy is high enough, the vertex factor will be small after all. If we’re willing to work in the very high energy region — and with modern particle accelerators, that isn’t unreasonable — we can still get some use out of perturbative QCD. (The term “perturbative” essentially means that we’re assuming more complicated diagrams are only small changes or perturbations to their simpler counterparts.) This is why the virtual photon in the DIS diagram always has to have very high energy. Of course, now that we’ve restricted ourselves to working at very high energies, we can expect the case of gluons everywhere to become rather relevant. Next week, I’ll talk about the gluon-saturated state called the colour glass condensate.
Hydrangeas, with their stunning clusters of blossoms, are nature's way of painting the garden with vibrant hues. One of the most fascinating aspects of these blossoms is their ability to change colour based on the soil's pH level. Understanding and altering this natural phenomenon can turn your garden into a colourful canvas. Let's delve into the captivating world of altering hydrangea flower colours. These beautiful flowering shrubs belong to the Hydrangeaceae family, and their blooms can exhibit a range of colours, including blue, pink, purple, and even shades in between. The key element influencing their colour is the soil's acidity or alkalinity. This factor determines the availability of aluminium in the soil, which in turn affects the pigmentation in the flowers. In acidic soils (pH below 6), hydrangeas tend to produce blue flowers. This lower pH allows the plant to absorb aluminium, promoting the development of blue hues. Conversely, in alkaline soils (pH above 7), the flowers tend to exhibit pink or reddish tones due to the unavailability of aluminium to the plant. For those eager to transform the colour of their hydrangeas, adjusting the soil's pH is the primary method. To turn blossoms blue, increase soil acidity by adding amendments such as aluminium sulfate, pine needles, or coffee grounds. These amendments help lower the pH, making aluminium more accessible for the plant to absorb, thereby enhancing the blue coloration of the flowers. Conversely, to encourage pink or red hues, raising the soil pH is essential. This can be achieved by incorporating materials like garden lime or wood ash. These substances reduce aluminium availability, leading to the production of pinker shades in the hydrangea blooms. The process of altering soil pH requires patience, as changes don't occur overnight. It might take a full growing season for the adjustments to reflect in the flowers. Regular testing and monitoring of the soil's pH levels are crucial to maintain the desired colour transformation. However, it's important to note that not all hydrangea varieties respond the same way to changes in soil pH. While most bigleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) demonstrate this colour-shifting ability, other species like oakleaf hydrangeas (Hydrangea quercifolia) and panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) are generally less affected by soil pH changes. For these varieties, colour adjustments might not be as pronounced or may not occur at all. Moreover, environmental factors, such as sunlight exposure, temperature, and hydration, can also influence the intensity and vibrancy of hydrangea colours. Proper care and suitable growing conditions contribute to healthier plants and more striking blossoms. The allure of altering hydrangea colours lies in the art of coaxing nature to produce a personalized palette in your garden. Witnessing the transformation of blooms from one colour to another can be a rewarding and delightful experience for any gardening enthusiast. In conclusion, the captivating ability of hydrangeas to change colour based on soil pH is a testament to nature's wonders. By understanding and manipulating this natural process, one can create a kaleidoscope of colours, adding an enchanting touch to any garden landscape. Whether aiming for serene blues or romantic pinks, the art of changing hydrangea flower colours is a delightful journey that celebrates the beauty and versatility of nature. Here is a great article if your interested in the science https://www.americanscientist.org/article/curious-chemistry-guides-hydrangea-colors
The Tale of the Unknown Island \|\|To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this book-related article may require cleanup. (June 2010)\| \|Original title\|\|O Conto da Ilha Desconhecida\| \|Illustrator\|\|Bartolomeu Dos Santos\| \|Publisher\|\|Assirio & Alvim (Portugal) The Harvill Press (UK) Harcourt Brace (US) Published in English A man requests the king to give him a boat so he can go in search for the unknown island. The King questions him about the existence of such an island and tries to convince the man that all islands already appear on maps. The man states that only the known islands do. This debate concludes with the king granting him a boat. During the following passages the man's quest to know himself expands into greater introspection. There he finds, much to his amazement, that the journey of exploration has started even before he has set the sails on the ship. He brings the floor cleaner from the Castle of the King to help him in his journey. Throughout the trip the two reveal feelings for each other and, perhaps, though it is not certain, they discover the Unknown Island. Saramago greatly uses uncomplicated yet metaphor-rich language instrumental in the development of the story. This book, while only a short story and using comparatively lighter themes than in other books, has everything that Saramago is known for: criticism of bureaucracy, discovering the unknown, a smooth text flow and profound messages in concise sentences. Saramago was awarded Nobel prize in literature a year after this book was published in 1998. \|This short story–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.\|
Representatives from Google were at RootsTech to discuss the initiative. The website is fairly technical and uses the term "schema." A schema is defined as a representation of a plan or theory in the form of an outline or model. The description of the initiative is as follows: This site defines a collection of schemas (applied in the form of HTML tags) that webmasters can use to markup their historical and genealogical information in a consistent way. Because it is essentially an HTML system, this initiative is intended to apply only to online applications and databases. Many sites are generated from structured data, which is often stored in databases. When this data is formatted into HTML, it becomes very difficult to recover the original structured data. Many applications, especially search engines, can benefit greatly from direct access to this structured data. On-page markup enables search engines to understand the information on web pages and provide richer search results in order to make it easier for users to find relevant information on the web. Markup can also enable new tools and applications that make use of the structure. Normally a search engine, such as Google, will view genealogical data as simply text. By using tags or markers, those building data entry forms can mark the acquired data in a way that search engines can recognize the identity of the data entered. The website goes on to say, The scope of this project is limited to defining the schemas for historical and genealogical microdata that is designed primarily to enable search engines, web crawlers, browsers, and other tools for enabling users to find and understand the historical data contained on an HTML page. As such, the schemas defined by this project are designed to be lightweight and generic and are not designed to support all of the intricacies of a rich research model that supports in-depth semantic analysis and sophisticated bibliographic accountability.A very interesting proposal and one worth watching.
Some people are allergic to milk and so they might show milk allergy symptoms. Milk is very important for the body since it contains calcium. This mineral is required by the body to maintain the condition of the bones. If you do not drink milk, then there are more chances that you may become a victim of bone related disorders like osteoporosis and arthritis, when you turn old. But there are some people who suffer from milk allergy symptoms and they have to take some steps in the right direction so that they do not suffer from calcium deficiency. Each and every person has a different body type. Some people have strong immune systems while some others have a weak immune system. At the same time, milk allergy symptoms differ from person to person. Some people get milk allergy symptoms a few minutes after consuming milk whereas for some people the negative results will be visible after a few days. Some milk allergy symptoms include hives, wheezing and vomiting. However, there is a fine line between milk allergy symptoms and lactose intolerance. You will experience lactose intolerance if you feel bloated after consuming milk. However, it is always better to see a doctor regarding this, without any further delay. Since your doctor is aware of your medical history, he/she will be able to guide you in the right direction. How to identify milk allergy Some people are not able to identify the milk allergy symptoms. Milk allergy symptoms adults are different from milk allergy symptoms for children. In children, the reaction will be more severe. Children also find it very difficult to tolerate such symptoms. People who are allergic to milk will also be allergic to food products that are prepared using milk. Some examples of these are butter and cheese. You can also search online to know more about milk allergy symptoms. People who experience milk allergy symptoms find it very difficult to consume food products outside. They need to be on a specialized diet because more or less all the food products that you find outside might have milk in it. Allergic to milk People who have milk allergy symptoms suffer from calcium deficiency due to low calcium intake. Some people also experience eczema as a result of milk allergy. It is also seen that symptoms of milk allergy are slightly similar to the symptoms of irritable bowel disorder. If you experience severe stomach pain after consuming milk, then you are suffering from milk allergy. This allergy is with you for your lifetime. It will never go away. The most you can do is to avoid food products that cause milk allergy symptoms. If you are suffering from milk allergy symptoms, then you should find out other more effective ways to fulfill the calcium needs of your body. You should have complete information about milk allergy symptoms so that you can deal with it in the right way. At the same time, you should work towards making your immune system stronger.