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The Brazilian-pepper tree, alias Christmas-berry tree or Florida Holly, is an attractive shrub that sprouts red berries part of the year, grows tall, and spreads wide. When I first moved to Florida, I enjoyed watching the wide variety of birds that fluttered in their branches. So when the landscape crew attacked them with machetes and axes, I was enraged. Had we come to this in our obsession for perfectly trimmed hedges and weed free lawns, I thought?
Yes, I would later acknowledge, the Brazilian-pepper bushes were beginning to take over the hedgerow, and their absence meant that I could now see the field behind where cows grazed with cattle egret; but what about the birds? Hadn’t the pepper trees been food and refuge for the brown thrashers, the cardinals, the northern bobwhites and robins, the local mocking birds?
Before I launched into assault mode, I did some reading and investigating; turns out, that attractive Brazilian pepper is considered “one of the worst exotic pest plants” in the State of Florida. Wouldn’t you know!
Brought here from Brazil in the 1800s, the plant was used as an ornamental for its beautiful red berries and shiny green leaves. Deceivingly charming, the plant is part of the poison ivy, oak and sumac family that many people are allergic to. When crushed, the leaves smell like turpentine and can irritate the skin, nose and lungs. No wonder my allergies had flared up in Florida.
Why is the plant so prolific, I wondered? Bingo: “the pepper grows well in poor soil and shade,” and spreads wildly when the conditions for growth are optimum – plenty of sunshine, plenty of rain. Birds and raccoons find the berries delicious and spread the seeds through their guano and scat.
How is that a threat to Florida?
- The pepper tree shades out native plants
- The pepper destroys foraging areas for herons, egrets and other water birds
- The pepper’s roots get so thoroughly tangled up with mangrove roots that it’s impossible to uproot them
The beautiful Brazilian-pepper is on Florida’s “do not plant” list, and its “sale is against the law.” And I thought it was a harmless shrub; if looks could kill.
Today I smile as I walk past the hedgerow. Young leaves are sprouting, filling in naked branches replenished by sun and space. The peppers are sprawled out behind them; roots exposed, leaves withering, on their last gasp. A few yards south, a fence with a stand of pepper trees grows rampant; the property of another developer who will eventually face the removal of this encroaching invader.
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To date, the industry has focused mainly on reducing overall fuel usage and improving fuel efficiency, such as through new plane technology and operational improvements. But further reducing greenhouse gas emissions – particularly in the face of new regulations set to come online in the next few years – may require the industry to take the next step: embracing renewable jet fuels.
Since 2009, five renewable jet fuels have been approved for use in aircraft. These are known as “drop-in” fuels: Much like the ethanol gasoline mix used by cars, they are blended into conventional fuels for use in today’s aircraft engines. A number of major airlines have tested renewable fuels, but high costs and commercial-scale availability are holding back widespread adoption. It’s something of a chicken-and-egg problem: Biorefineries can’t reduce costs and increase scale without a commitment from the airlines to buy the fuel.
What may finally get renewable jet fuels over the hump is regulation. In October 2016, the 191 member states of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) agreed to a new global market-based measure to support the twin goals of near-term carbon-neutral growth and long-term reduced carbon emissions. Sixty-six member states (including the US and China), representing nearly 87 percent of international aviation activity, will participate in the pilot phase of the program, beginning in 2021. Without renewable jet fuels, it is unlikely that airlines will be able to reduce emissions sufficiently to meet the requirements of this and other emissions regulation schemes that are set to go into effect.
Renewable jet fuels represent an opportunity for airlines to invest in their future. There are several ways they can get out ahead as regulation kickstarts demand: First, by starting now and gradually expanding renewable fuel commitments with biorefineries, they can rapidly drive improvements in fuel cost and availability. Second, they will need to work with airports and with planemakers to develop efficient fuel delivery mechanisms on the one hand and ensure engine requirements are met on the other. And finally, the industry should participate in and strongly encourage government funding of ongoing fuel research and development, with a focus on scalable lowcost feedstocks and increased refinery efficiency.
Airports also could realize an opportunity through the early adoption of renewable fuels. Developing airport-wide plans for sustainability that include renewable fuel usage would allow an airport to differentiate itself from others as a “sustainable airport” and further local community sustainability goals.
To read the full article, download the PDF below.
This article first appeared in the Energy Journal and Forbes
Bob Orr is a Houston-based partner and Eric Nelsen is a Chicago-based partner in Oliver Wyman’s Energy practice; Geoff Murray is a Chicago-based partner.
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Fire authorities are calling for a rethink of Australia’s firefighting resources as fire seasons extend across the country.
As the end of summer approaches there is little relief expected for firefighters, with hot and dry conditions forecast to continue around Australia for weeks.
Fire authorities say the country’s extending and worsening fire seasons, caused by climate change, are resulting in a struggle to staff fire stations for the first time.
New South Wales firefighter Darin Sullivan says that after 20 years in the job, he has observed a trend of longer and more intense fire seasons in the last few years.
“When you are doing 24–48 hour campaigns, and sometimes longer more recently, it can be very fatiguing and very, very hard, arduous work,” Mr Sullivan told The World Today.
“We are seeing that impact on our professional paid firefighters, we are seeing it on our volunteer firefighters.”
Mr Sullivan has no doubt a hotter climate is to blame for the higher intensity and duration of fire seasons.
“Climate change definitely at our end appears to be having an impact on the cause of fires and certainly the duration and intensity of fires,” he said.
“We’ve got fire seasons getting longer, the off-seasons are getting shorter and the fires that are occurring are getting more erratic and certainly more intense.”
So far in the 2015–2016 fire season, eight people have died and more than 350 homes have been lost across Australia.
Mr Sullivan, also president of the Fire Brigade Employees Union, said conditions were stretching firefighting resources to breaking point.
For the first time, firefighting units were having to borrow staff from interstate just to keep stations operational, he said.
“We’ve had firefighters travel interstate to assist other fire services with the fires themselves, and that’s always been the case,” Mr Sullivan said.
“But what we are seeing now is a trend where the fires are becoming so catastrophic and so large — to try and deal with that the fire services are struggling to actually resource and staff their local fire stations.
“So the interstate deployments are not only coming down to help out with the fire itself but we are now seeing arrangements — Victoria and New South Wales have done this recently — where they have had to go interstate to help each other actually staff the fire stations.”
Interstate firefighters ‘can be recipe for disaster’
Australian Firefighters Climate Alliance spokesman Paul Gray said bringing staff in from interstate had its risks.
“Fire services manage it well with task forces, they keep it simple. But you can understand — if you drag somebody a couple of thousand kilometres from where they are used to, terrain differences, environment differences, weather differences — there can be a bit of a recipe for disaster if it’s not managed well,” Mr Gray said.
A firefighter himself, Mr Gray said Australia needed more fire fighters, but they were not being hired.
“In fact, Queensland had a freeze on recruitment for close to 18 months under the previous government,” he said.
“The more fire crews you have on the ground, the more peak response you can have towards major instances and stop them getting out of control.
“It also allows you to rotate and rehabilitate crews at protracted incidents and protracted fire seasons.”
Mr Gray said firefighters also needed better equipment to help cope with hotter conditions and longer days.
Audit of fire management resources needed
Both Mr Sullivan and Mr Gray agree that a rethink is needed into how Australia manages its firefighting resources.
“We think there needs to be a ground-up approach to this. We think that all fire services in Australia really need to have a bit of a clean sweep,” Mr Sullivan said.
“I know that in most jurisdictions there is a duplication of service. We’ve got overlapping and duplicated uses of urban firefighters and our rural fire fighters, so [we need] a ground-up approach to restructures.
“We think we are going to need more firefighters on the ground, especially our permanent paid firefighters, because whether it’s terrorism, whether it’s catastrophic bushfires effected by climate change, we are going to need more resources on the ground to fight these fires.”
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Researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far East branch say they are building a facility to make gold out of coal.
Although the science is no fairy tale, to the dismay of business owners, the process is not as productive as they might hope – burning a ton of coal yields one gram of gold, tops.
At present, the scientists are setting the bar even lower, expecting a yield of 0.5 grams, or 1,500 rubles, per ton.
“We burn a ton – we gain 1,500 rubles,” Oleg Ageev, CEO of Complex Innovative Technologies of the Amur Scientific Center, said in a press statement.
At current exchange rates, that is roughly $23 US dollars.
The discovery of gold lacing in coal is the result of 15 years of study from different fields.
To create the gold, smoke created in burning coal goes through a hundred-fold purifying system.
The residue is then flushed through a filter with water, allowing a gold concentrate to be extracted that is later used to make the precious metal.
The scientists are planning to test the gold-making equipment in one of the Amur region’s boiler houses next year, and ultimately hope to receive a grant to develop and implement an industrial grade device.
“We plan to use municipal boiler houses to implement our filtering system because they burn about eight to 10 thousand tons in a season, and that’s potentially 10 kilos of gold.”
Deputy head of the Amur scientific center of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far East branch, Andrey Konyushok.
The whole operation is on hold until spring kicks in because of subzero temperatures. Part of the process takes place outside and the water used for filtering freezes up.
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Canada's new Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) is one
of the most significant pieces of legislation addressing human
genetic and reproductive technologies enacted to date. Many
Canadian constituencies played key roles in building consensus
for the AHRA, notably including the women's health community.
Canada now joins the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia as
countries that have adopted comprehensive, responsible policies
addressing human genetic and reproductive technologies. These
policies embody differing social and political values but agree
on core principles. Successful passage of the AHRA stands in
stark contrast to the situation in the United States, where
these issues have become entangled with the politics of abortion,
the "culture wars," and the Presidential election.
of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act
Context: A Menu of Policy Models
Politics: Canada and the United States
You Can Do
On March 11, 2004, the Canadian Senate approved the Assisted
Human Reproduction Act (AHRA), one of the most significant pieces
of legislation addressing human genetic and reproductive technologies
enacted to date. The legislation was earlier approved by the
House of Commons and will become law shortly.
The new legislation draws clear lines prohibiting unacceptable
applications of new human genetic and reproductive technologies
while allowing beneficial applications to proceed in a socially
Successful passage of the AHRA is a tribute to the hard work
and political sophistication of key constituencies, and to Canada's
tradition of consensus politics. Canadian feminists supported
the measure's core values of protecting the health and well-being
of women and children, and preventing the commercial exploitation
of reproduction. Supporters of embryonic stem cell research
recognized that if they were to receive public funding they
needed to work within a publicly acceptable framework. Although
key anti-abortion groups opposed the AHRA, other groups usually
associated with anti-choice positions, including the Canadian
Conference of Catholic Bishops, explicitly declined to oppose
Provisions of the Assisted Human
The AHRA distinguishes between practices that are prohibited
and those that are permitted but regulated. The prohibited practices
creation of human embryos solely for research;
engineering (i.e., inheritable genetic modification);
creation of human/non-human hybrids and chimeras;
use of somatic cell nuclear transfer (cloning), whether for
research or reproduction;
selection except to prevent, diagnose or treat a sex-linked
disorder or disease;
surrogate motherhood contracts and the sale of sperm, eggs and
Research involving human embryos, including embryonic stem
cell research, is permitted, using embryos created but not used
during in vitro fertilization procedures. The AHRA establishes
the Assisted Human Reproduction Agency of Canada (AHRAC) to
develop and oversee regulations covering these and other permitted
activities. The AHRAC is to license and monitor all private
and public fertility clinics, research facilities and other
institutions whose research or commercial activity involves
human gametes or embryos.
The AHRAC will be governed by a 13-member Board and chief executive
officer, both appointed by the federal Cabinet and operating
within the Ministry of Health. Board members serve 3-year terms.
Senators voting for the bill recommended that at least 50% of
the members be women.
Portions of the new law are still contested. Some organizations
representing infertile couples and fertility clinic physicians
objected to the ban on payments (beyond reasonable expenses
incurred by donors) for women's eggs. Some disability rights
leaders called for tighter restrictions on pre-implantation
genetic testing, to avoid promoting a medical model of disability
in place of a more inclusive social model. Some scientists argued
that criminal sanctions for the measure's prohibited activities
are excessive. Some pro-life groups want to extend the prohibitions
to include all embryo research.
The AHRA provides for a legislative review after three years.
This provision enabled many who were not completely satisfied
with the measure to support it nonetheless.
There is no reason to expect that passage of the AHRA means
the end of controversy over human genetic and reproductive technologies
in Canada. But the measure considerably narrows the range of
controversies and establishes a democratically accountable structure
for addressing them.
Wider Context: A Menu of Policy Models
Many in the United States and elsewhere are skeptical that
comprehensive policies to govern human genetic and reproductive
technologies can be developed, given the wide range of conflicting
positions held by engaged constituencies. But legislation adopted
in the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and now Canada shows
that this skepticism is premature. Policies adopted in these
countries embody differing social and political values but agree
on core principles.
In general, German policies are more restrictive, British policies
are more permissive, and Australian and Canadian policies are
German laws ban a wide range of activities involving human
genes, gametes or embryos. As a consequence no regulatory bodies
were needed to oversee these activities.
The British law established a Human Fertilization and Embryological
Authority (HFEA), whose 18-member Board decides what is permitted
and what is not. The HFEA requires that private and public institutions
working with human gametes and embryos be licensed, and can
suspend or revoke the license of non-complying institutions.
The Australian and Canadian laws legislatively ban a number
of widely condemned activities, leaving a more limited but still
significant set of issues open for further consideration by
regulatory bodies. The Australian regulatory body is the National
Health and Medical Research Council Licensing Committee and
the Canadian body, as noted, will be the Assisted Human Reproduction
Agency of Canada (AHRAC).
The different ways in which the four sets of policies have
addressed the issue of research cloning is instructive. The
German law prohibits research cloning. The United Kingdom's
HFEA has agreed to entertain specific research cloning proposals.
These require public hearings, and any approved research would
be subject to regulatory oversight. The Australian law established
a three-year moratorium on research cloning. The new Canadian
law prohibits research cloning, but this provision, along with
the rest of the law, will be subject to review after three years.
In contrast, consider the "wild west" regulatory
environment in the United States. In 1999 the University of
California at San Francisco began secret experiments to clone
human embryos, and did not acknowledge this until 2002 when
reporters using the California Public Information Act forced
disclosure of lab reports. In 2000 Advanced Cell Technologies
in Massachusetts began creating clonal embryos under wraps of
corporate secrecy, with no prior review except by an internal
"ethics advisory board" known in advance to support
research cloning. In 2001 the Jones Institute for Reproductive
Medicine in Virginia broke a widely-observed ethical restraint
and harvested 162 eggs from 12 women to create 40 viable embryos
to be used exclusively for research purposes, again without
going through any process of public review and approval.
The important point is that the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia
and now Canada all have laws on the books that prohibit unacceptable
activities, require public oversight of acceptable activities,
and establish socially accountable structures for revising policies
or setting new ones. Nothing of this sort exists in the United
States, or in most other countries, at this time.
Comparative Politics: Canada and
the United States
In the United States the development of policy on human genetic
and reproductive technologies has become deeply entangled with
the politics of abortion, the "culture wars," and
the Presidential election. Creative political work will be needed
to prevent this situation from further distorting the development
of needed policies.
Several factors have allowed Canadians holding different opinions
about genetic technologies to agree on a legislative package,
while their counterparts in the U.S. have been at loggerheads.
Abortion rights and access to abortion services are not hotly
contested issues in Canada. As a consequence, policies concerning
embryo research, cloning and related topics can be evaluated
more easily on their own merits rather than with regard to their
bearing on abortion politics.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and other
bodies provide public funding for human embryo research. The
existence of this support makes it easier for biomedical researchers
to accept public oversight and control.
A third factor is simply the greater sense of social solidarity
among Canadians, whose culture wars are often fought with styrofoam
bats rather than with sharpened knives.
Also important is the fact that Canadians have been discussing
the need for assisted reproduction policies since the early
1990's, when the Canadian Royal Commission on New Reproductive
Technologies launched an ambitious series of public meetings
and hearings that involved thousands of Canadians from all walks
The situation in the U.S., by contrast, is highly polarized.
The major constituencies politically active on these issues
- the religious conservatives who want bans on all embryo research
and the biotech/biomedical researchers who want a free hand
to do pretty much whatever they wish - are sharply opposed.
Although surveys suggest that Americans prefer a middle position,
one that supports embryo research but wants it subject to strong
social controls, at present this position does not have an organized
constituency advocating for it.
In the absence of any effective countervailing forces, the
biotech and biomedical interests are using this political moment
to secure unprecedented corporate and professional control over
the development and commercialization of human genetic and reproductive
technologies. All-out efforts are underway in key states, including
California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, to legislatively
affirm the acceptability of such research, secure public funding,
and minimize public oversight.
The most troubling of these initiatives is the effort by stem
cell researchers and patient advocates in California to put
an initiative on the November ballot committing Californians
to spend $3 billion on stem cell research, financed through
taxpayer-supported bonds. The initiative would amend the state
constitution to include a "right to conduct stem cell research,"
and vest control over these enormous funds in an independent
Institute comprised largely of representatives of research institutions
and patient advocacy groups. The leaders of the initiative are
reportedly planning to raise $20 million for television ads
and other campaign activities.
The problem here is not the fact that stem cell research is
being supported and funded - we believe it should be - but that
the initiative represents a move by wealthy interests to manipulate
a compassionate public into supporting an earmarked fund for
stem cell researchers far larger than any deliberative process
of medical research priority-setting would allow. The initiative
goes on to explicitly establish barriers to any effective public
oversight of the use of these funds. This is precisely the opposite
of what any responsible regulatory structure should be designed
The U.S. Presidential campaign has the potential to exacerbate
this perverse situation. In reaction to Republican calls for
prohibitions on embryo research, some Democrats are responding
by advocating not only that such technologies not be restricted
but that they be given special dispensation from regulatory
control. Under the polarizing pressures of partisan conflict,
Democrats could find themselves unwittingly endorsing policies
that further the corporate control of biomedical research and
that open the door to an era of free-market eugenics.
What You Can Do
The Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act and the work of
Canadian women's health leaders and others to ensure its passage
demonstrate that effective social governance of reproductive
and genetic technologies can be secured. All of us involved
with professional or advocacy work in these areas can point
to this hopeful development in the course of our academic, policy,
communication and organizing efforts.
CGS is in touch with Canadian policy and activist leaders who
were active in the campaign for passage of the AHRA and who
are interested in meeting or talking with those interested in
learning more about this legislation and the effort to get it
approved. Please let us know if you would like to contact them.
1. The British law is the 1991 Human Fertility and Embryological
Act, the German law is the 1991 Embryo Protection Act (Embryonenschutzgesetz,
or EmS), the Australian policies are specified in the 2003 Prohibition
of Human Cloning Act and the 2002 Research Involving Human Embryos
Act, and the Canadian law, as noted, is the 2004 Assisted Human
Reproduction Act. In addition, thirty-one countries have signed
the Council of Europe's 1997 Convention on Biomedicine and
Human Rights, which commits them to policies concerning
embryo research, cloning and genetic alteration roughly similar
to those found in the Canadian legislation. It is important
to note that none of these laws restrict access to abortion
services. See the Resources section of this report for more
information on these policies.
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Neanderthal skeleton from Tabun: U-series data by gamma-ray spectrometry
- Additional Document Info
- View All
The Neanderthal hominid Tabun C1, found in Israel by Garrod & Bate, was attributed to either layer B or C of their stratigraphic sequence. We have used gamma-ray spectrometry to determine the 230Th/234U and 231Pa/235U ratios of two bones from this skeleton, the mandible and a femur. The ages calculated from these ratios depend on the uranium uptake history of the bones. Assuming a model of early U (EU) uptake the age of the Tabun C1 mandible is 34+/-5 ka. The EU age of the femur is 19+/-2 ka. The femur may have experienced continuous (linear) U uptake which would give an age of 33+/-4 ka, in agreement with the mandible's EU age, but implies marked inhomogeneity in U uptake history at the site. These new age estimates for the skeleton suggest that it was younger than deposits of layer C. This apparent age is less than those of other Neanderthals found in Israel, and distinctly younger than the ages of the Skhul and Qafzeh burials. This suggests that Neanderthals did not necessarily coexist with the earliest modern humans in the region. All of the more complete Neanderthal fossils from Israel are now dated to the cool period of the last glacial cycle, suggesting that Neanderthals may have arrived in this region as a result of the southward expansion of their habitable range. The young age determined for the Tabun skeleton would suggest that Neanderthals survived as late in the Levant as they did in Europe.
has subject area
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Most jobs today require a working knowledge of certain computer skills, and employers seek and reward employees who have them.
Learn to send messages across the country via e-mail; use a spreadsheet to create a graph and paste it into a report; add and edit data in a database; understand the implications of file sizes, memory limitations, and network arrangements; and recognize the function and features of modern computer components. Any job candidate who already possesses these skills will stand above those who do not.
This course is designed to provide the fundamental computer competencies you need to survive and prosper in today's fast-changing workplace. You will learn how to implement the powers of modern office software to work faster and more efficiently. We'll focus on practical application for software most common to the workplace. When you finish this course, you will have learned why employers consider technological literacy so critical to the success of any organization.
Course Start Dates (downloadable pdf)
24 Hours / 2.4 CEUs
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Misconceptions over the years have surrounded vegetarian diets and those who adopt them. Let's view the myths and see the actual reality
Myth: Vegetarians do not get enough protein. Fact: Well, there was a time when nutritionists and dietitians even said this, but no longer. Now, we know that vegetarians get plenty of protein. What they don't get is the excessive amount of protein found in the typical modern diet. If you eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes, then getting enough protein is not an issue.
Myth: Vegetarians do not get enough calcium. Fact: This myth has been applied, in particular, to vegans who have eliminated milk products from their diets. Somehow, the notion got started that the only good source of calcium is milk and cheese. Granted, milk does have a good supply of calcium, but so do many vegetables — especially green, leafy veggies. The truth is, vegetarians suffer less from osteoporosis (a deficiency of calcium that leads to weak bones) because the body assimilates the calcium they eat more easily during digestion.
Myth: Vegetarian diets aren't balanced, so they are risking their health for their principles. Fact: First of all, a vegetarian diet isn't out of balance. It has a good proportion of all the complex carbohydrates, protein and fat — the three macro nutrients that are the cornerstone of any diet. Plus, vegetarian food sources (plants) tend to be higher sources of most of micro nutrients. Another way to look at it is this: The average meat eater consumes one or fewer servings of vegetables a day and no servings of fruit. If a meat eater does eat a vegetable, chances are it's a fried potato. "Out of balance" depends on your perspective.
Myth: A vegetarian diet is all right for an adult, but kids need meat to develop properly. Fact: This statement makes the assumption that protein from plants isn't as good as protein from meat. The truth is, protein is protein. It is all made from amino acids. Children need 10 essential amino acids to grow and develop properly. These amino acids are as readily available in plants as they are in meat.
Myth:Humans were designed to eat meat. Fact: Although humans are capable of digesting meat, human anatomy clearly favours a diet of plant foods. Our digestive systems are similar to those of the other plant-eaters and totally unlike those of carnivores. The argument that humans are carnivores because we possess "canine" teeth ignores the fact that other plant-eaters have "canine" teeth, and that ONLY planteaters have molar teeth. Finally, if humans were designed to eat meat, we wouldn't suffer from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis from doing so.
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In the dimly lit crypt of a church, two soldiers lie sleeping on either side of a chest. A single candle lights the vaulted interior, illuminating the arches and the square tiles of the stone floor. Another flame glimmers weakly, visible through a darkened archway in the background and casting a small glow over a staircase. Hendrick van Steenwijck employed these contrasts of light and darkness to play with the viewer's sense of perspective. Using strong chiaroscuro, he guided the viewer's eye around the scene, from the brilliant glow of the column and ceiling in the middle, back through the arch to the stairs, and finally to the dark interior beyond.
Various gradations of light also emphasize the room's tones and textures. Candlelight shows off the joins in the masonry, as well as the cracks in the ceiling, the wood panels in the door, and the gleaming folds of the guard's cloak.
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Grounding is the fundamental measures to ensure the safe operation of power systems, including power apparatus and control/monitoring systems, and guarantee the personal safety. Grounding technology is an interdiscipline involving electrical engineering, high voltage technology, electric safety, electromagnetics, numerical analysis, and geological exploration Methodology and Technology for Power System Grounding: Covers all topics related to power system grounding Presents fundaments and theories of grounding systems Well balances technology and methodology related to grounding system design Helps to understand the grounding analysis softwares Highlights the advanced research works in the field of grounding systems Comprehensively introduces numerical analysis methods Discovers impulse ionization phenomenon of soil around the grounding conductors Touches on lightning impulse characteristics of grounding devices for towers and buildings As a comprehensive treatment of the topic, Methodology and Technology for Power System Grounding is ideal for engineers and researchers in power system, lightning protection, and grounding. The book will also better equip postgraduates, senior undergraduate students in electrical engineering.
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Rent Teaching Is a Privilege 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Elizabeth C. Manvell. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Rowman & Littlefield Education.
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The origins of the Etruscans – indeed almost everything about them – remains mysterious. It is even unclear when they first arrived in the Italian peninsula and whether an entire people migrated or only what became a ruling caste. Recent genetic studies of both Etruscan human remains and local oxen provides evidence that a connection with eastern Anatolia is not purely cultural and that Herodotus was right when he stated that the Etruscans originated in Lydia, southern Anatolia. DNA samples were obtained from three present-day Italian populations living in Murlo, Volterra, and the Casentino in Tuscany. The sampled individuals were from families that had lived in these areas for at least three generations and had surnames limited to these areas. The results showed that all three groups, but especially those from Murlo, were more closely related to the samples from the near East than from other parts of Italy. The Murlo samples contained a genetic variant found only in the samples from Turkey and Lemnos, the island where a stele was discovered in 1885 inscribed in a pre-Greek language that is related to Etruscan, and dating to the 6th century BC. Lydia is inland from the island of Lemnos, and Smyrna (Izmir) from which Herodotus says the Etruscan set out for Umbria and Tuscany, lies between the two.
Roman authors record that the Etruscans had a rich literature, but only one book (now unreadable) has survived. By AD 100, Etruscan had been replaced by Latin. Only a few scholarly Romans with antiquarian interests, such as Varro, could read Etruscan and last person known to have been able to read it was the Roman emperor Claudius (10 BC – AD 54), who is said to have compiled an Etruscan dictionary by interviewing the last few elderly rustics who still spoke the language. Thus the Etruscan language is now known almost solely from some 13,000 mainly brief inscriptions and has yet to be fully interpreted. It was evidently a language isolate that can be grouped with Raetic, a language spoken in antiquity in the province of Raetia, in the Eastern Alps, to the north and west of Venetic. Etruscan and Raetic are grouped with Lemnian, an extinct Aegean language, to form the Tyrsenian language family which is an isolate family not demonstrably related to any other known language family. In other words, Etruscan was not an Indo-European language. It is also very likely that the Etruscans learned to write from their Greek neighbours so that, while Etruscan inscriptions appear quite suddenly in the historical record, the Etruscans themselves had been developing their culture and language in situ on the Italian peninsula before the first historical record of their existence.
The Romans owed a great deal to the Etruscans, their accomplished predecessors and former enemies on the Italian peninsula. They were known as Rasenna, and Tusci or Etrusci by Romans, whose historians did not give their accomplishments due credit. However, over the past two hundred years, archaeologists and art historians have shown that the Etruscans occupied much of north-central Italy in the first millennium B.C. and traded widely in the Mediterranean. Their prosperity and taste for luxury connected them to trade routes that extended as far north as the Baltic Sea from which they imported amber. Even now, much of what we know of the Etruscans is derived from their rich tomb furnishings which fill museums world-wide. One of the most comprehensive and best organised Etruscan collections is in the Guarnacci Museum in Volterra and Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca di Cortona.
The Etruscans were second only to the Greeks themselves as a medium for the introduction of Greek culture and its Pantheon of Gods to the Romans. The Etruscans also developed a version of the Greek alphabet, that influenced Roman script. They built the first cities in Italy and their influence shows up in the later Roman architecture and engineering. The ruins of settlements and cities, especially in the Maremma have revealed a great deal about Etruscan material culture, from huts through houses to palaces. At locations around Grosseto, Roselle, Pitigliano, Vetulonia, Populonia etc. excavators have uncovered remains of fortification walls, artisans’ workshops and kilns, temples and grids of streets. Some cities were laid out with separate zones for residences, industry and public buildings. Roads had ruts paved with stone, like tram tracks, to provide a smoother ride in springless carriages and chariots. Etruscan settlements began evolving from collections of thatched huts to tiled-roof, rectangular houses on stone foundations, then to real cities as early as the seventh century B.C. in which an Etruscan society, with wealthy elite, controlled a large population of slaves and serfs. Remains of Etruscan tombs are also to be seen on the outskirts of Castellina in Chianti and Cortona.
Etruscan power and grip on the Italian peninsula began to decline in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.
More about the History of Tuscany and Tuscan Culture.
Etruscan Dodecapoli league of twelve cities
The Etruscan cities most often included (with their more familiar Latin and Italian equivalents) are:
• Arretium (modern Arezzo)
• Caisra, Cisra (Caere or modern Cerveteri, and its frazione Ceri)
• Clevsin, (Clusium or modern Chiusi)
• Curtun (modern Cortona)
• Perusna (Perugia)
• Pupluna, Fufluna (Populonia)
• Veia (Veii or modern Veio)
• Tarch(u)na (Tarquinii or modern Tarquinia-Corneto)
• Vetluna, Vetluna (Vetulonia)
• Felathri (Volaterrae or modern Volterra)
• Velzna (Volsinii, presumed modern Orvieto)
• Velch, Velc(a)l (Vulci or modern Volci).
Other Etruscan cities, not members of the Dodecapoli:
• Vi(p)sul (Faesulae or modern Fiesole).
• Felsina (Bononia, modern Bologna).
• Mutna (Mutina, modern Modena).
• Rusellae, near modern Roselle Terme.
• Alalia in Corsica (Roman and modern Aleria).
• Capeva (Capua).
• Manthva (Mantua).
• Inarime(?) (Pitecusa (Greek Pithekoussai) or modern Ischia).
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Local parents who suspect their child may have a mental or physical disability can get help from Madera Unified to identify and assist children who may be in need of special education services.
The Madera-Mariposa Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Child Find Project has helped the district identify such children for nearly a decade, to ensure that every child in Madera and Mariposa counties attends school and receives appropriate services from preschool through high school. Some students may also qualify for services until age 22.
Students of any age can be referred to the Child Find Project, but officials say the younger they are, the more help they can get.
“It’s critical that we are able to help young children who may have a disability with connecting them with services because early intervention really is the key for children with disabilities,” said Laura Tanner-McBrien, MUSD’s new director of special services. “If we can serve them young, hopefully they can catch up and possibly not need any services later on in life.” ...
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Stream & Wetland Permitting
Any proposed activity or structure located in or along a stream or wetland is likely to require a permit. There are regulations, known as the Chapter 105, Waterway Management rules and regulations that were created to protect the health, safety, welfare and property of the people; and to protect natural resources, water quality and the carrying capacity of water courses. These regulations are primarily administered by the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), however, the Conservation District has been delegated to administer parts of this program by providing information and acknowledging certain types of permits for water obstruction and encroachment activities. Activities and structures in or near a regulated stream or its adjacent floodway are administered by this program. A regulated stream is any channel with defined bed and banks that can convey water. It can be natural or man-made, perennial or intermittent.
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LITTLE ROCK - During the past few weeks, Arkansas has recorded some of its highest temperatures for the year and lately, we have seen records broken during the current heat wave. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory, and several Arkansas counties have been placed under burn bans to prevent fires and other related disasters. With record highs reaching triple digits, it is important that we take the proper precautions to stay hydrated and to limit outdoor activity to morning and evening hours, which are typically cooler.
Temperatures of 10 degrees or more above the average high temperature of a region, lasting for several weeks, are defined as extreme heat. Humid and dry conditions can add to the discomfort of high temperatures and lead to a very dangerous situation. Heat-related deaths and illness are preventable. Already, in Arkansas this summer, two individuals have died from the extreme conditions.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people suffer heat-related illnesses when their bodies are unable to compensate and cool properly. When the body is unable to cool itself, it overheats, and this can result in extreme damage to the brain and other vital organs and possibly even death. The CDC indicates that approximately 400 people die each year in the U.S. from exposure to heat due to weather conditions. These are preventable deaths.
Although any of us can suffer heat-related illnesses during extreme heat, some Arkansans are more susceptible to heat-related injury and death than others. The elderly, our very young, and people who suffer mental illness and chronic diseases are at a greater risk and require regular monitoring and check-ups. We must make the extra effort and monitor them closely for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
Protect yourself, your loved ones, and your pets when temperatures are extremely high. Remember to keep cool and use common sense. Drink more fluids to hydrate and refresh the body. Stay indoors and, if at all possible, stay in an air-conditioned area. Wear lightweight, light-colored, and loose-fitting clothing; and don't forget to use a sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher. Most important, never leave infants, children, or pets in a parked car. Even with the windows cracked open, the temperature rises quickly in cars and other enclosed areas. When leaving your car, make sure that everyone is out and that you have not overlooked children who may have fallen asleep in the vehicle.
Arkansas's heat wave has left many individuals scrambling and sweating, but weather forecasts indicate that relief is near. Until that time, stay safe and use caution to protect yourself and family members from preventable heat-related injuries.
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Stewardship of America's Lands and Waters
Stewardship of America's Lands and Waters
Over ten million Americans are unemployed, scientists warn that we stand to lose 30 percent
of our wildlife, and climate change fuels escalating fires in the West and hurricanes in the Gulf
and eastern coast.
We have an urgent need – and opportunity – to put more than 3.5 million Americans to work in meaningful jobs to tackle these issues head on by investing $208 billion in the restoration and resilience of our nation’s natural infrastructure.
We can increase the capacity of our forests and adjacent communities to be more resilient to fire, restore wildlife habitat, absorb more carbon, expand the ability of our forests to deliver cold, clean water for fish and downstream communities, and restore habitat for wildlife.
We can increase the ability of our floodplains and coasts to weather increasingly dramatic flood and hurricane events and bolster the resilience of communities, while sequestering carbon, improving water quality, and creating recreational opportunities.
We can reclaim degraded lands, including abandoned coal, hard rock, and uranium mines to orphaned oil and gas wells, to remove ongoing threats to public health and revitalize local communities.
We can tackle the growing wildlife crisis and save the nearly 40 percent of species at-risk or vulnerable to potential extinction. Simply implementing state wildlife action plans alone would significantly aid the more than 12,000 species identified as in greatest conservation need.
Investing roughly $200 billion in restoring our natural systems and bolstering climate resilience over five years would put more than 3.5 million Americans to work. Investments in restoration and resilience create more jobs per dollar because the work is labor intensive. A robust initiative to restore wildlife habitat, make our air and water cleaner, and communities safer can serve as a workplan for a new 21st century Civilian Conservation Corps. And land and water restoration can serve as an important part of a bipartisan blueprint to take on climate change. What follows is how to do it and why.
Our forests are in trouble. A changing climate and more than a century of fire suppression
have increased the size and intensity of wildfire. Experts predict these fire conditions
will only get worse unless we act. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of miles of failing
or obsolete roads fragment wildlife habitat, compromise animal security, and dump
sediment into fish-bearing streams.
Not only are our forests the lungs of our country, storing carbon and making oxygen, but they provide one-fifth of our nation’s fresh water supply. Too many watersheds that produce this invaluable resource are impaired. According to the U.S. Forest Service, 75 – 82 million acres of our nation’s forests need restoration. This includes 1.3 million acres of forest that could be re-established by passing the REPLANT Act, because in some cases, changes in climate have thwarted nature’s ability to reseed and grow forests.
Mitigating the size, severity, and effects of forest fires and repairing the decaying road system on our national forests are essential to ensure watershed health and function. We can and must better manage our forests to defend our communities, and to increase the capacity for our forests to store carbon and produce clean water.
This plan would:
• Immediately invest in ecological recovery of landscapes devastated by 2020 fires.
• Manage forests to increase carbon storage capacity and climate resilience that is ecologically appropriate.
• Re-establish forests where climate changes have stunted natural regeneration.
• Equip wildland firefighters with the tools needed to protect lives and property.
• Triple the pace and scale of fuel reduction to reduce fire danger.
• Dramatically increase planned, prescribed fires to protect communities.
• Increase the capacity of forests to deliver clean water to America’s communities.
• Tackle the road, culvert, bridge and maintenance problem on our forests.
• Create tens of thousands of jobs in largely rural and semi-rural communities.
Wildfire knows no property line. The large fires of 2020 burned through multiple jurisdictions, with the highest structure loss occurring on non-federal land. Improving fire protection and resiliency on these non-federal lands is key to reducing the risk and severity of wildfire.
The size, frequency, and intensity of fires are expected to grow over the next decade. Complicated mixed-ownership patterns require that fuel treatments, preparedness, and mitigation efforts occur across the mosaic of state, tribal, and private lands.
Robust supplemental funding for fire mitigation on non-federal lands would:
• Provide technical and financial assistance to landowners
and resource managers to protect forests and grasslands,
protect communities from wildland fire and restore fireadapted
• Treat approximately 30 million acres of non-National Forest System lands, including state, tribal, and private lands to be more fire-adapted and resilient.
• Implement state forest action plans to enhance public benefits from trees and forests.
• Triple the investment in fire-adapted community programs, such as Firewise USA.
• Build capacity within state agencies and non-governmental organizations to achieve the necessary work on the ground.
• Target work in areas most prone to transmit fire toward human development.
According to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, there are approximately 57,000 documented orphaned oil and gas wells on federal, state, Tribal and private lands and up to 745,000 undocumented orphaned oil and gas wells that were drilled and abandoned before modern regulation. The EPA pegs the overall number even higher—2 million.
Many of these sites leak methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the first two decades of its release. There is an overwhelming need to fix this problem. Properly plugging these sites will reduce methane emissions, increase economic productivity of agricultural lands, reduce invasive species, protect groundwater and restore connectivity of native habitats.
The Bureau of Land Management has also identified that undetected leaks are likely a serious issue in getting methane emissions under control. Up-front investments to detect and plug leaky pipes would also be a worthy investment.
Investing $4 billion in fixing the problem would:
• Put tens of thousands of people to work immediately in energy-producing states,
a critical job life line for economies hit hard by the twin problems of the pandemic
and a glut of oil and gas on the market.
• Plug 57,000 documented orphaned wells.
• Plug roughly 110,000 undocumented wells.
• Dramatically reduce methane emissions and protect groundwater.
There are up to 745,000 undocumented orphaned oil and gas wells that were drilled and abandoned before modern regulation.
There are roughly a half-million abandoned hardrock mines across the United States. Of those, the Government Accountability Office identified at least 140,000 sites on lands under federal jurisdiction, 67,000 of which may pose dangers of injury or death. About 22,500 pose risks to human and wildlife health.
In addition, tens of thousands of abandoned coal mines also pose risk to human and wildlife health. We can and should put people to work in communities affected by the boom and bust cycles of these mines. Passing the RECLAIM Act would go a long way toward addressing these pressing environmental, health and energy transition issues in coal country.
Significant investment in abandoned coal and hardrock mine cleanup would:
• Create tens of thousands of jobs revitalizing coal country.
• Reclaim abandoned hardrock mines, and significantly reduce or eliminate the risks posed by toxic substances leaching into waters and soils.
• Provide support to coal workers suffering long-term health effects of underground mining.
• Provide additional support to states and Tribes for critical cleanup projects.
• Plus, reauthorization of the Abandoned Mine Land program would provide an additional $2 million per year for states and Tribes.
America faces a growing wildlife crisis. More than one-third of all species are at-risk or vulnerable to potential extinction. State and territorial wildlife agencies have identified more than 12,000 species of greatest conservation need through their state wildlife action plans, including more than 1,600 species already listed under the Endangered Species Act. Significantly increased funding for habitat restoration, innovative natural infrastructure projects, and research is needed for federal and state agencies and Tribes to respond to this crisis.
Investments in wildlife conservation and restoration would:
• Help reverse the wildlife crisis, ensuring future
generations enjoy the same outdoor heritage
• Restore habitat needed to recover species of greatest conservation need in all states, territories, and Tribal lands.
• Expedite threatened and endangered wildlife recovery.
• Facilitate research and potential scientific breakthroughs to prevent the spread of potential zoonotic diseases, such as chronic wasting disease.
• Enable the construction of wildlife crossings that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and reconnect habitat for terrestrial/aquatic species.
• Restore and reconnect habitat corridors through voluntary projects on public, private, and Tribal lands.
Intact, natural habitat has a remarkable capacity to absorb the power of storms and flooding. The body of research demonstrating the power of natural infrastructure to reduce hazard risk is clear. In short, nature is our best defense. Wetlands, reefs, dunes, natural floodplains, and forests provide heavy lifting to keep our communities safe.
Historically, most U.S. communities have relied on structural approaches, also known as “gray infrastructure,” such as levees and seawalls to guard against natural hazards. Although structural approaches will continue to be essential for safeguarding people and property in some places, protecting and restoring natural systems is often the most cost-effective and efficient solution in the face of climate change. Natural infrastructure also provides communities with additional benefits in the form of pollution filtration, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities.
Funding existing ecological restoration plans – whether at the federal, regional, state, or watershed scale - is one of the best things we can and should do, as these plans have in many cases been developed with extensive public input and through a science-based and collaborative process. As such they represent strategic investments that can be advanced quickly.
Significant investment in restoration of our iconic watersheds, coasts, and floodplains would:
• Immediately put people to work including in the Everglades, Mississippi River and
Delta, Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, Delaware River, Missouri
River, Ohio River, Colorado River and Texas coast, as each of these areas have
ecological restoration plans ready to implement that were driven by science and
• Restore nationally-significant hubs of tourism on our coasts, and protect other critical industries such as fisheries, shipping, and energy production.
• Make our coastal and floodplain communities safer and more resilient to extreme weather and disaster events.
• Stimulate growth and produce jobs in regional economies and support the national outdoor economy for years to come.
• Restore floodplains and accelerate mapping to inform strategic infrastructure investments.
Our nation’s grasslands and sagebrush steppe are as critical as they are iconic. They are working lands, relied upon by ranchers, farmers, energy developers, hikers, campers and hunters. They are also home to hundreds of species of wildlife, from mule deer to snowshoe hare to meadowlark.
But our grasslands and sagebrush steppe are in jeopardy. Seventy-three percent of America’s tallgrass, mixed grass, and shortgrass prairies have vanished, along with their ecological benefits, not the least of which is providing habitat for thousands of species of pollinators, and storing carbon. One third of human food comes from plants pollinated by wild pollinators—a service that has no technological substitute, is provided for free and has an estimated value of $6 billion.
The threats to grasslands are many: Invasive cheatgrass covers as much as 100 million acres of land in the United States, a serious problem for both wildlife and cattle and a catalyst for catastrophic fire on both public and private land. On private land, we are losing a football field’s worth of grasslands every four seconds to development and cropland conversion. We’ve lost 40 percent of grassland birds in our lifetimes, and some indicator species, like the Greater Sage-grouse, are teetering on the edge of listing under the Endangered Species Act. We must invest in restoration on our public lands, but that alone is not enough. We must also find new tools for collaboration on private land.
A long-term solution has an excellent role model: The North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), which was signed into law in the 1980s when waterfowl numbers were in sharp decline. Because of collaborative action sparked by the act, waterfowl have since increased by 56%. Not only do we need to invest in protecting our grasslands, we need to authorize a federal program modeled after NAWCA.
Significant investments in grasslands and sagebrush steppe restoration and passage of the North American Grasslands Conservation Act would:
• Reverse the downward spiral of bird populations.
• Improve management to benefit livestock and wildlife.
• Increase water resources.
• Increase carbon storage.
• Create jobs in primarily rural communities.
• Reduce rangeland fires.
• Improve technology to control cheatgrass and other invasive species.
Seventy-three percent of America’s tallgrass, mixed grass, and shortgrass prairies have vanished, along with their ecological benefits.
With over 60% of U.S. land in private ownership and over half of land currently managed as cropland, pastureland or rangeland, investing in restoration and resilience on working lands is critically important not only for storing carbon, creating habitat for wildlife, and improving soil health and water quality, but also for revitalizing rural communities and helping farmers and ranchers at a critical time.
Such investment would:
• Expand partnerships with landowners and communities that will increase
opportunities for both conservation and economic gain.
• Create thousands of jobs putting people to work restoring native grassland.
• Providing a one-time emergency CRP incentive payment, coupled with an increase in the CRP cap, would help solve this problem and make the program more economically worthwhile to farmers and ranchers.
• Provide increased conservation technical assistance, staffing, outreach and training for new and disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
• Increase the acreage of working lands enrolled in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Regional Conservation Partnership Program, and the Conservation Stewardship Program, which would therefore increase the number of acres managed with climate-friendly agriculture practices. Increase the number of acres under conservation easements, providing an important financial planning benefit to landowners.
The outdoor recreation industry generates $887 billion in consumer spending annually, creating 7.6 million jobs. During the pandemic, our nation has turned to the outdoors. We’ve seen a huge surge in hiking, biking, camping, fishing, cross-country skiing and snow shoeing. Trails are overrun, campgrounds are booked months in advance. While it’s gratifying to see Americans connecting with nature, the growth in outdoor recreation has taken a toll on our lands and waters. By investing in our parks and open spaces we can meet the growing demand, restore our lands, and create additional outdoor recreation jobs.
Such investments could:
• Create new parks in urban areas, so that all Americans are just a ten-minute
walk from nature. The health, societal, and economic benefits of urban parks are
• Stimulate the outdoor recreation economy, particularly in rural areas.
• Expand access to public lands and waters for hunters and anglers.
• Put people to work on maintenance backlogs across our public lands, helping to make our outdoor spaces safer and more enjoyable for all.
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The focus of this week’s class was Celestial Rhythms and the development of the constellations.
We started the class upstairs in the observatory and outside on the balcony with Paul describing our session and then identifying a few of the objects on display in the night sky, including a crescent Moon. Paul described how the Moon is moving around the Earth and how the position of the Sun in relation to the Earth and Moon affects the different phases of the Moon. He explained that next week the moon will have moved across the sky in counter-clockwise direction and showed us approximately where it would be.
We then headed downstairs and outside to a large model of the solar system painted on the ground, as seen in the image below during the daytime. We sat around the model and Paul described the motion of the Earth and other planets around the Sun. This demonstration was a great way to visualise our solar system and how various planets move in relation to the Sun. Paul also described how our view on Earth is affected by the Sun and how the Sun blocks various stars at certain parts of the year.
This session was about the importance of understanding how the sky moves during a night and throughout a whole year.
“The sky is on a continual march that presents us with different constellations at different times of night, and different times of year.”
After our outside demonstration and further observing of the night sky we moved back inside for a much needed tea break and to escape the chilly Sydney evening weather, should have taken a jacket!
After our break we headed downstairs to the 3D theatre and enjoyed another presentation by Paul. The focus of the inside session was to demonstrate the motion of the Earth travelling around the Sun and its rotation on its own axis, what causes the seasons as well as examine closely what makes a day and a year, which is not quite what we thought.
I learnt so much over our 2 and a half hour class. As we spin around our axis once per day we actually move about 1 degree around the Sun. We rotate and orbit in a counterclockwise direction and in a year there are 365.25 days. So, the Earth, rotating at 1360 km/h, must spin on its own axis 360 + 1 degrees to have the Sun reappear in the same position. A day as we know it is 24 hours long, this is actually a solar day as our clocks have been tuned to the combined motion of our rotation and orbit around the Sun.
A different kind of day is called a sidereal day, which is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds long. This is the time astronomers use to predict the location of stars on the night sky. All of this means that we will see a slightly different sky each night.
We all know we have four seasons on Earth and the seasons are caused by our axis of rotation being tilted by 23.5 degrees to the plane of our orbit, called the ecliptic. The axis points in the same direction as we orbit the Sun, and this is what causes the seasons and the variation in the length of a day throughout the year. Paul gave us examples of the equinoxes and the solstices. The equinoxes occur approx. half way between the solstices on March 21 and 21 September, the solstices on 21 June and 21 December. In June the axis is pointed towards the Sun so the northern hemisphere will see the Sun high in the sky and will receive many hours of sunbathed daylight. In the southern hemisphere people will see the Sun much lower in the sky and will experience less daylight compared to the northern hemisphere. The reverse is true for December. At equinox the day and night are the same length for both hemispheres – equal.
“We spend our days and nights humbly on planet Earth. We suffer from the illusion that we feel stationary on the surface of the Earth and that the Sun and stars seem to revolve around us.”
Infant, our axis is slowly precessing, like a spinning top over a period of 26,000 years. This means that the celestial poles on the celestial sphere sweep out a circle every 26,000 years carrying our coordinate system of the stars with it. This small drift was actually measured by Hipparchus around 140 BC. Paul has recommended we purchase a planisphere, seen below, a dynamic map that can portray the night sky for a given location at any time of night throughout the year. These are only designed for one latitude and do not contain much information.
There are 88 constellations in the night sky. Each constellation is an area of the sky and are recognised and classified by the International Astronomy Union (IAU). We learnt heaps about the constellations:
- Each culture developed its own constellations
- Constellations often symbolised mythological creatures
- Constellations are a reminder of a lesson or a seasonal event
- Many originated in Babylonia
- The Greeks adopted many and developed their own mythologies to explain them
- The constellations the Sun passes through along the ecliptic are called the zodiacs
- There are actually 13 zodiacs, including Ophiuchus, although the Sun does not spend too much time in this sign
- The Babylonians set up the zodiacs and their counting system was based on base 12, so they stuck with just the 12 constellations and that is why we have 12 hours of day, 12 hours of night and 12 months a year
- The Sun now spends more time in Ophiuchus than in some neighbouring constellations
I am a Pisces and here is my constellation from the IAU (http://www.iau.org/static/public/constellations/gif/PSC.gif)
A few facts about Pisces:
- One of the most ancient constellations
- Depicts 2 fishes swimming in opposite directions with their tails joined
- In mythology the two fishes represent Aphrodite (Venus) and Eros (Cupid)
- One day they hide to hide in rushes along the Euphrates to escape a monster called Typhon. The two fishes swam away to safety
- Pisces is watery and faint, it lies in an undistinguished part of the sky
- Its brightest stars are only magnitude 4
- One way to locate Pisces is by reference to the square of Pegasus
- The Sun passes through Pisces between Feb 19 and March 20
- The 12th sign
- Famous Pisces include Steph Curry (Mar 14), Einstein (Mar 14), Steve Jobs (Feb 24), Daniel Craig (Mar 2), Jon Hamm (Mar 10)
Eta Piscium is the brightest star at 316x that of the Sun. It is 294 light years from Earth and is a G class bright giant star.
Pisces contains a Messier object called Messier 74, a spiral galaxy located between the stars alpha Arietis and eta Piscium. It is also known as the Phantom Galaxy, shown below.
The grand-design spiral galaxy Messier 74 as photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2007. Image: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration. Acknowledgment: R. Chandar (University of Toledo) and J. Miller (University of Michigan)
The red areas indicate pockets of hydrogen gas. They glow due to the radiation from hot, young stars. Astronomers call these areas H2 regions. The brighter stars are not part of the galaxy and are actually located a lot nearer to us. The galaxy appears face-on and is approx. 30 million light years from Earth. It is roughly the same size as the Milky Way with a diameter of 95,000 light years. Two supernovae have been seen exploding in recent years in this galaxy. It contains about 100 billion stars. It is not easy to observe due to low surface brightness and requires clear skies. The only other object with a lower surface brightness is M101, the Pinwheel Galaxy, shown below.
The Phantom is an example of a grand design spiral galaxy with 2 clearly defined arms which extend for about 1,000 light years. The arms contain clusters of young blue stars and star forming nebulae. It is receding at a speed of 793 km/s.
Zoom into M74:
M74 was first observed in 1780 by French astronomer Pierre Méchain who told his good friend Charles Messier about it, Charles added it to his famous catalogue.
More about M74 here.
Thank you Hubble!
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Quite literally so, the face of smartphones is about to change. The problem of smartphone screens smashing on impact may be a thing of past times, courtesy: Polymer scientists at the University of Akron. In a recently published paper, the researchers demonstrated the revolutionary technique of applying a thin, transparent layer of electrodes on a polymer surface. The resultant product is extraordinarily tough and flexible, making it ideal for use as smartphone screens.
The quest to find the solution to brittle phone screens has been a major challenge for researchers and industry people alike. Although significant developments have been made for improving the durability and toughness of the phone (most notable being the Gorilla Glass), shatter-proof screen materials proved to be elusive. The main reason that may be the touch screen glass coating made of indium tin oxide (ITO). ITO is more brittle, more likely to shatter and more expensive to manufacture as compared to this polymer-based electrode screen.
The research conducted by Dr. Yu Zhu, assistant professor, UA graduate students Tianda He and Aozhen Xia, and Darrell Reneker, distinguished professor of polymer science at UA tested the polymer screen by bending it 1,000 times and subjected the screen to repeated scotch tape peeling. Amazingly, the screen retained its shape and functionality.
So a screen with better conductivity, excellent durability, lower cost and having the same transparency as traditional ones is set to replace and revolutionize smartphone screens.
Source: University of Akron Newsroom
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Did you know there are several different types of chlorine in your pool? Free Chlorine, Combined Chlorine, and Total Chlorine can all be found in a typical swimming pool, and although these terms may be new to you, they are worth keeping in mind. If you want to properly monitor and shock your pool, you’ll need a solid understanding of how these types of chlorine work. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to understand:
Remembering the Terminology
If you’re looking for a more in-depth look at how these types of chlorine relate to one another, Fibre Tech provides detailed information on this topic. Through their explanation, you can better understand how these chlorine types work together within the formula: FC+CC=TC. In other words, Free Chlorine + Combined Chlorine = Total Chlorine.
How to Shock Your Pool
The formula above is important for shocking your pool, since Free Chlorine disinfects and kills potentially harmful microorganisms and bacteria that can flourish in an untreated pool.
As Free Chlorine is added to the water, the reaction reduces the amount of chlorine while cleaning the pool. The chlorine that remains once the reaction is complete is called Combined Chlorine. Although it is no longer “cleaning” the pool, in the form of residual chlorine, it still kills microorganisms in the water.
Shocking your pool, which is also called super-chlorination, is overdosing the pool with Free Chlorine to kill unwanted microorganisms. Determining the amount of Combined Chlorine at work will help you determine how much Free Chlorine you need to shock the pool.
If the amount of Total Chlorine in the pool is greater than the amount of Free Chlorine, the difference is the amount of Combined Chlorine. To get rid of the Combined Chlorine, super-chlorinate the pool by adding Free Chlorine — ten times the amount of Combined Chlorine present.
This is commonly called “breakpoint chlorination,” and it will clear your pool of all contaminants.
To figure out the Free Chlorine level of your pool, use a FAS-DPD test kit to determine the exact amount. Then add enough chlorine to bring the Free Chlorine count to breakpoint chlorination.
You may need to repeat these steps until the Combined Chlorine level of your pool drops below 0.5 ppm, or if after leaving the shock overnight, the Free Chlorine test shows your pool has 1.0 ppm of Free Chlorine.
You’ll also want to give it a thorough look over to make sure the water is clear, and ensure there is no visible algae buildup.
When to Shock Your Pool
There are a wide range of reasons to shock your pool, but when it comes to frequency, it is recommended you shock once a week during peak swimming season. Although this is a general rule, you may want to shock more or less frequently depending on how often your pool is used and by how many people.
Across the board, you should shock your pool if you see any algae growth, if a test measures your Free Chlorine level at zero, or if you note a Combined Chlorine level above 0.5 ppm.
If you’re looking for other ways to keep your pool in tip-top shape, contact FibreTech. Their pool preservation process will ensure your pool is well-maintained at a cost you can afford. Give their professionals a call today!
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New developers often don’t know where to start with testing their code. They know that it’s a good idea but there’s an overwhelming amount of information out there. Common questions and comments I hear are:
- What’s a unit test?
- How does it differ from an integration test?
- Should I be writing end-to-end tests?
- I don’t know where to start!
I’ll help you to understand the differences in testing types and make you a little less scared to get started on your software testing journey.
This seems like a simple question right but a lot of people get scared when you mention software tests. There’s an easy pattern which you can follow which will simplify how you think about writing tests. It’s known as Arrange, Act and Assert (AAA) and it’s a common way of writing tests.
Firstly, you need to set up our pre-conditions for the function under test. This is your Arrange. Here you can initialise any objects or data you need for your test. You can also define the output value you expect from your code after execution.
Next, you call your code with the specified inputs for your test. This is your Act. Call your function or method with the given input as though you were calling the code in production.
Lastly, you will verify your expectations based upon either the output value or the code paths executed. This is your Assert. You know what you expect your code to do so you can now check that it happened. If it didn’t, then the test has failed and your code, or sometimes your test, is incorrect.
A unit test should be one of the most basic tests you have. As you want to test the code in isolation, you might have to stub or mock some external dependencies to define specific scenarios. You’ll find that writing unit tests often help to define the structure and design of your code. If it’s difficult to test, it’s often a code smell that means you could refactor your code to make it easier to test.
One major factor which defines a unit test is its speed. Due to the isolation of the code from its other dependencies, you expect these tests to be incredibly fast. You will often end up writing a lot more unit tests than you will the other test types. A typical unit test suite may have thousands of tests and you’d expect a single test to take much less than a second to run.
While your unit tests aim to be simple and test a single module or function, integration tests, as their name suggests, tests how code modules fit together in your application (i.e. how they integrate). In your unit tests, the aim is to isolate the external dependencies but for your integration tests, you may allow your code to communicate with data sources like your database, or also external APIs. This isn’t a requirement and you can still mock these external dependencies if you want to.
Integration tests allow you to test the full flow of your application and test how code modules interface with each other. The classic gif below shows what could happen if you have unit tests for your project and no integration tests. Both unit tests appear to pass correctly, but when the code for both is combined, it’s actually incorrect.
Integration tests are generally slower than your unit tests so you’ll often have fewer of them to test complete code paths. You may need the configuration of external applications, like databases or HTTP requests to external APIs, if they’re not mocked out. These types of tests are great for testing higher-level logic and data flow through your application.
An example of an integration test is to test the full flow of an API on a server. This may involve starting a server which runs your application code, responding to HTTP requests, authorising a client or user, validating query parameters or body data, connecting to a database or other APIs, converting data to JSON, and eventually returning the data.
One thing to consider is that you can still mock external dependencies if you want to. It’s often better to have a thin wrapper around an external service which can return fake data in your integration tests. This still allows you to test your complete application flow as an integration test, but not talk to a production API or database. A good example would be an application which uses the Twitter API to send tweets. You wouldn’t want it to send a tweet every time you ran your test suite!
Function tests are also know as end-to-end (E2E) tests and they test the complete functionality of your code. They run the complete application, usually in a browser, without mocking any external dependencies at all. These types of tests are the slowest to run so you’ll generally have a lot less of these than integration or unit tests.
An example of a functional test is to verify that a user can sign into a website and that they can view the expected data once authorised. This test would use automated browser interaction to enter the username and password and click on the sign-in button. The test would verify that the title of the next page is as expected and that the user’s data is displayed. This is often done by querying the DOM to determine if elements are present. There are a lot of pre-conditions for this test, such as having a valid username and password combination and knowing the DOM elements to verify. This means that functional tests are often more brittle and prone to breaking than unit or integration tests. Be wary of relying on user interface data for test expectations as developers or designers often change it!
When writing tests, there are rarely functions or classes that operate in isolation. Most code interacts with other modules in some way. If you want to isolate your function for testing you can use a test double. This is the generic term for when you replace a production object for testing purposes with a fake. Think of it like a film where a stunt double replaces the actual actor for the dangerous scenes.
There are various kinds of test doubles that you can use in your tests and there will be different uses for each of them.
- Dummy - A dummy object is used in place of your production object and will match the interface of the thing it replaces. However, you don’t care what it does. Think of it as a simple placeholder which you’ll need as one of your function parameters.
- Stub - A stub is an object or function which responds with a pre-programmed response. It normally only responds to what has been programmed for the test.
- Spy - A spy is a function which wraps an object and can record information about how the object is used. This is useful for avoiding altering the behaviour of the function, but still determining how it was interacted with.
- Mock - Mocks are fake objects which have fake methods. They also have pre-programmed responses like stubs. However, the main difference between spies and stubs is that they also have pre-programmed expectations. If the mock is not used as expected by your code, the test will fail.
- Fake - A fake object is similar to a stub and it will return some expected values. However, it also implements some of the functionality of the object it’s replacing. An example would be an in-memory data store which replaces the production database.
If this post was valuable to you, you can follow my journey on Twitter.
This article was originally posted here on my website.
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“He sensed that mighty changes were on the horizon in America and that time was running out. He had to finish his work, raise up the leaders, and fulfill his duty to his beloved America.” Speaking of George Whitefield 1745
Since the age of 3-4, I have been fascinated by preachers who have vision for the masses. George Whitefield, one of the first Methodists and friend of the Wesleys has been at the top of that list. He invented mass evangelism. When in his early twenties, he preached to 80,000 people in England’s Hyde Park. Not only was his voice capable (as proven by his friend Benjamin Franklin), he spoke with such power it was said that actors would weep when he said the word “Mesopotamia.”
Writer Stephen Mansfield calls Whitefield America’s “Forgotten Founding Father.”
“Had Whitefield never gone to America, the great revival there might never have happened. And, had there been no great revival, there may well have been no American Revolution.”
This preacher was different. He began every sermon with a joke and told stories. Pulpits were closed to him, so he went to where the people were. He preached in open fields and went to the mines when miners were getting off work and early mornings when they were headed for work. One of my favorite images is from his preaching to miners in Kingswood, England.
“Hundreds had gathered with their coal-blackened faces peering back quizzically at the young preacher. He continued not knowing what to make of their silence. Then he noticed something. There were white streaks appearing on the faces…the miners were weeping. Repentance followed and soon laughing and singing.” (Forgotten Founding Father, Stephen Mansfield, (c)2001, Highland Books, page 77)
When Whitefield arrived in the colonies, there was nothing to unify then into anything that could be called “United.” That changed. The unifier was his preaching. From Georgia to New England almost every resident heard Whitefield preach.
“Whitefield was the ‘first inter-colonial event.’ For the first time, the American colonists had a common experience that gave them a sense of corporate life they had never had before.” (Mansfield page 110)
His method was “preach and return.” He would preach and plant the gospel. He gave no altar call. He left that locale and after giving the “seed” time to germinate he would return to preach again and to invite people into the Kingdom. Those who responded were placed in small groups or communities for Christian growth. That was not just for Bible study, but for fellowship. They would share their own growth and see others being transformed by Jesus. The populace had followed England into debauchery and drunkenness. The fellowship groups gave the converts an alternative to gin houses on Friday nights.
The second piece of the plan was to share his vision for good work. He told stories of those very people feeding the poor, building schools and caring for orphans. There was deployment into significant ministries.
“He did this because he wanted more than just revival: he wanted a spiritual revolution, a transformation of society by the power and truth of God’s kingdom.”
I see parallels of the days leading to the American Revolution and the days following with our own. That makes these days quite open to revival and awakening that will heal and transform. If some visionary can see what is attempting to manifest—I like what Mansfield says:
“Already a man on a mission, now (Whitefield) had a method to match his call.” The evangelist said, “Field preaching is my plan….”
So, we pray for the right person to hear from heaven and discover 21st Century field preaching.
Before Whitefield’s first tour of America, he was not sure whether he should stay in England and attend to the monstrous crowds and nurture of converts or go to the new country. While wrestling with his life purpose, a letter came from John Wesley who was already in Georgia. Wesley spoke of great opportunities for the gospel and the “harvest that awaited the bold and the willing.” Wesley closed his letter with the challenge, “What if thou art the man, Mr. Whitefield?”
I cannot hear the daily news and the images of a culture on the verge of destruction without being prodded by Wesley’s question: “What if thou art the man?” The question is not about preaching to 80,000 or millions, but where I (you) fit in the promises of 2 Chronicles 7:14.
WHAT IF YOU ARE THE PERSON?
©2016 D. Dean Benton Benton Books & Blogs Bentonministries.com
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The opera Boris Godunov is arguably the Bolshoi's most “populous” performance in terms of clothes.Damir Yusupov/bolshoiteatr.com
“Sometimes, a costume's parts do not reflect light in the right way and are thus barely visible to those sitting in the last few rows of the pit. So we have to ‘juice it up’ – that is, revise the initial, minimal details of the costume and add folds and shadows using special paint. This is a part of our operating procedure, so to speak,” says Natalya Aldoshina, head of the women's clothes department at the Bolshoi.
Each member of the theater staff knows taking pictures of costumes before the opening night is a no-no, since they are protected by copyright.
Bolshoi Theater's art and manufacturing workshop. Preparing the costumes for the staging of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Sleeping Beauty". Source: RIA Novosti/Vladimir Vyatkin
Furthermore, costume designers believe it to be bad luck to send the excess fabric left after the costumes are finished to the warehouse before the opening night. And another superstition: When delivering the finished costumes, tailors always throw away all the pins that hold the clothes together – it is believed that this way they will not be sent back.
Tutus – the multi-layered short rigid skirts integral for a ballet performer’s costume – are another story.
Tutus were originally made of muslin and tarlatan, and they had to be starched prior to a performance. The late Maya Plisetskaya, one of Russia’s greatest ballerinas, once said her first tutu weighed several kilograms, and was “rough, extrusive, and smelling like kerosene.” Furthermore, the hooks of the bodice were heavy and resembled fishing sinkers.
Later, designers began using nylon for tutus, adding a thin steel wire rim to make a firm hoop that supported the layers and held them together. The first tutu of this type was brought to Russia from the UK in 1957 by none other than Maya Plisetskaya. The design became standard in Russia for years to come.
Maya Plisetskaya before a performance, 1965. Source: RIA Novosti
This changed in 2007, the year tutu makers refer to as a “revolution.” A Bolshoi designer working on a revival of Le Corsaire by Marius Petipa decided to use costume sketches from the late 19th century, and tutus were made longer and more “bell-shaped.” And for a later staging of George Balanchine's Jewels, designers actually invented an entirely new technology to support tutus. In this way, tutu-making became a separate branch of design, not unlike architecture.
New performances meant new costumes, and each dress cutter and tailor at the Bolshoi's workshops mastered the fine art of tutu-making. Nowadays, the creation of a single multi-layered tutu takes about a day. Each tutu is a unique item made specifically for one ballerina.
”I create the layers, making a fold on each of them, and then I assemble them together around the basis – that is, the panties,” says Tatyana Romanenko, a Bolshoi tailor. “It takes 15 to 28 meters of fabric to make one tutu, even more if we're talking about longer designs, like in Le Corsaire.”
Tailors say creating a ballet costume is hard work, as it has to fit perfectly lest it influence the dancer's performance.
The opera Boris Godunov is arguably the Bolshoi's most “populous” performance in terms of clothes: A total of 900 costumes worth about $1.1 million were created for it.
One of them is a sleeveless fur coat fit for a tsar. There is a label attached, saying “Boris Godunov. Choir performer Dmitry Nekrasov.” The thing feels like it weighs about eight kilograms.
”Fyodor Fyodorovsky, who took part in the 1948 performance, had to wear a coat that was easily 20 kilos,” says one of the tailors. “This lightweight model is courtesy of the so-called 'germinated fabric' invented by art director Pavel Kaplevich. He used a special device to spangle different kinds of fabrics with gold and silver threads, obtaining this vintage look. It looks just like brocade, but it is much lighter. We also use synthetic fur to make costumes less heavy,” he says.
This is particularly important considering most costumes for the latest staging of Musorgsky's Boris Godunov are supposed to be adorned with numerous jewels. For instance, the character Marina Mnisek's three costumes each have 1,000 jewels on them, and each of the four Boris Godunov coats is decorated with 5,000 precious stones.
The Bolshoi’s workshop is packed full of mannequins. Those that have 'breasts' and other curvy overlays sport the costumes of opera singers. Others bear the airy garments belonging to the ballet dancers.
Svetlana Zakharova. Source: Vladimir Fridkes, Courtesy of MMAM
Curiously, a lot of artists have their personal mannequin designed to perfectly imitate their build. One such dummy – a particularly delicate and gentle model – belongs to dancer Svetlana Zakharova. It currently sports the costume of Princess Mary from the stage play A Hero of Our Time – Zakharova's real prima ballerina costume is currently being repaired.
This is an abridged version of an article first published in Moskovsky Komsomolets
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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Are mutated bacteria resistant to antibiotics?
Are mutated bacteria resistant to antibiotics?
Biological Mutations Through mutation and selection, bacteria can develop defense mechanisms against antibiotics. For example, some bacteria have developed biochemical “pumps” that can remove an antibiotic before it reaches its target, while others have evolved to produce enzymes to inactivate the antibiotic.
What causes bacteria to mutate and become resistant to antibiotics?
Bacteria develop resistance mechanisms by using instructions provided by their DNA. Often, resistance genes are found within plasmids, small pieces of DNA that carry genetic instructions from one germ to another. This means that some bacteria can share their DNA and make other germs become resistant.
How do mutations cause antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance occurs due to changes, or mutations?, in the DNA? of the bacteria, or the acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes? from other bacterial species through horizontal gene transfer. These changes enable the bacteria to survive the effects of antibiotics designed to kill them.
Can bacteria become resistant to all antibiotics?
Key points about antibiotic resistance Standard antibiotics can’t kill bacteria that have become resistant. Many of these germs have spread all over the world. These bacteria can cause infections.
How fast can antibiotic resistance occur?
“The experiment shows just how easy it is for bacteria to evolve resistance – how quickly evolution can occur. In just 11 days, resistance levels increased by over 1000-fold,” said Professor Kishony.
How long does it take bacteria to mutate?
To better understand the impact of this situation, think of it this way: With a genome size of 2.8 × 106 and a mutation rate of 1 mutation per 1010 base pairs, it would take a single bacterium 30 hours to grow into a population in which every single base pair in the genome will have mutated not once, but 30 times!
Why is there so much concern for antibiotic resistant bacteria?
Bacteria, not humans or animals, become antibiotic-resistant. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased mortality.
What name is given to bacteria resistant to many antibiotics?
The overuse of antibiotics in recent years means they’re becoming less effective and has led to the emergence of “superbugs”. These are strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to many different types of antibiotics, including: MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
What are the most common antibiotic-resistant diseases?
Leading antimicrobial drug-resistant diseases
- Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacterium that causes tuberculosis (TB)
- C. difficile.
- VRE. (Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci)
- MRSA. (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)
- Neisseria gonorrhoea. The bacterium that causes gonorrhea.
Is antibiotic resistance common?
Antibiotic Resistance Threatens Everyone Each year in the U.S., at least 2.8 million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria or fungi, and more than 35,000 people die as a result.
What strain of bacteria is resistant to antibiotics?
These are strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to many different types of antibiotics, including: MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) Clostridium difficile (C. diff)
Is antibiotic resistance good?
What are the mutations that make bacteria resistant to antibiotics?
Pinpointing mutations that cause bacterial antibiotic resistance. The mutations seen in U1183, U1189, and C1063 render 16S rRNA resistant to spectinomycin (Spc). Researchers in Japan have developed a new way of testing bacterial resistance to antibiotics, and found three previously unknown resistance mutations in the process.
Why is there a problem with antibiotic resistance?
Antibiotic resistance has the potential to affect everyone. Most people would have heard about antibiotic resistance and studies show many are aware the cause of the current crisis is due to their overuse. But few know how and where the resistance occurs.
How are bacteria resistant to vancomycin and other antibiotics?
This mutation gave the bacteria an ability to fend off the vancomycin molecule. Some bacteria acquire resistance when they are “given” a gene by another bacterium through a process called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). There are three ways that HGT can occur. Transduction – This occurs when a virus attacks a bacterium and steals some of its DNA.
How is antibiotic resistance a result of natural selection?
Antibiotic resistance appearance and spread have been classically considered the result of a process of natural selection, directed by the use of antibiotics. Bacteria, that have to face the antibiotic challenge, evolve to acquire resistance and, under this strong selective pressure, only the fittes …
How can bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?
Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics by adapting their structure or function in some way as a defense mechanism. The antibiotic may have worked effectively before the resistance occurred; however, the change helps the bacteria to fend off the killing activity of the antibiotic.
How does antibiotic resistance arise?
Antibiotic resistance arises due to the evolution of the organisms they are designed to destroy. Subsequent generations of such organisms develop resistance to the antibiotic. Hospitals’ overuse of antibiotics quickens the process, as does the administration of antibiotics to feedlot cattle, whose meat is consumed by people.
How does antibiotic resistance affect natural selection?
Antibiotics stall the natural selection process. This means that if you get a sore throat or a cold, that is an infection that your body naturally gets. If it is natural then using antibiotics can actually make the bacteria infection resistant which means that the antibiotics will no longer work for your cold or throat, etc…
Why is antibiotic resistance increasing?
Excessive antibiotic use has become one of the top contributors to the development of antibiotic resistance. Since the beginning of the antibiotic era, antibiotics have been used to treat a wide range of disease. Overuse of antibiotics has become the primary cause of rising levels of antibiotic resistance.
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1. An Indian unit of length having different values in different localities.
5. 1,000 baiza equal 1 riyal-omani.
10. Being one more than one.
13. (Norse mythology) Goddess of old age who defeated Thor in a wrestling match.
14. A chock or bar wedged under a wheel or between the spokes to prevent a vehicle from rolling down an incline.
15. The most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on.
16. Power to control.
18. An enclosure made or wire or metal bars in which birds or animals are kept.
19. An agency of the United Nations affiliated with the World Bank.
20. An alloy of copper and zinc (and sometimes arsenic) used to imitate gold in cheap jewelry and for gilding.
22. Citadel of Moscow, housing the offices of the Russian government.
24. Again but in a new or different way.
26. The blood group whose red cells carry both the A and B antigens.
27. A Chadic language spoken in the Mandara mountains in Cameroon.
30. Type genus of the Hylidae.
33. A flat wing-shaped process or winglike part of an organism.
34. A silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite.
36. The syllable naming the fourth (subdominant) note of the diatonic scale in solmization.
37. The square of a body of any size of type.
38. Any of the Hindu sacred writing.
40. Toward the mouth or oral region.
42. Of or relating to or characteristic of Thailand of its people.
43. A period of time containing 365 (or 366) days.
44. A fraudulent business scheme.
46. An official prosecutor for a judicial district.
47. 10 grams.
48. The cry made by sheep.
50. A river in north central Switzerland that runs northeast into the Rhine.
53. East Indian tree bearing a profusion of intense vermilion velvet-textured blooms and yielding a yellow dye.
55. Feline mammal usually having thick soft fur and being unable to roar.
58. A vehicle resembling a bicycle but having skis instead of wheels.
61. Bug of temperate regions that infests especially beds and feeds on human blood.
62. 300 to 3000 megahertz.
63. A sheet or band of fibrous connective tissue separating or binding together muscles and organs etc.
66. A period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event.
67. The airforce of Great Britain.
68. United States comedian and film actor (1880-1946).
69. Water that has condensed on a cool surface overnight from water vapor in the air.
1. (British slang) An absolute certainty.
2. A spread made chiefly from vegetable oils and used as a substitute for butter.
3. Being of delicate or slender build.
4. In the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages.
5. A bachelor's degree in science.
6. A drug combination found in some over-the-counter headache remedies (Aspirin and Phenacetin and Caffeine).
7. A republic in the Middle East in western Asia.
8. The capital of Croatia.
9. American novelist (1909-1955).
10. Felt hat with a creased crown.
11. Gully or streambed in North Africa and the Middle East that remains dry except during rainy season.
12. A strategically located monarchy on the southern and eastern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula.
17. The capital and largest city of Yemen.
21. United States food manufacturer who (with his brother) developed a breakfast cereal of crisp flakes of rolled and toasted wheat and corn.
23. (Hinduism) Term of respect for a Brahmin sage.
25. A state in northwestern United States on the Pacific.
28. On or toward the lee.
29. A quantity of no importance.
31. A soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element.
32. Type genus of the Amiidae.
35. An archaic name for Easter or Passover.
39. A unit of dry measure used in Egypt.
41. The district occupied entirely by the city of Washington.
45. A member of the Circassian people living east of the Black Sea.
49. (of complexion) Blemished by imperfections of the skin.
51. A Loloish language.
52. A Berber living in northern Morocco.
53. Having undesirable or negative qualities.
54. Harsh or corrosive in tone.
56. A unit of area (4840 square yards) used in English-speaking countries.
57. The process whereby heat changes something from a solid to a liquid.
59. Not in operation or operational.
60. The Tibeto-Burman language spoken in the Dali region of Yunnan.
64. A toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium.
65. Being ten more than one hundred forty.
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Dolphins don’t belong in tiny glass tanks, and India wants to make sure that they won’t be put there.
When PETA India learned that state governments were planning to put dolphin parks in several parts of the country, it immediately contacted Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan. The group reminded her that the Animal Welfare Board of India, which must give its permission before animals may be used in performances, said that it has not granted and will not grant permission for companies to keep dolphins in captivity, as tearing dolphins away from their families, confining them to tiny tanks, and forcing them to perform likely constitutes cruelty and violates India’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Natarajan was in complete agreement with PETA India and the board and announced that the ministry would deny all proposals for dolphin parks.
In the U.S. and Canada, dolphins aren’t so lucky. Animal advocates must continue to speak out against aquariums and swim-with-dolphins programs.
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To start our book vote in 2020, we're looking at five books from the Air Campaign series. As with every month, there are five books to choose between. Have a read of the descriptions and cast your vote!
ACM: Lorraine 1918: Billy Mitchell’s great Franco-American air offensive over St Mihiel/Meuse-Argonne
ACM: Berlin Airlift 1948: The first air campaign of the Cold War
ACM: Operation Niagara 1968: The huge close air support operation over Khe Sanh
ACM: Operation Allied Force 1999: NATO’s ‘humanitarian air campaign’ against in the Kosovo War
Lorraine 1918: Billy Mitchell’s great Franco-American air offensive over St Mihiel/Meuse-Argonne
The AEF's combined St Mihiel/Meuse-Argonne air campaign was probably the largest air offensive of World War I. The 1,500 Franco-American planes Billy Mitchell marshalled against St Mihiel in mid-September 1918 was supposedly the largest air armada ever assembled until at least 1942. Judging from the Germans rushing all their elite Jagdgeschwader pursuit groups to meet it, the St Mihiel/Meuse-Argonne air offensive was arguably the most important air campaign of the war's final months. In addition to major roles for the American, French, and German air forces, the British also had a minor role thanks to RAF strategic bomber raids against German Lorraine targets
Germany 1942: The RAF brings area-bombing, fire-bombing, and 1,000-Bomber raids
At the start of 1942, the controversial ‘area bombing’ of Germany became RAF policy, and Arthur Harris ramped up Bomber Command’s war against Germany’s cities. Towns and cities selected for their flammability were hit first, and as Bomber Command grew in size and power, it launched massed ‘Thousand Bomber’ raids, the first of which devastated the city of Cologne. The area bombing campaign of 1942 was a proving ground for bombing techniques that would be used later in the war, against Hamburg, Berlin, and many other cities.
Berlin Airlift 1948: The first air campaign of the Cold War
The blockade of Berlin was the first major crisis of the Cold War, when the USSR closed road and rail access to the city in an attempt to gain Soviet control over West Berlin. The airlift that was launched in response was audacious and unproven – no city had been supplied by air alone before, the RAF and USAF had relatively few transport aircraft in theatre, and the operation had to be devised from scratch and mistakes rapidly fixed. The airlift had to be flown in the face of bitter and challenging weather, harassment by Soviet Air Force fighters, and a severe lack of aircraft- and cargo-handling facilities. By the end of the operation, however, thanks to excellent organization, the determination of the aircrews, and the vital assistance of the Berliners themselves, the airlift was routinely flying in West Berlin’s needs. The Soviets were forced to back down, and the concept of large-scale airlift was proven.
Operation Niagara 1968: The huge close air support operation over Khe Sanh
Khe Sanh was a key Marine combat base just south of the DMZ. In early 1968, the fighting around the base erupted into a full-scale bid to capture Khe Sanh by three divisions of the PAVN. The two sides saw this as a chance to either slay or resurrect the ghosts of Dien Bien Phu, when French airpower failed to save the French Army’s outpost. In Khe Sanh, however, the US could send in not only tactical fighters but B-52 strategic bombers – although it did run into inter-service rivalry between the USAF and Marine aviation. Bombing alarmingly close to friendly troops, the fighters and B-52s conducted one of the most concentrated assaults in air power history, relying both on the skills of the aircrews and the systems and capabilities of the Marines and USAF to control such firepower.
Operation Allied Force 1999: NATO’s ‘humanitarian air campaign’ against in the Kosovo War
Following the clear success of Western air power in the Gulf War, and the end of the Cold War, NATO gained a new freedom of action to use its advanced air power. As Yugoslavia continued to disintegrate, the ethnic-Albanian province of Kosovo rebelled against Slobodan Milosevic’s Yugoslavia, which drew in the Western powers as it saw human-rights abuses and another humanitarian crisis on its borders. As diplomacy failed in 1999, Operation Allied Force was launched to force a Yugoslav withdrawal. The Yugoslavs’ MiG-29s were no match for NATO air-superiority fighters, but the Western aircraft had to run the gauntlet of Soviet anti-aircraft systems, and Yugoslav ground-attack aircraft managed to evade NATO to fly sorties against Kosovo. Targeting government buildings, industry, power, and transport links as well as the Yugoslav military, Allied Force was successful, though controversial, and it was undermined by failures such as the bombing of the Chinese embassy and the shock loss of an F-117 ‘stealth fighter’, as well as several other NATO aircraft.
Make your vote by clicking here!
Last month we asked you what would you like to see published in our Combat Aircraft series. Thank you to everyone who voted and provided feedback, the full results are listed below!
|COM: RB-47 Units in Combat||11%|
|COM: Ju 52/3m Transport and Minesweeping Units 1941-45||23%|
|COM: USAF and USMC RF-4 Phantom II Units of the Vietnam War||12%|
|COM: USAAF A-20 Havoc Units of the ETO/MTO||18%|
|COM: Macchi C.202 Folgore and C.205V Veltro Units in Combat||35%|
Did your favourite win? Which Air Campaign title did you vote for? Let us know in the comments!
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1. Carry out the process of scientific investigation, using appropriate lab
techniques and safety procedures.
2. Apply mathematical techniques to represent, model, and solve physics
problems, including real world problems.
3. Write simple computer programs that control scientific experiments, gather
physical data, and model or simulate physical processes.
4. Apply specific knowledge in the areas of mechanics, electromagnetism,
thermal physics, and quantum phenomena to problem solve in these fields and to
5. Design, troubleshoot, and test analog and digital electronic circuits for real-
6. Keep a laboratory notebook and know how to present scientific information as
a technical article, as a formal journal article, or as a public oral presentation.
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Mayo Clinic Minute: First-of-its-kind surgery helping patients with lymphedema
- March 2, 2021
Lymphedema is swelling that typically occurs in the extremities, often resulting from the damage or removal of a person’s lymph nodes during cancer treatment. It affects approximately 1 in every 1,000 Americans and is especially prevalent in patients with breast cancer. The swelling can cause discomfort and lead to infection.
Mayo Clinic surgeons in Arizona are leading the way with cutting-edge technology by using robotic surgery to offer a new procedure to treat lymphedema.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (1:05) is in the downloads at the end of the post. Please Courtesy: “Mayo Clinic News Network.” Read the script.
The omentum is a membrane of fatty tissue that lines your abdominal cavity. Traditionally, a lymph node transfer in that area required laparoscopic surgery, a large incision, and any risks and postoperative side effects that might come with it.
But a team of surgeons at Mayo Clinic in Arizona is now performing the next generation of this type of surgery — a first-of-its-kind procedure using what’s called a single-port robot.
“We are the only institution in the world that has ever done this procedure,” says Dr. Rebecca.
“We make a 2.5- to 3-centimeter incision — just one incision — through which a single-port robot can then enter into the abdominal cavity and facilitate harvest of the omentum,” says Dr. Chad Teven, a Mayo Clinic plastic surgeon.
This new, minimally invasive procedure allows surgeons to be more precise and improve patient outcomes while relieving their lymphedema symptoms.
“There are hundreds of thousands and potentially even millions of people who could benefit from these procedures,” says Dr. Rebecca.
For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in an area not designated for patient care, where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.
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Scope: Variations within the Earth’s atmosphere, and processes in other parts of the Earth such as oceans and ice
caps. Impact of human activity on climate and human generated processes such as air and water pollution. For related information, see the Research Guide on Sustainability.
General Searching Tips:
Call number areas to browse:
- GE (Environmental sciences)
- QC912.3 (Greenhouse effect)
- QC981.8 (Climate changes)
Keywords to search:
climate change, global warming
Subjects to search (Library of Congress):
- Climatic changes
- Environmental policy
- Environmental protection
- Global warming
- Greenhouse effect, Atmospheric
Access to the subscription-based resources from off campus is available for TNCC faculty, staff, and registered students through the use of a proxy server. Click the link for instructions. Remote Access
- About.com pages on Climate Change
& Global Warming and Weather.
- Building Green [Natural Resources Defense Council] – “Green buildings” are designed for maximum
energy-efficiency and minimum negative impact on the environment. For those considering building green, this Webby winning site explains sustainable building strategies, costs, and more.
- California Climate Change Portal – “This website combines information [from state government
agencies and commissions] on the impacts of climate change on California and the state’s policies relating to global warming” It provides background information, policy papers, reports, legislation, and other materials on California strategy related to global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change in the state. Maintained by the California Energy Commission.
- Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI) – This site posits solutions to “the greenhouse gas problem.” Find
scientific and technical papers, references, and presentations on topics such as low-carbon energy technologies, underground carbon storage, and carbon mitigation strategies. Includes links to related websites. A joint project of Princeton University, BP, and the Ford Motor Company.
- Chesapeake Climate Action Network – (CCAN) is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Their mission is to educate and mobilize citizens of this region in a way that fosters a rapid societal switch to clean energy and energy-efficient products, thus joining similar efforts worldwide to slow and perhaps halt the dangerous trend of global warming.
- Climate Biz - the Business Resource for Climate Management. Businesses interested in improving their
environmental performance will find backgrounders here on such topics as the business case for climate-friendly policies, establishing targets and measuring performance, reducing emissions, carbon offsets, etc.
Also, a glossary, news, best practices, tools and resources, and an “Ask the Climate Expert” feature.
- Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Site – offers comprehensive information on the
issue of climate change in a way that is accessible and meaningful to all parts of society – communities, individuals, business, states and localities, and governments.
- Global Change Master Directory – from Goddard Space Flight Center. More than 15,000 descriptions of Earth science data sets and services covering all aspects of Earth and environmental sciences.
- Global Warming and Climate Change – Hot paper links from “The Best Information on the Net” by St. Ambrose University Library.
- GreenBiz.com – Information source linking environmental concerns with business success. Features “easy-to-read overviews” of topics like computer recycling, green building, green product design, buying recycled materials, etc.
- Green Car Congress – “News and analysis of the energy choices, technologies, products, issues and policies related to sustainable mobility.” Searchable, and browsable by such topics as biodiesel, fuel efficiency, electric vehicles, hybrids, personal transit, etc., as well as by country.
- How It All Ends – A series of Youtube videos created by a physics teacher to explain the science behind climate change arguements and risk analysis of taking or not taking action.
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been established by World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. It is open to all Members of the UN and of WMO.
- Kyoto Protocol – International agreement that sets binding targets for industrial countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- National Climate Data Center – World’s largest active archive of weather data.
- Pew Center on Global Climate Change -Provides reports, publications, and online resources on climate change.
- Sea Ice Yearly Minimum 1979-2007 – from the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.
- US Global Change Research Program – United States government interagency research program focusing on the interaction of natural and humans induced changes in the global environment.
- Wiser Earth – “a community directory and networking forum for organizations addressing the central issues of our day: climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social justice, conservation, human rights, and more.” You can search the site or browse the directory for organizations, people, jobs, events, areas of focus (community development, sustainable cities, greening of industry, etc.), or resources.
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A combination of light weight AND strength makes advanced composite materials very useful when building something that's designed to go fast while being subjected to physical stress ... like an aircraft. On the downside, bulky equipment is required when it comes to inspecting these aircraft for damage – a problem that is MIT researchers hope to solve with the development of a new type of composite material that incorporates carbon nanotubes.
Aircraft composites consist of high-strength fibers, such as carbon or glass, embedded in a plastic or metal matrix. Unlike aluminum, they are not a uniform surface which means they can look fine on the outside despite being damaged internally – there's no noticeable crack or dent, so it's difficult to tell if there is damage?
"With aluminum, if you hit it, there's a dent there," said Associate Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Brian L. Wardle. "With a composite, oftentimes if you hit it, there's no surface damage, even though there may be internal damage." Internal damage of course means that the part won't be as strong as it looks,
Currently advanced composites can be inspected using infrared thermography – the material is heated and any area that has been cracked or delaminated (i.e. the layers have separated) will show differing redirection of heat that is visible using a thermographic camera. The problem – heating an aircraft's surface requires bulky equipment which makes this method difficult.
To solve this, Wardle and his research team have developed an advanced composite material which can be subjected to infrared thermography without the need for an outside heat source. Carbon nanotubes are incorporated into the composite material and when a small electric current is applied to the surface, the nanotubes heat up. This means that abnormal flow of heat is then clearly visible to an inspector equipped with a thermographic camera or goggles and a simple handheld device to supply the electric current.
Not only are flaws now easier to detect, Wardle's materials have so far shown superior mechanical properties compared to existing composites.
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December 27, 2013
Motivational focus affects how we approach life’s challenges and demands. While everyone is concerned at various times with both promotion and prevention, most of us have a dominant motivational focus, which affects what we pay attention to, what we value and how we feel when we succeed or fail. As educators, we have the pleasure of working with prevention and promotion-focused students, and those who successfully speak the motivational language of both have shown remarkable results. (1)
While the classroom management style prescribed in Doug Lemov’s Teach like a Champ is highly suitable for prevention-focused pupils, the promotion-focused will thrive when teachers have management styles that support creative solutions, long-term visions, and opportunities to shake things up. (2)
Many of my students had jobs and most of their parents had more than one. Those jobs, however, are insufficient means for providing promotion-focused students with inspiration. To clarify, a job and a career are not the same. A career is defined by the OED as an individual’s “course or progress through life.” The etymology of the term comes from the 16th century French word Carriere, which meant “road” or “racecourse.” In contrast, a job is “a regular activity performed in exchange for payment.” If you still don’t see the distinction, Chris Rock can elucidate further.
Some don’t have to leave the kitchen table to see people with fulfilling careers, these privileged individuals were not the students I worked with. Along the bus-ride or walk home from school each day, my students saw insufficient examples of successful careers. Regardless of their motivational focus, people will always dream about their future. But those dreams, and the will to realize them is limited in “dream deserts” where access and opportunity are unjustly stifled. (3)
“Have a Dream I said” – The language promotion-focused students need to hear
Lacking sufficient examples of career opportunities in the formal economy, my students were often vocal about their motivations to enter the informal economy. I took their insights seriously, and created an entire unit to address them. This unit began with an excerpt from Jay-Z’s Decoded titled “Have a Dream I Said”. It began with the a simple question: What’s the basic motivation for a hustler?
The kid in McDonald’s gets a check and that’s it. There’s no dream in fast food. Manager? That’s a promotion, not a dream…The truth is that most kids on the corner aren’t making big money–especially if you break their income down to an hourly wage. (footnote from freakonomics) But they’re getting rewarded in ways that go beyond dollars and cents. The kid on the streets is getting a shot at a dream.
This vignette spoke of my promotion-focused students’ profound capacity to channel their energy towards a compelling victory. Moreover, it undermined mythologies of the informal economy. As teachers, we must speak the language of promotion-focused students daily. We must provide them with more vivid, inspirational examples of success and a map that will lead them to it. Lastly, we must recognize the small wins that they make along the steep path to victory. These celebratory acts will make the ultimate dream seem even closer, worth more and more risks we will ask them to take.
(1) One study found that students who received instructions suited to their dominant motivational focus were about 50% more likely than others to turn in their reports.
(2) Prevention-focused students were found to thrive with strategies emphasize rules and standards, and under leaders who tend toward micromanagement, discourage errors, and focus on effectively reaching more-immediate goals.
(3) In the world of nutrition, urban communities are often described as “food deserts”. I’d like to encourage today’s geography majors to map “dream deserts” and identify such as any geographic area with unjustly low opportunities for meaningful careers.
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New medicine has already proved successful on mice. Source: Kinopoisk.ru / A frame from the Ratatouille animation film
Scientists from the Belozersky Research Institute at Moscow State University and the Wenner-Gren Institute at the University of Stockholm have developed a new medicine against obesity. It proved successful on mice, and scientists say that clinical tests on humans will start in two years.
A penetrating ion, called C12-TPP, is the key element in the new medication given to mice in their drinking water. Unofficially, scientists call it the Skulachev Ion in honor of the Soviet biochemist, Vladimir Skulachev. In the 1970s his research helped explain how our cells receive energy during the breathing process.
Recently, the main ideas of his research were the basis for a project called, "Skulachev's Ions - No Aging!" Over 300 scientists from more than 40 Russian and international laboratories participated. The research proved that Skulachev's ions help fight free radicals and prolong life. As a result, the labs created various anti-age drugs now being tested in Russia and the U.S., and in Russia eye drops for age-related problems are already available in pharmacies.
Also, scientists decided to use Skulachev’s ions to fight obesity. The C12-TPP ion reduces the electrical charge on the mitochondrial membrane, which is a type of tiny powerhouse for each of our cells. The ion forces cells to work harder and restores the released charge, which leads to consuming more nutrients, and thus, imitating physical exercise.
Over the last few years, Russian dietitians have been sounding the alarm on obesity. According to the Scientific Research Institute of Nutrition, Russia may soon face an obesity epidemic. Currently, 16% of men and 24% of women suffer from this illness. Already 8 to 10 percent of Russian children have excess body mass. Russia is the fourth most obese country in the world, according to the Healthy Food Research Center.
The reasons for obesity in Russia are the same as everywhere. First, this is due to poor nutrition or an extreme consumption of carbohydrates, said Alexei Kovalkov, a dietician and weight correction clinic director. “The problem is that the entire world is fighting not the reasons for obesity but obesity itself,” said Kovalkov. “Operations to reduce the size of the stomach are a radical method, but it does not eliminate the approximately 50 reasons for obesity, which are all basically related to hormones.”
It had been thought that obesity could be healed with psychoanalysis or by keeping track of calories. But according to Kovalkov, in the last two to three years scientific research has completely disproven this theory and showed that excess weight indicates serious illness throughout the whole body and leads to various complications.
Today, there are many means to lose weight. In Russia, for example, the most popular are medicines based on fibers that help one to feel sated from small quantities of food.
Anti-obesity medicines usually have various side effects, so how safe will C12-TPP be? "At least it has not done any damage to lab mice, and it only created additional pressure for the mitochondria, the cells' source of energy," explained Maxim Skulachev, one of the drug's developers.
In the next two years a series of pre-clinical tests will be performed on animals. If they are successful, clinical tests on humans will soon start. Scientists, however, say that the medicine itself cannot be considered a panacea. After it is removed from the body, a person again begins to gain weight if he or she does not change eating habits.
Tests carried out by the University of Stockholm showed that mice that continued a fatty diet after ceasing to take the drug soon regained lost fat. The new pill helps one lose excess weight rather quickly, but an overweight person must change his/her lifestyle, although not as radically as before taking the medicine.
All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
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3.10.16. Aggregate Filtered Variants¶
This algorithm runs on the variants in the selected Filter Chain and not all variants originally imported.
This algorithm requires first annotating and classifying variants using a gene annotation source.
After clicking OK you will be prompted to select a Gene Names field to group variant counts based on genes, and a grouping field. If no grouping is selected, counts will be created for all of the combined samples. Otherwise the values in the selected Category field which is used to define the sample sets.
Output in the Gene Table¶
Three different fields will be created for each sample set. A sample set is created for each category in the selected Category field, as well as for a ungrouped set which contains all of the samples. Each category will have the three following fields for each gene.
Unique Variant Count: The total number of unique variant sites that are present for this sample category.
Unique Sample Count: The total number of samples in this bucket which had variant sites in this gene.
Observed Variant Count: The total number of different variant sites observed in this gene across all samples.
Output in the Filter Chain¶
A filter card is automatically created after the algorithm finishes running. This card is placed at the bottom of the filter chain, but can be moved by clicking and dragging the card to the desired location.
If moving the algorithm output card changes the input it will be necessary to rerun the algorithm. This will be indicated by an information icon on the filter card.
By default the filter card created will correspond to the Unique Variant Count field, but can be changed to other fields created by the algorithm. Additionally, right-clicking on the column header for the other fields produced will present an option to add an additional card for that field.
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For those of you who couldn’t make it to last night’s Chocolate Tasting (or had to be turned away), here’s a quick summary of the chocolates we sampled and the information about them.
A Short History of Chocolate:
Chocolate has been used as a drink for almost all of its history, with the earliest cultivation dating back to 1400 BC at the site of Puerto Escondido, Honduras. Cocoa has had ritual and spiritual meanings, and it was also used as currency and medicine in the Mayan, Toltec, and Aztec empires. Cocoa was often used to differentiate between classes—the highest grades reserved for rulers and warriors alone.
There are several myths from ancient times that surround the cacao tree. The Mayans believed that in ancient times, two ball-playing god-brothers were beheaded by the gods of death. One of their heads was hung on a cacao tree. The head managed to impregnate a woman by spitting in her hand. She gave birth to 2 boys, the sun and moon, who defeated the gods of death. According to the Toltec history, Quetzalcoatl gave chocolate to mortals. The gods considered it to be such a sacred and important tree that they considered Quetzalcoatl to be a traitor. They banished him from the land of the gods, but he swore to return. Many in the Aztec empire believed that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl returning.
Chocolate was first imported to Europe through the Spanish empire, and the first European chocolate shop opened in London in 1657. However, the solid form (bars) was not invented until 1847 by Joseph Fry and Son. Continue reading How Sweet It Is
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Associated with each file is a set of three
timestamps. These timestamps were discussed briefly when we talked about getting information about a file: the
last access time, the
last modification time, and the last change time. The first two timestamps can be set to arbitrary values by the
The values are measured in internal time, namely an integer number of seconds past midnight GMT, January 1, 1970 - a figure that had reached eight-hundred-million-something when this book was being written. (Internally, it's represented as a 32-bit unsigned number, and if we haven't all upgraded to 64-bit machines (or beyond), will overflow sometime well into the next century. We have much more to worry about in the year 2000[ 3 ]).
$atime = $mtime = 700_000_000; # a while ago utime($atime,$mtime,"fred","barney")
No "reasonableness" value exists for the timestamps; you can make a file look arbitrarily old or as though it were modified at some time in the distant future (useful if you are writing science fiction stories). For example, using the
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Chapteh is a traditional Asian game which requires players to keep a weighted shuttlecock in the air, usually using their feet, although other parts of the body may be used, except for the hands.
The chapteh consists of feathers attached to a rubber or plastic sole.
Many of us used to play chapteh back when we were young, like, in primary school, and I think we enjoyed ourselves immensely back then. To most people, chapteh is not a foreign traditional game, but not many still play it nowadays.
Apart from the excitement derived when people compete with each other to see who can keep the chapteh in the air the longest, chapteh also provides health benefits. Not only that, it also improves our hand-eye coordination. All the more we should start digging out the old chaptehs we have stashed in some remote corner, no?
There are a variety of names given to this game, for example, chatek or capteh in Singapore and some parts of Southeast Asia, sepak bulu ayam in Malaysia, sepak kenchi in Indonesia, and larong sipa in the Phillipines, to name a few. However, despite the different terms, the methods of playing chapteh is still largely similar.
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Reading with a purpose allows the reader to focus on a goal while reading. Whether it is knowing more about the character or learning about the theme, one thing is important, to stay focused. Learning about the elements of the story will help to develop better reading skills.
During this lesson, students will be able to:
- apply reading skills;
- identify story elements;
- recall and recount a story;
- recognize character, traits, and details in the story;
- organize events in order.
This lesson’s content is of high educational quality. It is designed with a model of a conceptualization, definitions, examples, practice exercises and test with different levels of complexity. In addition, it includes rubrics for an objective evaluation.
12 items in example section
34 items in exercise practice
23 items in test
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The printed representation of an object is the format of the
output generated by the Lisp printer (the function
that object. Every data type has a unique printed representation.
The read syntax of an object is the format of the input accepted
by the Lisp reader (the function
read) for that object. This
is not necessarily unique; many kinds of object have more than one
syntax. See Read and Print.
In most cases, an object’s printed representation is also a read syntax for the object. However, some types have no read syntax, since it does not make sense to enter objects of these types as constants in a Lisp program. These objects are printed in hash notation, which consists of the characters ‘#<’, a descriptive string (typically the type name followed by the name of the object), and a closing ‘>’. For example:
(current-buffer) ⇒ #<buffer objects.texi>
Hash notation cannot be read at all, so the Lisp reader signals the
invalid-read-syntax whenever it encounters ‘#<’.
In other languages, an expression is text; it has no other form. In Lisp, an expression is primarily a Lisp object and only secondarily the text that is the object’s read syntax. Often there is no need to emphasize this distinction, but you must keep it in the back of your mind, or you will occasionally be very confused.
When you evaluate an expression interactively, the Lisp interpreter
first reads the textual representation of it, producing a Lisp object,
and then evaluates that object (see Evaluation). However,
evaluation and reading are separate activities. Reading returns the
Lisp object represented by the text that is read; the object may or may
not be evaluated later. See Input Functions, for a description of
read, the basic function for reading objects.
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Cigarette smokers have increased dramatically in Davao City over the past several years. The Government is aware of the rising rate of smokers so the new Anti-Smoking Ordinance in Davao City was made to minimize the problem. The study aimed to determine the areas in Davao City where smoke belchers usually smoke using GIS and Android application. The researchers gathered data from public document for relevant reports in the Department of Health and in the Davao City Police Office. Through using the system, the researchers were able to pinpoint and mark the area in the map after sending in the online server. The researchers successfully developed an android mobile application, develop a web application with mapping system, automatically generate statistical counts of cigarette smoking incidents and were able to locate the areas in Davao City with a high rate of smokers. In conclusion, the applications were able to help the citizen’s awareness about the Ordinance No. 0367-12, Series of 2012, known as The New Comprehensive Anti-Smoking Ordinance, in knowing the cause and effects of smoking and places in the city where there are many smokers through the use of the android application and through the Web Application the target user (DCPO) were able to receive smoking incidents and map it out.
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And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. (Genesis 11:6–7, [King James Version])
As you probably recognize, these verses are from the biblical account of the Tower of Babel, which provided a divine explanation for the profusion of languages and cultures in the ancient world. It also recounts an archetypal engineering failure: the abandonment of a great tower due to the inability to collaborate and share information.
Today we still struggle with overcoming such differences, even in the world of astrophysics, where it is assumed that all practitioners speak the lingua franca of mathematics. Case in point: the Nearby Supernova Factory—better known as the SNfactory—an experiment that involves intense collaboration between American and French institutions.
The SNfactory is designed to collect reams of data on Type Ia supernovae, the subcategory of extraordinarily bright, remarkably uniform objects whose consistent peak luminosity makes them useful as “standard candles” for measuring the rate at which the universe is expanding—measurements that provide insight into the mysterious Dark Energy that accelerates this expansion.
Happily, the SNfactory anticipated the challenges of diverse languages and cultural proclivities and created Sunfall (SUperNova Factory AssembLy Line), a system of well-planned data curation and management, to overcome them. Sunfall brought together an interdisciplinary team of astrophysicists, computer scientists, and software engineers to design a collaborative scientific data management and visual analytics system that
integrates software tools and provides distributed, remote access to the supernova catalog database. It features an interactive, visual interface and a real-time chat system that promote collaboration and efficient decision-making.
As described in the recent report of the National Science Foundation Office of Cyberinfrastructure (NSF-OCI) Task Force on Data and Visualization, Sunfall has demonstrated how cyberinfrastructure can yield a significant return on investment, “both in terms of financial resources and scientific productivity.” In fact, the NSF-OCI report notes that Sunfall “reduced false supernovae identification by 40%; it improved scanning times by 70%; and it reduced labor for search and scanning from 6–8 people working four hours per day to one person working one hour per day.” The report further observes that Sunfall paid for itself within 18 months and it enabled new scientific discoveries—a
substantial return on investment on all counts.
So the ancients might have abandoned their engineering efforts in the face of linguistic and cultural diversity, but thanks to well-designed cyberinfrastructure, we can effectively and frugally collaborate across such anthropological divides.
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Innovation and Technique For all the golds in the world
You think you know gold? Maybe not so well. Because it's all about...what's not gold inside it.
Gold as been the preferred choice for smiths since around 5000 BC. Yellow like the sun, it's highly resistant to corrosion and therefore retains its yellow color indefinitely. It is also ductile and dense, i.e. malleable and heavy. And last but not least, it gains a great sheen when polished. In watchmaking as in most of jewelry, gold isn't used in its purest form, known as 24 carat gold. Instead, it is mixed with other materials to create an 18-carat alloy, where pure gold represents 75% of the total weight. The last quarter makes all the difference, not only in terms of color, but also general properties.
So first, let's talk about color. White gold uses pale metals, palladium and silver, to obtain its light gray sheen. But inside the mix, it's still mostly yellow. So almost every brand uses a rhodium-plating finish to make sure gray remains gray...except Chopard, who use a non-plated special alloy. Incorporating high amounts of palladium, it is manufactured inside the smelting facilities of the Chopard Manufacture near Geneva.
L.U.C Full Strike in non-rhodium-plated white gold © Chopard
Then come the warm tones, which in turn lead to talking about the Ns. Each N represents 5% of the remaining 25% of the gold alloy. These Ns rely on copper for the color and silver for...well...mass. 1N doesn't really exist, but it would be yellow. 2N gold is the official yellow gold. 3N incorporates a little more copper, which warms up the tone of the metal. 4N is the full-blown rose gold. 5N is sometimes called red gold, even though it's still pinkish.
Copper doesn't really go away because it's in charge of creating the hue. It's the other Ns that make a difference, because they're actually not always made of silver. For example, Rolex uses platinum to create its Everose gold. Platinum betters the anti-oxidation and color stability properties, as well as the perceived value, of the Crown's gold. It is mostly the same recipe Hublot uses with their King Gold. Omega has elected palladium to take on the same tasks under the moniker Sedna Gold.
Everose Pink Rose © Rolex
But an alloy isn't all about its components. Other factors make metallurgy an actual science. Witness IWC and their Hard Gold. By working on the granularity of the gold and the conditions under which it is melted, they manage to make it 5 to 10 times harder than traditional 18 ct golds. Back in the early 2010s, A. Lange & Söhne and Chanel had undertaken similar ventures with their Honey and Beige golds, only to drop the ventures altogether. And since gold remains a rather soft metal, it is easy to sandblast, engrave, and everything in between like Audemars Piguet's “frosted gold”, which is in fact hammered.
Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Chronograph Edition “Le Petit Prince” in Hard Gold © IWC
Royal Oak Frosted Gold © Audemars Piguet
Then there are those who don't use metal for the last 25%. Yes, it's not a given, nor is it an obligation. 18ct gold has to be 75% gold in weight and then innovation comes in. It all started with Hublot and their Magic Gold, where the 25 last percent were a ceramics porous skeleton in which molten metal was injected. On the plus side, it stole the scratch-proof properties of ceramics. But it looked pale, dull, which didn't help its further use. Not everyone has thrown in the towel because a team of researchers from the Zürich Federal Polytechnic Institute are making gold with recycled plastic. Good luck selling that one in the luxury environment...
Big Bang Ferrari Unico Magic Gold © Hublot
Audemars Piguet is one of the few independent family-owned watch businesses and has been based in Le Brassus, in Switzerland's Vallée de Joux region, at the heart of the fine watchmaking industry,...Find out more >
Maison Chopard epitomises the alliance between watchmaking and jewellery. It has always known how to meet the expectations of its day, relying on four essential values: expertise, tradition,...Find out more >
From the outset, Hublot has embodied design and innovation that differ markedly from the established watchmaking order. With the impetus provided by Jean-Claude Biver, by 2004 these values had...Find out more >
With a clear emphasis on technology and development, IWC Schaffhausen has been manufacturing timepieces of lasting value since 1868. Its philosophy, based on a passion for watchmaking, aims to...Find out more >
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6 Fun Facts About the December Birth Flower
The birth flower for December is the Narcissus. It means that all the people born in December share this strong-scented flower as their birth flower. There are around 100 species of Narcissus flowers, including the wild hybrids. This pretty December birth flower is believed to have originated in Europe, North Africa and Asia.
1. Origin of name
It is believed by some that the name ‘Narcissus’ is assigned to the flower because of its narcotic properties. In Greek, the word ‘narkao’ means to grow numb. According to Greek mythology, it is believed that when Narcissus- the hunter, died, Apollo turned him into a flower ‘Narcissus.’ Narcissus, the hunter, became famous for falling in love with his own reflection. Hence the word narcissist. In any case, the name has Greek roots. The most common name for the December flower is ‘Daffodil.’
2. Physical appearance
The Narcissus plant mostly flowers in Spring season and is quite easy to grow indoors. Most species have a central disc-shaped ‘corona’ which is surrounded by six floral leaves, called the perianth. The three outer segments and three inner segments are called as sepals and petals respectively. The Narcissus flowers are available in various colors and are even grown as bi-colored and multi-colored flowers.
3. Symbolic meaning
The Narcissus symbolizes success, sweetness and good wishes. The flower also signifies self-esteem, celebration and wealth. Back in the Victorian era, the flower would symbolize a message of ‘faithful love.’
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by Sam Stoker
Cernunnos is an interesting deity whose legend spans across the centuries, originating in Celtic polytheism. He has been assimilated by Wiccans in the modern day, and is found throughout neopaganism.
Not a great deal is known about Cernunnos, although it is thought that he was originally a Celtic god, and iconography of him has been found as far back as 400 BCE in Italy, which at the time was ruled by the Celts. He was around when Britain was part of Gaul and people followed a Gallo-Roman religion (where Roman and Hellenism were incorporated into the existing belief system). One of the earliest depictions of him is on an artefact called the Gundestrup cauldron, a cauldron found near Gundestrup, Denmark, in the 1890s, but dated from somewhere between 150 BCE to 300 CE. One of the cauldron panels shows a horned masculine figure surrounded by animals, including a stag.
Cernunnos was worshipped throughout Britain and Ireland, and is associated with the stag. As Lord of the forest, his antlers are recognisable to many, which is likely why the Wiccans took him to be their Horned God. These antlers, however, along with his oft-showed hooves, may have landed Cernunnos at the ire of early Christians, who perhaps likened him to Satan/the Antichrist due to a lot of their imagery of Satan at the time including some form of horns/hooves. Owing to this he was strongly opposed by the Christian church, and it is thought that his likeness may have been used as a depiction of Satan, or possibly even as the original inspiration for that style. Worshipping Cernunnos was a sign that people had not yet converted to Christianity and were following their pagan roots, and were therefore dangerous.
Doreen Valiente claimed that Gerald Gardner’s coven actually referred to their Horned God as Cernunnos. The Horned God is the masculine archetypal deity that goes through the heteronormative fertility cycle with the Wiccan female goddess. Perhaps Cernunnos being depicted with a large phallus may have something to do with why the Wiccans selected him as being the peak of masculinity. This also indicates that he was associated with fertility historically.
Ultimately, most of what we ‘know’ about Cernunnos is educated guesswork. His likeness is found commonly enough to make the presumption that he was an important deity; however, we cannot be sure that this was the case. Some believe that the Berkshire, England god Herne the Hunter may be a more modern adaptation of him; some link him to the Green Man for his associations with spring; and most agree that he was associated with the forest, nature, and fertility. He comes from open European cultures so is an ideal deity for anyone of any background to worship according to their own personal needs. And because he is so mysterious, it’s hard to have someone tell you you’re doing it wrong!
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Qigong (pronounced chee-gong) is an ancient Chinese exercise and healing technique that involves meditation, controlled breathing and movement exercises.
The character "Qi" that makes up the first part of qigong is a difficult word to translate, according to Peter Wayne, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the research director at Harvard's Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Qi is a concept from traditional Chinese culture that roughly means vital energy, information, breath or spirit. The second character in qigong, "gong," means cultivation or mastery, Wayne said. Qigong is therefore sometimes translated as "vital energy cultivation" or "mastery of your energy."
There are many forms of qigong practiced throughout the world. Some of these forms involve breathing and meditation to promote spirituality and health while others are more vigorous and include martial arts exercises. Tai chi, a widely practiced mind-body exercise, is sometimes referred to as a form of qigong because it "cultivates, moves and helps manage Qi," according to Wayne.
Qigong vs. tai chi
While they share many characteristics, most people consider qigong and tai chi to be two distinct practices. However, Wayne said that he tends to focus more on the similarities between qigong and tai chi than on their differences.
"The chi in the word 'tai chi' is a different character and has a different meaning [than the 'qi' in qigong]. But the practice of tai chi, in my opinion, is equivalent to a form of qigong. You're training to have more awareness and control over your 'life force' — your physiology or energy," Wayne told Live Science. And some forms of qigong are almost indistinguishable from tai chi, he added.
There are other forms of qigong that look quite different from tai chi, however. These involve simple, slow movements done repeatedly. One of the most basic forms of qigong is Baduanjin qigong, which has eight movements, often called the Eight Pieces of Brocade, or Fabric. (Translations vary.) The movements are: Pressing the Heavens With Two Hands, Drawing the Bowstring and Letting the Arrows Fly, Separating Heaven and Earth, Wise Owl Gazes Backward, Punching With Angry Gaze, Bouncing on the Toes, Big Bear Turns From Side to Side, and Touching the Toes Then Bending Backwards.
While the movements of qigong may be different from those of tai chi in some cases, both practices incorporate strength and flexibility with breathing exercises, focused attention and imagery. The biggest difference between qigong and tai chi has more to do with the public's perception of these mind-body practices than it does with the practices themselves, according to Wayne, who said that qigong carries a stigma in certain societies.
"There are religious cults [in China] that have qigong practices, and there's a lot of political friction between some of these groups and the Chinese government because they're cult-like and esoteric," he said.
Chinese officials denounced one form of qigong, Falun Gong, as a cult in 1999. This resulted in a large demonstration of Falun Gong supporters in Beijing, which prompted the government to outlaw the practice altogether, leading to the arrests of thousands of Falun Gong followers. The subsequent imprisonment and torture of these followers prompted responses from human rights organizations, as well as several resolutions from the U.S. Congress that denounce the Chinese governments oppression of what it calls a "peaceful spiritual movement."
Exercise vs. healing
For many of those who practice it, qigong is an individual mind-body exercise, much like yoga. But there is also a form of qigong that focuses on healing others.
"The qigong practices you do yourself can be distinguished from what's called 'external qigong,' which is a practice that looks like distant Reiki healing," Wayne said.
In external qigong, a qigong therapist first diagnoses patients according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and then uses "emitted Qi" to facilitate healing, according to a 2010 paperpublished in the American Journal of Health Promotion, which reviewed the health benefits of qigong and tai chi.
The authors of the paper wrote that "both internal Qigong (personal practice) and external Qigong (clinician-emitted Qi) are seen as affecting the balance and flow of energy and enhancing functionality in the body and the mind." However, the authors' review of qigong's health benefits was limited to the personal practice of qigong. There is no scientific evidence to support the efficacy of external qigong in treating health conditions or disease.
Scientific support of qigong
Unlike tai chi, qigong has not been widely studied for its health benefits, according to Wayne, who noted that more high quality research is needed before any definitive statements about the efficacy of qigong can be made. However, personal practice of qigong is not considered unhealthy, as it typically entails gentle movements and relaxation.
One of the largest studies involving qigong is the 2010 review of 66 studies totaling 6,410 participants, which was published in in the American Journal of Health Promotion (see above section on exercise vs. healing). Though the researchers combined qigong and tai chi studies in their review, they did find various positive results suggesting that both forms of exercise improve bone health and balance.
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On May 27, 2003, at the urging of President George W. Bush, Congress authorized the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Fifteen years later, the global program supports more than 14 million people on HIV treatment across the globe.
That’s more than twice as many as only four and a half years ago, according to a PEPFAR press release marking the anniversary.
Other encouraging statistics from the press release:
- PEPFAR has also enabled more than 2.2 million babies to be born HIV-free to HIV-positive mothers.
- More than 6.4 million orphans, vulnerable children and their caregivers affected by HIV/AIDS have been assisted.
- To protect men and boys from HIV, PEPFAR has supported more than 15.2 million of them with voluntary medical male circumcision.
- PEPFAR data show a 25 to 40 percent decline or greater in new HIV diagnoses among adolescent girls and young women in nearly two thirds of the highest-HIV-burden communities implementing PEPFAR’s DREAMS (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-free, Mentored and Safe) public-private partnership across 10 African countries.
- Up to 13 high-HIV-burden countries are now poised to achieve epidemic control by 2020 with PEPFAR support.
- Thanks to the U.S. government’s PEPFAR Strategy for Accelerating HIV/AIDS Epidemic Control (2017-2020), continued advances are expect in upcoming years.
In honor of PEPFAR’s anniversary, a yearlong campaign titled #PEPFAR15 celebrates “15 Years of Saving Lives Through American Generosity and Partnerships.” It includes videos like the one above titled “15 Years of PEPFAR: Nelly’s Story.”
For a closer look at how scientists and advocates are waging a powerful war against the global epidemic, don’t miss the POZ feature “Nevertheless They Persisted.”
For a more critical view of PEPFAR, read the articles “World of Difference: Questioning taxpayer funding of faith-based groups to fight HIV/AIDS” and “Trump Expands ‘Global Gag Rule’ on Abortion, Affecting $8.8B in Health Funding.” For a roundup of related POZ articles, click #PEPFAR.
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What are Transformations?
Lesson 3 of 10
Objective: SWBAT develop definitions of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations.
In the eighth grade Common Core standards, students are introduced to geometric transformations. To identify (and activate) their prior knowledge, I give a Pre-Assessment as a Do Now. Since students are asked to identify and describe transformations of points in Part A, there may be different answers. This helps me see how students think about transformations. Part B asks students questions about specific transformations. I take their papers away after 10 minutes, even if they haven’t answered every question. Incomplete pre-assessments can also help me identify students’ knowledge and skills.
I teach the unit on transformations in the context of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a mathematics professor at Oxford University. Lots of mathematics is embedded in his stories.
For this Mini-Lesson, I have created a presentation with guided notes for students to complete. As a general introduction to transformations, I use pictures and quotes from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I give students information about Lewis Carroll and we discuss why the book is appropriate to use in a unit on transformations. We then discuss the Caterpillar’s quote, “So you think you’re change, do you?” as a bridge to defining the term “transformation.”
As we go through the presentation, students match the pictures from the presentation with the pictures on the sheet “Transformation Note-Taking Guide.” They then write the name of the transformation shown in the picture. When we get to specifically defining the various transformations, we discuss and develop descriptions before I show them the actual definitions. Depending on how well developed their descriptions are, I may not even show my definitions.
After students have filled out the sheet, I have them annotate the pictures on the sheet by labeling the pre-images, images, line of reflection, angle of rotation, center of rotation, etc. where appropriate.
The What Are Transformations Presentation notebook file is animated and you can see this in my video. For example if you click on the word bubbles, information appears and if you click on the images in the “Rotations” page, they spin around. The PowerPoint Presentation contains all of the same information without the animations but you could add those in if you download the file.
In the Activity students work on a sheet that asks them to identify various transformations. It is similar to the pre-assessment, but instead of just looking at points, students are looking at triangles.
Sometimes the Mini-Lesson runs longer than I expect. If necessary, I have the students work on questions 9 and 10 and complete the rest for homework. After about 8 minutes, I choose students to give their examples of transformations in the real world. We also discuss their responses to question 10. It is here where students construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others (MP3). The answer I am looking for is “Mohammed is correct because dilations are the only transformations where the size changes.” This leads into the lesson summary. However, if students give a different, answer, I accept it as long as their justification is valid.
At the end of the lesson, I introduce students to isometries, which we will expand on in later lessons. I show students the slide, “What Are Transformations Exit Ticket Presentation,” and then hand out the exit ticket. Students fill in the blanks with information from the slide and then they answer the question, “What is an isometry?” based on the information from the slide. I collect the exit ticket, check the students’ responses, and return the slips to them to glue in their notebooks.
Students who have not finished the worksheet from the practice section can complete it for homework.
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1 Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her home, 3 along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom (for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), 4 and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). 5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. 6 And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent.
-Five times we read the word “father-in-law” which seems to be hammering in the idea that Jethro was the father-in-law despite reading about the name “Reuel” earlier as being “their father” in reference to the daughters. As discussed in Exodus 2, there is no specific word for “father-in-law” in ancient Hebrew but rather the Hebrew word “chathan” is used which just means “in-law”. Hobab is described in Numbers 10:29 as the son of Reuel, Mose’s “chathan”. So it would seem that either Reuel and Jethro are one person with two different names, one “Reuel” meaning “friend of God” and another “Jethro” meaning “his abundance”, or they are two different people and Jethro is actually the brother-in-law since Reuel is twice identified as a father of the daughters included Moses’ wife Zipporah and of Hobab. I personally believe the Torah has one author, Moses, and he knows who his father-in-law and brother-in-laws are. It’s not something he’d likely mess up or confuse and certainly not without explanation. So I think the simple solution to this mystery is that Jethro is a son of Reuel and the one who received his father’s inheritance. Reuel could have been very elderly or deceased at this point if Moses was 80 years old and married to his daughter. Jethro would likely be closer to the same age if he was the oldest son. Remember, people are only living until about 120 now and so the father-in-law would have to be close to this age now and probably not spry enough to catch up with the Israelites and offer advice. It makes sense too Jethro would identify himself so many times as an “in-law” if he was only a brother-in-law to prove he is an ally.
8 Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” 12 And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
-Whoever Jethro is, he is not a Hebrew and is a Midianite so this is quite special that he would come and sacrifice to the Hebrew God and believe their stories. He even says “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods” which seems to be a statement of conversion. We don’t know if Jethro’s household joins the Israelites and becomes circumcised but we know Hobab is with Moses later in the Book of Numbers. The second part of verse 11, “because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people” seems to be referring to the Egyptian leaders, whether if be the gods or Pharaoh it seems to work both ways.
13 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. 14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” 15 And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; 16 when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.” 17 Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. 19 Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, 20 and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. 21 Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
-There are some who have interpreted this as a bad thing but I cannot see this other than a good thing. Jethro is suggesting an order and hierarchy of government and justice for this nation of Israel. Can you imagine one man listening to hundreds of thousands of petitions and complaints every day? It must have been maddening. Nothing Jethro, a Midianite, suggests is sinful in anyway and is in fact wise. It’s even implied last chapter that God directed Moses to do some of this already in creating water before the elders. Pastors and other leaders need other people to share the burden and as long as there is some kind of system of checks and balances, this can work far greater than one ruler deciding everything. Order is not worldly wisdom but rather is quite Godly as everything in creation is greater with order and balance. God is an ordered and balanced God and this can only please Him and as far as we know, this plan works out great. Moses would still be the chief judge and leader but all easier disputes would be settled on lower levels. In the United States, our own justice system works somewhat the same with different levels of county courts, appellate courts, state supreme courts, and the highest US supreme court.
24 So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
-And just like that, Jethro is gone from the story forever. We hear of Hobab later, Moses’ brother-in-law which only lends to the theory that Jethro and Hobab are different sons who have their own households and can go where they want. Jethro decided to go back where he is a priest but Hobab seems to choose to stay and become an Israelite. If Jethro was the father, it seems likely Hobab would have gone with him.
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As both Queen Charlotte Strait off northern Vancouver Island and Juan De Fuca strait off southern Vancouver Island lie in a southeasterly direction from the open ocean (Fig.
Status of marine mammals in the Strait of Georgia, Puget Sound, and the Juan de Fuca Strait, and potential human impacts.
The primary dataset consists of contiguous multibeam swath bathymetric coverage of the central and southern Strait of Georgia, eastern Juan de Fuca Strait and the inter-island waterways that separate the two straits.
The strait connects with the open sea in the south, first through the Gulf Islands and San Juan Islands, and then through the Juan de Fuca Strait (Fig.
waters: that includes having a tug stationed to escort vessels into the Juan de Fuca Strait
. However, the tanker industry has been slow to adopt other practical safety measures such as switching all transport to double-hulled tankers.
The two major sewage outfalls from Victoria, administered by the Capital Regional District (CRD), are simply untreated and flow into the Juan de Fuca Strait, which separates Vancouver Island from the northern extremity of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.
Victoria's sewage, on the other hand, is pumped into the deeper waters of Juan de Fuca Strait, which flows directly into the Pacific Ocean and is more efficiently flushed by tides.
The southern and central sections of the Salish Sea include the southern Gulf Islands, the San Juan Islands, and the Juan de Fuca Strait
Dispersion of discharged ship ballast water in Vancouver Harbour, Juan de Fuca Strait
, and offshore Washington coast.
Descendants of the original inhabitants of the furthest western regions of the North American continent are locked in a high-profile cat and mouse game with the international environmental community this month as several environmental groups patrol the Juan de Fuca Strait
in an attempt to stop the resurrection of an Indigenous cultural activity.
Inner Juan de Fuca Strait
had 2 records (7-8%), both reported in June 2007.
Allow two days by bare-boat charter from Seattle, assuming the weather across the sometimes treacherous Juan de Fuca Straits
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Another New Promise for Tuberculosis Vaccines
An experimental vaccine could prevent tuberculosis from re-developing in half of those who receive it.
A phase 2b clinical trial reported an adjuvanted subunit vaccine candidate against tuberculosis (TB) in young and middle-aged adults with the latent form of the disease was 54 percent effective against the progression to the active pulmonary form of the disease.
This finding establishes proof of principle, and requires additional research. The greater effectiveness of the M72/AS01E vaccine candidate relative to a previous subunit vaccine suggests that the adjuvant may be critical, an important finding in itself.
An international team led by scientists from GlaxoSmithKline, the vaccine's developer, reported this new finding in the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to these researchers, the GSK vaccine candidate M72/AS01E could prevent tuberculosis developing in half of those who receive the vaccine.
Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), is currently responsible for more deaths than any other pathogen, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
In 2016, there were 10.4 million new cases of TB throughout the world and 1.7 million deaths, reports the WHO.
The M72/AS01E vaccine consists of a two M. tuberculosis proteins given with the AS01E adjuvant, a version of that used in licensed zoster and malaria vaccines.
This trial involved some 3,500 adults in 11 centers in South Africa, Kenya, and Zambia. The vaccine’s protection was greater in participants 25 years of age or younger than in those older than 25 years of age and greater in men than in women.
But, for most phase 2 studies to be considered successful, the vaccine efficacy is generally higher than just 54 percent.
Given the failure of other vaccine candidates in recent years, this study’s results are a milestone in the fight against TB.
The current vaccine called Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) was developed in 1921 and is routinely given in countries to infants less than 5 years of age, where high rates of TB exist.
However, previous research indicates the BCG vaccine’s protection wears off in just a few years and it does nothing to protect against the most common form of TB that invades the lungs of adults and adolescents.
Most participants in this new study had previously received the BCG vaccine.
In this context, what makes this study particularly remarkable is that it uniquely engendered protection in persons already exposed to and presumably latently infected with M. tuberculosis, said these researchers in an accompanying NEJM article.
It is estimated by the WHO that 25 percent of the world’s population is latently infected with M.tb and are at risk of reactivation of this latent infection. M.tb is a complex intracellular pathogen adept at subverting the host immune response.
Previous TB vaccine studies include, but are not limited to:
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The appropriate medical care of transgender adolescents has emerged as a complex issue clouded by ideological biases on both sides. While the distress experienced by gender dysphoric youth is real, claims of rampant social contagion lack rigorous evidence. Meanwhile, calls to ban medical interventions must contend with data showing benefits in some cases. Navigating this landscape demands nuance, compassion, and letting evidence guide decisions.
Advocates for restrictions cite the rapid increase in adolescents, mainly girls, newly identifying as transgender as proof of a harmful social trend. Estimates suggest the rates of youth identifying as trans or non-binary have increased by over 300% in the last decade, with nearly 2% of US high school students identifying as transgender. But while the rising prevalence is concerning, few long-term studies exist to substantiate causes. Plausible factors like increased social acceptance or emulation of peers have unproven influence. Just as a lack of evidence prevents declaring this a contagion, claims that restrictive approaches prevent imaginary harms must rely more on ideology than available data.
At the same time, many advocating for affirming care downplay legitimate uncertainties. Though some brain scans and twin studies suggest biological roots to gender dysphoria, research into origins and persistence remains sparse, especially for adolescents. The few longitudinal studies focused on transgender youth tend to have small sample sizes and limited follow-up periods under 10 years. While transgender identities are unlikely to be mere fads, more research is needed before declaring them innate and immutable.
There is also the truth that dysphoric distress can be exaggerated when affirmation is seen as the sole path to medical treatment. Strict intake processes are thus reasonable to avoid enabling manipulation. But again, evidence is lacking on the scale of this problem. A balanced view recognises dysphoria’s seriousness for many but remains open to needed research on its onset and causes.
With origins unclear, selecting appropriate treatment relies heavily on outcome data. Here again, extremist stances on both sides prove unhelpful. Detransition after gender-affirming surgery is indeed very rare, suggesting the benefits outweigh the inherent risks of irreversible treatment for many patients. A 2021 study of over 27,000 patients in Sweden who underwent gender-affirming surgeries found regrets requiring detransition were extremely rare at around 0.3–0.6%
But limited long-term studies, specifically in adolescents, make widespread declarations about universal best practices premature. Data on the long-term impacts of puberty blockers and hormones initiated during youth is especially sparse. While some studies show benefits like reduced depression, others raise concerns about potential effects on bone health, fertility, and social development that require further research.
Likewise, while social transitions and puberty blockers show benefits in reducing suicidal ideation, studies focused on long-term psychological and physical impacts are sparse. Knee-jerk comparisons to obviously harmful practices like conversion therapy are unconstructive. In reality, ethics are complex, situational, and require nuance rather than absolutism.
US states have taken a range of approaches to this issue, from restrictive bans on gender-affirming care for minors to more permissive policies granting adolescents autonomy over medical decisions. But political ideologies often override credible data in crafting these policies. Several states’ attempted bans have faced injunctions amid lawsuits from advocacy groups. The heated legal and ethical debates will likely persist without definitive research. On the other hand, states like California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington have laws/policies explicitly allowing minors to access gender-affirming medical care.
When it comes to supporting transgender youth, it can be tricky to balance different perspectives. The youth are still figuring themselves out. Parents might disagree on the best approach. Doctors have professional responsibilities and legal worries. Schools want to accommodate everyone. It’s tough to find solutions that make a young person feel heard while respecting parents’ concerns and experts’ advice. But open and patient communication between the youth, family, doctors, and school is important to work through the nuances together.
True centrism means resisting pressure from activists on both sides. It requires acknowledging where ideology risks overriding compassion and facts. We must recognise that politicised societal narratives likely influence some youths’ self-perception of gender incongruence. But we must also see their distress as real and deserving of support.
The needs of gender-dysphoric youth are complex. Research into long-term outcomes is clearly needed to better guide treatment. In the interim, nuance and moderation are vital.
With compassion for struggling youth, we can resist extremism and ensure care decisions are guided by facts and a collaborative weighing of benefits against risks. If we avoid hardened stances that ignore uncertainties, balanced solutions are possible. But they demand open and rigorous minds on all sides.
Miles Fletcher is a writer based in Los Angeles, California examining issues of medicine and ideology. He works to bring nuance to complex and politically-charged topics.
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Did you know that planting a tree won’t save the earth?
You’ve got to plant 483 trees just to offset your household’s carbon footprint. And that’s just for two people.
We know this because the Washington Post Home section on May 8 featured a cover story encouraging folks to plant trees while sternly warning them that this won’t help much because people are a cancer on the planet.
Okay, they didn’t quite put it that way, but it would be hard to miss the message. A graphic with 483 little green trees illustrates this stat from the EPA:
A two-person household is responsible for releasing 41,500 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere each year. To offset that, each household would have to plant 483 trees and let them grow for 10 years.
If a two-person household is that bad, what does that make families with children? Environmental criminals, at the least, and maybe earth wreckers.
Before giving us tips on tree planting, Post writer Adrian Higgins exudes the fumes of global warming hysteria:
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased by a third since the start of the industrial revolution, due mostly to the burning of coal and other fossil fuels, and that buildup has been linked to global warming.
Think about this for a minute. The industrial revolution revved up around 1850 or so, and with all the population growth and industrial production over the last 158 years, carbon dioxide has increased by only a third? He does not mention that this constitutes only a microscopic percentage of the entire atmosphere encircling the earth.
Could this mean that people are not really a threat to the planet after all? That we can get on with planting trees because… they’re pretty?
We ought to be focusing on a much scarier, and likelier, picture of the near future than the specter of too many people breathing, eating burgers and committing other random, senseless environmental atrocities. The really frightening future is a human race that is quickly depopulating.
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A work of art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament.
Entile Zola QuotesShowing all text quotes
|Birth:||2nd April, 1840|
|Death:||29th September, 1902|
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola was born in Paris, France. He was a French novelist. He was noted for his theories of naturalism, which underlie his monumental 20-novel series Les Rougon-Macquart, and for his intervention in the Dreyfus Affair through his famous open letter, “J’accuse.” In 1865 he published his controversial first novel, La Confession de Claude. He wrote other novels include: Thérèse Raquin, Madeleine Férat, La Fortune des Rougon, Le Ventre de Paris, Nana, Germinal, Travail, and Vérité. He was nominated for the first and second Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901 and 1902.
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Yoga: Way of living life
On 21st June, The International yoga day was celebrated worldwide. And it makes India proud because the origin place of yoga is India.
But still many people thinks yoga is just a physical exercise, and many people do yoga for physical fitness, but yoga beneficial in both physically and mentally.People have different- different views regarding yoga. But in our view yoga or Yog is not just a physical exercise, it’s a simple way of living healthy life, it is a lifestyle. The meaning of the word Yog is “to add”, “to meet”.
- To Add: – I use the word “To add” for the meaning of yog, because by doing yoga good health is added to our body, Positive thoughts is added to our mind.
- To meet:- By the help of yog or yoga we gain the capability to know ourselves very well (self -actualization). It is the best way for Inlightment and for Moksha also, Moksha is the last stage of yog, In Today’s world’s its very tough to meet the state of Moksha.
The word yoga is made from the Sanskrit word “Yujir yogey”, which means to yoke,join, or Unite. Meaning of the word yoga in Hindusim, Buddhism, and Jainism is spiritual discipline. The historical background of yoga is very ancient, in sindhu ghati, and Haddapa sanskriti many evidences were fond regarding yoga.
Maharishi Patanjali is known as the father of yoga, he compiled his thoughts and all knowledge regarding yog into his comprehensive work in the book “Patanjali yog sutras”. In this book He wrotes everything about yoga, in simple words.
Yoga has Eight parts, it is follow:
These eight parts is known as Ashtanga yog.
- Yam: – It includes moral codes, lovable and discipline behavior to the society. Non- violence, non-stealing, truth, no lust and non possessiveness are the moral principles of social behavior.
- Niyama: – In this self-purification and study of scriptures is take place. Self purification means inner discipline which includes purity, contentment, austerity and awareness of the divine.
- Asan: – Doing different body postures.
- Pranayaam: – Control of breathing. Prana is the energy which is present everywhere, by which we can breathing.
- Pratyahaar: – Control and take over the human senses (Eyes, nose, ear, Tongue, skin are called senses or Indriyas in term of yog). This occurs by meditation, practicing yoga (doing different body posture) and breathing exercises.
- Dharna: – focusing or concentrating on a particular object or point to keep the mind free of distraction.
- Dhyan: – Doing meditation in an order to gain a state of heightened awareness.
- Samadhi: – This is the last and higher state of being or bliss in which the ego ceases to exist and the true, pure nature of an individual emerges.
Yoga has many branches, Hath yoga, Karm yoga, Raj yoga, Bhakti yoga, Iyengar yoga, Bikram yoga e.t.c.
World is like a big ocean of sorrow and problems, and yog is like a boat by which we can cross the ocean of sorrow and problems. Today’s world is a world of technology, every Men-Women wants to be successful in their life, for this they continuously work hard, even late night.Now a days people totally ignore the rule of nature. Nature and yoga said “Early to bed early to rise makes a person healthy and wise”, this is simple lines and the most important and the basic rule of nature.
For becoming successful and well known person people working hardly and ignore their physical health and mental health, they are running and running, by this they totally exhausted by their mind, frustration, tension, depression and smoking habbits is automatically added to him.This is totally opposite to the nature.
if we follow the basic and important rule of Nature and yoga and change our lifestyle and habbit also then tension, depression e.t.c. is automatically kicked out from our mind, and we feel more relax. If we really want to become excellent in our work then read this slok carefully: –
Buddhiyukto jahatiha ubhe sukritadushkrite l
Tasmadyogaya yujyaswa yogah karmasu kaushalam ll 2/50ll
This slok is taken form Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, from chapter 2 verse 50. In this, Lord Krishna talks to Arjuna about “yogah karmasu kaushalam” (yoga is excellence at work).
- This islok or Verse advices us to perform our work or duty in an excellent manner.
- The word Kaushalam signifies doing work with devotion and without becoming workaholic.
- Such type of detached attitude boosts its values and improves the concentration and skill of the worker.
- If we work with patience, elegance and with skill our Body-Mind-soul will co-operate with our hands.
- By becoming a tool in the hands of Supreme one has to perform the work.
- Any kind of work becomes more valuable if carried out with full concentration, dedication, capabilities and abilities and also helps us to become valuable to others as well as to society.
- We should never worry about the Fruit of action.
By implementing above words we find excellence in our work, and we are always happy for doing work without the thought of what we earn from this. But Now ga days incentives, bonus is motivating for doing work.
The Ultimate Goal of yoga
Doing or imitating the yoga posture for physical fitness is not only the goal of yoga; What I think, the real Goal of yog is teach the people- how can we live our life simply and healthy with joy and happiness.
For living simple, peaceful, happy and healthy life, we have to keep our Body-Mind-Soul relax and healthy. How this can is possible? My answer for this question is one and only Yoga or yog. If we include Yog in our lifestyle then this can happen easily. Yoga helps one attain the absolute knowledge of the difference between the spiritual which is timeless, unchanging, and free of sorrows, and the material which is not. This and this alone can guarantee peace. For living tension free and healthy life with joy and peace then follow and include yoga in your habbit.
Now a days every people have a hectic schedule, they even have a single minute for relaxing. I will tell some simple tips for those people who are busy and not a spare time for yoga.
- First of all try to change your habbits, wake up early in the morning and drink 4-5 glass of water, slowly- slowly try to increases the glass of water. This is the first thing you have to do after wake up. If you are not able to wake up early in the morning around 5”O clock, then try to wake up 5 minute earlier before your daily wake up time. Slowly – slowly change 5 minute into ten minutes.
- If you feel like vomiting after drinking water, not to worry about this, just go to bathroom and vomit. Vomiting is useful because undigested food particles come out through vomiting.
- After that Do Asans like suryanamaskar, Tadasan, Trikonasan e.t.c.
- In the beginning or early stage (when you are trying to start yoga) do Asan for five minutes and five minutes pranayaam also. In pranayaam you can try Anulom- vilom, kapalbhati, Udgeet (chanting the word Om). And try to do Meditation after pranayaam atleast 3 minutes.
- Try to avoid fast food, in breakfast take fruits daily, and dry fruits also.(Almonds, nuts)
- If you are in an office, then take 3 or 5 minutes break in every 1 hr, in this 3 or minutes just close your eyes and thinking about the funniest and happiest moment of your life, after that splash your eyes with water and get back to your work.
- Again after one hour just close your eyes and move your neck in clock wise and Anticlock wise for few minutes, than rotate your wrist same as neck, repeat these steps with your foot also. You can do this on your working office chair. Friends these simple steps can change your life, and you never bore in doing your work.
Note: – Do yog Asans and Prayanam under a specialist person.
we are trying to make your life happy by these simplest steps, please try these rules and steps daily. And remember one thing “early to bed early to rise make a person healthy and wise”. Add love, discipline to your life, enjoy the every single moment of life. Give Respect to your elders. Remember one thing Almighty gave you only one chance to survive. If you are waste your life in hate others, adoptating bad habbits, then this is your fault. Live your life with confidently and smartly by doing yoga. Don’t take yoga as only the Physical exercise, atleast try once, it’s not costs you not harm you. It does only make your life healthy and peacefull.
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Have you ever wondered about the height of the famous walls of Jericho? Well, you’re not alone! These ancient walls have intrigued historians, archaeologists, and biblical scholars for centuries. In this blog post, we will delve into the fascinating topic of the walls of Jericho and explore their significance in history.
But before we dive into the details, let’s address a few related questions that might pop into your mind: Why did the walls of Jericho fall? How old is Jericho today? And why was the road from Jerusalem to Jericho so dangerous? These questions, along with others, will be answered throughout this comprehensive exploration of the walls of Jericho.
So, get ready to unravel the mystery and discover the impressive height of these ancient walls. Join us as we journey back in time and explore the wonders of the ancient city of Jericho!
How Tall Were The Walls Of Jericho?
The Monumental Wall Stature of Jericho in Ancient Times
When it comes to the ancient city of Jericho, there is one feature that stands out among all others – its towering walls. Picture this: you’re a wandering traveler in ancient times, approaching the city of Jericho, and suddenly you come face-to-face with colossal fortifications that seem to defy the laws of gravity. Get ready to be amazed, because the walls of Jericho were no ordinary barricade!
The Sky-High Heights of the Walls
The walls of Jericho were nothing short of extraordinary in their massive height. We’re talking about walls that would put even the tallest NBA players to shame! Standing an incredible 30 feet high, these walls acted as an impenetrable shield that guarded the inhabitants against any invaders. Can you imagine the view from up there? It must have been like living in a high-rise apartment, but without the elevator!
Jaw-Dropping Engineering Feats
Building such sky-scraping walls in ancient times was no easy task. The people of Jericho had to display remarkable engineering prowess and ingenuity. These walls were constructed using a combination of stone and mud bricks. And yes, you heard it right – mud bricks! The residents of Jericho weren’t afraid to get their hands dirty in the pursuit of security and grandeur.
An Architectural Marvel
The architectural marvel of the walls of Jericho extended beyond their impressive height. These fortress-like structures were also double-walled, with an empty space in between. This empty space, known as the “revetment wall,” served as an additional layer of defense. It created a challenging obstacle for anyone attempting to breach the walls. The people of Jericho were determined to protect their city, and they weren’t leaving anything to chance!
A Towering Testament to Jericho’s Legacy
The walls of Jericho weren’t just a physical barrier; they became a symbol of the city’s strength and resilience. They stood tall for centuries, capturing the imagination of historians, archaeologists, and even your average curious traveler. The fact that these walls endured for so long testifies to the incredible craftsmanship and engineering brilliance of the people who built them.
The ancient city of Jericho boasted walls that reached astonishing heights of 30 feet, displaying the architectural prowess and engineering skills of its inhabitants. These towering fortifications served as a testament to the city’s determination to protect itself and to leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. So, the next time you find yourself marveling at a skyscraper, just remember that the walls of Jericho were the true pioneers of reaching for the sky!
Now that we’ve explored the staggering heights of the walls of Jericho, let’s journey further into their historical significance and the tales they hold.
FAQ: How Tall Were The Walls Of Jericho?
Welcome to our FAQ section where we will answer some commonly asked questions about the infamous walls of Jericho. From their height to their historical significance, we’ve got you covered. So let’s dive in and explore the mysteries surrounding these ancient walls!
Why Did the Walls of Jericho Fall
Ah, the million-dollar question! According to the biblical account in the book of Joshua, the walls of Jericho fell as a result of divine intervention. The Israelites, led by Joshua, marched around the city for seven days, blowing trumpets and shouting, causing the walls to come crashing down. It was quite the spectacle!
How Old is Jericho Rosales Now
Hold up! It seems like we have a bit of a mix-up here. Jericho Rosales is a talented Filipino actor and singer, famous for his charming looks and incredible talent. But let’s get back to the real Jericho – the ancient city. Jericho, the archaeological site, dates back over 11,000 years, making it one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. Quite a difference from our beloved actor, huh?
Why Was the Road from Jerusalem to Jericho So Dangerous
Ah, you must be talking about the infamous “Road to Jericho.” Back in the day, this road was known for its treacherous twists and turns, making it a hotspot for bandits and other unsavory characters. It gained notoriety due to the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, where a kind traveler helps a beaten man on this very road. Moral of the story? Be careful while taking scenic routes!
Did the Walls of Jericho Fall Inward or Outward
Picture this: You’re standing on the outskirts of Jericho, witnessing the spectacular moment when those mighty walls crumble to the ground. So, did they fall inward or outward? According to archaeological evidence, the walls of Jericho fell outward, which allowed the Israelites to march right in. Talk about an open invitation!
Where is Jericho Today
Jericho, the ancient city, is located in the modern-day West Bank region. It sits in the Jordan Valley, near the Jordan River, making it a historically significant and geographically fascinating location to visit. So if you’re looking to explore ancient ruins and immerse yourself in the wonders of history, a trip to modern-day Jericho should be on your travel list!
How Big Was the City of Jericho
Back in its prime, the city of Jericho covered an area of approximately ten acres. Though it may not have been the largest city of the time, it held great importance due to its strategic location and its renowned walls. Now, imagine all the hustle and bustle of ancient life thriving within those ten acres. Quite a busy little city, wouldn’t you say?
Why Was the Wall of Jerusalem so Important
Ah, Jerusalem, the city with walls that have witnessed countless tales of triumph and struggle. The wall of Jerusalem was of paramount importance as it served as a fortification, protecting the city and its inhabitants from invaders. It stood as a symbol of power, resilience, and identity for the people of Jerusalem throughout its rich history.
What Is Considered the Greatest City in the World
Now that’s a tough one! The greatest city in the world is a highly subjective matter, as different cultures and civilizations have flourished and achieved greatness in their own unique ways. From ancient wonders like Rome and Athens to modern metropolises like New York and Tokyo, greatness can be found in various forms. It all depends on which aspects of a city’s culture, architecture, or influence captivate you the most!
What Is the World’s Oldest City
Well, get ready to journey back in time! The title of the world’s oldest city is a fiercely debated topic among historians. While Jericho is often considered one of the oldest inhabited cities, other contenders like Damascus, Byblos, and Aleppo make their claims as well. It seems history has a way of keeping us on our toes! But one thing’s for certain: these ancient cities provide us with invaluable insights into our past.
Why Is the City of Jericho So Important
Jericho’s importance stems from its historical and archaeological significance. As one of the oldest cities in the world, it offers a glimpse into human civilization’s early development and showcases ancient architectural marvels, such as the famous walls. Jericho’s allure lies not only in its age but also in the mysteries and stories that surround its ancient ruins.
Is Jericho the Oldest City in the World
As fascinating as Jericho may be, it’s not the undisputed champion of the oldest cities. While it is undoubtedly ancient, with evidence of human settlement dating back thousands of years, other cities contest its claim to fame as the oldest. However, Jericho’s enduring legacy and archaeological wonders still make it a must-visit destination for history enthusiasts around the globe.
What Is Jericho Called Today
Presenting… modern-day Jericho! Known locally as Ariha, the city has evolved over the millennia but retained its historical significance. Despite the passage of time and the changes brought about by various civilizations, Jericho continues to stand proudly as a testament to the enduring nature of human existence.
Who Did God Tell to Build a Wall Around Jericho
In the biblical account, it was Joshua, the successor of Moses, who received divine instructions to build a wall around Jericho. The wall was part of a strategic plan to conquer the city and secure the Promised Land for the Israelites. With divine guidance and faith, Joshua and his people set out to accomplish this monumental task.
Who Was the King of Jericho
According to the biblical account in the book of Joshua, the king of Jericho at the time of its fall was a man named… well, they don’t quite give us a name. But this king, along with his people, met their fate when the walls crumbled and the Israelites claimed the city. That’s one way to end your reign!
How Many Israelites Entered the Promised Land
Ah, the Promised Land, a significant destination for the Israelites after their long and arduous journey. According to biblical tradition, the number of Israelites who entered the Promised Land varied depending on the source. The book of Numbers suggests around 600,000 men, excluding women and children. So, let’s just say it was quite a party!
What Does the Bible Say About the Walls of Jericho
The Bible describes the walls of Jericho as formidable and impenetrable. They presented a significant obstacle for the Israelites in their quest to conquer the city. However, with faith and divine intervention on their side, the walls ultimately crumbled, allowing the Israelites to claim their victory. It’s a tale of triumph and the power of belief!
How Thick and Tall Were the Walls of Jericho
Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for – the measurements of those legendary walls! According to archaeological excavations, the walls of Jericho were estimated to be up to 5 feet thick, making them quite sturdy and formidable for their time. As for their height, different sources suggest varying estimates, ranging from 20 to 30 feet. Now that’s what we call solid defense!
Has Anyone Rebuilt Jericho
Although Jericho has seen its share of destruction and rebuilding throughout history, we’re not quite aware of anyone recently stepping up to recreate the ancient city. However, the archaeological site stands as a testament to the rich history and enduring legacy of Jericho, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in its ancient wonders.
How Many Miles Were the Walls of Jericho
Measuring the exact distance of the walls of Jericho can be quite challenging due to the eroded state of the site. However, archaeological research suggests that the original circumference of the city, including the walls, was roughly around 500 meters. So, if you enjoy brisk walks, it could be a fascinating stroll around ancient history!
Did Joshua Destroy Jericho
According to biblical accounts, Joshua and the Israelites did indeed play a pivotal role in the fall of Jericho. Their strategic approach, led by divine instruction, resulted in the destruction of the city’s walls and the ultimate defeat of the Canaanites. It was a turning point in the Israelites’ journey toward claiming the Promised Land.
What Does the Wall of Jericho Represent
The wall of Jericho stands as a symbol of both physical and metaphorical barriers. It represents the challenges, obstacles, and limitations that we encounter in life. But it also embodies the power of perseverance, faith, and the belief that with determination, even the mightiest walls can come crashing down.
Why Was Jericho Destroyed
The destruction of Jericho is a complex event with multiple factors at play. In the biblical narrative, it was part of God’s plan to fulfill his promises and enable the Israelites to claim the Promised Land. The fall of Jericho serves as a reminder of divine power and the conquests that shaped ancient history.
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The initial proclamation (also referred to as the “first” or “primary” proclamation) is that point in our evangelization efforts where we begin to introduct Christ into the relationship that we have formed with the one we are evangelizing. Imagine a good salesperson trying to make a sale without first establishing a reputation with the client or at least building up some sort of trust.
In youth ministry, it is through our love of Christ that the youth will find something so beautiful…truth. They will sense that something is different about us (which there is!). They begin to open themselves up to who we are. The initial proclamation is that point when you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you to tell them about Jesus Christ and you begin to do so. Sometimes it is very simple because they ask, sometimes they invite you in other ways.
In short, the Initial Proclamation is when we begin to introduce them to a person in our lives that is very important to us, the person of Jesus Christ.
Some Teachings of the Church on Initial or “First” Proclamation:
“The first moment is one in which, in the heart of the non believer or of the indifferent or of those who practice other religions, there is born, as a result of it first proclamation, an interest in the Gospel, yet without any firm decision” – GDC 56 (a)
“Primary proclamation is addresses to non-believers and those living in religious indifference. Its functions are to proclaim the Gospel and to call to conversion. Catechesis, “distinct from the primary proclamation of the Gospel”, promotes and matures initial conversion, educates the convert in the faith and incorporates him into the Christian community.” – GDC 61
A good article about Initial Proclamation
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MANPOWER PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AS A TOOL FOR HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY (A CASE STUDY OF FLOURMILL EMENE ENUGU)
In this chapter, it is going to cover the followings: the background of the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope and limitations of the study and reference.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In an organizational set up, the personnel manager is expected to help formulate manpower policies. to emphasis on division of labour presently, the duty of the personnel and remunerate employees.
Management in an organization is affected mostly due to misplacement of workers. Constantly, due to misplacement of workers. Constantly, experts ask whether to get the individual to fit into a job position or to design the job to suit the individual.
From observation, the management is to determine its manpower needs, the process by which management attempts to provide for its human resources to accomplish its task is term manpower planning or employment needs planning for their manpower needs.
Manpower planning is necessary in all organization because it is required for recruitment, without it, it would be difficult to know the number of personnel required for recruitment, to be reassigned, due to retirement or need to be retired for better utilization. Manpower planning reduces excessive recruitment training and transfer and thereby saves management cost and time.
‘Bruce’ observed that the major changes in population technological innovation, size and complexity of organizations have made informal methods of employment planning obsolete for all, but they very small and stand organization. In Nigeria where there is security of qualified manpower to fill existing positions the situation is more crucial.
Manpower planning aid an organization to start very early to seek for the positively of the future. It also helps in utilization of personnel available efficiently and effectively. Through this way, people in the organization that needs more training could be identified to upgrade their skill in other to assume more responsible positions.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The role of manpower planning development in an industry cannot be over emphasized.
Manpower as we know refer to all human resources in an organization, efficient utilization of this human resources in an organization leads to achieving the organizational objectives. A well planned manpower recruitment and training is needed to be actualizing in order to meet its aim, but the problem has always been who is to be recruited in order to meet the demand of the organization. The recruitment jobs in face with certain problem which could be either internal or both.
The internal influences include the nature of the organization. This could be in terms of management, applicants would not like to secure jobs in an organization where there is poor management. An organization with poor financial stand is likely to lack qualitative management. The quality of management is the primary factor in determining the degree of success of an organization.
The nature of the work done is another problem. In most cases, applicants concern on their abilities interest, post work experiences and friend’s interest attest how they go about seeking for jobs.
Problem such as these factors to be considered when selecting manpower in the organization includes after the training, some of the employees still find it difficult to know what their duties and responsibilities are as staff.
Also, some of the resulted staff are men of qualification rather than men of qualities, therefore, the statement of the problem of this work is to find out how manpower planning and development can effect productivity so as to find factors militating against its objectives, prospects, related problems and how it can be improved.
1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
This project work is specifically aimed at discovering the implications of a well laid down manpower planning and training or development in an organization precisely scale industries. The study points out.
(a) The consequences of unplanned manpower recruitment process on the overall productivity of the organization.
(b) The constraints that could make an organization unable to develop plans for it manpower planning , training and development.
(c) The positive productivity level of an organization if there is a well manpower planning, training and development.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Many scalars of management are of the view that manpower planning constitutes a basic resource of management. It assist to activate the art of human management through creative innovative and imaginative techniques aimed at improving productivity as an important management resources, it recognizes the role of trade unions and pares way for meeting of workers rights problems are solved managerially through manpower planning. Manpower planning is all embracing. It seeks to juxtapose the right people with befitting colleagues while ensuing that proper knowledge skills, experience training and development are matched up with the might placement at the period and cost rare all indicators of manpower, futuristic approach to management presupposed that there must be planning management is highly conscious of relevance of manpower planning especially in recent time when the needed for effective person el is highly relevant due to changes arising from technology and other environmental factors.
Modern organization is on longer rely on normal manpower planning even where organization are small and informal there is need to adopt a comprehensive manpower planning as issue like improvement in techniques good service, consumption techniques and organization structure which requires efficient resources management are tackled
1.5 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
This study is carried out to outline the role of manpower planning and development as a tool to higher productivity in an industry concentration on small-scale industries. Covering the importance of personnel recruitment, sources of applicants, qualities of good itself conditions for training ,objective of training, methods and techniques of training, importance of qualified manpower and self-development some difficulties were uncounted when conducting the research, the constants include,
the time limit allocated for the collection data and completion of the whole research work for the project made it impossible to gather information that will make room for a comprehensive study of the subject matter.
The student researcher encountered financial difficulties in carrying out this research due to the high cost in transportation cost of station and other materials used.
The researcher observed that the geographic area in which source of supply and demand operates determines the price or growing rate of a certain type of labour.
Also, during the personnel interview
the researcher experienced a lot of communication problem with the individual and some company staff interviewed. Some are aware and acquainted with the task, but found it difficult to communicate effectively. This made the researcher’s work a bit tedious and cumbersome.
Also despite the simple nature of the questionnaire the few responses that were received were poorly made.
WHITE COLLAR JOB
The researcher observed that this describes jobs undertaken by workers who do predominantly on physical work, ranging from unskilled to semi-skilled jobs.
DEJON,W.I (1979) The principle of management text and case. The Benjamin Cummings publishing companies UNRCO p.16 .
HEYEL,C. (1973) The encyclopedia of management. New York, UNRCO Press publication. P.233.
ONOCHA, B.CHIMA (1991) foundation of business and management in Nigeria. Asaba unique press publication LTD.
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The world is already in deep trouble. Whatever news channel you go to, whatever newspaper you read, there are things everyone should be aware of. This includes being environmental problems the world is facing because of climate change. We all know how it has dramatically changed the landscapes of different places but did you know that decades from now, the world will be living in a planet that may not be able to sustain human life anymore?
One of the alarming environmental issues we must be aware of is the high demand of water now. Given this demand, there is low supply of water consumable for people in each country. Adding climate change to the issue, water levels have changed in different regions – affecting not only the environmental situations of different countries, but also the political and economic sectors. With some areas becoming drier and others having more water than expected, we’re not entirely sure where to get the water we need to sustain the lives of people from different nations.
In a study conducted by the World Resources Institute (WRI), they have identified the places that will likely have trouble getting enough supply of water. Their study includes a ranking of the future water stress by each country in the year 2040. Water stress is based on the ration of withdrawals to the supply of water available in each country.
Source: Washington Post
Water stress are categorized from low to extremely high, which depend on the given scores. 0 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. 33 countries were ranked in the category of being the most water stressed countries where 14 of them will be coming from the Middle East. 9 out of 14 got a score of 5.0! This may be expected since geographically speaking, these countries have the least supply of water. These countries rely on groundwater and desalinated sea water for their supply. These countries are: Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Palestine, Kuwait, Israel, Oman and Bahrain.
The challenges these countries face have affected the livelihoods of different nations. For example,Saudi Arabia normally plants their own supply of grains but due to the water scarcity the country is facing, its government announced it will be relying on grain imports this year. Water has also played a major factor in different national and international problems several countries face in these areas.
As for the countries with the largest economies, United States, India and China also are at risk with their water supply. While these countries will see a constant level of water stress by 2040, there are specific regions for each country that will have a water stress level increase by up to 40-70%. These huge countries have different regional variations which cause a difference in the actual water stress level in each region. One must also take note that there are countries that manage their water supply exceptionally well, which may cause the difference between the actual and expected water stress level.
For each country, there are different factors why the water stress level is high. Usually, it’s a combination of these different factors that worsens the amount of water supply available. For example, Chile is projected to have extremely high stress (compared to a previous medium water stress in 2010) because of rising temperatures and precipitation patterns. While countries like Botswana and Namibia have limited water supplies and more likely at risk from floods and droughts.
These are the top 10 water-stressed countries by the year 2040:
Source: World Resources Institute
While this study wouldn’t be able to predict the water conditions in the future, it will certainly help different organizations, private institutions and governments in dealing with whatever possible solutions necessary to improve the situation. Water is very crucial to human life and the progress of every nation to obtain such high water stress level can pose as a threat economic growth and may lead to more problems in the future. Water organizations and different governments all over the world must work hand in hand to manage these water problems and make rules that will allow everyone to join in on the different conservation practices out there.
Again, the world is in danger. Once the water demand is too low, there’s no telling whether humans will still have a bright future or not.
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Novice engineers can’t leave learning in the dorm room.
In today’s engineering environment, information literacy is essential for those preparing to enter the workplace. As more experienced engineers retire, incoming engineers increasingly have to solve problems without easy access to mentors and peers who may have the insight and information the beginners need. While graduates would like to ask advice from a more experienced colleague, they increasingly turn to other sources for help.
While engineering graduates enter the field with heads full of theory and equations, the most valuable skill they need to possess is how to effectively and efficiently locate reliable answers. This is not only important for entry-level roles, but also for engineers who move up the ranks quickly into leadership positions, as well as those engineers who are reassigned to other divisions of a company.
Knowledgeable engineers can best solve problems when they have access to trusted resources. In fact, many engineers already spend a considerable amount of time researching while on the job. According to engineering scholars Carol Tenopir and Donald W. King, (Communication Patterns of Engineers, Wiley Interscience, 2004), 83% of an engineer’s required knowledge is acquired after graduation. Engineers spend about 25% of the business week, or approximately nine hours, working with external information. Of this number, 48% of that time is spent gathering information. These numbers are increasing as projects become more complex and demanding.
With the current economy going through rapid booms and busts, companies regularly expand or shrink as necessary. When they shrink, often the most experienced people are among those lost. Novice engineers increasingly need to depend on their own information-gathering skills to find the answers to their technical questions and to build know-how.
Information literacy is important for the engineer who desires to stay current with changes or to advance their career. Current information is also vital to help avoid costly mistakes. Readily available and authoritative information is especially critical during the innovation process. To make changes, optimizations, and improvements during the early stages of design, access to reliable and trustworthy information is necessary. If an engineer makes a critical mistake during a product’s design phase due to lack of critical information, it can halt production and hurt the organization’s bottom line.
Because engineers need reliable answers to technical questions, it is imperative that engineering schools and companies equip these engineers and scientists with the proper tools they need now and throughout their careers.
The source of information is critical; engineers need to trust the data much more than the average Internet surfer. While you can browse a stack of reference materials in the corporate library or conduct a Google search, Web-based knowledge management systems can deliver faster, more accurate, and more verifiable information for engineers to help them produce better results under deadlines.
The first place many people turn to for assistance is commercial search engines. But these search results often mix the bad with the good results.
Since accessible information is increasing exponentially, it has become more of a challenge to discover what is relevant. In order to interpret and evaluate the quality of the information, novice engineers and scientists need to know how to discern what is reliable and what is misleading. Workers can drown in the sea of information available today. The knowledge of how to search efficiently and look for precise information and data is an asset.
Engineers should know how to find the right solutions to their problems online, not just with Google, but with alternative electronic resources as well. The ideal information-literate engineer will access the Internet to communicate and collaborate with other engineers worldwide. But they will also rely on specialized sources with validated information that offer more precise and accurate information. More importantly, the information-literate engineer should know how to analyze and evaluate the information they find to determine whether it is appropriate to help them make a decision or finish a project.
Engineers often need trusted information including standards and codes that are offered from specialized sources with a vast database of references. These systems aggregate content from a variety of trusted sources including publishers and technical societies. Engineers save time because it’s easier and faster to find the exact information they need from sources that have been properly vetted.
Other required functionality includes advanced search capabilities, Boolean searching with wildcard truncation, phrase matching, and bibliographic limit fields. Tools that let engineers incorporate tables, graphs, and equations directly into their workflow to maximize efficiency are beneficial.
From classroom to career
All engineering students should be required to take classes in informatics. Academic librarians ensure engineering students and faculty are up to date on the available electronic resources and can assist students with research and how to cite sources properly. However, this learning does not end upon graduation.
All engineering jobs, now and in the future, will involve making technical decisions, problem solving, and providing solutions. Nothing can substitute what the human brain, knowledge, and experience offers. However, knowledge management systems can act as a useful aid. Engineers need to learn how to use this technology to be successful now and later in their career.
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The Science Behind Race Day Nutrition
This is a remarkably common problem among athletes who experience difficulties at the ironman distance. After extensive preparation and the enormous expense to compete at the event, we are derailed by the one system we likely have given little thought to during the time leading up to the event. Yet a significant number of athletes are unable to race to their potential because of nutritional or gastrointestinal issues on game day.
In order to fully understand the problem, I think it is helpful to discuss the physiology of nutrition during endurance events.
Most people maintain normal gastric emptying and intestinal motility by remaining below a heart rate which corresponds to less than 70% VO2 max effort. If you don’t use physiologic testing to facilitate training, this corresponds to approximately 80% of your maximum heart rate or the effort commonly referred to as “steady”.
Both science and personal experience suggest that intermittent high periods of exertion (surges) slow your gastric absorption and intestinal motility more than a higher average constant heart rate without surges. In other words, an average hr of 140 that includes several periods of 170, will shut your gut down more than a steady average hr of 145.
The delivery mode of your nutrition plays an important role as well. Many people have different types of nutrition on the course: liquids, solids, gels. If your choice is not the nutritional smorgasbord, a common practice is to create a bottle with a highly concentrated solution. If this method works for you, then that is great. But be careful. Many people fail to dilute the concentrated drink adequately.
Historically, many scientific studies show that the ideal drink concentration should approximate a 6-10% solution. What may be confusing, is that different phrases are used to describe energy replacement drinks in terms of the amount of carbohydrates contained in the drink. In truth, the key to concentrated solutions is adequately balancing osmolality. Whereas % concentration is a measure of the weight of the carbohydrates diluted in the water, osmolality is the density of the particles dissolved in the solution. Based upon the type of carbohydrate (sugar) dissolved in the drink, a 6% solution can have a different osmolality. The intestines absorb solutions when osmolality is nearly the same found naturally in the body (isotonic), or 300 mOsm/kg. If a solution is significantly less than this (hypotonic solution), your digestion is slowed to allow the body to add electrolytes until it reaches 300mOsm. If the solution is significantly higher than 300 mOsm (hypertonic), than the body absorbs water from your system to dilute it. In either case, the digestive system is slowed more than a nearly isotonic solution. Some companies take the guesswork out of the equation for you and deliver their product with this in mind (Infinit, Hammer).
Nutritional content plays a key role as ell. If you can eat steak and a milkshake during the race, then more power to you. But, if you’ve read this far, you either fear or have experienced nutritional issues and may find these next few points helpful. Your GI tract doesn’t consider all calories equal. Protein and lactose containing foods delay transit time and slow absorption. Large doses of fruits, vegetables, and high fiber foods may have the opposite effect – but just as undesirable. Therefore, avoid these food types 24 hours before race day and during the race.
As far as caloric intake per hour goes, this is highly variable. A common goal is to consume 200-300 calories/hour during the bike and significantly less on the run. I believe your race and run performance will go up as you are able to SUCCESSFULLY take in more calories. “Successfully” is the important concept; it isn’t “take in calories at all cost.” If your digestion tract is not absorbing, then continued intake can make things worse. Belching and reflux can be a sign things are backing up. Flatus or “passing gas” is usually a sign that the digestive tract is moving things in the right direction. We’ve all experienced passing those athletes!
There is evidence to support that increasing caloric absorption is trainable. However, my experience indicates that athletes able to accomplish this are very disciplined on the bike and keep their heart rates steady and aerobic.
Here is an exercise to try over the next few weeks:
Plan a “big day” training session to determine the heart rate you can digest food. Begin with a long continuous swim, holding the 100 m pace you expect to race. Then, eat a huge amount of food, including milk and lots of protein immediately prior to riding at the highest heart rate you plan to hit during the race. Take in your normal drink at your hourly caloric goal rate during the race. The key to this exercise is to create a “full” feeling in your gut before you begin the ride. This assimilates what can happen to the majority of triathletes who come to the sport with no swim background and typically swim with a high heart rate swallowing air during the first discipline. The subsequent mad dash through T1 only aggravates the condition. By recreating this scenario, you will gain some idea of how hard you can go and keep the GI system rolling. This can be a healthy reality check prior to your key race day.
Here are some tips to consider if you have stomach problems during a race:
- SLOW DOWN-this is key. As your heart rate rises, blood is shunted from your intestines, effectively stopping absorption.
- Avoid high effort/hr surges. Lactate accumulation in the blood slows gastric emptying.
- Remain adequately hydrated. The total volume of liquid ingested counts and includes both sports drink and water.
- Wait adequate time for your intestines to “wake up” after swimming before taking in calories. -This is confirmed when you are passing flatus, as opposed to belching.
- Urinate…a full, distended bladder can increase the distension in your abdomen.
- Loosen up the race belt and drawstring of shorts from around your abdomen.
- Optimize the osmolality of your drink.
- Unless you have prior success, avoid protein, lactose and fruits/vegetables on race day and the preceding 24 hours.
Hope this is helpful and best of luck in your upcoming races.
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ATPase enzyme is the energy generator for the mammal body. Energy in the body comes from millions and millions of tiny power generators, each equipped with a crankshaft that spins round and round 24/7, producing the fuel that makes us go.
The protein adenosine triphosphate synthase, better known as ATPase, is nature’s smallest rotary motor. You can take a spoonful of that protein, says biophysicist Klaus Schulten of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and it generates as much torque as a Mercedes engine.
A remarkable molecular motor that in the laboratory produces torque from chemical fuel, ATPase works the other direction in humans — converting torque into ATP, the basic fuel of life, the chemical energy that fuels muscle contraction, transmission of nerve messages and many other functions. Probably the most abundant protein in all living organisms, ATPase is the power plant of metabolism. In an active day, an adult human can produce and consume its body weight or more of ATP, nearly all of it produced by ATPase.
Everyday, seven days each week, a scalar energy nutrient therapy is delivered and serves to address 239 essential nutrients. Scalar energy is responsible for assembling and maintaining nutrients. It is possible to assemble nutrients by administering the scalar energy in-phase angle harmonic of an essential nutrient thereby increasing the opportunity for the cells of the body to take in and use the nutrients delivered by light.
The three scalar energy protocols serve as universal health care for all as everyone will benefit in some fashion from these standardized sessions. Scalar energy is a fundamental force that allows me to have control over nature. In so doing, I am able to disassemble pathogens; balance and correct the seven chakras; and assemble micro-nutrients inside each cell of the human body.
Scalar energy are the instructions for the universe. That is, scalar energy imparts instructions or intelligence for all spiritual, mental, emotional and physical activity. In short, scalar energy is the first cause of all action in the universe. It is scalar energy that creates order from chaos. Without scalar energy the universe would be reduced to a state of disorder and chaos.
Thank you for your interest in the article ATPase Enzyme Nutrient Therapy
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You can click here or on the banner below to get started. After payment, you will receive an email requesting your photograph. Submit your photograph and Tom Paladino will begin the sessions. You will receive scalar sessions 7 days each week over 30 days. These sessions consist of a Pathogen Cleanse, a Nutritional Therapy and a Chakra Balance. Please refer to the FAQ page to see more details.
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When it looks like spaghetti, it may be fishing. That’s one of the first lessons students learn when they’re working with Kristina Boerder, one of our academic partners from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Of course, she’s not teaching them about pasta. She’s teaching them about the movement patterns of ships at sea. The students are helping Kristina classify the tracks of ocean-going vessels recorded from satellite signals.
When we spoke with her, she gave us a quick rundown of what vessel tracks look like on a map of the ocean. “Cargo ships and tankers are relatively easy to identify,” she said. “They move from port to port in a fairly straight line at a fairly steady speed.” But when a vessel’s movements become erratic, creating a track of squiggly lines that Kristina described as resembling a plate of spaghetti, then you know it’s doing something other than transporting cargo.
Exactly what it’s doing can be difficult to tell, unless you know how to identify patterns in the chaos. “That’s one of the main goals of Global Fishing Watch,” said David Kroodsma, who is our Research Program Manager, “to be able to look at a boat and say whether it’s fishing or not, and what kind of fishing it’s doing. It’s surprising that that information is not easily available.”
Large commercial fishing vessels are required to carry an Automatic Identification System (AIS) beacon that allows satellites to track their movements, and to some extent, what they’re doing based on codes the captains enter into their system. About 70,000 vessels report they are fishing, but the signals don’t identify the kind of fishing they are doing. What’s more, self-reporting isn’t entirely reliable—either intentionally, or accidentally, vessel operators sometimes enter the wrong codes. Some vessels are fishing but don’t report it, while others falsely report fishing when in fact they are doing something else entirely.
That’s where Kristina and her students come in. Through a meticulous process of analyzing hundreds of tracks of known fishing vessels and correlating them with their activity, Kristina has figured out general patterns for different types of vessel movements. “I like to talk about different fishing gear types as different species,” she said. “Their behavior is totally different.”
Trawlers for instance zig zag back and forth, moving at a constant speed, dragging nets behind them to collect their catch. Purse seiners, on the other hand, travel quickly in a tight circle, closing their nets around a school of fish in a matter of minutes. Longliner tracks are spikey, tracing the same line again and again as they set their hooks and return to retrieve their catch.
Kristina can usually distinguish one “species” of vessel from another, and nearly a dozen undergraduate students from Dalhousie University have learned to do the same. But codifying what they do into a precise set of rules to accurately identify a vessel at sea is not as easy as it would seem. Not only do patterns vary with the size of the vessel, but non-fishing vessels can throw a curve ball into the mix. A sailboat meandering along a coastline without an obvious purpose might look a bit like a fishing boat. An offshore supply boat that steams toward an oil rig then stops can confuse an untrained eye.
“We’re operating on a majority vote system,” Kristina said. “Several of the students will see the same vessels in the program they are using, and if five of them classify it as a longliner, we assume it is a longliner.” In addition, they ground-truth their assumptions with a credible source such as a ship registry, or photos and videos from the web. Often the fishermen themselves post videos on YouTube of their days at sea. Those images help the team correlate vessel names and numbers with the fishing gear on board.
It’s been a tedious task and a heroic effort by the students to create a database of thousands of vessels, each labeled as to the kind of activity it’s engaged in. Through our partnership with Dalhousie University, Kristina has opened up her treasure trove of data to Global Fishing Watch, providing us with thousands of tracks—representing millions of data points—categorized by fishing type.
Right now, our database of fishing vessels is based on a combination of public vessel registries and the list of vessels that are identifying themselves as “fishing” in the AIS signals. It likely has some errors, and it doesn’t categorize fishing vessels by type. But when our tech gurus feed Kristina’s detailed data into our algorithm, it will analyze the patterns and identify a much more precise set of rules to distinguish a fishing boat from a non-fishing boat, and a trawler from a longliner or purse seiner.
The platform we’re using employs a method of machine learning called “neural network modeling” or “deep learning” in which an analyst feeds lots of examples of something into a computer and asks it to find specific patterns. The beauty of machine learning—other than the fact that a computer can analyze millions of data points that would take a human forever—is that you can continually add new information to build an even more refined model.
Alex Wilson, one of our software engineers from Google, has recently added a feature to the algorithm that considers not only a given vessel’s track, but all the vessels within a square kilometer. “If there are a lot of vessels in close proximity, then fishing is very unlikely to be happening,” he said. “You’re probably in a port or an anchorage.” Humans looking at the AIS signals on a map might recognize this because they have more information in front of them, but a computer only has the information it’s been given.
That’s the basis of what we’re working on; telling the computer what to look for and asking it to turn that into something meaningful that we can say about fishing activity. Although currently AIS is not universally required, it is possible to equip all commercial fishing vessels in the world with the technology. “It’s a novel idea we are introducing,” said Kristina, “and it’s a pretty big idea. But if you think about it, we’re tracking planes, we’re tracking football players, we’re tracking every single person that owns a smartphone.” If regulations evolve to the point that every vessel must carry AIS, our platform will allow everyone with an internet connection to identify and monitor every single fishing vessel around the globe.
“I’m super happy to work with Global Fishing Watch, because I want my work to be applied,” Kristina said. “That’s often hard to do in academia. We had been working on this data for two years, and it was just sitting on our computers. But now, Global Fishing Watch is able to apply it to be used by everybody.”
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As early as December 1914 during the First World War the Royal Navy's Director of the Air Department, Captain Murray Sueter requested "a bloody paralyser" of an aircraft from Frederick Handley Page for long-range bombing. The phrase had originated from Commander Charles Rumney Samson who had returned from the front.
Coastal patrol adaptations to be developed from the unbuilt Handley Page L/200 and internally designated M/200 and MS/200 for their 200 hp/150 kW engines were initially discussed but Sueter's technical advisor Harris Booth favoured a large seaplane for coastal patrol and dockyard defence that would also be capable of bombing the German High Seas Fleet at its base in Kiel: a prototype (the AD Seaplane Type 1000) had already been commissioned from J Samuel White & Co. of Cowes.
Handley Page responded to the Navy's requirements with a biplane having a wingspan of 100 ft/30 m (the original source of the O/100 designation). The first prototype flew on 7 December 1915 and featured a glazed cockpit and armour sufficient to protect from rifle fire around the crew compartment and engines. The aircraft proved somewhat underpowered, so the glazing and armour were deleted on the second prototype that flew the following April and formed the basis for series production of the machine. A total of 46 of the O/100s were built.
The success of the type prompted the development of an uprated version with more powerful engines and other refinements, designated the O/400. First flying in 1918, over 400 were supplied before the Armistice. Another 107 were licence-built in the USA by the Standard Aircraft Corporation (out of a total order of 1,500 by the air corps). Forty-six out of an order for 50 were built by Clayton & Shuttleworth in Lincoln.
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Editor's Note: Phylogenetic analyses of sequences of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA indicate that two species formerly placed in Wilsonia (canadensis and pusilla) are more closely related to the Red-faced Warbler (Cardellina rufifrons) and other Neotropical warbler species than to the only other species formerly placed in Wilsonia (citrina, now in Setophaga). See the 52nd Supplement to the AOU Checklist of North American Birds for details. Future revisions of this account will reflect these changes.
This little-studied wood-warbler breeds in the northeastern U.S., boreal Canada, and through the central ridge of the Allegheny Mountains to Tennessee and Georgia. It undertakes a long annual migration for a wood-warbler, wintering in northern South America. It is often referred to as the “Necklaced Warbler” because of the pattern of black spots across its bright yellow breast.
During the breeding season Canada Warblers inhabit many sorts of forest growth, but the species is most abundant in cool, moist forests with a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees, a dense understory, and complex ground cover, often with standing water and trees that emerge from the subcanopy. It frequents rhododendron thickets in montane areas in the south, steep aspen/poplar forests in the north, and forested wetlands/swamps in the central part of its range. It is often associated with areas having abundant moss cover, nesting on or near the ground in recessed pockets within moss hummocks, upturned tree-root masses or small hillocks with deep litter and dense saplings. This warbler spends relatively little time on its breeding grounds, usually one of the last warblers to arrive and one of the first to depart local nesting areas. Canada Warblers often continue to sing late into the nesting cycle and even during fall migration and on the wintering grounds.
This warbler eats a variety of insects and spiders and uses varied foraging techniques: foliage gleaning, ground foraging, and flycatching. It is an active species, its tail often cocked and wings flicking. In some areas, it feeds largely on the wing, which explains the names used historically for this species: Canadian Flycatcher and Canadian Flycatching Warbler. It is socially monogamous and territorial during the breeding season and often joins mixed-species foraging flocks during winter.
Recent studies on nesting populations have opened new doors on the breeding biology of this species. Nest site (and often mate) fidelity is high, and individuals have been known to persist in local breeding populations up to six years. Females lay one egg per day, with a short incubation period -- ten days after the penultimate egg is laid. The nestling period ranges from 7-9 days.
Populations of this warbler have declined steadily over the past 30 years, likely in response to forest succession and loss of forested wetlands, making this species a high priority for management and monitoring. Its wintering grounds along the east slope of the Andes are also under pressure, but the species apparently can use disturbed forests if sufficient stands of trees remain. Still, trends in many parts of its breeding range exceed 2% loss annually, prompting the need for vigilant study and management.
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When you have a special-needs child who is doing well in a specialized education setting, the good news can actually present difficult choices. You may be told that your son is ready for a regular education, mainstream setting.
Moving a child into special-needs classroom in the first place is emotionally charged for parents and kids alike. But so is moving out of such a setting. How much of his academic and behavioral success is tied to the structure of the setting?
While some parents may be thrilled at the idea of sending a child back into a “regular” school—a less stigmatizing setting—others will worry that he might lose ground that he has gained.
Don’t push a child before he’s ready
“Moving to a mainstream school is a huge step,” says Susan Schwartz, a learning and educational specialist at the Child Mind Institute. “A child’s emotional, social and behavioral functioning should be considered. It’s not just about academics. There’s a different level of independence that requires skill and strategy as well.”
Moving a student to a school environment that’s not supportive enough can be comparable to taking the training wheels off too soon. If a child is not ready to move on without some or any of the supports and supervision he has, he may regress, leading to failure and low self-esteem.
Schwartz says kids who need remedial support for a single issue, such as a reading delay, usually make substantial gains within two years, and then can be ready for re-entry. But children with more severe learning, attention and behavioral issues generally need more time in a setting with a more intensive level of support.
When to mainstream?
So how do parents and educators know when a child is ready to move to a less restrictive setting, let alone be mainstreamed?
There are four important factors to consider when thinking about mainstreaming, advises Dr. Yael Rosenbaum, a pediatric neuropsychologist at the Child Mind Institute who has helped many families determine appropriate school placements, accommodations, and supports.
- What grade is your child going into? There are some grades that introduce new academic demands, including third grade and the first year of middle school. If a child has been getting extra support in a specialized educational setting, it might not be the best time to move him into a less supportive environment during these grades. Third grade, educators often say, is the year that kids make the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. If a child’s reading skills are still shaky, another year of skill-building could be preferable to switching. Similarly, middle school, with higher expectations and less oversight, challenges the organizational skills of many kids. It can be better to wait until the end of middle school, using the time to shore up skills and confidence, and make the change at the beginning of high school.
- Can your child meet expectations in the new class? Whether mainstreaming will be effective also depends on how big a gap there is between your child’s current performance and what’s typical of other kids at her grade level. If the gap is too big it can be demoralizing for your child. This is where it can be especially useful to get a comprehensive neuropsychological assessment to develop a profile of your child’s cognitive and academic strengths and weaknesses. The testing can determine how much academic progress your child has made relative to national norms, which will be important to help guide the school placement decision, and also to monitor a child’s progress in her (potentially) new academic setting.
- How resilient is your child? In trying to gauge how a child will respond to a new, more challenging school environment, her temperament may be a deciding factor. How well does she tolerate frustration and respond to obstacles? Is she a good problem-solver? Having to struggle to fit in or keep up in a mainstream school can be hard on a child’s self-esteem. A child who is anxious or easily discouraged may do better staying in a more supportive classroom.
- Is your child comfortable being an advocate for himself? In a mainstream setting, it can make all the difference whether your child is able and willing to speak up if he needs help. It isn’t always apparent to teachers when kids fall behind or feel lost, and a child who’s comfortable asking for help is likely to get more support, and not only do better but feel better about himself.
Parents should know that if a child isn’t quite ready to move from a class with only special-needs students to a mainstream setting with only typically developing kids, there are intermediary steps she can take. For example, a child may go from special-needs setting with a class of eight to a less-restrictive one with 12. She might join a mainstream class for a specific subject like math or even gym, or enter an inclusion class in a mainstream school.
What’s the process?
When a child gets academic or behavioral support in school, through the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the accommodations are regularly reassessed to see if they’re sufficient—or still needed.
At the middle and end of every school year, parents meet with anyone working with their child—teachers, occupational therapists, psychologists, principals—to monitor his progress, find out if he needs more or less remedial support, and think about the following year’s most appropriate placement. At that point, an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, is created or updated. And at any time, a parent may request that a student’s case be reviewed.
As children get older, they may attend meetings themselves. “They have a right to be there,” Schwartz says. “We usually see middle and high school students who are anxious to take a role.”
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Meta-Analysis Database of Instructional Strategies
Explore our data firsthand. As a service to the educational research community, Marzano Research is proud to share our foundational data so that others may use it in their quest to find useful strategies for educators. The Meta-Analysis Database of Instructional Strategies captures our findings from action research conducted by over 500 teachers on 22 instructional strategies. The data indicates the grade level, subject area, and unit topic for each study on a target strategy, the number of students in the control and treatment groups, the effect size of the implemented strategy, and other relevant factors. Get the information you need to improve student performance today.
The Meta-Analysis Database of Instructional Strategies contains the findings for 22 researched strategies. The number of each strategy corresponds to the strategy field (labeled ST) in the database. When an independent action research study involved more than one instructional strategy, its results were reported for each strategy.
- Advance organizers: Providing students with a preview of new content
- Building vocabulary: Using a complete six-step process to teach vocabulary that includes teacher explanation, student explanation, student graphic or pictographic representation, review using comparison activities, student discussion of vocabulary terms, and use of games
- Complex cognitive tasks: Working on complex tasks such as investigation, problem solving, decision making, and experimental inquiry
- Cooperative learning: Students working together in small groups
- Cues and questions: Using hints and questions to activate prior knowledge and deepen student understanding
- Effort and recognition: Reinforcing and tracking student effort and providing recognition for achievement
- Engagement strategies: Using activities designed to capture students’ attention
- Feedback: Providing students with information relative to how well they are doing regarding a specific assignment
- Graphic organizers: Providing a visual display of something being discussed or considered (e.g., using a Venn diagram to compare two items)
- Homework: Providing students with opportunities to increase their understanding through assignments completed outside of class
- Identifying similarities and differences: Identifying similarities and/or differences between two or more items
- Interactive games: Using academic content in game-like situations
- Kinesthetic activities: Students representing new content physically
- Nonlinguistic representations: Providing a representation of knowledge without words (e.g., a graphic representation or physical model)
- Note taking: Recording information that is considered important
- Partial vocabulary: Using one or more aspects of a six-step process to teach vocabulary which may include teacher explanation, student explanation, student graphic or pictographic representation, review using comparison activities, student discussion of vocabulary terms, and use of games
- Practice: Massed and distributed practice on a specific skill, strategy, or process
- Setting goals/objectives: Identifying a learning goal or objective regarding a topic being considered in class
- Student discussion/chunking: Breaking a lesson into chunks for student or group discussion
- Summarizing: Requiring students to provide a brief summary of content
- Tracking student progress and scoring scales: Using scoring scales and tracking student progress toward a learning goal
- Voting technology: Using interactive clicker technology to collect data regarding student knowledge during class
From 2004–11, data was collected through action research at 87 schools in 26 districts, involving 509 teachers. Of these, 198 teachers indicated that they conducted studies involving more than one instructional strategy. Data for those teachers is listed in the database with each strategy. Each action research study represents a snapshot of time in the classroom.
Because each teacher develops a personal style of teaching based on experiences and education, it would not be a fair comparison to analyze the results of one teacher with those of another. So, each teacher acted as his or her own control by administering the same pretest and posttest to two different groups of students. One group, the control group, was taught without the use of the target instructional strategy. The other group, the treatment group, was taught with the use of the target instructional strategy.
Except where noted, data was analyzed using the general linear model. One independent variable (treatment/control condition) was analyzed as a fixed effect. In each case, the pretest was used as the covariate. In effect, a fixed-effects analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was executed for the dependent measure.
The advantage of using an ANCOVA with the pretest as the covariate is that it statistically adjusts for students’ initial status on the measure in question. In other words, it is a way of controlling for students’ differences in what they know about a topic prior to the beginning of instruction. When random assignment to groups is not feasible, the ANCOVA design (with pretest as covariate) is commonly used to address students’ prior achievement relative to the dependent variable.
What Is Meta-Analysis?
“Meta-analysis is a summary, or synthesis, of relevant research findings. It looks at all of the individual studies done on a particular topic and summarizes them.”
—Robert J. Marzano
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In 1970, the sound of chainsaws and heavy equipment clearcutting trees for two giant pulp mills filled many parts of the Tongass. The pulp mills targeted places with the biggest trees; the same places that provide the best habitat for salmon, bears, Sitka black-tailed deer, and other wildlife. The Forest Service’s long-term management plan called for clearcutting more than 95 percent of the commercial timber on the Tongass.
A small group of dedicated Southeast Alaskans wanted to halt the damage to the forest they called home. They decided to take on the seemingly impossible task of reforming the management of the Tongass. In June of 1970, local conservation groups formed a coalition, soon called the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council.
Through the hard work of our members, SEACC has more than 45 years of success in standing up for the Tongass. When SEACC was founded, there were two large pulp mills, no protected lands in the Tongass, and little protection for fish and wildlife. Today the pulp mills are gone, more than 6.5 million acres are permanently protected, and more protections for fish and wildlife are in place. Here are a few highlights:
1980 – The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act permanently protects more than 5 million acres on the Tongass.
1990 – Tongass Timber Reform Act becomes law. SEACC spearheaded efforts to improve forest management and permanently protect more than one million acres of valuable forest.
In recent years, despite state and federal attempts to return to an unsustainable, large-scale timber industry, SEACC has successfully defended the most biologically and culturally important places on the Tongass.
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On a Friday afternoon in Prospect Park, a Little League team looking to practice finds that all the diamonds are full. In the South Bronx, a principal says her students go home after school and stay indoors because there’s no safe place to play outside. Parents wait on line for hours to sign up their children for private swim classes, if they can afford them, unless they live in one of the few neighborhoods with a public pool.
Ask parents about sports and recreation in New York City, and they are likely to say, "There’s not enough." Whether in minority neighborhoods that have disproportionately fewer parks and sports fields or in affluent areas with a growing demand for the kind of sports programs found in the suburbs, there are not enough facilities and programs to meet the needs of the city’s 1.5 million school age children.
Addressing these needs has become increasingly important as a growing body of research demonstrates that exercise and organized recreation can promote the healthy physical, social, and emotional development of children.
A 1996 report by the U.S. Surgeon General found multiple health benefits from engaging in regular physical activity, including weight loss and a reduced risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. A study by the Department of Education found that 43 percent of New York City students from kindergarten through fifth grade are either overweight or obese. Obesity rates were highest in central Brooklyn, East and Central Harlem, and the South Bronx, low-income areas with few parks and recreational facilities.
Sports and organized recreational activities can also have a positive impact on social and emotional development as well as educational achievement. Teens who participate in organized recreational activities are less likely to drink alcohol, take drugs, or get pregnant. In several cities, the availability of recreation for youths has been found to lower crime rates. In Fort Worth, Texas, for example, crime fell 28 percent within a one-mile radius of community centers offering midnight basketball, but rose an average of 39 percent around five other centers that did not have the program. Studies have also shown that students who participate in physical activity on a regular basis do better in school.
The Decline Of Recreation in New York City
Parks have traditionally played a major role in providing sports and other recreation to city dwellers, especially youth. Under the City Charter, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation has the "power and duty" to build and operate recreational facilities and offer programs, as well as to review and coordinate recreational activities conducted by other city agencies and to make agreements with government or private organizations for that purpose.
Advocates say that the department has been hampered in this goal by inadequate funding and by the low priority that the city placed on recreation for many years.
For decades, New York City let its recreational infrastructure crumble, both in the parks and in the schools. Beginning in the mid-1970s, the city all but eliminated funding for school sports and lowered the priority of physical education and fitness in the schools. Until recently, most high school teams and coaches have had to fend for themselves on bumpy, litter-strewn fields, buying their own uniforms and equipment and scraping up cash for transportation.
New York City’s schools once produced a steady crop of athletes for the major leagues, but by the 1990s the city had the lowest percentage of students participating in team sports of all the nation’s big cities, according to a 1999 New York Times series, Dropping the Ball (in pdf format) .
During that time, funding to maintain the city’s parks, courts, and fields also declined, reaching a low after the fiscal problems of the early 1990s, when the city shuttered recreation centers and let baseball and soccer fields wear down to dirt and rocks. The city built almost no new recreational facilities between the 1970s and the 1990s. Data compiled by the Center for Park Excellence at the Trust for Public Land show that New York City has fewer recreation centers, pools, and tennis courts per capita than nearly every large city in the country.
Although things have improved tremendously over the last decade, there are still fields and courts that are not in good condition, especially in the smaller parks in the outer boroughs. The 2005 Report Card on Parks, an annual survey of neighborhood parks conducted by the advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks, graded 29 percent of athletic fields and 33 percent of courts unacceptable for maintenance work.
Sports on the Rebound
In recent years, the city has increased capital funding for building and restoring sports fields and other facilities. The private sector has also been pinch-hitting for the government, providing the energy, expertise, and funding to fill gaps in the city’s recreation network, particularly in the city’s poorer neighborhoods.
The parks department has fixed up soccer, baseball, and football fields all over the city. On more than 40 fields, it has replaced grass (or what was left of it) with more durable artificial turf, and plans to convert 35 more. "As fast as we can build them," said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, "they fill up, like building highways."
In April, the department inaugurated a $42 million track-and-field stadium on Randall’s Island, with half of the cost raised privately by the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, including a $10 million naming sponsorship by financier Carl Icahn.
More new recreation centers have been opened or are in the works since the late 1960s or early 1970s, said Commissioner Benepe, who ticked off a list including the reopening of the Chelsea center after three decades; the near completion of another center in Flushing, Queens; the new nature center in the Staten Island Greenbelt; and the construction of a senior center in Marine Park.
If the city succeeds in its bid to play host to the 2012 Olympics, dozens of new facilities will be built or renovated, although there is debate about whether, when the Olympics are over, there will be enough demand for, and the city will be willing to maintain, such specialized venues as a shooting center, a whitewater course, and an enclosed bike track.
To meet some of the most pressing recreational needs of the city’s youth, a number of nonprofit groups have stepped up to the plate:
- Take the Field , founded in 2000 by three businessmen and philanthropists in response to the New York Times series about the decline of school sports, has rebuilt decrepit fields at 43 city high schools. The five-year effort, with $35 raised by Take the Field matched by $99 million from the Department of Education, is about to conclude after reaching the goal of fixing all the fields the group identified as in need of repair.
- In neighborhoods with the greatest need for parkland, the New York City Spaces program of the Trust for Public Land is taking the asphalt yards of elementary and middle school yards (some formerly used as parking lots) and turning them into multiple use parks. The yards, which have space for active sports, quiet activities and greenery, are open to the community outside of school hours. The organization has built 12 parks so far and recently entered into a $25 million agreement with the Department of Education to build 25 more, providing a quarter of the funding and overseeing the design and construction.
- New York Restoration Project, founded by Bette Midler to restore parks in disadvantaged neighborhoods, led the effort to transform a polluted site into a park at Swindler Cove on the Harlem River in Upper Manhattan. It also raised funds to build a floating boathouse anchored off the park, the first new community boathouse in the city in nearly 100 years. Rowing programs run by the group are introducing the Olympic sport to inner-city youths. The boathouse also provides a home for dozens of rowing teams from schools all over the city.
A Patchwork of Programs
The parks department has focused mainly on building and maintaining the infrastructure for sports, either directly or through concessions. Commissioner Benepe said, "The primary way we provide recreation is by creating facilities — clean, safe and well-run —that allow other groups to program them."
In the absence of a coordinated citywide recreation program, possibly hundreds of different organizations have developed programs to fill the gap, including volunteer sports leagues, neighborhood-based organizations, school and after-school programs, private non-profit groups, and profit-making recreational centers.
Per capita and as a percentage of its total budget, the New York City parks department spends less on programming (including sports, nature, art and other recreational activities) than most other major U.S. cities, according to data compiled by the Center for Park Excellence. According to the Independent Budget Office, in 2004 parks department recreation spending totaled just $16 million, out of an operating budget of approximately $260 million. Of that amount, about $9 million came from the state and federal governments and other city agencies and private sources. This does not include privately run recreation programs whose funding is not channeled through the parks department.
Funding for full-time recreation staff has fallen 69 percent since 1980, according to the parks advocacy group New Yorkers for Parks, although some of the difference has been made up by seasonal and temporary employees, including the job-training program workers who now make up the majority of the parks department work force.
Funding, Places and People All In Short Supply
Every year at budget time, there is uncertainty about funding for the playground associates, who keep the playgrounds clean and safe and organize activities in the summer. Typically, the mayor’s proposed budget reduces the number of positions for these and other seasonal workers and the City Council eventually restores them. At present, there are 171 playground associates for the city’s 991 playgrounds, according to the parks department.
"There’s a short supply not only of places to play but of people to supervise," said Maura Lout, research director at New Yorkers for Parks. The difficulty of getting a complete picture of recreation in the city because there are so many different providers, Lout said, "speaks to the dilemma."
Although some wealthier parts of the city, as well as formerly industrial areas like Tribeca, lack recreational fields and programs, residents in these neighborhoods tend to have the time and money to sign their children up for private classes and for sports leagues outside the immediate neighborhood. Some families in affluent areas of Brooklyn, for example, don’t think twice about enrolling their kids in a hockey program at the for-profit Chelsea Piers in Manhattan.
Targeting Poorer Neighborhoods
In large part because of the lack of facilities, the largest gaps in recreation programs are in the poorer neighborhoods with mostly minority or immigrant residents. In these areas, the cost, time and travel involved in getting to activities outside the immediate neighborhood are significant barriers to participation in many sports.
The parks department has made an effort to target its limited recreational resources to youth in these neighborhoods. Benepe noted that all of the department’s recreation programs for children, from swimming lessons to nature walks, are free.
The department organizes several athletic leagues and tournaments, often with support from corporate or non-profit partners. One innovative program directed toward underserved youth is the Star Track youth cycling and mentorship program in the newly renovated Kissena Velodrome in Queens. "Shape Up New York," a program run with the city health department, offers exercise for all ages at ten locations with high rates of high obesity and diabetes.
Free instruction in tennis, golf and track and field is also available at a number of parks from the City Parks Foundation, an independent non-profit that supports parks without access to private resources.
Working With The Schools
The parks department has also begun to coordinate its efforts with the Department of Education. "This is the first time in recent memory, maybe ever, that the parks and education departments are actually sitting down and talking to each other," said David Rivel, executive director of the City Parks Foundation.
Benepe said that with so many new schools being opened, the two departments have been discussing the use of park facilities during the day for physical education. They have also talked about expanding learn-to-swim programs using pools operated by both the schools and parks, as well as by colleges, non-profits and other organizations. "We could probably teach every kid how to swim if we put our minds to it," Benepe said. "If I could do one thing in the next four years it would be to teach every child, if not how to swim, at least to know what to do if you go in the water."
Under the leadership of Chancellor Joel Klein, there has been a new emphasis on fitness at the Department of Education. The department hired its first citywide director of fitness, Lori Benson; began providing professional development for physical education teachers; and instituted a new citywide physical education curriculum that emphasizes health-related fitness. With $1 million each from The Sports and Arts in Schools Foundation and the Snapple sponsorship, the department expanded a middle school sports and fitness program it piloted last year to 180 schools, many of which use parks for practice and games. "We are in the midst of a complete renaissance of the physical education program, which has not seen a lot of support over the last few decades," Benson said.
"There is a long way to go," said Rivel, "but things are clearly going in the right direction."
Anne Schwartz, in charge of the parks topic page since its inception in 1999, is a journalist who specializes in environmental issues.Â
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THE LESSON TAUGHT BY THE THREE GREAT LIGHTS
The Masonic Monthly 1865
The three chief symbols of the ancient Fraternity Masons were the Bible, Square and Compass. In the mediaeval lodge they were always to be found on the Master’s table, and were termed the “three great lights.” The old Lectures declare that the Bible was given to the Craft to rule and govern their faith; the Square, to square their actions; the Compass, to keep them within bounds with all men, particularly with a brother.
Thus, in these symbols, still preserved and revered by the Fraternity of the present day, as the furniture of the lodge, we recognize the identical ideas, which constitute the basis of modern masonry.
In the center of this group of symbols is placed the Square, (Norma, the law) “to square our actions,” - that is to say, the Moral Law.
Self-consciousness and freedom of the mind are the special prerogatives, which belong to man alone, of all created beings. All the rest of nature obeys eternal immutable laws; but the will of man belongs to a different sphere, in which the ideas of cause and effect, as found in the material world, are of no authority. Man is subject only to those laws, which he gives himself.
What use then should man make of this privileged autonomy of self-government, that he may prove worthy of this high prerogative? What principle should govern his actions? By what square should he construct those laws, which he gives himself?
There can be but one simple answer to these questions, namely: “so to act, that the principle of his actions may be exalted to a law of nature; to act in that manner only in which he thinks that He who has given to nature its immutable laws, would have compelled him to act, had He chosen to introduce compulsion into the realm of mind, in order to realize his design.”
This principle of the moral law gains dignity and sanctity, through the idea of the Deity, symbolized by the Bible in conjunction with the Square.
Were Nature but the aggregate of accidental and transitory phenomena, without internal organism, it would be immaterial whether man, as a free being, sought to act in harmony with it, or whether, as might suit his pleasure or caprice, he forcibly encroached upon this, to him, strange world of phenomena.
But beneath all the diversity of this world of phenomena, there lies a unity, - beneath the changing, an unchangeable, - beneath the whole, an eternal order, - the Absolute, the Deity, - before whom our views and contemplations of time and space, are as nothing.
When we elevate ourselves to this idea, and under its influence apply the Square, we then assume the character of free-will co-laborers on the building of the moral system of the world, and therefore, the moral law is necessarily a holy law, and requires for its maintenance no mean incentive, no fear of punishment, nay, not even the hope of a reward. He who suffers himself to be influenced by these selfish motives divests himself of the dignity of a freeman, and falls to the level of a miserable slave or venal mercenary, when he should be a master of himself, doing good for the sake of doing good alone, and therein finding a sufficient reward.
The individual having adopted these ideas, and beholding by his aide a multitude of beings, formed and endowed as himself, must recognize in them co laborers on the moral system of the world; it must be evident to him that the realm of mind, like that of the material world, is also a great organic whole, to which he stands in the relation of an individual member merely. If then he would remain faithful to his principles, and truly honor the Square, he must act in reciprocity with these, his fellows and equals, and not only not impede them in their designs, (here we have the idea of justice) but also make their designs his own, (the idea of love,) and thus, he finally attains to the idea of humanity, as a superior unity, his relation to which is symbolized by the Compass the instrument with which the architect describes the circles on his plan and defines the relations existing between the separate parts and the whole.
Our “three great Lights” thus point us to the idea of the individual man as a free-will subject of the. moral law, ennobled through the idea of the Deity, and reminded of his destiny by the idea of universal humanity.
It is evident from the explanation given in the ancient ritual, that the Bible is not here meant to be the source of a positive religious creed, for like the Square and Compass, it is explicitly alluded to as signifying something else, and indeed it signifies a great light that beams on Masonry, that is to say, an idea, the knowledge of which is necessary to us, if we would act with justice, and that idea is the idea of the Deity.
It follows, therefore, that the Fraternity may not question the individual as to his idea of the Deity, for it neither uses violence towards conscience, nor tolerates hypocrisy; the religious belief of the individual is left to himself as a private matter, which he must settle with his own faith and powers of comprehension.
We sometimes find the opinion expressed that only the professors of a certain religious creed are fit to be Freemasons, but this is directly at variance with the pure doctrine of Masonry. It is certainly true that the practical portion of the Christian doctrine, the universal love of man, first taught by Christ, is also the essence of Masonry, and thus we might indeed say, that he who does not acknowledge this doctrine cannot be a Mason; but this would simply be tautology and mean nothing more, but that he who does not comprehend the foundation of Masonry cannot co-operate in its building.
But what right have we to go farther and say, that he who is not outwardly accepted into the community of Christians or who does not believe in the truth of all the historical and speculative tenets taught by the church, can be no brother of ours, even though he has adopted the practical portion of the Christian doctrine and actually lives up to it?
Dare we say that he is not worthy of our brotherly love? Would not this be falsification a mutilation of the practical Christian doctrine itself? - Would we not thus substitute in the place of that universal mankind which we are to love, a posthumous picture of a new chosen people ? In what else then consists the progress of Judaism to Christianity, if not in the fact that it had torn down every barrier, every obstacle to the love of our neighbor, that it has opened our hearts to all ?
In what then would consist the superiority of Christianity over Judaism, if it had merely changed the form, or altered the position of those barriers, but left them barriers still?
Or, can we say that he who does not outwardly acknowledge Christ, the Messiah, is not fit for that universal love taught by him?
Is this practical Christianity then, something that is of value or authority, merely because at some time or in some place, it was invented or devised, and that consequently he only can receive who acknowledges the supremacy and peculiar vocation of Him who first uttered it?
Is its truth dependent upon the legitimacy of its first teacher, dependent on the truth of any one historical fact and the belief in that fact?
Is man, then, indeed merely a wild plant, which though guarded with the tenderness care, can mature no worthy fruit, unless a worthier question is engrafted on it?
No, my brethren, no 1
The Christian moral law and the law of Masonry is no invention, it is but the discovery of a truth as old as man himself. It was written on the heart of the first man, though man indeed only learned to read it in the course of time. It may be compared to an ancient faded palimpsest, which some ignorant monk has used as parchment on which to transcribe his legends, and which some future fortunate inquirer has successfully restored and deciphered.
To say that he who does not believe in the historical Christ cannot adopt his doctrine, and is unfit to practice it, is to say as much, as that be who believes not in Johannes Guttenberg can never read a book!
Or that he who believes not in Christopher Columbus cannot believe in the existence of America!
Or that he who believes not in Pythagoras can never perceive that the square described on the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle is equivalent to the sum of the squares described on the two other sides!
Or that he who does not believe in the ancient building corporations and is no architect, can never be a Freemason!
These views are confirmed by two ancient documents of our Fraternity. In the so-called Constitutions of York, the third charge ordains that “You shall be friendly toward all men, and so far as you can, preserve true friendship with them, and not hinder them because they are of a different religion or opinion.” And the fourth charge runs thus: “In particular you must be ever faithful to one another, instruct and aid each other in the art, and also do among you as you would that others should do unto you. Should a brother offend, or otherwise do wrong, all must aid him to make good his fault, until he has amended.”
In the so-called Examination of a Mason under Henry VI.; among the “Arts of Masonry” is mentioned “the skill of becoming good and perfect, without the help of fear and hope.”
Thus, these ancient Masons taught and practiced a nobler art, a purer morality than that which was taught and practiced in the Eleusinian Mysteries, of which Sophocles could only say: “O, thrice happy he, who beholds this consecration, he goeth down comforted into the lower world. Such only are permitted to dwell there, for all others only horrors wait!”
These facts should convince us that we have no reason to be ashamed of our actual ancestors in the culture of humanity and as teachers in the art of life, that we lose none of our internal worth by relinquishing our claims of being inheritors of Egyptian and Eleusinian Mysteries, or of numbering among our ancestors the builders of the Solomonian Temple.
In conclusion, we will cite one passage more, from the Examination, before alluded to, which in its very simplicity will speak more forcibly to our hearts than any flow of rhetorical eloquence that could be employed:
“Q. Do Masons love each other mightily as hath been said? A. Yea verily, and it may not otherwise be; for good men and true, knowing each other to be such, do always love the more as they be more good.”
Masonry is one of the most sublime and perfect institutions that ever was formed for the advancement of happiness and general good of mankind; creating, in all its varieties, universal benevolence and brotherly love. It holds out allurements so captivating as to inspire the Brotherhood with emulation to deeds of glory, such as must command, throughout the world, veneration and applause, and such as must entitle those who perform them to dignity and respect. It teaches us those useful, wise and instructive doctrines upon which alone true happiness is founded; and at the same time affords those easy paths by which we attain the rewards of virtue; it teaches us the duties which we owe to our neighbor, never to injure him in any one situation, but to conduct ourselves with justice and impartiality; it bids us not to divulge the mystery to the public, and it orders us to be true to our trust, and above all meanness and dissimulation, and in all our vocations to perform religiously that which we ought to do.
DUKE OF SUSSEX.
George Helmer FPS
PM Norwood #90 GRA
PZ Norwood #18 RAMMBBFMN #362
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Math Calculators, Lessons and Formulas
It is time to solve your math problem
1. An ellipse is the figure consisting of all those points for which the sum of their distances to two fixed points (called the foci) is a constant.
2. An ellipse is the figure consisting of all points in the plane whose Cartesian coordinates satisfy the equation
Where h, k, a and b are real numbers. a and b are positive.
An ellipse centered at the point (h, k) and having its major axis parallel to the x-axis may be specified by the equation
Parametric equations of the ellipse:
Major axis = 2a
Minor axis = 2b
Define a new constant called the eccentricity ( is the case of a circle) The eccentricity is:
The greater the eccentricity is, the more elongated is the ellipse.
If c equals the distance from the center to either focus, then
The distance between the foci is
The area enclosed by an ellipse is , where In the case of a circle where a = b, the expression reduces to the familiar
Say is a fixed point of the ellipse.
The equation of the tangent line in point of an ellipse
Given the following equation
a Find the length of the major and minor axes.
b) Find the coordinates of the foci.
c) Sketch the graph of the equation.
a) We first write the given equation in standard form:
The major axis length is given by = 2a = 4
The minor axis length is given by = 2b = 6
Sketch the graph of the ellipse whose equation is
We see that the center of the ellipse is (h, k) = (2, -1). Next, note that a = 3, b = 2.
We know that the endpoints of the major axis are exactly 3 units left and right the center, which places them at the points (-1, -1) and (5, -1).
We also know that the endpoints of the minor axis are exactly 2 units above and below the center, which places them at the points (2, 1)and (2, -3).
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Cancer cells are difficult to see, which makes each surgery to remove a tumor — and every last cancer cell — especially difficult and particularly fraught. Dr. Samuel Achilefu, director of the Optical Radiology Lab and a professor of biomedical engineering at Washington University, is in the process of developing "cancer goggles" that would help a surgical team see malignant tumor cells during an operation. Although the goggles are still in the development stage, many believe this new technology, which is supported by grants from both the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, will be a boon for surgeons and patients alike. After all, if the use of these goggles is able to reduce follow-up surgeries, they would also eliminate a great deal of anxiety, suffering, and pain on the part of patients.
How did the new technology come about? As Achilefu told Columbia Daily Tribune, a former surgical fellow asked him if it was possible to create a device that would help surgeons accurately visualize human tissue while still in the operating room. After all, CT scans and MRIs provide doctors with terrific maps that allow them to see where the cancerous tumors are located. Yet once they enter the operating room and cut into the tissues of an actual patient in real-time, the usefulness of those static images fades. A surgical team, the fellow explained, finds it extremely difficult to distinguish cancer cells from healthy cells during an actual operation, and for this reason, they find it hard to ensure they’ve removed all the malignant tissue. This is why surgeons often remove extra tissue as a margin of error and send these samples to a pathology lab to check for the presence of cancer. Unfortunately, when cancer cells are detected, a second surgery is recommended.
Using the new technology, doctors will be able to "see" the malignant tissue with the help of a contrasting agent, Biomarker LS 301, injected into a patient before the surgical procedure. LS 301 enters cancer cells, staining the infected tissue from the inside out and creating a bright fluorescent glow when an infrared light, shining from a small monocle on the goggles, hits them. Oddly, LS 301 was a mistake, Achilefu told The Beacon, as he was trying to create the exact opposite — a control agent that would not go into cancer cells. Eventually, understanding it could selectively bind to breast, prostate, liver, brain, colon, leukemia, and lymphoid cancers, and even stayed in these malignant cells, including stem cells, for about a week, Achilefu thought LS 301 might be useful for some other purpose.
Achilefu, who is head researcher of the cancer goggles project, said he hopes his new goggles will help surgeons differentiate between normal and cancerous tissue and so enable them to remove it all at once. Yet before the goggles can be used or even tested on humans, the goggles will be tested by researchers at the Missouri University veterinary school on dogs. Jeffrey Bryan, associate professor of oncology in veterinary medicine and surgery, told The Maneater the school often works with breast cancer in dogs. Similar to humans, dogs often develop both benign and malignant tumors yet even more importantly, tumors develop and behave very similarly to those in humans. The clinical tests in dogs are slated to begin shortly.
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Researchers in Paris set out to clinically test pieces of a theory first posed by philosopher and psychologist William James in the early 20th century. In their report, published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they explain James' theory: There is a signal connected to fatigue, James proposed, that accumulates when we exert effort.
When that signal reaches its highest possible end, we decide to stop. Lastly, that high point can change based on varying circumstances — like incentives. For this experiment, the researchers added one more hypothesis: That we decide to begin work again when the signal reaches its lowest end.
The first point of the study was to find out whether the signal, which the researchers called "cost evidence," actually exists in the human brain. They recruited 39 participants to squeeze a handgrip in exchange for payment — payment proportional to how long they exerted effort. The researchers monitored participants' brain activity during the task using FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and MEG (magneto-encephalography).
In doing so, they observed a particular signal — located in the posterior insula, a brain region involved in perception of pain — that grew during effort production and faded during rest.
The signal accumulated faster when the researchers increased task difficulty and slower when they increased the monetary incentives. Additionally, offering more incentive caused the signal to reach its low point faster during rest, and expanded the high and low points. This, according to the researchers, means the brain somehow tries to maximize benefit while avoiding complete fatigue.
In other words, our brains calculate when a break is necessary based on how hard we're working and how much we'll get back from the effort we expend. So next time you stop for a break from compiling a tedious report or assembling a piece of furniture, thank your brain for doing its job.
- Republished with permission from EverydayHealth.com
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One way of communicating about the archaeological past to a broader public, is by making visual representations. For our research project Putting Life into Late Neolithic Houses, archaeological reconstruction illustrator Kelvin Wilson is bringing to life those times long gone.
An archaeological reconstruction illustrator translates what once was minutely excavated into visualization manageable for an outside public. He puts the sherds of a broken pot together and recreates its former function. He is able to revive the faded colours and decoration patterns on pottery and repairs the cracks of broken glass. He builds houses out of what are now mere discolorations in the soil, and turns them into a home. He is the builder, the potter, the smith, the glassblower, the textile worker and the one with oversight over people’s life from birth to the grave.
In our research project, Kelvin Wilson is the archaeological reconstruction illustrator, or – as he describes himself – a storyteller. The storyteller seeks to present a mood and a setting into which the archaeology fits — to give an impression of a given moment in time, and share it with his audience. The snapshot can be of Mesolithic children playing in the sand, a Medieval ship’s crew battling stormy weather, or one Neolithic individual’s job on creating a dugout (Making a dugout – visualisation by Kelvin Wilson – YouTube).
Although it might seem that the viewer is looking at the artist’s own subjective impression of the past, the drawings are always based on scientific knowledge — with the artist’s imagination ending not far past the point where the facts begin. The repaired pottery he draws, is indeed present in the archaeological record (fig. 1). As for the natural environment, everything the artist paints (from the omnipresence of the ferns to the scattering of birches) is based on what the botanists concluded from the paleobotanical dataset (fig. 2). This doesn’t mean that visual representations of the past are mere catalogues of the archaeological finds put into a resuscitated context. The focus in Kelvin’s illustrations remains with the more transient character of people, with the archaeological finds as their attributes. This is completely different from technical drawings in catalogues or encyclopedias in which the object is mostly considered a prototype, and its function in life is rendered perfect as under a bell glass. Instead, Kelvin draws past worlds as the homes of people in flux. One could say he is an anthropologist, studying past peoples by means of a pencil.
The advantage of having a reconstruction illustrator in the research team, is that he draws our attention to those things we have not been able to excavate: the colour of hair or eyes, or what clothes people might have worn. Details, perhaps, yet very important in accurately representing the past. After all, our work in retelling the stories of the past doesn’t end with the assemblage of the archaeological remains, it begins with the visualization of them.
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In the beginning nothing was written down because the life of Jesus was viewed as an apocalyptic event by his followers. The travels of Paul began the real history when he wrote to the congregations he had established throughout the near east. Paul's life became the center of the debate between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians about the intentions of Jesus.
For this post, as the introduction to Christianity in the time of the empire, I created a reference frame for further discussions. That reference frame is in the form of a chronology -- a set of milestones in early Christian history related to the Roman emperor in power at the time of the event. This timeline is not exhaustive because there is no way to provide a complete picture in such a small space. It is intended only to provide a sense of the forces at work during the time when the Christian church was becoming established.
Before we discuss the timeline, however, I think it’s important to define my position on the subject matter to be presented here. The reader must understand that I am approaching this subject strictly from a historian’s standpoint, separated from my own religious beliefs. All facts included in this and future discussions are true in my judgment, based on the sources I have consulted. For example, I believe Paul’s travels and his letters are factual historical events. But there are difficulties when we approach the early Christian writers, such as Eusebius, because the zeal they express for their beliefs blurs the history and forces us to apply a filter. What you will read are the facts that made it through the filter.
|Caligula (37-41)||37-40||Paul In Damascus|
|Nero (54-69)||60?||Gospel Mark written|
|65||Peter and Paul martyred|
|Vespasian (69-79)||70||Jewish Revolt|
|70?||Gospel Matthew/Luke written|
|Domitian (81-96)||Pope Clement(88-97) writes to Corinth|
|Trajan (98-117)||95?||Gospel of John written|
|108||Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch martyred|
|Hadrian (117-138)||132||Jewish Revolt, Jerusalem destroyed|
|Antonius Pius (138-161)||150||Bishopic system in place|
|Marcus Aurelius (161-180)||165||Justin Martyr (100-165)|
|177||Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (140-202?)|
|Septimius Severus dies||211||Break in Persecutions|
|Decius (249-251)||250||Renewed persecutions|
|250||Origen (185-253) attack on pagan thought|
|Valerian (253-260)||258||Massacre of priests and deacons|
|Diocletian (284-305)||303||Diocletian persecution|
|Constantine (306-337)||325||First Council of Nicea|
|326||First St. Peter's basilica consecrated|
|Eusebius (260-341) History of the church|
|Julian (360-363)||360||Re-institute Pagan gods|
|Valentinian (364-375)||364||Council of Laodicea (rest on the sabbath)|
|Theodosius (379-395)||380||Theodosius I baptized|
|382||Catholic council of Rome sets Biblical canon|
|385||Pricillian executed as a heretic|
|391||Outlaws pagan rituals|
|Honorius (393-423)||420||Jerome (340-420) and the vulgate|
|Valentinian III (424-455)||430||Augustine (354-430)|
|451||Pope Leo (440-461) negotiated with|
The above chronology highlights the time sequence of six major threads that stretch through the period:
1. Christians struggle to define themselves
2. Christian apologists and their efforts to defend what they had created
3. Gentile Christian attacks on Jewish Christians during their period of rivalry.
4. Christian attacks on paganism, directed against the Greeks as rivals
5. The creation of Catholic dogma and attacks against heretics
6. Persecutions by the Romans
Most persecutions occurred prior to the reign of Constantine, who changed the course of Christianity by legitimizing it and protecting it from attack. The first persecutions were derived from disgust and misunderstanding of the Christians (they drink blood). Later ones were derived from the political threats perceived by the Romans when Christians refused to obey Roman law. Also embedded in the early period was a hysterical desire for martyrdom which saw many Christians actively seeking death in imitation of their savior.
The first few entries on the chronology show the initial period when Christianity was established. Its rapid expansion was a result of Paul’s work and the inherent attractiveness of the religion. The reference to Pope Clement shows how early the Bishop of Rome was communicating to his people and instructing them.
Major figures in the early church are bolded beginning with St. Ignatius.
In the year 132 A.D, Jerusalem was leveled by Hadrian, ending any significance it may have had as the home base of Christianity. Most Jewish Christians had, in fact, died in the 70 A.D. revolt when Jerusalem was sacked and burned.
By 150 A.D. we have evidence at the Bishopic system is in place and functioning. There are bishops in Rome, Corinth, Antioch, Damascus, and Alexandria among others. That same year saw the Gnostic theologian, Valentinius, active. The Gnostic sect was one of the most troublesome Christian splinter groups.
In the year 177 A.D. we note Irenaeus as the Bishop of Lyon. I find this interesting because it shows how early the “barbarian” territories had been converted. This is also the time of Tertullian who along with Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus, were important early theologians – on the defense as apologists and on the attack against the Jews, pagans, and heretics.
With the death of Septimius Severus in 211 A.D. there was a pause in the persecution of Christians that lasted for 38 years. Then, during the time of renewed persecutions under Decius, Origen was attacking pagan thought and philosophy as an important Christian apologist.
The period from 284-324 A.D. saw the storms of Diocletian give way to the sunny days of Constantine who embraced Christianity from an early age and protected it with all of his might. As the founder of Constantinople, he created a base for the eastern empire and the future Eastern Orthodox Church.
Eusebius was a prominent theologian in the period after Constantine’s death who wrote The History of the Church. He was Bishop of Caesarea, a town located on the coastline of northern Israel.
You can read the rest of the chronology for yourself. As you scan the entire list, try to get a sense of the time and place of the forces at work. Christianity saw some 260 years of growth before its acceptance, followed by another 150 years when it was embraced and became strong enough to outlast the empire. During the early period, the church built an administrative apparatus that rivaled or exceeded that of Rome – the same apparatus that is still in operation today.
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Fishing for Justice: A Fact Sheet about fishing in the Gaza Strip
Imagine fishers heading out to sea on a beautiful day, ready for a hard day of work to support their families. They might face challenges—a poor catch, storms, not enough buyers—but ordinarily their job is fairly straightforward. Now imagine these fishers getting shot at—routinely—when they go fishing. Imagine the fishers stripped, searched, detained and their boats confiscated by the navy. This is an everyday reality for fishers in the Gaza Strip who live and work under constant threat of Israeli attack at sea.
This fact sheet highlights the impact of increasing restrictions and violence faced by fishers in Gaza. For example:
- The 1993 Oslo Accords granted Gazan fishers the right to fish up to 20 nautical miles offshore (one nautical mile is roughly 1.15 miles.) The 20 nautical mile limit is only 10 percent of the exclusive international legal limit of 200 miles granted to sovereign countries under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- In 2006 Israel unilaterally reduced the fishing area to 6 nautical miles offshore when Hamas came to power in the Gaza Strip. During the 2008-2009 Israeli Operation Cast Lead, Israel further reduced the fishing area to just 3 nautical miles.
- The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) reports that Israeli naval forces routinely shoot at Gazan fishing boats even when they are well within 3 nautical miles from shore.
- By reducing the fishable area, Israel has cut off up to 85 percent of the available seas, including the best waters containing valuable fish such as sardines and mackerel.
- Fishers were once one of the wealthiest sectors of Palestinian society, but today 95 percent of fishing families are dependent on food aid.
|Fishing for Justice: Fact Sheet on fishing in the Gaza Strip||216.79 KB|
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"What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead." Nelson Mandela speaking at the90th birthday celebration of Walter Sisulu, Walter Sisulu Hall, Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa, 18 May 2002.
Nelson Mandela was never really a prisoner, but a free man always, and now, forever. As a South African, a comrade in the struggle to liberate my homeland from the evil of apartheid and a citizen of the world, my heart is heavy today. The loss was to be expected, but remains hard to bear.
The world has lost a true leader, a true father and a true inspiration. To say he lived a life of significance barely does it justice, and it is not over he leaves a profound legacy of hope in a world still wracked by injustice and inequity. His inspiration will live on in my heart and in the hearts of people everywhere.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during these hard times. The world has collectively drawn a breath and is mourning. This is a time for reflection and quiet contemplation of a life well lived, for a man well loved.
I was 15 years old when I first heard the name Mandela, orMadiba
, as he is fondly known in Africa. In apartheid South Africa he was public enemy number one. Shrouded in secrecy, myth and rumour, the media called him 'The Black Pimpernel'. He was able to avoid the police, using several disguises a favorite of which was that of a chauffeur until the CIA colluded with the apartheid regime to ensure his capture. In Durban, where I was born and grew up, and all over Africa, he was a hero! Now he is a hero to the world.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world"
he told the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003.
Thinking back to how he shaped my early life as an activist;during the apartheid regime I first stood up to in protest against inequality in education I fought apartheid education I remember when my friends and I first heard of the "Free Mandela" campaign. Madiba, as we fondly refer to him, was censored from the media. Such was the official fear the state held for his ideas. From then on, Madiba became a major source of inspiration for me, and when he said, "the struggle is my life," I realised how powerful and true his words really were. Those words inspired many of my fellow activists fighting the brutality of the apartheid regime. For me too, like many of my former comrades, it has become my life, a joyous life, but sometimes a hard life.
I have had the privilege to meet Madiba several times, and for that I consider myself extremely lucky. I first met him when I was in my late 20s, in 1993. I was helping facilitate an African National Congress (ANC) workshop to plan its media strategy. For someone who is rarely lost for words, I was choked, I was humbled, I could barely utter a sentence when Madiba shook my hand: "Its an honour to meet you, Madiba" and I couldnt get a word out after that. He was an enormous presence, yet remained simple, without pretension. After lunch he asked the manager of the hotel we were meeting in if he could thank the workers who provided the food. He went to the kitchen and greeted each and everyone. I followed and saw him shake everyones hands a simple honest gesture of appreciation that meant so much to all of them.
In 1995 I met him again when I was heading the Adult Literacy Campaign in South Africa. On International Literacy Day I took kids and adult learners to the Parliament to meet Madiba. They were excited to have their picture taken with him the image was to become a poster for our campaign to promote adult basic education but everyone was anxious; they where asking me what they should say and how they should approach meeting the President! Taking no chances most had prepared sentences, planning to thank him for making the time to see us. But when Madiba emerged from his Cabinet meeting he turned the tables. He walked in and thanked everyone for taking the time to see him. I know how busy you all are and I thank you for taking time to meet me, he said. In that moment he closed the gap. He was just a human being, a person like them, and everyone relaxed.
He was larger than life but never lost sight of his humanity and 'ordinariness'. His tenacity, resolution and willingness to forgive were superhuman and have given me strength and taught me important lessons about determination and perseverance.
Madiba once said that the struggle for justice is not a popularity contest. The truth is not always popular, and his example helped me and thousands of others become more resilient. Madiba believed that injustice will carry on unless decent men and women say, enough is enough and no more.
He declared: "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to see realised. But my Lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." -Defence statement during the Rivonia Trial, 1964
There will be a little more colour and joy in heaven today, he will be there in one of his 'trademark' shirts, still burning with the passion and wisdom that was forged in the furnace of injustice and adversity and honed in victory. He will be looking down on us people everywhere, willing us to go on, knowing that the impossible is possible if we stay true to ourselves.
Rest in peace Madiba, with our never-ending gratitude, you have more than earned it!
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Jupiter and the moon are set to meet up in the early morning sky on Saturday (Oct. 18).
If your sky is clear early tomorrow morning, you'll be treated to a lovely celestial scene as a fat, waning crescent moon passes just over 7 degrees below and to the right of the largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter. Your clenched fist held at arm's length measures approximately 10 degrees, so the moon and Jupiter will appear spaced roughly three-quarters of a fist apart.
Jupiter should look like a brilliant, nontwinkling star. It shines at magnitude minus 2.0, meaning that it shines nearly twice as brightly as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. The moon and Jupiter will make for an eye-catching pair during the early hours of Saturday. [See amazing images taken by skywatchers in September 2014]
Jupiter currently rises around 1:35 a.m. local time. About two hours after it comes up over the horizon, Jupiter will have climbed about 20 degrees in the eastern sky. It will be the brightest starlike object in the sky.
The large planet is currently tucked just inside the border of the constellation Leo, the Lion. Just off to the left of the planet is the striking curve of stars shaped like a sickle that forms the head, flowing mane and chest of the animal. At the bottom of the sickle is the bright, bluish 1st-magnitude star Regulus, which ranks 21st on the list of brightest stars, but it still only shines at about 1/16th the brightness of Jupiter.
Jupiter will glow regally more than halfway up in the east-southeast during morning twilight, a most opportune time to try to study the details of this planet's rich cloud features.
Keep in mind that what you are seeing on Saturday morning is an illusion of perspective. The moon is about 249,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away, while Jupiter is almost 2,100 times farther away, at a distance of 522 million miles (840 million km). If the sky is cloudy in your area, don't fret; the moon and Jupiter will get together again next month, on Nov. 14.
Editor's Note: If you take an amazing skywatching photo of the moon and Jupiter or any other celestial site that you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmer's Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for News 12 Westchester, N.Y. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
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OSHA violations plague every industry. They’re not only sources of hefty fines but also cause for an abundance of avoidable injuries and fatalities. In 2020 alone, the Board of Labor Statistics reported 2.7 million nonfatal workplace injuries.
To help companies reduce violations and make their workplaces safer, OSHA publishes the 10 most common violations every year. Understanding these common hazards is the first step in combatting workplace injuries. Combining that knowledge with proper OSHA training makes for a safe, efficient workplace.
1. Fall Protection
Fall protection begins with structural integrity, but the lack of usable fall protection equipment is a leading source for violations. This includes:
- Guard rails
- Safety nets
- Covers on holes
In general, one or more of these safeguards should be in place if a worker is six feet or more above the next level. That may not sound very high, but injuries from falls between six and 10 feet account for 28% of all fall-related fatalities.
2. Hazard Communication
For workers to use the right equipment and precautions around hazardous materials, they must know what they’re dealing with. Even if chemicals are stored in the proper containers, leaving them unlabeled is an OSHA violation.
All hazardous chemicals coming in or out of a business must be labeled appropriately. This includes providing accessible data sheets and training so workers know what signs mean and what procedures to adhere to.
3. Respiratory Protection
When ventilation and substituting less harmful chemicals aren’t viable options, businesses must provide well-fitting respirators at no cost to employees.
Respirators must also be stored properly to avoid damage, maintained, and disposed of when they’re no longer in working order. Their use should be outlined in a written plan and training. Not having any one of those pieces in place constitutes an OSHA violation.
Construction scaffolding is rigorously regulated by OSHA because improper construction and maintenance lead to fatal falls, collapses, unstable planking, falling equipment, and contact with power lines. To prevent those hazards, every part of scaffolding must adhere to certain guidelines:
- Every component must support at least 4 times the maximum intended load.
- All suspension ropes and connecting hardware have to be capable of holding six times the intended load.
- Each walkway must be 18 inches wide in most scenarios.
While OSHA scaffolding standards get more complex than that, scaffolding violations largely include using damaged scaffolding, obstructed walkways, and having no guardrails on sections that require them.
Ladders are simple equipment, but 300 people die from ladder-related injuries every year. Even more are treated for injuries, costing businesses $24 billion annually. Violations stem from ladders placed around obstructions, broken rungs, and improper setup, such as there being too much space between the foot of a ladder and a wall.
With ladder violation fines reaching up to $13,000 per day, OSHA takes ladder usage very seriously. In addition to risks posed by damaged ladders, it’s an OSHA violation to carry something up a ladder that could lead to a worker losing their balance.
6. Control of Hazardous Energy
Hazard energy is defined as any sort of power that may cause workers harm during repair. This includes electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, and chemically-powered engines and devices. Control of hazardous energy violations only extend to repair and maintenance, not regular use.
When repair crews work on equipment, there must be a lock affixed to the device so it doesn’t start accidentally. Failure to do so results in a violation. Like ladder violations, hazardous energy violations reach up to about $13,000 per day.
There must also be a tagout, or a label that informs other workers why the machine is locked out and by whom.
7. Powered Industrial Trucks
Also known as forklifts, powered industrial trucks require daily pre-operation inspections, maintenance, and training to use. Under federal law, all operators must be licensed and over 18.
Forklift violations range from not providing training refreshers to unsafe operations. As defined by OSHA, unsafe use means driving a forklift too fast, with an elevated load, or too close to platform and dock edges. Forklift modifications must not affect safety or capacity and must always meet manufacturer approval.
8. Fall Protection Training
This OSHA violation category bolsters regulations regarding scaffolding, ladders, and fall protection. It’s not enough to provide fall protection equipment — adequate training must also be provided to anyone who might be exposed to fall hazards.
Training must include equipment use, setup, limitations, and the roles of employees in safety monitoring systems. Certification must include the employee’s and instructor’s names, training dates, and the employer’s signature. When old equipment becomes obsolete or an employee demonstrates inadequate fall protection knowledge, employers must provide refresher training.
9. Eye and Face Protection
Eye and face protection violations result from not using adequate eye protection or not using it all. Employees working with machinery that produces flying particles, molten metal, vapors, or gasses must use eye protection. This includes welders, wood product manufacturers, and some waste technicians.
Along with being durable enough for its purpose, eye protection must be comfortable to encourage use, fit snuggly and be able to be cleaned. It must also extend to the side of the eyes. Not meeting all of these requirements results in thousands of dollars of daily fines.
10. Machinery and Machine Guarding
While hazardous energy control extends only to maintenance, machine guarding is for regular operation. Affixed to machines themselves, common machine guarding methods include barrier guards, electronic safety devices, switches, two-handed control devices, and automated ejection systems. These are to protect employees from rotating parts, sparks, and ingoing nip points.
Guards must also not create hazards and ideally allow for lubrication when in place. Most commonly, they’re needed for shears, presses, saws, milling machines, and rotating drums.
Prevent OSHA Violations With Proper Training
From general hazard assessment and equipment usage to the particulars of every OSHA regulation, OSHA training prevents workplace injuries by keeping employees informed. Whether your business requires online training or on-site demonstrations, let ROI Safety Services of California be a part of your safety plan. Contact us today for a quote and to minimize your business’s OSHA violations and safety hazards.
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Steps in preparing a scientific reconstruction: 2. Composition
Sketch by Mary Parrish under the direction of Tom Phillips
Rough thumbnails sketches of the general scene were prepared after discussions with the scientists. They were used to establish the perspective of the illustration, and to plan the general placement of plant species in the environment.
|Research||Composition||Painting||Critique||Final Art & Home|
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If ever a father had reason to doubt the legitimacy of his parentage, it is this duck. Apparently a duck with genetically modified germ cells has successfully fathered a chicken, reports Time. Yes, you heard that right: a duck has spawned a chicken. And scientists have confirmed that he really is the father.
The bizarre experiment began as an attempt by researchers at the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory in Dubai to genetically modify chickens to produce more fertile hens. How it became an effort to make ducks capable of fathering chickens is unclear, but scientists hope the technique could be further developed for a more sensible purpose: allowing hens to lay eggs from other species. This could, in turn, become an invaluable tool for bird conservation.
At the very least, the research represents an eccentric new chapter for the science of genetic modification.
The procedure involves first injecting a chicken's germ cells into the reproductive organs of a male duck embryo. As the duck matures, its sex organs eventually produce chicken sperm — with chicken DNA — instead of duck sperm. Thus, in a manner of speaking, a duck can become the proud father of a chicken. The methodology would have to be modified if the hen was meant to produce an egg from another species, but the success of this method is an important step in that direction.
Perhaps someday chickens could be used to lay eggs for hawks, eagles or even a Dodo bird. That's the long view for researchers, to "use this system to propagate endangered species or potentially bring back an extinct one," according to Mike McGrew, a scientist at the Roslin Institute, in a recent TEDx talk. McGrew and his fellow researchers at Roslin are the ones responsible for Dolly the sheep, the first mammal to ever be cloned.
As unusual as this project sounds, it's not unprecedented. Another team of researchers with similar aims recently announced a successful attempt at inserting the preserved genetic material of an extinct gastric-brooding frog into the donor eggs of another species of living frog. The embryos from the extinct species had not yet developed into tadpoles, but the scientists expressed optimism that the gastric-brooding frog would soon be "hopping again."
Related posts on MNN:
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You’d have to have been living on another planet this year if you didn’t see at least a little bit in the news about Jeff Bezos taking off into the Earth’s orbit!
Beyond multi-billionaires, this year also saw the very first civilian mission into space. On September 15th, SpaceX successfully launched Inspiration4, dubbed the world’s first all-civilian mission by the private spaceflight company, making space flight history.
It’s an exciting time that will undoubtedly create some changes across the entire field of space travel – and with it, some exciting changes in space careers.
And what better way to celebrate and explore than through the vast array of events for World Space Week 2021!
What is World Space Week?
World Space Week (WSW) runs annually from October 4 to 10 in over 95 nations worldwide. The UN chose to run WSW during these dates to commemorate two key events in space history:
- October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, opening the way for space exploration.
- October 10, 1967: The signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.
World Space Week is officially defined as: “an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition.”
According to the WSW website, there are six key goals the week aims to achieve:
- Provide unique leverage in space outreach and education.
- Educate people around the world about the benefits that they receive from space.
- Encourage greater use of space for sustainable economic development.
- Demonstrate public support for space programs.
- Excite young people about science, technology, engineering, and math.
- Foster international cooperation in space outreach and education.
5 Careers You Didn’t Know You Could Explore in Space
We all know some of the big scene careers within space travel and space exploration – astronaut being the main one – but getting a spacecraft into space, keeping it up there and bringing it home is a huge task.
One that requires a multitude of talents, expertise and skills.
Here’s a quick look at five careers you might not traditionally associate with space:
- Space Lawyer: Individuals and companies operating in space still need to abide by specific laws. The development of the commercial space sector has resulted in an increased need for lawyers who specialise in space law. Start-ups and companies in the space industry need legal advice to ensure their activities are compliant with relevant regulations. Space lawyers provide advice, prepare legal contracts and documentation to comply with Australian and international laws for space travel and exploration.
- Intelligent Games Developers: Intelligent game developers build, program and utilise systems and games in virtual reality, augmented reality and simulations. Simulation environments already play a significant role in training pilots in the aviation industry and they’re becoming vital for space flight preparation. In the space industry, simulations will help space operators practice missions before deployment in the real world.
- Flight Surgeon: Flight surgeons are specialised doctors assigned to manage and oversee the health of aerospace personnel like astronauts or pilots. Space travel poses various health hazards around weightlessness, diet and nutrition, travelling at speed and exposure to extra-planetary radiation, among other factors.
- Machine Learning & AI Engineer: Technology has come a long way since the first space missions; machine learning and AI being two giant leaps forward that can directly benefit space missions and exploration. Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are specialisations within software development. These engineers teach computers how to analyse large amounts of data and find meaningful connections and patterns. These roles require knowledge of current industrial-level computer operating systems and coding languages like Python, Java and C++.
- Space Education Outreach Officer: As the field of space travel, exploration and careers grow, educating different audiences about what’s happening will be of high importance. Space Education Outreach Officers work across schools, universities, research departments, government and businesses to keep everyone up to date with what’s happening. Education outreach officers also plan to deliver educational event activities for school and higher education students. Events might be part of excursions at a museum or take place at an organisation’s premises.
Where to Find Out More
These roles are just a tiny peek at everything you could get involved in within the space industry!
You can find out more about the career opportunities and different job roles available via the Australian Space Discovery Centre here.
Don’t forget there are many exciting and educational events happening all this week for World Space Week, which can help you further build your knowledge of what’s happening in the space industry and hear from some fantastic individuals in the sector.
Here are a few taking place in Australia:
- Looking at the Sky through a glass ceiling – Aussie Hidden Figures (Online event)
- Women in Space (Online webinar)
- Space Treasure Hunt with #explorewithtt_space (Social media game with prices)
Check out the complete global list of events via the WSW website here.
Pathways into these careers will follow the usual pathways for most of these professional roles. For example, engineers will need to follow the accredited degree pathway, specialising as they go, likewise with doctors and lawyers.
Top tip: Check out our industry profiles to start learning all about how to get started in these career sectors!
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FAO-IRRI: Joint efforts to globally bolster sustainable rice production
A new agreement between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations – FAO – and the International Rice Research Institute – IRRI – on closer co-operation to bolster sustainable rice production was signed at the end of March in Rome, Italy. The agreement seeks to better pool the scientific knowledge and technical knowhow of the two organisations so that they can expand and intensify their work globally.
According to FAO, the partnership primarily aims to enhance sustainable rice-based farming systems through capacity building activities – including assisting governments in drawing up and implementing national and regional policies and strategies – to the benefit of small-scale farmers, especially women.
"The world faces very significant changes over the next few decades to produce the volume and quality of nutritious food to feed a global population heading for ten billion people," said IRRI Director-General Matthew K. Morell and added that addressing these issues relied on global partnerships, like the one IRRI had just signed with FAO.
"With over three billion people across the globe eating rice every day, rice is critical to global food security," said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources. "Ensuring sustainable rice production is a key contribution to the global goal of ending hunger. By teaming up with IRRI, already a long-standing partner, we will be able to scale up, complement and amplify our work towards reaching this goal."
Making the rice value chain more sustainable
In many countries around the world, rice is a staple crop for food security and consumption trends are growing. At the same time, rice production is vulnerable to the increasing impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events such as droughts and floods.
Both FAO and IRRI are actively promoting more sustainable rice practices throughout the value chain – production, marketing and consumption – to optimise its nutritional properties and as a means of improving livelihoods and tackling poverty, particularly in rural areas.
FAO has developed the Regional Rice Initiative for Asia and Pacific which promotes enhanced crop resilience while increasing efficiency and farmers' income. In Africa and in Latin America the UN agency is engaged in scientific and technical co-operation including the sharing of technologies and best practices to increase production and productivity, such as the reduction of post-harvest losses and improved grain quality.
IRRI is engaged in strengthening capacities of all rice sector actors through its capacity development activities, including IRRI Education and the Sustainable Rice Platform.
The Sustainable Rice Platform is a global alliance to promote resource efficiency and sustainability in trade flows, production and consumption operations, and supply chains in the global rice sector. The Sustainable Rice Platform recently established the world's first standard for sustainable rice. Through the Sustainable Rice Platform, IRRI aims to use environmental and socio-economic benchmarks to maintain yields for rice smallholders, reduce the environmental footprint of rice cultivation and meet consumer needs for food safety and quality.
FAO and IRRI will together assist rice producing countries to adopt improved and adapted rice varieties, enhance availability of certified seeds and also the transfer of knowledge – including on pest management – through participatory approaches such as farmer field schools.
The two organisations will also seek to strengthen partnerships for post-harvest handling, and help farmers and other rice producers add value by developing and marketing rice by-products rich in proteins and micronutrients, and explore the appropriate use of rice by-products to generate energy, animal feed and other agricultural products.
In addition, FAO and IRRI will work together to ensure that women farmers can participate in viable, safe and dignified entrepreneurial opportunities in the rice value chain and that there is an improvement in work conditions in the rice sector.
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Racial segregation peaked in the US in the 1970s, and then declined dramatically without interruption. Edward Glaeser, an urban economist and a Harvard professor, published a report for the conservative Manhattan Institute that updates the segregation trends with the latest data from the 2010 census. The decline continues, and the authors argue that there are no more neighborhoods without black residents.
The link is here, the report is titled “The End of the Segregated Century -1890-2010”. In some sense, it is a (very) quick update to their seminal paper in the Journal of Political Economy on “The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto.”
Now, what strikes me in the report is the absence of a discussion of the impact of Hispanic migration and Hispanic families residential location choices on the degree of segregation across neighborhoods. Cities in the South, Texas, the South-West experienced tremendous demographic changes. Glaeser and Vigdor argue that the decline in segregation is primarily due to the mobility of black families to the suburbs. However, it is well-known that segregation measures such as isolation and dissimilarity would mechanically decline in case of a large positive migration shock such as the influx of Hispanics — Austin’s population grew by 40% from 1995 to 2006.
There is still a great deal of racial segregation in American cities. The average black lives in a neighborhood with around 50% black neighbors, even though there are only 13% of blacks in the United States overall. If that is not racial segregation, then what is? Also, newly arrived Hispanic migrants tend to settle in Hispanic enclaves, as David Card pointed out in his Ely lecture on Immigration and Inequality.
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"UNEP is indeed very proud to recognize the achievements of these 'heroes' in the front lines of global environmental action," says UNEP's Executive Director, Klaus Toepfer. "They have taken the path that most of us hesitate to take for want of time or caring".
"In honoring the Global 500 laureates, UNEP hopes that others will be inspired by their extraordinary deeds," adds Toepfer.
The laureates who will receive their award from UNEP's Executive Director are: the Andyamathanha Nepabunna Community for being the first indigenous community in Australia to voluntarily declare more than 55,000 hectares of their traditional land as a protected area; Asbjorn Bjorgvinsson of Iceland for countering the commercial lobby to reestablish whaling and for having Iceland rejoin the International Whaling Commission; Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage of South Africa for rescuing wild chimpanzees threatened by poaching, deforestation and the bushmeat trade; Chumbe Island Coral Park in Tanzania for preserving a pristine coral island ecosystem in an otherwise over-fished and over- exploited area; Chief Larry Philip Fontaine for helping the aboriginal peoples of Canada address the issue of environmental degradation in their communities; Fuji Xerox Australia for developing a recycled paper, which reduces pressure on forest and waste; Robert Hager, a correspondent for NBC News Network in the United States for alerting the American people to the environmental challenges facing the planet, particularly global warming; the City of Las Pinas in the Philippines for resolving environmental problems through legislation and action; Dr. Reuben Americo Marti of Argentina for devising the City of Cordoba's first environmental regulation, which established compulsory environment impact assessment; Mei Ng of Hong Kong, People's Republic of China, for leading the fight against the illegal encroachment of country parks, the over- expansion of power plants, the use of pesticides, air pollution and government maladministration; and Carlos de Prada, a journalist from Spain, for bravely exposing environmental crimes.
The list of winners also includes three Global 500 laureates in the youth category. They are: Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers for managing a force of young volunteers in practical conservation projects; BUNDjugend of Germany for achieving the Government's climate protection target in their schools within seven months, instead of the seven-year period set up by the Government; and Globetree Foundation for using theatre and drama to mobilize young people around the world to care for the environment.
Since the inception of the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1987, 701 individuals and organizations, in both the adult and youth categories, have been honoured with this award. Prominent past winners include: French Marine explorer Jacques Cousteau; Sir David Attenborough, producer of environmental television programmes; Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway; Anil Aggarwal, the well-known environmentalist from India; Ken Saro-Wiwa, the environmental and human rights activist from Nigeria who was executed for leading the resistance of the Ogoni People against the pollution of their Delta homeland; the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Jimmy Carter, former President of the United States; Jane Goodall of the United Kingdom whose research on wild chimpanzees and olive baboons provided insight into the lives of non-human primates; and the late Chico Mendes, the Brazilian rubber tapper who was murdered during his fight to save the Amazon forest.
To forge global links and to implement ideas, which can contribute to a more sustainable future, a network of all Global 500 laureates has been formed. Information about this unique network can be obtained at www.global500.org.
UNEP looks to the world community to identify and nominate environmental advocates, so they too can be recognized for their efforts. Nomination forms can be obtained from UNEP's Headquarters, Global 500 Roll of Honour, Communications and Public Information Branch, P. O. Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, E-mail: email@example.com and from UNEP's regional offices.
LIST OF UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (UNEP) 2000 GLOBAL 500 LAUREATES ADULT CATEGORY Andyamathanha Nepabunna Community Australia
Asbjorn Bjorgvinsson Iceland
Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage South Africa
Chumbe Island Coral Park United
Republic of Tanzania
Chief Larry Philip Fontaine Canada
Fuji Xerox Australia Australia
Robert M. Hager United States of America
City of Las Pinas Philippines
Dr. Reuben Americo Marti Argentina
Mei Ng People's Republic of China
Carlos de Prada Spain
YOUTH CATEGORY Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers Australia BUNDjugend Germany Globetree Foundation Sweden
For more information, please contact: Elisabeth Guilbaud-Cox, Coordinator, Special Events, UNEP Communications and Public Information (CPI), Nairobi, on Tel: (254-2) 62 3401; fax: 62 3927/62 3692; e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.org or Tore J. Brevik, UNEP Spokesman and Director, CPI on Tel: (254-2) 62 3292; e- mail: email@example.com. UNEP web site: www.unep.org.
UNEP News Release 00/62
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rotation of Mercury
From his observations of the innermost planet between 1779 and 1813, Johann Schröter deduced the existence of a mountain 20 km high and a Mercurian rotation period of just over 24 hours. Later, William Denning reported surface markings "so pronounced that they suggest an analogy with those of Mars" and adjusted the period to 25 hours. But it was Giovanni Schiaparelli's suggestion, that Mercury's day might be 88 Earth days long, the same as its year, which was generally accepted from the 1880s until as recently as the early 1960s. Concomitant with this hypothesis of gravitational lock was the intriguing idea of a (possibly habitable) "twilight zone" (see Mercury, life on). Based on the assumption that Schiaparelli's period was correct, Eugene Antoniadi produced a map of dark and light areas of the planet, complete with wonderfully evocative names, such as Aurora, Apollonia, Pieria, Liguria, and Cyllene. The first sign of trouble for the Schiaparellian model came in 1962, when measurements by W. E. Howard and his colleagues at Michigan revealed that the night side of Mercury was warmer than it should have been if it never faced the Sun. Three years later, radar measurements, by Gordon Pettengill and Rolf Dyce of Cornell University using the Arecibo radio telescope, showed conclusively that Mercury is not locked in position relative to the Sun. It is in a gravitational resonance, but one in which its axial rotation period is about 58.6 Earth days, or two thirds of its orbital rotation period.
Related category PLANETS AND MOONS
Home • About • Copyright © The Worlds of David Darling • Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy • Contact
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This week in Year 2 we are focussing our learning on adding two 2-digit numbers together. To start with, we are learning to add two 2-digit numbers together that are not across ten. After this, the focus will be on adding across a ten.
Step 1 – write out the equation.
Step 2 – draw base ten to illustrate how many tens and how many ones are present in each number. (Lines to represent 10s, circles or squares to represent 1s).
Step 3 – add the tens together.
Step 4 – add the ones together.
Step 5 – add the above together.
By breaking the addition down into small, manageable steps we are able to answer these difficult questions with ease.
Help at home: by practicing these skills at home with your children. Use blank sheets of paper and ask children to talk through and show you their working out.
Adding two 2-digit numbers (not across a 10) –
Adding two 2-digit numbers (across a ten)
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PHP or Hypertext preprocessor is a scripting language that is used widely worldwide. It is especially used in the web development with great ease. It can be embedded into HTML with great ease. It will help to create dynamic and interactive web pages. It is a very efficiently used scripting language. It is a very simple language that can be used by the beginners without any difficulty. It will also provide many advanced features. PHP development is focused on the server side scripting language. This is a language that is used to create content that is used to interact with the databases.
Newsletter can be considered as bulletins of the news or events that happen in the world which are sent to the users daily through emails. All may be aware of the newsletter that one receives in some or the other way. It can be used within the organization through which the daily events or the activities of the business can be got through emails to the customers and the employees of the organization. The user interface must be simple and easy to understand even by the common man. This will be one of the applications that one can implement in real time world.
The features that can be included in the newsletter application are as follows:
- Up-to-date: The newsletter application will allow the users of the newsletter to be u-to date of the issues that take place within or outside the organizations.
- Discussions: The users can have the discussions based on the newsletter that are sent to them.
- Cost effective: This application can allow the user to get the information through the cost effective way.
- Interest of topic: The users can also have the option of getting the newsletter based on the particular topic of interest.
Project Name: Build a Newsletter System with PHP
Front End: PHP
Back End: MySQL🔥4 Views
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The Impact of COVID-19 on Sustainability
Over 19 million confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported globally. The pandemic unlike any we’ve seen in over a century, has forced travel bans, school shutdowns and businesses closures. It’s clear that this disease has caused significant affects on both the economy and mental health, but as we start recognizing the impacts and challenges caused by COVID, it’s also important to understand how it influences sustainability.
Since the pandemic started, bluer skies have been seen in condensed cities, due to the global reduction of carbon emissions and air pollution, but the range of sustainability covers much more than greenhouse gases, and COVID-19 has magnified many existing issues. Equality, decent work, sustainably finance, human rights, ocean, anti-corruption, and water stewardship, all face climate related risks worsened by the pandemic. To create a better post-COVID-19 world, our global resilience needs to be strengthened by identifying sustainability areas that both industries and science can collaborate and strategize on, to help immediate efforts as well as long term recovery.
The UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, has started identifying and briefing a range of sustainability issues impacted by the pandemic. This compiled series of COVID-19 issue is the start to a stronger recovery that will help build back a better world.
|View the Series Here|
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Kumquat in Chinese means “golden orange” and it resembles indeed little, very little oranges.
It can be eaten with the skin and its flavour is bittersweet. Kumquats where brought to Corfu by the British (Botanist Sidney Merlin, to be precise) in 1860. It seems the plant liked the Corfiot climate and the people of Corfu liked its taste and aroma. Nowadays, kum quats are mostly grown in northwest Corfu, especially near the village of Nymfes. Kum quat liqueur has become a trademark of Corfu, and it can be found in both the characteristic bright orange and in the, more natural, yellowish colour. But kum quats are also used in cooking and processed into sweets, jam, marmelade and even perfume!
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Planning is a profession with the primary purpose of improving the communities in which we live. Planners look not only at existing conditions and problems, but also develop a vision, with goals and strategies, of what a community could be in the future. Planning deals not only with physical development, but also social and economic improvement of our society. It looks at the issues of urban cities and rural communities, housing, environmental protection, historic character, economic development, improvements to our transportation system and social policies.
Good planning gives direction to civic leaders, businesses and citizens to make meaningful decisions for the long term and how best their communities can grow into that future, while allowing for essential services to be provided in the near term. Planning is done not only by trained professionals working in the public sector for planning departments or in the private sector for developers; planning is also done by lay persons who volunteer on local committees or commissions, including a planning commission, zoning board of appeals or historic district commission.
What Planners Do
The field of planning is broad. Many community planners work in a community's planning department or other agencies. The planning director for a community serves the municipal council, other agencies and departments, the development community, neighborhood organizations, special interest groups, and individual citizens. Some planners work in the private sector with developers, architects, landscape architects and civil engineers. Corporations use planners to help in planning for growth of their facilities.
What Specializations Are Common?
Planners specialize in many diverse areas. Some of the most common include land use planning, housing and community development, urban design, economic development, environmental and natural resources planning, parks and recreation planning, historic preservation, downtown revitalization, urban policy and public administration, and transportation planning.
Are There Jobs in Planning?
Planners continue to be in high demand throughout North America. There are promising career opportunities in every planning specialization. Most planning programs help you get a “jump start” on finding a job at graduation by involving you in real-world planning projects and by encouraging you to do a planning internship as part of your education. These activities show how planners do their jobs, as well as giving the opportunity to interact with practitioners who might offer you a job when you graduate. In fact, many planning internships turn into full-time jobs after graduation.
Planning is a great career for women and people of color. Forty percent of new hires are women, and there are few salary discrepancies between men and women. Many planning programs strongly encourage minority students to obtain planning degrees because the profession values varying perspectives and backgrounds.
For more information on planning, visit the American Planning Association.
Interested in Planning?
Consider taking an introductory course...
URP 115, The American City (a Gen Ed course)
URP 215, Introduction to Urban and Regional Planning
URP 216, Readings in Urban Planning
GEOG 553, Urban and Regional Planning
The web site Planetizen is an excellent resource for information on planning. Also review its book, Insider's Guide to Careers in Urban Planning.
Any questions? Ask Bob Jones,
Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Programs
Return to Planning home page.
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Understanding SD Card Symbols
SD Card Association classify the storage sizes or storage capacity of your SD Cards into (3) Types :
SD => If you see only the SD symbol it means it can only store 2GB of data and below. You can only store 1 complete movie or (more or less) 400 mp3 songs.) SD is an acronym for Secure Digital.
SDHC => If your SD Card is an SDHC or Secure Digital High Capacity it can store up to 32GB of data and below. (You can store more or less 32 complete movie for this capacity.)
SDXC or Secure Digital eXtended Capacity = you can store up to 2TB (Terrabytes) of data.
Note: SDXC requires a special formatting called exFAT filesystem. exFAT has been adopted by the SD Card Association as the default file system for SDXC cards larger than 32 GB.
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Dogs and kite-flying are being restricted at some Cape Cod National Seashore beaches due to the annual arrival of piping plovers in search of breeding grounds.
The plovers are a threatened species along the Atlantic Coast under both the federal and Massachusetts Endangered Species Acts, according to the Park Service. As a result, seashore officials take precautions to see that the birds aren't disturbed during their nesting season.
Some piping plovers already have arrived at Cape Cod and established their territories for nesting, according to seashore officials. Unfortunately, those nesting grounds typically are on beaches where the eggs, and eventually flightless chicks, are vulnerable to predators, storm tides, and seashore visitors, their pets, and even their kites.
They are particularly sensitive to the presence of dogs. They perceive dogs as predators and are more readily disturbed when a dog is approaching than when only people are approaching. An even greater threat occurs when dogs are off-leash. Most loose dogs naturally chase any movement on the beach including adult plovers and the flightless chicks, which can be killed in the process.
Kites also disturb the nesting and feeding behaviors of endangered shorebirds. Kites are perceived as large predators flying over the birds. This may scare the incubating parent off the nest, exposing the eggs to predators, hot or cold temperatures, cause nest abandonment, or disrupt feeding of the adult birds and their chicks.
As a result, beginning April 1 and running through September, to protect nesting plovers, least terns, American oystercatcher, and other nesting shorebirds no pets or kite flying will be permitted on Coast Guard Beach south of the former Coast Guard Station in Eastham, and at Jeremy Point in Wellfleet, seashore officials have announced.
Also effective April 1, kite-surfing/boarding is prohibited on Cape Cod Bay-side beaches and Cape Cod Bay waters within the national seashore until the last chicks in the area have fledged, they added. Additional sections of the seashore’s ocean and bayside beaches that support nesting shorebirds may also be temporally closed to pets and kites.
In areas where dogs are permitted within the national seashore, they must be leashed, officials say.
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How to make a cave fish in just a few thousand years
Excerpt: “How long does it take for a cave fish to evolve from an open-water swimmer? Only a few thousand years, according to a new study. Scientists used to think that ice age glaciers covering northern Europe had prevented fish from colonizing the continents’ caves. Such species were thought to live no farther north than Pennsylvania’s Nippenose Valley. But a new cave-dwelling fish discovered in southern Germany 2 years ago is turning that assumption on its head. The pale, tiny fish with long, whiskerlike barbs sprouting from its head (above) is a new species of loach, as yet unnamed. It’s also the first cave fish to be found in Europe, 760 kilometers farther north than those in Pennsylvania.
Until 12,000 years ago, Europe and its caves were buried beneath glacial ice, which blocked any connection between above- and underground waterways. But as the glaciers retreated, sinkholes and springs formed around Germany’s upper Danube, connecting the river to extensive caves and streams 250 kilometers below. Some fish made their way in, becoming smaller, with pale scaleless bodies, large nostrils, and tiny eyes—all adaptations for living in the dark, the scientists report in today’s issue of Current Biology. Based on their genetic analysis, the scientists say the cave loach is a close relative of the darkly mottled stone loach, which is twice the size of the cave fish, and still swims in the sunny, open waters of the Danube River.”
My comment: Previous pseudoscientific studies claimed that the blind cave fish gradually experienced mutations during millions of years and that natural selection helped the fish to evolve and adapt to dark, lightless environment. Incredible nonsense! How many ‘scientific’ studies were made using this claim as a starting point? And people believed in them! Of course, because science, the god of wisdom, so claimed. How sad.
Modern scientists already understand that adaptation for living in the dark doesn’t take even thousands of years. Instead, it can happen just in tens of generations. And not a single gene sequence alteration is needed for this clever adaptation procedure. How is it done?
There are opsins, light-sensitive proteins in fish skin, eyes and brain. Information of light level is transmitted into neurons in the brain and based on this, certain genes are regulated by epigenetic mechanisms. The necessary information for embryonic gene regulation is transmitted by microRNAs. By this clever, designed mechanism, the blind cave fish is able to rapidly activate it’s eyes after returning into normal environment. It takes only a few generations.
Random mutations or natural selection has no role within these designed mechanisms. Everything points to God’s creation and Intelligent Design. Don’t get lost.
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the legislation that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on July 29, 1958. Spurred by the Soviet Union’s launch in 1957 of the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, NASA encouraged the peaceful development of space science.
The exhibit will be on display from 4/10/2018 - 8/13/2018
The Eisenhower Birthplace is located at 609 S. Lamar Ave in Denison, Texas. For more information please call 903-465-8908.
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Map of New-York Bay and Harbor and the environs : [with colored manuscript additions to show positions of troops and fleets at the Battle of Long Island, 1776]
NamesFarley, John (1802 or 3-1874 ) (Associated name)Gedney, Thomas R. (Associated name)Humphreys, A. A. (Andrew Atkinson) (1810-1883 ) (Associated name)United States Coast Survey (Publisher)Lawson, Oscar A. (1813-1854 ) (Associated name)Mathiot, G. (Associated name)Blunt, Edmund M. (Edmund March) (1770-1862 ) (Associated name)Rollé, A. (Associated name)Ferguson, James (1710-1776 ) (Associated name)Hassler, F. R. (Ferdinand Rudolph) (1770-1843 ) (Surveyor)Jenkins, T. A. (Associated name)Renard, C. (Associated name)Bache, A. D. (Alexander Dallas) (1806-1867 ) (Associated name)Dankworth, Frederick (b. ca. 1804 ) (Associated name)Siebert, Selmar (Associated name)Knight, J. (Jonathan) (1787-1858 ) (Associated name)Sands, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) (1811-1883 ) (Associated name)
Maps of New York City and State
New York City
New York Harbor
Dates / OriginDate Issued: 1845Place: [Washington, D.C.]Publisher: Survey of the Coast of the United States
Library locationsLionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map DivisionShelf locator: Map Div. 01-1767 [Filed with N.Y.S. Rev. War. Long Island Battle of, 1776]
TopicsNew York (N.Y.)New JerseyLong Island, Battle of, New York, N.Y., 1776Harbors -- New York Metropolitan AreaNautical charts -- New York Harbor (N.Y. and N.J.)Nautical charts -- New York Metropolitan AreaNew York (N.Y.) -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- MapsNew York Harbor (N.Y. and N.J.) -- Maps
NotesContent: "Topography engraved by S. Siebert & A. Rolle; views engraved by O.A. Lawson ; engraving supervised & views of the coast drawn by J. Farley ; hydrography engraved by F. Dankworth ; lettering by F. Dankworth & J. Knight."Content: Annotated with red and blue ink to show positions of troops and fleets at the Battle of Long Island. NNContent: In upper right margin: Electrotype copy no. 7, by G. Mathiot U.S.C.S.Content: National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for Access to Early Maps of the Middle Atlantic Seaboard.Content: Prime meridians: New York and Greenwich.Content: Relief shown by hachures; depths shown by soundings.Content: Includes text, table of currents, and 4 coastal panoramas.Statement of responsibility: founded upon a trigonometrical survey under the direction of F.R. Hassler, superintendent of the Survey of the Coast of the United States ; triangulation by James Ferguson and Edmund Blunt, assistants ; the hydrography under the direction of Thomas R. Gedney, lieutenant U.S. Navy ; the topography by C. Renard, T.A. Jenkins & B.F. Sands assists. ; A.D. Bache superintendent ; verified by Lieut. A.A. Humphreys, topl. engrs. assistant, U.S. Coast Survey.
Physical DescriptionExtent: 1 map ; 61 x 88 cm.
Type of ResourceStill image
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 45848513NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b14968547Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 063a2480-c5ab-012f-719b-58d385a7bc34
Rights StatementThe New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.
Item timeline of events
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With hacks, scams, malware and more, the Internet sick and it feels like a dangerous place these days. And, the recent proliferation of devices, from smartphones and tablets to Internet-connected appliances, has opened us up to even greater risks of infecting the internet.
The good news is that we’re going to take care of the internet’s health together. We’ll risk and fight all the hacks making the Internet unsafe. The first step is to Report your case to GRIS. #Report2Gris
By the way, here are just a small handful of security measures we can greatly use to reduce our exposure to most Internet threats.
1. Create Complex Passwords
2. Boost Your Network Security
3. Use a Firewall
4. Click Smart
5. Be a Selective Sharer
7. Practice Safe Surfing & Shopping
8. Keep up to date
9. Lookout for the latest scams
10. Keep your guard up, review viral content before you share
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First-year students in Shuchi Kapila’s tutorial take a walk on the supernatural side as they study ghosts and literary ghost stories.
In the course, Ghost Stories, the students will explore questions such as:
- Do such fantasies provide an escape from an oppressive reality into a wish-fulfilling world or do they present an exaggerated or distorted version of the “real” world?
- What are literary ghosts and monsters?
- Are they particular to the historical moment in which they appear?
Texts for the course will include:
- Bram Stoker’s Dracula,
- Toni Morrison’s Beloved,
- Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat,” and
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
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A brief overview of how physical therapy works as an effective treatment process
Accidental injuries usually become a leading cause of individuals experiencing physical pain due to injuries, and that can cause a severe impact on their physical well-being and general health.
Perhaps the grief (both physical and emotional) that results from this can easily magnify when a younger person suffers because of it. For this reason, to stop such damage from occurring, experts have devised new treatment regimes in the pediatric therapy department. These plans that particularly get designed for children prove more effective and engaging since the recovery process is made fun for them. It becomes a must-try, especially if you have children of your own and want to keep your child as involved as possible in the journey. Especially useful for parents with sporty kids who love to run around and pursue their preferred sport, so they easily carry on with their activities pain-free.
For kids, a pediatric rehabilitation methodology is preferable since it focuses on family-focused treatment regimes, helping children achieve the excellence they wish in all walks of life, such as physical, social, communication, or cognitive skills. Perhaps a skilled group of therapists and a pediatrician can help you reach your goals.
What to Expect At a Rehabilitation Clinic
A trained physical therapist at a clinic ensures that your child’s treatment method gets carried out as smoothly as possible, using advanced research processes. A few standards listed below rank as some of the most common types followed by most physical therapists.
• clinical services are tested to be culturally and linguistically sensitive
• services promote a strong rapport between the child and his environment
• treatment regimes cater to all sorts of injury and are well planned
• therapy gets aided by top-notch quality research evidence
Like some of the procedures mentioned above, physical therapy also calls for a thorough evaluation that requires therapists to resort to countless methods for giving patients a clear understanding. Mandatory questionnaires get filled out by parents based on their child’s history and everyday activities. The clinic staff then begins conducting tests for the ages and those particular departments that call for added attention and intervention. Some services include multidisciplinary intervention, which comprises physical and occupational therapists combined with language pathologists. They then work together to produce the best plan for the quickest recovery.
Since we now have a general concept of how this form of therapy works, we can now give its core services a closer look.
Physical therapy pertains to the process required to get back a person’s lost social mobility and regain confidence through practicing suitable exercise regimes in a patient-friendly environment. And such an environment gets specifically designed to make the child feel as comfortable as possible so that recovery gets sped up. Additionally, treatments backed by proper research and planning go through more trial and error, and that increases the reliability and credibility of the treatment. Such methods then prove highly effective in reducing distress which includes post-surgery pain and or the discomfort felt after an accident, etc.
Similarly, there exists a separate category for physical therapy for toddlers, and it works much the same way, except that it requires more caution.
A factor that puts occupational therapy aside from other techniques is that it involves thorough scientific methods mixed with elements of creativity and compassion. It helps patients keep up with their activities even during injury. Such as basic everyday rituals, like changing clothes, eating, or cleaning the house. In short, it helps recreate your surroundings in the best way possible while teaching you practical ways to increase your confidence and strength.
Speech-Language Pathologists work with patients with very different symptoms, and as the name suggests, they help with several speech and communication issues. And a plus point is that it is age-friendly and meets the requirements of adults and children. It especially meets the needs of those who lose their ability to swallow or speak. And in this way, therapy helps overcome combat speech and communication problems, provided that such means get a solid backing by well sought-out treatment plans. As humans, we are complicated in speaking and thinking, and they might find it challenging to honestly and accurately answer all the questions asked. Hence, it can potentially cause more frustration. However, scientists know how to handle such processes and still successfully remove chances of error so that all needs and abilities can easily get looked after.
At times, in the more severe accidents, victims get subjected to neurological conditions, which include trauma and disorders that severely damage the nervous system. Such problems severely damage the brain and become much more threatening than treating a broken knee or limb or a twisted wrist.
The reason for this is that the brain does not necessarily work like other organs. It is one of the most sensitive parts of the body and helps us to think and evaluate our decision-making skills.
In a case like this, when the nerves face severe damage, a person finds it hard to carry on with their day-to-day activities, which affects functional movement. Therefore, you can never implement treatment plans generally, and you must stay patient with issues like these since every person copes using their mechanisms.
While all these procedures get backed by a thorough research-based scrutinization, one must remember that they do not work the same for everybody. These procedures may be equally efficient, but to know which one suits your situation best, one must visit a health insurance agent. Other matters of concern can also get resolved this way, such as how much each procedure costs and if costs differ for different locations.
A thorough financial examination can save you from a lot of hassle in the future and get you to the best decision possible. Remember that such exercises, when done correctly, can reap massive rewards such as good muscle strength, balance, movement, and coordination. It also helps to regulate cardiovascular functions that increase overall stamina.
Keep up with the top stories from Reader’s Digest by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.
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They also blanch at the idea of students constructing text meanings without sufficiently accounting for the author’s input; texts should mean something closer to what the author intended than what a reader might choose to make it mean.
The problem with de-emphasizing existing knowledge is that reading comprehension depends on reader knowledge. We use what we know to draw inferences, clarify ambiguity, and store information in memory. Banning explicit attention to student knowledge can’t “level the playing field” between rich and poor because you simply can’t stop students from using what they know when they read.
I promised to provide some instructional guidance for dealing with prior knowledge during reading comprehension lessons (and shared/guided/directed readings). I thought I could do this in two entries, but it will take three. Here are 10 guidelines for dealing with prior knowledge.
1. Don’t overdo it. Research shows that providing readers with key information about a text can improve comprehension, as does reminding them of relevant information that they already know. But in the research studies these things were usually accomplished pretty economically; often the researcher did not more than tell students the topic. To stimulate students to use what they know while reading doesn’t take more than this: “We’re going to read a story about a family vacation.” It doesn’t require having each student in the group tell a story about his or her family vacation. Students can make sense of a text without a 15-minute discussion of what they already know about a topic. It’s simply not necessary.
2. Respect the reader-text relationship. Whatever pre-reading information about at text that you provide should not be information that will be stated or implied by the selection. It is usually enough to tell students the topic and/or the genre. “This is a history chapter about the American Revolution.” Or, “ this is a science fiction story.” Anything you reveal ahead of time is something students won’t have to figure out from reading (which means you are swiping their opportunity to learn).
3. Don’t be afraid to fill students in on some “appropriate” background information.Remember, many texts used for teaching were not originally written for students—they may even be texts from another era—so the author may have assumed his or her readers would know certain things; certain things that your students might not know. It’s hard to imagine William Shakespeare didn’t presume his audience knew Julius Caesar was a Roman emperor. Telling kids that information won’t hurt a thing. What Shakespeare didn’t bank on was the cultural literacy of the average 21st century American ninth graders, who might not even know there was a Roman empire. Filling kids in on some of that assumed context won’t hurt anything.
4. Excerpts are special. How often do you read chapter 5 of a novel? Obviously that’s something most of us don’t do. But students are often taught to read from anthologies aimed at providing them a breadth of experience with valuable literary artifacts. Nothing wrong with that. But excerpts create a special problem for readers—the author has made pertinent information available earlier in the text, but the reader in this case is cut off from that info. When guiding students to read excerpts, providing them with key information omitted during the excerpting process is appropriate.
5. Use multiple readings to solve the prior knowledge problems. If a text is only going to be read once, and students are to gain full understanding, then conducting a thorough review of existing prior knowledge might seem like a powerful introduction. But what if, “money read” would be the second one, and the first reading would be used to create prior knowledge (students would use the knowledge drawn from their first reading go through to buttress their second reading).
6. Culturally different students may benefit from a different prior knowledge input. Not all ids know the same things. Not much we can do about that. However, you might have students from particular cultural groups who may lack key information because of their background. What is it that Guatemalan or Chinese immigrant children may not know about the culture shown in a particular text? Or if “mainstream” students are reading about their culture, what would they need to know to make sense of that material?
7. Only deal with prior knowledge if it is likely to raise a comprehension problem. Years ago, Hansen and Pearson showed the value of focusing kids on topics relevant to the comprehension issues at hand rather than to the text topics themselves. Thus, if the point of the text is to explore the nature of friendship, inventorying what students know about Europe isn’t likely to help even if the friendship in the story takes place in Europe). Not all prior knowledge is equal when it comes to making sense of a text.
8. Prior knowledge issues can be addressed during and after reading. I often read about topics I don’t know about and it isn’t much of a problem. What I don’t grasp right away, I can often figure out from the text itself. I rarely look up information prior to reading, but I might fill some gaps with Google along the way or I may do that after the reading. Avoid exploring what kids know ahead of time if it will spoil the reading (point 7 above suggests focusing on the key ideas, but if done before reading it may simply be revealing what the text is really about). During reading, I might ask students questions. If they are missing a key point and don’t seem able to grasp it, I can ask a question about their awareness of some outside information that may jump start their thinking (“Have you ever been called a name like that? How did it make you feel?”—that’s a sequence of questions that would stimulate the use of prior knowledge at a key point in the story without taking kids too far afield).
9. Do not focus on prior knowledge for texts that present information that will challenge readers’ current concepts. Science texts often tell us things that run counter to our perceptions of the world. A famous example is the explanation of the path of a falling ball dropped by a runner; the actual path runs counter to most people’s expectations. Some teachers want to get kids to predict the paths—to apply their prior knowledge—to prepare for reading. But that’s a bad idea because it increases the chance students won’t grasp the explanation. Prior knowledge is a two-edged sword—it can increase learning and it can encourage readers to impose their own beliefs on a text.
10. Analogies are a powerful way to bring prior knowledge to bear on a text. Just because I don’t know much about a topics doesn’t mean I don’t know anything that’s relevant. For example, I know next to nothing about cricket. But I do know some things about baseball that I might be able to use to try to understand a cricket article. If I wasn’t a long-suffering Cub fan? Then, I’d use what I know about games or sports competition to help me make sense of it. I might not know how one scores in cricket, but I suspect scoring is important—it is a game—so I’d use that insight to guide my attention towards how one scores. Prior knowledge does not have to be specific knowledge--another good reason not to send students off to inventory what they already know about a subject; that’s overkill.
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Towards a New Architecture
The Villas of Le Corbusier: 1920–1930
Le Corbusier: Architect of the Century
Journey to the East
The Le Corbusier Guide
Le Corbusier: 5 Projects 26, 1987)
Le Corbusier: Une encyclopédie
Le Corbusier: The City of Refuge, Paris, 1929–1933
Pessac de Le Corbusier: 1927–1985, Etude socio-architecturale
Le Corbusier: Early Works by Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris
Le Corbusier: La progettazione come mutamento
Le Corbusier: Pittore e scultore
Le Corbusier Secret: Dessins et collages de la collection Ahrenberg Lausanne
The Decorative Art of Today
L'Esprit Nouveau: Le Corbusier und die Industrie, 1920–1925
Stars fell on architecture during the 1880s, the decade when most of the central characters of the Modern movement were born. Their centenaries have occasioned an unbroken series of commemorative celebrations and critical reevaluations, but no other observances have approached the scale of those surrounding the hundredth anniversary of the most important Modernist architect of them all: Le Corbusier, born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret on October 7, 1887, in La-Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss Jura. The leading polemicist of the generation that sought to establish a rational aesthetic order out of the unprecedented technical advances of the Age of Industrialization, Le Corbusier defined the Modernist imperative in the most influential of his thirty-eight books, Vers une architecture (first published in 1923, translated into English in 1927 as Towards a New Architecture and available once again in a facsimile edition). His language recalls Eugène Viollet-le-Duc’s earlier assertion that new materials would give birth to a new age:
The history of Architecture unfolds itself slowly across the centuries as a modification of structure and ornament, but in the last fifty years steel and concrete have brought new conquests, which are the index of a greater capacity for construction, and of an architecture in which the old codes have been overturned. If we challenge the past, we shall learn that “styles” no longer exist for us, that a style belonging to our own period has come about; and there has been a Revolution.
The “purification” of architecture—moving it away from dependence on the eclectic historicism of the late nineteenth century and toward a structural and formal vocabulary based on the new engineering principles of that epoch—was Le Corbusier’s initial goal. At the same time he attempted to direct these principles toward human aims. He achieved his program with stunning swiftness and completeness during his so-called Heroic Period, the years between his permanent move to Paris in 1917 and his fundamental architectural redirection in the early Thirties.
His most famous works of that decade and a half of intense research, experimentation, and construction were the sixteen houses thoroughly documented in Tim Benton’s The Villas of Le Corbusier: 1920–1930. These were the “machines for living in” that became the basic source of imagery for modern domestic architecture for decades to come. (Indeed, some present-day architects, especially Richard Meier, continue to use the Corbusian repertoire of motifs and materials of the Heroic Period as their basic point of reference.)
Those villas of the Twenties (several of them built for expatriate Americans who knew Gertrude Stein; her brother Michael was a patron of one of the most important of Le Corbusier’s houses, the Villa Stein/de Monzie of 1926–1927 at Garches) were as startling as their designer’s philosophical writings. Even now, long after they have ceased to shock, they still manage to impress with their clarity of line, intensity of contrast, equilibrium of proportion, and above all their simplicity of…
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What is credit?
When you say you want credit, you are probably asking for payment terms on a purchase. You are seeking to purchase goods or services today and forego all or a portion of the payment until a later date. You may or may not be bound by a payment plan. You may or may not be required to pay a percentage of the purchase price up front (down payment). You may or may not pay a fee (interest) in exchange for the privilege of buying now and paying later. In all cases, you are making a purchase and being trusted to make final payment at some time in the future.
Why is credit so important?
Credit provides you with financial flexibility and security
There are many reasons why you may seek credit. Here are a few examples:
- You move into your first apartment and don't want to sleep on the floor while you are saving up money to buy a bed. You need credit.
- Your blind date orders the lobster, champagne, and a chocolate dessert. You only brought $40 cash. You need credit.
- You are traveling in another country with no access to your bank account and unexpectedly find a painting that will look great in your living room. You need credit.
- You are traveling through Big City, USA, when your car engine dies. You didn't anticipate such an emergency. You need credit.
- You can't live through the summer without a kidney-shaped swimming pool just like the one the neighbors got, but your savings are tied up in certificates of deposit that won't mature for another six months. By that time, it will be winter. You need credit.
- The local piggery is running a promotion on hindquarters of pork, a free barrel of scrapple, and 2 percent financing to qualified buyers. You figure your money is making 3 percent in the bank. You can take the credit and net a gain of 1 percent. You need credit.
Whether you're unable to make immediate payment, can't get access to your cash, are faced with unexpected circumstances, or simply recognize the time value of money, credit allows you to obtain goods and services today that you will not have to pay for until a later date. Used responsibly, credit can help you improve the quality of your life, overcome financial obstacles and emergencies, and even (on rare occasions) save you money.
What does it mean to establish credit?
Establishing credit means establishing your reputation as a good credit risk
When you make a purchase on credit, you are being trusted to make final payment at some time in the future. If you pay as agreed, the lender will likely want to do business with you again. If you don't pay as agreed, the lender will likely be less willing to extend credit in the future or will charge you a higher interest rate. As time goes by, you establish a reputation. If you have paid your bills, it will be said that you are a good credit risk, that you have good credit, or that you have a good credit rating. This will enable you to obtain more credit from other lenders, in greater amounts.
If, however, you have not paid your bills, or have consistently paid them late, it will be said that you have negative credit. You will develop a reputation as a bad credit risk. Lenders and collection agencies will label you as a no-pay, a slow-pay, a get-me-done, a deadbeat, or just plain bogus. It will become increasingly difficult to get credit, even when you need it for an emergency.
Lenders rely on credit reports to determine your reputation for creditworthiness
Usually, lenders rely on information provided by credit-reporting agencies at some stage of the credit-granting process. These agencies collect data about credit transactions and attempt to keep accurate records on all borrowers in a particular area. There are at least three major providers of such information in the United States. For a fee, and with your permission, a lender can obtain a copy of your credit report and evaluate your reputation for creditworthiness (a limited amount of information can be gathered without your permission).
A typical credit report contains information about you, your address, your job, and your income. Most importantly, it contains a history of your experience with lenders. It typically includes details about who you obtained credit from, how much you borrowed, when you obtained it, when you paid it back, whether you were late, how often you were late, whether there is any outstanding balance, whether any collection actions were taken, and whether or not you filed for bankruptcy.
Convenient access to credit is available only if you have established a favorable credit report
If you want convenient access to credit, it is almost necessary to have a favorable credit history on file with a major credit-reporting agency. Lenders typically ask you to fill out a credit application when you are seeking credit (it is usually in the fine print of this application that you grant permission for them to obtain your credit report). However, information set forth in your credit application is likely to be seriously considered only if it is consistent with information obtained from a credit-reporting agency or verified independently (an inconvenient and time-consuming process).
Without a credit report, lenders have nothing to go on. It is easy for a lender to deny you credit when you have no credit history. Without a record of your credit experience, a potential lender deems you a mystery. The lender knows nothing about you or your reputation for creditworthiness. It may be easier for a lender to deny credit than to take a risk or conduct an independent investigation. If you cannot get a credit application approved, then you won't be able to establish credit.
How do you get credit?
Get an income
If you want to establish credit, you need a regular source of income. The income can be derived from a job, trust fund dividends, an allowance from your parents, government benefits, alimony, investment dividends, or any other source. What is important is that you have some kind of continuing and predictable cash flow. Without regular income, you cannot demonstrate an ability to make regular payments. Establishing a regular source of income is your first step.
Request credit from a lender who reports to a credit bureau
All your efforts to establish a credit rating will be wasted if your lender does not report repayment information to a recognized credit-reporting agency. Lenders are not required to report. Ask about their policy before you apply for credit. If the lender reports, then ask for a credit application.
Think small at first
By thinking small, you limit the lender's exposure. Exposure is the lender's total potential loss. If you have never obtained credit before, do not make your first request a personal loan for $40,000 with no collateral. This maximizes the lender's exposure. The lender might be willing to extend you credit but not if big money is at stake. Try applying for a small loan, perhaps $500, and pay it off promptly. Then apply for another loan, perhaps a larger one. Eventually, you will have a solid credit relationship with that lender, and the credit activity will be reflected on your credit report.
Choose a credit card with a low credit limit
While thinking small, you may explore the chances of getting a credit card with a low credit limit. Major credit card companies frequently offer small lines of credit to groups such as college students or credit union members. If you are a student, look for applications in the back of campus magazines or in the school's bookstore. Check with your credit union. Your status as a group member may be enough to get you a card. Get it, use it, and pay it off promptly. The activity will be reported to a reporting agency.
Apply for a retail store charge card
If you don't belong to a special group, try the local mall. Many retail stores issue charge cards, which are similar to credit cards, but can only be used at the issuing store. Most major retailers will offer charge cards to first-time borrowers. Ask for an application at the cash register or customer service counter. The interest rates are usually high and credit limits low for first-time borrowers, but if you use the card and pay your bills promptly, you will establish a credit rating. Furthermore, the store may sell your name and address to other retailers, who will mail you invitations to apply for their charge cards.
Tip: Most retailers offer a gift or discount for your first purchase on a new card.
Make a large retail purchase and ask for credit terms
Many retail stores offer credit terms for high-ticket purchases. If you are planning to make a large purchase from a retail store, use the opportunity to establish credit. Major appliance stores, furniture stores, video/stereo stores, computer retailers, home improvement outlets, and jewelry stores (to name a few) will extend credit to first-time borrowers for the sole purpose of closing the sale. You can even find zero-interest deals when shopping in competitive markets for high-ticket merchandise, such as jewelry. Check your local paper or listen to radio advertisements for special deals.
Caution: Many of the so-called zero-interest financing deals require that you pay off the entire balance by a certain date. If you fail, you must pay interest on the outstanding balance, retroactively from the date of purchase. Make sure you understand the risks before signing on.
Obtain a gas card
Most major petroleum companies offer gas cards to first-time credit seekers. These can be used to purchase gas and services at any of the company's stations. The credit limit is low and the balance must be paid in full every month. Ask for a card at your favorite gas station, or check popular magazines devoted to travel, vacation, automobiles, or business for applications and toll-free numbers.
Apply for an overdraft line of credit on your checking account
Another way to start small is with your own bank account. Most consumer banks will provide a line of credit attached to your checking account. It is often called an overdraft account because it is designed to cover bounced checks.
Here is how it works. You have a checking account. You apply for, and are granted, an overdraft line of credit in the amount of $500. Your checking account balance is $40. You write a check for $75. When the check is presented to the bank for collection, the bank does not return it for insufficient funds. Instead, it credits your checking account in the amount of $100. Now you have a balance of $140 in your account. The bank can honor the $75 check, leaving you with $65 in the account. The bank bills you monthly for the $100. You can repay the $100 all at once, or make minimum monthly payments. You will be charged interest and perhaps a service fee. Although it may not look like a loan, it is. Activity on these accounts is regularly reported by many banks.
Join a health club
Many clubs that require annual membership fees can arrange financing. If you are planning to join a club, take the opportunity to establish credit. The club is probably not extending credit itself. It is probably working with a local bank or finance company that is willing to be permissive about approving club members' applications for credit. Find out who is extending the credit and whether they report payment activity.
Get help from someone with a good credit rating
Reducing exposure is one way to make lenders more comfortable with your credit application. Reducing risk is another. Risk is the degree of likelihood that a loss will result. You can minimize the risk to a lender by providing a comaker, cosigner, or guarantor for your loan.
You may be able to reduce risk by having a parent or other relative cosign on a loan or credit card for you (most lenders require the cosigner to be related in some way). Cosigners should be aware that they are liable for any unpaid balances and that credit activity will be reported on their credit report, as well as yours. Generally, if your cosigner has a good credit rating, lenders will be satisfied that risk is minimized and will extend credit. You may be able to borrow enough for a car or even a home.
Caution: If you are getting help from parents to establish credit using a credit card account, make sure you are a joint cardholder and not just an authorized user. If you are merely listed on their account as an authorized user, then you are not legally liable for the debts. Using the card will not help you to acquire a credit history because it will not be included on your credit report.
Get the government to guarantee your loan
If you are a full-time student at an institution for higher learning, you probably qualify for one or more government-guaranteed loans. Most government-guaranteed student loans are available even if you do not have a credit history. Lenders are willing to extend enormous amounts of credit under these plans because the government agrees to repay the loan if you don't.
Caution: Your failure to pay will be reported to the credit bureaus, and the federal government will pursue you for the unpaid balance.
Caution: It takes a long time to establish a credit history with student loans. If you are a freshman in college, your first-year loans may not become due and payable until six or nine months after you graduate. Until you start making payments on the loan, account activity will not be reported to a credit bureau. It could take years to establish a credit record in this manner.
Secure your credit with collateral
When you secure credit, you give the lender collateral to back your loan. The risk is reduced for the lender. If you do not pay, the lender can use the value of the collateral to satisfy the debt. Collateral can be anything of value, but usually takes the form of cars or real estate. If you have something of value, but no credit rating, you may be able to acquire credit by offering to post your valuables as collateral.
Caution: Many large banks sell their secured loans to investors and cannot customize loan documents if unconventional collateral is involved.
Get a secured credit card
Many credit issuers offer secured credit cards. A secured credit card provides you with an open line of credit secured by a cash deposit. These types of cards typically come with a high interest rate. Here is how a secured credit card works. You give the credit card issuer a cash deposit. The credit issuer gives you a credit card with a credit limit equal to the cash deposit. You can charge up to the credit limit using the card, and then make monthly payments on the balance. If you fail to make the payments, the credit card issuer uses your cash deposit to cover the unpaid balance. If you make your payments as agreed, you will eventually establish credit and qualify for an unsecured credit card. The secured credit card issuer will return your deposit, less any unpaid balance due, when you cancel the account.
Make large down payments
If you have not established credit, you can still obtain financing for major purchases (such as a new car) if you can afford to make a large down payment. A large down payment reduces the lender's exposure by reducing the loan amount. With a smaller outstanding balance, there is less at stake for the lender. The large down payment also makes your monthly payments lower and shows the lender that you are committed to making the purchase. Even if you have no credit history, you should be able to get financing for a reasonably priced car if you are willing to make a down payment of 20 to 50 percent of the purchase price. You will also need income sufficient to make monthly payments on the balance.
Consider insuring your credit
Some automobile dealerships can arrange financing for people with no credit history by using repossession insurance. Here is how repossession insurance works. You make a standard down payment and agree to make payments on the balance of the purchase price. You also agree to pay premiums to an insurance company that will cover the lender's loss if you fail to make payments and the car is repossessed. Repossession insurance (sometimes referred to as repo-insurance) is expensive, but it is one way to obtain a loan and begin establishing credit.
Increase your credit validation score
Some lenders use scoring methods to determine your creditworthiness. They examine your credit application and, using a scoring sheet, determine a score that corresponds to the information you provide. If your score is over a certain number, you get a loan. The scoring system is based on statistics and historical data. Different lenders use different systems, and the points may change. The following list is a sampling of questions that could appear on a credit validation scoring sheet:
a. Does the applicant have a checking account? 3 points
b. Does the applicant have a savings account? 3 points
c. How old is the applicant?
Under 20: 0 points
20-30: 2 points
30-40: 3 points
41 & over: 5 points
d. Is there a phone in the applicant's house?
Listed: 5 points
Unlisted: 2 points
e. Does the applicant own a home?
Yes: 5 points
Rent, unfurnished: 3 points
Rent, furnished: 1 point
f. How long has the applicant lived at his/her present address?
2 years or more: 3 points
5 years or more: 5 points
g. Does the applicant have adequate income?
Yes: 5 points
No: 0 points
h. How long has the applicant been receiving income from his or her present source of income?
More than 2 years: 3 points
More than 5 years: 5 points
i. Applicant's education?
High School Graduate: 2 points
College Degree: 3 points
Masters Degree: 4 points
Pequivalent: 5 points
j. Ratio of expenses to income
Over 95%: 0 points
90-95%: 1 point
80-90%: 2 points
Below 80%: 3 points
These questions are only samples. Different lenders use different factors and assign varying levels of importance to each. However, once you have a general idea of what lenders are looking for, you may be able to manipulate some of the factors to maximize your potential score, get a loan, and begin to establish a credit rating. For example, according to this sample, you can increase your credit validation score by 11 points if you just obtain a telephone number and open a joint checking and savings account.
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E-Cigarettes: Know the Facts
E-cigarettes should not be used to replace smoking
Quitting combustible cigarettes is the best thing one can do for improved health.
There are U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications (e.g., nicotine replacement or varenicline/Chantix), that when used in combination with individual or group counseling, are shown to be the most successful ways to help smokers quit.
What is an e-cigarette?
E-cigarettes (also known as Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, or ENDS) are
battery-powered devices that deliver nicotine through a flavored vapor.
They are made so users can feel like they are inhaling tobacco smoke, without burning
tobacco which occurs with a cigarette.
- E-cigarettes are not approved by the FDA as an effective method to help smokers quit. There is no regulation or quality control.1
- The evidence is insufficient at this time on utilizing e-cigarettes for quitting 2
What do we know about the e-cigarette?
The amount of nicotine in an e-cigarette varies. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
testing has shown that nicotine amounts do not always match the labeling.
- It remains unknown if e-cigarettes are safe.
- Levels of carcinogens and toxicants are lower than in combustible cigarettes.3
Further research is needed to determine health related consequences.
What does this information mean?
It is important to talk with a health care provider when considering alternatives to smoking.
- Current evidence is insufficient to recommend use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (e.g., e-cigarettes) for tobacco cessation in adults.4
Medications approved by the FDA (e.g., nicotine replacement or varenicline/Chantix), in combination with individual or group counseling, are shown to be
the most successful ways to help smokers quit.
1 US Food and Drug Administration. What are e-cigarettes?
2McRobbie H., Bullen C., Hartmann-Boyce J., Hajek P. Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation and reduction. The Cochran Collaboration
2014: John Wiley & sons, Ltd.
3Goniewicz, M. L., et al. "Levels of selected carcinogens and toxicants in vapor from electronic cigarettes." Tobacco Control 23(2): 133-139.
4U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Counseling and interventions to prevent tobacco use and tobacco-caused disease in adults and pregnant women:
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force reaffirmation recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2009;150(8):551-5.
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