Split (1)

train · 1.2B rows

text stringlengths 188 632k
Novel survival tactic discovered in butterflies Agência FAPESP/DICYT A new survival tactic has been discovered in butterflies, according to a paper published in the journal Neotropical Entomology. The lead authors are Carlos Eduardo Guimarães Pinheiro, a researcher at the University of Brasília (UnB), and André Lucci Freitas, affiliated with the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil. The study, in which researchers from the University of New Orleans also took part, as well as a colleague of Pinheiro’s at UnB, was supported by FAPESP under the auspices of its BIOTA Program. During their evolution, several butterfly species are known to have developed traits such as the ability to release toxins, resulting in an “unpleasant” taste to scare off birds and other predators. These unpalatable insects also advertise their toxicity by displaying bright colors, as if to warn enemies to stay away. Palatable butterflies have also developed survival tactics under pressure from predation. For example, they are faster. Many also sport multicolored wing patterns that identify them as nimble and hard to capture. Slower palatable butterflies should naturally be priority targets for predators, but they, too, use tricks to survive: one such ploy is “escape mimicry”, which involves imitating the colors of their unpalatable cousins. In summary, unpalatable butterflies do not need to invest in escape tactics. They are poisonous and can afford to fly more slowly. Palatable butterflies need to be fast and nimble, or alternatively to mimic unpalatable species, to avoid being eaten. However, the new study shows this is not always what happens. Pinheiro, Freitas and colleagues focused on two species in particular: Heraclides anchisiades capys, which is palatable and very nimble, and Parides anchises nephalion, which is unpalatable, slow and highly poisonous. These two species are not close relatives, yet they display very similar colors, despite some differences. The wing patterns of the nimble H. anchisiades closely resemble those of the poisonous P. anchises, an inhabitant of tropical regions in the Americas. Many other species apart from H. anchisiades “imitate” P. anchises in a classic example of mimicry, whereby a palatable creature looks very much like an unpalatable one and benefits from the resemblance. However, among all the species that mimic P. anchises, H. anchisiades is one of the fastest and also the most widely distributed in the Americas. At first glance, H. anchisiades looks as if it must be highly toxic, given its coloring. It has the best of both worlds as far as defending itself against predators is concerned. A bird that ignores the poisonous pattern and attempts to prey on H. anchisiades will find itself pursuing a nimble butterfly and will probably expend a great deal of energy without obtaining food. By using mimicry to trick its pursuers, this butterfly reduces the probability of being eaten to a minimum and is able to concentrate on activities such as foraging and reproducing. “The nimble butterfly mimics the poisonous butterfly, gaining adaptive advantages by associating its speed and agility with a trait known by birds to signify unpalatability, i.e., toxicity,” Freitas said. P. anchises, commonly known as the Anchises Cattleheart, is one of the most poisonous butterflies in the tropical Americas. It flies slowly, thereby suggesting that avoiding predators is not a priority. Nevertheless, its coloration resembles that of the agile H. anchisiades. Given that the poisonous butterfly lives in the tropics and the speedy butterfly is found throughout the Americas, it seems likely that the ancestors of the fast palatable H. anchisiades mimicked the unpalatable P. anchises, thereby gaining an adaptive advantage that enabled the species to extend its habitat to the entire continent. The more limited geographic distribution of P. anchises appears to suggest a second possibility. “A highly poisonous butterfly would also mimic an athletic, widely distributed butterfly to minimize the chances of predation,” Freitas said. It is this possibility that the study brings to light. The suggestion that an unpalatable species may mimic a palatable species as a survival tactic to gain adaptive advantages is not an idea that can be found in any biology textbook. On the contrary, it is a distinctly original hypothesis. “The traditional view is that escape mimicry is found only in palatable species. Our research suggests that in several cases an unpalatable species may use escape mimicry. This would change the theory of mimicry and make it more complex,” Freitas said. The study promises to spark discussion among specialists, owing to a number of findings, according to Pinheiro. “I’d say the key contributions of our research are the finding that butterfly coloration doesn’t relate just to palatability, but is associated by predators with difficulty of capture, and that palatable butterflies may converge in terms of coloration to form types of mimicry based on the ability to escape,” he said. “In addition, even some unpalatable butterflies may also be fast fliers and use both strategies to avoid attack by birds. The study raises a number of novel hypotheses for testing in future research.” The article “Both Palatable and Unpalatable Butterflies Use Bright Colors to Signal Difficulty of Capture to Predators” (doi: 10.1007/s13744-015-0359-5) by Pinheiro, Freitas et al., published in Neotropical Entomology, can be read at link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13744-015-0359-5.
The team of scientists assigned with evaluating the flood risk resulting from the Waldo Canyon fire estimates that flood risk may have increased by 350 percent. That number comes from the Burned Area Emergency Response Team. Charred hillsides are vulnerable to erosion and flooding during downpours because they have less vegetation to soak up rain, and burned soils can repel water. Before the fire was even fully contained, KKTV 11 News Chief Meteorologist Brian Bledsoe said flooding concerns are now foremost in his mind. “We’re approaching the height of thunderstorm season here in Colorado,” he said, “It’s basically the equivalent of pouring a big ‘ol glass of water right on your tabletop. It just goes everywhere.” Homeowners are encouraged to protect themselves by purchasing flood insurance, which is not part of regular homeowner’s policies. Information on flood insurance is available through your insurance agent or www.FloodSmart.gov. KKTV firmly believes in freedom of speech for all and we are happy to provide this forum for the community to share opinions and facts. We ask that commenters keep it clean, keep it truthful, stay on topic and be responsible. Comments left here do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of KKTV 11 News. If you believe that any of the comments on our site are inappropriate or offensive, please tell us by clicking “Report Abuse” and answering the questions that follow. We will review any reported comments promptly.powered by Disqus
A new environmental psychology study released in December concludes that the most effective programs to encourage climate-friendly behaviour such as reducing energy consumption are those in which financial incentives (rebates, or cheaper prices) are paired with appeals to personal identity and values. The authors of Social Mobilization: How to Encourage Action on Climate Change review four decades of psychological research and find strong empirical support for employing a number of strategies : providing tailored information, soliciting commitment (e.g. pledges), recruiting leaders from within social networks, giving feedback, and using a variety of other social influence strategies . This report highlights several successful large-scale programs as models – mostly by utility companies in the United States . The study was financed and published by the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), University of Victoria. A related, longer report by one of the authors, Reuven Sussman, was published in October 2016 by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. Behavior change programs: Status and impact is here (registration required, free). Another recent study of found that the moral values of compassion and fairness influenced an individual’s willingness to take personal action to mitigate the effects of climate change. The authors, from Cornell University, showed that participants who were younger, more liberal, and reported greater belief in climate change, also showed increased willingness to act on climate change. Ingroup loyalty and authority were not supported as important predictor variables. However, the authors state : “Our finding that willingness to take action on climate change was related to moral values embraced by both liberals and conservatives suggests that it is too simplistic to use political ideology alone to predict support for climate change action. ” The full article, “Which Moral Foundations Predict Willingness to Make Lifestyle Changes to Avert Climate Change in the USA?” appeared in PLOSOne in October 2016, and was summarized by the Huffington Post in “ Why some people take action on climate change – and others don’t” (November). Environmental psychology is also turning attention to the growing mental health issues caused by climate change. The first-ever International Conference on Building Personal and Psychosocial Resilience for Climate Change was held on November 3-4, 2016 in Washington D.C. . Climate Progress reports on the conference in “How to stay sane in the face of climate change” , and quotes psychiatrist Lise van Susteren: “before people let their fear turn to hopelessness … it’s critical to tell them that there are actionable things they can do, in their everyday life …. — measuring your own carbon footprint, putting solar panels on your own home, or paying for carbon offsets to counteract your own travel — can help a person take their fear and transfer that energy into positive action. And that in turn can help mitigate the mental trauma of the reality of climate change.” Climate Progress also quotes consultant Bob Doppelt, who told the conference “Psychological traumas of more frequent storms, floods, and fires associated with climate change, as well as toxic stresses — long term heat waves and droughts, food shortages, involuntary migration, loss of community and breakdown of culture — are eroding personal protective systems, amplifying preexisting mental health problems and creating new mental health issues.” Doppelt has recently published Transformational Resilience: How Building Human Resilience to Climate Disruption Can Safeguard Society and Increase Wellbeing .
The headache is a perplexing ailment that afflicts most people at some point. It's a symptom of dozens of different diseases, and it can also have dozens of causes — or no apparent cause at all. Researchers have now found evidence that ordinary foods like nuts, beans and cheese may be linked to severe, incapacitating headaches in some people, reports the Wall Street Journal. The culinary culprit? Tyramine. Tyramine occurs naturally in food from the breakdown of amino acids, and it's believed to trigger an immune response — plus a splitting headache — in certain people. High levels of tyramine are often found in foods that are aged, pickled or stored for long periods: Cheeses like brie, cheddar and provolone, pickles and salami and other cured meats contain high levels of tyramine, as do peanuts, Brazil nuts, avocados, bananas and fava, navy and pinto beans, according to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. But predicting when a certain food may or may not spark a headache is tricky. "A food that prompts a headache on a day when a person has had little sleep, for instance, might have no effect on another day," the Wall Street Journal reports. [Infographic: Big Headaches: Facts on Migraines] And because the interval between consuming food that triggers headaches and the onset of head pain can be as great as 48 hours, zeroing in on a specific trigger food can be challenging, particularly after several meals have been consumed. Nitrates, which are common in processed meats like hot dogs, are also frequently blamed for food-related headaches. And though the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is frequently cited as a cause of headaches, some recent reports find that MSG may not be as unhealthy as its reputation would indicate.
New math program gives kids a head start: Abacus West Vinaya Kulkarni said she believes she has the program that will help grade-school age children gain confidence and competence in arithmetic. Kulkarni is the founder and head teacher of Abacus West, which started classes in February at campuses in Sammamish and Issaquah. Starting next January, she will start a program in Redmond. She said that using an abacus, a type of ancient beaded calculator, as a teaching tool is extremely popular in other parts of the world, yet seldom seen in the United States. “I discovered how popular it is… mainly in the (Far East), India, Asia and also parts of Europe,” she said. “I also found that the countries that it’s popular in, do very well in math on an international level.” With a strong background in math and science, Kulkarni set out to do research and learn how the traditional Japanese abacus, called a “soroban,” could help youngsters develop crucial mental math skills. Once she learned the base-10 system, where every column of beads represents a decimal place and each individual bead has a numerical value of one (bottom row) or five (top row), Kulkarni discovered that the simplicity and hands-on approach of the abacus fit perfectly with the optimal learning styles of elementary-aged children. “It’s a very tactile learning, they’re touching the beads and it’s very visual, learning that each bead equates to a number,” Kulkarni explained. “Kids between ages 5-12 have the ability to visualize. They can move the beads with their mind, and get correct math answers.” While after-school math courses usually aren’t high on the list of kids’ preferred extracurricular activities, Kulkarni and her instructors strive to make each course engaging. “We’re seeing that kids are developing a love for math that they didn’t have before,” she noted. “Coming to an after-school math program is not inherently a fun thing to do, but we do everything we can to make it enjoyable, to make it fun. It’s a very interactive, teacher-led class.” Abacus West caps its hour-long class sizes at just 10 students, to ensure that each child gets individual attention. Kulkarni added that in today’s world, a strong skill set in math is essential for success. “It is extremely important that kids have a solid foundation in mathematics, because no matter what area they plan to go into with their adult world, it will always help them,” she said. “In addition, they’re learning how to focus and to concentrate, and those are skills they can take into other parts of their education.” Lea McKay, who has a 6-year-old son, James, has seen firsthand how Abacus math can make a difference. “The thing that has impressed me the most has been how effortless it has been for him to pick up concepts,” she said, adding that James is going into his seventh week of classes at Abacus West’s campus at the Plateau Club. “He could only count to 30 when he started Abacus six weeks ago, and now he recognizes place values into the hundreds. He can do calculations both using the abacus and picturing the beads in his mind… sometimes faster than me.” Currently, about 10 percent of students in the program draw from Redmond, which prompted Kulkarni to open another local classroom to satisfy demand. The Redmond branch of Abacus West is scheduled to open in January 2011 at the Orange Blossom Society, a unique children’s enrichment center located at 16715 Northeast 79th Street in Redmond. “The teachers are all amazing,” McKay commended. “I was really impressed with how hands-on they were with the children, and how involved and supportive the teachers were with each individual student.” For more information or to sign up for Abacus West in Redmond, visit the Web site at www.abacuswest.com.
Jones Beach State Park Wind Statistics, Spring averages since 2006 The rose diagram describes how often and how strongly the wind blows from different directions through a typical northern hemisphere spring. The largest spokes point in the directions the wind most commonly blows from and the shade of blue implies the strength, with the darkest shade of blue showing the strongest winds. It is based on 6579 NWW3 forecasts of wind since since 2007, at 3hr intervals, for the closest NWW3 model node to Jones Beach State Park, located 10 km away (6 miles). There are insufficient recording stations world wide to use actual wind data. Without question some coastal places have very localized wind effects that would not be predicted by NWW3. According to the model, the dominant wind at Jones Beach State Park blows from the SE. If the rose graph shows a fairly circular pattern, it means there is no strong bias in wind direction at Jones Beach State Park. On the other hand, dominant spokes show favoured directions, and the more the darkest shade of blue, the stronger the wind. Spokes point in the direction the wind blows from. Over an average northern hemisphere spring, the model suggests that winds are light enough for the sea to be glassy (the lightest shade of blue) about 7% of the time (6 days each northern hemisphere spring) and blows offshore 32% of the time (25 days in an average northern hemisphere spring). During a typical northern hemisphere spring winds stronger than >40kph (25mph) are expected on 5 days at Jones Beach State Park IMPORTANT: Beta version feature! Swell heights are open water values from NWW3. There is no attempt to model near-shore effects. Coastal wave heights will generally be less, especially if the break does not have unobstructed exposure to the open ocean.
Common Prophethood (Nabuwwat ‘Ammah) Once the existence of the All-Wise Creator is proved, the necessity of Prophethood and prophets is proven through it. To understand the need of mankind for the guidance of the prophets, we must know the nature of human creation, the purpose of his creation and the factors that make him reach that purpose or prevent him from it. This brief book does not allow us to go deep into these discussions, as is apparent from the presented topics. However, we will indicate some dimensions to a degree: The human being has different instincts. His life begins from the weakest stage, which is the plant life, and ascends to the intellectual life. In fact, it ascends to a stage higher than that. Indeed, a believer looks with the light of Allah.1 The human being is a creation composed of nature and intellect, a body with limited needs, and a soul with unlimited wishes. In his eminence man is higher than the angels, and in his abasement he is lower than the animals. It is reported on the authority of ‘Abd Allah ibn Sinan, who said: I asked Abu ‘Abd Allah Ja’far ibn Muhammad al-Sadiq (as): Are the angels superior or the children of Adam? He (as) replied: The Commander of the Faithful ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib (as) said: Indeed, Allah, the Mighty and High, composed the angels from the intellect without the desires and composed the animals from the desires without the intellect, but He composed the children of Adam from both of them. Therefore, whose intellect overcomes his desires is better than the angels, and whose desires overpower his intellect is worse than the animals.2 This creation was at the peak of innovation as it became—after being made completely and the spirit breathed3 into him—an exceptional creation of all beings. The greatness of His creation becomes apparent from the Word of the Exalted: Then We caused it to grow into another creation, so blessed be Allah, the best of the creators.4 The human being perceives that he is not made for a limited materialist life. Wisdom demands that the tools should be appropriate for the work that is required of them. They should be made to suit the purpose they serve. If man was made for the life of this world alone, then the faculty of desire, which attracts to the comfortable and the faculty of anger, which rejects the painful, were sufficient for him. There was no need to give him intellect, which informs of unlimited knowledge. The intellect is eager to liberate itself from evil and embellish itself with virtues. It is naturally not content with whatever level it reaches. In fact, it is thirsty for what is higher than it. Thus, bestowing man with that intellect and that nature is proof that he is created for an unlimited life. This is transmitted in a prophetic tradition: You are not created for perishing; rather, you are created for remaining. Indeed, you transfer from one abode to the other.5 From another viewpoint, the wisdom of the Absolute Wise guides us that if He has placed potential in a being, then He has also prepared factors that elevate him to the stage of actualisation. Exhausting a potential does not change it into an actual. A wish that has no objective is useless and in vain. Exalted is Allah from that. You see that when the Knowledge and the Absolute Power gave a seed the potential to become a fruit, He created for it the water, the soil and the air. Hence, He placed in them the factors that make the seed reach its goal. When He gave human semen the potential to change into organs and limbs, He created for it the womb and other factors for its actualisation. Then how is it possible that Allah created the intellectual faculty in the human being to reach the fruit of knowledge and practice? He created the human soul and placed in it the ability to reach the perfection in knowledge, morals and practice to reach the recognition of Allah through Allah. Then how did He not prepare the factors that would make him reach the fruit of knowledge and practice? Why would He not provide the conditions to take the human being to the highest levels of perfection? How is it possible that He would not guide the human being to the purpose of his creation? Is it possible that He would withhold the law: He gave to everything its creation, then guided it (to its goal),6 and exempt the creation of the human beings from it? Of course not! This is why it is clear that the need for Divine guidance is to make man accomplish the purpose of his creation. And the soul and Him Who made it perfect, Then He inspired it to understand what is right and wrong for it.7 It is in human nature to search for one’s Creator. Man wants to know Who it is that brought him about when he did not exist. The One Who gave him these limbs, organs and muscles and made complete to you His favours outwardly and inwardly;8 and blessed him with which is countless and limitless: And if you would count Allah's favours, you will not be able to number them.9 He wants to know the real Benefactor. His logical duty is to thank the real Benefactor. From another angle, the human being perceives that Allah, the Exalted—Who is the Creator of the sense and the sensed, the imagination and the imagined, the understanding and the understood, the Most Praised, the Most Holy from all deficiencies and evils, whose magnificence and perfection are endless—is Greater and Higher and Mightier than being on the other side of communication with the created who is full of ignorance, faults and evil desires. Thus, why should He answer man’s questions directly and elucidate to him what is obligatory and what is forbidden in his life? Therefore, there must be a link between Allah, the Exalted, and His creation. This link should have a human shape and attributes, in order to deal with the people, an intellect free from mistakes, a soul consecrated from evil and full of Godly practice. Based on the rule of effectiveness and liability, he should have the ability to be lightened with the light of revelation, so that he can receive the guidance and recognition from Allah, the Exalted, and open the doors of this guidance and recognition to the mankind. Then he can show man his shortcomings in hindering the intellect from the recognition of Allah on one extreme, and in ascribing human characteristics to God on the other extreme. Thus, he can guide mankind to the true faith and the right path. And (know) that this is My path, the right one therefore follow it, and follow not (other) ways, for they will lead you away from His way; this He has enjoined you with that you may guard (against evil).10 The human being possesses many mental abilities with which he can discover a number of secrets of nature and its laws, and then use these to serve his abilities. Yet, he also possesses evil desires and the faculties of lust and anger, which are vast and dangerous. These do not stop at any limit, which is a trait of human nature. Hence, the interest and the corruption of the earth are connected to the interest and the corruption of mankind: Corruption has appeared in the land and the sea on account of what the hands of men have wrought.11 In fact, according to the Word of the Exalted: And He has made subservient to you whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, all, from Himself; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect.12 Thus, the interest and the corruption of other planets are connected to the humans as well. The only thing that guarantees the interest of this being is Divine guidance. Divine guidance results in the balance of the thoughts through correct belief. Spiritual balance is achieved through virtuous morals and good actions. Human life is connected to society in various ways. The consequence of this connection is that people influence one another. Inevitably, this causes difference in personal and social rights. Social life cannot remain without having its right. It is impossible to give it its rights without stipulating and implementing laws which are correct and protected from deficiencies and mistakes. Their stipulator and executor must be an infallible who is not affected by personal interests, nor deviant from righteousness and justice. This cannot materialise except with Divine laws and with prophets who convey these laws and execute them. Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments, and sent down with them the Book and the balance that men may conduct themselves with equity.13 It is thus clear that mankind needs to be guided to God, the Return, and the purpose of his creation. It is clear that it is necessary to take him to his psychological and practical perfection. It is also clear that human faculties require balance, and that they need assurance of their personal and social rights. However, it is obvious that these goals are not achievable without the path of revelation and prophethood. These important matters cannot be achieved with intellects full of faults and hands full of personal desires. No matter how strong human thinking may be, it cannot ascertain the ambiguous and unknown points of nature. Thus, he is not self-sufficient of the prophets (as) and their guidance in the walk of life. Geniuses have struggled in studying the secrets of the universe. They thought that they had reached the conclusion, and were proud of their discoveries. The people agreed with them, and generations and centuries passed approving them. Nonetheless, they were later proved to be void. The view that the human body is composed of four substances and that their illnesses originate from the nature of these four things was discovered to be null. The views of the early people that the universe is made up of dust, water, air and fire, and that space cannot accept penetration and connection, went up in the air after scientific discoveries. Even though his body is the closest thing to him, it has become so apparent that man does not even understand the make of his own body, or the factors behind its illness and health. Most of the human theories about nature, the universe, the moon, and the closest star are mere imaginations. Is it possible that this intellect can become a guide for mankind in understanding God and the Return, and the causes of his privilege and adversity? Never! In fact, the human mind is unable to discover the secrets inside a particle. Then how is it possible for it to know the beginning and end of the creation of man and the universe? How can mankind know what guides him to God and the Return, and the causes of his privilege and adversity? The Commander of the Faithful (as) said: Then Allah sent His Messengers and series of His prophets towards them to get them to fulfil the pledges of His creation, to recall to them His bounties, to exhort them by preaching, to unveil before them the hidden virtues of wisdom and show them the signs of His Omnipotence.14 A prophet possesses many qualities, two of which we will discuss: There are many proofs for the infallibility of the Prophets (as). We will mention some of them: Every creation has to follow practices and laws in order to attain its perfection. It is clear from what has been explained earlier that the practice that takes mankind to his perfection, which is the purpose of his creation, is Divine guidance and true faith. The achievement of this perfection is based upon the guidance of mankind to the true faith, and delivering and executing Divine laws. A prophet is liable for the training of mankind in accordance with this practice. It would be against the objective if any deviation in conveying or execution occurred; for, the deviation of this conveyor and instructor of Divine training would be due to error or evil desire. Undoubtedly, either of these two would be against the objective. The perfection of Divine guidance demands perfection of the guide. Infallibility of the Divine law requires infallibility of the teacher and the executor. Falsehood shall not come to it from before it nor from behind it.15 Both rational and textual proofs tell us that the religion has come to give humanity a happy life. Whoever does good whether male or female and he is a believer, We will most certainly make him live a happy life, and We will most certainly give them their reward for the best of what they did.16 The water of happy life is faith and good deeds. These two make up the religion. The spring of life from which pours out this water is the presence of a prophet. If the place where the water is pouring out from is unclean, then the water would be unclean. Hence, it would not be suitable for quenching the thirst of the minds and the hearts of the people. Then the fruit of a happy life would not be achieved. The objective of sending a prophet is not accomplished without obeying his commands. Obedience of the one who commits mistakes and sins is not permissible. Therefore, if a prophet is not infallible, his obedience will not be obligatory, which would negate and invalidate the objective of sending a prophet. If a prophet is not infallible from making mistakes, then the people will never be confident in his truthfulness or the veracity of his delivering the revelation. Also, if a prophet is not infallible from committing sins, then his position will drop in the eyes of the people. The words of an unpracticing scholar do not have any effect. As such, the purpose of sending the prophets would not be fulfilled. The origin of mistakes and sins is weakness of intellect and will-power, whereas the intellect of a prophet is perfect. A prophet reaches the stage of true certainty due to his connection with revelation. He sees things as they really are. His will-power is only affected by the will of Allah, Glory be to Him, the Exalted. Therefore, there remains no place for mistake and sin in a prophet’s personality. Accepting any proclamation requires proof. The connection between the proclamation and the proof must be so reliable that the confidence in the righteousness of the proclamation is indissoluble from the proof. A prophet proclaims representation from Allah, the Exalted. There is no way of proving this proclamation except for confirmation from Allah. Thus, a miracle is a practical confirmation from Allah for his proclamation as a prophet. A miracle takes place without a material cause, with a will that encompasses the causes and effect. The cause determines the effect and the effect accepts determining from the cause, which is nothing but the will of Allah, the Exalted. When a miracle takes place with the proclamation of a prophet, then it gives certainty that Allah, the Exalted, performed the miracle for his confirmation. When someone proclaimed prophethood and it was rationally possible to confirm this, if he showed a miracle, it would be a convincing proof to verify his claim. However, if he was not truthful, then the occurrence of a miracle from him would be verification of a liar and a reason for misleading the people. Exalted is Allah, Glory be to Him, from authenticating a liar and misleading the people. Regarding common prophethood, there are noble verses and gracious traditions. We will suffice with two traditions. It is said on the authority of Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Sadiq (as): Indeed, we prove that we have a Creator and a Maker Who is Higher than us and everything He has created. And that this Creator is All-Wise to the extreme, and it is not possible for His creation to witness Him or touch Him, so that He may form physical connection with them and they with Him. He disputes them and they dispute Him. This proves that He has representatives in His creation, who voice Him in His creation, and servants who guide them to their interests and benefits and to what will make them remain and make them perish. This proves that there are ones who command what to do and what not to do on behalf of the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, who are in His creation and are designated by Him, the Mighty and High. They are the prophets (as) and the best of His creation. They are wise, mannered with wisdom and sent with wisdom. They do not share with people in anything from their state, even though they share the creation and composition. They are endorsed with wisdom by the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. This was proved in all times and places with the reasons and proofs the Messengers and the prophets brought with them. So that Allah’s earth is not vacant from a proof who has knowledge indicating his truthfulness and justice.17 We will elucidate some of the points which his words imply: He (as) mentioned the proof for the necessity of sending prophets with his words: and that this Creator is All-Wise to the extreme… the implication is that every action that a man performs or leaves, and every motion or stillness that occurs from him is either useful for both worlds or harmful, or neither useful nor harmful. Based on all of these assumptions, the human being needs to know what is useful and what is harmful, what is in his interest in this life and the life hereafter, and what is harmful. This knowledge can only be achieved from one who knows of the connection between performing an action and not performing it, the interests of mankind and his problems. It has to be from the one who encompasses the effects of all motions and stillnesses in human life in this world and the hereafter. Indeed, that is the Creator of the mankind and the Creator of this world and the hereafter. Divine Wisdom demands that He should guide His servants, however, His guidance to Himself cannot happen without an intermediary due to His being above physical connection and conversation. Thus, there must be selected representatives: who guide them to their interests and benefits and to what will make them remain and make them perish. This proof is distinctive from all dimensions in comparison with the proof that philosophers use to prove the necessity of prophethood. This proof from the Imam (as) includes all the interests and harms of the human being in all stages of existence. Philosophers use the rule that man is naturally a social animal. Therefore, he requires fair laws for his dealings and social connections; hence, their proof is specified for social life on earth. He (as) has indicated the exceptional existence of the prophets due to what they have in common with the people and what they are distinctive in: they do not share with people in anything from their state, even though they share the creation and composition. He (as) has indicated with his word: the best of His creation, to the fact that a prophet has been chosen over the rest of the creation. Due to this pure conduct, he can be at the position of the connection between the Creator and the created. He can perform the significant role of being a connection between the High and the low. What a fine expression he has used: who voice Him, to clarify the status of a prophet. It is, indeed, an unequivocal statement revealing the true intention. It means speaking from Allah, the Exalted and delivering to His creation what He wills. Sanctity and infallibility are required for the status of a prophet. The Imam (as) has explained the proof for the necessity of a miracle to prove the prophethood with his word: who has knowledge indicating his truthfulness and justice. The source of the prophethood is the wisdom of the Absolute Wise and its result is wisdom as well. ‘Isa said: I have come to you indeed with wisdom;18 Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom.19 He (as) has attached importance to the distinction of the prophets’ wisdom in thinking and practice from the wisdom of mankind, which is the result of human thinking. However, their wisdom is that they voice the Exalted. The requirement of his word: who voice Him, and that by the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, their wisdom is pure from the filth of delusions. A prophet is a radiant lamp. He does not take the light of his knowledge from the teaching and training of mankind. It is indeed from the connection he has with the Light of the heavens and the earth. The oil whereof almost gives light though fire touch it not.20 He (as) said: They are wise and mannered with wisdom. Later, he added: They are endorsed with wisdom by the All-Wise, the All-Knowing. This is to explain that the wisdom of the prophets—its occurrence and endurance—is from the All-Knowing, Who encompasses everything and the All-Wise, Who made firm everything. The wisdom of a prophet is as distinctive from human thinking as what is with Allah, the Exalted and what is with the people. This Creator is All-Wise. It is apparent from this sentence and the sentence that describes the prophets as they are wise, mannered with wisdom and sent with it, that the effectual reason and purpose of Prophethood is wisdom. The middle way between the beginning and the end is also wisdom. Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth declares the glory of Allah, the King, the Holy, the Mighty, the Wise. He it is Who raised among the inhabitants of Mecca an Apostle from among themselves, who recites to them His communications and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the Wisdom, although they were before certainly in clear error.21 There are other valuable and profound insights in the indications and elegant words of the Imam (as). However for reasons of brevity we will not discuss them. Imam Al-Rida (as) said: If one said: Why is it compulsory for them to know the Messengers, acknowledge them and submit to their obedience? The reply would be: This is due to the creation not being able to reach in perfection what is in their interest. The Creator is Higher than can be seen. Due to their weakness and incapability, the creation cannot perceive Him. Thus, it was a must that an infallible messenger be in between Him and His creation to convey to them His commands regarding what to do and not to do. He would teach them manners and inform them of their interests and harms, as they do not have the ability to understand what they need, and what is in their interest or what is harmful for them. If recognising and obeying the prophet was not compulsory upon the people, then there would be no use of his coming. This would mean that He has carried out a useless act which has no benefit and use. This is not the attribute of the All-Wise Who made firm everything.22 - 1. Al-Kafi: vol. 1, pp 218, hadith no. 3. - 2. ‘Ilal al-Shara’i’: vol. 1, pp 4, ch. 6, hadith no. 1. - 3. Holy Qur’an, 15: 29: So when I have made him complete and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down making obeisance to him. - 4. Holy Qur’an, 23: 14. - 5. Bihar al-Anwar: vol. 6, pp 249. - 6. Holy Qur’an, 20: 50. - 7. Holy Qur’an, 91: 7-8. - 8. Holy Qur’an, 31: 20 - 9. Holy Qur’an, 14: 34. - 10. Holy Qur’an, 6: 153. - 11. Holy Qur’an, 30: 41. - 12. Holy Qur’an, 45: 13. - 13. Holy Qur’an, 57: 25. - 14. Nahj al-Balaghah: sermon no. 1. - 15. Holy Qur’an, 41: 42. - 16. Holy Qur’an, 16: 97. - 17. Al-Kafi: vol. 1, pp 168, hadith no. 1. - 18. Holy Qur’an, 43: 63. - 19. Holy Qur’an, 16: 125. - 20. Holy Qur’an, 24: 35. - 21. Holy Qur’an, 62: 1-2. - 22. ‘Uyun Akhbar al-Rida (A): vol. 2, pp 100, ch. 34, hadith no. 1; Bihar al-Anwar: vol. 6, pp 59.
Quick: can you recall any of the ads from Super Bowl 50? How about a play from the game itself? If you’re like most people, you still remember the ads but can’t recall the details of a single play. Of course, there is one exception. If you’re a Broncos or Panthers fan, you likely have certain plays imprinted deep inside your hippocampus. Why? Emotion plays a crucial role in memory and learning. So if you love the Broncos and were euphoric on Super Bowl Sunday, certain plays will linger in your brain a long time, giving you great satisfaction with each retrieval. And if you hate the Broncos, certain plays have taken up residence in your head, despite your wishes. The reason is that negative emotions—fear, anger, disgust—embed memories, too. What does any of this have to do with employee training? Well, in our view, everything. Let’s go back to the “Super Ads” for a minute. People who have no interest in football tune in to watch the commercials, which is interesting when you consider most Americans have a negative view of the advertising industry. But we want to watch the ads because they’re funny. And we remember them, whether we want to or not—they make us laugh, and laughing helps us remember. A (Very) Little Bit of Neuroscience Ever notice how you don’t remember much from a boring day? Extreme emotions on both ends of the spectrum tend to be best for firing up the neurotransmitters that make us remember. Who could forget being beat up by a bully? Or crashing into a tree at 55 MPH? And, on the other hand, who could forget a first kiss? Or the birth of a child? Or the day you really did laugh out loud when your dog joined you in the shower after hearing a clap of thunder? Since advertisers, teachers, and corporate trainers can’t go around traumatizing people or tempting them to fall in love, laughter is perhaps the next-best way to rouse up the emotions that aid memory and learning. Laughter increases the neurotransmitters, like serotonin, that reduce stress, relax the body, and allow the enjoyment area of the brain to take over. When this happens, the “thinking” part of the brain, the neocortex, increases its activity. This is why people tend to understand the message better and remember it longer when information is accompanied by humor. And this is why Super Bowl advertisers, who paid an average of $5 million for 30 seconds of air time, like to make funny ads. Corporate Training: No Laughing Matter If arousing positive emotions is so crucial to learning and memory, why do so many companies spend a fortune to make funny ads while their training content is flat out boring? Two-thirds of employees say the quality of training positively influences their engagement. And yet, research shows learners don’t find their training material interesting and they see current training programs as an unproductive use of time. With US companies spending approximately $70 billion on corporate training (worldwide figures are around $130 billion), boring training is risky. So, channel the “Super Ads,” embrace some fun, and maximize your investments in training. Ways to Make Employee Training More Fun—And More Effective “Fun” and “engaging” don’t have to be overwhelming, scary, or distracting. There are some pretty straightforward adjustments you can make to your training to increase engagement (and ultimately retention). Here are some examples. Embrace and acknowledge inside jokes, pop culture, or other telltale elements of your workplace or industry. In this video, we wove in typical sales jargon (okay, and some texting shorthand) into the script because we knew it would resonate with our audience. (FYI, if you like this, check out our list of 8 funny sales videos that will have you ROFL.) In an instructor-led training course, this may look like coaching facilitators and participants to share “war stories” to add a personal, storytelling feel to the session. If telling a joke or saying TTYL isn’t your style, even a change like writing in plain language can make a huge difference in the perception of, and engagement with, employee training. Clean up PowerPoint decks. Ditch pointless clipart and distracting slide transitions. Reduce text on screen to the most salient points only. Less is more. Instead of stock photos, experiment with (relevant) comics, or even a funny meme or two. Do you typically rely on talking heads in your videos? Switch things up with animation. Case in point: The psychology department of the University of Hertfordshire studied talking head shots. Led by professor Richard Wiseman, participants watched a one-minute talking head video followed by a second video with the same voice track. However, in the second video the talking head was replaced by an animation. The animation video resulted in a 15% increase in retention of information and a 33% increase in entertainment value. The Creative Direction Using an unconventional or unexpected theme for your training can also make it feel more fun. Take product training for a new product launch. We helped one of our clients produce a video in the style of a home shopping network special. It went beyond features and specs and told a story. To be certain, this had to be very carefully executed. We wanted a high-energy, slightly over-enthusiastic feel but the delivery still had to be controlled so the video didn’t unintentionally mock the product or the company. Corporate trainers, take a page out of the “Super Ads” book: use humor to create an emotional connection with your audience and ultimately increase training effectiveness. Start small. It might mean more whitespace in a training workbook, or ending a sentence with a preposition. And, use fun smartly or else you’ll end up in Doritos territory.
Essentials of Social Psychology Chapter 4: The Social Personality (continued) Emory S. Bogardus 2. The Social Emotions and Sentiments. An emotion is a complex of feelings. It arises when instinctive, habitual, or conscious desires are blocked. Whenever an obstacle appears in the path of a human interest a mental disturbance ensues, accompanied by emotional manifestations. In a way, the emotion is the affective phase of the disturbance. Whenever a conflict in the mind occurs, the emotions arise; but when no conflict exists ennui is likely to develop. Emotions and ennui are the opposite ends of the pole of interest. In other words, emotions heighten and give color to the obstacles of life. There are three main groups of emotions, those of anger, of sorrow, or joy. In the case of anger, fundamental desires have been held up. The individual is energized to overcome the obstruction. The rise of sorrow indicates that one has in some particular actually loved and lost. He has had definitely to give up pleasant hopes or valued possessions. Joy marks the more or less sudden realization of some important desire. As enlargements of the 'feeling side of life, the emotions often run to extremes and express themselves in wild, blind exhibitions of discharged energy, or in a (76) temporary but complete paralysis of the volitional nature. For example, the emotion of anger results in concentrated but frequently irrational forms of activity. On the other hand, the emotion of sorrow—of subjection and dejection—which follows defeat and losses tends to produce temporary impotence. Perhaps the most elemental of all emotions and the one which is more evenly spread than any other is sympathy. Certainly the chief social emotion is sympathy. It is probably fundamental to all three types that are mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs. As the word implies, sympathy means "feeling with" others. An example of the expression of an elemental form of sympathetic emotion is the immediate and appropriate response of the brood of chickens to the warning cry of the mother hen. Because of sympathetic emotion, the vigorous crying of a baby is followed by simultaneous wailing on the part of infants near by, even though they do not have the slightest conception of the cause of the crying of the first child. For the same reason a scream of terror on the part of an adult evokes a similar pang on the part of bystanders, although the latter do not know the cause of the scream. The characteristic of "feeling with" others varies in degree with individuals. In an extreme form it often decreases personal efficiency. It is a misfortune, for example, for a surgeon to be over-sympathetic. At the other extreme a small measure of sympathy permits one's egoistic, selfish impulses to run riot. Sympathy enables the individual to understand the experiences, attitudes, and actions of other people. When an important issue is to be settled, the party which is successful in enlisting the sympathies of the public possesses a strong advantage. The sympathies often manifest erratic choices. Because they—like the feelings—are not closely allied to the reasoning side of consciousness, they are likely to be expressed in strange, irrational, and at times in unreliable forms. Sympathy does not always connote dependable conduct. Perhaps the most conspicuous social characteristic of sympathy is its tendency to be associated with the conservative elements in a conflict or struggle. It is commonly allied with the old, the tried, and the true. It is a gigantic stabilizing force. Oftentimes it adds too much stability. Occasionally it is so closely attached to outworn habits and customs that it acts as a stumbling-block to progress. Nevertheless every new reform measure tries to win the permanent sympathies of the people. If it succeeds in this enterprise, all will be well for a time. Sympathy possesses far-reaching connections. For example, it functions extensively in connection with the parental impulses. Even the most primitive forms of love foster it. Sympathy is a strong ally of the gregarious instinct in holding together the members of a group. For this reason it has been aptly described as a social cement. A sentiment is a complex of emotional reactions which appears in organized ways. Sentiments are organized emotions with social values. For example, admiration involves the person who admires and the one who is admired; it implies the expression of a certain degree of wonder, of humility, and of generosity (78) toward the one for whom admiration is felt. A successful leader must gain the permanent admiration of his followers. Admiration plus fear constitutes awe; and awe with the addition of gratitude leads to reverence—the highest religious sentiment. Respect is closely allied to admiration; it is more cognitive and less affective, and in general, more permanent than admiration. Respect is perhaps the most intellectualized sentiment. Self-respect implies that the individual has given thought to his actions and has justified them. Respect for another implies that one has analyzed the activities of the other person and has found them satisfactory, or in harmony with his own ideals or standards. I do not believe with Dr. McDougall that we always respect those who respect themselves, and that our respect for another person is always a sympathetic reflection of his self-respect. It is true that others must respect themselves before we will respect them, but if the moral standards of others are below our own we will not grant them complete respect. Pity is a mild sentiment which arises out of sympathy for other persons but does not result in positive sacrifice for others. The person who pities usually feels himself definitely separated by some barrier from the one who is pitied. Pity is a developed form of sympathy which is held in check by a feeling of superiority, of inability to render aid, or of the impracticability of giving aid. The results of pity are rarely positive. Shame is experienced when the individual finds himself compared unfavorably with the standards of his friends, or when he falls below the standards which others expect of him. To protect himself from experiencing shame, the individual will often submit himself unflinchingly to severe discipline. The group, or the leaders, will often capitalize an individual's aversion to shame in order to secure his otherwise unwilling support of a worthy or unworthy cause. Whenever the socially reflected self falls below par, shame arises, and exists until the social mirror self recovers its prestige. Jealousy, revenge, and hate are related sentiments. Jealousy arises when the ego is strongly developed and generally indicates a self-centered view of life. At its heart there is an exaggerated self-feeling. As a rule, jealousy narrows and contracts the individual; it hinders the growth of personality. In the long run, the individual is justified only in being jealous of his character and reputation. In a secondary and vital sense, the individual should be jealous of the character and good name of other persons and of worthy institutions. Revenge is an aggressive sentiment which springs up when the individual feels that he or someone in whom he is interested has been grievously injured. It flares high and may die down quickly. It is likely to be temporary in form and to disappear as soon as the rule of an eye for an eye has been administered. It may be generalized, however, by the group and assume deep-seated and long term proportions, as in the case of blood feuds. The development of courts of justice (80) has met the general need which is served by vengeance; consequently, the sentiment has been losing a great deal of its force. It still bursts into disgraceful proportions—in the case of lynchings — and occupies a concealed place in many lives. Hate is a long-lived, ingrained sentiment that functions against the progress of constructive tendencies, or even of persons and races irrespective of social values. Hate is an ominous element in race prejudice. Its value appears when it is directed not against people as such, but against sin, vice, and crime. Love is a conserving, stabilizing and yet tumultuous sentiment of unmeasured power. In its most primitive, elemental expressions it may be more or less purely sexual and may lead to sexual vice and impurity and to illegitimacy. A higher form is that known as romantic love, the subject of which is impelled to extensive undertakings and sacrifices in behalf of the one who is loved. The primitive nature of romantic love is shown in its fickleness. It may lead, however, to conjugal love which possesses qualities of endurance. The strength of conjugal love develops out of the fact that husbands and wives experience great joys and sorrows together. It is particularly in the suffering together of husband and wife that emotional romantic love becomes transformed into the strong, deep, and abiding currents of conjugal love. Maternal love is the keenest, deepest, and most concentrated form of the love of one person for another. The love of a mother for her child is the most enduring type of love; it persists despite continued gross neglect and even of (81) utterly despicable conduct on the part of the son or daughter. Paternal love is far less intense and less enduring than maternal love; it is more akin to love of brother for brother. Filial love is often strongly expressed in childhood and adolescence and then it may weaken. It may be revived in the later years of life and assume its earlier strength and be expressed in ways which gladden parental hearts. Consanguineal love ranges from the close attachment that is characteristic of maternal love to a simple form of nominal friendship. Out of all these forms of love the family as a social institution is builded. A further observation should be made concerning consanguineal love, which frequently takes on idealistic forms. It often manifests itself in sane types of friendship. It may extend itself beyond blood relationships. Two unrelated persons may become "like brothers." Consanguineal love leads to the most dependable types of loyalty. In its highest sense it gives content to a doctrine of the brotherhood of man. In the same way parental love has been given a religious connotation of God's love for man, and filial love has been transcribed into man's love for God. 3. The Growth o f the Social Self. The development of the self is surprisingly social. The consciousness of self arises when the individual is set off or sets himself off from other selves. It was this process which was first analyzed in an able way by J. Mark Baldwin. (82) To the infant everything is first of all objective. Even his fingers and toes seem to him to belong to an outside world. But when these fingers or toes are pinched or burned, they are given a self valuation by the owner. Through his experiences—chiefly of suffering—the child learns to distinguish between the ego and the alter and to set up a self-world in apposition to an others-world. The ego and the alter are not separate entities but opposite ends of the same pole of growth, i. e., of personality. With the growth of personality there always arises this bi-polarism. From one extremity of the bi-polar being there emanates a recognition of the ways in which oneself is different from other selves individuality. From the other pole there springs a consciousness of the particulars in which one possesses kindred interests with others—sociality. The interaction between the ego and the alter results in the growth of both. The process is one, and in the deepest sense the ego and the alter evolve constructively or destructively together. The social consciousness of the child arises simultaneously with the development of his self consciousness. If it were not for the presence, activities, and stimulations of others, his consciousness of self would remain undeveloped. The stimuli which call forth self consciousness are caused by the contacts of the individual with other persons. The degree to which self consciousness is developed depends upon the original store of self-assertive impulses and instincts and upon the nature of the social environment. If the original nature of the child bristles with aggressiveness, the (83) impingement of the social environment will produce qualities of leadership in the individual, or may unfortunately lead to an exaggerated self-assertion and to continual exhibitions of contra-suggestion, of overbearing attitudes, and of a pugnacious disposition. At the time that the child is learning the meaning of life through his experiences, he is simultaneously reading those meanings into the activities of life. He projects himself and his experiences into the world of life about him—this is the projective phase of the self. The projection usually takes place along horizontal lines. The individual throws himself out along his occupational or friendship levels. In this way there is a marked tendency toward the growth of horizontal selves. To the growing personality every new phenomenon of life is first objective and almost meaningless, then through experience life becomes subjective and full of significance, and finally projective and social. The process is one of social self-development. It is in this fashion that one learns—throughout life. As long as phenomena are purely subjective to an adult, he can hardly comprehend them. Through experiencing them, they become subjective, and highly so, if that experience involves suffering. Then, and then only, can one truly project his personality helpfully into the lives of others, then can one truly sympathize, then can one feel "the pulse of mankind." 4. The Socially Reflected Self. Every person is surrounded by social mirrors. A friend or an enemy is a social mirror. The reflection of oneself which he sees in the minds of others is his socially reflected self. The nature of the reflection is rarely true; it varies with the points of view of the different human reflectors. The conduct of every person, young and old, is continually conditioned by the presence and opinions of other persons, and especially by the judgments or supposed judgments of friends. At every turn of life, the choices and actions of a person are partially determined by the images of himself which he sees reflected in the minds of his friends, that is, by his socially reflected self. The strenuous struggles for medals, honors, positions are often due to the desire to satisfy the socially reflected self. A military officer reports that a grave weakness of the army and navy is the powerful desire for promotion. Promotion is the coveted honor, the topic of open and secret conversations, the measure of success. To win a promotion means to receive the admiring glances of friends and the jealous appraisals of enemies. The socially reflected self is likely to become unduly distorted and to give one a dangerously inflated estimate of himself. At first many a recruit has cared nothing for his regiment. After a few weeks of training he has learned to value the opinions of himself which are held by his comrades. Within a few months he becomes not only willing but anxious to hazard his life for his regiment. At first the reflections of himself that he saw in the eyes of his fellow "rookies" he scorned; (85) but in a relatively short time he came to value these reflections above nearly all things else. "Watch the change as the column, marching at route step, swings into some small French town where children and an old woman or two observe the passing army," says an officer of a colored regiment. "Every man swings into step, shoulders are thrown back, and extra distances between ranks close automatically. Some one is watching them." Among these soldiers there was one "who stowed somewhere about him for these occasions a battered silk hat. We let him wear it—in small towns! The inhabitants stared at him and laughed. He was happy and made the whole company happy." College athletes explain that the reflections of themselves in the eyes of the spectator-crowd upon the bleachers is one of the most impelling factors in their achievements. To be elected to an honor society stimulates many pupils, not because of the actual benefit to be derived from the competitive processes but on account of the complimentary remarks and the standing which the coveted honor gives, that is to say, because of the dazzling reflections of oneself which the social mirrors present. A young man who does not approve of missions attends a church service in order to please a young lady who is interested in missionary enterprises. An offering for missions is to be taken. The first impulse of the young man is not to give. Then he thinks of the impression that his stingy self would make upon the young lady. Straightway he makes one of the largest subscriptions of the evening and (86) takes pleasure in the reflection of his liberality which he beholds in the pleased countenance of the young woman at his side. "It was my social mirror self which manifested itself to me last Sabbath," states a lady, "when I made my yearly pledge to the church. If I had made it by myself and sent it to the church treasurer, I would have lowered, in view of my present circumstances, the amount which I gave last year. But I was called upon by two prominent members of the church, and wishing to see a generous self reflected back to me from their eyes, I increased my annual pledge." A business man boasts of a shrewd transaction to a friend who he knows will approve of such a proceeding. When he is talking with another friend, who holds higher social principles, he refrains from mentioning the questionable action. In the first instance the reflection of himself as a shrewd business man was favorable; in the latter case it would have been unfavorable: in both cases he was guided by his social mirror self. A politician will spend large sums of money on philanthropic enterprises. By so doing he sets up favorable impressions of himself in the minds of his townspeople. Later he will utilize these impressions in his campaign for votes. At a meeting which was held for money-raising purposes, the chairman called for subscriptions of five hundred dollars. At that moment a man of means raised his hand to drive away an annoying fly. The chairman saw the hand, elatedly called out the name of the man, and the audience cheered loudly. The wealthy individual had planned to contribute one hundred dollars, but rather than mar the splendid reflection of himself that had come from his neighbors and friends he cheerfully paid the larger subscription. An American abroad tries to do in Rome as the Romans do. By such actions he receives better reflections of himself than would otherwise be the case. A wide-awake immigrant in the United States quickly adopts American ways—impelled by his social mirror self. "As a child of five, I became acquainted in the kindergarten with a colored boy," states a public school teacher. "Our friendship grew rapidly. I admired the black face and the small, tight curls. One day my father laughed heartily at me when he saw me with my colored playmate. I felt hurt, and thereafter avoided the colored boy, not through race prejudice on my part, but through the unpleasant reflection in my father's eyes of my association with the Negro child." The self respect of an individual often depends on maintaining the respect of other people. If he loses the esteem of his friends, he is likely to lose his own self respect. "I would enjoy riding a bicycle," says a middle-aged woman, "but the impression that I should make upon my friends would be unfavorable and hence I abstain." A housewife who could not afford to use ice secured an ice-card and put it in the window, but always after the ice wagon had passed her house. She wanted her neighbors to think that she bought ice, because thereby she might not lose caste in their eyes. For a similar (88) reason a child in school often will study in order to recite well. He is not guided by his desire to learn so much as by the desire to maintain a worthy opinion of himself in the judgments of his classmates. Likewise, the growing adolescent who suddenly becomes interested in the cleanliness of his neck and ears is endeavoring to maintain or improve his standing in the eyes of a young girl. His mood changes from dejection to hilarity as the reflection of himself in her eyes changes from unworthy to worthy. "At the age of ten," a young man relates, "I found myself considered the black sheep of the family. Because of this reputation, other boys envied me. Even my elders sometimes made complimentary remarks about my startling conduct. On more than one occasion I overheard my parents describe my pranks to their friends, and then I would hear them all laugh loudly, and I would swell with pride. Many references were made to my actions in a more or less approving way. From these experiences I gained favorable impressions of my black-sheep self. My roguishness was stimulated by hearing such expressions as, "Oh! isn't he a clever rascal." Consequently, I began deliberately to act the part of a black sheep; and some of the things which I did would not read well here. I was saved from going to the dogs because our family (a minister's family) moved to another town where my friends —especially one girl friend—did not consider that a black sheep should be envied. The reflection of my dare-devil self no longer had a halo around it, and I changed." "When I was asked to give an illustration of my (89) social mirror self," reports a student, "I chose the best example of which I could think. When I was trying to decide whether or not to use this particular illustration, it occurred to me that the only reason I was unwilling to use it was because of the unfavorable reflection of myself which it would produce in the mind of my instructor. Hence in the very process of choosing an illustration, the social mirror self had interfered." The development of character depends upon the nature of the social mirrors which surround the individual. A growing, active-minded, or sensitive child is particularly affected by the reflection of _ his acts which he sees in the human mirrors about him. If a bad act or a good act is reflected favorably to him, he is likely to repeat it until it becomes a habit. Similarly, although at times in a lesser degree, the individual is affected throughout life. The individual continually experiences a conflict of socially reflected selves. He cares more for the reflections of himself which he receives from his friends than from strangers or enemies, and from his dearest friends than from casual friends. For this reason he shows as a rule his best nature to his friends and his worst nature to his enemies and is careless about the impressions which he makes upon strangers. For this reason, also, he commonly is more subject to suggestions which come from friends than to those which emanate from enemies. The individual is affected most by the reflections of himself which come from those who are like-minded. It was this which Hume doubtless had in mind when (90) he said: "The praises of others never give us as much pleasure unless they concur with our own opinion. . . A mere soldier little values the character of eloquence. . . Or a merchant, of learning." The explanation of this statement is found in the fact that the soldier has superiors who belittle eloquence, and the merchant admires "captains of industry," whose love for the academic is not great. The first finds himself reprimanded for much speaking, and the latter discovers that he is held in derision for much theorizing. Groups, also, have their socially reflected selves. The actions of groups, also, are guided by the social reflections. In the Declaration of Independence Jefferson wrote that "a decent respect to the opinion of mankind" required that our forefathers should make a statement of the causes which impelled them to revolt. At the beginning of the World War each large nation hastened to give its reasons for declaring war and tried to justify itself in the eyes of the world. The operation of the socially reflected self explains partially the influence of the gang upon the boy, of the fraternity upon the student, of the afternoon bridge party upon the debutanté, of the labor union upon their industrial neophyte, of the board of directors upon the foreman or the clerk, of any occupational group upon its members. To an amazing degree the socially reflected self determines the direction of both individual and group change. (THE SOCIAL EMOTIONS AND SENTIMENTS) 1. Is anger a good guide to action? 2. What are the physical expressions of (a) a happy face, (b) a sad face, and (c) an angry face? 3. Is it true that one of the first qualifications of a successful public school teacher is to be happy? 4. Why are one's sympathies more keen toward a fellow countryman in a foreign country than when one is at home? 5. Why is it not enough for a business man to be a sympathetic husband, parent, and neighbor? 6. Should every citizen indulge occasionally in capricious and sympathetic giving? 7. Why do children fear the dark? 8. Explain: Only those succeed who worry. 9. Do people summon a physician in order to get sympathy? 10. What is the chief social value of love? 11. Can one love his neighbor at will? 12. If one can not love his neighbor, what is the next best thing to do? 13. What is the chief social value of hate? 14. What is the leading social value in suffering? 15. Is it true that friends are persons who have about the same sets of prejudices? (THE SOCIAL SELF, THE SOCIALLY REFLECTED SELF) 16. Distinguish between the individual self and the social self. 17. What causes a little boy to become ashamed of wearing dresses? 18. Why did a little girl pray: "Please, God, make my hair straight because I don't like curls"? 19. Give an original illustration of the social mirror self. 20. Why is it easier to talk with one individual than to talk to fifteen? 21. In what different ways does the social mirror self of the pupil affect his recitation in class? 22. Are men or women more sensitive to their socially reflected selves? 23. Why does the average small boy dislike dishwashing? 24. What is the chief cause of bashfulness? 25. Is the gregarious instinct or the socially reflected self the greater factor in arousing the desire of a college girl "to make a sorority"? 26. Are the wealthy or the poor more sensitive to their socially reflected selves? 27. Would you have achieved much, if no one had ever expected anything of you? (THE SOCIAL EMOTIONS AND SENTIMENTS) Baldwin, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations, Ch. VIII. Cooley, C. H., Human Nature and the Social Order, Ch. IV. ——, Social Organization, Chs. XVI, XVII. Ellwood, C. A., An Introduction to Social Psychology, Ch. XI. ——, Sociology in its Psychological Aspects, Ch. XIV. Kirkpatrick, E. A., Fundamentals of Child Study, Ch. IX. McDougall, William, An Introduction to Social Psychology, Chs. IV, V, XV. Ribot, Th., The Psychology of the Emotions, Part II, Ch. IV. Ross, E. A., Social Control, Chs. II, III. Seneca's Morals, tran. by R. L'Estrange, (On Anger), pp. 319-42. Shand, A. F., Foundations o f Character. Smith, Adam, A Theory of the Moral Sentiments. In Carver, Sociology and Social Progress, Ch. XVI. Tarde, Gabriel, Etudes de psychologie sociale, PP. 279-86. Thorndike, E. L., The Original Nature of Man, Ch. XI. Wallas, Graham, The Great Society, Chs. IV, IX. (THE SOCIAL SELF,THE SOCIALLY REFLECTED SELF) Baldwin, J. M., Social and Ethical Interpretations, Ch. II. Cooley, C. H., Human Nature and the Social Order, Chs. V, VI. ——, Social Organization, Chs. I, II. Giddings, F. H., Elements of Sociology, Ch. IX. ——, Inductive Sociology, Part IV, Ch. III. Hobhouse, L. T., Mind in Evolution, Ch. XVII. McDougall, William, An Introduction to Social Psychology, Chs. VI, VIII. Ormund, A. T., "The Social Individual," Psychological Bul., VIII: 27-41. Todd, A. J., Theories of Social Progress, Chs. IV, V.
From the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department -- South Dakota has joined Wyoming and Arizona to support a recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to provide assurances for private landowners cooperating with black-footed ferret recovery efforts. The USFWS announced the rejection of a petition to reclassify three black-footed ferret populations now managed under the experimental, nonessential designation of the federal Endangered Species Act. The petition filed by a nonprofit organization requested reclassification of ferret populations in Wyoming, Arizona and South Dakota from Nonessential Experimental to a more tightly restricted Endangered or Essential status where they occur on public lands. “Maintaining Nonessential designation is an extremely important part of black-footed ferret reintroduction efforts,” GFP Secretary Jeff Vonk said. “With a more restrictive status, progress toward restoration of the black-footed ferret would be much more difficult. Private landowners have been key to the success of South Dakota’s recovery efforts, and a more restrictive change in the classification of ferrets would have a negative impact on our re-introduction work.” Black-footed ferrets are the only ferret species endemic to North America. The species was thought to be extinct until a small colony of ferrets was discovered near Meeteetse, Wyoming in 1981. Outbreaks of canine distemper and (possibly) sylvatic plague reduced this population to about 18 individuals. The remaining ferrets were captured to begin a captive breeding program to save the species. Since 1991, federal and state agencies, in cooperation with private landowners, conservation groups, Native Americans and the North American zoo community, have been actively reintroducing ferrets back into the wild from captive breeding facilities. Beginning in Wyoming, reintroduction efforts have since expanded to sites in Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, Canada and Mexico. There are currently 19 black-footed ferret reintroduction sites. Biologists estimate there are currently a minimum of 800 to 1,000 individual ferrets living in the wild. All of these are descended from the 18 individual ferrets captured in Wyoming.
Boneset, thoroughwort, vegetable antimony, feverwort, agueweed, Indian sage, sweating plant, eupatorium, crosswort A ubiquitous plant found growing in swamps, marshes and shores from Canada to Florida and west to Texas and Nebraska. The plant is easily recognized by its long, narrow, tapering leaves that oppose each other around a single stout stem giving the impression of one long leaf pierced at the center by the stem. Hence its name "perfolia," meaning ''through the leaves." The plant grows from July to October to a height of 3 to 4 feet, flowering in late summer with white blossoms. The entire plant is hairy and light green in color. Soneset has been used as a charm and as a medicinal remedy for centuries by the North American Indians. As a charm, the root fibers were applied to hunting whistles, believing they would increase the whis?tle's ability to call deer. As an herbal remedy, Indians used boneset as an antipyretic. The early settlers used the plant to treat rheumatisms, dropsy, dengue fever, pneumonia and influenza. The name "boneset" was de?rived from the plant's use in the treatment of break-bone fever, a term describing the high fever that often accom?panies influenza. The plant is known to contain a glucoside (eupatorin), volatile oil, tannin, resin, inulin and wax. A number of sterols and triterpenes (including sitosterol and stigmasterol) have been isolated4,5 along with more than eight sesquiterpene lactones. The flavonoids quercetin, kaempferol and eupatorin have been identified in the plant? In an analysis of nine species of Eupatorium, which included E. perfoliatum, all species were found to contain alkaloids; boneset was found to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids.Other investigators have found pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the roots of the related E. masculatum. Based on data from early medical compendia, boneset is believed to have diuretic and laxative properties in small doses; large doses may result in emesis and catharsis. The "usual" dose of boneset was the equivalent of 2 to 4 grams of plant administered as a fluid extract. When used as a household remedy, the plant has been taken as a tea ranging in concentration from teaspoonfuls to tablespoonfuls of crushed dried leaves and flowering tops steeped in a cup to a pint of boiling water. Boneset had been used by physicians to treat fever, but its use was supplanted by safer and more effective antipyretics. It is not known which components of boneset reduce fever, or what the relative degree of effectiveness of these compounds is. An ethanolic extract of the whole plant has been found to exhibit weak anti-inflammatory activity in rats? A number of the sesquiterpene lactones isolated from the plant and related species (ie, eupatilin, eupafolin) and flavones (eupatorin) have been shown to possess cyto?toxic or antineoplastic activity?, An extract of E. perfoliatum combined with other herbs has been shown to stimulate phagocyte activity in vitro. Compounds isolated from the related species E. odora?tum have been found to enhance blood coagulation by accelerating clotting time through the activation of certain clotting factors. Extracts of E. cannabinum exert choleretic and hepatoprotective effects in rat models. Although few reports of adverse effects have been reported with the use of boneset, the FDA has classified this plant as an "Herb of Undefined Safety." 14 Large amounts of teas or extracts result in severe diar?rhea. The identification of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Eupa?torium species is disconcerting. This class of alkaloids is known to cause hepatic impairment after long-term inges?tion. While direct evidence for a hepatotoxic effect from boneset does not exist, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that any plant containing pyrrolizidine alkaloids should not be ingested. The sesquiterpene lactones of the related species E. cannabinum L. have been reported to induce contact dermatitis, although no documented cross-allergenicity to E. perfoliatum has been reported. A toxic unsaturated alcohol called tremetrol may cause hypoglycemia and may induce fatty degeneration of the liver and kidneys as well as gastrointestinal hemor?rhage. Symptoms of toxicity are often observed in grazing animals and include weakness, nausea, loss of appetite,
For more examples, see my article: Yet it's a vacuum there. The thing is that of course it was a sunny day for the astronauts - you tend to forget when you see the black sky. On Earth some of the light comes to the landscape from the sun and some reaches us indirectly from the blue sky and the clouds. Concept map Molecules are three-dimensional objects that occupy a three-dimensional world; it is easy to forget this after seeing so many depictions of molecular structures on a two-dimensional page. In most molecules, those parts joined by single bonds can rotate with respect to each other, giving rise to many different geometric forms. However, the local "coordination" geometry surrounding a given atom that is covalently bound to its neighbors is constant. Being able to understand and predict coordination geometry is an important part of chemistry and is the subject of this section. The Lewis electron-dot structures you have learned to draw have no geometrical significance other than depicting the order in which the various atoms are connected to one another. Nevertheless, a slight extension of the simple shared-electron pair concept is capable of rationalizing and predicting the geometry of the bonds around a given atom in a wide variety ofsituations. Like all electrons, these occupy regions of space which we can visualize as electron clouds — regions of negative electric charge, also known as orbitals — whose precise character can be left to more detailed theories. The covalent model of chemical bonding assumes that the electron pairs responsible for bonding are concentrated into the region of apace between the bonded atoms. The fundamental idea of VSEPR thoery is that these regions of negative electric charge will repel each other, causing them and thus the chemical bonds that they form to stay as far apart as possible. We therefore expect the two chemical bonds to extend in opposite directions, producing a linear molecule. If the central atom also contains one or more pairs of nonbonding electrons, these additional regions of negative charge will behave very much like those associated with the bonded atoms. The orbitals containing the various bonding and nonbonding pairs in the valence shell will extend out from the central atom in directions that minimize their mutual repulsions. Examples of triatomic molecules for which VSEPR theory predicts a linear shape are BeCl2 which, you will notice, doesn't possess enough electrons to conform to the octet rule and CO2. If you write out the electron dot formula for carbon dioxide, you will see that the C-O bonds are double bonds. Trigonal molecules In an AX3 molecule such as BF3, there are three regions of electron density extending out from the central atom. What bond angle would lead to the greatest possible separation between the electron clouds associated with these bonds? The latter calculation would be correct if all the atoms were constrained to be in the same plane we will see cases where this happens laterbut here there is no such restriction. Consequently, the four equivalent bonds will point in four geometrically equivalent directions in three dimensions corresponding to the four corners of a tetrahedron centered on the carbon atom. The angle between any two bonds will be This is called tetrahedral coordination. This is the most important coordination geometry in Chemistry: It is interesting to note that the tetrahedral coordination of carbon in most of its organic compounds was worked out in the nineteenth century on purely geometrical grounds and chemical evidence, long before direct methods of determining molecular shapes were developed. For example, it was noted that there is only one dichloromethane, CH2Cl2. If the coordination around the carbon were square, then there would have to be two isomers of CH2Cl2, as shown in the pair of structures here. The distances between the two chlorine atoms would be different, giving rise to differences in physical properties would allow the two isomers to be distinguished and separated. The existence of only one kind of CH2Cl2 molecule means that all four positions surrounding the carbon atom are geometrically equivalent, which requires a tetrahedral coordination geometry. If you study the tetrahedral figure closely, you may be able to convince yourself that it represents the connectivity shown on both of the "square" structures at the top. A three-dimensional ball-and-stick mechanical model would illustrate this very clearly. Tetrahedrally-coordinated carbon chains Carbon atoms are well known for their tendency to link together to form the millions of organic molecules that are known. We can work out the simpler hydrocarbon chains by looking at each central atom separately. Thus the hydrocarbon ethane is essentially two CH3 tetrahedra joined end-to-end. Notice that these "straight chain hydrocarbons" as they are often known have a carbon "backbone" structure that is not really straight, as is illustrated by the zig-zag figure that is frequently used to denote hydrocarbon structures. Coordination geometry and molecular geometry Coordination number refers to the number of electron pairs that surround a given atom; we often refer to this atom as the central atom even if this atom is not really located at the geometrical center of the molecule. If all of the electron pairs surrounding the central atom are shared with neighboring atoms, then the coordination geometry is the same as the molecular geometry. The application of VSEPR theory then reduces to the simple problem of naming and visualizing the geometric shapes associated with various numbers of points surrounding a central point the central atom at the greatest possible angles. Both classes of geometry are named after the shapes of the imaginary geometric figures mostly regular solid polygons that would be centered on the central atom and would have an electron pair at each vertex. If one or more of the electron pairs surrounding the central atom is not shared with a neighboring atom that is, if it is a lone pairthen the molecular geometry is simpler than the coordination geometry, and it can be worked out by inspecting a sketch of the coordination geometry figure. Tetrahedral coordination with lone pairs In the examples we have discussed so far, the shape of the molecule is defined by the coordination geometry; thus the carbon in methane is tetrahedrally coordinated, and there is a hydrogen at each corner of the tetrahedron, so the molecular shape is also tetrahedral. This convention is known as the " AXE method " The bonding geometry will not be tetrahedral when the valence shell of the central atom contains nonbonding electrons, however.Watch video · So if we say nickel has 28, has an atomic number of 28, so it's electron configuration we can do it this way, too. We can write the . How to Write Electron Configurations for Atoms of Any Element. In this Article: Article Summary Assigning Electrons Using a Periodic Table Using an ADOMAH Periodic Table Community Q&A An atom's electron configuration is a numeric representation of its electron orbitals. Electron orbitals are differently-shaped regions around an atom's nucleus where electrons are mathematically likely to be. Quantum Numbers. The Bohr model was a one-dimensional model that used one quantum number to describe the distribution of electrons in the atom. Heuristics. Before you get into the other topics, learning HOW to learn chemistry is a great place to start, and this section will help. Infrared Spectroscopy - mirrored from UCLA alphabetnyc.com~pang/chem11cl_net/alphabetnyc.com-. Adapted from: R. L. Pecsok L. D. Shields. Make sure this fits by entering your model number.; Near elimination of performance inhibiting carbon deposits, dramatically longer plug life and a 5-year/, mile limited warranty.
DIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF ZOOPLANKTON IN RIVER GHAGGAR OF PUNJAB WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO POLLUTION BIOINDICATORSSupinder Kaur and Harvinder Kaur Sidhu The present study reveals the diversity, abundance and composition of zooplankton in ghagger river. The objective of the study is to determine pollution bioindicators zooplankton diversity in River Ghaggar. A total of 27 genera of zooplankton population were recorded and categorized into 4 different groups, i.e. Protozoa, Rotifera, Copepoda and Cladobcera at the sites S1(Devigarh, Patiala) from 2017 to 2019. Among these Copepoda and Rotifera were the dominant groups. Of all the seasons, summer season depicted the highest density of zooplankton at this particular site and lowest diversity during monsoon season. The diversity indices were observed to be S1 sites indicating that the River is moderately polluted as the values of Shannon-Weaver diversity index for zooplankton are above two in different seasons. The present study revealed that the water of River Ghaggar is contaminated by sewage and other organic pollution.
The 10 Most Important Things That Students Actually Learn In College AP Photo/M. Spencer Green Disney asked 1,600 students about what they actually learned in college as a tie-in to the DVD release of "Monsters University," the Daily Mail reported. Answers tended to skew away from traditional academics, but covered topics as diverse as "making spaghetti Bolognese" to "DIY skills." "Four in ten of those who took part were shocked by how little they knew when they left home, with two thirds admitting the whole experience of university was a 'real eye opener' ... Three quarters said they'd learned much more than what was taught in lectures," the Daily Mail noted. You can check out the full list of the 50 most important things students learn at college at the Daily Mail. Here are the top 10: - Budgeting and prioritizing - Living with others - Doing a weekly food shop - Paying bills - Studying independently - Managing money - Making friends - Getting around - House hunting - Socializing with different types of people
How diuers crimes haue been sharply punished in times past: and how it is necessarie for a Lieutenant Generall to be somewhat cruell, if so be he would be well serued of his Souldiers. The 4 Chapter. I Will here inferre certaine examples of the seueritie that the auncient Chiefes in times past haue vsed towards their Souldiers, when as they did commit any great offence; I doe meane capitall crimes: which were committed after one of these two manners, either by one man onely, or by many (for sometimes whole Legions did offend) and were punished either perticularly or in generall. As for perticular persons, I do finde that the auncient Chiefes did punish chiefly all those that were not at their watches with their Ensignes, or with those whome they ought to followe in such like seruices: they likewise were punished that went frō their watch after they were in it. Also he was punished that did forsake the place he ought to keepe or to fight in, or that did vaunt that he had done any good seruice, and was afterwards prooued a lyar. He also was as sure to loose his life that fought with his enemies without leaue, or expresse charge, as if he had been slaine by them. Moreouer, they that did throw away their armes for feare of their enemies, and those which did flye from a battaile, had their payment likewise with the others. Concerning generall faults; if the Legions did vse any rebellion against their Chiefes, or if that they did mutine, or did flye from their enemies, the custome was to put a great ma∣ny of them vnto death, or the chiefest rebels: the least punish∣ment was to cassier them quite & cleane frō the ordinary bands, and consequently to pronounce them to be infamous, and depri∣ued of all those priuiledges, which the other Souldiers who ser∣ued their time, and went away with the good willes of their Chiefes, did inioy and their children. Of which perticular and generall faults, I haue here inferred certaine examples: by Page 281 which shall be shewed how the auncient Chiefes, and many o∣ther good Souldyers long since, haue grieuously punished all those that did not their duties in the warres, and those likewise that did commit any crime of importance. Chiefely disloyaltie was had in contempt amongst them: and all those that did fal∣sifie their faiths, were grieuously punished with the most cruell death that could be deuised: as appeareth by Mutius Suffetius, who was pluckt in pieces betwixt two Waggons, because of his disloyaltie vnto Tullius King of Rome in forsaking him, when as the Romans and the said King fought against theyr neighbours, and that he should haue succoured them with his men being there present with them, and sent for vnto that in∣tent: who in stead of ayding the sayd Romans, and entring into battaile with them, stoode still to sée what successe they should haue in their fight: by meanes of which dissimulation, the Ro∣mans were in great doubt and ieopardy being forsaken, ha∣uing to deale with two great armyes, to wéet, the Venetians, and the Fidenats, who were assembled against the Citie of Rome: but it came so to passe that the Romans got the victo∣rie, and Tullius seazed vppon the traytor, causing him to be put to death in the sight of all his partakers after the manner afore∣sayd. I do put in amongst these disloyall persons all those strangers which sometime serue the King, and do forsake him at his néede, or do go away vnto his enemies without asking leaue: which disloyaltie in mine opinion is so detestable, that it cannot be ynough contemned, nor punished so grieuously as it doth deserue, because it is a deceiuing of God and man: which crime is more practised at this day then euer it was, especially amongst a great number of Italyans, which do nothing but trot too and fro, now to one, and to morrow vnto another, not stay∣ing long in a place (but like peason boyling in a pot) and that for euery light occasion, so that there are very fewe of them that can vaunt that they haue alwayes held vppon one side, so great∣ly is the said Nation subiect to the changing of opinions: and those whome the King hath mainteined long time, are the woorst, who do forsake him as if they neuer had knowne him, sooner without taking their leaues, then otherwise: and this Page 282 they do aswell in time of warre as in peace, which is most disho∣nest and infamous, for at the least they should take their leaues before that they did forsake his seruice. I dare say that amongst the simple souldiers there is not one that hath continued in his seruice during the warres without going vnto his enemies, ex∣cept the Chiefs haue had so good an eye vnto them, as that they could not eskape when they would: so are there others likewise that do come from our enemies vnto vs, and so they do trot too & fro, not resting long in a place, yea, some of thē that haue not caried one moneth in a place, do runne away the next day after that they haue passed muster. Our owne countreymen do the like oftimes, many of them imitating the Italyans going vnto our enemyes, making no more difficultie then if they were stranges: there are also many of them that go home vnto their owne houses, and other that do go from one band vnto another assoone as they haue receiued their money, not making any ac∣compt of the oath that they haue taken, making God as their compagnion, making no accompt of the Kings money which they do carry away & steale from him as approued théeues, trai∣tors, & periured persons, so that there is not almost one souldier yt hath the feare of God, nor the reuerence due vnto christian re∣ligion before his eyes, for if they had, the oathes and promises which they do make should be obserued, & the wickednes which they do commit, should not be committed: but for that they do not feare him they do dispraise him, & dispraising him, it is not possible that they should kéepe any thing that they do sweare in his name. Is it possible that they should feare him whose name they do blaspheme & contemne in all their communications? as we sée they do, therefore there is no other remedy but to com∣pell them by mans lawes to obserue that, which they do make no reckning to kéepe by Gods lawes: and mine opinion is that it should be decreed, that who so euer should be found in this fault, were he Frenchman or stranger, should immediatly be beaten to death with mallets, or buried aliue, or pluckt in pieces with foure horses, or haue a stake thrust through his body, for ye other punishmēts are too gentle for such a crime. And as concer∣ning the disloialty of those which do go vnto our enemies with∣out taking their leaues before that they beare armes against the Page 283 King, which liberty of departure with leaue is only to be per∣mitted vnto those that are not bound vnto him either by faith or homage. I haue read one example of Henry the 7. Emperour of Rome, who caused an execution to be made in his Campe, whē as he besieged the City of Bresse, vpon an Italyan named Galleas Brusat, who forsooke him without leaue, and serued a∣gainst him with his enemies, who being taken by ye Emperour his men at a sally that he made out of the said towne, was im∣mediatly pluckt in péeces with Waggons. This example need not to be accompted auncient, for it is not aboue 200. yeares since it hapned, yet I haue alleaged it auncient, because that the manner of punishing of this offence doth like me better then yt we do vse at this time, which is either to hang, or to behead, or to passe the pikes, which punishments are to be thought to be ri∣gorous ynough for many other crimes which the souldiers do commit, but for such an offence as this, I do thinke them to be too gentle: wherefore I will continue in mine opinion, that one of the aforesaid punishments ought to be vsed in this case, for these commers & goers are causes of too many inconueniences, and therefore when that any of them are taken, they should be so handled, that the remembrance of their punishment should re∣maine for an example for euer: and aboue all things we must neuer let such a crime scape vnpunished, if we haue opportunity to punish it. The Romans had a great regard not to pardō their fugitiues, nor to restore thē vnto their goods, or first honors, nor to trust them at any time after with any charge whatsoeuer it were, as we do at this present, but they were assured to be put to a most cruell death whēsoeuer that they were taken, whereof we haue many examples in their histories, specially of those which Fabius Maximus foūd in certain townes which he tooke frō Anniball, who being sent vnto Rome, wer first of all whipt, & afterward throwne downe from an high rock. Certaine fugi∣tiues that were deliuered vnto Scipio by an accord yt was made betwixt the Romans & the Carthagenians, some were behea∣ded, & others crucified. The aforesaid Fabius at another time caused the hands of all the fugitiue Romans, and other stran∣gers fugitiues yt had serued thē to be cut off, which he did, to the intēt yt the remembrance of the offence & punishment might be Page 284 refreshed as often as they were séene that had lost their hands. Yet me thinke that these pernitious people, although that they were maymed of their hands, should not therefore leaue to do many mischiefes, hauing the other parts of their bodies whole, wherefore I would at the least dispatch them of all at once. Paulus Aemelius after that he had vanquished Perseus King of Macedony, made all the fugitiues that were found in his e∣nemyes hoast to be slaine by Elephants: the sonne of the sayd Paulus, to wéet, that Scipio which razed Carthage, condemned all the fugitiues that he could lay hands vpon, to be quartered and deuoured with wilde beasts. Auidius Cassus, and many o∣thers, haue procéeded in the like busines most seuéerely, and yet not so rigorously, but that they haue deserued a great deale more. Moreouer, the said Chiefs did most sharply punish those which did not obey the Proclamations and commaundements that were made by their Chiefes, as appeareth by the example of Manlius Torquatus, who caused his owne sonne to be be∣headed for fighting with his enemyes contrary to his comman∣dement: and the victorie which he got saued not his life, and yet he was challenged ye Combat body for body, of which chal∣lenge he could not rid his hands with honesty, if there had not bin commandement vnto the contrary: the said Mutius prefer∣red the obseruation of militarie discipline before fatherly loue, and caused his sonne to be put to death. Within a little after there was ynough to do, for that Quintus Fabius, Captayne Generall of the Romane Horssemen, fought with his enemies contrary vnto the commaundement of the Dictator Papyrius Cursor, who although that he had ouerthrowne his said ene∣myes, yet the Dictator would haue put him to death for hys disobedience, so highly was this discipline and obedience e∣stéemed amongst them aboue all things, without the which they knewe that the occupation of armes whereof they made their profession, and for which they were honored and feared more then any other Nation, would be abolished in short time, without the which, the Chiefes did neither deserued to be called Chiefes, nor the souldyers true souldyers, but might bée ac∣coumpted to be a disordred multitude, if the Chiefes were not Page 285 obeyed, nor the souldyers shewed themselues to be obedient: and thus much concerning the principall offences which soul∣dyers do commit during the warres, and the disorders which they do, being in Campe, as running ouer the countrey, raun∣soming their hoasts, eating them vnto the boanes, pilling them, beating them that they do dye of it, and forcing their Wiues and daughters, and to be short, for all the other outrages which they do. I haue many examples worthy to be remembred in such like cases, and those that haue happened specially amongst Heathen men, that haue had no knowledge of God, nor of his truth, who notwithstanding would not suffer that this wicked∣nes should raigne amongst them, for the aforesaide Auidius Cassius doing all his endeuour to restore the discipline of the warres vnto his intier, after that it was made base and come to nothing, ordained that the souldiers that did take any thing from the people of the countrey where he came, should be cruci∣fied vppon the place. Peseinius the blacke, a great obseruer of auncient discipline, did condemne a whole Deceine of souldiers vnto death, for that they had taken a Cocke from a poore coun∣treyman, and had eaten it, but to haue the good wills of his ar∣my, who instantly besought him to shewe mercy, he pardoned them, with condition that they should recompence the poore man with tenne times as much as the Cock was worth: and more∣ouer, that no souldier of the Deceine should kindle fire as long as the warres lasted, nor should eate any thing but dry & rawe flesh. Alexander Seuerus did sharply & grieuously punish any of his souldiers that did go out of their way to runne into any house to do any domage, hauing always these honest words in his mouth, Do not that vnto others, that thou wouldest not haue other do vnto thee. It were necessary that Captaynes at this day should vse the like diligence, for to auoide the disor∣ders that souldiers do commit in marching vppon the way, for there shall hardly be house or village vpon the way, either farre or néere, but shall féele them, for they would be verie sorie if they had not left tokens behinde them, or that the countrey should not haue occasion to remember their passage long time after. I do not speake for those places which do ofttimes resist to giue Page 286 lodging vnto the King his good seruants, who march at his commaundement, to succour him in his extremitie, as many walled townes within this realme are accustomed to do, for a brauerie, or presuming vpon their strength, although that the sayde souldyers do demaund nothing but lodging and victuals. In which case me thinke there would be no great hurt done if that they might be shewed what difference there is betwixt these subiects that do abandon their goodes, and hazarde theyr liues to serue their Prince: and those that are good for nothing but to rake vp the fire, and to hurt those that do him seruice. But I do speake concerning villages, open places, and houses that stand skattered héere and there, who haue neither power nor will to resist, whome they do vse like vnto places that had resisted them, and done them much hurt: so that there are but fewe Townes, Villadges, or houses that can skape frée whereas men of warre do passe, but they shall be let bloud in the pursse, either by the Captaynes, or harbingers, if so be that they were too farre out of the way for the souldyers. And if the souldyers should come there, it would be worsse, for that there is no man, or if there be any, it is very fewe, that do with∣drawe them from doing euill, for that there are many Chiefes that do make no other accoumpt, but that euery man might do what he would himselfe, for that they do reasonably well for their owne partes. Moreouer, it would be very hard to make the simple souldyers to liue honestly, and their superiours to make their hands, for the rule must be generall, and the small must imitate the great. This taking that I speake of is so v∣suall at this day, that robbery doth séeme to be but a rent, so that there is no accompt made to punish those that do ransacke the places yt are in their passage: I do speake both of the Captaines & souldiers that do pillage the countrey. Those likewise ought to be punished which do séeke to corrupt Captains, or harbin∣gers, causing them to passe any one place to goe vnto another: and those also ought not to goe frée which do take vpon them to lodge in any place with intent to be reuenged of the said place through the charge, trouble, and domage that souldiers ordi∣narily do whereas they lodge, and being lodged to such an Page 287 intent, it will make their willes sharper to do ill, who of them∣selues are so sharpe, that they néede no whetstone, for in such a case there would be but too many askers found, whereas if punishment were vsed, there should be no man would put for∣ward himselfe. The aforesaide manner of rebellion doth deserue to haue an expresse order made, commaunding that Souldyers which do march through the countrey with good commission, should be readily obeyed, and if so be that the said souldyers did commit any crime, except satisfaction were made im∣mediatly, the townes where the crime was committed, should be holden, to send accusations and complaints vnto the Leute∣nant Generall, or vnto the Gouernour of the countrey, to at∣tache the Chiefe himselfe. Moreouer to speake truly, to suffer a baggage towne, or a good, to shut their gates against men of warre, which do goe to serue the King, and do vse themselues like honest men, there is neither reason nor order in it, for first of all it is a resistance against the King who doth pay them, secondly, it is the way to famish the poore men. Moreouer it may be that they may take their ill vsing in so ill part as to leaue their Captaine in the lurtch that hath bin at the charge to leuy them, and returne home againe. Furthermore, this refu∣sall might encourage the countrey people to be as vnreasonable as the townes that do shut their gates, and cause them to as∣semble themselues a great number together to charge them, imagining that they might lawfully do it, forasmuch as the townes did resist the said souldiers. And I leaue it vnto your consideration to thinke vnto what end all these inconueniences might come. For the shutting of the souldyers out of theyr townes, is in truth the way to ruyne them, for that the suburbs of townes are not commonly so great, that all the souldyers of one, or many bands may lye couered ouer head, and in such places the sayde towne may stande, as there is neither house nor bushe néere, who then hauing no tents with them (as they are accustomed to carry none) except that the place haue many trées in it for them to cut downe, which would be too great a domage, they must lye in ye deaw all night, & therfore how little Page 288 time soeuer that this course doth last, they do fall sick, and dye by the way, whereas else they would come fresh vnto the Campe, & in state to do seruice: in summe, it is the way to make both the Captaines and Souldiers to dispaire, and to cause them to do those things, which when they are done, might displease both parties, and when all is well wayed it must be so: for we do say commonly, that of two euils, we must auoide the greatest, for in mine opinion, there would be lesse hurt to enter forcibly into one of these rebell townes, and rather into the first that should stand vppon these tearmes, then any other, to make the rest afrayde: prouided that they did kill no body if it were pos∣sible, and that there might be no rauishing of women, Church robberies, or other disorders committed, then to suffer resis∣tance, or to haue a warre with the countrey all alongst their way, or to be in danger of famine, or of being ouerthrowne, or of falling sicke for want of lodging, and so to returne home a∣gaine, for these are matters of a greater domage, then the forceible taking of a place, forasmuch as of the one there doth ensue but the domage of certaine resistants, who are the first causers of the strife; and of the other might procéede the dis∣credit of many poore Captayns, for that they might be vnfurni∣shed of their people to serue their Prince, which is a hard match for them, and ynough to throwe them downe from honor all the dayes of their life, besides the daunger that they are in to be slaine by their owne souldiers, if so be that they did mutin du∣ring those troubles, as hath hapned many times in like cases. On the other part the King might find himselfe so vnprouided of people, & so forced by his enemyes, that a small power might do him great seruice, and perhaps giue him the victorie, for I haue vsed it for a prouerbe, that a thousand men sometimes are not worth one, and at others one is worth a thousand. Moreo∣uer, if the bands that should be taken vp in Fraunce should find these rebellions, there is no man although he were willing that could do him seruice, so that the King should be vnprouided of souldiers at all times when as he had néede, wherefore all con∣sidered, me thinke that there might be a time found to chasten these rebels, séeing that the souldiers do enter and lodge in the Page 289 best Citties of the Realme, when as they are commaunded to marche: or there should bee a generall lawe, that they should altogether lie in the fields, or else that they should be receiued in∣to the townes that were appointed for them to lodge in: and not to suffer certaine perticular places to resist, whereas all Fraunce in generall dooth obey. But to leaue this matter, to the intent that aswell the Captaines as the Souldiers should know that the vertue of the Heathen hath beene such, that they did forbid their people to do, yt which we Christians do amongst vs, in deuouring and oppressing one another, that the wicked might amend their liues. I am about to declare what the Em∣perour Aurelian did write vnto his Lieutenant Generall, con∣cerning the life of his Souldiers: the tenor of his letter was this. If so bee that thou art determined to bee my Lieutenant, or if thou wilt liue long, it were necessarye that thou shouldest com∣maund, that no Souldier should bee so bould, as to take a Hen or a sheepe from any man, or to carrye away a plant of a Vine, or to spoile the séede vpon the grounde: nor likewise that they should constraine anye man to giue them oyle, wood, or other thing: but should content themselues with that portion of vic∣tuals, that was deliuered them out of the store. Furthermore thou shalt forbid them to make anye bootie or prea of the poore peoples goods that are our freends, but onely prea vpon our enemies. Moreouer thou shalt enioyne them, that euerye man shall haue his harnes cleane and bright at all times, his weapons sharpe and well kept, the Souldiers them selues to bee well hoased, and when as they are newe apparrelled, let them rid them selues off the olde quight & cleane: cause them to keepe their wages warely, and suffer them not to spend it in drun∣kennesse or in Tauernes. What so euer they be that haue got∣ten any prise by force of armes, as Bracelets, Collers, or Rings, let them be worne ordinarilie. Moreouer, for the horsemen, let them curry and rubbe their Horses of price them selues, if any of them doe make Page 290 any bootie of Cattle, suffer them not to bee soulde, but let them remaine in the hoaste for the seruice of Souldiers, or for foode: and let euerye one of them in his turne looke vnto the Mule or Horse that is appointed to carrye the Bag∣gage of the Deceine or Squadron that hee is of. Moreouer, thou shalt make thy Souldiers to bee seruiceable one vnto another as if they were bounde vnto this dutie as slaues: and cause the Chirurgeons to heale them without taking a∣nye thing of them. Finallye let them giue nothing vnto Southsayers, and cause them to liue chastely with their hostes: and whosoeuer is author of any mutinie, let him be greeuously punished. And this was the contents of the letter that the sayd Empe∣rour did write vnto his Lieutenant: which was not written vnto the Souldiers of that age to better purpose: then it would be necessary for vs at this time, at the least a great part of it: nor the said Emperour had neuer more need to vse greater seueritie towards his Souldiers, then it is necessarye for vs to vse at this daye towards ours. A man cannot sufficiently de∣clare the wante of Iustice, that wee haue amongst vs: because that all vices doe raigne amongst vs, and that we do passe them by dissimulation: or if that anye offender bee punished, the pu∣nishment is not so grieuous as it ought to bee: for wee punish great faultes and small all alike: for as well shall hee bee quit with a hanging, that hath rauished a woman, as hee that hath stolne but one loafe of bread, or anye other small thing: not∣withstanding the punishments ought to bee different, for that the crimes of rauishing, is without comparison, more shame∣full, and detestable then robbing. I would that the seueritye of the sayde Aurelian, were vsed amongst vs: for I doe thinke that our forcers of women would then bee rudelye ynough handled, if wee would imitate his example by the punishment that hee did vnto one of his Souldiers that had committed adulterye with his Hostesse: which woorde of adulterye dooth importe a freewill in it selfe, and is not to bee thought so haynous as forceing: yet not∣withstanding Page 291 hee caused him to bee set betwixt two high trees, and the toppes of the trees to bee bowed downe-warde, and one of his legs to be made fast vnto the one tree, and the other vnto the other tree, and beeing so bounde, the trees were let goe at once, so that the trees springing vp, pluckte him in two peeces. Which manner of Iustice was long after of such force, that there was no Souldiers of his that durste com∣mit anye offence, they were made so sore afrayde with the punishment that was vsed vnto one poore adulterer, which vice was almoste as much vsed at that tyme, as it is at this daye. The Emperour Macrinus caused two of his Souldiers to bee put to death, after a strange manner, that had raui∣shed their Hostesse mayde: which was, hee caused two great Oxen to bee paunched, and put the condemned into theyr bel∣lyes, and theyr bellyes to bee sowed vp afterwarde: and to the intent that they might speake eache vnto other, hee appointed that they should haue theyr heads out: so that these two offen∣ders did rotte, and were eaten with the Vermine that engende∣red of the flesh, as it did corrupt: yet not so soone but that they pyned many dayes. A worthie example for all other to bee warned by. The like punishments did the auncient Chiefes inuent to punishe the wicked that did commit offence, not onelye a∣gainst those that did the like vnto the foresayd, but also against those that did seeke to betraye anye Towne, and sell it vn∣to theyr enemyes, or to put anye troope of men into theyr handes, or other thinge, as it seemed by a certaine treason that diuers yoong men of Rome did practise to put Torquinus into theyr Cittie: who beeing discouered, were beheaded, with diuerse other of theyr partakers: and amongst others two of the Sonnes of Brutus, who being then Consull, com∣maunded the execution to bee doone vpon them. There was likewise in our time certayne of those traytors punished, which is a thing worthye to be had in remembrance: It was when the Lorde Rans was Lieutenant for the King in Page 292Barlette in the kingdome of Naples, who hauing giuen charge of the towne and Souldiers in his absence: whilst hee was occupied to winne certaine places vpon the mountaine of Saintange, vnto an Italian Captaine named Ieronimie of Cremone: who had sold the sayde Towne vnto the Spaniards that were at Andria vnder the Countie of Boeiel: which trai∣tor being taken with his Seriant, who onely were found cul∣pable in this treason: were condemned to bee hanged by the feete vntill they died. Which sentence being executed immedi∣atly, the Seriant was hanged ouer the gate towards the sea, and the Captaine at one of the windowes in the Castle. I saw them hanging in this manner, when I came from the Spanish Campe, with whome I was kept prisoner from our ouer∣throw at Naples, vntill I came vnto Barlette, not finding any meanes to depart sooner. Another like execution was doone at Thurine, by the Lord of Boutiers, vpon a traitor which brought the Spaniards into one of the Bulwarkes of the towne: so that if the sayd Lord had not beene in place as he was for his great profit, the towne had beene lost at that time: but thereby his vigilance was knowne, and that he was not a man that loued his ease as many others doe, when as they are appointed to keepe places that are worth the keeping. The traitor as it was told me was drawne in peeces with foure horsses: and hee did well deserue to bee so punished or worse: considering the great domage that might haue insu∣ed of the losse of the saide towne, which is of such importance, that it were necessarie to haue good Cheefes in it, which should be vigilant, as the said Lord of Boutiers was, and as the Lord of Langey is, who dooth gouerne it at this instant: who cannot faile in executing of this charge any waye, for his vertues and perfect knowledge in learning and armes. I dare saye that hee hath a great care of the charge of the foresayde Thurine: for our enemies haue a good will to get it from vs, and doe alwaies vse all their indeuour: for in mine opinion it is the towne that that they doe most desire in all Italie: wherefore the King ought to make a great reckoning of it. Page 293Forasmuch as I haue saide before that the faultes committed by perticular persons were punished perticularly, and those which the Legions did commit in Generall, were punished ge∣nerally. Hauing spoken of perticular punishment: it resteth to shew how the Legions were punished for the generall crime or disorder which they did commit: whereof we haue an ensample in the life of Augustus Caesar, who cassierd the tenth Legion reprochfullye, because they had disobeyed him: which was a blot of infamie, that honest men did feare more then death: be∣cause they were alwaies after repulsed and reiected from all honest places, after that they were once cassierd, and were ne∣uer after suffered to follow the wars, nor to exercise any charge, nor to attaine to office or estate whatsoeuer it were. This maner of cassiering of bands hath béene vsed in Prouince in our time, by the Lord Constable vpon parte of those of the Garrison of Arle, and by the Lord Marshall of Montiean in Thurin: but this maner was not like in all things, because that the auncient Chiefes declared theirs to be vnfit for all honest busines: & those that the said two Lords did cassier were not so handled: but they may aswell attaine vnto any office, as if they neuer had bin cas∣sierd. The cause of this cassiering, was for a mutinie that was cōmitted by the Souldiers of both the foresayd townes, against the said Lords, who presented the king his person, & they procée∣ded so far, that they did enter both their lodgings forceably. We are so giuen vnto these mutinies, that there is no nation that dooth care for our companies one hower, but they had rather be farre from vs, then neare vnto vs: because that we runne from one vnto another, for euery small occasion, and are hastier to be∣gin these quarrels amongst our selues, then to fight with our enemies when time requireth: and these disorders doe oftener happen, when as we haue our enemies neere vs then farre of: for which there must be some good order taken, and most sharpe punishment vsed, as often as these mutinies doe happen, and that Souldiers do rise against their Chiefes. As for the muti∣nies of perticular bandes amongst themselues, I would haue him layd handes vpon that were the occasion of the mutinie, or Page 294 had begun it: and would haue him put to death after the maner that we are accustomed to punish mutiners at this present. And if so be that any did lay hands vpon the Captaines or Chiefes, I would haue them to bee put to some cruell death: as to bee buried aliue, to haue their bones broken, or to bee drawne at a Horse taile vntill such time as their bodies did fall a pieces: or haue thē to be punished in such sort, that it might be an horror and a feare vnto all others. And for to waight a time conueni∣ent to laye hands vpon one of these mutiners, I would haue the greatest patience that might be possible: and rather dissem∣ble a yeare or two, then to suffer one mutiner to escape the pu∣nishment that he had deserued. And if so be that a whole Legi∣on had committed this offence, that there were no meanes to know the principall mutiners, there were no better way then to imitate the auncient Chiefes heerein, who tooke out the tenth man, or a great part of their people, when as the fault was ge∣nerall: and this taking was doone by lot, which was an occa∣sion that the punishment did touche but some certaine number, and yet they all in generall were made afraid to be of that num∣ber that the lot did condemne. Wherefore because that euery man was in daunger of this lot, they endeuoured with all their powers to doe their duties iustlye, fearing to beare the burthen of other mens faults. The lot likewise was vsed, when as the bandes or Legions did for∣sake a place, or runne away before their enemies: for that to put a whole armie vnto death had beene too great a losse, there∣fore they tooke the tenth man, and sometime more: and he was executed immediatlye. That which Appius Claudius did a∣mongst his Souldiers, may witnesse my sayengs: who figh∣ting against the Voloces, fled from the battaile: for which cause he did put to death all the Captaines, Centeniers, Corporals, and Souldiers of his hoaste that had lost their armes, and the Ensigne bearers that had lost their Ensignes, and not content with all this, hee caused the tenth man of the Souldiers to be put to death by lot. Augustus Caesar caused likewise the tenth man of certaine bandes that fled from their enemies to bee flaine. Many other Page 295 Chiefes haue procéeded extraordinarely in this busines, as the one was more seueere then the other. The Lacedemonians made a lawe, that who so fled from a battaile, might neuer at∣taine vnto office in theyr commonwealths, nor marrye theyr daughters (if that they had any) nor take wiues if they were to marry. Moreouer it was lawfull for any man that did méete them vpon the waye, to strike or beate them at his pleasure: so that those poore miserable creatures were subiect vnto blowes, and vnto a thousand infamies, that the woorst Cittizens might doe vnto them. And to the intent that they might bee knowne from other men, they did weare their coates of two coulours, and their beards shauen on the one side, and long on the other. If this law had béen established in Fraunce during the warres which haue béene in our time, there would be more Souldiers found wearing partie couloured coates, and halfe shauen, then others: but let that passe: it might suffice if wee had a good will to amend our faultes for that that is to come, and to doe our endeuour from hencefoorth better then wee haue doone hi∣therto. To be bréefe, the seueritie of the ancient Chiefes did not onely extend vnto the punishment of those faultes which deser∣ued death. But also they had a regard vnto those faultes that were not of that importance, to the intent to leaue no fault vn∣punished, how little soeuer it was, contrarie vnto the discipline of the warres, as their Histories do make mention. Our Gene∣rall shall likewise take order that all the faults which his soul∣diers should commit, might be gréeuously punished, how little soeuer they were, contrarie vnto the discipline of the warres, or vnto the King his seruice, although they were not damageble at that time that they were cōmitted, but might be afterwards. Wherfore the said Generall must looke deeply into this matter, causing offenders to be punished according vnto the qualitie of the offence that they did commit, hauing a regard vnto the euill that hath insued, or the inconuenience yt might ensue: for which cōsideration it is necessary that the said General should be som∣what cruell, if he would be well serued by his people; cheefely at the beginning, vntill he hath brought thē in order to liue wel, & to that point, yt they do excercise their faculty as it ought to be. Page 296And if so be that he himselfe were of so gentle, and pittifull nature, that he would not punish offenders rigorously: yet were it necessarie that some other should cause the punishment to be doone for him. For which intent I haue instituted before, the Iustice of the Legions, which maner of iustice he may vse if hee will: both for to ease himselfe of trouble, as also for not with∣drawing his wits frō his other busines, but whether he himself dooth take knowledge of the offēces that his people do commit, or that he doe referre it vnto their Chiefes, those that doe com∣mit any heynous crime: and amongst others, the one of them that I haue named before, ought to be extraordinarily punished. And to the intent that these wicked offenders might bee puni∣shed according vnto their desarts, and that the example might withdraw others from dooing the like: it were necessarie to de∣uise some new torment, to punish them with the most terriblest death that might be inuented. And if so be that any man will saye that a Captaine Generall ought to bee mercifull, and not such a one as I would haue him, I doe aunswer, that to execute Iustice is no crueltie, but to giue euery one his hyer, vnto the good all good things, and vnto the wicked theyr reward: for euen as we hold it for a most sure opinion, that good men cannot be so well estéemed or rewarded, but that they doe deserue much more: so likewise we may say by those that are wicked, that it is impossible to punish them so gréeuously, but that they doe de∣serue a great deale worse. Me thinkes that whosoeuer dooth betraye his Prince, in what manner soeuer it bee, or dooth faile to performe the principall pointes of the arte of the warres: or generally any other that may bee an occasion of the slacking of his seruice: that is to say, if he doe hinder it willingly, and erre wilfully, such ought to be tormented after the most cruellest sort that may be deuised: & that Generall yt should haue such people in his hoast, ought to put them to death with one of the tormēts abouesaid, without mercy or pardon. And although hee should be coumpted to be cruell, for vsing of such rigour, yet should not this tittle withdraw him from dooing his endeuour, but good mē will not blame him, but esteeme him the more, & besides their e∣stimation, the blame of the wicked is a thing not to be accomp∣ted Page 297 of at all. Moreouer, hee shalbe enforced to doe so, if hee haue a great number in charge, whether that they be all of one nation, or of diuers: for except that he be feared, & accompted to be such a one, he shall neuer kéepe his hoast in quiet, nor haue haue them readie & willing at al howres to obey him. Amongst all the great acts, for which Anniball is renow∣med, I finde one to be the chiefest: that is, that he hauing vn∣der his conduct a very great army compounded of diuers nati∣ons, did gouerne them so well, that he neuer had one onely mu∣tunie in his camp, although they were of straunge countries, & did sometimes win, and sometimes loose: which is a thing wor∣thie to be remembred. The occasion of the maintaining of his armie in this peace, in mine opinion, was the vnnaturall cruel∣tie which he did vse, which together with his vertues, made him alwaies to be reuerenced and feared of his souldiers: but with out his seueritie: his good qualities would haue done him as li∣tle seruice as Scipio his did him: who although hee was ac∣compted to be one of the most vertuous men that euer was: yet for that he was no waies cruell, but the readiest man to par∣don that euer was séene, his lenitie so bouldened his souldiers to mutunie in Spayne against the chiefes, and to rebell. His great pitie another time, was cause of the destruction of those of Locres, and that many murthers were committed amongst his owne people. So that it appeareth, that lenitie, & pity are not profitable for a Chiefe that will be obayed of his souldiers, and that crueltie is more necessary for him. But because that this word, is somewhat odious, I will terme it seuerity, & will say that a Lieuetenant Generall that doth pretend to doo good seruice: ought to be as seuere as is possible. And if so be that he doe not punishe so rigorously, as is aforesaide, yet at the leaste he should suffer no fault to scape vnpunished: for in so doing e∣uery man will indeuour to doe well, and feare to offend sée∣ing no offence shalbe borne withall. And if I were asked whe∣ther it were better for a Generall to be feared, then loued of his people, or to be beloued then feared: I would answere, that he ought to doe his indeuour to bee both, if it were possible. But for that it is hard that feare and loue should bee alied together, Page 298 I say that it is much more surer to be feared, then to be beloued, if that he might not be both: forasmuch as we doe see that soul∣diours are generally ingratefull, variable, deceiptfull, doe wil∣lingly eschue perill and couet gaine, & whilst that they are pro∣uided for and that there is no great neede of them, they doe say that they are ready to serue, and to be wholly at the command∣ment of their Chiefes: but when it dooth come vnto the pushe that they must be put to their busines, then they do faine them selues sicke, or start away, or doe finde some forged excuse to bee exempted from their seruice: so that if there be no other meane to induce them to doe their indeuour, the accoumpt may bee made that they will doe nothing of them selues. Which other meanes must rather bee for the loue that they doe beare vnto their Generall, because that all men haue least regarde to of∣fend him who maketh him selfe to be beloued, then him that maketh him selfe to be feared: for bicause that loue is held by a certaine bond of obligation, which is soone broken by those men who doe loue their perticuler profits, more then their honesties: of which sorte the most parte of souldiers are at this day. But feare is held of a doubt to incurre the punishment which is ap∣pointed for euery fault, which feare doth neuer leaue those that doe their indeuour by force. But a Generall must make him selfe to bee so feared, that if hee could not get the loue of his souldiers, yet at the least hee should not make him selfe to be hated by them. For these two things may well agree together, to wit, to be feared, and not to bee hated. With which meane the Lord of Lautrec helped him selfe as well as any Generall that was before him or since: for he was so feared of his men with out hatred, that euery man doubted to disobay him: many examples thereof were seene in many places, but specially vpon Easter day a litle from Na∣ples, where his Camp was in such a mutunie one against ano∣ther, that there was neither Colonells, nor Captaine Gene∣ralls that could appease them, or keepe them from beginning a warre amongst themselues, not vnlike to haue made a mer∣ueilous medley, if the sayd Lord had not gone betwixt them to parte them: which hee did with so litle difficultie, that assoone Page 299 as hee was ariued there was no stroke striken, nor man that kept his place: but they vanished sodainely out of his presence some one way some another, hee neither beating nor striking any man: but onely for the feare that euery man had to doe ought that might displease him. And in truth hee did all with his Souldiers that hee would doe, for which cause hee stroke them not: knowing that to bee common and familier with euery man (although that this familiarity in getting ye fauour and loue of men) might bee an occasion to emboulden them to offend sooner then if hee shewed himselfe to bee straunge and seuere: considering moreouer, that although hee made him selfe to be feared of his Souldiers, that he was not therefore to be hated of them: but also furthermore he lost nothing by shewing him selfe to be such a none as hee woulde haue his Souldiers for to bee. Moreouer, if there were occasion to put any man to death, the cause being iust, hee deferred it not: so that things were handled by him, that hee was not to bee reprooued. In like manner must our Generall lyue with his people, and to haue that excellencie in him, to make him selfe to be lo∣ued and feared.
Cassia fasciculata also known as Senna fasciculata. Sleepy Orange butterfly Eurema nicippe, Cloudless Sulphur butterfly Phoebis sennae, Gray Hairstreak butterfly Strymom melinus, Ceraunus Blue butterfly Hemiargus ceraunus Host or Larval Food Plant. Scroll down for plant information. Partridge Pea Cassia fasciculata seed pods. Partridge Pea Cassia fasciculata covered with yellow flowers. Botanical Name: Cassia fasciculata or Senna fasciculata Common Names: Partridge Pea Plant type: Annual Zone: 8a to 11 Light: Full sun to light shade Size: 1 - 2 feet tall Water: Average water needs, tolerates drought Soil: Poor to average garden soil Note: Host plant for Sleepy Orange Eurema nicippe, Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae, Gray Hairstreak Strymom melinus, and Ceraunus Blue Hemiargus ceraunus. Note: All parts of plant are posionous. Note: Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars are green when they eat leaves. In the fall when the yellow flowers and flower buds appear, Cloudless Sulphur caterpillars which eat the blooms and buds will be yellow.
By Pure Matters Much to our dismay, it is quite common for people to gain weight as they age. Some of the gain is unavoidable, because as the body ages, body fat increases as lean muscle mass and bone mass decrease. Body fat doubles over the five decades from age 25 to age 75. Body weight increases until you reach age 60, when it begins to decline. Less lean body mass needs fewer calories to maintain, and a more sedentary lifestyle that often accompanies aging also requires fewer calories. Because of these reasons, daily caloric needs fall by about 20 percent from age 30 to age 80. If you continue to eat the same amount of food that you did when younger, you will gain weight. The most effective method for losing weight is familiar: Exercise to burn calories and to build and maintain muscle, and/or limit the intake of calories. Health experts suggest to prevent weight gain you get at least 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity, intense enough to make you breathe harder, on most days of the week and 60 to 90 minutes per day for weight loss and maintaining weight loss. You don’t have to get all the exercise at one time, 10 minutes of activity at a time is fine. Just make sure your exercise sessions add up to the total recommended minutes on most days. This can be achieved with activities such as walking, gardening, dancing and even cleaning the house or car. Activities such as walking, biking and swimming are good for burning calories. Exercise, particularly strength-training routines that require you to lift or push weights, done two to three times a week, replace fat with muscle. This is important because muscle burns more calories than fat does. Balance and flexibility (stretching) exercises are also important because they help prevent falls. When thinking about how to change your eating habits, remember that one pound of body weight contains about 3,500 Calories. To lose a pound a week, you would need to cut back on your calories by about 500 calories a day. A balanced diet of fruits, vegetables and whole grains can be particularly beneficial for people trying to lose weight. The U. S. Department of Agriculture recommends the following for healthy people: - Eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables and six or more servings of grain products every day. - Avoid foods high in saturated and trans fats (saturated fats are found in whole milk products, fatty meats; trans fats are found in fried foods, and margarine) and high-calorie, low-nutrition foods (candy, soft drinks). Your fat intake should be 20 to 35 percent of your total daily calories; only 10% of your total daily calories should be from saturated fat. Keep trans fats as low as possible. - About 45 to 65 percent of total calories should come from carbohydrates. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and milk products are carbohydrate-containing foods, and they all are important to a healthy diet. - Consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. (One teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg.) - Eat fish, legumes (beans), skinless poultry, lean meats and low-fat or nonfat milk products regularly. Don't ignore your water intake As you age, your sense of thirst diminishes. Because you may not feel thirsty, you may forget to drink water, which can lead to mild dehydration. A fever or other illness, or hot weather, can lead to severe dehydration. To prevent dehydration, drink water regularly, even if you don't feel thirsty. Remember to talk with your health care provider before starting any new fitness or weight-loss plan.
With the implementation of the ban on the slaughter of live poultry at traditional markets a week away, the Central Epidemic Command Center re-emphasized yesterday that the slaughter of poultry in traditional markets poses a grave risk to the disease prevention network and does not guarantee the freshness of the meat. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) opened a press conference by referring to a study published in the medical journal Lancet, which confirmed that chickens in poultry markets were a source of human infections of the H7N9 avian influenza virus, to reassure the public on the importance of ending the slaughter of poultry at markets. Ho Chung-ping (何中平), a consultant at the Taiwan Poultry Processing Association and adjunct assistant professor in the department of animal science and technology at National Taiwan University, said the idea that chicken meat is “tasty only if the chicken was butchered at the market” is a myth that could result in people being exposed to harmful bacteria and diseases. “Tastiness does not hinge on slaughtering methods, but on the breed of chicken,” Ho said. Ho added that butchered chicken, if not sold or put in a fridge immediately, could grow bacteria, while nutrients could be lost in the absence of temperature controls. “Butchering chickens in the market not only raises doubts on an ethical level, slaughtering without first stunning them, thus having them butchered in a terrified state, but it could also lead to the emergence of certain chemicals in the meat that pose a threat to health,” Ho said. “The tenseness of the chicken leads to an incomplete bleeding process and, as we all know, blood is a major source of contaminants,” Ho added.
If a video is being prepared as a teaching resource then (just like for any other lesson), dedicated planning (specifically for a video educational lesson) needs to take place. A key initial step is to consider what the video is to be used for. Is the video a revision of a presented session? Is it intended to enrich a given session? Is it for students to watch at home or in class? Is it a dedicated stand-alone resource? Each of these considerations comes with its own challenges and requirements. If the video is for revision, the production could be relatively short, focusing on key points as opposed to a video recording of the same session students have already attended. Whereas if the video is a stand-alone presentation, the topic may need to be covered in more depth, with opportunities taken to enrich the environment through actively increasing student engagement. \|Number of pages\|\|4\| \|Journal\|\|Educational Technology Solutions\| \|Publication status\|\|Published - 2016\|
CBD and Gut Health Reading Time: 8 minutes Every person has around 300 to 500 different species of bacteria in their digestive tract. Together, they are known as your gut biome and they play a crucial role in your overall health. With that being said, there are also many kinds of bacteria that can be detrimental to your health and can cause all sorts of diseases. The gut biome is incredibly complex and connected to many other functions in your body. This is why it’s important to keep on top of it. There are links between gut health and the immune system, mental health, mood, endocrine disorders, skin conditions, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. There are many factors that can contribute to the types of bacteria found in the digestive tract including the kind of food you eat and the sleep you get, many people turn to supplements to help boost their gut health. There are also some claims that you can take CBD for gut health and that it can assist with some conditions that arise from poor gut health. However, are those claims valid? That’s what we’re about to find out. Why is good gut health important? Good gut health is essential to overall health. This is because the gut influences a wide range of other bodily functions and can seriously impact your quality of life. In fact, having poor gut health can lead to many serious issues down the line. Conversely, possessing the right amount and the right kind of bacteria can do wonders for your health. According to a 2013 study on gut bacteria, having a wide range of these kinds of “good” bacteria can enhance your immune function, improve symptoms of depression, help combat obesity, among other things. What constitutes good/bad gut health? There are many signs that are associated with bad gut health and many ways that you can damage your gut biome. An unhealthy gut can manifest itself in many ways but there are a handful of common signs. An upset stomach is one of the more common signs. Now if you see this and it sounds familiar, rest assured — stomach aches are normal and they can happen from time to time. Getting a stomach ache doesn’t necessarily mean you have poor gut health, but it can be something to watch out for, especially if it’s a recurring problem. Some of the disturbances include gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and heartburn. Remember, a balanced, healthy gut will have less difficulty processing food and eliminating waste. Another sign of poorly maintained gut health is unintentional weight gain. If you notice that you are gaining weight without much change in diet and exercise, it may be due to an imbalance in your gut. That’s because an unhealthy gut can reduce your body’s ability to absorb nutrients from the food you eat, regulate your blood sugar, and store your fat. Weight loss may be triggered by small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. On the other hand, weight gain can result from insulin resistance or the urge to overeat because of a decrease in nutrient absorption. Your gut health can also impact your quality of sleep. An unhealthy gut can prompt insomnia or disrupted sleep. If this persists, it can lead to chronic fatigue. Your gut health’s impact on sleep is significant. This is because the majority of the hormone serotonin (which impacts your sleep and your mood) in your body is produced in the gut. As such any damage to your gut will have a negative effect on the quality of your sleep. Autoimmune issues can also be triggered if you are not careful to take care of your gut. One study, in particular, found that there is a strong link between the gut and the immune system. According to the research, an unhealthy gut may increase chronic inflammation and alter the proper functioning of the immune system. This sort of inflammatory and autoimmune response means the body signal that there is an intruder when, in reality, there is no intruder. This will cause your body to attack itself, which can cause irreversible damage. Not taking care of your gut health can also have an effect on your skin. For instance, there are cases where skin conditions like eczema were due to an imbalance in the gut. The issue occurs when there is inflammation in the gut caused by a poor diet or food allergies. This inflammation will cause the leaking of certain nutrients into the rest of the body called leaky gut. Ultimately, this will cause the skin to be irritated and may prompt skin conditions like eczema. Food intolerances, which are different than food allergies, can be linked to the mismanagement of gut health. While food allergies are caused by the immune system’s response to specific foods, food intolerances are usually the result of poor-quality bacteria in the gut. Eating food that you develop an intolerance to can lead to indigestion, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. What are the causes of bad gut health? There are many possible causes of bad gut health, though they are all related to the balance of bacteria in your system. The bacteria in your gut can be categorized into one of four groups: Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, or Proteobacteria. Each of these categories plays an important role in maintaining the health of your gut and each will require different nutrients. When the gut contains too many harmful bacteria and not enough good bacteria, an imbalance can occur. This is called dysbiosis. So, what causes an abundance of harmful bacteria? It can be any number of these reasons: Not eating a range of food: A diverse diet is very important for maintaining gut health because it will be rich in many different kinds of nutrients. Also, if there is a lack of diversity in the gut bacteria, your body will have difficulty recovering from harmful influences like infections and antibiotics. By including whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, you will develop a more diverse gut. In fact, it has been shown that changing your diet to include more of these foods may alter your gut constitution within a few days. Not enough prebiotics in your diet: Not including enough prebiotics in your diet can also negatively impact your gut health. Prebiotics are a kind of fibre that moves through the body without being digested and help promote the growth and activity of good bacteria. Some foods that include prebiotic fibre are fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Prebiotic fibre supplements also promote the production of short-chain fatty acids, which are the main nutrient source for the cells in your colon. Research has shown that when are absorbed into your blood, they increase metabolic and digestive health and reduce inflammation. Consuming too much alcohol: It’s general knowledge that alcohol is addictive, very toxic, and can have harmful physical and mental effects when over-consumed. Regarding gut health, alcohol can cause serious problems. In one study, researchers examined the gut health of 41 alcoholics and compared them to 10 people who consume little to no alcohol. They found that 27% of the alcoholics has dysbiosis, while it was not present in any of the 10 people who don’t drink. Antibiotics are extremely helpful in combating many infections and diseases. However, it is important to use antibiotics in moderation. This is because they affect both good and bad bacteria which can lead to changes in the composition of the gut biome. Antibiotics typically cause a decline in the number of good bacteria. With 1-4 weeks after taking antibiotics, most bacteria will return to their normal levels. However, their numbers often don’t return to the level they were pre-antibiotic use. Lack of physical activity: Physical activity is important for maintaining overall health, but it can especially improve gut health. Studies suggest that regular exercise can alter and diversify gut bacteria. Regular physical exercise can promote the growth of good gut bacteria like Bifidobacterium and Akkermansia. How can CBD help with gut health? CBD can help with a number of conditions that arise from poor gut health. One of those conditions is called Ulcerative colitis which is an inflammatory bowel disease. This gastrointestinal disorder is caused by an overly active immune system’s response to the gut biome. Some of the symptoms of the disorder include cramping, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, weight loss, and fatigue. According to a study from 2011, Cannabidiol can reduce intestinal inflammation through the control of the neuroimmune axis. CBD has been shown to prevent intestinal inflammation before it begins. Another condition that CBD has shown potential in is Crohn’s disease — a disorder that triggers the immune system to attack healthy gut bacteria instead of unhealthy bacteria. The resulting inflammation can cause intestinal injuries and ulcers. Some of the symptoms attributed to Crohn’s disease include abdominal pain, fever, fatigue, weight loss, and bloody spool. A study in 2018 found that CBD can significantly improve the symptoms of Crohn’s disease and the quality of life of those who suffer from it. Interestingly, the study also cites that CBD does not have any effect on gut inflammation. With that being said, there is much to be discovered when it comes to CBD and the available information is yet inconclusive. There are also links between CBD and its ability to manage IBS, otherwise known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The theory is that IBS is one of the chronic health conditions that are caused by a deficiency in the endocannabinoid system — the system within which CBD chiefly operates. The symptoms of IBS include bloating, excessive gas, abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea. According to the available science, those who have IBS have elevated TRVP1 nerve fibres, which are believed to contribute to the hypersensitivity of the GI tract. CBD has been shown to increase anandamide production, which acts on TRVP1 receptors, while also preventing enzymes from breaking it down. This process desensitizes TRVP1 nerve fibres. What are the benefits of CBD over traditional treatments? Unlike THC, CBD provides relief that is non-psychoactive, meaning you won’t feel the “buzz” or a “high” that is typically attributed to marijuana. Because CBD interacts with your endocannabinoid system or ECS, which is believed to influence a host of bodily functions, CBD can have a positive effect on overall health and wellbeing. The ECS is responsible for maintaining homeostasis, and CBD helps promote that balance. This is especially important for gut health, which is all about maintaining a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut biome. Additionally, CBD is naturally produced. This means that there is less risk associated with unknown chemicals and substances entering your body. Finally, unlike prescription medication, CBD has far fewer side effects. How much CBD should I use for the gut health issues I want to treat? There is no straightforward answer when it comes to how much CBD you should be taking. Dosage will be different depending on the condition, how receptive your body is to the product, and your physique. As a starting point, it’s best to start slow with a mild dosage. Be sure to keep track of the effects and if you require an increase in dosage, do so gradually. Ultimately, the best method for maintaining good gut health is a combination of a balanced diet and exercise. However, additional treatments like supplements and CBD can be a way to boost your body’s natural processes. With that being said, if you are experiencing more severe symptoms, we recommend that you reach out to your health care practitioner as they can provide you with sound medical diagnoses and advice. DISCLAIMER: Information and products presented by resolveCBD are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or ailment, nor is it intended to be a substitute or alternative for professional medical advice. Always consult with a licensed professional regarding medical treatment or possible interactions with prescribed drugs. Products are intended to be used as directed, by individuals who are 19 years of age or older.
The State Pension Age is the age at which you are entitled to start drawing your state pension. It used to be 65 for men and 60 for women but, with public finances being squeezed and more people living longer, this is set to change for almost everyone. For women born before 6 April 1950, the state pension age will not change from 60 years. Those born on or after 6 April 1950 but before 6 December 1953 will have an age between 60 and 65, depending on the exact date of birth. Those born on or after 6 December 1953 but before 6 April 1978 will be able to draw their pension between 65 and 68, and those born on or after 6 April 1978 will have a State Pension Age of 68. For males born before 6 December 1953, they’ll only have to be 65 years before they can draw their pension. For those born on or after 6 December 1953 but before 6 April 1978 it is between 65 and 68 (depending on the date of birth) and for those born on or after 6 April 1978 it will be 68. The UK Government website gov.uk has a Pension Age calculator that will give you your exact State Pension Age based on your gender and date of birth. Getting a pension forecast If you are more than 30 days away from current State Pension Age, you can request a pension forecast from The Pension Service. This will tell you the level of pension you can expect to receive when you reach pensionable age. For a full guide on the process and other useful information, visit moneyvista.com. Beyond the changes already in the pipeline, many people think further alterations are inevitable as the UK population continues to age. The coalition government is already seeking to link pensions to life expectancy which could see it rise to 73 for today’s 33-year olds and 77 for those who are currently 18. Some have already argued that the changes are unfair in Scotland, where life expectancy is on average 2.7 years lower for men and 2.1 years lower for women than it is in England. If Scotland were to become independent, your entitlement to the state pension or pension credits would initially be the same; although this may change in the future.
GPS (Global Positioning System) - Errors GPS contains errors and therefore your position should always be checked via other methods. Errors that occur within the GPS unit: - Systematic: Some errors are caused by the changing satellite geometry. This is called Dilution of Precision (DOP). For a three-dimensional fix, you need four satellites. Ideally, one of the satellites should be directly overhead, with the other three separated by 120 degrees of azimuth. An arrangement other than this ideal situation will cause DOP inaccuracy. A good value of HDOP (Horizontal DOP) is between two and four, values in excess of this size are of poor accuracy - you can check the values on the GPS. - Environmental errors: Moisture and salt in the air, poor weather conditions or lightning. - Ionospheric delay: Signals from satellites bend on entering the ionosphere (aka refraction) and their speed varies. (The ionosphere is the outer region of the Earth's atmosphere). - Multipath error: A satellite signal may be reflected off the water, or off metal objects on board your vessel. This may cause the GPS receiver antenna to receive the signal by two or more paths. - Receiver errors: Mismatch of satellite signals. - Selective Availability: SA is the military’s ability to scramble the GPS readings. At the time of writing, the USA is not scrambling the signal (the SA was turned off in 2000). DGPS (Differential GPS) was developed to reduce SA. Common errors in using the GPS: - Offset: The main position fixing error occurs when using the GPS in combination with older charts. The correct offset from the chart needs to be applied to the GPS reading (see ‘Chart Errors’ earlier in this section for full details). - Ensure your GPS settings match the spheroid of your chart. The GPS operates on a spheroid called World Geodetic Spheroid 84 (WGS84). In the past, charts have been based on various spheroids, e.g., Australian Geodetic Datum 1966 (AGD66): You must check your chart to find out whether it is based on WGS84 or AGD66 and set your GPS accordingly. - Magnetic or True: You can select Magnetic or True settings for bearings and courses. Ensure you have selected your preferred setting before completing these calculations. (See ‘True to Compass or Compass to True’ under Charts, earlier in this section.) - Measurements: Are you reading statute miles or nautical miles for distance? Check your unit is set to nautical miles. - Measurements: Are you reading knots for speed? Ensure your GPS is set correctly. - Measurements: To reduce errors, check your GPS is set to degrees, minutes and decimals of a minute instead of seconds - to match your charts. - Location: Follow the manufacturer’s instructions when mounting your GPS. Obstructions can affect the signal and the GPS unit can affect the ship’s compass. - Input Errors: Double check the co-ordinates that have been inputted into the GPS. Ask someone else to read and check the numbers too. Zooming right in to every area may reveal all reefs and obstructions. BUT not zooming in enough may hide them. (We used two version of electronic charts as a backup/double check - at times they were spot on, other times they were off by a worrying distance. Chart Errors: If you are using very old charts you may find that the GPS co-ordinates put you on an island. In this case, the GPS is more accurate than the chart. All positions will need to be offset by the amount given in the title of the chart. Every modern chart will have a note stating whether the GPS co-ordinates can be plotted directly or an offset is to be followed. This is a good example that, shows that you must check all the information provided on the chart very carefully. For example (1): Chart AUS 252 Whitsunday Group. Under the chart title it states: SATELLITE DERIVED POSITIONS Positions obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the WGS 1984 Datum can be plotted directly onto this chart. Example 2: Chart AUS 802 Cape Liptrap to Cliffy Island, states: Positions are related to the Australian Geodetic Datum (1966) (see SATELLITE DERIVED POSITIONS Note). Next to title it states: SATELLITE DERIVED POSITIONS Positions obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the WGS 1984 Datum must be moved 0.09 minutes SOUTHWARD and 0.08 minutes WESTWARD to agree with this chart. Making the corrections: In the case of chart AUS 802 the correction would be as follows: GPS (WGS 1984) position 39° 00.00’ S 146° 15.00’ E + 0.09’ S + 0.08’ W 39° 00.09’ S 146° 14.92’ E Corrections vary: Some South Pacific Island charts will note corrections that can be a nautical mile out! I would not go to sea without paper charts and I'd certainly use electronic charts as well. However, understanding all the limitations of all types of charts, and GPS limitations is just as imperative as buying the right gear. Oh, and I'd take a seaworthy vessel of course, too. (And a sextant).
With the theoretical as well as experimental evidences for the existence of anti-matter particles like positrons, anti-protons etc., scientists have always been curious to know about the dark matter purported to make up a majority of the mass in the Universe. Dark matter, the mysterious substance that may account for nearly 25 percent of the universe, has so far evaded direct observation. Dark matter was initially proposed to explain how galaxies hold together; from what we know about how gravity works, much more matter is required to hold galaxies together than we can see. Many candidates for what dark matter actually is have been proposed, but most explanations have been refuted by experiments. Though dark matter is imagined to be everywhere, permeating the Universe and clumping around galaxies, what seems to align best with both theory and experiment so far is a class of particles that tend not to interact with the matter. No one knows what dark matter is, or if it even really exists. For now, it is just a placeholder, an x that must be plugged into various calculations in order to square astronomical observations with the rules of Newtonian physics. The name comes from Fritz Zwicky, a Swiss astronomer who in 1933 used two well-established methods to calculate the mass of the Coma cluster, a group of more than 1,000 galaxies. One calculation was extrapolated from the movement of eight galaxies in the cluster using Newton’s second law of motion, which says, in essence, that the bigger the galaxy, the faster it spins. The other estimated the cluster’s total mass by quantifying the amount of light given off by its stars. The results should have been equal, but instead the movement-based number was an order of magnitude greater. The Coma galaxies were spinning much faster than would be predicted by the amount of overall light emitted. For the Newtonian equation to add up, there had to be more mass. Zwicky dubbed this missing bulk “dark matter.” Zwicky’s work was largely ignored until 1970, when another astronomer, Vera Rubin, documented similar discrepancies in the Andromeda galaxy. Since then, researchers have found that the visible mass in hundreds of other galaxies is also too small to explain the rate of motion, at least within the context of our current understanding of physics. Astronomers have also discovered invisible “gravitational lenses” that cause light to bend around themselves—despite these lenses having no identifiable mass with which to distort the fabric of space-time and bend light in the first place. All of this suggested that more than 80 percent of the matter in the universe was simply invisible to us. Today, most (but by no means all) physicists agree that dark matter exists, and that it is probably made up of what they call WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. “Massive” doesn’t mean that the particles are large, but that they have mass and therefore both respond to and cause gravitational pull. Despite the differences between ordinary and dark matter, cosmologists believe the two have been linked since the beginning of the universe, with dark matter playing a key role in the coalescing of particles into stars, galaxies and other large-scale structures after the Big Bang. Ordinary matter, which makes up the stars, planets, gas and dust in our galaxy, emits or reflects light that can be observed using telescopes on Earth or in space. However, the effect of dark matter, according to several theories, can be observed only indirectly by the gravitational force exerted on the more visible portions of the galaxy around us. Though dark matter exerts a tangible force on the galaxy as a whole, individual weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) have proved far more difficult to detect. Because these particles interact only very weakly with normal matter, the small signal that might come from a WIMP detection above ground would be drowned out by the cosmic radiation that constantly bombards Earth's surface. Dark-matter theorists currently suspect that it concentrates in a spherical cloud encompassing most galaxies. As our own solar system rotates in the Milky Way, both it and the galaxy move within one of these clouds, and the particles in the cloud—the WIMPs—flow through the Earth and everything on it at a rate, physicists guess, of about 100,000 per square centimeter per second. Now a team of physicists and former miners has converted shipping warehouse into a new surface-level laboratory at the Sanford Underground Laboratory. Physicists assemble the LUX (Large Underground Xenon) detector. When in place inside the Homestake mine, the liquid-xenon-filled capsule may detect three or four particles of dark matter a year. The LUX project is just one of the efforts worldwide to find direct evidence of dark matter. They've painted the walls and baseboards white and added yellow floor lines to steer visitors around giant nitrogen tanks, locker-size computers and plastic-shrouded machine parts. Soon they will gather many of these components into the lab’s clean room and combine them into LUX, the Large Underground Xenon dark-matter detector, which they will then lower halfway down the mine, where—if all goes well—it will eventually detect the presence of a few particles of dark matter. Next is the work of planting LUX 4,850 feet underground, sometime late this year. And then the wait begins, as physicists and the public collectively hope that the giant hole in the ground will yield the secret to understanding the universe. In another experimental setup, Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, where the XENON experiment is housed deep beneath a mountain 70 miles west of Rome, represent the highest-sensitivity search for dark matter yet, with background noise 100 times lower than competing efforts. The XENON researchers used a dark-matter detector known as XENON100 -- an instrumented vat filled with over 100 pounds of liquid xenon -- as a target for these WIMPs, which are thought to be streaming constantly through the solar system and Earth. And while the XENON100 experiment found no dark matter signal in 100 days of testing, the researchers' newly calculated upper limits on the mass of WIMPs and the probability of their interacting with other particles are the best in the world. XENON100 looks for a primary flash of light that occurs when a particle bounces off a xenon atom inside the detector and a secondary flash when an electron knocked free from a xenon atom by a collision is accelerated toward the top of the device by an electric field. With this configuration, a WIMP will generate a signal fundamentally different from that of cosmic radiation or emission from the equipment itself, making it possible to identify background readings that could be mistaken for a positive detection. Even though the experiment did not detect a WIMP, the progress sets the stage for an ambitious next-generation project called XENON1T, which will use a much larger, one-ton liquid xenon instrument with highly specialized light-detectors developed at UCLA that make it 100 times more sensitive than XENON100. To eliminate the majority of background noise, the XENON100 experiment is buried beneath almost one mile of rock in the Gran Sasso lab, the largest underground facility of its kind in the world. While dark matter particles can travel easily through the vast expanse of stone and pass through the detector, only the most energetic particles from space are able to follow. Because the XENON100 experiment is shielded by large amounts of rock, as well as by several tons of copper, lead and water, the largest source of background detections is actually the radiation coming from the instrument itself. In an effort to address this issue researchers are working in collaboration with Hamamatsu Photonics (Japan) and have developed the Quartz Photon Intensifying Detector (QUPID), a new light-detector technology that emits no radiation. The XENON group hopes to incorporate this breakthrough technology into the future XENON1T experiment. India’s dark matter quest As reported by Pallava Bagla (Science, 01 Sep 2017,Vol. 357, Issue 6354, pp. 857) that ever since a pioneering underground laboratory in India closed 25 years ago, Indian physicists have lacked a subterranean lair where they could search for elusive particles from the cosmos. Now, their long wait is over: On 2 September, India will inaugurate Jaduguda Underground Science Laboratory, situated 550 meters below the surface in an operating uranium mine. The lab's primary aim will be to join the hunt for dark matter, the mysterious stuff whose gravity holds galaxies together. After preliminary measurements to characterize the background radiation and log cosmic particles are completed, physicists plan to install a low-temperature cesium iodide detector to search for dark matter.
Cold-water coral skeletons lay the foundations of large reefs, supporting many thousands of individual polyps. On the other end of the scale, the single polyp of a solitary species provides a cup in which the coral polyp sits – in fact these species are often called ‘cup corals’. The skeletons of corals offer several key advantages to the coral polyps. The hard structure provides a ready made shelter growing throughout the life time of the coral. The skeleton offers protection from predators, it lifts the live polyps clear of the seabed and into a position in the water currents where they are more likely to capture their prey. Skeletons of scleractinian corals are made from calcium carbonate in the form of the mineral aragonite and develop from the basal disc of the polyp. The skeleton grows outwards, increasing the size of the skeleton. As new polyps grow, the skeleton increases in complexity, with new branches and axes forming. The cold-water corals Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata (pictured to the left) can be thought of as primary and secondary reef framework-building species. Lophelia pertusa is a primary framework-building coral, which produces large, highly branched bushy colonies with branches that join together where they touch (‘anastomose’). This structure is incredibly strong, producing a long-lasting reef framework. Madrepora oculata produces a more delicate skeleton, with slender branches that form a so-called secondary reef framework. Madrepora is often found on Lophelia reefs in the north-east Atlantic ocean.
The best known sauropod dinosaurs were huge herbivorous creatures, whose brain structures were markedly different from those of their evolutionary predecessors, for the earliest representatives of the group were small, lithe carnivores. The sauropod group of dinosaurs included the largest animals that have ever walked the Earth — up to 40 meters long and weighing as much as 90 tons. Evolutionarily speaking, they were obviously very successful, giving rise to a diverse and widely distributed array of plant-eating species. These forms were characterized by a small head, a long and highly flexible neck that allowed them — like modern giraffes — to graze the tops of the tallest trees, and a massive body that made mature specimens invulnerable to predators. The sauropods survived for well over 100 million years before succumbing to the meteorite that snuffed out the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Era. However, the early representatives of the lineage that led to these lumbering giants were strikingly different in form and habits. For a start, they were carnivores — like Saturnalia tupiniquim, an early sauropod dinosaur that was about the same size as a modern wolf. Recent work carried out by researchers for Ludwig-Maxilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich in collaboration with colleagues in Brazil now confirms this scenario and adds new details to the story. Most of the evidence for the early members of the Sauropodomorpha comes from their type of dentition. Now paleontologists Mario Bronzati and Oliver Rauhut, who are based at LMU and the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology in Munich, have used computer tomography (CT) to analyze fossil skull bones assigned to S. tupiniquim. The high-resolution images of the cranial bones provided by this technique enabled them to deduce the overall surface morphology of the brain. The results suggest that despite being capable of consuming both meat and plants, S. tupiniquim could have followed a purely predatory lifestyle. The new findings appear in Scientific Reports. The fossil material used in the study was discovered in Brazil over 20 years ago. It comes from a geological formation that dates back to the Triassic Era, and is about 230 million years old. According to the authors of the study, these are the oldest dinosaur bones that have been successfully reassembled with the aid of computer tomography at sufficiently high resolution to permit the reconstruction of the gross anatomy of the brain. The evolution of the so-called Sauropodomorpha, of which Saturnalia tupiniquim is an early representative, and the Sauropoda sensu stricto, is marked by a clear tendency towards extension of the neck region, which is accompanied by reduction of the size of the skull — with a corresponding decrease in the volume of the brain — relative to the skeleton as a whole. Saturnalia tupiniquim stands at the beginning of this process. But the new study reveals that, unlike the case in the true sauropods, a specific area in the cerebellum, which encompasses the two lobes known as the flocculus and paraflocculus, is particularly prominent in the brain of S. tupiniquim. These structures are known to play an important role in controlling voluntary movements of the head and neck, and are involved in regulating the oculomotor system, which stabilizes the animal’s field of view. Bronzati, Rauhut and their co-authors therefore argue that these features enabled S. tupiniquim to adopt a predatory lifestyle. Their findings strongly suggest that, in contrast to the true sauropods, it had a bipedal gait. Moreover, it was nimble enough to hunt, seize and kill its prey — thanks to its inferred ability to track moving objects with its eyes and to execute rapid movements of its head and neck in a coordinated and precise fashion. With the aid of CT-based reconstruction of the surface anatomy of the brain, the researchers now hope to retrace other stages in the evolution of the sauropodomorphs. Mario Bronzati, Oliver W. M. Rauhut, Jonathas S. Bittencourt, Max C. Langer. Endocast of the Late Triassic (Carnian) dinosaur Saturnalia tupiniquim: implications for the evolution of brain tissue in Sauropodomorpha. Scientific Reports, 2017; 7 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11737-5
Courses For C++ Language at Bopal and Satellite In Ahmedabad C++ is a middle-level programming language developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell Labs. C++ programming is a general purpose and object oriented programming language. C++ inherits most of C’s syntax. It is considered to be an intermediate level language, as it encapsulates both high and low level language features. In 1983, it was renamed from C with Classes to C++ (“++” being the increment operator in C). New features were added including virtual functions, function name and operator overloading, references, constants, type-safe free-store memory allocation (new/delete), improved type checking.We include all basic concept in our teaching course with theory and practical both, which help to our students even if he is very beginner or weak in programming language. We teach following topics in c++ course: - Introduction to C++ - Basic Syntax - Object Oriented Concept - Data Abstraction - Data Types and Variables - Constants, Literals - Loop Controls - For Loop - While Loop - Do-While Loop - Decision Making - Class Structure with Object - Exception Handling Course duration: Daily/4 days/3 Days/2 Days. Class Mode: Theory with Practical. Lecture Timing: At student’s convenience. To know more about c++ language course in Ahmedabad, C++ language course Call us @ 9825618292 Find us @ www.tccicomputercoaching.com
In this tutorial, we will be covering some ways to run a python script on every boot up of your Raspberry Pi. There are many methods from which you can choose according to your script and requirements. This tutorial will make you understand how every Raspberry Pi login automatically the script executes. We will be covering 4 techniques to autorun a Python Script: WRITE A PYTHON SCRIPT Start with writing a Python script. You can write any program of your choice, here we are writing a python pattern for PiCube. This program will showcase a pattern every time the program executes. The name of the python program is Pattern1.py but you can write any other program like simply a LED blinking program or printing some sentences. The path of the program is /home/pi/PiCube/Pattern1.py. METHOD 1: rc.local On your Raspberry Pi terminal write the following command or you can also use your favorite editor to edit the file /etc/rc.local. Also, edit the permissions. This is useful if we want to plug our Raspberry Pi into power headless and have it run a program without configuration or a manual start. Open rc.local file as super user- sudo nano /etc/rc.local After this, you will enter the nano file editor and here we have to add a command to execute our python program. Add the complete file execution line before ‘exit 0’ line at the end. After the editing saves the file and exit. For exit in nano type Ctrl x and for saving the file type Y. Use ‘&’ at the end of the line if your program contains an infinite loop. sudo python /home/pi/PiCube/Pattern1.py & We add “&” at the end of the command as we need to end the command if the programs run continuously in an infinite loop we want to exit it. The ampersand will push the program to run on a separate process. Now check whether the program will execute at the boot-up or not. Reboot your Raspberry Pi by adding this command: How to kill Program This python program will now execute on every boot-up and start-ups. Many times you will not be in need to run this program so to stop it we have “kill” the program. To kill down the process we have to do : ps aux \| grep /home/pi/PiCube/Pattern1.py This command will give you all the details about the process like its process ID, location etc. the command will a line starts with root followed by the process ID of the file. We need this PID to kill the program. This command will be needed to kill the process: sudo kill PID Note: rc.local also have drawbacks on Buster, Jessie and Stretch. Not all services are available on rc.local therefore not all the programs run properly. Method 2: Crontab Cron is an easy and important method for auto-run a script. The major advantage of Crontab is you can schedule tasks at any specific date or time and it will run the program without any delay. Many real-world applications uses Crontab for automation purpose. To make the program auto-run we have first edit the cron file. Every Raspberry Pi have its Crontab and to edit it we have to add “sudo” and “crontab -e”. sudo crontab -e A nano file will be open, scroll down and add the command to the end of the file. @reboot python /home/pi/PiCube/Pattern1.py This command tells the Pi that on every reboot it has to execute the program which is there in the location given in the command. And the “&” again in the end of the command means that the command will run in the background and it won’t stop the system booting up as before. Save the nano file and exit it by the Ctrl x and Y. Reboot the Raspberry Pi by: To stop the program again you have to the PID of the process and kill the process. When you don’t want to execute the program anymore just remove the command “@reboot python /home/pi/PiCube/Pattern1/py” and the program will no longer run on boot ups. Method 3: Autostart Create the Desktop Entry There is no need to change the user’s permission or any root-level access and in .desktop files. Also, we will not use “sudo”, this can cause a change in the permissions of the file and also the execution of the file by autostart. Create a an autostart directory(if the autostart directory is not there) using the terminal and edit the PiCube.desktop file which has the PiCube Pattern python program. Follow these commands: PiCube.desktop file will be open and copy the following lines in it. In the file add the name of the entry name the path of the python program. Exec= /usr/bin/python3 /home/pi/PiCube/Pattern1.py Save and exit the nano file by Ctrl x and Y. For reboot the Raspberry Pi Method 4: Systemd The latest Raspbian have some of its boot sequences will lead some problems in running your python script using Cron or rc.local. “Systemd” is recommended to overcome such issues. Create a configuration file and edit it. This file will tell systemd which program needs to be executed : sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/myscript.service Add the following lines in the file: Save and exit the nano file using Ctrl+x,Y and ENTER. Change the permissions on the configuration file to 644: sudo chmod 644 /lib/systemd/system/myscript.service Now all the tell the systemd to start the process on boot up : sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable myscript.service Now reboot your Pi and the process should run: Now that you are aware of the 4 methods to run your scripts when Raspberry Pi starts, you can try using all the methods described. These methods are very useful if you want to automate your tasks. Hope this article was helpful to you. Check out our new products Below: Micro:bit Go : Micro bit Starter kit
When : Always February 1st National Freedom Day celebrates freedom from slavery, and recognizes that America is a symbol of freedom. National Freedom Day was established in 1948 to remind us that America stands for, and is a symbol of freedom for all people. The roots of this special day come directly from the end of slavery and the signing of the 13th amendment outlawing slavery. Celebrate this day by reflecting upon your own freedoms that you enjoy by being fortunate enough to be in America. Millions of people in the world are not free. Origin of National Freedom Day: Major Richard Robert Wright Sr., a former slave, created National Freedom Day. He believed that there should be a day when freedom for all Americans is celebrated. President Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery on February 1, 1865. So, February 1st was chosen to celebrate National Freedom Day. On June 30, 1948, President Harry Truman signed a the bill proclaiming February 1st as National Freedom Day.
This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. This document provides a minimum set of guidelines for Network Etiquette (Netiquette) which organizations may take and adapt for their own use. As such, it is deliberately written in a bulleted format to make adaptation easier and to make any particular item easy (or easier) to find. It also functions as a minimum set of guidelines for individuals, both users and administrators. This memo is the product of the Responsible Use of the Network (RUN) Working Group of the IETF. In the past, the population of people using the Internet had “grown up” with the Internet, were technically minded, and understood the nature of the transport and the protocols. Today, the community of Internet users includes people who are new to the environment. These “Newbies” are unfamiliar with the culture and don't need to know about transport and protocols. In order to bring these new users into the Internet culture quickly, this Guide offers a minimum set of behaviors which organizations and individuals may take and adapt for their own use. Individuals should be aware that no matter who supplies their Internet access, be it an Internet Service Provider through a private account, or a student account at a University, or an account through a corporation, that those organizations have regulations about ownership of mail and files, about what is proper to post or send, and how to present yourself. Be sure to check with the local authority for specific guidelines. We've organized this material into three sections: One-to-one communication, which includes mail and talk; One-to-many communications, which includes mailing lists and NetNews; and Information Services, which includes ftp, WWW, Wais, Gopher, MUDs and MOOs. Finally, we have a Selected Bibliography, which may be used for reference. We define one-to-one communications as those in which a person is communicating with another person as if face-to-face: a dialogue. In general, rules of common courtesy for interaction with people should be in force for any situation and on the Internet it's doubly important where, for example, body language and tone of voice must be inferred1)2)3)4). Talk is a set of protocols which allow two people to have an interactive dialogue via computer. Any time you engage in One-to-Many communications, all the rules for mail should also apply. After all, communicating with many people via one mail message or post is quite analogous to communicating with one person with the exception of possibly offending a great many more people than in one-to-one communication. Therefore, it's quite important to know as much as you can about the audience of your message. There are several ways to find information about what mailing lists exist on the Internet and how to join them. Make sure you understand your organization's policy about joining these lists and posting to them. In general it is always better to check local resources first before trying to find information via the Internet. Nevertheless, there are a set of files posted periodically to news.answers which list the Internet mailing lists and how to subscribe to them. This is an invaluable resource for finding lists on any topic5)6)7). NetNews is a globally distributed system which allows people to communicate on topics of specific interest. It is divided into hierarchies, with the major divisions being: There are also regional hierarchies, hierarchies which are widely distributed such as Bionet, and your place of business may have its own groups as well. Recently, a “humanities” hierarchy was added, and as time goes on its likely more will be added8)9))10)11). In recent Internet history, the 'Net has exploded with new and varied Information services. Gopher, Wais, World Wide Web (WWW), Multi-User Dimensions (MUDs) Multi-User Dimensions which are Object Oriented (MOOs) are a few of these new areas. Although the ability to find information is exploding, “Caveat Emptor” remains constant12)13). This bibliography was used to gather most of the information in the sections above as well as for general reference. Items not specifically found in these works were gathered from the IETF-RUN Working Group's experience.
From grease to egg shells, cleaning products to face wipes, there are many different items that many people chuck into their sink or down toilet without a second thought. But did you know that your casual flushing could be risking your pipes and potentially cause a blockage? Not only that, but our sewer systems simply weren’t built to deal with all of the products and objects that are sent down the pipes. If it’s not liquid or human waste, it’s probably best to put it in the trash rather than sending it swimming. Here’s our list of twenty things you shouldn’t put down the toilet or sink. What NOT to put down your drain or flush down the toilet: Many band aids are made from plastic and are therefore not biodegradable. Plus, they’re sticky, which increases the chance of them sticking to your pipes. Help to protect our waterways by safely disposing of car fluids such as oil, antifreeze, transmission fluids, windscreen wash and other car-related liquids in the trash rather than putting them down the sink or toilet. Simply transfer leftover liquids into an old plastic bottle or jam jar and throw them out. Many cleaning products contain harmful chemicals and should not be allowed to enter the water system. Read the back of the product packaging before putting any cleaning product down the drain. They should tell you if they are unsuitable for flushing. Who doesn’t love a mug of freshly ground coffee in the morning? After you’ve enjoyed your cuppa joe, dispose of the coffee grounds in the trash or on a compost heap instead of flushing them down the sink. Coffee grounds stick together when wet which causes pipe blockages. Don’t ever flush condoms down the toilet! Wrap them discretely in toilet tissue and throw them away. Latex is not biodegradable and flushed condoms can stick around in waterways for years and even make it out to the ocean. This is dangerous for fish and other marine life who might try to eat them and end up choking or becoming seriously ill. Cotton balls and swabs Cotton balls and swabs expand exponentially when waterlogged. They can become sticky which attracts other non-flushable materials to them and causes blockages. There can’t be many things more unpleasant than having to take your bathroom pipes apart in order to free a used, smelly diaper that’s got stuck in the u-bend. Diapers should not be flushed (even ones that claim to be ‘flushable’). Your pipes simply can’t deal with something so large being sent down them. The porous material that makes up egg shells make them an ideal ‘collection point’ for other foreign objects in your pipes. The shells will help to bind fats, oils, food waste and other items to create large blockages. Face wipes and paper towels Face wipes and paper towels break down much slower than toilet paper – if they break down at all. They bind together with fat, grease and other waste in your pipes to form large blockages that can cause havoc not only to your own pipes, but also to the main sewer system. Fats, oil and grease Cooking fats, oil and grease congeal as they cool and become solid. The solids stick together, often trapping other foreign bodies in the pipes such as litter or food waste to form ‘fatbergs’. These can block up the sewer system and must be manually broken down by sewerage workers called ‘flushers’. Feminine hygiene products Ever wondered why public restrooms have separate bins for your feminine hygiene products? It’s because tampons and pads expand in volume so greatly when wet that they go past the size that’s safe to flush down your toilet. Keep a small trash can in your bathroom that’s emptied regularly rather than flushing. Flammable and/or explosive substances Do not, under any circumstance, put flammable or explosive substances down your drain. It creates a potential for explosion as the substances can react with other elements in the pipes to give of toxic gases or become too warm and reach their combustion point. Dental floss isn’t biodegradable and should be thrown in the trash. Whilst one little piece might not be a problem, over time it can build up in your pipes and tangle together causing a blockage. When you add water to flour, it turns into a bit sticky mess. If you try and put flour down your drain, it will mix with the water and can stick to your pipes. This may eventually lead to blockages. Flushable cat litter Cat litter, even brands that market themselves as flushable, should not be flushed down your toilet. Cat feces and urine can contain parasites which are dangerous to humans and other animals. Water treatment facilities do not kill these parasites, allowing them to remain in the water where they can potentially cause damage. Instead, put all kitty litter in the trash or add it to your compost heap. You have a trash can for a reason – use it! Food waste should never be put down the drain. Not only is it a blockage risk but if it lingers in your pipes for more than a couple of days, it will start to decompose and send unpleasant smells through your pipes and into your home. Medication and drugs Whilst they probably won’t block your pipes, medications are dangerous to put down the drain for another reason. Water filtering doesn’t take out the chemicals from medications, causing the water to become polluted. Pasta and rice Pasta and rice swell up when they get waterlogged – that’s how they turn from the dried version in the store to the tasty meal on your plate. When pasta and rice and put down the drain, they can get stuck in the pipes. When subsequent water washes over them, they swell up, taking up even more space in your pipes. Solvents and corrosive liquids Solvent and corrosive materials can linger in your pipes and cause damage by eroding the surfaces. Even flushing down large amounts of water alongside the liquids doesn’t stop this from happening. Damaged pipes can be very costly to fix, so don’t run the risk. The thing about stickers is… well… they’re sticky! Whether it’s the little produce stickers on your apples or labels from work, you should never put anything sticky down the drain. There is a strong chance they will stick to the inside of your pipes and never move again. Well, there you have it – 20 items you should never put down the drain or flush down your toilet. Did any of the list come as a surprise to you? Let us know in the comments below. Categories: Green Living
Thursday, February 18 Never Mock A Cat: It Can Have Disastrous Consequences Louis Wain (5 August 1860 – 4 July 1939) was an English artist known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens. In his hey day he was amazingly popular and earned lots of money. There were Louis Wain books, calendars, tablecloths, toys, chair covers and so on. Suddenly though he dropped out of public life and wasn't heard of again until after his death. Following his passing friends started wonder if Wain had been accursed by the drawings he had made of cats. Stories circulated about how the ancient Egyptians revered cats as supernatural beings, It was suggested that the cats had the power to send Louis Wain to a living death. One of his old friends said, "When Louis first drew a cat in ridicule it was the beginning if the end." Wain first began drawing cats following the sad loss of his young bride. He was soon drawing dozens of cats every week - cats at tea parties, cats playing cricket, cats reading books. His cats became an amusing commentary on the human race. Gradually though his output exceeded his inspiration, it was no longer sufficient to make his cats merely amusing. The creatures of his drawings became more and more ridiculous and comic. It was then that the cats seemed to take their revenge. A week before Wain was due to form a new oil company, which would have revolutionised the industry, the British government issued a decree forbidding the formation of such companies. Wain had sunk his fortune in the the preliminary expenses - and was ruined and penniless. Soon after a shipload of model cats he had made in America was lost at sea. Huge sales had been assured for the cargo - it appeared as if the cats themselves had ordained that the money should never be made. The next blow came when his sister, who ran Waine's home suddenly died. With less and less demand for his work, Wain often went hungry, though he still created an appearance of affluence. Out of the blue the tide turned in his favour - and once more, so his superstitious friends said, the cats had their revenge. A film company came to an agreement for film cartoons featuring his cats. Wain got on a bus to go to their offices to sign the contract - but there was a crash. Wain was catapulted from the bus top into the street below. Two dray horses reared in sudden fright and stamped on him. For more than a week Wain lay unconscious. When he came round, he moaned, "The cat! The cat!" Soon after this he had to go to a mental hospital. The cats had robbed him of his wealth, his health and his reason. When he died, cats were in his last delirium. Then a warehouse containing the greater part of his original sketches was bombed. It's said that the ancient Egyptians believed that to mock a cat meant death. Other Random Animal Posts: Four Funny Animal Coincidence Photos Kitten Coincidences And Reincarnation Telepathic Communication With A Duck
\|Dimensions\|\|1 x 1 x 1 in\| S.T.E.M. Education and Learning \|S.T.E.M & STEM Approved\|\|Battery Type 3AAA / Button Cell\|\|Ages 5 Yrs Up\|\|For Boys & Girls\| \|Enforces Cognitive Development\|\|Stimulates Co-operative Play\|\|Builds Hand/Eye Coordination\|\|Encourages Imaginative Play\| \|Allows Imitative Play\|\|Develops Language\|\|Letter Names and Phonics\|\|Builds Maths Skills\| \|Motor Skills Improvement\|\|Encouraging Problem Solving\|\|Fosters Role Play\|\|Improves Sensory Development\| \|Enhances Visualisation and Memory\|\|Word Building\|\|Science Engineering Technology Math\|\|1 Year Warranty\| STEM generally supports broadening the study of engineering within each of the other subjects, and beginning engineering at younger grades, even elementary school. It also brings STEM education to all students rather than only the gifted programs. Its Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy developed a list of 10 actions and the top 3 are listed here: - Increase America’s talent pool by improving K–12 science and mathematics education - Strengthen the skills of teachers through additional training in science, mathematics and technology - Enlarge the pipeline of students prepared to enter college and graduate with STEM degrees Here are a few more examples of Laser Pegs S.T.E.M. (Science Technology Engineering Math) Benefits - Enhances Creative Reasoning - Improves Hand/Eye Coordination - Promotes Cognitive Development - Encourages Communication and Teamwork - Inspires Creativity and Model Building - Develops Math and Reasoning Skills - Education Educational Kits learning S.T.E.M. STEM The National Aeronautics and Space Administration also has implemented programs and curricula to advance STEM education in order to replenish the pool of scientists, engineers and mathematicians who will lead space exploration in the 21st century. After-school STEM programs children learn what the most promising practices are and how to implement them to increase the chance of student success. Continuing S.T.E.M. education has expanded to the post-secondary level through masters programs. Laser Pegs enhance, encourage and compliment all STEM Programs.
France the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean, it is bordered by Belgium and Germany to the northeast and Italy to the east, Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic and Indian oceans; the country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Nice. During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of Francia. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia which became the Kingdom of France in 987 emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages following its victory in the Hundred Years' War. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a global colonial empire was established, which by the 20th century would become the second largest in the world; the 16th century was dominated by religious civil wars between Protestants. France became Europe's dominant cultural and military power in the 17th century under Louis XIV. In the late 18th century, the French Revolution overthrew the absolute monarchy, established one of modern history's earliest republics, saw the drafting of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which expresses the nation's ideals to this day. In the 19th century, Napoleon established the First French Empire, his subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a tumultuous succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. France was a major participant in World War I, from which it emerged victorious, was one of the Allies in World War II, but came under occupation by the Axis powers in 1940. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and dissolved in the course of the Algerian War; the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, remains today. Algeria and nearly all the other colonies became independent in the 1960s and retained close economic and military connections with France. France has long been a global centre of art and philosophy, it hosts the world's fourth-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and is the leading tourist destination, receiving around 83 million foreign visitors annually. France is a developed country with the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP, tenth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of aggregate household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, human development. France is considered a great power in global affairs, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a leading member state of the European Union and the Eurozone, a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, La Francophonie. Applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name "France" comes from the Latin "Francia", or "country of the Franks". Modern France is still named today "Francia" in Italian and Spanish, "Frankreich" in German and "Frankrijk" in Dutch, all of which have more or less the same historical meaning. There are various theories as to the origin of the name Frank. Following the precedents of Edward Gibbon and Jacob Grimm, the name of the Franks has been linked with the word frank in English, it has been suggested that the meaning of "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks were free of taxation. Another theory is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon, which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. However, it has been determined that these weapons were named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around; the oldest traces of human life in what is now France date from 1.8 million years ago. Over the ensuing millennia, Humans were confronted by a harsh and variable climate, marked by several glacial eras. Early hominids led a nomadic hunter-gatherer life. France has a large number of decorated caves from the upper Palaeolithic era, including one of the most famous and best preserved, Lascaux. At the end of the last glacial period, the climate became milder. After strong demographic and agricultural development between the 4th and 3rd millennia, metallurgy appeared at the end of the 3rd millennium working gold and bronze, iron. France has numerous megalithic sites from the Neolithic period, including the exceptiona Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Chartered by Connecticut Colony, the "Collegiate School" was established by clergy to educate Congregational ministers, it moved to New Haven in 1716 and shortly after was renamed Yale College in recognition of a gift from British East India Company governor Elihu Yale. Restricted to theology and sacred languages, the curriculum began to incorporate humanities and sciences by the time of the American Revolution. In the 19th century, the college expanded into graduate and professional instruction, awarding the first Ph. D. in the United States in 1861 and organizing as a university in 1887. Its faculty and student populations grew after 1890 with rapid expansion of the physical campus and scientific research. Yale is organized into fourteen constituent schools: the original undergraduate college, the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and twelve professional schools. While the university is governed by the Yale Corporation, each school's faculty oversees its curriculum and degree programs. In addition to a central campus in downtown New Haven, the university owns athletic facilities in western New Haven, a campus in West Haven and forest and nature preserves throughout New England; the university's assets include an endowment valued at $29.4 billion as of October 2018, the second largest endowment of any educational institution in the world. The Yale University Library, serving all constituent schools, holds more than 15 million volumes and is the third-largest academic library in the United States. Yale College undergraduates follow a liberal arts curriculum with departmental majors and are organized into a social system of residential colleges. All members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences—and some members of other faculties—teach undergraduate courses, more than 2,000 of which are offered annually. Students compete intercollegiately as the Yale Bulldogs in the NCAA Division I – Ivy League. As of October 2018, 61 Nobel laureates, 5 Fields Medalists and 3 Turing award winners have been affiliated with Yale University. In addition, Yale has graduated many notable alumni, including five U. S. Presidents, 19 U. S. Supreme Court Justices, 31 living billionaires and many heads of state. Hundreds of members of Congress and many U. S. diplomats, 78 MacArthur Fellows, 247 Rhodes Scholars and 119 Marshall Scholars have been affiliated with the university. Its wealth and influence have led to Yale being reported as amoungst the most prestigious universities in the United States. Yale traces its beginnings to "An Act for Liberty to Erect a Collegiate School", passed by the General Court of the Colony of Connecticut on October 9, 1701, while meeting in New Haven; the Act was an effort to create an institution to train ministers and lay leadership for Connecticut. Soon thereafter, a group of ten Congregational ministers, Samuel Andrew, Thomas Buckingham, Israel Chauncy, Samuel Mather, Rev. James Noyes II, James Pierpont, Abraham Pierson, Noadiah Russell, Joseph Webb, Timothy Woodbridge, all alumni of Harvard, met in the study of Reverend Samuel Russell in Branford, Connecticut, to pool their books to form the school's library. The group, led by James Pierpont, is now known as "The Founders". Known as the "Collegiate School", the institution opened in the home of its first rector, Abraham Pierson, today considered the first president of Yale. Pierson lived in Killingworth; the school moved to Saybrook and Wethersfield. In 1716, it moved to Connecticut. Meanwhile, there was a rift forming at Harvard between its sixth president, Increase Mather, the rest of the Harvard clergy, whom Mather viewed as liberal, ecclesiastically lax, overly broad in Church polity; the feud caused the Mathers to champion the success of the Collegiate School in the hope that it would maintain the Puritan religious orthodoxy in a way that Harvard had not. In 1718, at the behest of either Rector Samuel Andrew or the colony's Governor Gurdon Saltonstall, Cotton Mather contacted the successful Boston born businessman Elihu Yale to ask him for financial help in constructing a new building for the college. Through the persuasion of Jeremiah Dummer, Elihu "Eli" Yale, who had made a fortune through trade while living in Madras as a representative of the East India Company, donated nine bales of goods, which were sold for more than £560, a substantial sum at the time. Cotton Mather suggested that the school change its name to "Yale College".. Meanwhile, a Harvard graduate working in England convinced some 180 prominent intellectuals that they should donate books to Yale; the 1714 shipment of 500 books represented the best of modern English literature, science and theology. It had a profound effect on intellectuals at Yale. Undergraduate Jonathan Edwards discovered John Locke's works and developed his original theology known as the "new divinity". In 1722 the Rector and six of his friends, who had a study group to discuss the new ideas, announced that they had given up Calvinism, become Arminians and joined the Church of England, they were returned to the colonies as missionaries for the Anglican faith. Thomas Clapp became president in 1745 and struggled to return the college to Calvinist orthodoxy, but he did not close the library. Other students found Deist books in the library. Yale was swept up by the great intellectual movements of the peri Switzerland the Swiss Confederation, is a country situated in western and southern Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities; the sovereign state is a federal republic bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning a total area of 41,285 km2. While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of 8.5 million people is concentrated on the plateau, where the largest cities are to be found: among them are the two global cities and economic centres Zürich and Geneva. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the late medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648; the country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation. It pursues an active foreign policy and is involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to numerous international organisations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but notably not part of the European Union, the European Economic Area or the Eurozone. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties. Spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French and Romansh. Although the majority of the population are German-speaking, Swiss national identity is rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, Alpine symbolism. Due to its linguistic diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names: Schweiz. On coins and stamps, the Latin name – shortened to "Helvetia" – is used instead of the four national languages. Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Switzerland ranks at or near the top globally in several metrics of national performance, including government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic competitiveness and human development. Zürich and Basel have all three been ranked among the top ten cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the first ranked second globally, according to Mercer in 2018; the English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, an obsolete term for the Swiss, in use during the 16th to 19th centuries. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse in use since the 16th century; the name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, one of the Waldstätten cantons which formed the nucleus of the Old Swiss Confederacy. The Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for "Confederates", used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes perhaps related to swedan ‘to burn’, referring to the area of forest, burned and cleared to build; the name was extended to the area dominated by the canton, after the Swabian War of 1499 came to be used for the entire Confederation. The Swiss German name of the country, Schwiiz, is homophonous to that of the canton and the settlement, but distinguished by the use of the definite article; the Latin name Confoederatio Helvetica was neologized and introduced after the formation of the federal state in 1848, harking back to the Napoleonic Helvetic Republic, appearing on coins from 1879, inscribed on the Federal Palace in 1902 and after 1948 used in the official seal.. Helvetica is derived from the Helvetii, a Gaulish tribe living on the Swiss plateau before the Roman era. Helvetia appears as a national personification of the Swiss confederacy in the 17th century with a 1672 play by Johann Caspar Weissenbach. Switzerland has existed as a state in its present form since the adoption of the Swiss Federal Constitution in 1848. The precursors of Switzerland established a protective alliance at the end of the 13th century, forming a loose confederation of states which persisted for centuries; the oldest traces of hominid existence in Switzerland date back about 150,000 years. The oldest known farming settlements in Switzerland, which were found at Gächlingen, have been dated to around 5300 BC; the earliest known cultural tribes of the area were members of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures, named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel. La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late Iron Age from around 450 BC under some influence from the Gree Environmental Performance Index The Environmental Performance Index is a method of quantifying and numerically marking the environmental performance of a state's policies. This index was developed from the Pilot Environmental Performance Index, first published in 2002, designed to supplement the environmental targets set forth in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals; the EPI was preceded by the Environmental Sustainability Index, published between 1999 and 2005. Both indices were developed by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission; the ESI was developed to evaluate environmental sustainability relative to the paths of other countries. Due to a shift in focus by the teams developing the ESI, the EPI uses outcome-oriented indicators working as a benchmark index that can be more used by policy makers, environmental scientists and the general public. Other leading indices like the Global Green Economy Index provide an integrated measure of the environmental and economic dynamics of national economies. The GGEI utilizes EPI data for the environmental dimension of the index while providing a performance assessment of efficiency sectors, green innovation and national leadership around climate change. In January 2012 four EPI reports have been released — the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index, the 2008, 2010, 2012 Environmental Performance Index. For the 2012 report, a new "Pilot Trend EPI" was developed to rank countries based on the environmental performance changes occurred during the last decade, allowing to establish which countries are improving and which are declining. In the 2014 EPI ranking, the top five countries were Switzerland, Australia and the Czech Republic; the bottom five countries in 2014 were Somalia, Haiti and Afghanistan. The United Kingdom was ranked in 12th place, Japan 26th place, the United States 33rd, Brazil 77th, China 118th, India came in 155th; the top five countries based on their 2012 Pilot Trend EPI were Estonia, Kuwait, El Salvador and Congo. EPI calculation variables change as can be seen below. This should be taken into account when observing country performance through several reports, as it can lead to score and ranking changes founded just on methodology modification. Are similar to those from 2016, but have changed in details and some weights. Notably environmental Health is now weighted at 40% and Ecosystem Vitality at 60%. EPI 2018 full list is available online. On 23 January 2016, the 2016 Environmental Performance Index was released at the World Economic Forum, with 180 countries being ranked. Top 30 countries and score On 25 January 2014 Yale University and Columbia University released the 2014 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 178 countries. Top 30 countries and score On 25 January 2012 Yale University and Columbia University released the 2012 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 132 countries. Top 30 countries and score On 28 January 2010 Yale University and Columbia University released the 2010 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 163 countries. The top performer for 2010 is Iceland due to its high scores on environmental public health, gets all of its power from renewable sources, its control of greenhouse gas emissions. The United States fell to the 61st position, as compared to 39th in the 2008 EPI, Brazil ranks 62nd, Russia 69th, China 121st, India ranks 123rd. Top 30 countries and score On 23 January 2008 Yale University and Columbia University released the 2008 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 149 countries; the environmental experts at both universities concluded that "analysis of the drivers underlying the 2008 rankings suggests that wealth is a major determinant of environmental success". Top 30 countries and score On 26 January 2006 Yale and Columbia University released the Pilot 2006 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum ranking 133 countries, it was done in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Top 30 countries and score Environmental Sustainability Index Environmental Vulnerability Index Green Stickered Energy Consumption Indexes Yale University – EPI – A collaboration between Yale and Columbia Universities Yale University – YCELP – Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy 2018 Environmental Performance Index The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth; this environment encompasses the interaction of all living species, climate and natural resources that affect human survival and economic activity. The concept of the natural environment can be distinguished as components: Complete ecological units that function as natural systems without massive civilized human intervention, including all vegetation, soil, rocks and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries and their nature. Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lack clear-cut boundaries, such as air and climate, as well as energy, electric charge, magnetism, not originating from civilized human actions. In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment. In such areas where man has fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion, the natural environment is modified into a simplified human environment. Acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert, the modified environment becomes an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams, the works of Mound-building termites, are thought of as natural. People find natural environments on Earth, naturalness varies in a continuum, from 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. More we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, see that their degree of naturalness is not uniform. If, for instance, in an agricultural field, the mineralogic composition and the structure of its soil are similar to those of an undisturbed forest soil, but the structure is quite different. Natural environment is used as a synonym for habitat. For instance, when we say that the natural environment of giraffes is the savanna. Earth science recognizes 4 spheres, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, the biosphere as correspondent to rocks, water and life respectively. Some scientists include, as part of the spheres of the Earth, the cryosphere as a distinct portion of the hydrosphere, as well as the pedosphere as an active and intermixed sphere. Earth science, is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth. There are four major disciplines in earth sciences, namely geography, geology and geodesy; these major disciplines use physics, biology and mathematics to build a qualitative and quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of Earth. The Earth's crust, or lithosphere, is the outermost solid surface of the planet and is chemically and mechanically different from underlying mantle, it has been generated by igneous processes in which magma cools and solidifies to form solid rock. Beneath the lithosphere lies the mantle, heated by the decay of radioactive elements; the mantle though solid is in a state of rheic convection. This convection process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly; the resulting process is known as plate tectonics. Volcanoes result from the melting of subducted crust material or of rising mantle at mid-ocean ridges and mantle plumes. Most water is found in another natural kind of body of water. An ocean is a major body of saline water, a component of the hydrosphere. 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water, customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand, nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though recognized as several'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean; the deep seabeds are more than half the Earth's surface, are among the least-modified natural environments. The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, other criteria: these divisions are the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. A river is a natural watercourse freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. A few rivers flow into the ground and dry up before reaching another body of water; the water in a river is in a channel, made up of a stream bed between banks. In larger rivers there is a wider floodplain shaped by waters over-topping the channel. Flood plains may be wide in relation to the size of the river channel. Rivers are a part of the hydrological cycle. Water within a river is collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge and the release of water stored in glaciers and snowpacks. Small rivers may be termed by several other names, including stream and brook, their current is confined within a stream banks. Streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity; the study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology. A lake is a terrain feature, a body of water, localized to the bottom of basin. A body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, is not part A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, includes the factors that have an influence in their survival and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to global in extent, it can be subdivided according to its attributes. Examples include the marine environment, the atmospheric environment and the terrestrial environment; the number of biophysical environments is countless, given that each living organism has its own environment. The term environment can refer to a singular global environment in relation to humanity, or a local biophysical environment, e.g. the UK's Environment Agency. All life that has survived must have adapted to conditions of its environment. Temperature, humidity, soil nutrients, etc. all influence any species, within any environment. However life in turn modifies, in various forms, its conditions; some long term modifications along the history of our planet have been significant, such as the incorporation of oxygen to the atmosphere. This process consisted in the breakdown of carbon dioxide by anaerobic microorganisms that used the carbon in their metabolism and released the oxygen to the atmosphere. This led to the existence of the great oxygenation event. Other interactions are more immediate and simple, such as the smoothing effect that forests have on the temperature cycle, compared to neighboring unforested areas. Environmental science is the study of the interactions within the biophysical environment. Part of this scientific discipline is the investigation of the effect of human activity on the environment. Ecology, a sub-discipline of biology and a part of environmental sciences, is mistaken as a study of human induced effects on the environment. Environmental studies is a broader academic discipline, the systematic study of interaction of humans with their environment, it is a broad field of study that includes the natural environment, built environments and social environments. Environmentalism is a broad social and philosophical movement that, in a large part, seeks to minimise and compensate the negative effect of human activity on the biophysical environment. The issues of concern for environmentalists relate to the natural environment with the more important ones being climate change, species extinction and old growth forest loss. One of the studies related include employing Geographic Information Science to study the biophysical environment. Biophysics subject to the context List of conservation topics List of environmental issues Lists of environmental topics Miller, G. Tyler. Environmental science. California: Wadsworth. ISBN 0-534-21588-2. McCallum, Malcolm L.. "Google search patterns suggest declining interest in the environment". Biodiversity and Conservation. Doi:10.1007/s10531-013-0476-6. Media related to Environment at Wikimedia Commons Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs is the ministry in the government of France that handles France's foreign relations. Since 1855, its headquarters has been located on the Quai d'Orsay, 37. "Quai d'Orsay" is used as a metonym for the ministry. Its cabinet minister, the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs is responsible for the foreign relations of France; the current minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, was appointed in May 2017. In 1547, secretaries to the King became specialized, writing correspondence to foreign governments, negotiating peace treaties; the four French secretaries of state where foreign relations were divided by region, in 1589, became centralized with one becoming first secretary responsible for international relations. The Ancien Régime position of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs became Foreign Minister around 1723, was renamed "Minister of Foreign Affairs" in 1791 after the French Revolution. All ministerial positions were abolished in 1794 by the National Convention and re-established with the Directory. For a brief period in the 1980s, the office was retitled Minister for External Relations. As of 17 May 2017, the ministry is designated the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and led by Jean-Yves Le Drian. There are multiple services under its authority, along with that of some other ministers. Under the authority of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, that of Cooperation and European Affairs, that of Foreign and European Affairs, there are numerous services directly related to the ministers. Here is a list of those services; the ministers' cabinet The office of cabinets, which gathers a personnel in charge of the administrative and logistics aspects of the three ministers' cabinets The budget control service General inspection of foreign affairs The prospective office The Protocole, upon which the President's protocole cell relies on The Crisis management Department 140 Ministries of Foreign Affairs on the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. Official site of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Official treaty database of France Dictionnaire historique des institutions, mœurs et coutumes de la France, Adolphe Chéruel, L. Hachette et cie, 1855 "Ministries 1700–1870", Rulers.org
\|Rome history\|\|Sleeping\|\|Contact Us\| Ancient Roman mosaics complemented Roman painting both in terms of pictorial effects as well as in terms of their function in Roman architecture as elements of Roman buildings and Roman houses. The great benefit of mosaics with respect to paintings was the greater durability and vibrancy of colour, so much so that in many cases there will be little left of an excavated villa but the mosaic on the floor may well be close to intact. Amazing examples have been found, for example at Hadrian's villa (bowl with doves, over 60 tesserae per square cm), the mosaics in the House of the Faun in ancient Pompeii, the villa at Piazza Armerina in Sicily and of course not forgetting the wonderful examples from outside Italy such as the numerous mosaics at Antioch (3rd Century AD). The level of detail and finesse achieved was extraordinary and the amount of work required to achieve high quality could make their cost quite prohibitive. At the bottom end of the scale, but also requiring great time and patience we have mosaics employed for covering floor spaces in a durable yet elegant way. Between these extremes we have the multitude of mosaics used in every day situations, in public places, shops, houses, gladiator training schools and so on. When dealing with ancient Roman mosaics it is tempting to simply run through the chronology, type and level of achievement but a second look will show that we can go a step further: Roman mosaics are a significant facet and indicator of the evolution of ancient Roman art and as such display many of the evolutionary twists and turns of Roman society itself. Ironically, understanding this statement about Roman mosaics in a little more detail requires us to approach the subject as a mosaic with many components rather than linearly like a chronological piece of story telling though clearly we can't do without looking at timing and development as well as construction methods also. Before we delve into an overview of Roman mosaics and their development through time it is worth running through the table below to get a preview of some of the elements which went into creating the many different examples of mosaics which have survived from ancient Rome and therefore how Roman mosaics reflect use and society of the time. Appreciating these aspects helps us understand the evolution and significance of mosaics in ancient Rome. \|Art in ancient Rome was very much a case of commission. Commission could be for public purposes such as propaganda or a public bath or for private use be it of plebeians, merchants or rich noble people. There was direct relationship between the resulting mosaic and the means available.\| \|Roman mosaics had numerous possible functions: \|Mosaics could be for public or private viewing. Shop or trades guild versus palace, magistrate's court or public baths. It could be a private room like a bedroom or a dining room or reception hall. Roman mosaics were used to reinforce roman social structure and the social position of those who commissioned For example general plebeian public in the Pantheon would be over-awed by the sense of space and the unique divine position of the emperor standing on a podium, surrounded by statues of the Roman divinities and placed in relation to the heavens (the hole at the top of the dome). The floor enhances the sense of space by a modular opus sectile technique which through its repetitive geometric pattern reflects the shape of the temple and at the same time enables a sense of size with respect to the individual. On the other hand a rich merchant or upper class person in Pompeii might have invested in a central highly ornate "emblema" where light from the impluvium would have shown it in its best light and attracted the viewer (his clients) to the middle of the reception room, from where they would then get the best impact of the frescos on the walls, paintings and rich furnishing around the room. \|A large range of materials were used for ancient Roman mosaics including pebbles, pieces of terra cotta tiles, pumice stone and seashells through to precious stones, marbles of various provenance and even coloured glass and gold leaf. Pumice and shells might be used to decorate a nymphaeum whilst pottery and marble inserts in a cement matrix were often used in Republican period floors which were both durable and attractive.\| \|when considering the mosaic as a component of Roman architecture, there were three main compositional approaches: The images to the left are drawn from mosaics in Roman tombs underneath the Vatican (St.Peter's basilica) \|The theme of mosaics was often in keeping with the type of use in the room within which it was situated. Roman mosaics developed along a number of parallel streams: Durable walking surface, architectural spacial element, ornament. In artistic terms Roman mosaics followed a path parallel to that of Roman Painting and Roman art, transferring to the horizontal plane artistic problems which were essentially pictorial. The real difference between the two being that mosaic is by its nature driven towards divisionism with its issues similar to those of impressionism in the 19th century and indeed to those of modern pixelated digital images. Greater effort and energy is required to store and produce a high resolution colour image whilst a geometric pattern in two tones and with larger pieces (fewer pixels) can be greatly simplified. As the image becomes greater in size so the effort and resource required increases exponentially. The very physical nature of mosaic reinforced its relation to architecture and to marble inlay (opus sectilis) which slowly made its way from floors and skirting boards to decorate further up the walls as in Nero's domus aurea in the 1st century and the basilica of Junius Bassus in late antiquity. The art of ancient roman mosaics was essentially inherited through southern Italy and Sicily from Greece and developed to a high degree driven by the wealth and desire of display by the Romans who could afford to commission them. It achieved strong impulse through the conquest of Greece in the 2nd century BC though there are many fine examples of mosaic in Italy well before that date. In fact the oldest extant examples of mosaic found are from the Greek bronze age in Crete around 2500-1400BC after which the art seems to have been lost. The Greeks themselves probably re-learned mosaic art from the Orient in the 8th Century BC where in northern Siria and Asia Minor a variety of geometric shapes were being laid out in variously coloured stones. During the 7th century BC they spread through areas such as Sparta and Crete in public buildings and then became a mainstream technique in Greek art and throughout the mediterranean basin. At first mosaic work was restricted to the laying of coloured river pebbles in a uniform manner. Wonderful examples of this technique dating back to the 4th century BC have been found at Pella in Macedonia (see the image), city where Aledander the Great was born and where the art achieved its greatest heghts. Within Italy a number of pebble mosaics have been found at Arpi in SE Italy which also date back to the 4th century BC: This italic city had a variety of influences and eventually absorbed as a Roman dominion in the 3rd century BC. Another example of Italian mosaics from the 4th/3rd are the mosaics at Mozia in Sicily: a Carthaginian city with Greek influence. The art of pebble mosaics continued in popularity in the orient, including also far regions like Afghanistan right through to the 2nd century BC. The mosaics found at the Montarozzi area of Arpi give a virtuoso display of the varied techniques which developed through the 4th to 3rd century BC: small pebbles become irregular surfaces and eventually regular cubes. By breaking the pebbles a flatter surface could be achieved and the individual pieces were refined to the cubes we are accustomed to. Roman mosaics of this sort were known as "opus tesselatum". The passage from pebbles to individually cut pieces of stone or even variously coloured glass ocurred gradually throughout the 3rd century BC. Progress was fragmented as various regions experimented with a variety of techniques particularly in Greece but also at sites such as the above mentioned Arpi in southern Italy. In fact the oldest example of opus tesselatum seems to be in Sicily at the Greek colony of Morgantina, dating back to around 250BC (mosaic image left). Pieces are of various materials, including earthenware, stone, glass paste. Whilst Pliny confirms Roman belief that mosaics originated in Greece, the Greek writer Athenaeus Naucratis who lived in Roman Egypt during the 2nd century AD seems to confirm that sicily was the place where particular advances were made, mentioning marvelous floors with images of the Iliad made of tesserae ("abakiskoi") given as a present by the ruler of Syracuse to Ptolemy III. A decorative pattern on a shop floor or many public areas was often two tone (black and white) though there are plenty of wonderful examples of black and white mosaics laid in ancient Roman houses, luxurious villas, rich tombs and public buildings such as Romal thermal baths. By the 2nd century BC coloured mosaics reached a degree technical perfection in central Italy as local artisans had increased contact with the Greek influence of the southern Greek colonies such as Naples, Pompeii, Syracuse and indeed with Greece itself. It may be a gross over-semplification but by and large we can closely associate coloured highly figurative work with Graeco-Orientalising influence and the black and white mosaics with the Roman-Italic current of art. Very gross generalisation! By the 2nd century the use of central emblemata had virtually disappeared and left an almost exclusive path to floral, figurative and geometric motifs laid out as a carpet across the surface to heighten the appreciation of surface area. There are many beautiful examples from North Africa where the modular geometric approach was combined with figurative elements within the repetitive pattern - rendering the single images in each geometric space more easily legible. This approach readily lent itself to replicating the pattern of roofs or at any rate to providing multiple centres of focus: hence removed from illusionistic rendering of 3D space in the traditional sense of 2nd style theatrical pompeian painting which implies a static point of view. This loss of centrality within ambient space made mosaic yet more aligned with the needs of architecture where the appreciation of space is generally acquired through movement around it. The mosaics at Piazza Armerina in Sicily (early 4th century AD) are a perfect example of this correlation between the composition of mosaics, the layout of the internal spaces and the movement of individuals through them. The pieces of Roman mosaics were called "tessellae" or "tesserae" and their size could differ even within the same mosaic. Faster execution implied larger, more simple, patterns and of course, larger pieces. The white tesserae would be made of white stone, also including marble whilst the black would be of black stone, marble for the most precious or more commonly of basalt - the same volcanic lava rock used in the construction of Roman roads such as the Appian way. The shape of the tesserae depended on the shapes to be described within the mosaic. A simple geometric pattern made up of essentially straight lines and rectangular forms would only require tesserae of square or rectangular section. A more complex pattern or image naturally required the shape of the pieces to vary so that they might be laid out in order to follow the form they described rather than cut across it. An average sized mosaic piece (tessera) would be about 1cm square though over the centuries great extremes were reached either side of that from pieces as small as a few millimetres to as large as individual coloured marble tiles (opus sectilis). The surface aspect also had multiple solutions: highly polished and uniform surfaces would give a result similar to a varnished painting, often used in highly refined detailed works like those found in Hadrian's villa whilst slight surface differences could be used to achieve an effect closer to a matte surface, catching and scattering light in a multitude of directions - cosmatesque work of the middle ages is a wonderful example of how this can be put to use where ambient light is low and diffused. Complexity was at its greatest when the image of the mosaic was in colour(s). In this case the tesserae would not only have to describe form but also the pattern of different tonal/colour shades within this form. The finest of effects would be achieved with the smallest of tesserae in pretty much the same way that a computer screen can give a more or less perfect image according to the number and size of the pixels per square inch it is capable of displaying. In the most extreme of cases this could require as many as 300 tesserae per square inch (50 per square centimeter) and countless numbers of different coloured marbles, stones and glass, each piece being cut on site. The range of colours available depended on the range of marbles and coloured stones available. Coloured glass paste could also be used as a material and was generally employed, together with marble, in works of higher prestige. Often the materials used were recycled, especially in later periods of the empire when the cost of marbles and loss of power made them difficult to obtain. Roman mosaics such as that on the ceiling of a vault in the Nero's Domus Aurea are the first to include the use of gold leaf on glass to extend the colour range further than ever. We can therefore imagine the vast range of effects, labour and cost required in order to produce a single mosaic. Generally speaking it is difficult to categorise the style of mosaic work as clearly as has been done with paintings. Linear and abstract styles were often evolved in parallel with different styles of figurative colour work. The height of this art was achieved in the Roman provinces of northern Africa where mosaics were created in every sense similar to an intricate painting of "the fourth style" (see the section on roman frescoes and painting). Small and detailed leaves, animals, portraits and figures all interwoven into a "carpet" of marble. At the poorer end of the scale we have mosaics which verged on tiling. Small terracotta tiles of various geometric shapes such as squares and diamonds would be laid to create an overall pattern and only a number of these would have a single marble tessera inserted into them. This required little if any true "mosaic" work to be done in order to achieve a satisfactory and durable patterned surface. Art in ancient Rome: \| Art in Ancient Rome - Introduction \| The decadence of classical art \| Foreign influence \| The Greek revolution \| Ancient Roman Paintings \| Painting Styles \| Drawing \| Ancient Roman Mosaics \| ancient roman jewelry \| Sculpture \| roman statues \| Architecture \| Literature and Theatre \|Ancient Rome Literature \| poems about Rome \| roman music \| roman pottery \|
NORTH NEWTON, KAN. – When it comes to religious history, the standard college textbook for “Western Civilization” has a blank, one a recent conference at Bethel College was planned to help begin to fill in. After more than 50 years of scholarly study of the Anabaptists, such a text nowadays will cover the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement in 16th-century Europe – with references to Menno Simons (from whom the name “Mennonite” is derived), the Kingdom of Münster and the Peasants’ War – says Mark Jantzen, Bethel associate professor of history. “But after 1550, [the Anabaptists] disappear.” Jantzen and his colleague Mary Sprunger (both Bethel graduates, in 1985 and 1984, respectively), professor of history at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Va., were co-planners for “Marginal or Mainstream? Anabaptists, Mennonites and Modernity in European Society,” a conference held on the Bethel campus June 25-26. It isn’t that all topics related to 16th-century Anabaptism have been exhausted, says Sprunger. But “a new generation” of scholars has begun to look more closely at other time periods. Her own interest is in 17th-century Dutch history while Jantzen’s is in 19th-century German. The thesis of the conference, in fact, was that Mennonites – far from retreating into obscurity as the textbooks suggest – were an important influence on European economics, politics, religion and other areas of society over the next centuries, the “modern era.” “I want to mention how pleased we were to have well-known Reformation historian Thomas Brady, from the University of California-Berkeley, set the stage for us,” said Sprunger of the keynote speaker. Jantzen added, “Tom Brady [suggested that] Mennonites as a religious minority helped to create and spread modernity, especially in Eastern Europe. Mennonites introduced new models for doing business – capitalism – and new methods of agriculture and pushed the discussion of religious tolerance. In the Dutch setting, they [modeled] a radical liberal democracy.” “I was interested in [Brady’s statement that] we need to be prepared for the consequences of putting Mennonites into the center of European history,” Sprunger says. “It might not always be what we expect or hope for. We need to be prepared for the stories to change.” After two days of paper presentations by scholars about evenly divided between the United States and elsewhere – Canada, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Ukraine and Uzbekistan – and an afternoon bus tour that took conference participants to Mennonite museums in Goessel and Hillsboro, the conference wrapped up on Saturday afternoon with a time to state “initial conclusions,” which arose mostly in the form of questions, Sprunger says. One of the most hotly debated was how to define “modernity.” “On purpose, we didn’t offer a definition of modernity,” Jantzen says. “The scholars who study the Dutch were particularly concerned about this, but Tom Brady noted in the final discussion that it was ‘a concept too big for definition.’ Mary and I thought of it as a descriptive or shorthand term, describing a set of social practices, or the institutionalization of Enlightenment practices.” “The question was, Is modernity negative or positive?” Sprunger adds. “We [in the West are] all beneficiaries, in terms of educational opportunities and personal choice in many areas. On the other hand, there’s the fact of the secularization process and leaving behind of cherished traditions. There was a broad range of opinion [at the conference].” Another issue raised in the wrap-up, she says, was that of “the role of the state, also in terms of positive or negative, which is a common theme in European history of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Mennonites benefited from growing tolerance but also lost much of their autonomy.” Other questions included the negative and positive aspects of Mennonite participation in European economies as well as the growing need to face issues of wealth and privilege; the particular experience of Dutch Mennonites, who experienced societal tolerance much earlier and therefore assimilated faster; the complex relationship between theology and culture and whether to speak of theology was even appropriate; and the extent to which European Mennonites set their own agenda or had it set by the state or “the world.” Both Jantzen and Sprunger were surprised and pleased by the number and diversity of conference attenders. “I was expecting 50 or so, 100 at the most,” Jantzen says. “We had 120 registered, with at least 30 more who dropped in at different times.” “I enjoyed the audience cross-section of both scholars and laypeople,” Sprunger says. “It made for a bigger audience than you often get at these conferences. Bethel was well situated, near retirement communities and museums, with a lot of [local] people with a deep interest in Mennonite history.” One of the conference funders was the Marpeck Fund, established by Robert Kreider and the late Gerald Kreider to foster interaction between Mennonite educational institutions, which stipulated (and financed) student involvement in the conference, so there was a special effort to get them there. Several attended from Bethel, Goshen (Ind.) College, Eastern Mennonite Seminary, EMU and Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary-Great Plains, as well as one student who came via Canadian Mennonite University. “It was exciting to have students meeting scholars who are working in areas [they’ve studied],” Jantzen says. “We also had several graduate students as presenters.” Both planners say they feel satisfied their goals for the conference were met. “We want to create awareness, particularly in North America, of European Mennonite history after the 16th century,” Sprunger says. “We also wanted to get scholars working in the period from different geographical areas together.” “We had a goal of getting non-Mennonites to look at Mennonite history – and apparently, they are,” Jantzen says, and Sprunger adds, “The interaction between Mennonite and non-Mennonite scholars was another interesting aspect of the conference.” “This kind of gathering is close to unprecedented at Bethel on this international level,” says Jantzen, noting that the last major conference at the college, Anabaptism for the New Millennium, took place in 2000. The first goal will be further advanced with publication of the conference papers in book form, though that will likely not be for a couple of years. “We’re finding better ways to understand European history by understanding Mennonite history,” Jantzen says, “and [adding to] Mennonite history by bringing in broader European history.”
About the Geology/Earth Science Major There is so much more to geology and earth science than just rocks. As a geologist, you'll study the Earth's composition, minerals, resources, natural processes, and use that knowledge to unlock its secrets. If you love solving a good mystery, enjoy the outdoors, and want to help man use the planet's vast resources more wisely, majoring in geology might be a good option for you. Before you arrive at college, you should think about what your level of study will be. Although a bachelor's degree in geology/earth science will ensure that you will indeed have work opportunities after graduation, an advanced degree will give you the chance to work in research positions or teach at a college. If you chose to pursue an advanced degree, you will need to choose from one the many specialties in geology, such as volcanology, oceanography, seismology, paleontology, mineralogy, and hydrology, among others. Once your undergraduate studies begin, you'll discover that the geology/earth science major is not a traditional college major. A geologist lives in three worlds: the classroom, the lab, and the field. As a student, your courses will include petrology, geology, mineralogy, and many other topics. You will spend time in the lab using spectrophotometers, magnetometers, and other tools to analyze the specimens you gathered and analytical/scientific software to record the results. You may also use computer-aided design, map creation, graphics/photo imaging, or database/query as part of your work. In lab classes, you may have the opportunity to participate in field trips where you will extract real samples for further analysis in the lab. Although a bachelor's degree in geology and earth science can lead to work opportunities, an advanced degree will open up research or teaching positions. If you have a particular specialty you'd like to focus in, advancing your education will allow you to gain more knowledge in this area.
Source(s): Australian Electoral Commission, Federal Election Reports STANDING FOR OFFICE Standing for public office is a form of political participation. The number of candidates who stand for public office can indicate both public interest and motivation in standing for election, as well as commitment from political parties in selecting and supporting candidates to stand in elections. However, it is not possible to gauge the diversity or quality of candidates from information on the number of candidates. Between 1993 and 2007, the number of candidates standing for election at Australian federal elections increased. Over 1,400 candidates (1,013 men and 407 women) stood for election at the 2007 federal parliamentary election (1,054 for the House of Representatives, and 367 for the Senate), compared with around 1,200 in 1993. During this period the number of seats in the House of Representatives increased by three from 147 to 150, accounting for some of this change (AEC 2009). There has also been an increase in the number of political parties supporting candidates in elections. In 2007, 46 political parties fielded candidates compared with 35 in 1993 (AEC 2009). Previous Page \| Next Page These documents will be presented in a new window. Want to help us improve our website? Follow us on...
First ADA female president dies at 86 March 22, 2017 — Dr. Geraldine Morrow, the ADA's first female president, died March 20. She was 86. Dr. Morrow, a general dentist in Anchorage, Alaska, served as president from 1991-92. She was also the first female trustee of the ADA, beginning her term in 1984. "She was a role model for many young women," said her son Doug Morrow. "She was devoted, fearless, and determined. Anything she could do to encourage and support dentistry, she did." Dr. Morrow served six years as the ADA 11th District trustee, representing Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. She spent six years on the former Council on Dental Health and Health Planning, which she chaired from 1983-84. Dr. Morrow was also president and executive director of the Alaska Dental Society and a 10-year delegate to the ADA House of Delegates. In addition, she was president and membership chair of the Alaska Academy of General Dentistry. In 1987, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree from the Georgetown University School of Dentistry. In 1991 the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry (now the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry) awarded her an honorary doctorate of public service degree. In 1992, she received an honorary degree from her alma mater, Tufts University. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Morrow was affiliated with the University of Alaska, Anchorage. For five years, she was coordinator of the dental hygiene and dental assistant program at the university's Anchorage Community College and later served as the school's director of allied health sciences. In that capacity, she developed new programs and curricula in respiratory therapy, medical X-ray technology, and medical transcribing. "Gerry Morrow broke America's glass ceiling," said Dr. George E. Shaffer, former president of the Alaska Dental Society. "Her success came at a time when dentistry was beginning to evolve as a profession that welcomed women as equals. She was a pioneer and championed the cause of equality. We should show our appreciation to her by being active in organized dentistry in our own way. Gerry would want us all to continue to work for the improvement of dental health and we who deliver it." Dr. Morrow was born Oct. 12, 1930, and was a resident of Wasilla, Alaska, at the time of her passing. She retired at the age of 80 after years spent in contract work for the state of Alaska for underserved residents. Dr. Morrow served on the board of the National Foundation of Dentistry for the Handicapped (now the Dental Lifeline Network), and was the mother of four: Doug, Nancy, Joyce and Lora. Two daughters followed in their mother's footsteps: Nancy became a dentist in California and Joyce is a nurse at the Alaska Native Hospital. Services will be held at Sunny Knik Chapel in Wasilla on April 7 at 11 a.m. Viewing will be at Evergreen Memorial Chapel in downtown Anchorage at 3 p.m., with a graveside service following at Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.
Allergies are a common affliction in our lives. An allergic reaction occurs when a specific substance, called an allergen comes in contact with our skin, our lungs having breathed in the allergen or when we ingest the offending substance while eating. Many allergic reactions can be mild resulting in a minor skin rash or a case of a runny nose and watery eyes and allergic reactions can be severe life threatening experiences. It is not clear why some people can be allergic to some materials and other people not but it is believed that genetics plays a role as well as prior exposure to the allergen. As mentioned allergic reaction symptoms vary. Seasonal allergies that are allergies to grass, pollen and mould cause symptoms similar to that of the common cold. Other allergic symptoms may result in skin swellings (hives) that commonly itch like multiple mosquito bites. More severe symptoms can include difficulty in breathing, a drop in blood pressure and unconsciousness. It is also important to realize that any side effect of a given drug or material is not necessarily an allergic reaction- it is a side effect and with some modifications that material or drug can still be used safely and comfortably. Fortunately in a dental office most patients who have allergies to a particular substance are already aware of what materials they need to avoid. Therefore it is very important to tell the Dentist and the dental staff clearly to what they are allergic. Since allergies are often have a family history it can be helpful to mention this as well. Some materials in a dental office have been found to cause allergic reactions in certain people and the more common ones are: Latex. Latex is the rubbery material found in many medical gloves and certain plastics. Medicines. Allergies to certain local anesthetics and to certain ingredients that accompany the anesthetics. Nickel. This metal is found in certain orthodontic braces parts and in crowns or caps that have a low gold content. It is important to realize that for the vast majority of materials and medicines there are safe alternatives that ultimately will accomplish the same goals as the originally considered materials. In summary, communicate with the dentist and staff if you have had allergic reactions in the past and if you are not feeling well after a procedure, even a simple professional tooth cleaning, and even if the concerns are hours after one’s appointment. We are dedicated to your safety and comfort. David Silberman DDS FAGD General, Cosmetic Dentistry and Orthodontics, for Adults and Children
How much CO2 from human activity enters the ocean? The world’s oceans are growing more acidic as carbon emissions from the modern world are absorbed by the sea. A new film, “A Sea Change,” explores what this changing chemistry means for fish and the one billion people who rely on them for food. This first-ever documentary about ocean acidification is told through the eyes of a retired history teacher who reads about the problem in a piece in The New Yorker and is inspired to find out more. His quest takes him to Alaska, California, Washington and Norway to talk with oceanographers, climatologists and others.
Undergraduate Course: Island Worlds: prehistoric societies in the western Mediterranean from Malta to Minorca (ARCA10061) \|School\|\|School of History, Classics and Archaeology \|\|College\|\|College of Humanities and Social Science \|Credit level (Normal year taken)\|\|SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) \|\|Availability\|\|Available to all students \|Summary\|\|The course investigates a range of island societies, mainly in the Mediterranean, in selected prehistoric periods (from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age). With particular reference to a selection of islands (normally including, but not limited to, Cyprus, Malta, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics) we examine the earliest human colonisation of islands, and certain periods of conspicuous cultural development, such as the 'temple' period on Malta, and the Nuraghic and Talayotic phases in Sardinia and the Balearics. A range of evidence is considered, primarily from archaeological sites, including monumental architecture, figurines and symbolic visual imagery. We evaluate explanations for cultural change in the light of theoretical propositions and debates about island worlds as specific and potentially divergent entities, or laboratories, variously stimulated by isolation or contact. Mediterranean islands, especially in prehistory, are sometimes regarded as laboratories of cultural change, where distinctive societies emerged in response to external stimuli or periods of isolation, while adapting to often fragile or circumscribed environments. This course first considers the potential in theory and practice for such a thing as island archaeology and investigates some recurrent themes, starting with island colonisations, and their implications. We continue with a series of case studies, focusing on those island societies that seem to have differed most strikingly from their mainland counterparts. One example is Malta in the so-called temple period (circa 3500-2400 BC), which is often regarded as a good example of very unusual cultural development in an isolated context. Sardinia in the Bronze Age is another island with remarkable stone architecture (most notably the Nuragic towers), along with advanced metal working as well as evidence for international contacts (oxhide ingots, Mycenaean pottery). Other case studies help to assess periods of conspicuous cultural development in the light of current theories and debates about, for example, socio-cultural evolution and identity, insularity versus connectivity. Finally, we consider one of the most iconic of the world's islands - Easter Island in the Pacific - and some controversies surrounding its significance for island archaeology. The course comprises eleven class meetings (22 contact hours) and is equivalent to 20 credits. About 100 student study hours are recommended. Classes consist of single sessions, separated by a 5-minute interval, usually incorporating short presentations (20-40 minutes), discussion sessions (10-20 minutes) and some group-based collaborative work. Students may volunteer or be asked to give presentations (usually 10 minutes max, not assessed). Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students) \|\|Other requirements\|\| Pre-requisites: Archaeology 2A and 2B, or Honours entry to degrees in Classics, or equivalent. \|Additional Costs\|\| None. Information for Visiting Students \|Pre-requisites\|\|Visiting students should have at least 3 Archaeology courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. \|High Demand Course? Course Delivery Information \|Academic year 2018/19, Available to all students (SV1) \|Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Lecture Hours 22, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours \|Assessment (Further Info) \|Additional Information (Assessment) \|\|- Essay of 2500 words (50%) - Written review of 1000 words (20%) - Power point slide presentation comprising 8 slides with attached lecture notes, 800-1000 words (as pdf/word doc) (30%) \|\|Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours or by appointment. \|No Exam Information On completion of this course, the student will be able to: - Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, command of the body of knowledge considered in the course; - Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship; - Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, an ability to understand, evaluate and utilise a variety of primary source material; - Demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence; - Demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers. \|Braudel, F. 1972. The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. Berkeley and London.\| Broodbank, C. 2000. An Island Archaeology of the Cyclades. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Broodbank, C. 2006. The Origins and Early Development of Mediterranean Maritime Activity. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 19(2), 199-230. Broodbank, C. 2013. The Making of the Middle Sea. A History of the Mediterranean from the Beginning to the Emergence of the Classical World. Thames and Hudson. Cherry, J.F. 2004. Mediterranean island prehistory: what's different and what's new? In S. Fitzpatrick (ed), Voyages of discovery. The archaeology of islands: 233-248. Westport, Praeger. Evans, J.D. 1977. Island archaeology in the Mediterranean: problems and opportunities. World Archaeology, 9: 12-26. Fitzpatrick, S. 2004 (ed). Voyages of discovery. The archaeology of islands. Westport, Praeger. Patton, M. 1996. Islands in Time. Island sociogeography and Mediterranean prehistory. London and New York: Routledge. Rainbird, P. 1999. Islands out of time: towards a critique of island archaeology. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 12: 216-234. Rainbird, P. 2007. The Archaeology of Islands. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Robb, J. 2001. Island identities: ritual, travel and the creation of difference in Neolithic Malta. European Journal of Archaeology 4: 175-202. Skeates, R. 2010. An Archaeology of the Senses. Prehistoric Malta. Oxford, Oxford University Press. \|Graduate Attributes and Skills \|\|Gather information organize it coherently. Compare differing sets of data and draw conclusions from them. Critically evaluate different approaches and explanations. Express ideas and arguments clearly orally and in writing. Show independence, initiative, integrity and maturity in working with others, including peers, e.g. in group discussions or presentations. Self-direct and organize learning, manage workload and work to a timetable. \|Additional Class Delivery Information \|\|One 2-hour long meeting per week over 11 weeks, comprising a combination of short lectures, presentations and discussion sessions. \|Course organiser\|\|Dr Robert Leighton Tel: (0131 6)50 8197 \|Course secretary\|\|Miss Sara Dennison Tel: (0131 6)50 2501
By doing little things that inspire their kids to give back, parents can bestow a legacy of generosity that will improve the quality of life for their children and their community. A new national survey, commissioned by Imagine Canada, sends a powerful message of hope for our future. A majority of Canadian parents (89%) believe it’s important to inspire their kids to give to charities. Eight-in-ten (79%) also see charitable giving as an essential holiday season experience for their children and teenagers. Other key findings: - 82% understand children or teenagers who regularly give to charities are more likely to grow up to become happy, caring individuals - 89% agree it is important that children and teenagers understand that charitable giving benefits everyone by making communities stronger - 77% believe it’s important to provide their children with opportunities and encouragement to give a portion of their allowance to charities of their own choice This broad recognition of the value of raising kind and generous children has enormous implications. Imagine a future where the next generation stands up in vast numbers to support charity. Ours would be a society in which everyone is valued and no one gets left behind. When you think about it, empathy is one of the most important life-skills we can give our children. In very real ways, our future quality of life depends on it. Here then are 10 ways to raise charitable children: 1. Talk to your kids about giving back Charitable giving should be regularly discussed. Emphasize to your children and teenagers you expect consideration for others. Whenever they give back, acknowledge them. Get the ball rolling by holding a family meeting to set a giving strategy. (Hint: the holidays are the perfect time!) 2. Be a role model When you give or volunteer, make sure your children are aware of your gift. Describe the personal satisfaction that comes from helping others and involve them in your giving decisions. 3. Align giving with your child’s interests Children and teenagers will gravitate to charities that reflect their interests. If your daughter loves to read, suggest an organization that advances literacy. If your son is athletic, recommend a charity that helps less fortunate kids acquire sports equipment. If your teenager cares about the environment, propose a “green” cause. 4. Encourage your kids to connect with charities Getting to know a charity is the best way to understand its true impact. Direct engagement also significantly increases the likelihood of a long-term commitment. Suggest going online, attending events and personal contact to ask questions. The most effective charities always welcome inquiries and dialogue. 5. Set a budget Teach your children from an early age to give a portion of their allowance to a charity of their choice. The classic technique is to label containers “save”, “spend” and “give”. Then help your kids decide what percentage of their money should be allocated to each container. When enough money is saved ($10 is sufficient), let them donate. 6. Expose your kids to the real world When disasters strike or difficult community issues arise, talk to your kids about the hardship being experienced and how they can help. This could involve assisting the most vulnerable in your community or donating to a hurricane or earthquake relief fund. Opening your children’s eyes to hardship makes them understand how fortunate they are and realize they can make a difference. 7. Encourage volunteerism Generosity is not just about donating funds. It’s also about personal involvement and engagement. Volunteering can be the most powerful empathy-building experience of all. A great way to amplify the impact of volunteering is to get them to talk about how they feel about the experience. 8. Make giving back a family or a group event The holidays are all about the spirit of giving. Find a cause and volunteer as a family. With teenagers, you can also encourage them to organize a group of friends to help out. Volunteering at a homeless shelter or food bank, for example, will make your family holiday experience unforgettable and create memories that will last a life-time. 9. Give year round Instilling philanthropy as a life-long value requires regular acts of generosity. Look beyond the holidays for opportunities. A great way to do this is to encourage your kids to establish a relationship with a charity and donate and volunteer over time. 10. Keep the end goal in sight Stay focused on the idea that it’s all about inspiring compassion as an intuitive reaction. Remember charitable kids become adults who create goodness within their families, personal circles and communities. They, in turn, will bestow their own legacy of generosity to their kids. This holiday season give your kids the gift of generosity by inspiring them to donate, volunteer and engage with their charity of choice. Over time, we can all make Canada the best place in the world to raise a family. Do you have more questions about giving to charity? Visit our Guide to Giving for tips and information to help make more meaningful contributions to the causes most important to you. #givinglegacy
13 September 2021 The Greeks have a word for it (24) Telephone I remember on holidays in Greece in the 1980s and 1990s queuing up to use the one public telephone in a village or on a street corner. Long before that, I remember queueing in the 1960s to use one of only two pay-phones in dark cubicles on a corridor in my school. Many old telephone booths throughout Ireland and England have been converted into other uses, included village book exchanges – there is an inspiring one in Wall, near Lichfield –defibrillator stations, or for commercial uses, such as one advertising an estate agent in Cambridge. I am surprised that an old ‘cardphone’ still survives here in Platanias, on a street corner beside the taxi rank, the local periptero or street kiosk, and the local bakery. I cannot remember how to use a ‘cardphone,’ although I am sure I could buy a ‘phonecard’ in the kiosk. But I can remember that the word telephone has come into English vocabulary as an invented word derived from the Greek τῆλε (tēle, ‘far’) and φωνή (phōnē, ‘voice’), giving a name that means ‘distant voice’ to a relatively new invention. Think: telegram, telegraph, telepathy … Think: saxophone, megaphone, microphone … or even symphony. The first part of the word, despite what some people say, does not come from the Greek word τέλος (telos), meaning an end, purpose, or goal – perhaps even the supreme end of human endeavour, as in teleology. The word telephone does not suggest ‘talking to someone at the end’ of the line, as I have heard some people suggest. Indeed, the first E in telos and tele- are different vowel sounds in Greek: E (epsilon, a short vowel) and Η (eta, a long vowel). And not knowing the difference probably explains the irritating decision to change the official Irish spelling of the word from telefón to teileafón. The Irish Times reported last week that the change has been made to 20 new phone boxes that have popped up across Dublin in recent weeks. A spokeswoman for Eir said the change had been made in consultation with Foras na Gaeilge, the body responsible for promoting the Irish language. She told Conor Pope of The Irish Times: ‘Telefón would have been the phonetic Gaelicisation of the English word telephone when telephones were first introduced in Ireland.’ But the word telephone is not English in its origins, and the new word sounds like ‘pigeon Irish’ that shows complete ignorance of the meaning of the Greek words from which it is derived. I shudder to think of the phonetic challenges of trying to explain the origins of this invented word to people with no classical foundations.
When Yaffa Leah Field was in her late 20s, she decided to undergo genetic testing. Her grandmother had had breast cancer, and Field wanted to know whether she was among the one of every 40 Jewish women of Ashkenazi descent with either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic mutations, which make them extra susceptible to breast cancer. If she did have one of those mutations, her chances of developing breast cancer by age 70 would be roughly 50% in her lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The test came back negative,” said Field, now 43 and the mother of three boys. Though temporarily relieved, she knew that breast cancer risk is not limited to those with the genetic mutations. Roughly one in eight women will develop the disease in their lifetime, and men, too, can have breast cancer. Close monitoring, therefore, is essential. For women, that means not only regularly checking their breasts themselves for lumps or abnormalities, but getting mammograms. The question is when to start. Field, who now works at Sharsheret, the national Jewish nonprofit that offers education, counseling and support to women facing breast and ovarian cancer, got her professional start as a physician’s assistant, so she knew how important it was to “do my screening on time.” But what exactly “on time” means has been the subject of much debate and disagreement. The question came to the fore again this spring when a panel of experts serving on the United States Preventive Services Task Force revised earlier guidelines and changed the recommended age that women get their first mammograms to 40, from 50, and suggested that they continue to have mammograms done once every two years. It’s not the first time the recommendation has changed. “In 2016 the US Task Force changed the guidelines from 40 to 50,” said Dr. Caryn Gamss, a radiologist at Murray Hill Radiology in Manhattan. Gamss is also a member of Sharsheret’s Medical Advisory Board. In her practice, Gamss adheres to guidelines from the American College of Radiology that recommend starting yearly screenings at age 40 provided a person has no risk factors. “Fifty is too late,” Gamss says. Even waiting until age 40 can be risky, as recent studies have shown high breast cancer mortality rates for women in that age group, she noted. “People need to think about it younger instead of waiting and then finding out ‘My mother had cancer, my grandmother …’ — and they show up at 40 and have cancer, too,” Gamss said. She recommends that all women undergo a breast cancer risk assessment by age 25. That entails answering a panel of questions that covers one’s family and medical history. Among other things, the assessment inquires whether a person had “a biopsy and a high-risk lesion; breast density, if someone has lymphoma and was treated under the age of 25; if someone got upper abdominal radiation before age 25.” The responses to these questions help doctors determine when and how individual patients should be screened — including whether to do MRIs and ultrasounds to supplement mammograms, for example. At-risk women should start their 30s armed with information and a plan. Short of that, there is what Peggy Cottrell, Sharsheret’s genetics program manager, calls a general rule of thumb: “If breast cancer has been diagnosed at a particular age, you want to start screening 10 years before that. So if someone’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 45, that person is going to start screening at 35.” Avoiding smoking and alcohol, exercising and a good diet are important to maintaining good health, Cottrell notes, but perhaps the biggest factor is chance. In fact, hereditary cancers like those caused by BRCA mutations account for only 15% of all breast cancers; most occur for reasons unknown. That makes screening all the more essential. “For many women, knowing there is something they can do that can reduce their risk motivates them,” she said. Many women delay getting mammograms out of fear of the results, nervousness about the process or just general anxiety. This is another area where Sharsheret provides women with help and guidance – even in the waiting room. For doctors to interpret mammograms properly, they require two specific views of each breast. Sometimes, technicians need to take more than four photos to ensure they get those views; it doesn’t mean anything is wrong. Even if you’re asked to come for a follow-up mammogram – what’s known as a diagnostic mammogram – it just means that more imaging is required, not that there’s necessarily a problem. Sometimes doctors observe a change in appearance from the prior year or a fold in the skin; other times the original image failed to capture the necessary view. Likewise, for some younger women and those with dense breasts, a mammogram may not suffice; doctors may require an ultrasound or MRI to examine the breast adequately. Adina Fleischmann, a social worker who serves as Sharsheret’s chief services officer, recommends that each individual discuss their own circumstances with their health care provider. Sharsheret tries to promote awareness of the importance of getting breast cancer risk assessments and to provide guidance to women about what to ask. “We want to make sure that each woman who reaches out is able to ask the right questions: How often should I be screened? What’s the most appropriate screening method for me? Questions about what breast density means and how it can impact them,” Fleischmann said. “Those are the tools we want to give to our women.” Women seeking guidance are encouraged to call Sharsheret toll-free at 866 474-2774 to connect with therapists and genetic counselors. Sharsheret also offers peer-to-peer support, programs to guide cancer patients on how to talk about their illness with their children and support to people who have a family member with breast cancer, including financial assistance for non-medical services critical to women’s quality of life and body image, such as acquiring wigs. Sharsheret also hosts live events such as barbecues, online yoga classes, family fun runs and other programs to empower women with cancer and foster a sense of community. The education and awareness programming Sharsheret runs start as early as high school and college campuses, such as an annual Pink Day that includes grassroots fundraising events at hundreds of campuses worldwide. “Sharsheret is here to arm you with education and to let you know that you’re not alone,” Fleischmann said. “Cancer screening, and the knowledge that comes along with it, can be empowering. By speaking with your healthcare provider about the screening guidelines that are most appropriate for you, you are taking a step toward your best health.” As for Field, she went for her first baseline mammogram at age 40 — in the spring of 2020, just as COVID hit and the world masked up and locked down. The doctors identified something suspicious. “It started a roller coaster of diagnostic testing. I wound up with eight biopsies and, in the end, I had a bilateral mastectomy,” Field said after cancer was identified. “I feel thankful it was found very early.” Her advice: Know your body and your family history. “Breast cancer doesn’t just affect women 40 and older,” Field said. “Know your potential risks. Empower yourself to know what you need to be aware of. It shouldn’t be a shock. Be appropriately proactive.” “And most importantly, when you reach the age when it’s recommended, get screened,” Field said. “It may be uncomfortable for a few minutes, but it’ll give you peace of mind.” T This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Sharsheret, the national Jewish breast cancer and ovarian cancer organization.
Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum During and after World War II, the struggle for civil rights was not only an appeal for equality before the law, but also equality in housing and at the workplace. The civil rights movement sought racial equality for African Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, and Native Americans. Labor organizers found some common ground with the civil rights movement, but internal differences and external resistance created tension between these two forces. The civil rights movement led to other movements for social change as individuals realized they could challenge authority in all walks of life. Americans voiced and debated new ideas about freedom, equality, democracy, identity, war, and peace. During the sixties and seventies, there was a grassroots call for "more democracy" in all areas of life. This effort emphasized a change in cultural expectations and norms in education, religion, the workplace, and local communities. Students called for a participatory democracy by reaffirming their rights to express themselves on college campuses. University governments brought on students to their boards, and middle managers and union workers served on corporate boards. The women's movement played an important role in the call for more democracy as they sought fair pay, equal opportunity, comparable spending on collegiate sports programs, and control over their own bodies. The call for greater democracy also extended to protecting environmental and consumer rights as individuals successfully challenged the government and business to protect the safety and welfare of the public.
A German meets a Dane. The Dane is reading out a passage from his book, in German. Time and again, Danish words creep in – Danishisms as he called them. However, the German understands them. Indeed, they sound so lovely to him, so fitting, that he suggests integrating the words straightaway into the German language. As a “sisterly gift”, as he calls them. The German in this little story is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. And the Dane is Adam Oehlenschläger. This meeting of our two national poets took place just over two hundred years ago. Weimar and Jena were the meeting places for Danish and German intellectuals at that time. The intellectual affinity was profound, as was the curiosity about each other. Literature, architecture or education – there were few fields in which Germans and Danes did not inspire each other. Ladies and gentlemen, Just a few kilometres from Weimer lies the Ettersberg. 130 years after the meeting between Goethe and Oehlenschläger, Buchenwald concentration camp was built there. A copy of the camp gate can be seen in this exhibition. It bears the words: “To each his due”. It is so hard to comprehend that only time separated the intellectual flight of Weimar Classicism from the abyss of German crimes against humanity. These crimes cast a shadow over German-Danish relations for a long time. It is no wonder then that for a long time Germany was merely a transit country for many Danes. A country they had to cross to reach the South as quickly as possible. And even today, it is still a bold undertaking here in Copenhagen to turn the spotlight on Germany and, without any restrictions as regards themes, simply choose “Tyskland” as the title. And to ask quite openly: what is this Germany between Romanticism and National Socialism, between Reformation and economic miracle? One of my counterparts once said to me, “Every time I think I’ve understood Germany, it changes again.” I told him, “We in Germany feel the same way.” The Germany we know today did not emerge until exactly 30 years ago with the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989, an event we will be celebrating for the 30th time tomorrow. However, even this Germany is still in the process of growing together as we in Germany are currently realising in a very, very intensive and sometimes also very, very difficult manner. And it is also in the process of finding its role in Europe. This exhibition takes a look at this country of tumultuous changes, of contradictions. We regard the fact that you are opening this exhibition here today in your National Museum as a “sisterly gift”. It is a gift which touches us and which we greatly appreciate. It has been made possible by people for whom the friendship between Danes and Germans has been a matter those to their hearts for many years. People like you, Your Majesty. You have long since been a good friend, adviser and mentor to our country. That is why people’s hearts always go out to you on your many trips to Germany. We are deeply honoured by your presence today, by your attachment to our country. Tusind tak, Deres Majestæt! I would also like to thank you, Rane Willerslev, for your courage in showcasing this exhibition so prominently in this wonderful museum. That was by no means a given. Allow me to express my sincere gratitude for that! And, of course, I would like to thank the Sportgoods Foundation for making this exhibition possible. It has been working for decades to promote reconciliation and peaceful coexistence in Europe and the world. The fact that your founder, Christian Helmer Jørgensen, was himself a survivor of German concentration camps makes us all the more grateful – and the gift of this exhibition all the more precious. Ladies and gentlemen, Not only Danes will have an opportunity in the coming months to see us, your southern neighbours, in a new light. For we Germans will also get a chance to re-examine our image of Denmark. Today, together with my colleague Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod, I will be opening the German-Danish Cultural Year of Friendship with countless events which cross boundaries in every sense. Copenhagen is the European capital which can be reached most quickly by direct flight from Berlin. Transforming this geographical proximity into even closer interpersonal ties – Goethe would perhaps say: into sisterly love – is the aim of this year of friendship. Above all, therefore, I hope that this exhibition will attract a large number of curious visitors! For it was intellectual curiosity which led Oehlenschläger and Goethe to discover the beauty of each other’s language, the Germanisms and Danishisms. And one thing is still true today: there is still much room in German hearts and minds for Danishisms. Thank you very much.
Top boffin Stephen Hawking has decided to host a party for time travellers. The only problem is that he has actually held the party four years ago at Cambridge university in 2009 and no one showed up. Hawking has created a new invitation which will survive for many thousands of years. “Maybe one day someone in the future will find the information and use a wormhole time machine to come back to my party, proving time travel will, one day, be possible,” Hawking said. The fact that the event has now happened and no one attended would be a fixed point in time. Therefore, if a future time traveller does see the invite now and travels back they will have to change the past. This act will require a rewriting of physics, because current thinking is that you cannot change the past. It would be possible that some time travellers did see the invite and attend the party and create a parallel universe where this event happened. It would also mean that it would be very difficult for us to prove this every happened. People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually, from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint, “it’s more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly… timey-wimey… stuff”, someone else once said. [That is enough leading edge physics.Ed]
Obesity is a medical condition in which there is excessive accumulation of fat in the body. When the fat is in excess, it may lead to adverse health problem. According to world health organization (WHO), 2.8 million people are dying every year due to obesity1. In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults, 18 years and older, were overweight. Now a day’s prevalence obesity has significantly increased in children also. According to the latest data, around 41 million children under the age of 5 were overweight or obese in 2014 When the body mass index (BMI) of the person is more than 23kg/m2 they are overweight and when BMI is more than 28, they are having obesity. BMI is one of the parameters to assess the degree of obesity. It is dividing a person's weight by the square of the person's height. You can calculate your BMI by using software given above Overweight and obesity may adversely affect health. It can cause or associated with number medical disease , particularly cardiovascular diseases (hypertension,heart attack, paralysis), type 2 diabetes mellitus, liver diseases, obstructive sleep apnoea, cancer, osteoarthritis andasthma. As a result, obesity has been found to reduce life expectancy. Obesity is a preventable medical condition. Life style modification in term of proper diet and exercise is the best way to prevent obesity and its consequence. Main treatment of obesity consist of proper balanced diet plan and exercise. Prescribed Diet plan may help to produce weight loss over the short period of time, but maintaining this weight loss is most of the time difficult and often requires making exercise and a lower food energy diet a permanent part of a person's lifestyle. There are certain medication available and approved by US FDA for weight reduction. These are phentermine, topiramate, lorcaserine, liraglutide etc. these medication has to be taken under supervision of doctor after discussion of its effect as well as side effects. Various surgery are being done for weight reduction are called Bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery is the most effective way of managening weight. It may reduce your weight by 50-60% within a short span. Although the risk of procedure has reduced dramatically now a days but, the cost and irreversibility is the main concern. Normal 18.5 to 22.9
Pembrokeshire island reclaims bird observatory status An island off Pembrokeshire is celebrating reclaiming its status as a vitally important bird observatory. Skokholm Island was the very first bird observatory to be established in Britain back in 1933. But the researching and ringing of birds ceased in 1976. However the island was bought by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales - and Sunday will see the trust realise its vision for the island to become an official bird observatory once again. "It is vitally important, because Skokholm was the very first bird observatory ever established," explained the conservationist and Welsh wildlife expert, Iolo Williams. "It has been some 30-plus years since that all changed, but now we can finally reopen the island as an observatory once again. "It is a momentous occasion." Skokholm lies 2.5 miles (4km) off the Pembrokeshire coast, and was once part of the Dale Estate. It was leased by Cardiff-born ornithologist Ronald Lockley in 1927, and by 1933 he had turned the island into the UK's very first bird observatory. The running of the island was taken over by the forerunner of the Wildlife Trust in 1948, and in 2007 the trust purchased the island for £600,000. A year later, it was declared a national nature reserve, and the whole 106 hectares (260 acres) of the island is an officially designated Site of Special Scientific Interest. Since purchasing the island, the trust and volunteers have been restoring buildings on the island, including Lockley's former cottage and the island lighthouse. The area around the lighthouse is of international importance, as it has nearly 3,000 burrows used by Manx shearwater birds - making it almost certainly the densest shearwater colony in the world. In fact, along with nearby Skomer, the two islands are believed to be home to half the world's Manx shearwaters. Skokholm is also an important environment for storm petrels, and for greater black-backed and herring gulls. Regaining its observatory status means the island rejoins a network of 18 other observatories around the UK coast, including another Welsh island - Bardsey off the Llyn coast of Gwynedd. The observatories work to record migration patterns, bird populations, and developing conservation policies and scientific research. "To have Skokholm back as a bird observatory, it really is a landmark day for all those involved," added naturalist, Williams, who will be taking part in the official ceremony to mark the regained status for the island later on Sunday.
Indian Tiger is Associated To Hindu Goddess Durga Indian Tiger is considered as the guardian of the jungle, carrier of the Mother Goddess and the creator of the rain. He is capable of controlling the drought and can even invoke Indra, the God of Thunder and Rain. The Indian Tiger can protect, guard, and kill if he finds someone breaking the laws of the jungle. From Siberia to Sumatra, the tiger is perceived as an icon of strength, speed and agility. The Indian Tiger is in fact seen as Gods officer on special duty, protecting the young, healing the sick, and punishing the culprits. In India tigers are revered to such an extent that in the mid-seventies there was a movie chalked out an entirely new deity Sheronwali Ma mother goddess that rides tigers. The movie soon became an obsession with the entire nation, and for several months devotees showered the silver screen with coins and other offerings. Another incarnation of the Mother Goddess, Durga, is always seen depicted as riding a tiger. Goddess Durga is portrayed as being as a collective force of all the Gods to fight the evil power of the demon Mahishasur. Possessing joint powers of all the Gods, GoddessDurga chose the tiger as her vehicle for reasons most obvious. The Tiger Dance Celebration All along the coastline regions in the Southern parts India, there is a tradition of Tiger dance, to celebrate the birth of Lord Krishna on Janmashtami. On this day, in these areas men of all ages paint themselves with black stripes over a yellow base, wear tiger masks and dance in the streets. In some areas, like the small town of Udupi in Karnataka, special tiger dancing contests are held and the winners are rewarded with handsome prizes. One wonders what prompted this strange tradition in these areas, perhaps the desire to be like a tiger strong, clever and agile. Sunderbands – The Major Tiger Hub in India Sunderbans, in the eastern part of India is an area, where even though about half of the tiger population has mauled humans, the animal still enjoys reverence. Any assault or even harm of life is seen as a result of some misbehavior by the affected, in the present or prior birth, for which he or she is punished by the tiger. It can even be by his or her intrusion into the territory of the Indian Tiger, by breaking the laws of the jungle, by cutting green trees or just by harming some species. In the paintings of Warlis, a tribe residing north of Bombay, the tiger is depicted as a warm and friendly animal sitting or passing through the village. Warlis have always had faith in their tiger god, the Baghadeva. Carved wooden statues of tigers with the sun, moon and the milky-way in the background can be seen all over their habitat. Warlis believe that the tiger is supreme to all other organisms and that the universe exists only because the Tiger is there. The Belief of North-East Naga Tribes In the north-east region of the country, Nagas believe that both man and the tiger are sons of the same mother. Although siblings, one took birth in the shape of a man and the other in the form of the striped tiger. Man stayed at home while the tiger went to the jungle. Later, due to some reason, the brothers were forced to fight against each other. Man forced the tiger to jump into the river and killed him. Floating downstream, the animal body was discovered by the Naga God, who sat on it for 10 years and gave birth to hundreds of tigers. All over its habitat, the Indian Tiger and shades of its existence can be seen finely woven with the local culture and tradition. All over, one comes across thousands of anecdotes about the beast; both inspiring and terrifying. All over India one can find images, statues, and paintings of the tiger, yet this beautiful animal is in constant danger from the human race whose inborn nature is to defy while admiring. While getting down from an elephant in the National parks disappointed, one often comes across a wildlife board “Don’t be disappointed if you could not see the tiger, the tiger sure would have seen you”. This very character makes the tiger different from the other big cats the ability to hide and merge in the surroundings. This is also one of the major survival techniques adopted by the tiger. Unlike lion, Indian Tiger leads a very solitary life, hunts alone, lives and replicates in the areas that provide him enough cover. It is believed that when God made the tiger he made stealth and invisibility the two main characteristics of this fascinating Lord of the Jungle. But there is a catch. While a tiger lies in the bush it is almost impossible to see that it stays perfectly still without a sound. Except for its tail, which he can never hold still however hard it tries. Scientific evidence suggests that the tigers first originated in Siberia. Fossil records dating from the Pleistocene period found in the Chigar caves of the New Siberian Islands indicate that the sabre-toothed tiger lived there some three million years ago. The last tiger of this species became extinct just 10,000 years ago. and its descendents started expanding their horizons, shifting more southwards ultimately finding their best home in the Indian Subcontinent. Today biologists identify eight subspecies the Royal Bengal Tiger, the Siberian, the Caspian, the Javan, the Sumatran, the Chinese, the Indo-Chinese and the Balinese. Today the Caspian and the Balinese species are extinct while a lot of survival-pressure is still on the other six subspecies. Tigers are very rugged and can survive in a variety of environmental situations, ranging from dry and arid to high-altitude, cold and Himalayan regions. In India, the animal is found in the mangrove forest of Sunderbans, the hot and arid jungles of Rajasthan, the wet and evergreen northeast India and the swampy reedlands of the Terai. According to an estimate there were at least 50,000 tigers in India alone in the 19th century. By the turn of the century 40,000 tigers were estimated in India, but the plight of this royal beast became evident when the All India Tiger census revealed that only 1800 members of the species were living in 1972. Tiger once the symbol of Indian wilderness, and shooting (of course with guns from quite a safe distance) them was taken to be a symbol of heroism. Over a few centuries, the tiger was mercilessly slaughtered by all trying to prove their manhood. Documents show that more than 20,000 tigers were shot between 1860-1960. The actual figures no doubt would be much more than this. To add to this, indiscriminate and insensitive development further took its toll on the King of the Jungle. An obvious change in the attitude of the people was also registered. Many tribes, for whom Indian Tiger was once symbol of life, force and justice, started working against it by helping shikaris and the fur-traders. But before it was too late, the government under pressure from biologists and tiger lovers from all over the world pressed the panic button and Project Tiger was launched in India. India is now involved in a massive conservation effort covering over 300 national parks and sanctuaries and accounting for over 12% of India’s total forest cover. According to the 1984 census the tiger population was above 4,000. Tiger On The Hunt Although the Indian tigers are labelled as the king of the jungle, life for the tiger is not easy, especially when all other species collectively work against it. Different species of deer have their own distinctive alarm calls forwarded further by all the prey species. Monkeys and langurs from their superior positions on the trees always keep a vigil on its movements. Even in the area where there is plenty of prey, the Indian Tiger has to really work hard to fill his stomach. After thousands of years of its evolution the ungulates and the hoofed herbivores have developed the senses of sight and smell and other techniques to collectively defy any attack from this much feared beast. They constantly lift their snout to catch the smell of the predator. On apprehension of danger, the matriarch first stumps her forefoot followed by a high pitched call, if the danger is real. The entire herd then immediately leave the area. The Tact’s of Hunting The Indian Tiger moves against the flow of the breeze in order to avoid detection by his body-odour. Very silently he treads towards his victim, stalking well behind cover. This is the most crucial part of the hunt, any mistake on his part and he may loose his meal of the day. A study in Ranthambore indicates that only one in every ten hunting attempts of the Indian Tiger is successful. At times, he may even take 30 minutes to cover just 20 yards. With a sudden flash he pounces on the hapless prey, usually taking it from behind, laying his chest on the back of the animal, and piercing the sharp canines into the neck of his quarry. Mostly the India Tiger tries to bring down the prey with his body weight, jerking the neck to break the spinal cord, killing it instantly. Indian Tiger starts its meal from the rump and the hind legs. Very neatly he opens the stomach cavity, takes out the intestine and the stomach, and then starts feeding on the fleshy organs. He may feed upon his kill for 3-4 days without minding its smell or condition. It also eats the skin and the hair which act as roughage and help in the digestion. A La Carte The bigger the better is a formula that the tiger believes in. In fact, it goes by the size of the prey rather than species. All deer and wild boars are hot favourites and with very large species, sub-adults and the cubs are on the priority list. In the Sunderbans the tigers are also known to feed on fishes, turtles and water monitors. Occasionally, while training her cubs a tigress might kill langurs or monkeys. The Tiger Cubs Always on the move, nature has thus chalked a relatively smaller gestation period of 105 days for the species. Thats the reason the tiger cubs when born are tiny, blind and helpless no problem, nature has been generous here too. To ensure the survival of the species, a tigress gives birth to six cubs, so even if the infant mortality is high due to their dependency on the mother, at least a few survive. On an average, only two cubs are able to make it to adulthood. Tiny blind cubs are brought up with great care and affection by the mother. This affectionate relationship of the mother and cubs has surprised many a biologist and hunters, who at different times have seen the other side of the tigers nature. As a rule, only the female takes care of the cubs, but in Ranthambore national park, an unusual photograph was taken by Fateh Singh Rathore showing father, mother and their two cubs sitting leisurely in a water pool. The cubs do not go out hunting until they are three months old. The mother changes her lair frequently in order to avoid intrusions by other predators while she is away on a hunt. The cubs are trained to be disciplined right from their early childhood. A carefully worked out scheme of vocal symbols further guides the cubs to hide or to come out to greet the mother. One of the earliest lessons for the cubs is to pounce on their mothers tail, which she constantly shifts to dodge them. Cubs also play a lot among themselves, pulling each others tails and biting ears. They also learn the stalking and treading techniques from the mother and may occasionally kill a small squirrel for fun. Once the cubs are three months old they accompany their mother; first observing everything from a safe distance and later gradually participating slowly they learn the tricks of the trade. Survival of The Fittest If lucky, the tiger cubs reach adulthood (many a times the male tiger kills the cubs if they are not his own so as to win the female). The young cubs stay with their mother till they are 1 to 2 years old. Once they attain the age of adulthood they leave the protective cover of their mother, the males have to vacate their fathers territory or risk confrontation. The territory of the male tiger in the prey-rich area can be as large as 50-100km. This territory is shared by at least three females. The female agrees to live in the tigers territory for reasons of security, food and progeny assurance and the male for the reasons most obvious. The young tiger may require to travel quite far, never to return to his place of his birth. This process ensures the exchange of the genes, essential for the healthy growth of a species. He may have to compete with the rivals and may even get hurt or killed in the process. Males demarcate their territories by sprinkling urine on prominent trees on the periphery of their territories. They also scrape the tree by their nails and then sprinkle foul smelling secretion from their anal gland. Any intrusion in this territory is taken seriously and the offender is either shooed away or killed. Incidences of tiger killing and eating another tiger have been reported. Female tigers also mark their territories but not as often and religiously as the males. The scent of their secretions smell even more when the female is in heat, delivering invitations to the males to mate. Since the territories are distinctly marked and respected, there are hardly any confrontations between the males. But if such an event does take place, it is mostly serious. Knock-out fights are not uncommon and many tigers may die due to injuries inflicted during these supremacy bouts. The courtship period is short ranging from a week to 10 or 12 days, with actual mating taking place for just two or three days. After the mating period is over for the tigers, life is once again solitary for both the sexes. After a gestation period of around 105 days, females gives birth to six, small, blind and helpless cubs. This marks the starting of another challenging period for the mother tiger. Identification of the Tigers Tiger identification and counting its true number has been a challenge for the biologists. Though every tiger has its own unique pattern of stripes and facial features, its not practical to use this method because of its secretive behaviour and other field problems. Alternative, but comparatively less reliable method of identifying individuals by their pug-marks is employed. Different features of tigers pug, that is size, shape, depth of right and left lobes, placing of toes to name a few varies form tiger to tiger. Using a combination of these features, individuals can be identified. However, there is a lot of criticism about the pugmark method of identification and counting. Tigers leave different pugmarks on different kinds of strata. There is a strong feeling amongst activists that the actual number of tigers in the forest may be much less than what the forest officials claim. Why should a species that is always blood-thirsty be conserved? Why should huge government and international funds go in for the safety of the tiger when so many human lives are living in poverty and misery. The answer to the question is not as simple as it seems. For sure, the lives of fellow human beings are precious, but the survival of the tiger is no less important. Unfortunately we, the human beings do not live in isolation. Unfortunately we co-exist in an intense network of species and sub-species. The human beings evolved as a result of evolutionary process that started millions of years ago. From a small, semi-living, unicellular organism millions of years ago we evolved into what we are today. No doubt we are the most developed and powerful of all the species, but unfortunately even today we are dependent on other species for our daily requirements. Unfortunately all the species, animals or plants, are similarly dependent on each other for their survival. We are all small but important parts of the larger system that keeps us feeding and multiplying. Indian Tiger is also a small but important part of this system. If not for the tiger, it is for our own selfishness that we have to keep a important part of the system alive. For example, the tiger feeds on the herbivorous animals, thereby help keeping their population under control and indirectly saving the jungle from overgrazing. It also feeds on the sick, old and injured animals, thereby helping to keep its prey species healthy. There are hundreds of obvious and not so obvious ways in which the tiger is helps the larger system work. Another worrying fact about the tigers in India is that the the two sub-groups of tigers are already extinct. Once the last pair of tigers on this planet die, how much ever we want, desire or try, we will never be able to create another tiger. So we need to be very much careful in preserving the tiger species in India. Today this majestic specimen of life, that evolved after millions of years is in danger just because of the inhuman behaviour of human beings. Indian Tiger is the icon of a healthy and prospering jungle and the biologists believe that if in a jungle the tigers are surviving and multiplying, then every thing else in the forest is well. The tigers presence itself as a symbol of growth and well being.
Halloween is back, and we've got Halloween activities with a difference! The festival might traditionally be thought of as scary, but it doesn't have to be. Spread a little kindness with our pumpkin-carving stencils, or help children to learn about friendships by hanging out with our bat friends, Benna and Bruno. Whether at home or in school, these activities will help children have a frightfully good time... Help children challenge bullying with Benna the Bat Hang out with Benna in our brand-new batty resource! Benna knows how to make a noise - but when she sees someone being bullied, it's hard to speak up. Help children learn about the importance of challenging bullying with our Benna the Bat activity pack, including a story, activity cards, and ideas for discussion. We've even mapped Benna's resource to the curriculum, so she can be used as a lesson plan in school, too. Benna the bat was drawn by Laura Brown for Kidscape. You can find out more about Laura's beautiful My Emotions Activity Book on her website. Reflect on emotions with Bruno the Bat Help children learn about emotions, and how to manage them, with our Bruno the Bat activity pack. Follow the story of Bruno, a bat who learns that making a mistake doesn't mean he's bad - he's just sad! Suitable for home or school, the pack contains lesson plans, emotions cards, scenarios, templates and the Bruno story. Bruno the bat was drawn by Laura Brown for Kidscape. You can find out more about Laura's beautiful My Emotions Activity Book on her website. Carve a kind pumpkin this Halloween Pumpkins don't have to be scary! Spread some smiles this Halloween with our friendly pumpkin stencils, complete with a pumpkin-carving guide. You can download our Pumpkin Pack here.
About Le Morne Brabant Le Morne Brabant, a rocky and stony mountain that protrudes upwards in the Southwest of Mauritius, was once used as a shelter by escaped slaves and maroons in the early years of 18th and 19th century respectively. Since then, Le Morne is considered a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom, their suffering and their sacrifice. To note, during the slavery period, slaves were brought from Africa, Madagascar, India and Southeast Asia. In addition to that, the sublime Le Morne Brabant mountain is listed as the World Heritage by the UNESCO. Today, Le Morne Brabant stands as a symbol of the slaves’ fight for freedom, marked with a monument at the base of the mountain. Furthermore considering Le Morne Brabant Mountain as a backdrop, we also have Le Morne Beach which is one of the most beautiful beaches with miles of white sand surrounded with large casuarina trees along with crystal-clear waters, offering an ideal visibility. Le Morne Beach is a magnificent place for scuba diving and is particularly popular with windsurfers and kite surfers, as conditions are perfect for practicing these sports. History of Le Morne Brabant Mauritius’ history is a fascinating one and is filled with an amalgamation of things like slavery and freedom, inequality and tolerance and hardship and beauty. This wonderful natural site actually played an implausibly significant role in Mauritius’ history. The first slaves were brought to the island from Madagascar under the Dutch East India to work in the sugarcane and tobacco plantations as well as to fell ebony trees in the year 1639. In addition to that when trade was opened to the French in 1769, a massive numbers of slaves were brought in from other places in Africa as well as India. However, after a long period of time, finally slavery was abolished under British rule in 1835 but before this happened, Le Morne Brabant was used as a refuge for escaped slaves in the 18th and early 19th century. There were quite a few who were renamed after the name ‘Maroons’. Each year on the 1st of February, the annual Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery is celebrated at the International Slave Route Monument which is established at the foot of Le Morne Brabant. Today, the basaltic mountain stands as a symbol of peace and is a reminder of the struggle of the slaves, as well as the importance of freedom. This incredible monument and mountain stand testament to the bravery of the Maroons, their suffering, their sacrifice and the unbelievable fight for freedom in incredibly hard times. Water Sport Activities at Le Morne Beach If you love surfing and sailing, Le Morne is definitely a must-go-to site for you. However, even if you do not like doing these,you can still have a little picnic with your friends or family at Le Morne Beach where relaxation and tranquility is reassured. It is a great beach to visit since it is mostly wild and also provides a great scenery and view. Also, the strong currents and winds make it a first choice for water sports. Kitesurfing is one of the most amazing and fun water sport available in Mauritius. It is often described as a mixture of different water and flying sports like windsurfing, wakeboarding, surfing and paragliding. Our lagoon’s waters offer opportunities both to beginners and experienced kite surfers. Kite surfing is more favourable at Le Morne, specially during the summer season. Windsurfing is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. Le Morne provides this activity along with kitesurfing. In this manner it is favourable for beginners and for surfers. All that is required for you to bring your equipment; but in case you are a learner or a visitor, no need to worry as you can still rent the equipment. Other activities at Le Morne Hiking at Le Morne Brabant Mountain With its elegant views and captivating history, Le Morne Brabant offers an irresistible guided hiking and trekking trail. You can grab the opportunity of hiking to Le Morne Brabant Mountain as well as experiencing the scenic view of the nature. During this hike you shall be accompanied by professional guides who brief you about the hiking conditions. The hike to the summit lasts about three to four hours, depending on the pace and uniformity of the group. Some steeper parts of the climb will require the use of your hands to progress safely towards the top, where you shall discover the breathtaking views on the west and south-west lagoons and part of of the island. Furthermore, as you hike your way to the top, an enormous, basalt rock peak dotted with caves which once sheltered runaway slaves can be found. Towards the summit, this is the place where you can encounter a little bit of difficulties. As you gradually move to the summit you will easily spot the huge metal cross which marks the highest accessible point. Nevertheless, on reaching the top of the mountain, your forbearance shall be rewarded with a truly stupendous view of Mauritius’ beautiful southern region. A chance not to be missed is when you get the chance to gape at the awe-inspiring views of the not so far islet Ile aux Benitiers, the surrounding areas of the particular region and also Le Morne Beach. Le Morne Brabant is one of the most preserved and wildest mountains of the island as well as is habitat to a very large variety of endemic and narrow-endemic species, such as the rare Trochetia Boutoniana, which is our national flower. Discover the World Heritage site on Horseback! At Le Morne, you can also get the opportunity to visit the cultural landscape of Le Morne Brabant on horseback. This riding is offered to you by professional staff for both beginners and experienced riders. You can enjoy your ride peacefully, without any worry as the horses are docile and calm. During your ride, you will get to enjoy the scenic view of the beach, lagoons and green forests. Moreover, in case you want to know about the cultural heritage of Mauritius, you can have a nice chat with the experienced guide who will explain and share with you the story of the mountain as well as their love for the horses.
Elie Nadelman stood convention on its head THE sculpture of Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) light-heartedly undermined the solemn expectations that still weighed down sculptural conventions even in rebellious pre-World War I Paris. Something in the Polish-Jewish artist's character wanted to deflate romantic solemnity. Before emigrating to New York in 1914, he had become a notable figure in the Paris avant-garde, though not a groundbreaker such as Matisse or Picasso. Patrons Gertrude and Leo Stein helped promote his reputation in the United States, and he was soon exhibited. But New York was not Paris. Some of his sculptures roused ridicule and indignation. Oddly, one objection was that his figures - despite their clear admiration for the curve and balance of classical or neoclassical sculpture - wore clothes. These clothes weren't classical togas, but everyday dresses for the women, and such modernities as bowlers or top hats for the men. His bronze acrobat shown here, an epitome of arrested vigorous movement, is also dressed, as befits an agile circus performer. At his neck is a telltale bow. Such bows were virtually a Nadelman signature, appearing on many of his sculptures. In her catalog essay for the recent traveling Nadelman exhibition organized by the American Federation of Arts in New York, curator Suzanne Ramljak says his "trademark bows ... reveal the primacy of decorative form in his art; they are less descriptive than they are a formal means of tickling our sensibility." Nadelman courted misunderstanding. The charm of his work belied his seriousness. Folk art and folk "theater" (circus and vaudeville) appealed to him, and he saw his art as akin to that energetic "low life."
- freely available Nanomaterials 2013, 3(4), 572-573; doi:10.3390/nano3040572 This Special Issue of Nanomaterials is focused on the continuing implementation of nanomaterials and nanostructures in the development of more sensitive and more specific sensing devices. As a result, these new devices employ smaller sensing elements and provide more “real time” capability. Often, the inclusion of nanomaterials leads to sensing elements for targets that were previously inaccessible. The nanostructures employed in sensor development include (among others): nanowires, semiconductor particles, various allotropes of carbon and imprinted polymeric spheres. Nanoparticles, in general, exhibit physical properties that not only differ from the parent bulk material, but also from other nanoparticles that are of different dimensions. This uniqueness offers more opportunity to fine-tune a sensor in order to discriminately detect one component of a complex mixture. The reports in this issue of the journal utilize the properties of nanomaterials to create novel sensing systems. Huang and Liu describe the use of graphene oxide to selectively adsorb single-stranded DNA from a mixture of single- and double-stranded material. While not a sensor, per se, the utility of this procedure to those wishing to monitor one type of biomaterial in a mixture of DNA, is clear and was shown to result in a purified solution of double-stranded DNA. We should expect reports utilizing the technique in sensing to appear in the near future. Hijiri et al. report on the use of ZnO nanostructures to selectively monitor CO and NO2 in air. This interesting study compared the relative response of prismatic nanoparticles annealed at two very different temperatures to the two atmospheric pollutants. High temperature annealing led to a selective CO sensing element, while a lower temperature treatment provided material that could not differentiate between the two analytes. Electrospun fibers, on the other hand, were found to be ideal for the selective detection of NO2. Laminack and Gole have studied the functionalization of metal oxides supported on porous silicon to provide information regarding a system that may be tuned to a particular target molecule. Nanostructured TiO2, SnOx, NiO and CuxO were deposited and treated with nitrogen or sulfur donating molecules. By means of their new inverse hard and soft acids and bases (IHSAB) model, the authors provide a guide to the development of new sensing materials. In a review, Song and Choi describe the specific use of conductive polyaniline (PANi) nanowires as the active layer for chemiresistive sensors. This comprehensive manuscript includes reports on the synthesis, structure and reactions of PANi nanowires. The myriad ways of incorporating the polymeric nanowires into sensing systems are reviewed, and the current limitations (which provide a rich source for future research), are noted. A more general review, contributed by Yoon , looks at trends in a range of conducting polymer nanomaterials employed as sensing elements. The reviewed materials include polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene). The authors provide a detailed listing of production methods leading to different morphologies, as well as a range of chemical and biological sensor applications. The range of sensor applications and the wide variability in sensor properties discussed in this issue indicates that the application of nanomaterials in sensing technology, a relatively new field of research, has a healthy and promising future. I encourage you to read through this Special Issue and use the valuable information provided therein to help us move forward in this exciting area. Conflicts of Interest The authors declare no conflict of interest. - Huang, P.-J.J.; Liu, J. Separation of short single- and double-stranded DNA based on their adsorption kinetics difference on graphene oxide. Nanomaterials 2013, 3, 221–228. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] - Hjiri, M.; El Mir, L.; Leonardi, S.G.; Donato, N.; Neri, G. CO and NO2 selective monitoring by ZnO-based sensors. Nanomaterials 2013, 3, 357–369. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] - Laminack, W.I.; Gole, J.L. Nanostructure-directed chemical sensing: The IHSAB principle and the effect of nitrogen and sulfur functionalization on metal oxide decorated interface response. Nanomaterials 2013, 3, 469–485. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] - Song, E.; Choi, J.-W. Conducting polyaniline nanowire and its applications in chemiresistive sensing. Nanomaterials 2013, 3, 498–523. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] - Yoon, H. Current trends in sensors based on conducting polymer nanomaterials. Nanomaterials 2013, 3, 524–549. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
This experiment tested twenty 14 to 18-year-old gifted students from Newton High Schoolâ€™s gifted education program in Newton, Kansas. Despite scoring extremely high on intelligence tests, there is a wide range of grades and motivation between the students. To find the reasons for these discrepancies, subjects completed the NEO personality inventory, the SMALSI inventory, and a socio-demographic survey. The study found that motivation and agreeableness have a large impact on grades. Motivation is greatly affected by peer groups and other personality factors, while agreeableness is affected mainly by social factors. Peer groups had a substantial impact on the study as a whole, indicating that a social stigma could be an underlying factor.
When writing a Web application from scratch, it’s easy to feel like we can get by simply by relying on a DOM1 manipulation library (like jQuery362) and a handful of utility plugins. The problem with this is that it doesn’t take long to get lost in a nested pile of jQuery callbacks and DOM elements without any real structure in place for our applications. What Is MVC, Or Rather MV? Link These modern frameworks provide developers an easy path to organizing their code using variations of a pattern known as MVC4 (Model-View-Controller). MVC separates the concerns in an application down into three parts: - Models represent the domain-specific knowledge and data in an application. Think of this as being a ‘type’ of data you can model — like a User, Photo or Note. Models should notify anyone observing them about their current state (e.g Views). - Views are typically considered the User-interface in an application (e.g your markup and templates), but don’t have to be. They should know about the existence of Models in order to observe them, but don’t directly communicate with them. - Controllers handle the input (e.g clicks, user actions) in an application and Views can be considered as handling the output. When a Controller updates the state of a model (such as editing the caption on a Photo), it doesn’t directly tell the View. This is what the observing nature of the View and Model relationship is for. For this reason we refer to such frameworks as following the MV pattern, that is, you’re likely to have a View and a Model, but more likely to have something else also included. At the outset, it isn’t terribly difficult to write an application framework that offers some opinionated way to avoid spaghetti code, however to say that it is equally as trivial to write something of the standard of Backbone would be a grossly incorrect assumption. There’s a lot more that goes into structuring an application than tying together a DOM manipulation library, templating and routing. Mature MV* frameworks typically not only include many of the pieces you would find yourself writing, but also include solutions to problems you’ll find yourself running into later on down the road. This is a time-saver that you shouldn’t underestimate the value of. So, where will you likely need an MV* framework and where won’t you? Good examples of applications that fall into this category are GMail7 and Google Docs8. These applications typically download a single payload containing all the scripts, stylesheets and markup users need for common tasks and then perform a lot of additional behavior in the background. It’s trivial to switch between reading an email or document to writing one and you don’t need to ask the application to render the whole page again at all. The Challenge Of Choice: Too Many Options? Link We refer to the current state of new frameworks frequently popping up as ‘Yet Another Framework Syndrome’ (or YAFS). Whilst innovation is of course something we should welcome, YAFS can lead to a great deal of confusion and frustration when developers just want to start writing an app but don’t want to manually evaluate 30 different options in order to select something maintainable. In many cases, the differences between some of these frameworks can be very subtle if not difficult to distinguish. TodoMVC: A Common Application For Learning And Comparison Link There’s been a huge boom in the number of such MV* frameworks being released over the past few years. Backbone.js105, Ember.js291911, AngularJS, , CanJS3112 … The list of new and stable solutions continues to grow each week and developers can quickly find themselves lost in a sea of options. From minds who have had to work on complex applications that inspired these solutions (such as Yehuda Katz13 and Jeremy Ashkenas14), there are many strong contenders for what developers should consider using. The question is, what to use and how do you choose? In the near future we want to take this work even further, providing guides on how frameworks differ and recommendations for which options to consider for particular types of applications you may wish to build. Our Suggested Criteria For Selecting A Framework Link Selecting a framework is of course about more than simply comparing the Todo app implementations. This is why, once we’ve filtered down our selection of potential frameworks to just a few, it’s recommend to spend some time doing a little due diligence. The framework we opt for may need to support building non-trivial features and could end up being used to maintain the app for years to come. - What is the framework really capable of? Spend time reviewing both the source code of the framework and official list of features to see how well they fit with your requirements. There will be projects that may require modifying or extending the underlying source and thus make sure that if this might be the case, you’ve performed due diligence on the code. - Has the framework been proved in production? - Is the framework mature? We generally recommend developers don’t simply “pick one and go with it”. New projects often come with a lot of buzz surrounding their releases but remember to take care when selecting them for use on a production-level app. You don’t want to risk the project being canned, going through major periods of refactoring or other breaking changes that tend to be more carefully planned out when a framework is mature. Mature projects also tend to have more detailed documentation available, either as a part of their official or community-driven docs. - Is the framework flexible or opinionated? Know what flavor you’re after as there are plenty of frameworks available which provide one or the other. Opinionated frameworks lock (or suggest) you to do things in a specific way (theirs). By design they are limiting, but place less emphasis on the developer having to figure out how things should work on their own. - Have you really played with the framework? Write a small application without using frameworks and then attempt to refactor your code with a framework to confirm whether it’s easy to work with or not. As much as researching and reading up on code will influence your decision, it’s equally as important to write actual code using the framework to make sure you’re comfortable with the concepts it enforces. - Does the framework have a comprehensive set of documentation? Although demo applications can be useful for reference, you’ll almost always find yourself consulting the official framework docs to find out what its API supports, how common tasks or components can be created with it and what the gotchas worth noting are. Any framework worth it’s salt should have a detailed set of documentation which will help guide developers using it. Without this, you can find yourself heavily relying on IRC channels, groups and self-discovery, which can be fine, but are often overly time-consuming when compared to a great set of docs provided upfront. - What is the total size of the framework, factoring in minification, gzipping and any modular building that it supports? What dependencies does the framework have? Frameworks tend to only list the total filesize of the base library itself, but don’t list the sizes of the librarys dependencies. This can mean the difference between opting for a library that initially looks quite small, but could be relatively large if it say, depends on jQuery and other libraries. - Have you reviewed the community around the framework? Is there an active community of project contributors and users who would be able to assist if you run into issues? Have enough developers been using the framework that there are existing reference applications, tutorials and maybe even screencasts that you can use to learn more about it? Q: Didn’t Dojo already solve all of this? Why hasn’t it been the dominent solution for developers wishing to build more structured (and more non-trivial) applications? Many of those features were way ahead of most developers needs. With the emergence of the browser as the dominant application platform, many of the innovations pioneered in The Dojo Toolkit now appear in newer toolkits. MVC was just another package that Dojo has provided for quite some time, along with modular code packages, OO in JS, UI widgets, cross-browser graphics, templating, internationalization, accessibility, data stores, testing frameworks, a build system and much, much more. Why is Dojo not the dominant toolkit? Its goal was never to be the only choice. The goal was to provide an open collection of tools that could be used with anything else, within projects, and liberally copied into other work as well. Dojo was criticized for being slow and even after that was addressed, it was criticized for being slow. Trying to shake that perception is challenging. It is very hard to document a feature-rich toolkit. There are 175 sub-packages in Dojo 1.8 and over 1,400 modules. That is not only a challenge from a documentation purpose, it also means that there isn’t one thing that Dojo does. Which is good if you are building software, but very difficult when you are starting out trying to figure out where to start. These are all things we have been trying to work on for Dojo 1.8, in the form of tutorials and significantly improved documentation. Q: Why should developers still consider Dojo and what ideas do you have lined up for the future of the project? I hear 1.8 will be another major milestone. In Dojo 1.8, dojox/mvc takes another step towards full maturity. There has been a lot of investment in time, effort, testing and community awareness into the package. It focuses on providing an MVC model that leverages the rest of Dojo. Coupled with dojox/app, an application framework that is designed to make it easier to build rich applications across desktop and mobile, it makes a holistic framework for creating a client side application. In the typical Dojo way, this is just one of many viable ways in which to build applications with Dojo. In 1.8, not only does the MVC sub-module become more mature, it is built upon a robust framework. It doesn’t just give you markup language to create your views, express your models or develop a controller. It is far more then just wiring up some controls to a data source. Because it is leveraging the rest of Dojo, you can draw in anything else you might need. In Dojo 2.0 we will be looking to take modularity to a new level, so that it becomes even easier to take a bit of this and a bit of that and string it all together. We are also exploring the concepts of isomorphism, where it should be transparent to the end-user where your code is being executed, be it client side or server side and that ultimately it should be transparent to the developer. The TodoMVC Collection Link In our brand new release, Todo implementations now exist for the most popular frameworks with a large number of other commonly used frameworks being worked on in Labs. These implementations have gone through a lot of revision, often taking on board best practice tips and suggestions from framework authors, contributors and users from within the community. Following on from comments previously made by Backbone.js author Jeremey Ashkenas and Yehuda Katz, TodoMVC now also offers consistent implementations based on an official application specification as well as routing (or state management). We don’t pretend that more complex learning applications aren’t possible (they certainly are), but the simplicity of a Todo app allows developers to review areas such as code structure, component syntax and flow, which we feel are enough to enable a comparison between frameworks and prompt further exploration with a particular solution or set of solutions. Our applications include: For those interested in AMD versions: And our Labs include: We feel honored that over the past year, some framework authors have involved us in discussions about how to improve their solutions, helping bring our experience with a multitude of solutions to the table. We’ve also slowly moved towards TodoMVC being almost a defacto app that new frameworks implement and this means it’s become easier to make initial comparisons when you’re reviewing choices. Frameworks: When To Use What? Link To help you get started with narrowing down frameworks to explore, we would like to offer the below high-level framework summaries which we hope will help steer you towards a few specific options to try out. I want something flexible which offers a minimalist solution to separating concerns in my application. It should support a persistence layer and RESTful sync, models, views (with controllers), event-driven communication, templating and routing. It should be imperative, allowing one to update the View when a model changes. I’d like some decisions about the architecture left up to me. Ideally, many large companies have used the solution to build non-trivial applications. As I may be building something complex, I’d like there to be an active extension community around the framework that have already tried addressing larger problems (Marionette55, Chaplin56, Aura57, Thorax58). Ideally, there are also scaffolding tools (grunt-bbb59, brunch60) available for the solution. Use Backbone.js. I want something that tries to tackle desktop-level application development for the web. It should be opinionated, modular, support a variation of MVC, avoid the need to wire everything in my application together manually, support persistence, computed properties and have auto-updating (live) templates. It should support proper state management rather than the manual routing solution many other frameworks advocate being used. It should also come with extensive docs and of course, templating. It should also have scaffolding tools available (ember.gem, ember for brunch). Use Ember.js. I want something more lightweight which supports live-binding templates, routing, integration with major libraries (like jQuery and Dojo) and is optimized for performance. It should also support a way to implement models, views and controllers. It may not be used on as many large public applications just yet, but has potential. Ideally, the solution should be built by people who have previous experience creating many complex applications. Use CanJS. I want something declarative that uses the View to derive behavior. It focuses on achieving this through custom HTML tags and components that specify your application intentions. It should support being easily testable, URL management (routing) and a separation of concerns through a variation of MVC. It takes a different approach to most frameworks, providing a HTML compiler for creating your own DSL in HTML. It may be inspired by upcoming Web platform features such as Web Components and also has its own scaffolding tools available (angular-seed). Use AngularJS. I want something that offers me an excellent base for building large scale applications. It should support a mature widget infrastructure, modules which support lazy-loading and can be asynchronous, simple integration with CDNs, a wide array of widget modules (graphics, charting, grids, etc) and strong support for internationalization (i18n, l10n). It should have support for OOP, MVC and the building blocks to create more complex architectures. Use Dojo. I want something which benefits from the YUI extension infrastructure. It should support models, views and routers and make it simple to write multi-view applications supporting routing, View transitions and more. Whilst larger, it is a complete solution that includes widgets/components as well as the tools needed to create an organized application architecture. It may have scaffolding tools (yuiproject), but these need to be updated. Use YUI. I want something simple that values asynchronous interfaces and lack any dependencies. It should be opinionated but flexible on how to build applications. The framework should provide bare-bones essentials like model, view, controller, events, and routing, while still being tiny. It should be optimized for use with CoffeeScript and come with comprehensive documentation. Use Spine. I want something that will make it easy to build complex dynamic UIs with a clean underlying data model and declarative bindings. It should automatically update my UI on model changes using two-way bindings and support dependency tracking of model data. I should be able to use it with whatever framework I prefer, or even an existing app. It should also come with templating built-in and be easily extensible. Use KnockoutJS. I want something that will help me build simple Web applications and websites. I don’t expect there to be a great deal of code involved and so code organisation won’t be much of a concern. The solution should abstract away browser differences so I can focus on the fun stuff. It should let me easily bind events, interact with remote services, be extensible and have a huge plugin community. Use jQuery. What Do Developers Think About The Most Popular Frameworks? Link As part of our research into MV* frameworks for TodoMVC and this article, we decided to conduct a survey to bring together the experiences of those using these solutions. We asked developers what framework they find themselves using the most often and more importantly, why they would recommend them to others. We also asked what they felt was still missing in their project of choice. We’ve grouped some of the most interesting responses below, by framework. Cons: Ember has yet to reach 1.0. Many things are still in flux, such as the router and Ember data. The new website is very helpful, but there’s still not as much documentation for Ember as there is for other frameworks, specifically Backbone. Also, with so much magic in the framework, it can be a little scary. There’s the fear that if something breaks you won’t be able to figure out exactly why. Oh, and the error messages that ember gives you often suck. The key factors: a) Features that let me avoid a lot of boilerplate (bindings, computer properties, view layer with the cool handlebars). b) the core team: I’m a Rails developer and know the work of Yehuda Katz. I trust the guy =) Cons: Documentation. It’s really sad that Ember doesn’t have good documentation, tutorials, screencast like Backbone, Angular or other frameworks. Right now, we browse the code looking for docs which isn’t ideal. Pros: Convention over configuration. Ember makes so many small decisions for you it’s by far the easiest way to build a client-side application these days. Cons: The learning curve. It is missing the mass of getting started guides that exist for other frameworks like Backbone, this is partly because of the small community, but I think more because of the state of flux the codebase is in pre-1.0. Pros: Simplicity, bindings, tight integration with Handlebars, ease of enabling modularity in my own code. Cons: I’d like to have a stable integration with ember-data, and integrated localStorage support synced with a REST API, but hey that’s fantasy that one day will surely come true 😉 Pros: Simplicity — only 4 core components (Collection, Model, View, Router). Huge community (ecosystem) and lots of solutions on StackOverflow. Higher order frameworks like Marionette or Vertebrae with lots of clever code inside. Somebody might like “low-levelness” — need to write lots of boilerplate code, but get customized application architecture. Cons: I don’t like how extend method works — it copies content of parent objects into new one. Prototypal inheritance FTW. Sometime I miss real world scenarios in docs examples. Also there is a lot of research needed to figure out how to build a bigger app after reading the TODO tutorial. I’m missing official AMD support in projects from DocumentCloud (BB, _). [Note: this shouldn’t be an issue with the new RequireJS shim() method in RequireJS 2.0]. Pros: After the initial brain-warp of understanding how Backbone rolls, it is incredibly useful. Useful as in, well supported, lightweight, and constantly updated in a valid scope. Ties in with natural friends Underscore, jQuery/Zepto, tools that most of my studio’s projects would work with. Cons: The amount of tutorials on how to do things with Backbone is inconsistent and at different periods of Backbones lifespan. I’ve asked other devs to have a look at Backbone, and they would be writing code for v0.3. Un-aware. Whilst not a problem Backbone can fix itself, it is certainly a major dislike associated with the framework. I suppose in theory, you could apply this to anything else, but, Backbone is a recurrent one in my eyes. Hell, I’ve even seen month old articles using ancient Backbone methods and patterns. Whatever dislikes I would have on the framework strictly itself, has been rectified by the community through sensible hacks and approaches. For me, that is why Backbone is great, the community backing it up. Pros: Provides just enough abstraction without unreasonable opinions — enabling you to tailor it to the needs of the project. Cons: I would re-write (or possibly remove) Backbone.sync. It has baked in assumptions of typical client-initiated HTTP communications, and doesn’t adapt well to the push nature of WebSockets. Pros: It’s extremely easy to get into, offering a nice gateway to MV* based frameworks. It’s relatively customizable and there are also tons of other people using it, making finding help or support easy. Cons: The fact that there’s no view bindings by default (although you can fix this). Re-rendering the whole view when a single property changes is wasteful. The RESTful API has a lot of positives, but the lack of bulk-saving (admittedly a problem with REST itself, but still) and the difficulty in getting different URI schemes to work on different types of operations sucks. a) 2-way data binding is incredibly powerful. You tend to think more about your model and the state that it is in instead of a series of events that need to happen. The model is the single source of truth. b) Performance. AngularJS is a small download. It’s templating uses DOM nodes instead of converting strings into DOM nodes and should perform better. c) If you are targeting modern browsers and/or are a little careful, you can drop jQuery from your dependencies too. Cons: I’d like to be able to specify transitions for UI state changes that propgate from a model change. Specifically for elements that use ng-show or ng-hide I’d like to use a fade or slide in in an easy declarative way. Pros: It’s very intuitive, has excellent documentation. I love their data binding approach, HTML based views, nested scopes. I switched from Backbone/Thorax to Angular and never looked back. A new Chrome extension Batarang integrates with Chrome Developer’s Tools and provides live access the Angular data structures. Cons: I’d like to have a built-in support to such functions as drag’n’drop, however this can be added using external components available on GitHub. I’d also like to see more 3rd party components available for reuse. I think it’s just a matter of time for the ecosystem around AngularJS to get more mature and then these will be available just like they are in communities like jQuery. Pros: It minimizes drastically the boilerplate code, allows for nice code reuse through components, extends the HTML syntax so that many complex features end up being as simple as applying a directive (attribute) in the HTML, and is super-easily testable thanks to a full commitment to dependency injection. You can write a non-trivial app without jQuery or without directly manipulating the DOM. That’s quite a feat. Cons: Its learning curve is somewhat steeper than Backbone (which is quite easy to master), but the gain is appreciative. Documentation could be better. Pros: I don’t necessarily use it all the time, but KnockoutJS is just fantastic for single page applications. Extremely easy subscribing to live sorting; much better API for so called “collection views” in Backbone using observable arrays. And custom event on observables for effects, etc. Cons: Feel like the API is quite hard to scale, and would probably prefer to wrangle Backbone on the bigger applications. (But that’s also partially due to community support). Pros: I like the data binding mechanism and feel very comfortable using it. In particular I like how they have replaced templates with control flow binding. Cons: I don’t like that there is no guidance or best practice in terms of application structure. Aside from having a view model, the framework doesn’t help you in defining a well structured view model. It’s very easy to end up with a large unmaintainable function. Pros: Syntactically, Dojo is very simple. It allows for dynamic and robust builds, with the initial loader file being as low as 6k in some cases. It is AMD compatible, making it extremely portable, and comes out-of-the-box with a ton of features ranging from basic dom interactions to complex SVG, VML, and canvas functionality. The widget system, Dijit, is unmatched in it’s ease-of-use and ability to be extended. It’s a very well-rounded and complete toolkit. Cons: The dojo/_base/declare functionality is not 100% strict mode compliant and there is currently some overhead due to backwards compatibility, though this will mostly go away in the Dojo 2.0 release. Pros: Good components : tabs, datagrid, formManager… Renders the same cross browser. AMD compliant. Easy to test with mocks.Integrates well with other frameworks thks to amd (I ll integrate with JMVC) Cons: Default design for components out of fashion. Not fully html5. So-so documentation Poor templating system (no auto binding). Pros: YUI3 is a modular and use-at-will type of component library which includes all of the goodies of Backbone and more. It even (in my opinion) improves upon some of the concepts in Backbone by de-coupling some things (i.e. attribute is a separate module that can be mixed into any object – the event module can be mixed in similarly). Cons: I’d love to see YUI3 support some of the auto-wiring (optional) of Ember. I think that is really the big win for Ember; otherwise, I see YUI3 as a superior component library where I can cherry-pick what I need. I’d also like to see a more AMD-compatible module loader. The loader today works very well; however, it would be nicer if I could start a new projects based on AMD modules and pull in certain YUI3 components and other things from other places that are also using AMD. Pros: Has all tools included, just need to run commands and start building. I have used for the last 6 months and it’s been really good. Cons: The only thing I would do is to speed up development of the next version. Developers are aware of problems and fixing issues but its going to be another ¾ months before some issues I want fixed are addressed, but then I could probably patch and do a pull request. Pros: Because Maria is a pure MVC framework that is focused on being just an MVC framework. No more and no less. Its clean and simple. Cons: A little more usage documentation outside of the source code, plus a few more test cases. A tutorial that drives home the real use of MVC with Maria would be good too. Pros: Real apps almost never fit perfectly into an MV* box, and the most important stuff is often outside the box. With cujo.js, you define the box. Yes, cujo.js has high-level MV-like features for creating views, models, controllers, etc., but every app is different, and no framework can ever be a 100% solution. Rather than try to be all things, cujo.js also provides lower level tools, architectural plumbling, and a rich plugin system that can even be used to integrate and extend other MV frameworks. Create the architecture that best suits your application, rather than constraining your app to fit inside someone else’s predefined architecture. Since cujo.js is so different from other frameworks, it needs more than a simple API reference and code snippets. Without tutorials, educational materials, and step-by-step examples, cujo.js might look strange and overwhelming to the untrained eye but documentation is supposed to be coming soon. Pros: I think ExtJS works best in combination with Ext Designer. It gives it an edge beyond the other GUI frameworks by letting non-programmers mock up the UI so programmers can fill in the blanks. I think comparing it to MVC frameworks like Backbone doesn’t do it justice – its strength lies in creating rich GUIs, not lean Web apps. Cons: It has a steeper learning curve than many of the other modern structural frameworks. One can argue that if you’re investing in ExtJS for the long-term this time spent learning will pay off, however I think solutions like it should aim to better minimize the time it takes to train teams up in using it. Pros: I think a big feature of ExtJS 4 is that it throws you into the MVC mindset and the preferred filesystem structure right from the bat. With Dojo the initial tutorials seem to be mostly about augmenting existing websites whereas ExtJS assumes you’re starting from scratch. Using ExtJS doesn’t really “feel” like you’re dealing with HTML at all. The component library is rich enough to let you go a long way without touching more HTML than what is needed to bootstrap your app. It’d be interesting to see how both compare when Web components become more widely supported. This would finally allow manipulating the DOM without being afraid of breaking any widgets or causing your app’s internal state to become inconsistent. Cons: The licensing is considered restrictive and difficult to understand by some. More people would be investing in ExtJS if it was clearer what the upfront and long-term costs of using it are. This isn’t a concern with some other structural solutions but probably isn’t as much a worry for larger businesses. Cons: That said…I absolutely agree that it’s very heavy and I don’t think I’d recommend it for an external facing Web application. My biggest beef with the package overall is actually that it’s more of a PITA to test with than I’d would like. Our tester actually ended up switching to Sikuli because it was becoming too much of a battle trying to work with it in Selenium. Pros: It has a great and easy to use view bindings system. Plays with Rails very nicely and is all about convention over configuration. Cons: The documentation could be a lot better and I feel Shopify won’t be adding the features that they say that they will. Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment Link Whilst it’s unlikely for a developer to need to learn how to use more than a handfull of these frameworks, I do encourage exploration of those you’re unfamiliar with. There’s more than mountain of interesting facts and techniques that can be learned in this process. In my case: I discovered that Batman.js required the least hand-written lines of code for an implementation. I’m neither a frequent CoffeeScript nor Batman.js user but that in itself gave me some food for thought. Perhaps I could take some of what made this possible and bring it over to the frameworks I do use. Or, maybe I’d simply use Batman.js in a future project if I found the community and support around it improved over time. Regardless of whether you end up using a different solution, at the end of the day all you have to gain from exploration is more knowledge about what’s out there. Going Beyond MV* Frameworks Link Whilst the MV* family of patterns are quite popular for structuring applications, they’re limited in that they don’t address any kind of application layer, communication between Views, services that perform work or anything else. Developers may thus find that they sometimes need to explore beyond just MVC — there are times when you absolutely need to take what they have to offer further. We reached out to developers that have been taking MVC further with their own patterns or extensions for existing frameworks to get some insights on where you need something more. “In my case, I needed something Composite. I noticed that there were patterns in Backbone apps where developers realized there was a need for an object that coordinated various parts of an application. Most of the time, I’ve seen developers try to solve this using a Backbone construct (e.g a View), even when there isn’t really a need for it. This is why I instead explored the need for an Application Initializer61. I also found that MVC didn’t really describe a way to handle regions of a page or application. The gist of region management62 is that you could define a visible area of the screen and build out the most basic layout for it without knowing what content was going to be displayed in it at runtime. I created solutions for region management, application initialization and more in my extension project Marionette. It’s one of a number of solutions that extend upon a framework (or architecture pattern) that developers end up needing when they’re building single-page applications that are relatively complex. Derick Bailey — Author of Marionette That’s where Core J2EE Patterns64 come in. I got turned on to them while reading PHP Objects, Patterns, and Practice65 by Matt Zandstra, and I’m glad I did! The J2EE Patterns basically outline a request-driven process, where the URL drives the behavior of the application. In a nutshell, a request is created, modified, and then used to determine the view to render. Dustin Boston — co-author, Aura Projects like TodoMVC can help narrow down your selections to those you feel might be the most interesting or most comfortable for a particular project. Remember to take your time choosing, don’t feel too constrained by using a specific pattern and keep in mind that it’s completely acceptable to build on the solution you select to best fit the needs of your application. Experimenting with different frameworks will also give you different views on how to solve common problems which will in turn make you a better programmer. - 1 https://developer.mozilla.org/en/DOM/About_the_Document_Object_Model - 2 http://jquery.com - 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_code - 4 http://addyosmani.com/resources/essentialjsdesignpatterns/book/#detailmvcmvp - 5 http://backbonejs.org - 6 http://addyosmani.com/resources/essentialjsdesignpatterns/book/#detailmvcmvp - 7 http://gmail.com - 8 http://docs.google.com - 10 http://backbonejs.org - 11 http://emberjs.com - 12 http://canjs.us - 13 http://github.com/wycats - 14 http://github.com/jashkenas - 15 http://todomvc.com - 16 http://www.todomvc.com - 17 http://dojotoolkit.org - 18 http://dylanschiemann.com - 19 http://emberjs.com - 20 http://angularjs.org - 21 http://knockoutjs.com - 22 http://dojotoolkit.org - 23 http://yuilibrary.com - 24 http://batmanjs.org - 25 http://code.google.com/closure/library/ - 26 http://agilityjs.com - 27 http://kmalakoff.github.com/knockback - 28 http://requirejs.org - 29 http://emberjs.com - 30 http://requirejs.org - 31 http://canjs.us - 32 https://github.com/petermichaux/maria - 33 http://cujojs.github.com - 34 http://meteor.com - 35 http://www.socketstream.org - 36 http://jquery.com - 37 http://www.sencha.com/products/extjs - 38 http://sammyjs.org - 40 https://developers.google.com/web-toolkit/ - 41 https://github.com/troopjs - 42 http://hay.github.com/stapes - 43 http://somajs.github.com/somajs - 44 https://bitbucket.org/mckamey/duel/wiki/Home - 45 https://github.com/jgallen23/fidel - 46 https://github.com/flams/olives - 47 https://github.com/rhysbrettbowen/PlastronJS - 48 https://github.com/creynders/dijon-framework - 49 http://www.rappidjs.com - 50 https://github.com/brokenseal/broke - 51 http://weepy.github.com/o_O - 52 https://github.com/marcuswestin/fun - 53 http://angularjs.org - 54 http://requirejs.org - 55 https://github.com/derickbailey/backbone.marionette - 56 https://github.com/chaplinjs/chaplin - 57 https://github.com/addyosmani/backbone-aura/ - 58 https://github.com/walmartlabs/thorax - 59 https://github.com/backbone-boilerplate/grunt-bbb - 60 http://brunch.io/ - 62 http://lostechies.com/derickbailey/2011/12/12/composite-js-apps-regions-and-region-managers/ - 63 https://github.com/derickbailey/todomvc/tree/marionette - 64 http://java.sun.com/blueprints/corej2eepatterns/Patterns/ - 65 http://www.amazon.com/Objects-Patterns-Practice-Matt-Zandstra/dp/1590599098 - 66 https://dblogit.com/posts/a7ef7b/ - 67 http://sindresorhus.com/
Screening for Prostate Cancer More men die each year of prostate cancer (an estimated 32,000 annually) than of any other cancer except lung cancer. But not every man who has this disease (about 218,000 annually) is in danger of dying of it. And sometimes the treatment can produce side effects that may be more troublesome than the cancer. For this reason, experts disagree not only about the treatment, but also about who needs screening. The prostate is a gland that wraps around a man's urethra, the tube that carries urine from the bladder. The prostate makes part of the fluid that carries sperm. Cancer can form inside this gland and be present for years without causing symptoms. If you are a man, you are at risk for prostate cancer. The risk for prostate cancer increases with age. Your risk is also higher if you are African American or have a family history of prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends that men have a chance to make an informed decision with their health care provider about whether to be screened for prostate cancer. The decision should be made after getting information about the uncertainties, risks, and potential benefits of this screening. Men should not be screened unless they have received this information. The discussion about screening should take place at age 50 for men who are at average risk for prostate cancer and are expected to live at least 10 more years. This discussion should occur at age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer—African American men and men who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 65. It should take place at age 40 for men at even higher risk—those with several first-degree relatives who had prostate cancer at an early age. First-degree relatives include parents, siblings, and children. Other experts say that unless you have symptoms, screening can lead to unnecessary treatment. However, in most cases, the first sign of prostate cancer is that of advanced disease such as bone pain because of the spread of the cancer (metastasis). Inability to urinate, difficulty starting or stopping the urine flow, weak or interrupted flow of urine, and blood in urine or semen are other symptoms that could be caused by many conditions, including prostate cancer. Screening with a digital rectal exam (DRE) and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test has led to earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, but it's not clear if this reduces the number of men dying from the disease. What most experts agree on Some men who have prostate cancer have no symptoms. Most experts agree that you should get tested if you have any of these symptoms: You urinate often, especially at night. You have trouble urinating or trouble starting or holding back urination. You have a weak or interrupted urine flow. You are over age 50 and often have pain or stiffness in your lower back, hips, or thighs. Many of these symptoms can also be caused by an enlarged prostate, which has nothing to do with cancer. An enlarged prostate is common in nearly all men as they age, and it can be treated. Call your doctor if you think you may have this problem. How cancer is found Doctors use two tests to look for prostate cancer: a DRE and a PSA. With a DRE, the doctor can feel whether the prostate is enlarged and whether it has unusual growths. A PSA checks for increased levels of a protein in the blood. These two tests are not always accurate. They might suggest cancer when there is none or find very slow-growing cancer, or they might not detect a cancer that is there. If either test suggests that you may have cancer, your doctor will ask for more tests to confirm this. What should you do? Talk with your doctor. Ask for your doctor's advice. If your doctor suggests regular screenings, ask why. And if your doctor tells you that you have cancer, explore your options. Prostate cancer can grow quickly or it can grow slowly. In some cases it can take 10 to 15 years before it poses a threat to a man's health. Prognosis depends on the extent and aggressiveness of the cancer. Very early disease in very old men may be watched carefully. However, data indicate that younger men with advanced disease who are treated live longer. Ask questions. Before you make any treatment decisions, understand the advantages and the risks.
discussion evaluate the strengths and weaknesses FORMAT: MLA Format, Double spaced, 1-inch margins, Times New Roman Font, 12pt font size, stapled, print on one side of page only Choose a Topic/Issue: Choose a topic question. Be as objective as possible when presenting both sides of the issue. Purpose: The purpose is to establish yourself as someone to be taken seriously as an authority on this topic. ESSAY REQUIREMENTS: Develop a 7-9 page Persuasive Essay Project. (7-9 pages of content + Works Cited) ~ SOURCES: FOUR (4) – RESEARCH SOURCES [NOTE: Wikipedia and Brainy quotes or any other source that is just a list of quotes do not count as official research sources.] ~ QUOTES: FOUR (4) or MORE QUOTES SHOULD BE INCLUDED (Note: quotes should blend in smoothly and be explained in detail.) ~ The WORKS CITED PAGE is a required part of the essay project. PLAN YOUR STRUCTURE (ORGANIZATION) ~ Your essay will need to contain the following elements: ~ Attention getter: Capture the attention of the reader. Examples include: a story, quotation, question, paint the picture, etc. ~ Background information: Introduce your topic and give a little background information. ~ Statement of Direction: Clearly state both sides of the issue. Explain that you will present as balanced a view as possible of both sides before coming to a conclusion. Body: You will present both sides of the argument as objectively as possible. Include several arguments for both sides. Include evidence and explanation on both sides. ~ The Reasons/Arguments should be supported with reliable information/evidence from your research. (Use Logos, Pathos, and Ethos types of evidence and persuasive strategies.) Discussion: In the discussion evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of both sides based on the arguments you present earlier in the essay project. Conclusion: Once you have fully discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each argument, state which side is stronger and explain why. (i.e Which side is most reasonable and why? Or would you remain neutral?) Restate the issue and summarize the main arguments examined in the body paragraphs. Closing: Close with a powerful statement that will stay in the reader’s mind. Research Source Examples: Scholarly research articles, News websites (CNN, MSNBC, etc.) for articles and information about your topic ~ Magazine articles, newspaper articles (New York Times, Los Angeles Times, etc.) that support and counter argue your position. Government websites (.gov), education websites (.edu), call to action websites (i.e. MADD) are useful resources. ~ Look for facts, statistics, professional comments, emotional testimonies, historical information, etc. ~ Use quotes from your sources to support the arguments you include for both sides. Cite each one in the proper MLA format. ~ Explain the quote in your own words. Explain how the information supports the argument (reason). It is not possible to persuade someone to believe your viewpoint without supporting your point of view with evidence taken from credible sources and using expert opinions. A Persuasive Essay is not complete without Facts, Reasons, Examples and Details. Personal testimonies/emotional appeals are also useful for support. PERSUASIVE ESSAY TOPICS (Potential Topics) You cannot choose any topic question related to the Death Penalty for your Essay Project because I will be using the Death Penalty as the example in class. 1. Should state colleges be free to attend? 2. Should people become vegetarians? 3. Should college athletes be paid for playing? 4. Should students be required to take foreign language classes? 5. Should the driving age be raised to twenty-one? 6. Should girls be allowed to play on boys sports teams? (For example: football) 7. Should boys and girls attend separate classes in school? 8. Should people who download music and movies illegally be punished? 9. Why should everyone recycle? Should there be laws/fines citing people who fail to recycle? 10. Should larger passengers have to pay for two seats on an airplane or two movie theater tickets? 11. Should students who commit cyber-bullying or any kind of bullying be suspended from school and/or put in jail? 12. Should abortions be legal? Should abortions be legal in cases of rape and incest? 13. Should people with terminal illnesses have the right to doctor assisted suicides? 14. Should all athletes (middle school, high school, and college) take mandatory drug tests? 15. Should scientists be allowed to test products intended for human use on animals? 16. Should students be allowed to drop out before they turn 18 years old and enter a trade school? 17. Should students as young a fourteen be allowed to work? 18. Should American families have a two child max rule to limit population growth? 19. Should the government mandate tying the tubes of women who are drug addicts, alcoholics, abusive, smokers, etc.? (i.e. Should the women not be allowed to have children?) 20. Should men be allowed to participate in the Miss America Pageant? 21. Should the arts (creative writing, dance, music/band, art, etc.) be taken out of schools? (Are the creative arts beneficial for students?) 22. Should the American education system be changed to include a more European style of education and include classes on Saturday? (For example, children as young as 5 and 6 years old begin to memorize/analyze poetry from major poets, knowledge of world history is mandatory, knowledge of two foreign languages is mandatory, there are no GE requirements in college, etc.)
In Thailand, sky lanterns known as khom loy or khom fai are sometimes released into the sky to mark special occasions because it is believed the lanterns carry away troubles and bad luck. Khom fai usually refers to the giant paper lanterns released in the daytime during Loy Krathong which are filled with smoke to make them rise into the sky and also have firecrackers or noisy firework ‘bombs’ attached to them. Khom loy are the more general sky lanterns released at night. Traditionally, the release of these lanterns was a northern Thai tradition, but the practice has since expanded to other parts of Thailand. From the beaches of Ko Samui to the northern hills of Chiang Mai, the sight of khom loy rising against the night sky can be a beguiling spectacle. The lanterns are particularly associated with the Loy Krathong festival, but may also be seen during New Year celebrations in Thailand and at various other commemorative events during the year. Once of the most poignant use of these lanterns occurred on the first anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami when over 5,000 khom loy were released for each of the people who lost their lives in Thailand. The sky lanterns are usually made of sa paper or tissue paper with a bamboo support which holds the flame. Lighting the flame without setting light to the paper can be a tricky process and becomes a group activity with one person taking the role of fire-lighter whilst the others hold the lantern upright so that it doesn’t catch light. A paraffin soaked cloth may be used for the flame which then creates sufficient heat to inflate the paper lantern and provide the uplift for the ‘khom’ to be carried into the sky. Although the sight of hundreds of lanterns is beautiful, safety isn’t always the main priority in Thailand and not surprisingly there are sometimes accidents. Lanterns can get caught in trees and power cables or land on wooden buildings. In Chiang Mai, renowned for its khom loy and khom fai, there are regulations in place which restrict the lighting of the lanterns to certain areas. Nevertheless, as This is Thailand (T.I.T.) regulations are often overlooked by some individuals.
The following is a letter to the editor that was sent to the Kalamazoo Gazette. By Gail Philbin This year is turning out to be a watershed moment for Michigan’s food system. We have several opportunities to reshape the future of our food and agriculture, and therefore, our watersheds. The changes could move us toward more sustainable, community-friendly farms or keep the status quo of a landscape dominated by polluting Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) or factory farms. After years of political wrangling, a new $8.9 billion federal Farm Bill was signed in February with increased support for organic, locally grown foods. Over the next five years, these taxpayer-funded subsidies will come to Michigan in the form of various programs. Funds in the agricultural conservation programs will be allocated by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Michigan, a state-based agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and will determine the quality of farming, food, water and air in Michigan. Many subsidies in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) address the problems associated with the huge amounts of waste generated by factory farms. In addition to manure, this waste can contain residual antibiotics fed to animals (contributing to human resistance), chemicals used on animals and in facilities, pathogens and other contaminants. Overflowing or leaking waste storage lagoons can lead to contaminated runoff in local waterways. Air pollution from barns, waste storage facilities and the spraying of waste on fields is not uncommon. In Michigan in 2013, about $2.3 million EQIP funds went to 14 contracts for practices dealing with problems caused by animal waste, an average of about $164,000 per contract. Yet subsidies won’t solve underlying problems. Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape, a report released by the sustainable agriculture coalition Less=More, demonstrates that many polluting factory farms are actually subsidized by taxpayers. It found that 37 Michigan CAFOs cited for environmental violations and unpermitted pollution discharges over 15 years ending in 2011 were awarded nearly $27 million in Farm Bill subsidies in the same time period, and 26 of them jointly racked up fines and penalties of more than $1.3 million. Less=More believes less taxpayer support for polluting factory farms means a more sustainable Michigan, so it’s working to increase the amount of funding for sustainable livestock farmers. It offers an online resource to help farmers get easy access to applications and information about the new Farm Bill. At the state level, certain decisions made in 2014 will determine just how much pollution from factory farms we will continue to tolerate. The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality is revising permit guidelines that regulate the amount of animal waste factory farms can discharge to local streams, rivers and lakes. On April 28 the Michigan Commission on Agriculture is scheduled to vote on a controversial proposal that would discriminate against small livestock farmers by removing them from nuisance lawsuit protection under Michigan’s Right to Farm Act, a protection that large-scale confinement operations will continue to enjoy. The original vote was postponed after nearly 700 comments were submitted in opposition to the change Truly, there’s no better time to get involved with your food. Will 2014 be remembered as the year Michigan passed up opportunities for positive change in its food system or will it be the moment in history when citizens helped turn the corner towards a better future? The answer is up to us. Learn more at MoreforMichigan.org. Gail Philbin is assistant director of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter. For more Kalamazoo Gazette opinion pieces and letters visit http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/.
Kaluga: Kn. izd-vo, 1964. Item #5 55 pp.: ill. 4vo. A fine copy. Original cloth binding with the decoration in ink. The title page is signed by Yuri Gagarin. Together with: a postcard, ‘The Day of Cosmonautics’ (1965) depicting the monument in Tsiolkovsky’s honor in Kaluga. The postcard is signed by Gagarin. Together with: a photograph of Gagarin visiting Kaluga, the hometown of Tsiolkovsky. This little collection of three items shows the bond that existed between the main Soviet theorist of space travel—Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935)—and the first man in space—the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968). Tsiolkovsky was the pioneer of cosmonautical theory and his contemporaries considered him more a dreamer than a scientist—the dreamer obsessed by the idea of putting a man in space. Ridiculed at the time Tsiolkovsky nevertheless continued to publish his works and he stood by his belief that space-travel was possible. Yuri Gagarin proved it 26 years after Tsiolkovsky’s death. In 1961, Gagarin laid the first brick of Tsiolkovsky’s museum in Kaluga—the first museum in the world dedicated to cosmonautics.
Oct 15, 2005 i slept with someone whom i found out has hep c . Can i catch it ? Response from Dr. McGovern Hepatitis C can be spread through sexual intercourse in monogamous couples but the risk is only about 2 to 3 percent. The risk is higher with multiple sexual partners. It is important to use condoms ALWAYS. This way you protect yourself from all sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. It may be worth getting some baseline testing to be safe and sound. Dr. McG some questions, confusions This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional. Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.
Synopsis of Toy There were Big Wheels if you wanted to pedal, and there were pogo sticks if you were a little older and had perfected that elusive merit the adults called ‘balance.’ But for little kids who liked to bounce, kids who liked that delectable feel of their feet upon terra firma one moment, and hovering somewhere above the next…for skyward kids like that, there was the Hoppity Hop. The red wonder bounced onto the scene in the late 1960’s, and the mom warnings that went with it were extensive…don’t hop on a full stomach, don’t hop when it’s dark, don’t hop with two riders, don’t hop around in the garage because there are sharp things on the ground and you’ll puncture your Hoppity. And the warning that didn’t make any sense to you at all, until one particularly ambitious leap up brought you way off your intended bounce course: please don’t hop around your sister’s ‘Planets in our Solar System’ science fair diorama, which is sitting outside until its special glow-in-the-dark paint dries. Oops. The earliest Hoppity Hop was red rubber with a horse head, but others soon followed: the Bouncin’ Ride Tigger and bright blue Donald Duck, for instance. Mom or Dad blew them up for you—making sure not to overdo it, because if the Hoppity was too taut with air, it was more vulnerable to puncture wounds. But if it had a good amount of rubber ‘give,’ you stayed away from anything sharp and you refrained from dragging it on the asphalt when you were trudging up a steep street to bounce all the way down, your Hoppity could last for ages. Climb aboard, grab onto the rubber handles (or the animal head’s ears, depending on the model you were riding), and let the games begin. Initially, you might have started inside on the carpet, because your parents thought it was safer that way. But try to convince them this is an outside toy—because you just can’t get air off the shag like you can off of the concrete.
Learner's definition of INDIRECT [more indirect; most indirect] not direct: such as not going straight from one point to another not said or done in a clear and direct way He gave only vague, indirect answers to our questions. They used indirect methods of investigation. There were many indirect references to his earlier books. Looking at her watch was her indirect way of telling him it was time to leave. not having a clear and direct connection stating what an original speaker said without exactly quoting the words “He said that he would call later,” is an example of indirect speech/discourse since his actual words were “I'll call later.” an indirect question such as “She asked whether the doctor had arrived” an indirect quotation [more indirectly; most indirectly] He was indirectly involved in the robbery. The disease can be spread directly or indirectly. He answered our questions indirectly.
How to Heal an Injured Fish Injuries to your aquarium fish can occur several ways. They may fight with other fish in the tank, idle against the aquarium's heater, suffer from bacterial or fungal infections, or even tear their scales or fins on the tank's decor or plants. Healing an injured fish requires the use of a quarantine tank to keep the animal isolated from its tank-mates and a regiment of medications, such as Melafix. The quarantine tank should be significantly smaller than the main tank (no more than 20 gallons for small-to-medium-sized fish) with no decor and the same water parameters. Fill the quarantine tank with water and add the proper dosage of dechlorinator, which removes harmful chemicals like chlorine. The correct dosage will be on the packaging. Install the aquarium heater and aquarium filter. The heater typically attaches to the interior wall of the tank with suction cups while the filter hangs on the back. Consult each products' manual for specific instructions. Power on the filter and let it cycle for 24 hours, and set the heater temperature to the same temperature as the main tank. Transfer the injured fish into the quarantine tank with a nylon net. Keep its exposure to air at a minimum. Feed the injured fish normally during its time in the quarantine tank. Add the proper dosage of medication to the quarantine tank. The proper dosage will be on the packaging and medications vary according to the type of injury. Melafix treats abrasions and other ailments, while other medications will treat fungal infections. Consult an aquarium disease guide for help identifying specific problems. Mix a cup of saltwater and add it to the tank. Never add salt directly to the tank, as this will burn the fish's gills. The aquarium salt will help alleviate any bacterial infections. Freshwater bacteria cannot tolerate saltwater. Increase the temperature by 1 degree Fahrenheit per day for a week to treat many bacterial infections. Aquarium bacteria may be very temperature-sensitive and perish in warmer water. Keep the fish quarantined for at least 10 days after it has completely healed before transferring it back into the main tank. If the problem reappears, then you may need to remove an overly aggressive tank-mate or treat your main tank with medication.
View Full Version : 1965: William C. Westmoreland 09-06-02, 09:20 AM Jan. 7, 1966 Nothing is worse than war? Dishonor is worse than war. Slavery is worse than war. To the quickening drumfire of the fighting in South Viet Nam, Americans sensed early in 1965 that they might have to choose between withdrawal or vastly greater involvement in the war. By year's end, it was clear that the U.S. had irrevocably committed itself the nation's third major war in a quarter- century, a conflict involving more than 1,000,000 men and the destiny of Southeast Asia. It was a strange, reluctant commitment. As the small, far- off war grew bigger and closer, it stirred little of the fervor with which Americans went off to battle in 1917 or 1941. The issues were complex and controversial. The enemy was no heel- clicking junker or sadistic samurai but a small, brown man whose boyish features made him look less like the oppressor than the oppressed. The U.S. was not even formally at war with him. Nor at first could Americans be sure than divided, ravaged South Viet Nam had the stomach or stability to sustain the struggle into which it had drawn its ally. The risk and the responsibility for the war were, of course, Lyndon Johnson's. "We will stand in Viet Nam," he said in July. Thereafter, the President moved resolutely to make good that pledge, weathering open criticism from within his own party, strident protest from the Vietnik fringe, and the disapprobation of friendly nations from the Atlantic to the China Sea. All No Man's Land. It fell to the American fighting man to redeem Johnson's pledge. Plunged abruptly into a punishing environment, pitted against a foe whose murderously effective tactics had been perfected over two decades, the G.I. faced the strangest war at all. Professing to scorn the U.S. as a paper tiger, Communist China had long proclaimed Americans incapable of combat under such conditions--while prudently allowing North Viet Nam to fight its "war of liberation." The Americans turned out to be tigers, all right--live ones. With courage and a cool professionalism that surprised friend and foe, U.S. troops stood fast and firm in South Viet Nam. In the waning months of 1965, they helped finally to stem the tide that had run so long with the Reds. As commander of all U.S. forces in South Viet Nam, General William Childs Westmoreland, 51, directed the historic buildup, drew up the battle plans and infused the 190,000 men under him with his own idealistic view of U.S. aims and responsibilities. He was the sinewy personification of the American fighting man in 1965 who, through the monsoon mud of nameless hamlets, amidst the swirling sand of seagirt enclaves, atop the jungled mountains of the Annamese Cordillera, served as the instrument of U.S. policy, quietly enduring the terror and discomfort of a conflict that was not yet a war, on a battlefield that was all no man's land. 20-Year Problem. In the process, American troops gave an incalculable lift to South Viet Nam's disheartened people and divided government. And, important as that was, they helped preserve a far greater stake than South Viet Nam itself. As the Japanese demonstrated when they seized Indo-China on the eve of World War II, whoever holds the peninsula holds the gate to Asia. Were Hanoi to conquer the South and unify it under a Communist regime, Cambodia and Laos would tumble immediately. After that, the U.S. would be forced to fight from a less advantageous position in Thailand to hold the rest of Southeast Asia. "If you lose Asia," says General Pierre Gillois, a celebrated French strategist, "you lose the Pacific lake. It is an extraordinary problem, the problem of the next 20 years." Lyndon Johnson had waited dangerously long before acting on the problem. Thereafter, for all his repeated declarations that the U.S. would sit down and talk "with any government at any place at any time," despite even last week's multiplicity of peace missions, the President moved swiftly and unstintingly toward its solution. With all the resources available to the world's most powerful nation, Johnson established beyond question the credibility of the U.S. commitment to Asia. No Sanctuary. The troops under William Westmoreland did more. "If the other guy can live and fight under those conditions," said the general, "so can we." In baking heat and smoldering humidity of the Asian mainland, the American applied their own revised version of the guerrilla-warfare manual that Communists from Havana to Hanoi had long regarded as holy writ. With stupendous firepower and mobility undreamed of even a decade ago, U.S. strike forces swooped into guerrilla redoubts long considered impenetrable. Like clouds of giant dragonflies, helicopters hauled riflemen and heavy artillery from base to battlefield in minutes, giving them the advantages of surprise and flexibility. Tactical air strikes scraped guerrillas off jungled ridges, buried them in mazelike tunnels, or kept them forever on the run. Unheard from the grounds, giant B-52s of the Strategic Air Command pattern-bombed the enemy's forest hideaways, leaving no sanctuary inviolable. Whatever the outcome of the war, the most significant consequence of the buildup is that, for the first time in history, the U.S. in 1965 established bastions across the nerve centers of Southeast Asia. From formidable new enclaves in South Viet Nam to a far-flung network of airfields, supply depots and naval facilities building in Thailand, the U.S. will soon be able to rush aid to any threatened ally in Asia. Should the British leave Singapore, as they may do by the 1970s, the new U.S. military complex would constitute the only Western outpost of any consequence from the Sea of Japan to the Indian Ocean. The U.S. presence will also have a beneficent impact on the countries involved. The huge new ports that are being scooped out along the coasts of Viet Nam and Thailand should permanently boost the economies of both nations. Vast, U.S.- banked civilian-aid programs are aimed at eradicating the ancient ills of disease, illiteracy and hunger. Small Windows. Recently, Peking has made it a point to proclaim its delight at the prospect of the U.S.'s depleting its resources on a major land war in Asia. That prospect may seem less pleasing today. Where the Communists almost had victory within their grasp last spring, the U.S. now bars the way and stands ready to repel any other attempted aggression. Unless Peking and Hanoi withdraw from South Viet Nam--and lose face throughout Asia--it is the Communists themselves who risk being bogged down in wars that they can neither afford nor end. Plainly, neither China nor North Viet Nam reckoned on full- scale U.S. intervention in Viet Nam. Their blunder came as no surprise to Westmoreland. "They look out upon the rest of the world, and of America in particular, is what they want it to be." A Kill at the Waist. At the beginning of 1965, the view from Hanoi's windows must have been rosy indeed. From a force of fewer than 20,000 at the end of 1961, the Viet Cong had grown to a lethally effective terrorist army of 165,000 whose supplies, orders and reinforcements flowed freely from the North. Viet Minh regulars were infiltrating at the rate of a regiment every two months. From the tip of Ca Mau Peninsula to the 17th parallel, huge swaths of the South lay under Communist sway, and with good reason: in that year, the Viet Cong had kidnapped or assassinated 11,000 civilians, mostly rural administrators, teachers and technicians. Saigon's army, which since 1954 has been trained by U.S. advisors almost entirely to repel a conventional invasion from the North, was seldom a match for the guerrilla cadres. The Communists were confident that they could sever the South at its narrow waist in the Central Highlands. After that, victory would be just a matter of time. The U.S. gave them little cause of doubt. All thorough the 1964 presidential campaign, while Barry Goldwater called for bombing raids in the North, it was Lyndon Johnson's unruffled position that the U.S. was already doing all it should to keep the South afloat. After his landslide election, the President became so engrossed in the Great Society that little Saigon seemed all but forgotten. Asia rated only 126 words in the State of the Union message that ran on for 5,000. Changed Rules. When the U.S. finally acted, it was almost a classic case of too little, too late. What finally stirred Lyndon's choler was the Viet Cong attack on two U.S. camps at Pleiku in February. Eight Americans died, 125 were wounded. "I've had enough of this," raged the President. Next day the scores of U.S. Navy jets roared beyond the 17th parallel for the first time to plaster "bloodless" military installations in North Viet Nam. In return, the Viet Cong blew up a U.S. enlisted men's billet in the port city of Qui Nhon. This time the U.S. and South Viet Nam replied with a joint 160-plane raid. Abruptly, the ground rules had changed. Some 3,500 combat marines from Okinawa landed to secure Danang Airbase. Advance units of the 173rd Airborne also streamed in. One of the most significant U.S. moves was to assign U.S. planes to bomb and strafe Viet Cong units in South Viet Nam itself. Starting in late May, 100,000 U.S. servicemen were funneled into Viet Nam in 120 days. Warships from Task Force 77, the assault unit of the Seventh Fleet launched round-the-clock bombing raids, trained their six-inch guns on Viet Cong concentrations as far as 15 miles inland. Giant Guam-based B-52s of the Strategic Air Command began blasting forested guerrilla redoubts. U.S. medium bombers inched ever closer to the Red Chinese frontier in their raids against the North. 09-06-02, 09:23 AM "Maximum Deterrence." The Viet Cong also intensified their war. As the summer monsoons neared, they switched increasingly to the battalion- and regiment-sized attacks that, by the doctrines of Mao Tse-tung and North Viet Nam's General Vo Nguyen Giap, are needed to finish a guerrilla war. Two full Communist regiments overran a Special Forces fort at Dong Xoai, 55 miles north of Saigon, decimating three Vietnamese battalions in the war's biggest battle. The guerrillas seemed to be everywhere--and in strength. A full regiment overran Ba Gia; another annihilated a Vietnamese battalion in Binh Duong province; a third captured the town of Dak Sut; U.S. Special Forces defenders were bloodied at Bu Dop and Duc Co. Talk of neutralism began to stir the cities of the South as the fledgling military regime of Air Vice Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky--the tenth Saigon government since Ngo Dinh Diem's assassination in November 1963--shakily took power in June. Acting on Westmoreland's urgent plea for more combat troops and planes, the President in July spent eight days in secret conferences before adopting a cautious program of "maximum deterrence" calculated not to unduly alarm Hanoi's friends in Moscow. For the first time in any comparable emergency, the Administration did not order economic controls or mobilized reserves. Monthly draft calls were doubled to 235,000. The armed forces were authorized an additional 340,000 men for a total of 2,980,000. Most important of all, reinforcements were rushed to Viet Nam. Main Artery. Even the sounds and sights of the land soon changed as U.S. deuce-and-a-halfs, Jeeps, bulldozers, helicopters and fighter aircraft raised whirlwinds of cinnamon- colored dust and sand as white as snow. In the north, some 45,000 marines clustered around Hue, Danang and Chu Lai. The new 1st Cav settled at An Khe, just off Route 19, main artery leading to the beleaguered Central Highlands. Qui Nhon, Route 19's eastern terminus, was held by South Korea's crack 15,000- man Capital Division. At pristine Cam Ranh Bay, where czarist Russia's fleet took shelter just before its crushing defeat by the Japanese navy in 1905, combat engineers turned the natural harbor into a major port. Twenty miles down the coast, the "Screaming Eagles" of the 101st Airborne Brigade began operating as a mobile strike force. In the guerrilla-infested jungles around Saigon prowled the 1st Infantry Division ("Big Red One"), the 173rd Airborne, a 1,200- man battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, a 250-man New Zealand artillery unit. Water Through a Rag. Some of the marines barely had time to pitch their tents when they were sent into their first major battle. On a peninsula below Chu Lai, 5,000 marines, aided by rocket-firing Cobra helicopters, jet fighters and naval guns from Task Force 77, killed close to 700 guerrillas. But this, they soon learned, was Viet Nam. No sooner did Operation Starlight end, said an exasperated officer, than the surviving Viet Cong "seeped back in like water through a wet rag." Not until the Communists began concentrating troops in the Central Highlands was there another battle of Starlight's scope. Worried that their supply routes might be in danger, 6,000 Viet Minh and Viet Cong on Oct. 19 pounced on a Special Forces camp manned by 400 montagnard tribesmen and twelve U.S. advisors at Plei Me, near where the Ho Chi Minh trail snakes out of Laos and Cambodia into South Viet Nam. But for 600 sorties that littered the camp's perimeter with Viet Minh dead, Plei Me would almost certainly have fallen. It was not the first time that air strikes saved the day. "The ground troops keep telling us that we are saving their necks." says Air Force Colonel James Hagerstrom, boss of the bustling Tactical Air Coordination Center at Saigon's Tan Son Nhut Airport. As it was, the Communists broke off their siege of Plei Me after nine days and 850 dead. "Come & Get It." A 1st Cav brigade set out immediately in pursuit of the retreating Reds to check out intelligence reports that seven and possibly nine 2,000-man regiments were assembling in the highlands. "I gave them their head," recalls Westmoreland, "and told them their mission was to pursue and destroy the enemy." In the foothills of the Chu Pong massif, practically in Cambodia's back yard, the brigade found its quarry. Helilifted to a spot called Landing Zone X Ray, a battalion of cavalrymen found itself smack in the middle of the 66th North Vietnamese regiment. One platoon was cut off on a ridge and badly mauled. Two others were lured into a trap and wiped out; some of the U.S. wounded were shot or decapitated and at least one was left hanging head down from a tree. The division's artillery saved the day, pouring more than 8,000 rounds into Viet Minh ranks, while strafing jets hemstitched whole rows of assaulting Communists. SAC B-52s from Guam provided tactical support in ten thunderous raids. The battle of Chu Pong was over--but another was about to begin. Moving out of the mountains and across the Ia Drang Rover, 500 troops walked through prickly elephant grass into a Communist ambush. From three sides, Viet Minh hard-hats rained mortar, rocket and small-arms fire on the troops. Shouting "G.I. son of a ***!," they sprang from behind hedgerows and trees, giant anthills and bushes to take on the American in savage hand-to-hand fighting. The cavalrymen hollered right back, "Come on Charlie, come and get it!" The Reds, their flanks raked by strafing fire and napalm, finally retreated. In the two battles, the Communists lost more than 1,200 men. US. casualties--2240 dead, 470 wounded--were the worst of the war, higher than the Korean War's weekly average of 210 combat deaths. Costly as it was, Westmoreland calls it "an unprecedented victory" in the struggle for South Viet Nam. He says proudly: "At no time during the engagement were American troops forced to withdraw or move back from their positions except for purposes of tactical maneuver." Phoenix-Like. Despite the loss of 7,000 men in seven weeks, the Communists have displayed what one U.S. officer calls a "phoenix-like ability" to recuperate. To speed the flow of infiltrators, at least three new roads have been hacked through the Laotian panhandle and some 10,000 Viet Ninh guards assigned to keep them open. Down the trails, often concealed from the air by a solid canopy of 150-ft. trees, move trucks, elephant and wiry porters capable of toting 30-lb. loads 15 miles a day. Most of the Communist reinforcements are concentrating in such plateau provinces as Kontim and Pleiku, where the only fire brigade at Westmoreland's disposal has been the overworked 1st Cavalry. To lend them a hand a 4,000-man contingent from the Army's 25 Infantry Division was dispatched by air from Hawaii last week. Westmoreland foresees a long war and is determined to be on hand for as much of it as possible. While two years is the normal tour for top U.S. officers in Viet Nam, he has asked to stay on here after his time is up this month. "The job isn't over yet," he says, "and unless it was beyond my control, I have never left any job that I hadn't finished. I have no intention of breaking that rule now." No Gimmicks. There is an almost machinelike singlemindedness about him. His most vehement cuss words are "darn" and "dad-gum." A jut-jawed six-footer, he never smokes, drinks little, swims and plays tennis to remain at a flat- bellied 180 lbs.--only 10 lbs. over his cadet weight. Says Major General Richard Stilwell, commander of the U.S. Military Advisory Group in Thailand: "He has no gimmicks, no hand grenades or pearl-handled pistols. He's just a very straightforward, determined man." Few who know him doubt that he will some day be Army Chief of Staff. Westmoreland belongs to the age of technology--a product not only of combat but also of sophisticated command and management colleges from Fort Leavenworth to Harvard Business School. The son of a textile-plant manager in rural South Carolina, Westmoreland liked the cut of a uniform from the time he was an Eagle Scout. Though he never made the honor roll at West Point, he was first captain of cadets (class of '36) and won the coveted John J. Pershing sword for leadership and military proficiency. As a young artillery officer, Westmoreland worked out a new logarithmic fire-direction and control chart that is still in use. During World War II he got a chance to try it out as commander of an artillery battalion in North Africa and Sicily. During ten months of front-line combat from Utah Beach to Elbe, he had two bouts of malaria and a brush with a land mine that blew a truck out from him but left him almost unscathed. No Mischief. Volunteering for Korean duty in 1952, Westmoreland went over as commander of the tough 187th Regimental Combat Team, made a couple of paratroop jumps before the armistice was signed. Fretful that the cease-fire was playing havoc with his men's discipline, Westmoreland set them a spartan regimen: reveille at 5, a two-mile run, digging fortifications all day, baths in an icy creek and, after dinner, 2 1/2 hours of intramural sports, especially boxing. "By 10 o'clock every night," grins Westmoreland, "they were so exhausted they couldn't make mischief of any kind." After a round of Pentagon assignments, he became the Army's youngest major general at 42. Named superintendent of West Point in 1960, he expanded its facilities, increased enrollment (from 2,500 to 4,000) and came under congressional fire for the first and--so far--only time in his career. His offense was to hire Football Coach Paul Dietzel away from Louisiana State University, and the Louisiana delegation was fighting-mad. In 1964, "Westy" was summoned to Saigon as Paul Harkins' deputy. By midyear he was the Pentagon's natural choice for the top job--and a fourth star--when Harkins returned to the U.S. 09-06-02, 09:26 AM More Hats than Hedda. In the command he inherited, Westmoreland wears more hats than Hedda Hopper. He has the politically sensitive job of top U.S. advisor to South Viet Nam's armed forces and boss of the 6,000-odd U.S. advisors attached to the Vietnamese units. As commander of Military Assistance Command. Viet Nam (MAC-V), he has under him all U.S. servicemen--115,000 soldiers, 10,000 sailors, 17,500 airmen, 4,000 marines, 250 coast guardsmen--in the country. More than 1,000 Army helicopters and light aircraft are his responsibility, as well as some 550 U.S. Air Force planes--soon to be increased to 1,200--a Navy seadrome at Cam Ranh Bay. Outside his direct area of responsibility, but closely responsive to his needs are two other sizable forces: 1) the 150 warships and 70,000 men of the Seventh Fleet in station in the South China Sea, and 2) the mushrooming U.S. military establishment in Thailand, with seven fighter squadrons, 12,000 men, and more on the way. To supply them, the U.S. is not only building facilities at Sattahip on the Gulf of Siam, but has also laid in a storage area at Korat with enough supplies to outfit a combat brigade--just in case Red China makes good its threat to stir trouble in Thailand's northeast. Thai-based U.S. planes are already operating out of Udorn, Ubon, Takhli and Nakhon Phanom to blast Red infiltration routes through Laos, bomb North Viet Nam, and conduct rescue missions for downed U.S. pilots. Work Like the Devil. To keep this vast establishment operating, Westmoreland heeds--and invariably exceeds--the advice he gave newcomers to Viet Nam: "Work like the very devil. A seven-day, 60-hour week is the very minimum for this course." Rising at 6:30 in his two-story French villa, Westmoreland does 25 push-ups and a few isometric exercises, usually breakfasts alone (his family, along with 1,800 other dependents, was ordered out of the country by the President last February, is now in Honolulu). At his desk by 7:30, he rarely leaves it before nightfall, even then lugs home a fat briefcase. "He's a man who simply can't quit working," says an officer who has served three times with him. At least two days a week he zips around the field by Beechcraft U-8F and helicopter, often galloping to and from his craft at a dead run so that he can squeeze in one more visit to one more outpost in the "boonies." General Westmoreland tries valiantly to meet as many of his men as he possibly can. Wherever he goes, he reminds them that Viet Nam is not only a military operation, but a "political and psychological" struggle as well "In this war," says Major General Lewis W. Walt, who reports to Westmoreland as Marine Commander in Viet Nam, "a soldier has to be much more than a man with a rifle or a man whose only objective is to kill. He has to be part diplomat, part technician, part politician--and 100% a human being." In a war in which the kindly-looking peasant often turns out to be a gun-toting guerrilla, that can be a tall order. Snapped a marine private: "We try to help those ***** people and you know what they do? They send in their kids to steal our grenades and ammunition and use them to kill us. The hell with them!" Golden Fleece. Yet, as it has done everywhere else, the G.I.'s heart inevitably goes out to war's forlorn victims. Marvels a Viet Nam veteran in the Pentagon: "Imagine a really gung-ho West Point officer worrying about growing corn for peasants!" Westmoreland, who is so gung-ho a West Pointer that he looks well-pressed in swimming trunks, does worry. "Today's soldier," he says, "must try to give, not take away," In Operation Golden Fleece last fall, he'd employed 10,000 marines throughout northern paddyfields to give Viet Nam peasants the most valuable present of all--security to harvest and sell their corps without interference. One result was that the Viet Cong had to boost their 10% "rice tax" on farmers to 60% in unprotected areas, with no rise in their popularity rating. More often, the G.I.'s effort is spontaneous. At Phu Bai, marines organized scrub-ins for the village toddlers. Army Captain Ronald Rod, before he was killed by a Viet Cong sniper in December, collected enough money and supplies to get an orphanage started by writing to a New Orleans newspaper. On his own initiative, Navy Medic "Doc" Lucier, a burly, open-faced Negro from Birmingham, Ala., braves booby- trapped trails to give shots, distribute drugs and administer first-aid in out-of-the-way villages. There's just got to be something more than bullets," he says. "Until we start treating these people like human beings, they aren't going to want to help us." 43 Battles. Under a more formal program, more than 1,000 experts with the U.S. Operations Mission are distributing more than $500 million a year in economic assistance, training civil servants in a dozen Saigon ministries and advising local officials. USOM in the past five years has helped build 4,682 classrooms, drill 1,900 fresh-water wells, set up 12,000 village health clinics and establish 718 factories. In 1965 alone, it brought 7,000,000 textbooks, and later this month will inaugurate television networks designed to reach--and help unify--close to half of the country's 15 million people. As the AID men see it, they are fighting "43 separate battles in the Viet Cong"--one in every province--and each is a touch- and-go affair. For the man behind the water buffalo, security is all; his allegiance belongs to whichever side can give it to him. What the Vietnamese need most is at least 20,000 more trained administrators to run each district after it has been won by soldiers. Without them, says a U.S. officer, "we can take ground, but we can't hold it." Blindman's Buff. At every level, the U.S. is locked in a complex, unpredictable--and brutal--struggle. Last month three U.S. marines and eight South Vietnamese captured by the Viet Cong on a patrol 80 miles southwest of Danang were savagely executed. One American was shot six times in the face at close range. Another's face was hacked beyond recognition with a machete. In many ways, it is the same kind of fighting--with some local refinements--that G.I.s faced in the island-hopping battles of World War II. It is and interminable blindman's buff that has squads and platoons snaking steadily along tangled jungle paths, ever fearful of snipers' bullets, ever watchful for the trip wire that might set off a lethal "Bouncing Betty" mine or drive poison-tipped stakes into a man's chest. The big set-piece battles--Chu Lai and Plei Me, Chu Pong and Ia Deang--were the exceptions, and even they rarely involved more than a regiment on each side. Ninth Circle. When he was not under fire, the U.S. fighting man was enduring living conditions that would have made Dante's ninth circle seem cozy. He was mired in mud when it rained, choked by dust when it did not. There were leeches and lice, poisonous vipers and venereal disease, dengue, and a virulent strain of malaria that has defied preventatives and resists cure. Temperatures hit 130 degrees on the sandy beaches, 20 degrees in the mountains. In the water-filled bunkers of Danang and Phan Rang, marines and paratroopers wrapped themselves in rubberized ponchos to grab a few hours' soaked sleep. In the endless paddyfields, man on long patrols came down with agonizing foot sore from polluted ooze. Everything rusts or mildews," complained Navy Lieut. Commander Richard Escajeda, head surgeon of the marines' "Charlie Med" hospital at Danang. "The sterilized linen never dries. Bugs crawl into our surgical packs. Mud is everywhere." An earthier--or muddier--protest came from a jungle-hardened trooper in the 1st Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, bivouacked with the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade. "Ya know, I been here for six weeks, and for five of 'em I've never been dry," he lamented. "If a man ain't wet with sweat, he's drenched with rain. Me clothes are rottin' and me boots are fallin' apart." Boiling Ants. In this dark, watery world, the enemy lurks like a predatory pike, seldom visible, forever poised for the kill. Both the black-pajamaed guerrilla and the khaki-uniformed Viet Minh regular from the North have become increasingly sophisticated and determined fighters. At Ia Drang, Major General Harry W.O. Kinnard, commander of the Army's 1st Calvary Division (Airmobile), marveled at the way the Viet Minh hard- hats "came boiling off those hills like ants and pushed their attack right through our artillery, tactical air and small-arms fire--in broad daylight. It was eloquent testimony that this war is a tough one." Though not always as aggressive as their comrades from the North, the Viet Cong guerrillas have been around for so long that they know every thicket and clump of elephant grass for miles around. Kinnard told of a conversation his men had monitored on the V.C. radio network. "All right," a Viet Cong company commander told a subordinate, "I want you to move down to that place where we laid an ambush for the French twelve years ago." 4-to-1 Ratio. By the end of 1966, U.S. strength is expected to reach 400,000--nearly as big as an army as the French had in all Indo-China, and with infinitely superior equipment. Buoyed by the U.S. effort, South Viet Nam is simultaneously strengthening its armed forces by 10,000 men a month, should muster 750,000 fighting men by the end of 1966. The Communists in turn are increasing their 250,000-man first-line force by up to 7,000 a month--4,500 by infiltration from the North, and rest by forced drafts in Viet Cong- controlled villages--and by December had at least 80,000 more men in the South than they had when the year began. 09-06-02, 09:27 AM By spring, the allies should outnumber the enemy 4 to 1--far less than the nearly 10-to-1 superiority that Britain's General Sir Gerald Templer enjoyed in Malaya's twelve-year guerrilla war, but sufficient for them to take the initiative. Once that happens, said a U.S. official, "we can begin pacification and the tide will begin to turn." Building & Fighting. Pacification, in the long run, is Westmoreland's greatest challenge. "Viet Nam is involved in two simultaneous and very difficult tasks," he says. "Nation building, and fighting a vicious and well-organized enemy. If it could do either alone, the task would be very simplified, but its got to do both at once. A political system is growing. It won't, it can't reach maturity overnight. Helping Viet Nam toward that objective may very well be the most complex problem ever faced by men in uniform anywhere on earth." It is a challenge such as no major nation has ever faced before. The great powers of the past were, first and last, empire builders hungry for territory and treasure. The U.S. seeks neither. The richest nation in history (its GNP has more than doubled since Korea, to $672 billion), it has no goal in Asia but the continued independence of free peoples. "We did not choose to be the guardians at the gate," as Lyndon Johnson declared. "But there is no one else." Not for Export. Some critics have faulted the U.S. for naively seeking to impose U.S.-style democracy on South Viet Nam. Conversely, others condemn Washington for supporting an undemocratic regime in Saigon. Both miss the essential point. Saigon may well suffer from instability, corruption and feudal social system, but as Freedom House Chairman Leo Cherne has written, "Far from wanting to export these defects, the South Vietnamese ask only to be left in peace to overcome them. This is the real tragedy of Viet Nam--that history has denied it the chance to grow and evolve in peace." The U.S. is there to give it that chance. For all of Ho's gibes that the Americans in Viet Nam are "imperialists" bent on fighting a "white man's war," Saigon's threatened government did not see the arriving soldiers as devils but as deliverers. Nonetheless, Westmoreland constantly advises his men to remember their proper role there. "Saigon's sovereignty must be honored, protected and strengthened," he insists. "In 1954 this was a French war. Now it is a Vietnamese war, with us in support. It remains, and will remain just that." Nothing proves his point so eloquently as the casualty figures. In 1965 the U.S. suffered 1,241 killed in action and 5,687 wounded; the South Vietnamese lost 11,327 killed in action and 23,009 wounded. (The total since Jan. 1, 1961, when the Pentagon began counting casualties: U.S.: 1,484 killed in action, 7,337 wounded; Viet Nam: 30,427 killed in action, 63,000 wounded; Viet Cong 104,500 killed in action 250,000 wounded.) "Wherever You Go." Pentagon officials quote the observation by a Viet Nam veteran in a letter home: "You can't run away from Viet Nam because it will follow you wherever you go." While President Johnson insists that the U.S. will remain there as long as Saigon's sovereignty is threatened, the war will inevitably confront him with profound problems at home. For one thing, as the size and cost of the U.S. commitment grows, Americans will understandably expect their forces to go beyond containment and start reclaiming territory. So far, the results have been less than spectacular. Despite the war's ever-mounting tempo the Saigon government at year's end controlled only 57% of the population v. 23% under Communist domination, and 20% still in doubt. Physically, the Cong still occupied between 70% and 90% of the entire country, though much of it was barely habitable--dank mangrove swamps in the Mekong Delta, spiny ridges in the highlands, dense rain forests above Saigon. In the next few months, the U.S. public can hardly demand major victories--at least until a serious supply bottleneck is broken and Westmoreland gets the extra combat divisions he has been pleading for. But as the U.S. troop level climbs toward 40,000 men, as the price of war begins to crimp Great Society programs and boost taxes, Americans may find it harder than ever to accept the long war predicted by the Administration Military men talk in terms of years, and though other officials insist that "something will give" long before that, few would risk curtailing the U.S. buildup. If American patience wears thin, Lyndon Johnson may find himself in a two-way squeeze. From one side he will be under increasing pressure to bomb the North into oblivion. Already the U.S. has slit open the "red envelope" enfolding North Viet Nam's major industrial centers with a raid on the sprawling Uong Bi power plant at Haiphong; in 18,600 sorties, bombers have plastered targets to within 30 miles of the Chinese border. Yet Hanoi is pouring more men and material into the South each month. On the opposite end of the spectrum, a long costly stalemate may well persuade more and more Americans that the pacifists and isolationists and columnists such as Walter Lippmann--not to mention Mao Tse-tung and Ho Chi Minh--were right all along in arguing that the U.S. has no business in Asia. If that feeling becomes general, the U.S. will be forced into the trap of seeking a negotiated settlement from a position of weakness--which at worst will give South Viet Nam to he Communists as effectively as any military defeat. To Pierce the Apathy. Either way, Lyndon Johnson did not help his cause in 1965 by a lack of candor on the severity of the war or the scope of U.S. involvement in Viet Nam. "Light" and "moderate" are still the official euphemisms to describe U.S. losses in even the bloodiest engagements. It is already clear that the war will be the central issue of this year's elections--as it should be. Few could dispute Lyndon Johnson's swift, determined action in meeting the Communist challenge. But it is also becoming a major day-to-day concern of all Americans. Thus far, the President has dealt effectively with the Vietniks and isolationists on the one hand and on the other with those who urge that North Viet Nam be bombed "back to the Stone Age." His chief failure has been one of articulation. He is, after all, no Churchill--but who is? Nonetheless, Johnson has yet to address himself in particular to the great majority of Americans who generally support his Viet Nam policy, though not in many cases without a certain apprehension. To sustain the broad base of support that he will need as the war expands and the casualty lists lengthen, he will have to pierce the apathy of those who--as of now--trust the President to make the right decisions, but have no sense of involvement in Viet Nam. There is another sizable segment of the public that understands only too well the necessity of the U.S. presence in Asia, but expects of the President realistic information on the price and progress of the war. To awaken and convince both groups, the President needs more than pulpit platitudes, and the American people will certainly demand more in 1966. Meanwhile, in return for their support in the difficult days of 1965, they have a right to expect more than 126 words on Viet Nam in this year's State of the Union address. 09-13-02, 12:16 PM wetsy iz and was a a bureaucratic pig, and a lousy leader 09-13-02, 12:26 PM You are talking nice about about this man....;) I would have said a few other choice words...but you hit it right on the nail......... Semper Fi Marine...... If we can "live and fight" in the same conditions as "the other guy" I wonder why Westy lived in air conditioning. Don't remember too many folks in the nam with air conditioning. Only ones I know had it because the equipment needed it not the troops. 09-13-02, 09:50 PM That article was dated 1966, since then history has taken another viewed of the War in Vietnam. Below our my thoughts on the Horse's (_I_) He had no idea of the foe he was fighting... Wouldn't listen to the Marine Corps leaders on tactics of how to fight in Vietnam...The Marine Corps ideas were to fight much like the "Banana Wars" in early 1900's pacify the area you hold then spread out from the coast. A war of attrition wasn't the answer. It just made for more enemies. All that insured was more people getting killed for those "Body Counts". Shoving the M16 down our throats. Then going along with McNamara's Line. Making those in control of the "Order of Battle" deleting that "Order of Battle" by half...the locals, that would kill you as good as the NVA. All that resulted in Tet 0f 1968... Where we went from "seeing the light at the end of the tunnel" to fighting for several more years. About that time, the Horse's (_I_) was relieved of command. Also at that time his boss decided not to run again. "Those boys in Vietnam can't bomb an outhouse without my permission!" All this shows that he had no idea of the country he chose to fight in. There were no outhouses in Vietnam...just holes in the ground, covered with bamboo in one direction leaving a space of about 8" then laying bamboo the other direction leaving that same 8" . That left a hole 8"X8" the bamboo was covered with dirt. That was the Vietnamese crapper. No outhouses in Vietnam. Know your enemy, and you can defeat your enemy. Having no knowledge of your enemy strenght might result much like the outcome of the Vietnam War. We never lost a major battle, but major battles were the aim of our enemies in Vietnam. General Giap commander of the forces we were fighting. "You could killed ten of mine for everyone of you that my forces killed. Yet in the end I knew that America would get tired before we ever thought of getting tired. Know your enemy... 09-13-02, 09:53 PM 10-4 Ricardo U got it Marine eloquently said Bro, Thank You Well said, except for one thought. Westy was not removed, he was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Army. You know what they say "mess up and move up". 09-14-02, 02:21 PM He reminds me of General Almond US Army in Korea 1950. He too was blind to his enemy. Thanks God, General O.P Smith USMC took the course of action that he did. General Smith's building of that air strip insured the survival of the 1st Marine Division. Without that airstrip. The 1st Marine Division would have to carry the wounded. It might have been too heavy a burden. It also allow the 1st Marine Division to be resupplied. General Almond had a mess that included the finest china and his meals were better than the troops that he commanded. "He surely didn't live like the other fellow!" Thanksgiving 1950, General Almond invited all the senior Officers of the 1st Marine Division to join him for Thanksgiving dinner. When they took in the china, they could only shake their heads. What a way to fight a war. You live like a "grand marshall" while your troops do without. What a way to fight a war! Sounds like some of our army generals studied the 18th & 19th century Brit army leadership. In 1777 Gen Burgoyne led his forces to the eventful battle at Saratoga; his supply train included 30 carts of personal supplies including champagne and his mistress. Who said war had to be hell. I can only add this. With the exception of the Marine Generals who all lived in make shift quarters, maybe a little better than us Grunts in the field, but no better than those attached to their command, the rest of the high command lived and acted much like the NAZI Field Martial's in WWII. They tried to fight a conventional war against an unconventional enemy, no one wanted to listen to General Walt or General Green, both expert jungle fighters from WWII, even Chesty commented on the War in 1966 saying that all he needed was 2 Marine Divisions and 6 months without any political intervention. As for President Johnson, Johnson was the closest America has ever come to having a Hitler in the Oval Office.
1. An offensive weapon, having a long and usually sharppointed blade with a cutting edge or edges. It is the general term, including the small sword, rapier, saber, scimiter, and many other varieties. 2. Hence, the emblem of judicial vengeance or punishment, or of authority and power. "He [the ruler] beareth not the sword in vain." (Rom. Xiii. 4) "She quits the balance, and resigns the sword." (Dryden) 5. One of the end bars by which the lay of a hand loom is suspended. Sword arm, the right arm. Sword bayonet, a bayonet shaped somewhat like a sword, and which can be used as a sword. Sword bearer, one who carries his master's sword; an officer in London who carries a sword before the lord mayor when he goes abroad. Sword belt, a belt by which a sword is suspended, and borne at the side. Sword blade, the blade, or cutting part, of a sword. Sword cane, a cane which conceals the blade of a sword or dagger, as in a sheath. Sword dance. A dance in which swords are brandished and clashed together by the male dancers. A dance performed over swords laid on the ground, but without touching them. Sword fight, fencing; a combat or trial of skill with swords; swordplay. Sword grass. Origin: OE. Swerd, AS. Sweord; akin to OFries. Swerd, swird, D. Zwaard, OS. Swerd, OHG. Swert, G. Schwert, Icel. Sver, Sw. Svard, Dan. Svaerd; of uncertain origin. (01 Mar 1998) \|Bookmark with:\|\|word visualiser\|\|Go and visit our forums\|
To fully discuss Dissemination I have to teach you my Library of Alexandria Rule for Genealogists. At the time of Cleopatra the largest library in the world was in Alexandria, Egypt. It may have had hundreds of thousands of books, scrolls, codices and so on. It was a center for learning in the ancient world; scholars came from all over to study there, and many great discoveries were made. Discoveries such as: - Astronomy was documented enough to be able to sail by the stars - Longitude and Latitude - Calculating a year within 6 minutes of accuracy, establishment of a leap year. - Calculating the circumference of the earth within 1%. - The brain and nervous system work together - The heart pumps blood through the body - Archimedes screw, a handcranked device for lifting water - Foundations of Geometry and Trigonometry, the discovery of Pi. (Yeah, I personally could have lived without this last one :-) According to legend, Caesar and PtolemyXII were fighting, and the people of Alexandria set fire to the ships in the harbor to break the blockade. The fire swept onto land and the library was burned. In modern times, we don’t know what was in that library and have nowhere near a hundred thousand volumes from that time period. All we have are the precious things, like religious texts, of which many copies were made. So: The Library of Alexandria Rule for Genealogists is: THE MORE COPIES THERE IS OF SOMETHING THE MORE LIKELY IT IS TO SURVIVE. So: against all your genealogist tendencies, you need to Share, Share, Share. Even if it isn't finished. Share with relatives, share with databases, share with libraries, historical societies. Then keep files in as many places as you can. Always have electronic and print copies. Never keep anything in only one format. And keep good notes of sources you have used and what you have done. These are road signs for the next generation. Next: Refreshing/Back Up Systems, coming shortly...
Write a 1000 words argument essay that incorporates secondary sources to support your claim about an assigned topic. Pick a Topic: 1- Persuade your audience that the use of alternative energy is beneficial and economical, or that the use of alternative energy is expensive and as detrimental as traditional energy sources. 2- Persuade your audience that social media provides a valuable outlet for free expression, or that social media allows users to insult, bully, and threaten others without any fear of punishment. Use prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing to write formal, college-level essays Distinguish among different patterns of development Apply an appropriate pattern of development to a specific purpose and audience Write effective thesis statements Develop paragraphs using topic sentences, adequate detail, supporting evidence, and transitions Employ responsible research methods to locate appropriate secondary sources Quote, paraphrase, and summarize secondary source material correctly and appropriately Use Modern Language Association citation and documentation style to reference secondary source material correctly and appropriately Apply the conventions of standard written American English to produce correct, well-written essays The purpose is twofold: Persuade the reader to agree with the writer’s position (primary purpose). Express the writer’s feelings about the reader taking action on the topic (secondary purpose).
This small promontory lies on the north side of the Cromarty Firth near Inverness. During a visit there last week we saw many attractions, such as an exhibition, shop and restaurant. However, it was the signs of the old ways of life that fascinated us and, in particular, the very old large building that dominated the scene. There are several of these in the area; they are called girnels and were used for storing grain crops, hence their other name of storehouses. The Foulis girnel, sometimes called the Old Rent House, was built in 1740 for the Foulis estate. The grain, mainly barley and oats, came from the very productive estates on the fertile coastal areas as payment in kind of agricultural rents. The grain was then handed out to farm workers as wages. There were also sales for export by sea so it was important for the girnels to be near the coast for ease of transport and loading boats. Indeed, the remains of the old pier can still be seen. The impressive 18th-century Foulis girnel has been fully restored; it is now a grade A listed building and houses historical and wildlife exhibitions. Near the west end of the girnel are examples of the old Cromarty Firth Cobbles. These are traditional wooden clinker boats which have been used for generations in the firth for salmon netting. There are examples of old nets and floats in the boats. Each cobble is named after a local character or story and this is explained on small display boards next to the boats. One is called Buller after James "Buller" Black and it was built in the mid-1970s. It was designed to carry a crew of up to six men and could hold a considerable quantity of salmon - in the 1970s a catch of 200 salmon on a single tide was not unusual. How times have changed.
Who was the subject of an advertisement in a colonial American newspaper 250 years ago today? “I think it high time to clip the wings of these public spirited gentlemen, that make so great an appearance in our weekly papers.” A trio of advertisements about “runaway wives” appeared in the August 13, 1771, edition of the Connecticut Courant, each of them describing the misbehavior of a woman who absconded from her husband and warning others not to extend credit because their aggrieved husbands refused to pay any debts they contracted. Richard Smith placed one of those advertisements, claiming that his wife, Hannah, “makes it her business to pass from house to house with her [busy] news, tattling and bawling and lying.” In addition, he accused her of “carrying out things out of my house, things contrary to my knowledge.” Such advertisements told only part of the story. In most instances, wives did not possess the same access to the press as their husbands, especially once husbands published notices that they refused to make payments on behalf of recalcitrant wives, so runaway wife advertisements largely went unanswered in the public prints. Occasionally, however, women defended their behavior and their reputations by publishing notices of their own. When Hannah Smith did so, she told a very different story than the one her husband previously presented in the Connecticut Courant. Hannah blamed both her husband and his children from a previous marriage for the discord in their household. She first pointed to the “perfidious instigation” of his children that “represented me in a false and ungenerous light, to be wastful, tattling, and wilfully absenting myself.” Problems arose, Hannah claimed, because she had a husband “who keeps himself (for the most part) intoxicated ten degrees below the level of a beast.” She also experienced emotional and physical abuse, reporting that Richard “allows some of his children to treat a step mother with the most abusive, ignominious language, not sparing to kick her.” None of these details appeared in Richard’s advertisement! Since Richard made accusations against her in a public forum, Hannah in turn insisted that the situation “absolutely necessitated” that she “ask the public, how a woman ought to behave” in such circumstances. At the same time, she critiqued advertisements for runaway wives more generally, perhaps reacting to the three that appeared one after the other and concluded with Richard’s advertisement concerning her alleged misconduct. “As the woman is the weaker vessel,” Hannah asserted, “I think it high time to clip the wings of these public spirited gentlemen, that make so great an appearance in our weekly papers.” Richard Smith had not told an accurate or complete story in his advertisement; neither had Samuel Pettibone and John Savage in their notices. In a rare rebuttal that appeared in print, Hannah Smith defended not only herself but also Mary Pettibone, Nancy Savage, and other women targeted by runaway wife advertisements.
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work! Guillaume Dufay, Dufay also spelled Du Fay or Du Fayt, (born August 5, 1397?, Beersel, near Brussels, Burgundian Netherlands [now in Belgium]—died November 27, 1474, Cambrai, Bishopric of Cambrai [now in France]), Franco-Flemish composer noted for both his church music and his secular chansons. Dufay became a chorister at the Cambrai cathedral (1409), entered the service of Carlo Malatesta of Rimini in 1420, and in 1428 went to Rome, where he joined the papal singers. In 1436 he became a canon of Cambrai and worked in the service of the duke of Savoy. A papal letter of 1437 mentions that he had a degree in canon law, which he may have been given by papal fiat. He went to Cambrai about 1440 and supervised the music of the cathedral, then in the service of the duke of Burgundy. In 1446 he became a canon of Sainte-Waudru, Mons. Dufay’s surviving works include 87 motets, 59 French chansons, 7 Italian chansons, 7 complete masses, and 35 mass sections. He often used, and may have originated, the technique of fauxbourdon, a style of composition based on the sonorities of the third and sixth notes of the scale and derived from English descant, an improvisational practice. During his Italian period Dufay composed a number of ceremonial motets for public celebrations, among them the election of Pope Eugenius IV (1431), the Treaty of Viterbo (1433), and the dedication of Brunelleschi’s dome for Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence (1436). For the brilliant Feast of the Pheasant, held in 1454 by Philip the Good of Burgundy and intended to initiate a Crusade to recapture Jerusalem, Dufay composed a lamentation for the church in Constantinople (now Istanbul). Dufay’s chansons, normally in three voices, deal with subjects such as springtime, love, and melancholy. Most use the poetic-musical forms of the ballade, rondeau, and virelai; a few are written in freer form. Dufay’s masses laid the foundation for the rapid musical development of the mass in the second half of the 15th century. His complete mass settings are in four voices and use a cantus firmus placed in the tenor line. His canti firmi include secular songs, such as L’Homme armé (used by many composers up to Palestrina) and his own ballade Se la face ay pale, and sacred melodies such as Ave Regina celorum. In these and other works of his Cambrai period, Dufay perfected a graceful and expressive style that incorporated into Continental music the sweet harmonies of the contenance angloise, or “English manner,” that according to Martin le Franc’s Le Champion des dames (c. 1440) he had adopted from John Dunstable. In his music he created the characteristic style of the Burgundian composers that links late medieval music with the style of later Franco-Flemish composers of the Renaissance. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: Western music: The court of BurgundyPrime among them was Guillaume Dufay, who had spent some time in Rome and Florence before settling in Cambrai about 1440. An important contemporary of Dufay was Gilles Binchois, who served at Dijon from about 1430 until 1460. The alliance of Burgundy with England accounted for the presence on… musical performance: The Renaissance…embodied in music written by Guillaume Dufay for the early 15th-century Burgundian court were continued in the magnificent musical establishments of the Italian Renaissance princes and popes. Detailed records exist of the elaborate musical festivities arranged for weddings and baptisms of the powerful Florentine family, the Medici. Printing increased the… mass…John Dunstable and the Burgundian Guillaume Dufay. Both applied the treble-dominated style of plainsong. Dufay brought to completion the developments of cantus firmus mass, in which each section of the Ordinary is based on a precomposed melody, or cantus firmus ( q.v.), usually either a plainchant melody or a secular song.…
E-mail is used to communicate with others all over the world. It can send messages to people in a matter of seconds or minutes. Use caution when opening attachments from people you know. Sometimes attachments carry viruses without others knowing it. These viruses can destroy a computer. Always scan an attachment before you open it Even from a friend Some email providers automatically scan the attachment and will let you know if it has a virus. Delete all unknown messages immediately. Remember messages may not have been sent by the person whose name is shown. Always check the email senders address. You may have a friend named James Suire and his email is firstname.lastname@example.org. James Suire may send you a message but the email address is email@example.com. The names are the same but the person sending you the message is not the same James Suire that you know as your friend. Sometime emails say they are from a bank, government official, or friend but they are not. Senders can disguise themselves and pretend to be someone else, this is called phishing. Research on the email provider you choose. Make sure they use SPAM filters Virus Scans Report any email containing threats or material making you feel scared or uncomfortable to your email provider and an adult. Open an email if you don’t know the person sending it Even if it is from a bank – if it is not the bank you have accounts with do not open the email Click on an attachment from people you don’t know. It may be a virus. Forward chain letters to friends and family Share your password with anyone. Respond to emails that they are suspicious of Be tricked by false messages (SPAM) Offers incredible deals only if you reply with your information Instant Messaging (IM) is when people have conversation in “real time”. As soon as the message is typed and the enter key is pressed the message is instantly sent to another person. Most IM services have a “Buddy List”, which tells people when their friends are online and available to chat. Talk to only the people you know in real life and who you have approved on your buddy list. Know how the blocking features work on your IM service. Block the senders you do not know from contacting you Learn the lingo used so you can understand what each other talk about lol, ttyl, brb, etc…. Share your password with anyone. Talk to people you do not know in real life. Agree to meet anyone from your IM if you do not know them well – even if it is a friend Websites that allow kids to connect with their friends and other people with similar interests. Myspace Facebook Yearbook People can express themselves through E-mail Blogging Music Videos Artwork Etc. Express Yourself Be careful what you post online Set your privacy settings on your page so only the people you accept as a friend can view your profile. Choose appropriate screen names or nicknames that do not include personal information. Choose your wording carefully. Make sure it is not rude or hurtful. Share your password with anyone. Talk to people you do not know in real life. Add people to your page if you do not know them in real life. Post your age, address, or personal information on you page. Compete to see if you can get the most friends by adding people you do not know. Respond to any rude or hurtful message that may have been sent to you or posted to a profile about you or a friend. Post anything online that you don’t what everyone to know or see. Once it is on the page it is not something you can “take back” Anything posted online can be saved by others and passed on to unlimited people Use webcams with an adults knowledge Turn off the camera when not in use Remain aware of the camera’s view when using a webcam Remember that others can save the webcam sessions and forward them to other people Some people believe that they were talking to trust worthy friends and later found out that images of themselves were posted all over the web. Talk to family members and friends only Share your password with anyone. Talk to people you do not know in real life. Post things that have friends on it without their parents permission or without letting the friend know about it. Do anything that would embarrass you if other people see it. Be scared to remind a friend to ask themselves if they would be embarrassed if their friends or family saw what they were doing while using a webcam. If the answer is yes they need to stop.
The hill of La Popa is a good site to appreciate the Heroic City from a distance, with a beautiful view that includes the Caribbean, the Island of Tierrabomba, the tourist area, the walled downtown, La Boquilla, the northern zone and the city in general. In colony times there were farmsteads, small country places and fisheries in its surroundings. At the beginning of the XVIIth century, the town Hall decides it was necessary to build a convent on the top of the hill for the church members that helped clear and clean the area. With collects, enough was gathered to make a wooden chapel with a cabin next to it. As superior of the monastery was designed Fray Alonso de La Cruz Paredes, who being at the convent on the desert of Ráquira received a divine message that entrusted him with the foundation and construction of a convent of the order of Saint Augustine at the top of the nearest hill to the city of Cartagena de Indias. The convent of Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria was founded. Later on, the wooden church was replaced by a strong one. An inn was also built to receive he visitors and pilgrims. Was used as headquarters and fortress during the independence and civil wars of the XIX century. By political laws it was abandoned until restored in 1964 by the Augustinian religious. Today it is one of the most visited places in Cartagena de Indias.
Edison Firefighting:During the early part of the 20th century, five separate volunteer fire companies independently organized to protect separate sections of Raritan Township, currently known as Edison. The township was divided by fire districts, each containing elected fire commissioners with political and economic power. In 1926, the first career firefighter was hired, and since then, over 250 career firefighters have taken the oath. Edison Firefighting features images, memorabilia, and photographs from the early days of bucket brigades and horse-drawn carriages to current personnel and apparatus. Significant fires, explosions, and rescues that Edison firefighters confronted throughout the years are revealed within this fascinating book. Back to top Rent Edison Firefighting 1st edition today, or search our site for Eugene A. textbooks. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Arcadia Publishing.
The legume family is large and contains species that can grow in most soils and climates. Legumes include: dried beans, dried peas, lentils, peanuts, soya beans (and the many products made from soy), and bean sprouts. A legume is defined as "the fruit or seed of any of various bean or pea plants consisting of a two-valved case that splits along both sides when ripe and having the seeds attached to one edge of the valves". They are the seeds of plants of the family Fabaceae (previously known as Leguminosae). Beans have been a source of good nutrition for more than 10,000 years. Common types of bean include chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lentils, green or yellow split peas, soybeans, butter beans, red kidney beans, mung beans, pinto beans, lima beans, black beans, black-eyed beans, red beans and navy beans. Beans can be used in soups, stews, casseroles or even as dips. A study of 9,600 Americans found that those who ate plenty of legumes had lower blood pressure and were less likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure. [Archives of Internal Medicine 2001;161: pp.2573-8]. A study of 9,600 Americans found that those who ate plenty of legumes had lower total cholesterol. Legumes are rich in soluble fiber, which has been shown to help lower total cholesterol and LDL (''bad'') cholesterol levels, the study authors note. [Archives of Internal Medicine 2001;161: pp.2573-8]. Bulking up the diet with legumes such as beans and peas can lower the risk of heart disease, study findings suggest. Men and women who ate legumes at least four times a week were found to have a 22% lower risk of coronary heart disease over 19 years than those who consumed legumes once weekly, researchers report in the November 26th issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. The study was based on interviews and medical exams of more than 9,600 Americans who did not have heart disease when the study began. [Archives of Internal Medicine 2001;161: pp.2573-8]. Legumes contain low levels of sodium and high levels of potassium, calcium and magnesium – a combination that is associated with a reduced risk of heart disease. Folate, a mineral also found in abundance in legumes, is thought to reduce blood levels of homocysteine, a compound that can boost heart disease risk. Increased dietary copper through legume consumption may protect against heart disease. [Archives of Internal Medicine 162, 15: pp.1780-1, August 12, 2002] A study of 9,600 Americans found that those who ate plenty of legumes were less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes. Legumes are rich in soluble fiber, which has been shown to help improve insulin resistance, the study authors note. [Archives of Internal Medicine 2001;161: pp.2573-8]. Your body is a highly complex, interconnected system. Instead of guessing at what might be wrong, let us help you discover what is really going on inside your body based on the many clues it is giving. Our multiple symptom checker provides in-depth health analysis by The Analyst™ with full explanations, recommendations and (optionally) doctors available for case review and answering your specific questions.
Research and Studies In 2012, Feeding America released updated data that details food insecurity across the nation by state, congressional district and food bank service area. In the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s service area – Cook County – nearly 800,000 individuals are food insecure, not knowing when or where their next meal will be. The Greater Chicago Food Depository and Feeding America worked together to detail this food insecurity data by Cook County municipalities and Chicago neighborhoods. This level of data provides a highly nuanced view of hunger throughout Cook County and helps identify priority areas for hunger relief. While people struggle with food insecurity all over Chicago and the Cook County suburbs, the data points to high concentrations of need in neighborhoods west and south of downtown Chicago, as well as Cook County’s South Suburbs. For example, in the West Side neighborhoods of West Garfield Park, North Lawndale and Austin, one in three people is food insecure. Auburn Gresham, West Englewood, South Shore and Roseland on Chicago’s South Side each have more than 15,000 individuals who are food insecure. In the south suburbs, food insecurity rates include 34 percent in Harvey, 39 percent in Robbins and 48 percent in Ford Heights. This level of information is a valuable asset as the Food Depository and its partners work to end hunger across Cook County. Thank you to Feeding America for its assistance with this data collection and analysis. Additional Data and Studies - The 2012 Hunger Among Seniors in Cook County study highlights the importance of federal programs for older adults, 65 years or older, in Cook County. Download full study (PDF) \| Download press release (PDF) \| Read more on blog - The 2010 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey revealed that 16.7 percent of Cook County residents lived in poverty, up from 15.9 percent in 2009, and surpassing the national poverty rate of 15.3 percent. More than one in every ten people was unemployed in Cook County with an unemployment rate of 13.1 percent. Within city-limits poverty rates were even worse at 22.5 percent or 596,975 people, compared to 21.6 percent in 2009. With an unemployment rate of 14.8 percent, nearly one in every six people was experiencing unemployment. Children were particularly hard hit. In Cook County, 24.5 percent—or 299,123 children—lived in poverty in last year. In Chicago one-third of all children lived in poverty in 2010, totaling 206,456 children. For older adults in Cook County (above the age of 65 years old), 11.3 percent experienced poverty; in Chicago, 16.4 percent of older adults lived below the poverty line. - Hunger in America 2010: This landmark study revealed an unprecedented number in Chicago and Cook County seeking emergency food assistance. Read more \| Executive Summary (PDF) \| Fact sheet (PDF) - Running on Empty: Nutritional Access for Children in Cook County: Identification of Gaps in Meals, Nutrition, and Food Delivery Systems in Cook County. Executive Summary (PDF) \| Fact sheet (PDF) Working Poor Study: Fact sheet (PDF) University of Chicago Senior Study: Fact sheet (PDF) Other useful information Hunger in Illinois—Feeding Illinois (formerly known as the Illinois Food Bank Association) Report on Illinois Poverty—Heartland Alliance & the Mid-America Institute on Poverty (MAIP) National and State Program Data—Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) Child Food Insecurity Statistics 2006-2008—In partnership with the ConAgra Foods Foundation, Feeding America determined just how many children are vulnerable to the debilitating effects of hunger in every state.
Teams of teenagers will do next week what American and international auto manufacturers have apparently never tried. They will display the wildly fuel-efficient vehicles they’ve created. Seventy teams of high school and college students will race their high-efficiency vehicles in Houston, Texas, in the Shell Eco-Marathon April 14 and 15. The winner of the race is the team that goes the farthest on the least fuel. Students use a number of different technologies, including solar photovoltaics, to power their vehicles farther with less. Last year’s Eco-Marathon Americas race resulted in a broken record, with the winning team driving its fuel-efficient vehicle nearly 2,500 miles on a single gallon of gas, according to a 2010 press release from Shell. While congress dithers about the dangers to the economy involved in increasing the national fuel-efficiency standard to 60 miles per gallon, these students can practically drive their creations coast to coast on the equivalent of a single gallon of gas. This year’s competition could see even greater gains, according to event spokesman Ted Rolfvondenbaumen, because students will be allowed to use electric plug-in technology for the first time this year. Teams enter vehicles in two categories: Prototype, which includes concept cars designed to get the maximum gas mileage without necessarily being the type of car the average American would drive, and the UrbanConcept category, which includes cars designed to be driven that look more like traditional automobiles. Of the 70 teams participating in this year’s Eco-marathon, the Prototype entries consist of 43 vehicles powered by internal combustion engines, including 35 by gasoline, four by ethanol, three by diesel fuel, and one by FAME. The 19 Prototype vehicles powered by e-mobility include 10 by Plug-in electricity, four by fuel cell/hydrogen technology and five by solar. “The atmosphere at this event, and I mean this in a positive way,” Rolfvondenbaumen said, “is tense and hectic.” He said the students are so invested in their projects and so passionate about the cars they’ve created that they never stop tinkering and trying to make the smallest adjustments and improvements at every opportunity. Rolfvondenbaumen said this is the second year the race is being held in an urban environment. Previously it was hosted on a racetrack. Solar power has historically been a major player at the event, and this year is no exception. Students are exploring new technologies and using batteries like they’ve never been able to use them before, he said. That’s part of why the competition this year includes plug-in electric vehicles, some of which will also contain a solar element, Rolfvondenbaumen said. “It’s a very exciting event,” he said. It’s free and open to the public. Pictured: Images from last year’s Shell Eco-marathon Europe at the EuroSpeedway, courtesy of Shell.
Organised smuggling networks increasingly use online platforms and social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Skype, experts have revealed. They also discussed how migrants can be warned against people traffickers’ false promises and against undertaking dangerous journeys. During the workshop it emerged that human smugglers use social media quite openly to offer their services to refugees from Africa or the Near East, in a similar way to travel agencies with photos of cruise ships. They present themselves as friendly helpers, and lure people with false promises. Real-life examples show that many refugees seek advice from experienced compatriots on their way to Europe, as they mistrust the European media. They use messaging services, most of which are available via smartphones, to stay in touch with friends, acquaintances and relatives, who in turn provide them with new contacts. The experts also noted that social networks play a major role when it comes to combating organised smuggling networks, as they also do in passing on information.
By Tim Pearce International climate activist Al Gore says Germany must further push its domestic energy markets to embrace green energy or risk getting “left behind,” Politico reports. Within the last decade, Germany has pursued an aggressive strategy to transition its energy grid away from fossil fuels and toward renewable sources such as solar and wind. German politicians have used subsidies to encourage new investment and regulations to cut down on emissions, Fortune Magazine reports. “Germany was a model for the rest of the world and a narrative took hold here in Germany that might be summarized as ‘Germany leads and everyone follows,’” former-Vice President Gore told Politco in an interview. “But that narrative is now out of date.” The German people have funded the green revolution through taxes and a surcharge on energy bills that caused the average German’s energy costs to skyrocket more than 50 percent from 2006 to 2016. “For us it’s a very good business, but for the German people it’s very bad,” German farmer and entrepreneur Dieter Dürrmeier told Fortune for a March 2017 article. Dürrmeier is enrolled in a government program that pays his family about $42,000 annually to produce solar energy from panels attached to the roof of his barns and house. The aggressive national policy is pricing natural gas and nuclear energy plants out of markets. Plants are shuttering in towns where energy production is a major segment of the economy, Fortune reports. German politicians are also phasing out nuclear energy because of fears of another Fukushima disaster. In 2011, a tsunami hit the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, causing a nuclear meltdown in three reactor cores. Fears spread that nuclear fallout and radiation could kill thousands, though no cases of sickness or death related to radiation have been recorded. Pushing out carbon-neutral nuclear plants have put more reliance on German coal plants to burn increasing amounts of cheap lignite coal, which is plentiful in Germany. Germany produced 40 percent of its energy from coal in 2016, Fortune reports. “Germany is in danger of being left behind as more aggressive EU governments seize the lead,” Gore told Politico. “The competitive advantages and job creation advantages of the sustainability revolution put Germany at risk of being left behind. Of course, the subsidies for coal in Germany are enormous.” Germany’s renewable energy campaign has taken root in other countries in Europe and in China. German investment and production of green energy technology has lowered the costs for other countries looking to cut back on carbon emissions and take up more renewable sources into their energy grids. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities for this original content, email email@example.com.
The Waldviertel in the northwest of Lower Austria has shares in almost all rock units in Austria. The various rocks from a geological development history spanning hundreds of millions of years decisively shape the character of the Waldviertel landscape. With the Dobra gneiss, which has a rock age of 1.4 billion years, the Waldviertel is one of the oldest core areas of the crust of Central Europe. In the rock garden in front of the Krahuletz Museum, the most important rocks of the Waldviertel are set up and described in the form of 22 polished stone pillars. The impressive variety of rocks is made visible by the gneisses, marbles, granites, limestone stones and conglomerates set up here. The Waldviertel rock garden is always freely accessible. For more information on the rocks, visit the geological collection of the Krahuletz Museum!
The Special Collections and University Archives exhibition program features thematic displays of our unique. The exhibits focus on a wide range of subjects and are composed of books, manuscripts, ephemera, three-dimensional objects, and multi-media items. Special Collections and University Archives also sponsors a number of outreach programs in support of our major Maryland Room Gallery Exhibits. Find exhibits in our main gallery, throughout the reading room and online. Visit us on the first floor of Hornbake Library. All exhibits are free to the public. October 2015 - Summer 2016 Featuring over 150 books, records, advertisements, and other items on loan from local collectors August and Clare Imholtz. The exhibit includes examples of early Alice publications as well as a variety of illustrations from all over the world - a testament to the far-reaching influence of Carroll's legacy. Frederick Douglass and Joint Heritage at Wye House Fall 2016 - Summer 2017 As a child, Frederick Douglass lived as a slave at Wye House Plantation on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Join us during the 2016/17 academic year, as we feature an exhibition of the objects related to the people who lived at Wye House. Beyond the Battle: Bladensburg Rediscovered How do we remember the past? What makes a place historic? Why have we ignored Bladensburg while celebrating the story of other, more picturesque places? These are some of the issues explored in this exhibit. The bicentennial of the Battle of Bladensburg in the War of 1812 is an ideal occasion to reexamine our answers to these questions. Bladensburg’s story has its dark sides, but by reconnecting with its forgotten past, we preserve something more than history – we preserve an understanding of the complex processes and contradictions that forged the nation we know today.
Valuable, Useful, Of use, Of service, Beneficial, Rewarding, Advantageous, Positive, Helpful, Profitable, Gainful, Fruitful, Productive, Lucrative, Constructive, Effective, Effectual, Meaningful, Worthy English Meaning : (Adjective : Sufficiently valuable to justify the investment of time or interest) Example : The best way to cut truancy rates is to make school worthwhile for all pupils. Word Example from TV Shows : You don't think it's WORTHWHILE to get more women in science? (The Big Bang Theory Season 6, Episode 18)
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education was nearly two years ahead of the state when it passed a groundbreaking bullying-prevention policy in 2008. The North Carolina General Assembly ratified the School Violence Prevention Act this week. It defines bullying and harassing behavior and directs all school districts to adopt a policy before Dec. 31, prohibiting bullying or harassing behavior. The legislation also requires school districts to create procedures to report and investigate incidents of bullying, as well as establish training programs. North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue is expected to sign the bill next week. CMS was one of the first school districts in the state to pass a comprehensive bullying-prevention policy. The CMS Board of Education passed Policy JICK on March 11, 2008. The policy lists specific groups of students who are protected from bullying, as well as outlawing any kind of bullying or harassment. It also established district-wide training programs to enforce the policy and foster an environment of understanding and respect for all individuals. “The policy is an important part of our district’s efforts to ensure all students are learning in a safe and pleasant environment,” said CMS Superintendent Dr. Peter C. Gorman. CMS is one of the only school systems in the country to introduce its bullying-prevention plan, called Safety and Respect for All, across the entire district at once. Area superintendents, executive directors, principals and representatives from each school attended training sessions on bullying awareness, intervention strategies and reporting procedures, cyberbullying, legal implications of failing to address bullying, and available parent-information resources. Each school established a bullying-prevention team that developed an action plan designed to meet the needs, interests and readiness levels of their school. District-level staff provided additional resources, examples of curriculum and support to help teams create their plans. Action plans were included in each school’s School Improvement Plan. In addition, staff trained 35 cafeteria and 14 transportation managers in bullying awareness. The managers shared their training with staff. “This was a district-wide effort,” said CMS Diversity Specialist Jose Hernandez-Paris. “Elementary schools tied Safety and Respect for All activities into classroom lessons and middle schools included activities in character-development times or core classes. We piloted a new curriculum in high schools that will be expanded next year.” CMS also surveyed most sixth-grade students at the beginning of the school year to create a baseline measurement of bullying in schools. Staff is analyzing the data and will use it to supplement and make changes to the Safety and Respect for All plan. Parents are also a part of CMS’ bullying-prevention plan. Schools offered seminars on dealing with students who are bullied and who are bullying classmates and Parent University provided classes on bullying-prevention.
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.Join Britannica's Publishing Partner Program and our community of experts to gain a global audience for your work! Gestation, in mammals, the time between conception and birth, during which the embryo or fetus is developing in the uterus. This definition raises occasional difficulties because in some species (e.g., monkeys and man) the exact time of conception may not be known. In these cases the beginning of gestation is usually dated from some well-defined point in the reproductive cycle (e.g., the beginning of the previous menstrual period). The length of gestation varies from species to species. The shortest known gestation is that of the Virginian opossum, about 12 days, and the longest that of the Indian elephant, about 22 months. In the course of evolution the duration of gestation has become adapted to the needs of the species. The degree of ultimate growth is a factor, smaller animals usually having shorter periods of gestation than larger ones. Exceptions are the guinea pig and related South American rodents, in which gestation is prolonged (averaging 68 days for the guinea pig and 111 days for the chinchilla). The young of these species are born in a state of greater maturity than are those of the rat with its period of 22 days. Another factor is that, in many species with restricted breeding seasons, gestation is adjusted so that birth coincides with the period when food is most abundant. Thus the horse, a spring breeder with 11 months’ gestation, has its young the following spring, as does the sheep, a fall breeder with a five months’ gestation. Animals that live in the open tend to have longer gestations and to bear young that have reached a state of greater maturity than do animals that can conceal their young in underground burrows or in caves. Marsupials generally have short gestations—e.g., 40 days for the largest kangaroos. The young, born in an extremely immature state, transfer to the pouch in which gestation may be said to continue. Embryos of some species experience an arrest in development that greatly prolongs gestation. This is especially true of the fur-bearing carnivores the martens and weasels. Embryos of the European badger and American marten, which breed in July and August, develop for a few days, then lie dormant in the uterus, being implanted in January. Birth occurs in March. Of the total gestation period of 250 days, growth occurs during only 50. Delayed implantation also occurs in mice and other small rodents that become pregnant while they are still suckling a litter. Either a single factor or a great number of minor factors, all culminating at or near one date, determine the length of gestation. Several minor variations are known: in man, gestation for males is three to four days longer than that for females; and in cattle, bulls are carried about one day longer than heifers. In both species gestation of twins is five to six days less than for singlets. In animals such as the rabbit or pig, which bear many young at a time, gestation is shorter for larger litters than for smaller ones. Heredity also influences gestation; in cattle the mean gestation period for Holstein-Friesians is 279 days; for Brown Swiss, 290 days; other breeds fall between these extremes. When hybrids are produced by crossing two species with different gestation periods, the hybrid is carried for a period lying somewhere between those of the two parents and tending toward the mother’s species. Thus a mare carries a mule foal (fathered by a jackass) about 10 days longer than the normal period for the horse (about 337 days). For human gestation, see pregnancy. Learn More in these related Britannica articles: primate: Gestation period and parturitionThe period during which the growing fetus is protected in the uterus is characterized by a considerable range of variation among primate species, but it shows a general trend toward prolongation as one ascends the evolutionary scale. Mouse lemurs, for example,… dog: Gestation and whelpingThe normal gestation period is 63 days from the time of conception. This may vary if the bitch has been bred two or three times or if the eggs are fertilized a day or two after the mating has taken place. Eggs… bat: Life cycleThe periods of gestation, birth, lactation, and weaning are also usually synchronized. Gestation varies in duration: five or six months in flying foxes ( Pteropus), more than five months in vampire bats ( Desmodus), three months in some small leaf-nosed bats ( Hipposideros), and 6 or 7 to 14 weeks in…
Mental Health and Wellbeing “Wellbeing runs through the fabric of so much that is thought and said and done at Adelaide School. Simple practices which are commonplace to staff and pupils in the school would stand out elsewhere as exemplary.” Pooky Knightsmith, 2019 The ethos of the school is about valuing individuals and the relationships between pupils and staff are exceptional. Staff are committed to pupils and they are with them all day therefore pupils often share any concerns and staff are quick to identify issues with pupils. Relationships with parents are also very positive so a team around the child approach is very much in place. All staff receive extensive training in mental health and well-being. As a school we have several mental health first aiders trained and there is also ongoing support for them. There is s staff Wellbeing team. You can also see the school mental health action plan HERE. If a pupil is struggling with their mental health and well-being, a range of strategies may be put in place including having a quiet place to go, having time with trusted staff or walks. We have staff who can complete Sensory Circuits, Elsa sessions, drawing and talking, lego therapy, mindfulness etc. and we may utilise some of these opportunities with the pupil. All of this would be communicated with the parent and they would be invited to support and share with us. Mental health and well-being are built into PSHE and life skills curriculums. Although there is a long term PSHE plan in place this is flexible and we develop our plans to meet the needs of the pupils all of the time. We are very reflective and know our pupils exceptionally well. Other subjects cover mental health and well-being to maximise opportunities for discussion. We hold an annual well-being week and observe Mental Health Day in October, with whichever theme it is annually. These National days help to focus on pupils understanding of mental health and well-being and learning positive habits to stay mentally well. We work closely with a range of professionals to ensure we meet the needs of all children in our community. We also support parents to understand where they can access support should they wish to. Lots of different agencies visit school to speak to pupils and parents about mental health and well-being. This has included the Amy Winehouse Foundation, Emotionally Healthy Schools Team and local charities. We have recently began to deliver a Parent Mental Health Awareness course accredited by the Anna Freud Centre, it is in it’s first cycle. The culture of empathy and openness challenges any stigma related to health and well being at all times. Staff are always encouraging positive dialogue and modelling effective attitudes. Where there are breaches of moral codes in the media or popular culture these are often explored & discussed. We deliver mental health training for other professionals and contribute to national projects in this area. We are proud to have recently achieved the Carnegie Gold Mental Health Award. The importance we place on mental health and well-being is in unison with the schools values; Commitment, Care and Collaboration. “The school treats every pupil, every staff member and every parent / carer as an individual and goes above and beyond to promote the emotional mental wellbeing of every individual, tailoring their support to individual needs. Pupils, staff and parents feel safe at and supported by the school, with many choosing to seek support from and celebrate successes with Adelaide Staff many years after they have left the school.” Pooky Knightsmith, 2019 Click on the link to view the Carnegie Report.
- A preparation made by extracting a crude drug, precipitating it from the solution, and drying. - Increasing the amount of solute in a given volume of solution by evaporation of the solvent. - The quantity of a substance per unit volume or weight. In renal physiology, symbol U for urinary concentration, P for plasma concentration; in respiratory physiology, symbol C for amount per unit volume in blood, F for fractional concentration (mole fraction or volume per volume) in dried gas; subscripts indicate location and chemical species. [L. con-, together, + centrum, center] Search Stedman's Medical Dictionary Examples: glitazone, GI cocktail, etc.
What is First Steps? South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness was created in 1999 by the South Carolina General Assembly for the purpose of having every child in South Carolina arrive at kindergarten ready to learn. Sadly, many South Carolina children possess one or more risk factors that put them at high risk (greater than a 1 in 3 chance) for “early school failure” – either being retained or scoring below grade level in reading or math – by third grade. Lancaster County First Steps exists to bring together efforts in early childhood at the local and state level, public and private, to focus and intensify services and assure the most efficient use of all available resources to serve the needs of Lancaster County’s young children and their families. The Lancaster County First Steps Partnership Board Members are Champions for Children. The board is made up of local leaders who are strong advocates for children and their first 2,000 days. Champions serve to carry forward the message of the importance of early childhood development in our county. This year the Lancaster County Board has been busy planning, implementing and evaluating several proven early education initiatives. The Board knows that Early Care and Learning is important in South Carolina and particularly in Lancaster because: - South Carolina’s greatest economic resource is our people. Therefore, economic development starts with early childhood development. - Children’s earliest experiences literally determine how their brains are wired. With quality early childhood education, children will be school ready; have higher graduation rates and grow into productive citizens and valuable employees. - There are only 2,000 days between the time a baby is born and when that child shows up in for the first day of kindergarten. When we provide children with the experiences they need during their early years, we get a lifetime of results for our children, our state, and our economy. - South Carolina grows stronger when we help families raise more capable children into smart, valuable and productive citizens. “The first 5 years of life have so much to do with how the next 80 turn out.” Bill Gates Please feel free to contact our office if you have questions or need additional information: Lancaster County First Steps 121 South Wylie Street Lancaster, SC 29720 Phone: (803) 286-8000 Fax: (803) 286-8061
HOUSTON - (March 27, 2014) - National efforts in the last decade to clear the air of dangerous particulate matter have been so successful that most urban areas have already attained the next benchmark, according to new research by Rice University. Atmospheric researchers at Rice studied the state implementation plans (SIPs) from 23 regions mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce particulate matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 microns (PM 2.5) to less than 15 micrograms per cubic meter by 2009. The Rice analysis appears this week in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association. All but one of the regions studied reported they had met the goal by deadline. States with regions that met the deadline included Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia. The final region, Alabama, reported attainment in 2010. PM 2.5 concentrations in the nonattainment regions that filed SIPs to attain the standard by 2009 declined by an average 2.6 micrograms per cubic meter - significantly greater improvement than in regions that had attained the standard from its inception. The study showed PM reductions in the SIP regions were broadly spread, rather than pinpointed at the most polluted monitors. "One of the things we were most interested in looking at was to see if states were cherry-picking their measures to meet the standard by reducing pollution at their worst monitors, compared with how much they were doing to bring down levels all across the region so that people were breathing cleaner air," said Daniel Cohan, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rice. "It was encouraging to find that across the country, we have seen overall particulate-matter levels come down. We found very slight extra improvement at monitors that were targeted the most, but regions that had to develop plans achieved pretty solid controls that didn't just pinpoint the worst monitors. And the large populations of these regions benefited." Cohan and Rice alumna Ran Chen also documented that air pollution continued to decline even after the 2009 standards were met. The majority of the SIP regions had already attained the mandated 2014 goal of 12 micrograms per cubic meter by 2012. "We've been on a good trajectory," Cohan said. "This demonstrates that the combination of state and federal controls has been substantially improving air quality in the U.S." Recent stories about the ongoing crisis in Beijing, where PM has reached hazardous levels, and in rapidly industrializing countries such as India set the U.S. efforts in sharp relief, Cohan said. The World Health Organization announced this month that about 7 million people die each year as a result of air pollution exposure. Particulate matter consists of microscopic particles spewed into the air by vehicles and industry, as well as particles that form from pollutant gases. "Particulate matter is not a chemical, like ozone; it's a category, and it's a real challenge to figure out the origin of those particles," Cohan said. "Are they sulfates or carbons or nitrates? Each of these needs vastly different control approaches to make a difference." PM also includes natural emissions from plants, volcanoes, forest fires and desert dust and can be blown across states or even continents. The health community, Cohan said, has long expressed concerns about particulate matter in the atmosphere and determined in the 1990s that PM 2.5 particles can penetrate deeply into the lungs and cause heart attacks, decrease lung function and even cause premature death. The EPA found healthy people could experience symptoms from exposure to elevated levels of particulate matter and set mandates for regions deemed in 1997 to be in "nonattainment" to file cleanup plans and follow through by 2009. The study was the first to take a comprehensive, retrospective look at the overall effectiveness of SIPs for PM. A previous study by Cohan and alumnus Andrew Pegues conducted similar analysis of progress by states in achieving ozone standards. The National Science Foundation and the NASA Air Quality Applied Sciences Team funded the research. Read the abstract at http://www. This news release can be found online at http://news. Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews Cohan Research Group: https:/ EPA Particulate Matter page: http://epa. Image for download: The Environmental Protection Agency regulates inhalable particles that can lodge in lung tissue and affect human health. (Credit: EPA) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,920 undergraduates and 2,567 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6.3-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice has been ranked No. 1 for best quality of life multiple times by the Princeton Review and No. 2 for "best value" among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go here.
Phonics is an essential part of early reading and writing development. Learning phonics can help children understand the relationship between sounds and letters, which lays the foundation for reading and spelling. The process is typically divided into six phases, each building upon the previous one. For parents, understanding these phases can greatly assist in supporting their children’s literacy journey. So, let’s dive into an informal explanation of each of the six phonics phases! 6 Phonics Phases Phase 1: Phonemic Awareness (Pre-Phonic or Introduction to Phonics) Before diving into specific letter-sound relationships, kids need to develop phonemic awareness. This phase focuses on recognizing and manipulating individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words. This can help your child to improve his awareness of the sounds around him. It also lays important foundations for the phonics work that will follow in later phases, which includes learning the phonic sounds of letters, graphemes and blending. Activities like rhyming games, identifying beginning sounds, and segmenting words into sounds help children tune their ears to the nuances of language. This phase provides the vital groundwork for phonics learning. No worksheets need to be completed nor reading or writing needs to take place here. The sounds your child will be engaged in Phase 1 will entail: - Environmental Sounds - Instrumental Sounds - Body Percussion - Rhythm and Rhyme - Voice Sounds - Oral Blending and Segmenting Phase 2: Letter Sounds (s, a, t, p, i, n) In this phase, kids start looking at letters and connecting sounds to letters. They learn the basic letter sounds, known as phonemes. In total, there are 44 different phonemes used in the English language! There are phonemes which can be made up of one or two letters, but here in Phase 2 of teaching phonics, the focus is placed on the common single-letter sounds. Simple words are introduced using these sounds, making it easier for children to blend sounds together to read words like “sat,” “pin,” and “pat.” Interactive activities, flashcards, and fun games help kids recognize and remember these letter sounds. More specifically, your child will learn 23 phonic sounds of letters, which are arranged into five separate set, each week focusing on one specific set of sounds. These sounds are: - Set 1 – s, a, t, p - Set 2 – i, n, m, d - Set 3 – g, o, c, k, - Set 4 – ck, e, u, r, - Set 5 – h, b, f, ff, l, ll, ss As they’re learning phonics sounds, pupils will also learn to spell some simple VC (vowel-consonant) and CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Alongside this, your child will start to pick up certain words that need to be learned by recognition – these are known as tricky words, and we start with simple words such as ‘no’, ‘the’ and ‘go’. Phase 3: Digraphs and Blends Now, children progress to understanding that some sounds are represented by two letters, which are called digraphs (e.g., “sh,” “ch,” “th”). They also learn about consonant blends, where two or more consonant sounds are blended together in a word (e.g., “bl,” “st,” “fr”). This phase expands their reading abilities as they encounter words like “ship,” “chat,” “step” and “clap.” By the end of Phase 3, children should be able to recognise and recall all 26 letters of the alphabet. They should also be able to blend and read CVC words made up of the graphemes they’ve learnt. As well as learning phonics sounds, children will pick up a new set of twelve new tricky words, including ‘my’, ‘they’ and ‘me’. Phase 4: Long Vowels and Tricky Words Children by now should be confident in phoneme recognition. Phase 4 introduces long vowel sounds (e.g., “ai,” “ee,” “oa”) and more complex letter patterns. Kids are also introduced to “tricky words” that have irregularities in English spelling (e.g., “she, “said,” and “there”). By now, children are becoming more confident readers and are able to read longer sentences. Here, children will learn to recognise sets of adjacent consonants (called consonant clusters). They should also be able to write out words and be able to say them without sounding out each phoneme individually. Once again, there’s another set of tricky words to add to their list, including words such as ‘some’, ‘come’ and ‘were’. Phase 5: Alternative Spellings and More Tricky Words Phase 5 delves into alternative spellings for the sounds kids have already learned. For instance, the sound “ai” (in “said”) can also be spelled as “ay” (e.g., “play”). Moreover, more tricky words are added to their vocabulary. Children are honing their ability to decode words and read them accurately. They’re also working on their comprehension skills, understanding the meaning of what they read. Alongside these new phonemes and graphemes, you child will become quicker at recognising and blending graphemes and spelling knowledge will be worked on extensively. There’s also another load of tricky words to be learnt – including ‘people’, ‘looked’ and ‘asked’. Phase 6: Advanced Phonic Knowledge In the final phase, children refine their skills with complex word structures and learn more advanced spelling patterns. They explore different prefixes and suffixes that change the meaning of words. By this point, children are reading with increasing fluency and are better equipped to tackle challenging texts. By Phase 6, your child will also be able to sight-read many words and recognise the tricky words that they’ve learnt so far. When children come across a word that is unfamiliar, they’ll be able to try and pronounce it using skills such as sounding out and blending. In this phase, the focus is placed upon becoming more confident in reading and spelling, and your childshould be able to progress onto more advanced reading schemes when they are ready. Remember, every child progresses at their own pace. Some might breeze through these phases, while others might take more time, and both scenarios are absolutely okay. The key is to create a supportive and engaging environment that encourages exploration and learning. Reading aloud together, playing word games, and celebrating small victories can make the phonics journey enjoyable for both parents and kids. In conclusion, these six phonics phases lay the foundation for your child’s reading and writing abilities. By understanding each phase and participating in your child’s learning journey, you’re setting them up for success in literacy and beyond. Happy phonics learning! Want to enrol in our phonic classes, learn more about our SAE program
It wasn't so much rum, sodomy and the lash the men had to fear in the navy 200 years ago, as the ship's surgeon heading towards them with a reassuring smile, a saw in one hand and a poison bottle in the other. Brandy enemas, a strychnine injection, a sulphuric acid gargle, ammonia rubbed on the lips, and three and a half pints of blood taken from a man with pneumonia are all recorded as attempted cures in a century of gruesome and fascinating journals of Royal Navy ship surgeons revealed at the National Archives: all failed. The surgeons on battleships, hospitals, shore parties and emigrant and convict transports were required to keep journals as they battled yellow fever, dysentery, malaria, pregnancy among female convicts, tarantula bites from excursions on shore and limbs mangled by enemy action or clumsiness on deck. Many were accomplished amateur artists and illustrated their journals with an unpleasant vividness, including the syphilitic eyeball of one Christopher Walters and the surprising news that after 16 days' treatment with an ammonia eyewash, he was "well". The journals cover one of the navy's most famous ships on its most famous day – but with a startling omission. Irishman William Beatty was the surgeon on HMS Victory, and on the day of the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) recorded treating scores of sailors and soldiers, stitching and amputating limbs half torn off by flying splinters of wood, or musket-shot wounds from the French sharpshooters. He does not mention that the surgeon from a smaller ship not directly involved in the battle rowed over to help, nor does he mention one particular musket-shot victim: Admiral Lord Nelson, who would survive his grievous injuries just long enough to learn that the battle was won. Despite the gap in the journal, Nelson proved a nice little earner for Beatty. Back in civilian life he published a detailed account of the injuries, treatment and death of Nelson which became a bestseller. William Howell, who had been a boatswain at Trafalgar and a sergeant at Waterloo, turns up in the journals years later, aged 55, on the Dryad, described as "very much dissipated and suffered much from stricture and perineal tumours". On the convict ship Elizabeth, on 15 June 1825, the surgeon, P Power, had a problem with worms – or rather an unfortunate 12-year-old girl, Ellen McCarthy, whose complaints included "abdomen hard and swollen, picks her nose, starts in her sleep, bowels constipated, pirexia [fever], tongue foul, pulse quick, skin hot, great thirst". He gave her some medicine – his notes are so contracted that even the experts in the archives cannot decipher his prescription – and admitted her to the sick bay. The following day her mother brought Power a "lumbricus", a worm, "87 inches [2.2 metres] long which the patient vomited: the medicine operated well". On the Juliana, surgeon Henry Kelsall worried about convicts lying in soaked bedding after the deck above leaked during fierce storms. It proved difficult to get the miserable prisoners to move so their quarters could be cleaned: the only way was "by closing the hatches and smoking them up with fumes of sulphur, cayenne pepper etc". Sailors were shattered in battle and in peace caught fevers, skin infections and venereal diseases. But they also fell victim to more exotic problems: one man suffered "a smart pain in walking", undoubtedly caused by the 19 penknives and one penknife case he proved to have swallowed. James Connor, a boatswain's mate on the Dryad, was painfully afflicted at Naples in 1829. "In the act of playing tricks upon one of his messmates" – no further details are given – "his penis was slit with a knife at about an inch wounding the glans to a line in depth". The Dryad also carried poor young Samuel Tapper, whose life must have been made a misery. Assistant surgeon John Irving recorded he was often asked to observe him bathe. "Tapper's breasts so perfectly resemble those of a young woman of 18 to 19 that even the male genitals which are also perfect do not fully remove the impression that the spectator is looking on a female." Tapper was minutely examined, and his breasts found "not at all resembling the fat mammille of boys". Irving added: "I have been chiefly moved to notice this case having lately seen in the Royal Gallery at Florence the statue of an Hermaphrodite, (so called) perfectly resembling Tapper, in breasts and genitals." In Barbados Mr Ody, master mate of the Arab, was poisoned by eating "a Mangereen apple", causing "severe vomiting and violent convulsions, I poured down a good quantity of sweet oil, applied the warm bath, gave him a calomel purge & the next morning he brought away a considerable quantity of blood and skins of the stomach being corroded by the virulence of the fruit". Thomas Sapper then administered "sago and a strong solution of barley and ising" and Ody recovered slightly, but the surgeon gloomily concluded: "The effect of this poison is never properly iradicated." Even calomel and sago couldn't help three men struck by lighting on the same ship in October 1799. The three died after the lightning bolt shattered the main top mast "which acted as its conductor and issued a most sulphureous stench", and "every man on deck knocked down, many of whom cried out their leg or arm were broke from the violence of the shock". The sailor at the very top of the shattered mast survived without a scorched hair. The period covered by the 1,000 journals, from 1793 to 1880, was a time when surgeons fought most diseases figuratively in the dark, unaware of their own ignorance. They tried to make sense of what they saw by recording variations of climate and temperature, speculating that yellow fever was caused by "vapours" from "rains mingling with the filth of the huts of the black population" and "decomposing and putrid animals and vegetable matter". Until antisepsis and antibiotics came, the doctors were usually fighting a losing battle. One surgeon recorded the local treatment for the sores of yaws was to scrub until they bled freely before rubbing lime into them, at which "the strongest men have shrieked and yelled and even wept like children". A rare breakthrough was the realisation that vitamin C could prevent scurvy. Surgeon George Ogden, on the Barossa, left appalling watercolours of the condition at its worst, an unfortunate man called Edwards shown with his inside leg raw from groin to ankle and the rest of his skin spattered with lumps which were, the surgeon noted carefully, "the size of a grain of Scotch barley". Bruno Pappalardo, director of the project, says the journals are not just of interest to naval historians. "They are arguably the most valuable collection of records for the study of health and medicine – at sea or anywhere else – of the 19th century." He is struck by the humanity of many of the surgeons, and the fact that more of the crews and convicts under their care survived than civilian sailors and free passengers making similar voyages. The original catalogues for the journals just gave ship names and dates. The archives were awarded a major grant from the Wellcome Trust to digitise many of the journals, and expand the catalogue so that from today they can also be searched online by the names of the crew or passengers, or even the medical conditions treated. Colin Williams, one of the researchers who spent 18 months poring over thousands of fading handwritten pages, said: "There were times when it really got to me, and I just had to go and have a walk in the fresh air: so much suffering."
Machine learning is a subset of artificial intelligence that deals with algorithms and extracting meaningful insights from the raw data. The technology is significantly changing the way businesses look at and process data. Regardless of the size, companies are leveraging machine learning into their businesses to reap the most out of their available data. According to a recent survey conducted on 168 large companies, more than 50% of enterprises are applying machine learning to refine marketing issues. A study conducted by McKinsey figured out that numerous European banks and businesses have shifted to machine learning from statistical modeling approaches as it offers better and faster data insights. Business benefits of ML With tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon launched their machine learning platforms; technology has gained immense prominence in recent years. These platforms have simplified the adoption of machine learning as a technology for enterprises. Business benefits of machine learning are numerous; here are some of the prominent ones. Financial analysis and management Machine learning has brought substantial advantages to businesses in terms of financial analysis and management. With large volumes of data being generated every day, machine learning can increase financial efficiency to further upscale business performance. Here are some financial benefits that ML can offer: - Better analysis of funding channels, expenses, portfolio management, underwriting, & fraud detection. - Reduced operational costs by reduced human intervention. - Enhanced algorithm trading. - Better security. Defining strategies and customer behavior Machine learning helps business in a host of ways by analyzing market trends and consumer behavior. It helps you to reap deep insights from the vast user data, constantly review it to build an insightful action plan for your business. For instance, machine learning can help your business analyze what type of discounts you need to bring to attract a particular customer to buy your services. Machine learning is a powerful technology to improve the online security measures of an organization. Here are some ways through which machine learning can help organizations: - Analyzing behavior and work patterns, machine learning can identify threats and unusual activities. This could highlight suspicious activities and prevent problems. - Identifying fake accounts at scale. - Assisting in differentiating malicious software and apps from useful ones. Real-time decision making For businesses today, the volume and streams of data continue to increase; manual decision-making is being replaced with automated processes. Machine learning can be used to automate ever-increasing channels of user data and enable more insightful business decisions through real-time learning. How are companies using ML? Many companies are using machine learning and finding exciting ways to utilize technology for more insightful outcomes. Here are some real-life examples. PayPal uses at least three machine learning algorithms including deep learning and neural networks to eliminate fraudulent activities and business risks. In 2015, Pinterest acquired a firm that builds commercial applications of machine learning techniques. Today, Pinterest incorporates machine learning in almost all of its business operations, from content discovery and spam moderation to advertising and offering personalized images to newsletter subscribers. Google has been a forerunner in adopting machine learning and neural networks to build applications that enhance speech translation and search ranking and prediction systems. Machine learning is being used to achieve complicated business objectives with ease and speed. However, the most important part here is the volume of data that businesses collect. The quality of data decides how well technology produces outcomes. By using new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence, etc., businesses can be more productive and efficient in terms of day-to-day work and make data-driven decisions. Moreover, machine learning algorithms help to prevent risks and fraud ensuring secure processes and higher customer satisfaction. Akeo helps businesses to adopt new and emerging technologies right from developing concepts to build products. Businesses could build solutions to real-life challenges with technology. Share your business idea and get a viable technical solution with Akeo.
This post looks at ‘demonstrating’ as a way of supporting children’s creative learning with art. Demonstrating skills and techniques are an important part in opening up new possibilities for children’s experimentation with materials. This post is the third post in a series on techniques for facilitating children’s learning with art. - The first introduced the idea of facilitating learning. - The second looked at ‘suggestions’ as a technique for facilitating learning. - The third discussed the technique of ‘questioning.’ Each post includes a description of the technique for facilitating children’s learning with art as well as discussion on how and when it may be useful. These techniques should not be seen as all-conclusive methods of teaching but as options that can be experimented with. What is demonstrating? To demonstrate means to show or explain how something is done (Cambridge Dictionary online, 2017). Demonstrating can be used to assist children in learning alternative and more effective ways of exploring a problem (MacNaughton & Williams 2009). Demonstrating can be done to introduce both verbal and non-verbal skills to children. These skills may then help them to be more independent in their learning. Examples of demonstrations may include an educator: - Pronouncing a new vocabulary word; - Showing how to use a new art tool; - Demonstrating how to use Google to do an online search. Making a decision about when to intervene in children’s learning to demonstrate a new skill or technique can be difficult. It may be necessary for an educator to first assess a child’s current understanding in the zone of proximal development before introducing a new skill to extend this (Vygotsky, 1980). Why is demonstrating important in children’s learning with art? Demonstrating opens up new possibilities for children’s further experimentation and learning. An artist or art educator may be able to share their specialised knowledge of tools, art techniques and concepts by demonstrating. If these skills are not passed on, what child can and cannot do with an art material is limited by what they currently know and don’t know. As Bolt & McArdle (2013: 14) state: “With mantras, then, of self-expression, freedom and creativity, art teachers may avoid providing much direct instruction about art making to children, all the while having ‘rules for breaking the rules’ and to ‘teach without teaching’ (McArdle, 2008: 367) which go unspoken and taken for granted. Many preservice teachers, having themselves been left in primary and secondary school to develop ‘naturally’, give the lie to this notion of ‘natural unfolding’, when they arrive at university with little or no skill or artistry and without artistic language or insight. The discourse of ‘natural unfolding’ is attractive to those who know nothing about art, and it is convenient in the contemporary era of bare-bones educational funding. If there is no teaching to be done in the arts, then there is no need for an art teacher.’ The demonstration of specific artistic skills and techniques is therefore an important part in extending children’s learning over time. Demonstrating a skill does not necessarily mean that a child will choose to use that particular skill or technique in the future. Rather, demonstrating gives children the opportunity to investigate it, opening up new possibilities for creative learning. It is fair to say that while demonstrating does somewhat require a child to imitate an action or behaviour, it does not necessarily produce a singular way for them to leave. A four-year-old girl walks into a family art activity in a sculpture garden. The activity features an array of natural materials laid out over the lawn. The child runs over to the materials and begins stacking branches onto of one another. After a period of time, the facilitator decides to introduce a new material – clay- to the child. The facilitator sits beside the child and rolls large chunks of the clay in her hands. She places it on the clay on the ground then pushes the branches into it. The girl watches the non-verbal demonstration. After a while, the child begins to play with the clay too. She mimics the facilitator’s action, sticking the branches into the clay to make a sculpture. Even if the girl had totally ignored the artist’s demonstration, the action opened up new possibilities for the child’s experimentation and play with the natural materials. Hot tips for using demonstrations to support children’s learning with art - Create a sequential set of steps that break down for the skill can be performed. Practice this set of steps in advance as it will be much easier to demonstrate the skill to children if you are confident in performing the skill in advance; - Start simple by introducing the most basic version of the skill to the children first. Once they have mastered this version, you could then introduce more complex versions of the skill over time; - If you are giving a verbal demonstration, try using clear, direct language to support the demonstration (MacNaughton & Williams, 2009); - Allow children lots of time to practice the skill. Encourage them to ask questions about it and discuss it as a group; - Encourage children to experiment with the skill or technique in different situations once they feel comfortable performing it; - Try to give further suggestions to children on how the skill could be used with other techniques, materials and concepts. I hope you find these tips and techniques helpful. As always, I would love to know your thoughts so please leave your comments below. Bolt & McArdle (2013). ‘Young Children, pedagogy and the arts: Ways of seeing.’ In McArdle & Boldt (Eds). Young children, pedagogy and the arts. Routledge: New York. Cambridge Dictionary online (2017). Cambridge Dictionary website. Cambridge University Press. MacNaughton, G & Williams, G (2009). Teaching young children: Choices in theory and practice. Second edition. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Vygotsky, L (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Once they leave what then? “The difficulty is continuity of care,” says Blake Fechtel, an M.D. and Ph.D. student at Mayo Clinic, who is working in a poor and secluded area of Honduras conducting a 12-month study on the use of telemedicine. “But there’s no reason we can’t maintain a relationship through some form of telecommunication.” Fechtel and his advisor, Bart Demaerschalk, M.D., director of the Mayo Clinic Telestroke and Teleneurology program, will present initial findings from the study at the American Telemedicine Association meeting on May 7 in Austin, Texas. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication or computer technology to provide health care from a distance. Doctors communicate with patients using digital video cameras, Internet telecommunications, robotic telepresence, smartphones and other technology. Fechtel’s project, Satellite-supplementation of Medical Outreach Clinics, uses a Very Small Aperture Terminal satellite Internet to connect with volunteer physicians in the U.S., to examine patients via teleconference in clinics run by Global Brigades in rural Honduras. The study, involving 445 patients, will produce insight into health care issues in these isolated areas and outline the obstacles to providing telemedicine services. Speaking from Honduras, Fechtel says that the medical conditions are substandard because there isn’t the financial infrastructure to provide needed health services. He works in a temporary clinic with two volunteer in-house physicians: those two physicians typically see more than 300 patients in five hours. The relief teams that come in help, but unfortunately, they can’t stay long. Incorporating telemedicine may help that. “When a physician has to see so many patients, there’s no chance to build rapport,” Fechtel says. “Telemedicine makes more physicians available and they get to take more time. The telemedicine physician can concentrate solely on the patient on the screen so they don’t feel the time pressure of a huge line in the clinic.” Fechtel says that despite some challenges, the feedback from patients who were seen in the initial phase of the study has been positive. “Even though some of the patients have never even seen a computer, they love it,” he says. “They really like having the time with the physician.” About Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life.
From the second night of Pesach, we count the Omer - counting off the days for seven weeks until Shavuot. Counting is an expression of anticipation. Grown-ups count the weeks until the next holiday; kids count the minutes until the end of class. It is also implies a sense of progress and direction. Saying that today is the third day of the Omer requires knowing that yesterday was the second and tomorrow is the fourth - where we have come from and where we are going towards. So counting the days from Pesach teaches that it is connected to and completed by Shavuot. The Exodus from Egypt was not a self-sufficient event. It was a first step towards Sinai, receiving the Torah and becoming a people with a mission. Freedom without a purpose is merely free to kill time. The kabbalists teach that every day of the Omer is a chance to reflect on and purify a different spiritual trait, and so to shed the vestiges of slavery and become worthy to renew our purpose.
Pong is one of the earliest arcade video games and a two-dimensional sports game which simulates table tennis and was the first game developed by Atari Inc in June 1972. The player controls an in-game paddle by moving it vertically across the left side of the screen, and can compete against either a computer controlled opponent or another player controlling a second paddle on the opposing side. Players use the paddles to hit a ball back and forth. The aim is for a player to earn more points than the opponent; points are earned when one fails to return the ball to the other. Pong is a simple game to code. The game involves a ball and two pads. The ball moves around on its own in the game world, and the player moves the pad. If the ball hits the wall or lands on the pad, change the ball's general direction. But if the ball misses the pad, then display the message - you missed - to the player. The controls are: \|\|move pad up \|\|move pad down \|\|toggle Cheat on/off Writing code for the core logic of a Pong game is as follows. First update the position of the pong ball: Then test or check the ball's y location in the game's world positions using a series of " if" statements. If the ball hits the top or bottom wall, then change the ball's general direction. if( (ball.y<pong_screen_top) />PONG_SCREEN_BOTTOM-2) ) ball.headingY=-ball.headingY; Now check if the ball has landed on the pad, if it has then make the ball bounce back. if ( (ball.y>= PlayersPad.LEFT) && (ball.y<= PlayersPad.RIGHT) && (ball.x==PlayersPad.x)) But if the ball misses the pad, then display the message - you missed - to the player. if ( ball.x < PONG_SCREEN_LEFT) displayYouMissed(); That's it. Download the source and check it out. Thanks for reading. - 15th July, 2010: Initial post
Mobile phones cause tinnitus, says study The phone's ringing. Oh, no it's not. Must be me then. A study published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine claims evidence that mobile phones cause tinnitus, persistent ringing in the ears. The premise is that microwave radiation (or "radio waves" as we sometimes call them) cause a calcium imbalance, or something like that – the study doesn't present evidence of the process, but it does find 33 people who got tinnitus on the same side of their head as they used a mobile phone. The study of 100 sufferers also found 25 people who got tinnitus in the opposite ear, but statistical analysis comparing the sample to 100 random outpatients would seem to indicate that those who used a mobile phone for more than four years did have a significantly increased chance of developing the condition. The sample size is terribly small of course, and even the study's authors admit that the increasing rate of tinnitus could be down to better diagnosis, or (more worryingly) that those who use mobile phones a lot could also be Walkman users. We'd speculate that they might be frequent flyers too – air travel always seeming to make the ears suffer. That leaves aside the increased tension of being on the phone all the time, not to mention the flattened ear and constantly cocked head (though the study does mention "cranio-cervical manipulations of the head, neck or extremities" as a possible cause). Either way, this tiny study does throw up evidence of a small increase in risk even if the suggested explanation is little more than speculation. That's not enough to stop anyone using a mobile phone, but it should be enough to prompt further research. ®
Agnostic atheism is a philosophical position that encompasses both atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are atheistic because they do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity, and are agnostic because they claim that the existence of a deity is either unknowable in principle or currently unknown in fact. The agnostic atheist may be contrasted with the agnostic theist, who believes that one or more deities exist but claims that the existence or nonexistence of such is unknown or cannot be known. One of the earliest definitions of agnostic atheism is that of theologian and philosopher Robert Flint, in his Croall Lecture of 1887–1888 (published in 1903 under the title Agnosticism). The atheist may however be, and not unfrequently is, an agnostic. There is an agnostic atheism or atheistic agnosticism, and the combination of atheism with agnosticism which may be so named is not an uncommon one. If a man has failed to find any good reason for believing that there is a God, it is perfectly natural and rational that he should not believe that there is a God; and if so, he is an atheist… if he goes farther, and, after an investigation into the nature and reach of human knowledge, ending in the conclusion that the existence of God is incapable of proof, cease to believe in it on the ground that he cannot know it to be true, he is an agnostic and also an atheist – an agnostic-atheist – an atheist because an agnostic… while, then, it is erroneous to identify agnosticism and atheism, it is equally erroneous so to separate them as if the one were exclusive of the other… In 1885 Robert G. Ingersoll, popularly known as “The Great Agnostic”, explained his comparative view of agnosticism and atheism as follows: The Agnostic is an Atheist. The Atheist is an Agnostic. The Agnostic says, ‘I do not know, but I do not believe there is any God.’ The Atheist says the same. Further information: Theological Noncognitivism Epistemological, or agnostic, atheism argues that people cannot know a God or determine the existence of a God. The foundation of epistemological atheism is agnosticism, which takes a variety of forms. In the philosophy of immanence, divinity is inseparable from the world itself, including a person’s mind, and each person’s consciousness is locked in the subject. According to this form of agnosticism, this limitation in perspective prevents any objective inference from belief in a god to assertions of its existence. The rationalistic agnosticism of Kant and the Enlightenment only accepts knowledge deduced with human rationality; this form of atheism holds that gods are not discernible as a matter of principle, and therefore cannot be known to exist. Skepticism, based on the ideas of Hume, asserts that certainty about anything is impossible, so one can never know for sure whether or not a god exists. Hume, however, held that such unobservable metaphysical concepts should be rejected as “sophistry and illusion”. The allocation of agnosticism to atheism is disputed; it can also be regarded as an independent, basic worldview. Other arguments for atheism that can be classified as epistemological or ontological, including logical positivism and ignosticism, assert the meaninglessness or unintelligibility of basic terms such as “God” and statements such as “God is all-powerful.” Theological noncognitivism holds that the statement “God exists” does not express a proposition, but is nonsensical or cognitively meaningless. It has been argued both ways as to whether such individuals can be classified into some form of atheism or agnosticism. Philosophers A. J. Ayer and Theodore M. Drange reject both categories, stating that both camps accept “God exists” as a proposition; they instead place noncognitivism in its own category. Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The late 1980s and the early 1990s was a time when the HIV and AIDS pandemic was in the news and high on the political agenda. Professor Virginia Berridge, Director of the Centre for History in Public Health and author of AIDS in the UK, gives us this accurate and succinct historical context: An expert advisory group on AIDS (EAGA) had been set up in 1985 in the Department of Health with input from clinicians and scientists involved. The Chief Medical Officer, the main public health government official, Sir Donald Acheson, led the group. Despite the level of expertise, the committee faced many problems. They included the attitude of sections of the press, which called for a punitive response to HIV/AIDS. An initial lack of political interest and the danger that, if political interest were awakened, the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher might take a punitive stance. Issues such as segregation and quarantine were freely talked about. In 1986, a sense of national emergency materialised, and developed high-level political interest on the subject. A Cabinet committee on AIDS was set up, a major health education campaign was initiated, funds were released for research, and the main health education body, the Health Education Council, was reformed as the Health Education Authority. Despite this progress, there were still powerful calls for a punitive approach, such as when the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester, James Anderton, spoke of people ‘swirling in a human cesspit of their own making’. However, the general tenor of the government response was pragmatic – focussing on safe sex rather than no sex, and safer drug use rather than no drug use. This liberal response was influential at the international level too and was promoted through AIDS specific organisations set up as part of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations (UN). In South East London, the local HIV groups were formed in response to the direct experiences of people who faced barriers accessing health and social care. These specialist organisations included the Positive Place in Deptford – which started in an office in Sydenham where Cllr Alan Hall was a volunteer. Sydenham is a very interesting area. Geographically it is on a hill which has a ridge with its apex at Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace is the place where five local authorities meet – the boundaries of London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Locally, social services are provided by Councils and health services were overseen by regional health authorities at this time. The provision of HIV services were very variable and much of the work and support was provided by specialist sexual health clinics at the major London teaching hospitals. Hospital social work could provide some support but the end of life care and care at home fell to the patients’ home local authority. By 1991 the Government had put in place a ringfenced Government Grant called the AIDS Support Grant (ASG) – this was to recognise the additional resources needed to provide services for people with AIDS. AIMS OF THE GRANT SCHEME To enable Social Services Departments to draw up strategic plans, based on local population needs assessments, for commissioning social care for people with HIV/AIDS; and to enable Social Services Departments to finance the provision of social care for people with HIV/AIDS, and where appropriate, their partners, carers and families. The grant is to assist local authorities with the costs of providing HIV related personal social services. At the Positive Place – then in Sydenham – we became aware that people with HIV were having problem accessing social services in Bromley. There were general comments and complaints in the other neighbouring boroughs however, in Bromley people were routinely refused a social service. After extensive enquiries and local research, a meeting with Bromley Social Services Committee Councillors was arranged and a briefing document produced. Richard Cowie, the Clinical Nurse Specialist for South East London Health Authority, David Thomas a Trustee of the Postive Place which had established as a centre for people with HIV in SE London based in Deptford – joined Alan Hall who had become a member of the Bromley Community Health Council and set up Bromley Positive Support Group in Beckenham. The first section is instructive it is called: NO AIDS HERE “The first response to deny HIV services is that there is ‘no demand’ for them. In effect, this means no AIDS in Bromley. In 1992 this was the reason used by the London Borough of Bromley for not applying for AIDS Support Grant. Every District Health Authority must submit returns regarding the number of HIV infections and AIDS related deaths yearly and much more detailed information under the provision of the AIDS (Control) Act 1987.” “The figures are collated in a technical manner and require considerable caution interpretating them. However the latest report for Bromley (1993/4) shows that there are ’48 people living with HIV infection and 2 babies of indeterminate status’. “It is accepted that this is an underestimate. This includes people who attend Bromley Hospitals or services. It does not include all the people attending specialist centres of excellence, eg Middlesex Hospital, King’s College Hospital, St Thomas’ Hospital, Chelsea & Westminster….of which we know there are several cases. We estimate that there are at least 60 cases – this does not include their families, partners or carers. The no AIDS in Bromley is a myth. Indeed, the Department of Health classifies Bromley as a “moderate” prevelance area.” “Frequently, AIDS in Bromley has been dismissed as a small number of cases, insignificant. This is a favourite argument of Cllr Cooke. Clearly, 60 people with HIV plus their families is not a small number. Contrast this with the number of people receiving intensive personal care – this is in the order of 70 people.” The conclusion of the document states: “All of the myths, I am sure you will find have their root in prejudice and bigotry.” Whilst the Positive Place was in Sydenham the local MP, Jim Dowd agreed to ask a Parliamentary Question. This question revealed that Bromley Council had failed to apply for its indicative allocation of AIDS Support Grant in 1992-3. Hansard records the written parliamentary question on 14th January 1993: Mr. Dowd : To ask the Secretary of State for Health (Virginia Bottomley) (1) on what date the London borough of Bromley applied for AIDS support grant for the current financial year ; and what efforts have been made by her Department to urge Bromley to apply for it ; (2) what amount of AIDS support grant was allocated to each local authority in each year since 1990-91 : (3) what extra costs she estimates to have been incurred by neighbouring boroughs obliged to deal with HIV/AIDS cases turned away by Bromley social services department ; and what steps she proposes to take to recompense the neighbouring boroughs ; (4) by what date London boroughs should apply for the AIDS support grant for 1993-94 ; and what steps she will take to ensure that the London borough of Bromley applies for the grant on time ; (5) how many people in each London borough have died from AIDS : (6) how many cases of HIV have been reported in the borough of Bromley in each year for which figures are available. The Minister for Health, Tom Sackville, MP replied: Mr. Sackville : In December 1991 the Department issued a circular (LAC(91)22) inviting all social services departments in England to bid for extra resources for HIV and AIDS services in 1992-93 under the AIDS support grant scheme. Criteria for bids under this scheme are set out in the circular. Copies are available in the Library. The closing date for bids was 7 February 1992. The London borough of Bromley submitted an application in November 1992 although not in the form and detail set out in departmental guidance. By that time AIDS support grant moneys had been fully committed. The Department was, therefore, unable to allow Bromley’s bid to proceed. Although not in receipt of AIDS support grant money in 1992 -93, we understand that the London borough of Bromley plans to spend £15,000 on HIV and AIDS services in the current year. We have no information to suggest that the borough has been compelled to turn away people affected by HIV. For 1992-93 local authority social services departments will again be invited to apply for an AIDS support grant allocation. The closing date for applications will be 8 February 1993. It will, of course, be open to the London borough of Bromley to bid for funds under this scheme. Information on the number of HIV and AIDS cases reported in individual boroughs and of deaths is not held centrally. The table shows the AIDS support grant allocations which have been awarded since 1990-91 for a full list in England see Hansard. Allocations for Individual Authorities in London are shown. \|London Borough\|\|Grant 1990-1\|\|Grant 1991-2\|\|Grant 1992-3\| \|City of London\|\|25,000\|\|26,000\|\|47,000\| Alan Hall followed up the lack of funding and more importantly, the lack of a strategy in 1993. On 11th October he received the following reply from Baroness Cumberlege, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health in the Lords, this said: “The Department is aware that there has been an absence of a clear HIV/AIDS strategy in Bromley and has been monitoring the situation.” If the Government were aware, why didn’t they act? Perhaps, we will never know the answer to that. But the refusal of Bromley Council’s social services Committee members to allocate funding and support proposals for a change in direction led to protest. The community activists in Outrage knew that Bromley Council were resisting change and they decided to mount a protest. Activists enetered the Council Chamber, chanting and holding placards. Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors stayed in the Chamber whilst shocked tories walked out. The photograph below was taken by the acclaimed photographer, Gordon Rainsford. The Pink Paper carried a report of the protest with the headline: “Tory Mayor flees AIDS protesters in Bromley”. Outrage alleged that the Mayor of Bromley, Cllr Edgington attacked one of its members. This is particularly interesting as this is believed to be a counterclaim, when the Mayor of Bromley made a complaint to the Police that one of the protesters drank from his glass thereby assaulting him. The fifteen activists held a “die in” where they laid down in the Council Chamber and held tombstone shaped placards with slogans such as killed by Bromley neglect. In the press report, the case of a 28 year old man who was refused a home help and told to ‘try a private nursing home’ a day before he died is raised. Daniel Winchester a local resident said that Bromley Council had shown ‘contempt’ to the ill and dying over the last ten years of the pandemic. The independent voice of social workers – Community Care – carried an article on HIV and AIDS social service provision in March 1993 saying: “Bromley Social Services is behind with its HIV work. It’s bid for 1992-3 was late, so it did not benefit from the 50% increase and that there was great pressure to meet the standards for grant status.” In response a senior Bromley Council social services manager is quoted as saying: “Our services are pretty thin on the ground in this area.” Leaders in the social work profession at the time, believed that there were additional benefits with specialised HIV services as they were ground breaking and that they benefit other areas of social work like confidentiality and increasing good practice more generally. This article has appeared on the Socialist Health Association website
The State Department just released a dry, complex document analyzing the environmental effects of a new oil pipeline. But really what it did is finalize a showdown over one of the most important fights in American politics. Here's everything you need to know about it. If you want the most immediate news, skip down to section three. 1. The pipeline would shuttle oil from Canada to Nebraska. The Keystone XL pipeline is part of a network that the Canadian company TransCanada wants to use to shuttle oil from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast. That network, pictured at right, is already in place, but the Keystone XL section — the dashed blue line — would allow for more of the product to be moved from Alberta to Steele City, Nebraska, more quickly. Earlier this month, the stretch extending down to Texas began operation, after months of conflict. A key factor at play is that this isn't conventional oil. It's oil that's extracted from a sort of sand-clay-oil mix known as oil or tar sands. To be transported, it's made into a slurry called diluted bitumen, or dilbit. 2. Approval of the pipeline is up to President Obama. Since the Keystone XL pipeline would cross the border between Canada and the United States, it needs to be approved by the State Department. That has given President Obama the ability to veto the pipeline outright if he wants to do so. And it's given his Republican opponents a potent shorthand for suggesting Obama has to choose between the environment and jobs. In 2012, as the presidential campaign approached, Obama rejected the proposal, in part because Republicans attempted to force the issue. But it was also largely because the proposed route from TransCanada brought the pipeline through an area of Nebraska known as the Sand Hills, an area that quickly absorbs water that then replenishes a massive natural freshwater aquifer deep underground. A pipeline spill above the Sand Hills could have been an unparalleled disaster, and even Nebraska's Republican governor objected to the pipeline as a result. So TransCanada moved the proposed route and asked for new environmental consideration. Nebraska signed off on the new route, and the State Department last summer released an initial environmental assessment. 3. Per the State Department report: Keystone wouldn't change environmental math, though tar sands oil is more carbon intensive. The report released Friday is the State Department's final analysis. In short, the report doesn't raise any significant environmental objections to the proposed pipeline, similar to the initial report last year. "Approval or denial of any one crude oil transport project, including the proposed Project, remains unlikely to significantly impact the rate of extraction in the oil sands, or the continued demand for heavy crude oil at refineries in the United States," it reads in part. It does however note that tar sands crudes "are generally more [greenhouse gas] intensive than other heavy crudes they would replace or displace in U.S. refineries, and emit an estimated 17 percent more GHGs on a lifecycle basis than the average barrel of crude oil refined in the United States in 2005." This jibes with an independent study from Oil Change International that indicated that "181 million metric tons of greenhouse gases entering the atmosphere yearly" if Keystone XL went into operation, from the extraction process through to the end of the line. And that makes things a little trickier for Obama. 4. The report puts Obama in a tricky political position. On a scorching day last June, Obama gave a strong speech on climate change in which he called for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the most abundant of which is carbon dioxide. He also — unexpectedly — outlined the environmental criteria that Keystone XL would need to meet in order to be approved. From his speech: Allowing the Keystone pipeline to be built requires a finding that doing so would be in our nation’s interest. And our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. The net effects of the pipeline’s impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward. It’s relevant. There are two criteria there, highlighted: The pipeline can't "significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution," and its "net effects" on the climate are critical. Does the State Department report give Obama the flexibility to approve it? Does it necessitate he kill it? A source told The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza that the State Department left precisely that room for the president, intentionally or not. 5. The economic viability of tar sands development may rely on building Keystone. One of the more interesting aspects of the debate is that Keystone XL is seen by some as critical to any significant development of the Albertan tar sands. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal explained that the inability of Canadian companies to get the dilbit out to customers was causing prices to sink. The lack of pipeline capacity out of Alberta was key: "Until those new outlets get built, Canadian crude prices will 'come under extreme downward pressure' next year and in 2014," the Journal reported. It cited a market report: "This could cause a slowdown in oil sands development." The State Department report suggests that this isn't the case — in part because it assumes that the dilbit will com to market another way: other pipelines, trains, or tankers. Recent train accidents could make such alternatives less appealing. 6. The Environmental Protection Agency and environmentalists see the pipeline as much riskier. That's exactly what environmentalists hope. Spurred by the declaration from Dr. James Hansen, then of NASA, that the Keystone XL pipeline was "game over" for the planet since it unlocked access to a huge new deposit of what is essentially unreleased carbon dioxide. 350.org's Bill McKibben did the math on what would happen if that carbon dioxide was added to the atmosphere: It would move us past the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide that could keep us within what scientists estimate would be a "safe" level of warming. McKibben's 350.org and other organizations launched a series of events in 2011 aimed at swaying Obama against approval. Earlier this month, The Times declared that the protests had "lifted the environmental movement." The EPA offered a boost when it last April critiqued the State Department's assessments of the pipeline's effects, indicating that State downplayed the carbon creation and the risk of spills, among other things. 7. There's controversy over the State Department report. Documents obtained by the Sierra Club under the Freedom of Information Act and reported by BuzzFeed's Evan McMorris-Santoro show that the firm chosen to conduct the environmental review for the State Department had links to TransCanada that it never revealed. This was the second time that a company tasked with reviewing the pipeline had been found to have links to TransCanada. Legal experts have pointed out that such analysis requires a level of expertise and investment that makes it less feasible for the government to conduct it. The State Department's independent Inspector General has been investigating the relationship between ERM, the firm that did the review, and TransCanada, but that it would not release those findings on Friday. 8. There's also controversy over the job creation benefits. Republicans and business groups have long argued that the Keystone XL pipeline should be approved because it would create thousands or tens of thousands of jobs. In its initial report last year, the State Department figured that approval would create 42,000 jobs — almost entirely short-term construction gigs. Over the long-term, the pipeline would employ 35 people in America, along with those working in Alberta at the extraction site. It would also include 15 temporary contractors once the pipeline is in operation. The company is vague on its estimates. 9. Obama could announce his decision at any point. TransCanada and the Canadian government have gotten impatient with the decision-making process, even as they reiterate their confidence that it will be approved. ("I remain 100 percent confident that this project makes sense for energy security and all the jobs and economic benefits come with it," TransCanada's CEO said last month.) The only thing Obama was waiting for was the report released today. Which means that there are two considerations left. The first is political: does he hand Republicans a mid-term election talking point on how Obama picked the environment over (35) jobs, or does he try and use the decision to energize environmentalists before November? The second consideration is the more important one. Is this actually for the greater benefit of the country? Obama will, according to State, look at "energy security; environmental, cultural, and economic impacts; foreign policy; and compliance with relevant federal regulations and issues." Whether or not, at the end, Keystone XL qualifies under enough of those stipulations — including the lines drawn last June — ultimately comes down only to Barack Obama.